In Response to John Nay - Music as a Matter of Discussion

I completely agree with what you are saying here.... and you are right, not enough people see the dangers because they are either the happy rich man or the numbed poor.

What I'm wondering, just for the sake of conversation, was what television shows you had in mind for the lazy, overconsumption, and snobbery? (I know there's plenty, but did you have any in mind?) For some reason as soon as you said that, I thought of the shows that are the exact opposite.... shows like "The Biggest Loser" that are making hugely overweight people get up and do something to better their health and the people around them; shows like "Lie to Me" or "CSI" that stimulate the thought processes and surprise you at every turn. These shows don't really address the problem at hand that you speak of... but one show that did pop up into my head right now that contributes heavily are shows like "Paris Hilton's New BFF". Shows like disgust me.

I think another thing that you might want to address are the insane amounts of money our society poors into sports and the athletes involved. Talk about a material era :).

Ze Test!

Oh, it should be interesting to see how this one turns out. Looking at it one way, I knew almost everything on it..... but looking on at it the other, the ones I didn't know, I really didn't know. Sooo, through amazing eduguessing perhaps I puller around some amazing numbers. Ve vill find out sune!

Hash for April 06, 2009

-Talking of throwing darts at the Kane book to make a paper topic. He says anything can come from it.

-Crazy Coffee Carly to the board to write questions for the test!!!!

Chapters 4,5,6 of Ong.... Ramone Lull, Bruno, Camillo from Yates's Memory Treatises Chapters

Here we go:

1. Nietzsche says we are all walking __________ . dictionaries
2. Off Sutter's Talk of Ramone Lull, name these terms for given to him: Motion, No Images, Non-Corporeal, Ladder, Tree
3. Ong Chap. 6 - Triangle vs. Box (questions will go along these.... remember Fritag Triangular form as reference to Aristotle's Poetics vs. Mis-en-Abyme (into the abyss) Box within Box form of Orality)
4. The Protestant Reformation = Printing Press
5. Mandala - Squaring of the Circle
6. Democratic/Alphabet
7. Ong 142 - Gesang ist dasein. (Means "song is existence" in German)
8. Ong 130 - Finality and Closure (print)
9. Yates 224 - The Memory System of ______ would require the memory of a divine man, the Magus. Bruno
10. What does alithiometer stand for? A Truth Measurer
11. 7 Pillars of Solomon's House of Wisdom - Camillo (The 7 Planets of Yore)
12. Iliad - "Such was the funeral rights of Hector, The Tamer of Horses"
13. Ong Chap. 4 - How many times was the alphabet invented? Once
14. What are the chances of something happening? 1 in 3 (The longer you live and the older you get, you just realize that coincidences are always happening because you realize they do.)
15. What did Tai and Robert use for their memory systems? Their Bodies
16. FW Article - Before writing their was speech, and before speech their was gesture.
17. Yates 188 - Lull and Kabala - System that arose from this
18. FW Article - Hypertext & Portmanteau - (James Joyce and Cyberspace language)
19. Ancient Hebrew language was lacking what? Vowels
20. LTRTR NGLSH
21. Yates 203 - What is Bruno doing when he's said to be crazy and unrestrained? Bruno rushes out of convent/Divination of Man through memory
22. Ong 126 - Tristram Shandy's Silence - Blank Space (I read another book about this this semester too!)
23. George Herbert's Poem "Easter Wings" (Hourglass Shape + Butterfly Wings) - Ong 126
24. The most notorious book that nobody reads? FW
25. Myths are repository for practical knowledge.
26. The ability to hears colors? Synesthesia

In Reference to Tai's Book Report....

Read Tai's Book report and do as it says (read it ;). This book is an amazing book for the modern mind. It is my favorite (mostly because it contains every aspect of a book I want.... mythology, mystery, action, and dark humor).

And as I said in the comment I left on his blog, I think that Neil Gaiman's works always find a way back to Sexson's classes, one reason being because both Sexson and Gaiman are heavily rooted in the mythological stories that show up in our modern lives today. (The classic Romeo and Juliet, Beauty and the Beast, and other famous stories have been played out in myths from thousands of years ago.) It is also this connection that makes Sexson so enjoyable to listen too and Gaiman so enjoyable to read. I wonder how my perceptions of them would change, however, if I had only ever been able to read Sexson's thoughts and listen to Gaiman speak. I'm sure it would make these people completely different in my mind's eye. But that is one thing I will never know..... but once again, read American God's or any other Gaiman literature (for graphic novelists, his Sandman Series are untouchable.... for children's literature, Coraline.... and for fun fantasy, Neverwhere.... and for dark fantasy, American Gods or Anansi Boys). So go out, read and be happy, and if you by chance decide to read one of these books because of this blog please come tell me about it, I'd love to talk to you about your experience! -Chris

Hash for April 03, 2009

Talking of people's ideas for their papers and some going off on Oral Traditions but not having them connected to the books and the ideas expressed in class.

****Last day of the class is the last day to cross your t's and dot your I's on your blogs****

Talking more of correctness Nazis and reading Kevin's term paper on his blog.

He's reading a wonderful paper on "Right Writing" and every sentence is the wrongness it speaks about. :)

Speaking on Term Paper topics and discussing problems and what can be worked with to make them better on the paper.
-Bog People and The Ceremony/Sacrifice
-Paleolithic Art and Orality
-Post-Modernism and Ong's Six Points
-Power of Names
-Oral Poetry and The Sacred Meaning Behind It
-Pure Sound (he then recites Finnegan's Wake); when words don't matter in your song
-Tone of Voice
-The Medium is the Message (Ong and McLuhan connections); Sexson against any type of video of classes, teachers, and students.
-Science as a Degradation to the Oral Tradition (The Alphabet & The Goddess - Book being lent to him for his paper)
-Oral Poets; The Oral Tradition and the Individual Talent; Standing on the Shaman's Shoulders as well as Shakespeare.

Group Meetings!

- Change in group presentation days:

Wednesday April 15th - Group 1+2
Friday - Group 5+6
Monday - 3+4

Everyone please read....

I have posted all of the pictures I have to date on a separate blog that is linked over to the right called "Memorize Us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"..... hopefully this will make it easier for all of you to memorize your peers rather than sifting through my blogs to find the pictures. Enjoy!

Nothing is ever learned, only remembered...

Far off from these a slow and silent stream,
Lethe the River of Oblivion rolls
Her wat'ry Labyrinth, whereof who drinks,
Forthwith his former state and being forgets,
Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain.

John Milton
Paradise Lost