Wood

Wow...guys, girls, wow. I just listened to Wood for the first time. I'm speechless. For 51 minutes, I could lie in my bed, stare at the ceiling, and just listen. I had no huge history project. I had no clarinet test to practice for. It was just me, listening, and perfectly happy. It's 11:21 PM now though, and I have to go to sleep, and be up early enough to get to my friend's house to work on the aforementioned history project. But...just, wow. This is what it's all about. I'll write specifics tomorrow. Because I don't have the Powerbook with the backlit keyboard, and I can't see the keys too well.

Yeah... that's how I felt when I first heard it too. :)

Brilliant.

That album is so amazing. AND it floats in water!

does it slice and dice and make julienne fries?

like apples! and churches!

What else floats? A duck. If it weighs as much as a duck it is a witch!

I heard that the witch-burning scene is getting cut from Spamalot. That just stinks! I've always wanted to hear "Let's build a bridge out of her!" on the Broadway stage. :)

That sort of reminds me of the first week I had Birdhouse in Your Soul on a mix tape my brother gave me in 4th grade. I sat in bed listening, rewinding, listening, rewinding for hours. It was pure bliss.

that's how I -still- am with Jeff Buckley's "Grace" album.. that album is pure. I can listen to it for days at a time and not get sick of it. It's disturbingly good. It's like an orgasm on a disc.

That's a lovely little metaphor. :P

Sorry Caroline, when one gets a bit older, that kind of thing becomes a normal part of language. :)

I'm sure I'm not the only one here who is at a bit of a loss as to what to do about having a couple of younger teens in our midst. I'm sure nobody wants you to be uncomfortable, but at the same time "adult" topics and language appear here with some regularity, not just sex, but drugs and alchohol too.

Everybody here is really nice and pretty responsible, but we've all lived lives longer than you, and our experiences are going to be more wide ranging than what a 14 year old should have experienced yet.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this, except to say that I hope we will find a way to be sensitive to you guys without censoring ourselves, and that in turn you guys are able to be comfortable functioning here maybe a little above your ages.

Or something. Whatever. I'll shut up now. ;)

I hung out online with a bunch of older people when I was 14 and look how good and well-adjusted I turned out! :)

Yeah, same here. :)

Besides, we have a lot of younger folks on here... I don't think it's an issue.

*nod* yeah, when I first got online when I was about 12 or 13 I "hung out" on the Monty Python BBS on Prodigy... bunch of 40-somethings making dirty jokes approximately 24/7. Got to be good friends with some of them. Needless to say, they adored me and my sweet innocence and corruptability. 0:)

I don't mind much...and you guys are nothing compared to some of my...umm...classmates that I hear every day at school.
I'm pretty comfortable with it every once in awhile, and i think i'm mature enough to function a little above my age.

Yeah, I was gonna say.

What's said around here is NOTHING compared to what I heard at 13/14. :D

Exactly. NOTHING you can say here will be worse than what I hear in "connected learning."

I'm not sure if I want to know, but what exactly is "connected learning"?

For three days I have gym, then the next three days I have general music. But its different from my other classes in that it is just kids randomly placed together, so there are delinquenty type kids in the class. Oh, and general music was "exploring technology" for the first two parking periods. it changes halfway through the year.

I have absolutely no sympathy for people who are upset about not being isolated from the kids that aren't in their "track". systems such as these favor white kids from more affluent backgrounds and if you're not the type they're looking for, it's hard to break in. a lot of kids get left in the dust.

I went to an inner-city high school. My class had a 30% dropout rate, starting out freshman year with 500, but by graduation there were only about 350.

a lot of these kids dropped out because they were genuinely intelligent, but because they didn't have the advantages of the richer kids, they didn't fit the "honors" mold. they didn't fit the "AP" mold. they were shoved into lower-level classes, where they were bored and frustrated. these kids start acting out, these kids don't see any point in school, these kids drop out.

when the best teachers and resources go to kids who have the home support and the background generally required to fit into the structure of the upper-level high school classes, everyone else suffers. when schools are more concerned about the number of kids who pass AP exams and let a basic-level geometry class go without a teacher for a marking period, there is a major problem in the system.

a lot of these "delinquent types" are that way because they are expected to be that way. what I remember from high school is that often, I would prefer being in a class with the "delinquent types" than with the kids who everyone expects to succeed. in many cases, if you got to know them, they were more fun and insightful than those other kids could ever try to be. a lot of these "delinquent types" have tough lives. many of them act that way because they have to. don't write them off like that.

Oooh I detect a whole new tangent coming on. :)

"and the thread swerved out of control!"

just' doin' my duty.

I have absolutely no sympathy for people who are upset about not being isolated from the kids that aren't in their "track".

From my experience, I have to strongly disagree with that. The main reason I would have preferred to not have to share non-core classes was that there was such a strong resentment by the non-'GT' students toward the 'GT' students that the bullying problem was out of control and nothing could really be done to fix it, except for isolation.

I'd have loved to have never had to deal with the people who wanted to beat me up just because I did well in my classes.

Just so long as you aren't counting the genuine delinquents with the 'delinquent-because-I'm-bored' kids.� Some factors are beyond a kids control, others are fully within their grasp.

I wasn't an AP-kid, but I was one of the higher non-AP's.� I didn't fit the honors mold, I never complained that my A was better than someone else's A because my class was harder. I didn't get pushed into lower-level classes (except for entry level math, but that was my own fault).� Teaching to pass standardized tests is evil and wrong, but there are some kids who don't care about school.� Should the best teachers go to them?� Probably, but then you're sacrificing the education of people who genuinely want to learn.� My school had classes that were routinely taught by the students.� Is that right?

