For my Reference only

http://tyrannydistance.blogspot.com/2008/09/chat-with-old-man-dan.html

http://tyrannydistance.blogspot.com/2008/09/911-cash-cow.html

http://tyrannydistance.blogspot.com/2008/09/sunday-was-probably-one-of-greatest.html

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/

BLOG!BLOG!BLOG!BLOG!BLOG!BLOG!BLOG!

Blogging has somewhat been a fear of mine early on. I really hadn’t had too much experiences with blogs aside from reading a few here and there, mostly music blogs, like Pitchforkmedia.com, Joystiq (the videogame equivalent to Pitchfork), Kevin’s other blog “Eating the Document” and my friend Mike’s blog “Defenestrating Kittens” which consisted of faux AIM conversations between politicians and broken up bands like Pavement (sadly he took it down). I spent my time reading them but never contributing, I had thought about it in the past, but never ever got around to setting them up.

Bloggers tend to have their own communities (while writing this, I realized that Microsoft Word didn’t mark the word “blog” or “Bloggers” as incorrectly spelled), it has become a staple of our society, a new outlet. There was one blog in particular that caught my attention before I had started to take this class.

Stuffwhitepeoplelike.com is a blog devoted to well, stuff white people like. I looked at it and realized that it was a parody on itself. Blogs have become an important part of the internet, youth and music culture; these online journals have come a long way from Xanga and Livejournal. Heck I even checked my Xanga from late Jr high and mid high school to see how I was writing my posts then and not much has changed, so maybe I had been blogging longer than I had thought.

I looked at Stuffwhitepeoplelike.com and checked off a good majority of the things on the list from Wes Anderson movies to Music Piracy to The Wire and even Threatening to Move to Canada as well as Irony. I always saw blogging as part of the hipster movement; I know it may be a bit misinformed, or some pre-conceived notion, but when I visit blogs like Brooklyn Vegan I feel that it’s just the outlet of a younger, hipper generation. Luckily I’m just at the tail end of that generation and found myself enjoying blogging.

My blog URL came from Ted Leo’s first album name “The Tyranny of Distance,” besides being an avid Ted Leo fan, I found great significance in the phrase as well. More times than not distance, whether it was physical or culturally tends to be very oppressive on view points and understanding. Then I changed it to “One Last Thing,” a phrase uttered by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, so it was quickly changed.

My first real blogging experience occurred the day after our class. I really wanted to exposed the blind display of patriotism that occurred after 9/11 and felt 100% free to write everything I wanted, I really enjoyed having the internet as an open forum, and I enjoyed the anticipation of incoming comments. I wasn’t exactly sure how to work the blogger dashboard, so just sat down and learned all the ins and outs, that’s probably why I didn’t have any links in my first post. I feel content and analysis wise; it is one of my better posts where I didn’t lose focus.

As the semester progressed I started to see potential for my blog to become a regular outlet for myself. There are plenty of posts on my blog that have nothing to do with the class; many involve the 2008 Presidential Election. I actually posted while watching the debates as well as during Election Day. I have every attention of continuing my blog even after the class is over.

There is one post in particular that I really like. After reading Shooting War I immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was absolutely great. At this point I actually regret making that decision. I remember sitting in class and saying its in my top 5 favorite graphic novels, and then hearing towards the end of class all the problems with it. I agreed with 100% of what was said, which is odd because I usually criticize literature I don’t know. I really regret jumping to conclusions. Oddly enough in that same post, an outside blogger who wasn’t from our class, who I didn’t know commented on my blog; I thought that was really cool.

I also really enjoyed how raw the blogs were. I for one didn’t edit what I wrote; I just wrote and wrote, never ever made any corrections. I wanted it to be just a stream of consciousness with analysis, nothing more. I think proof-reading would have taken away from the mystique of the blog.

In terms of following blogs, I originally just followed a few blogs, Kevin’s, Tom’s, but I found myself following more and more people’s blogs, like Jessica and it became a weekly tradition to read Barry’s novels uhhh I mean posts. For those who updated on a constant basis, it kept me informed of outside opinions and really kept the class connected.

