God and I Versus All

(Note: I tried to censor all the swear words teenagers use subconsciously. I kept it to the minimum)

CAST

Algernon: High school kid in a band
Lane: A kid bullied by Algernon
Jack: Algernon’s friend and also in his band
Gwendolen: Captain of Cheerleading squad
Lady Bracknell: Gwendolen’s mom and Algernon’s aunt, CEO of a record company.

There is a loud riff of electric guitar, so good that nearby passengers think Jimmy Hendrix revived or something

Lane: Yo, Algy, we should like go on a gig or something!

Algernon: shut up and wipe the floor because I can play with expression and you smell.

Jack comes in

Jack: sup

Algy: sup ma drummer?

Jack: Oh dude why’s your room so clean? Is someone important visiting you?

Algy: Yeah. Gwendolen and my aunt.

Jack: oh baby…(interrupted by Algy)

Algy: You get the hell out of here before they come. It’s seriously gay and disgusting watching my friend and a cousin flirting.

Jack: that’s none of your business, you’re just jealous you don’t get to flirt with any of girls unlike me

Algy: That’s because girls and relationships are just nuisances in my path and passion towards music.

Jack: I think you’re gay

Algy: (ignores) Today is my very important day of life you dumbass. But still before that, who the hell is Cecily? If you answer that clearly, I wouldn’t kick you out.

Jack: your mom

Algy: tell me or I’ll tell Gwendolen that you’re already going out with someone else.

Jack: BS. … Alright. She’s my mom.

Algy: right, then why the heck does your mom call you an ‘oppa*’? (Oppa is a korean word that girls use to address older guys. Could be comprehended as romantic)

Jack: WTF? Where’d you get that?

Algy: You left your cellphone last time, and I unintentionally read the latest message.

Jack: What, you had my phone and you didn’t even tell me? What’s wrong with you man, I just got a new one!

Algy: Sorry about that but who’s Cecily?

Jack: She’s my stepmom. My dad likes young girls. Pedophile.. incest.. which one was it?

Algy: Stop lying to me! Lane! bring the phone!

Lane: Here

Algy: I’ll read the exact meesage: “Oppa, when are you coming back to the club? Please don’t make me wait again! <3 – Cecily.” So… you go to clubs with your stepmom and do stuff? That’s really gross… man what’s wrong with you and your family?

Jack: Alright.. I’ll just tell the truth. That’s a little homework-study group I belong to. Cecily’s just an underclassmen I knew. And I was tardy these days.

Algy: YOU STUDY? I never knew you studied! I introduced you to every one of my friends as “one of us” and you’re just saying that you study. In a nice little fancy study group with Cecily, bloody liar!

Jack: No, I don’t really go there, just went there a few times because my mom forced me to.

Algy: Quit kidding or I’ll rip your **lls out and shove it into Gwen’s throat

Jack: Okay, Okay! I tend to play around in school out outside, but I study in home. Got that? And I don’t have any affairs with Cecily, I’m totally clean, you have no reason to block me from making out with Gwen!

Lane: Guys, Bracknell and Gwen came!

Lady Bracknell and Gwen comes in

Bracknell: What a clean room! Algernon, why, you are so neat!

Algernon: It’s no problem, thank you.

Gwen: hey

Jack: hey

Algy: hey

Gwen: Hey Jack, how do I look today?

Jack: Perfectly hot

Gwen: OMG, Perfect? I hope not, because I have sexier clothes in my home that my parents would never let me wear. If I am perfect right now, those would have been a total waste of money!

Bracknell: So, Algernon, I am very impressed with your video that you put on Youtube. So may I listen to your demo-CD? I’m sure it is done by now. The EMI is interested in promoting your project through record sales.

Algy: oh, I’m afraid that I did not burn my demo CD yet. You know, we students have less than a month for Finals! Sorry, I was very busy studying these days (shares eye glance with Jack) . However still I can play it live for you. Would you come to the studio?

Bracknell: okay

Bracknell and Algernon goes to the other room

Gwen: hey

Jack: hey… good weather. And I love you. Let’s go out.

Gwen: Oh yes! You don’t know how long I waited for that! Besides, you are my perfect type! A drummer who bravely ditches school and pursues his own impossible dreams! Such as becoming the greatest drummer int he world! I always admired a person like that, and I knew I would fall in love with you since Algy first introduced us!

Jack: Okay.. I understand, but what about a guy who’s GPA is 4.0? One who gets the honor roles and scholarships?