That said, I think this tangent is undeserved.� I didn't hear any complaint about being in class with delinquents. It's entirely possible that she doesn't mind.� I also have no sympathy for people who want segregated classrooms.� I do have sympathy for students who are genuinely trying to learn in a classroom where the teacher is more babysitter than instructor.

All tangents are deserved. Tangents are wonderful!

Firstly, I may have prhased that wrong, because you got the idea that I resented being blended with kids i thought i was better than or something. That is entirely untrue. The thing I don't like about these classes is that the teachers are pushovers. They do absolutely nothing in the classes, because they aren't main classes, like math or science or english, and they don't matter as much. The kids totally disrespect the teachers, their way of acting out, and the teachers do nothing, so the kids go on being like that, and "digging themselves in deeper." It's bad for them, and it's bad for regular kids too, because their time is wasted.
Second, it isn't just these type of kids that get left in the dust. When I started seventh grade, i had lost my only friend, and hated the junior high with a passion. As it were, I had no option of dropping out, and things were expected of me. So I did the work, even though it was easy, and I was bored in all my classes. I did my job. I went to each class, sat there, learned, and left. And I got straight As. That's prettty much the same thing I do this year. Sure, I raise my hand every once in awhile, but not often, and only when i'm actually interested in the subject, which most often is in history class. (today, for example, i got extra credit for knowing that William Clinton was the only president to be a Rhodes scholar.)
Third, I have gotten to know kids like that. Last year, a girl named Karielle was in my two non-honors classes, band and french. We sat next to each other in both classes during the first marking period, and helped each other out. She was a very kind, fun person, that I was glad I got to know. So, you can't accuse me of thinking others "too low" to be my friends. Also, I would like to mention that it's very difficult for me to make friends, 'cause i'm not the greatest speaker in the world. I'm a heck of a lot better at writing things down, such as this, than actually speaking them.

The Cure's Disintegration and James' experiemental disc Wah Wah are both similar experiences for me. dark room, possibly just a single candle on the other side of it. watch the flames dance and be engrossed for hours in the musical sensory overload ;)

Muse's Absolution is another one, but more in a "i'm driving at night with this album turned up to 11. i'm invincible, i'm flying, i'm one with the universe" type of listening.

OK- now that I'm not sleep deprived and drugged up with NyQuil- here are my impressions of 'wood, song by song.
Down From Above- I'd heard this before I got the album, and it's one of my favorites, esp. the melody.
Horseshoes- I heard this on Live Noise, but the piano intro is really nice. It has a slightly different sort of feel too it on wood too.
Fly- Another one I've heard, but it still didn't make a difference. It's still one of my favorite songs.
Present Tense Tureen- Ha. I loved this song the moment I heard it. Its silly, and fun. And I like the verse about the "in the tiny creek, there's a tiny boat, with a tiny man in a tiny coat" and the "of course i can, i'm an elf! we're not just fictional device. we sail ravines, and give advice." The vocal harmonies are cool, i love the banjo. But just how does one giggle in french?
Poor Mary Lane- I love the attacks and the chorus, and it just has a melodic quality every once in awhile, that I like it.
On Her Doorstep- A huge contrast to 'Mary Lane,' and a really sweet song, with a good tune, and clever lyrics.
Misplaced- I don't know why I like this one. I just do.
It's Too Cold- WOW. This has been permeating my brain all day. So I had to put off my clarinet practicing. Anyway, it's just great. the whole thing. But especially the chorus. Because that is amazing. The guitar, and the bold vocals and whatnot. I love it.
Bed & Breakfast- I like this tune a lot, especially the refrain, but the lyrics are just a little strange. The rhinocerous reference leads this song to remind me of this book called The Eleventh Hour. It's a picture book where you solve clues and stuff, by Graeme Base I think. But the main character is a rhino.
Nuits De Reve- I take french...can't figure this one out though. I don't mind. I just like listening. It's soft, and quiet, and calm, with some sorrow. (ok, maybe more than some.)
Sad Today- Hee hee. Sad today is great. The yowling after "hanged your cat" was an especially nice touch. :D And what made it even better was the "hidden track, "Organ Grinder" which at first I thought was an iTunes screw up, because 'Sad Today" ended, and there was still a lot of time. This morning, I fast forwarded and discovered Organ Grinder, which is a fun song.
So that's it...i'm off to practice my clarinet. ;)

Down From Above- I'd heard this before I got the album, and it's one of my favorites, esp. the melody

heh. wait till you see the video. o.O

"every good�show has a puke scene." - my dad.

I saw the video...i had to close the little window. that manakin thing scared the heck out of me.
edit- i plucked up the courage to watch it again. And...WOW. Why are they wearing scary teeth? And those hoods that make them look either like lawn gnomes or KKK? The sepia tone is cool tho.

see, I just dig the heels.

Nuits De Reve- I take french...can't figure this one out though. I don't mind. I just like listening. It's soft, and quiet, and calm, with some sorrow. (ok, maybe more than some.)
That's because it's Canadian, which is sort-of based on French, but different.

Misplaced is far and away my favorite on Wood. Horseshoes and Fly tie for second.� While I love the album, it's still a little too introspective for everyday listening.

Yeah, some of the words I know in it, but they are really different sounding.
Misplaced is awesome, i love it, and horseshoes and fly were favorites already.

www.fruvous.com has translations of the french songs, I believe.

yep. thanks. I read them... amazing song.

No, Canadian is sort-of based on English, but different. Canadien is sort-of based on French, but different. Get it straight!

I never could get the hang of Canadian spelling. Sorry for the mistake. :-)

thue truick ius tuo audd U's tuo everuything aund eveuntually yuou wuill guet iut ruight.