Exploration

Its 2 am and I have come a conclusion about House of Leaves. I have found that I tend to look ahead in the book, its not that I'm getting bored, but some sections don't seem to hold my attention, or I just want to move on; I tend to explore the book. In class we had discussed HoL as a book that is very visual, it needs to be watch. That is all well and good, but I find that this book is meant to be explored, I feel that some of the selections tend to be tedious on purpose so that you decide to explore the book, jump around, divulge yourself a little bit. Many of the pages towards the back seem to be for people like me, I would have never discovered some of the pictures, the letters, etc. The house, much like the book is meant to be explored, you don't necessarily need to get hung up on one section, look around, find a section that interests you and go with it. Either that, or I have severe case of ADD I don't know abou----oooh there are birds outside my window.

Goosebumps

As much as I am enjoying this book, if you trim the fat away, the footnotes, the extraneous stories and focus on the Navidson Record, it kind of starts to feel like a schlocky R.L. Stine book that you read in 4th grade....or maybe its me.

Character Sketch

Karen.

Karen Green, Green=color of leaves in spring and summer, leaves=House of Leaves.
Psychotic analogizes, it is very painful to read about Karen Green. Not in the sense that I'm painstakingly reading this book, instead, I feel bad for her.

I apologize to Terrence in advance for using an almost identical section from the novel to establish a foundation for Karen's character.

On page 11 we learn that Karen was a high end fashion model, who left the lavish life in the city to pursue her a quiet family life. I see this a positive development, or establishment for Karen's character; her ability to leave an expensive lifestyle and move out to a country house as step forward in her life and an attempt to grow up.

There is something on page 11 that I feel is extremely revealing. "Her video entries-in which Navidson promised to view only after the film was shot and then if she agreed-reveal a thirty-seven year old woman who worries about leaving the city, growing old, keeping trim, and staying happy." This is a great revelation into the character of Karen in terms of her relationship to the house and her husband. She was concealing her emotions and molding to her husband, her ever changing emotions, much like the house. This establishes Karen as an individual who may not the best at expressing herself.

Page 102: "Karen unhappily takes over the task of manning the radios." Karen gets dragged into this exploration in which she her husband's and friends contact. She is thrust into a very responsible job where she has to watch her husband fade into the dark unknown, not knowing what will happen to him.

When Is a House Not a House

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, I had seen the house as a rather drab metaphor for the unknown, the fear of the future, you have to adapt to your surroundings as they shift around you. The house tends to bring out everyone's insecurities, whether its is Karen's claustrophobia, Reston needing to have a gun to cope with labyrinth being too much to handle without some sort of killing tool. It even brings out the insecurities of Karen with her relationship with Will.

I find that the house's constant shifting is also a take on the permanence of certain things throughout the novel. The ability of a relationship to fall to shambles, the fragility of human life, the fragility of the human psyche. I know that if I was in this house, while I would be intrigued to explore it, I would be entirely frustrated by its constant shifting, endless stairwells and corridors. It never allows anyone to see what the the truth is behind the house is, what the intention is. That begs the question, what is the intention of this novel, who's story are we really hearing, is it the Navidson's story, is it Johnny's story, or is it the story of the human race?

What I found most depressing about the House was why it was purchased. It was purchased so Karen and Will could raise a family and be close to another, Will would get away from his strangling job. Unfortunately Will spends most of his time wandering and exploring the house with his brother and comrades while Karen tries to avoid the house thus inadvertently avoiding Will. It becomes another catalyst for their relationship to fail.