Gwen: Bah, talk nonsense, Jack! Why would I even care about those nerds? Those are unexciting and unromantic. Jack, I only have you!

Lady Bracknell and Algernon returns

Bracknell: What madness is this, look what postures you guys are in! How embarrassing!

Gwen: Mom, I got a (new) boyfriend! It’s Jack!

Bracknell: Jack? Well, I know only a few things about you. I will have to ask you bunch of questions if you will suit my beautiful daughter. So first question. How are your parents?

Jack: They used to work in the World Trade Tower until 11 September, 2001. I currently live in an empty house alone with government support and legacy of my parents.

Algernon: Oh, you never told me your mom was dead.

Bracknell: I’m sorry! But that means you would have received some good education… and you are free at all times! You could take care of my daughter well! So now the second question, how do you do in school?

Jack: I am actually one of the brightest, I maintained straight A’s all years of highschool and received various academic recognitions.

Bracknell: Perfect! So, how many AP courses did you take?

Jack: In fact, took none of them. Many colleges that I desired to apply did not require AP’s or even SAT’s. Because I’m aiming for a music school.

Bracknell: Nonsense! How ignorant must you be, claiming to be smart without taking any AP or IB classes? Don’t you realize it’s useless having a 4.0 if you don’t have any AP exam scores to show off? It turned out to be, after all, you are not suitable for my Gwendolen at all therefore I cannot prove you guys’ relationships. Gwendolen, we’re going home.

Jack: (B***H)

Gwen: mama, no! Jack, rescue me!

Gwen and Bracknell leaves

Algy: That was one hot scene, man?

Jack: Shut up… man, what’s wrong with her?

Algy: she’s just like that… you know. Rich people think they’re Luois XVI or something

Jack: Ahh, time for the study session is almost up! I shall be leaving, see you soon!

Jack leaves

Algernon: Did anyone notice that Jack didn’t take back his old phone? Alright, let’s look at this.. there it is, the address for the study group! I am going there as well, well, to check out Cecily!

Lane: Did everyone forget me?

ACT I curtain drop.

One of the articles of Boing Boing, one of the most read digital magazine, mentioned

New research shows that the electromagnetic signals emanating from mobile phones can alter your brainwaves. Indeed, the latest studies suggest that mobile phone transmissions can even affect behavior

That was one shocking thing, I used to live with my cellphone 24/7. Strangely enough I didn’t notice that much of a personality change inside me. I mean, of course I’ve changed since I bought my first cell phone but I don’t think I was affected by my little motorola phone.  And Boing Boing adds on

Cell phones in talk mode seem to be particularly well-tuned to frequencies that affect brainwave activity.

I guess that was why. I don’t use my cellphone for talking frequently but rather texting and to check time.

I should be more careful with my new Motorola z8m phone..  there’s always a cost for it, huh (isn’t paying enough?)

Here I have two very cool sites to share. If you are interested in becoming part of these activity clubs, just click the link and go!

1. Space

space logo by Pablo

SPACE ISSUE #3 IS UP!!!

What is Space? Space is a digital-literary magazine that presents works of students globally. So far there had been two issues published very successfully, and the third one is coming soon. (Link to Space Issue #2)

It is your chance to ever get your personal work, writing, whatever to get peer-checked and reviewed by students half around the globe. It will be a great experience for both contributors and viewers.

Space accepts almost every kind of digital works- art, music, poetry, movie clip, essays, columns… everything you feel like a stuff people should read or watch or listen to.

Submissions due date: MAY 25th EST.
How to submit work to SPACE

(note from the editors: highschool-submissions are strongly encouraged!)

2. Intrepid Classroom

Intrepid Classroom is a classroom created to utilize education that is not quite taught in classrooms. Students choose the topics to explore and they have insightful discussions that students ‘unacademically (or I meant ‘out of the box’)’ wise and sensitive.

It was established merely a week ago and we successfully carried out the first lesson: music and its impact on society.
If you want to learn what you want to learn, if you want classmates of different nationalities, if you are looking for further connections, you gotta join the Intrepid Classroom!

Please do join as you please

ranges from this

(video provided by Clotho83)

to this

(and this one provided by MyLifesDespair)

or vice versa

First video is Lim Dong Hyek playing Chopin’s Ballade no.1 in the 1st Round of The Tchaikovsky Competition 2007 Simply masterful. I can play the first 2 minutes or so or all the repeating slow and easy part. (And yes, sadly but the 7:40 mark in the video contains a ‘mistake’. He’s human). In that competition, Lim Dong Hyek won a tied third place, with an omitted first place.

