APATHY
I don’t care about nothing
Nothing is what I care about
If I care about something I’ll end up with nothing
So I’ll look away and pretend not to hear
I’m protesting protests.
I hear we might be going to war
I hear the country’s going up in flames
I hear the anchors on the nightly news
And turn the channel back to MTV 2.
I’m protesting protests.
Emails from friends in my in-box
Angered by the madness at hand
I turn the other cheek to their desperate pleas
Punk rock mentality suits me fine
I’m protesting protests.
Not supposed to care, to be aware
Of the things going on in the world
Joe Millionaire and Idol closer to my heart than
Homeland security and fighter planes
I’m protesting protests
Leader dreams up words, talks of duct tape
And expects his subjects to respect him still
Not about to let my husband and brothers
Go off to fight for a man I didn’t even vote for.
I’m protesting protests.
How can my voice ever matter
How does my opinion even count
When the man in charge won’t hear all our cries
So I’ll sit and care about nothing.
I’m protesting protests.
Today it seemed this war came close
To affecting my personal space
Old high school friends leaving babies behind
To go fight across the planet in a strange new land
I’m protesting protests.
If no none stands up, no one speaks
No one makes their voice be heard
Ignorant bliss will be overcome
With consequences to great to comprehend
I protest: start protesting.
Thursday, February 27, 2003
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
HEY EVERYONE~~~
Just wanted to let you all know that the Fargo-Moorhead Community Theater is performing "The Rocky Horror Show" from Feb 20-23 at 8:00 pm and Feb. 27-March 1 at 8:00 pm, with 2 midnight performances each Friday night (which is technically Saturday morning). There is a rush at the door for NDSU students *with student ID, which means that if you come within 10 minutes before the show's start, you can get cheap tickets (they're regularly $15, you can get them at rush for $5). This show is hysterical and a really great rock musical, perfect for all you "Poetry of Rockers", except that perhaps the depth of the lyrics leaves something to be desired (i.e. rhyming "can it" with "panic" and other greats...). Anyway, it's a fun show, come see it if you have the chance. I'm playing Janet: I'll be the one in my underwear....yikes. Hope to see you there!!
Just wanted to let you all know that the Fargo-Moorhead Community Theater is performing "The Rocky Horror Show" from Feb 20-23 at 8:00 pm and Feb. 27-March 1 at 8:00 pm, with 2 midnight performances each Friday night (which is technically Saturday morning). There is a rush at the door for NDSU students *with student ID, which means that if you come within 10 minutes before the show's start, you can get cheap tickets (they're regularly $15, you can get them at rush for $5). This show is hysterical and a really great rock musical, perfect for all you "Poetry of Rockers", except that perhaps the depth of the lyrics leaves something to be desired (i.e. rhyming "can it" with "panic" and other greats...). Anyway, it's a fun show, come see it if you have the chance. I'm playing Janet: I'll be the one in my underwear....yikes. Hope to see you there!!
CLASS on 2/11/03
I found Dr. Saltings' visits to class to be very intriguing! He seems to know a WHOLE lot about the world of music -- not only its history, but the structure of the musical elements as well as the lyrics. We discussed the fusion of African and European influences into rock music and what each of those elements were (heavy rhythms, syncopation, modality, monophony, melodic leaps, etc.)
Dr. Salting was witty and funny, so the classes were a lot of fun! He played an amazing gospel / doo-wop song (I forget the title) that, surprisingly DID hold some of the same "rock" elements as Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (just like he said!) We discussed several artists from the "Golden Age" of Rock; Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, etc. and how, with the plane crash that killed Holly, The Big Bopper, & Richie Valenz, the music really DID die that day (the fall of the rock era)...
I found Dr. Saltings' visits to class to be very intriguing! He seems to know a WHOLE lot about the world of music -- not only its history, but the structure of the musical elements as well as the lyrics. We discussed the fusion of African and European influences into rock music and what each of those elements were (heavy rhythms, syncopation, modality, monophony, melodic leaps, etc.)
Dr. Salting was witty and funny, so the classes were a lot of fun! He played an amazing gospel / doo-wop song (I forget the title) that, surprisingly DID hold some of the same "rock" elements as Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (just like he said!) We discussed several artists from the "Golden Age" of Rock; Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, etc. and how, with the plane crash that killed Holly, The Big Bopper, & Richie Valenz, the music really DID die that day (the fall of the rock era)...
Monday, February 10, 2003
I've been trying to come up with some brilliant idea for our peer teaching assignment, but so far I'm coming up empty. I may have to go back and delve into my old portfolio from my days as a music education student!! :) I wouldn't even mind sharing some of the tools I find useful in writing my own rock lyrics (I have written over 15 songs that are ready to be recorded, as soon as I can come up with the cash to rent a studio for a demo tape!). Actually, finding a topic shouldn't be too difficult to do, just finding the time to cram it into my schedule that could pose a problem. Group work is usually pretty difficult for me, as I have a job, school, theater rehearsals, wedding planning, and a fiance' (yes, he takes work too!) to keep up with--setting up meetings with other students could be a real issue. I would feel really bad if I couldn't put in my all toward a group, but I much prefer working alone, as I am most productive that way, and I can work into the wee hours of the morning if I need to!
Monday, February 03, 2003
We were at rehearsal for "Rocky Horror" last night when I realized this: music is such an interpretation of the person singing it, that any particular song could be analyzed in literally hundreds of ways. Last night's example was this: as a vocal warmup, each member of the cast had to sing one chorus of "the Time Warp". EVERY cast member sang it in a completley different way: the words were the same each time, but the meaning and emotion changed entirely! This is one of the things I both love and hate most about music. If you're the songwriter, this phenomenon could make your attempts at producing a certain emotion entirely futile. On the other hand, it makes me realize that the way a person can interpret a lyric is wholly personal and can speak to everyone across any demographic. Such is the beauty of the human mind and music!!!!