House

As I had mentioned before, I had this odd fascination with the word house being highlighted in blue. After much searching, I read online that somehow it is reference to the blue screen that is used on movie sets. I continued to sit and think, hitting the wall, the screen saver on the computer next to me went, I accidentally hit the mouse, and a blue screen popped up. It hit me like a locomotive, the blue screen of death on a windows computer, the demise of your computer. I couldn't and think that the house itself is absolute failure for people to communicate, for things to work. This is also a reference to being completely in the dark a fear of what is going to happen, fear itself, hitting a wall, a snag. There is a real unfortunate relationship between Johnny and his brother. They do not communicate, they have a complete demise in their dynamic as fraternal brothers. I then was able to move on to the pages that contained the venture into the labyrinth. Reston brings a gun, he has a fear of the unknown, a fear of things not going the way he planned, a fear of being stopped in his tracks (or wheels). On page 212, Reston says ' "I can't see a fucking thing,' Reston whispers. Which is true: neither one of their flashlights can effectively penetrate that far into the black, and its rather unfortunate because it leads to the demise of Jed.

SKIP IT

Rob Adams was rather intimidated by this book, he was afraid to open it. Call him what you want, but fear comes with the territory of text boxes written backwards. Rob didn't want to open the book, he wanted to sit on his nightstand, but eventually Rob bit the bullet, Rob cracked the book.

When Rob began his journey into the strangest books he has ever read, he only got to page 8 and stopped. He was rather out off by how convoluted the pages looked, how schizophrenic the plot seemed. He started on Saturday, he ended on Saturday; only to pick it up late Monday night.

Quite frankly Rob again, read only a few pages again. Rob skipped over most of the footnotes, as a former history major, Rob thinks footnotes were put on this earth to annoy and bother every writer on the planet, leaving them feeling cold and begging for the MLA format. Rob hungry, Rob smash.

Then Rob got to page 50. Page 50 has a math equation. Rob doesn't like math. While it is rather petty to ignore about 4 or 5 pages because a math equation, Rob continued forward. Rob got to about page 64, and stumbled upon the same thing Tom Mikos did, the list of names, while it conjured up memories of John Hodgman reading 700 Hobo names in his opus The Area of My Expertise. Nonetheless it isn't entertaining and nor is it to the tune of "Big Rock Candy Mountain."

Rob skipped the crossed out red lines from from 110-111. He saw minotaur but only went that far. He then proceeded to 119-145 where the text boxes make there appearance. Thats where Rob halted the reading process, he didn't want to have to read in the mirror, he then continued to page 147 and finished the rest of the assignment. While not reading that whole section, Rob did wonder if it was an elaborate Tetris game.

VIDEO

Whilst reading through the first couple of pages of House of Leaves I came across the mention of the HG Wells historic radio reading of War of The Worlds from 1938. The widespread panic that occurred from this broadcast immediately reminded me of Karen's inability to enter or even comprehend what was in her own home. She is scared but what she is told. Much like the listeners of the War of the Worlds, who were actually believe that world was being invaded by an alien force. It plays on fear, Karen has disorder that causes her fear. She is claustrophobic, she is in an ever changing house, which confronts her ever changing fears. The house expands, he disorder becomes less and less, but as the house becomes tighter, he fears grow. The War of the Worlds reading plays on the fear of the listening public.

I LI KE T HIS B OOK

I have read through the first

200 hundred pages

I shall finish it tomorrow

Its not that bad.

More to come.

First Drafts

House of Leaves has left me in a bind. For the most part, the plot isn't as convoluted as I expected it to be. It seems very intimidating when you first open the book. The text becomes very, lets say, different as you proceed further and further into the book. From what I've gathered, its a story inside a story, with another story in the footnotes.

The typography seems to be the draw for me at the moment. Kevin mentioned two things that I had crossed my mind, one being that within the first couple of pages, you come across the word "house" highlighted in blue, much like a hyperlink, which in return brings up that point that it was in fact originally on the Internet. Its now driving me insane to see where that hyperlink would bring the reader. Kevin also brought up Joyce's Finnegan's Wake, which is the most incomprehensible piece of literature I have read, while I appreciate it as a landmark piece of literature from one of my favorite authors, it drives me nuts on an annual basis.