Second song is I Dedicate My Beauty to the Stars (it’s a user created content video) by a rather underground band in global stance from Norway, called Enslavement of Beauty. But I’m pretty sure that this band is popular in its own country.

Musicians, or more accurately composers, are alchemists. They produce the opium of ears out of nothing, truly nothing. All is One, One is All as Arch Enemy cries in their song Nemesis in the 1:20 mark (+And for those who actually clicked Nemesis to hear the song, she is a girl. )

Creating matter out of vacuum might be impossible in Science, but it is possible in music.

This is my philosophy of music and I think that’s why I tend to accept whole variety of music without any single favorite genres (though dominant number is rock). All kinds of rock, classic, rap, electronic, pop, jazz, please me, especially the good ones.

Too bad I can’t learn these skills until college. Taking Orchestra class, my school’s one of the fewest class regarding music with Choir, wouldn’t teach me that. sniff.

(My blog width is short. Resolution has to be bad. For better view for those with bad eyesights and desire to observe exact details of my tweetcloud, visit here)

In Twitter so far I have 626 updates, 4/30 2008. These are the words I typed in the most. Well, it was sort of like how I imagined it to be. This cloud is interesting. It has a big fat @Lindseak in the middle, as if Lindsea was my only friend. Well, she is actually one of the fewest people I actually have conversations with.

Second biggest word, blog. How did I talk so much about blogging? I feel like a geek.

And there are some other people, @Bassman_Sean , @Curbxstomp, @cburell, @dmcordell, @paulallison, and @GingerTPLC. Never met these people (actually met on voice with a couple) but having great shares thru trafficking each others’ pieces in a hive called blogs. Recently I was rather off on Twitter and blogosphere due to flooding issues in reality. My problems seems to be over soon, and hopefully this TweetCloud of mine will have some more diversity of big words :p

And let’s see, there are lots of exclamational remarks I make! haha, yay, yea, dammit, woohoo… looks so childish :’(

And it seems like I thank people a lot. That was very nice of me :-]

I’ve observed that when people usually involve in a project such as a podcast recording, they post the same thing, and naming the post somewhere “Cross Post”I’ve never done this before, and I don’t know how this works. I don’t even know if I’m supposed to do this. But I’m just gonna do it anyways because I feel like it. (thanks Mr. Burell for the correction!)

Learning to be Unschooly – TTT98 – 04.02.08

Earlier this month, on Youth Twitter, a student in South Korea, Soojin wrote, “just my opinion about youthtwitter: schooly. concrete.”

A bit later, Hannah, a student in Philadelphia, answered on Youth Twitter, “I think Alan’s survey is a good example of how not to be ’schooly’. Students should ask questions of each other and interact.”

Wow, we thought this would be an interesting conversation on Teachers Teaching Teachers. Perhaps we could have more of a Students Teaching Teachers show.

We invited Soojin, Hannah, Alan, a student from Queens, NY, Lindsea, a studnet from Honolulu, and Ben, a student from NYC to talk about the possibilities and problems with http://youthtwitter on our live webcast, Teachers Teaching Teachers.

What a great a conversation we had about Youth Twitter, and blogging, and social networking and blogging-beyond-school…

Image by Lindsea

 

Rest of the post in TeachersTeachingTeachers with the actual podcast audio and chat log

 

Last Friday at school, we had, so far in my opinion, had one of the most contradicting (well, it’s our first discussion with a satiric writing in 10th grade) and peculiar discussion ever.

And how come I am blogging about a stuff happened last Friday? Because my brain realizes some stuff always at a late tempo. That’s how I always lost participation counts in previous discussions and in MUN conferences.

We had a discussion outside classroom, enjoying the sunny sunshine that would supposedly wake us up and refresh our brains. Well, it was way better to think outside with genuine air rather than in enclosed classroom, surrounded by walls and a roof (and windows). Basically, I felt more ‘free’ outside.

The discussion went pretty straight forward. Jonathan Swift kindly proposed us to eat our children in order to become rich in his The Modest Proposal. And we were supposed to discuss about the satirical imagery and how it reflected. However because of my participation, and with the aid of my writing prompt, the literary discussion steered its way to the Economic discussion.

I will reproduce my writing prompt I had for this discussion:

Questions: What does poverty mean to you? Is money everything? Just because you may not have money are you poor? Or is it that you lack happiness so you’re poor? Is there a solution to poverty? Or is poverty just a cycle that makes it hard for people to escape it?