TTFN, Shanna
TTFN, Shanna
Tuesday, January 28, 2003
This was sent to me by my former high school music teacher: thought it was pretty funny and somewhat relative to what we've been discussing in class.
HOW TO SING THE BLUES -- A Primer
1. Most Blues begin with: "Woke up this morning ..."
2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."
3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes ... sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher, and she weigh 500 pound."
4. The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch - ain't no way out.
5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and state-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the runnin'. Walkin' plays a major part in the Blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.
6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.
7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the Blues in any place that don't get rain.
8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the Blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg because you were skiing is not the Blues. Breaking your leg because a alligator be chomping on it is.
9. You can't have no Blues in a office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.
10. Good places for the Blues:
a. highway
b. jailhouse
c. empty bed
d. bottom of a whiskey glass.
Bad places for the Blues:
a. Nordstrom's
b. gallery openings
c. Ivy League institutions
d. golf courses.
11. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, unless you happen to be a old ethnic person, and you slept in it.
12. Do you have the right to sing the Blues? Yes, if:
a. you older than dirt
b. you blind
c. you shot a man in Memphis
d. you can't be satisfied.
No, if:
a. you have all your teeth
b. you were once blind but now can see
c. the man in Memphis lived
d. you have a 401K or trust fund.
13. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the Blues. Sonny Liston could. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the Blues.
14. If you ask for water and your darlin and you get gasoline, it's the Blues. Other acceptable Blues beverages are:
a. cheap wine
b. whiskey or bourbon
c. muddy water
d. nasty black coffee.
The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. Perrier
b. Chardonnay
c. Snapple
d. Slim Fast
e. Diet Coke.
15. If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So are the electric chair, substance abuse, and dying lonely on a broken-down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or while getting liposuction.
16. Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Fat River Dumpling
e. Caldonia.
17. Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie
e. Leroy.
18. Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Jennifer, Tiffany, Brooke, Brittany, and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.
19. Make your own Blues name Starter Kit:
a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.)
b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi, etc.)
c. last name of a President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.)
For example: Blind Lime Jefferson, Jakeleg Lemon Johnson or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc. (Well, maybe not "Kiwi.")
20. Oh, by the way. I don't care how tragic your life: if you own a computer, you cannot sing the Blues
HOW TO SING THE BLUES -- A Primer
1. Most Blues begin with: "Woke up this morning ..."
2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."
3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes ... sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher, and she weigh 500 pound."
4. The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch - ain't no way out.
5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and state-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the runnin'. Walkin' plays a major part in the Blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.
6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.
7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the Blues in any place that don't get rain.
8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the Blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg because you were skiing is not the Blues. Breaking your leg because a alligator be chomping on it is.
9. You can't have no Blues in a office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.
10. Good places for the Blues:
a. highway
b. jailhouse
c. empty bed
d. bottom of a whiskey glass.
Bad places for the Blues:
a. Nordstrom's
b. gallery openings
c. Ivy League institutions
d. golf courses.
11. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, unless you happen to be a old ethnic person, and you slept in it.
12. Do you have the right to sing the Blues? Yes, if:
a. you older than dirt
b. you blind
c. you shot a man in Memphis
d. you can't be satisfied.
No, if:
a. you have all your teeth
b. you were once blind but now can see
c. the man in Memphis lived
d. you have a 401K or trust fund.
13. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the Blues. Sonny Liston could. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the Blues.
14. If you ask for water and your darlin and you get gasoline, it's the Blues. Other acceptable Blues beverages are:
a. cheap wine
b. whiskey or bourbon
c. muddy water
d. nasty black coffee.
The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. Perrier
b. Chardonnay
c. Snapple
d. Slim Fast
e. Diet Coke.
15. If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So are the electric chair, substance abuse, and dying lonely on a broken-down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or while getting liposuction.
16. Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Fat River Dumpling
e. Caldonia.
17. Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie
e. Leroy.
18. Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Jennifer, Tiffany, Brooke, Brittany, and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.
19. Make your own Blues name Starter Kit:
a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.)
b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi, etc.)
c. last name of a President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.)
For example: Blind Lime Jefferson, Jakeleg Lemon Johnson or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc. (Well, maybe not "Kiwi.")
20. Oh, by the way. I don't care how tragic your life: if you own a computer, you cannot sing the Blues
Thursday, January 23, 2003
Tuesday, January 14, 2003
ONLY witty, random, and fortuitous thoughts shall be posted to this blog. Or not. More likely a few rotten ones will creep their way into my brain and somehow end up being posted to the site. Blogging. A surprisingly new and useful facet of the internet which I had not previously discovered! Nifty.
This is my first semester at NDSU. Despite the astonishingly cold weather, I really like life in Fargo thus far. My fiance' and I just moved here from Dickinson, where he graduated with a degree in Communications and English Ed. I, however, am in my 6th year of college and am still undecided as to what I want to be when I grow up! I LOVE classes in the arts: literature, theater, music, art; and despise those in math or science. I am REALLY looking forward to this "Poetry and Rock" class.
My email address is: shananigan52@hotmail.com
gettin' out of this place,
Shanna
This is my first semester at NDSU. Despite the astonishingly cold weather, I really like life in Fargo thus far. My fiance' and I just moved here from Dickinson, where he graduated with a degree in Communications and English Ed. I, however, am in my 6th year of college and am still undecided as to what I want to be when I grow up! I LOVE classes in the arts: literature, theater, music, art; and despise those in math or science. I am REALLY looking forward to this "Poetry and Rock" class.
My email address is: shananigan52@hotmail.com
gettin' out of this place,
Shanna
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