Which intrigued me was that it reads like a first draft, from the cross outs, the change in font, the change in color, to the text boxes that seem like notes, but also read as anecdotes, or outside commentary. Right now I'm doing my best to differentiate the characters, but I have a feeling that it is going to take multiple read throughs if this book to fully grasp. I was even contemplating just reading the footnotes (off the record, as a former history major, I've realllllllly grown to loathe footnotes).

This made me chuckle.

Yes

Rosa Parks sat so MLK could walk, MLK walked so Barack Obama could run.

Thank You President Lyndon B Johnson

This is what made everything tonight possible, thank you.

Let the Great Experiment Begin

As I sit in front of my television watching the numbers scroll across the bottom of my screen, George Stephanopoulos comments on the board behind, Obama wins parts of the upper midwest. While I am overjoyed by the current state of the polls, I can't help but remember back to the other day while I was waiting for elevator on the second floor.

As I stood in front of the elevator, waiting to go up to the sixth floor, one elevator door opened. As I peered in with Kevin, we were greeted by a full elevator of students. Kevin and I are weren't prepared for what was said to us. One student blurted out, "The McCain elevator is over there." The elevator exploded into laughter, we both stood there stunned. As the door closed, I stuck my foot in so the doors would open again to react to what they said. Unfortunately I had to explain express my political views to get an apology and a resounding cheer after I informed them of my choice. I hadn't felt that insulted in a long time and sure says a lot about the voting public. Yes it was an act of racism, even if they were joking, it makes me worry about the voting youth.

Nonetheless, as of right now, things look good, but I'm not taking anything for granted.

Facebook, Numbers, Status.

I must say, right now I am really impressed by the ticker atop my facebook homepage. I'm glad the youth are voting.

Bliss

This is the definition of bliss.

Flowers for Michal

Brilliance and sadism go hand in hand right? The Pillowman is a harrowing achievement that leaves readers (or viewers) stunned with its sheer backwards story telling. Martin McDonagh makes quick work of the reader interweaving reality with fiction, but leaves you wondering, s it really fiction, are the stories real or are they true to Katurian's life? I found myself reading over the play a few times, starting and stopping, and starting again from the beginning, just to grasp the characterization.

I found Michal's character to be very endearing. His sheer sense of innocence in the face of despair; the ability to feel alright as long as his brother approves of what he does. He looks up to Katurian and his only way of expressing it is through acting out his brother's short stories. While Michal does retain a sense of innocence, he also carries a very mild sense of reason. While maybe not apparent to himself, some of his interjections become words of wisdom and put things in perspective for Katurian. Allow me to take you back to 7th grade. I remember reading Flowers for Algernon and feeling this deep conflict between emotion and intellect. While Charlie does become and intellectual, he was happier at his more simpler state of mind. Charlie, in his state of adult retardation, was more coherent and sensible; his innocence gave others insight to situations that weren't so easily accessible.

Also, Jeff Goldblum as Tupolski, brilliant.

Midterm?

Fuck it dude, lets go bowling.

It's All in the Family

I for one didn't have any trouble reading Black Watch. Maybe it's because of my Celtic upbringing (oddly enough I was religiously raised Jewish, but that's besides the point), or my background with theatre. I have spent a good portion of my life at family reunions that consist of either angry Irish men or angry Scottish men, and yes, they all sound like these men in Black Watch. Of course there is the excessive usage of profanity and the word "cunt."

This play very much mirrors that of Jarhead just for the sheer fact that the majority of the play they spend most of the time just chatting and doing absolutely nothing. What I did find absolutely hilarious was the comment on the weight of Americans with the "extra, extra, extra, extra, extra (?) large shirt." Although I did find the ending rather uneventful and unfulfilling, it would be just like ending Jarhead with "Semper Fi."

"Blowin Up" the McCain campaign.

Man, Sarah Palin keeps digging a deeper hole for the GOP. She honestly has to be dense, of course she could have a disguised USB drive in the back of her head (Why else would she have that hair doo?) where they deliver all their information. It is getting very lame that the Republicans have to resort to fear mongering. Fun fact, most ex-members of the Weather Underground are now either teachers or lawyers or community activists. In other news, OJ finally got owned by the system.