1) poverty is a state of condition that people are unable to finance themselves to meet the proper standard of living such as purchasing basic supplies and food. That’s it.

2) Money is not everything that matters, but it dictates our actions in various ways. Amount of money I have determines whether I get to eat proper 3700 won lunch with snacks and juices afterwards, or eating a 2000 won tuna sandwich. Amount of money I have decides me whether I can to play with my friends or not (we spend a lot on certain stuff). We get this prestigious education because our parents are richer than many other people in the world. There is an ancient saying in Asia that words can pay back thousand dollars. Content of heart is still the main conscious source of our actions. Righteous people stand strong against the temptation of money.

3) yes, according to the answer in no.1

4) Happiness and amount of money has no direct relationship. Committing oneself into a job with optimistic (happy) values might get that person in promotion though.

5) There are more than one ways. I would:
1. Call upon the government and charity organizations to promote fund raising activities and seek donors that will used in alleviation of poverty
2. Promote awareness of poverty to ordinary people
3. Request the government to increase the budget to be used on education in impoverished area thus granting the youths wider opportunities for jobs
4. ask a nation to seek for international aids and non-governmental organizations in case where a particular country could not afford fundings alone or the situation is severe
5. monitor the money-holders of the region for any case of corruption
6. encourage investment on indigenous and local (especially minor)businesses therefore economy would increase and more jobs would be open
7. educate people with proper spending habits and basic concepts of economics
8. recommend the employers to pay the employees adequate amount of salary or any other form of payment. No more, no less.
9. and secure maintenance in primary industries.

6) if resolutions in 5) work properly, people should be able to escape poverty easily.

Whenever a topic like poverty and and worldly issues come out, my MUN instincts I developed over the past two years tickle my brain and make me feel like a delegate or a politician. This was the most concrete and unemotional writing prompt I ever had throughout English 10 (I could expand answer no.5 to at least 4 pages with some research). Nor I was very thoughtful and subtle in the discussions, but was flexible as a guy who would view everything from a high-political position. I wasn’t even supposed to answer questions separately, but answer in a unison paragraph.

Okay so let’s jump into the discussion before I forget about it. First my friends talked about how even a wallet could be poor, but a content of heart could be rich. I never had an idea where the ‘poor’ up there in the question meant mental-poverty. Because the Modest Proposal never ever once talked about being ill-minded or mentally sick. He talked about eating babies because situation was severe like a nonsense. And then there were some sayings like:

“Um, I think Modest Proposal is satire of lower class because it makes no sense and it’s about poverty”

Until then everyone agreed to each other. I thought Modest Proposal was rather a satire of a governing class, for not being able to handle the situation well and only leaving one option for the needy: sacrifice of the children. I thought if I was a guy who was in charge of a town and I read the proposal, I would not necessarily laugh about it.

Well anyways, I jumped in to give an against speech.

“But wouldn’t actually the proposal work? Wouldn’t the disposal of unnecessary children help the economic output because it reduces the amount of consumers for the product being produced?”

then the rebut came soon: “would you eat your children?”

I replied fast. “Yes, if I was that damn poor, I would be realistic”

That’s the situation happening the third world countries. I wonder if cannibals eat their young when they’re hungry but many poor children especially in Africa, South East Asia, and other impoverished regions are sold as a child slave, child soldier, and a child prostitute. How is that so different from eating children?

And later I added: “Almost all nations in the world who went from third world to world powers experienced a bit of nonsense for a decade of two in their histories, such as military dictatorship, Fascism, and Communism. Russia was one of the poorest nations in Europe, but through leadership of Bolsheviks and Stalin’s 5 year plan worked out very well as well as Lenin’s construction of Trans Siberia railroad contributed a lot. Korea was under military dictatorship for about 19 years, and it was then when Korea’s GDP reached over hundred thousand dollars before the IMF crisis in 1997 (don’t remember the exact number). China was under Mao Zedong, and yeah, so to get out of poverty quickly, leader has to decide evil and nonsensical ways such as Communism. I don’t think History and Life are not that different from what Jonathan Swift mentioned in his Modest Proposal.”

After saying this, I was self-amused. Jonathan Swift was a genius writer! Even his Gulliver’s Travel I read last year made thousands of connections to my daily life. How can a 19th century writing be compared to actual events in 20th and 21st centuries? One old cliché says human never change, and history is a repetition and cycle of events. This is one evidence that prove the saying is right.

Now I think of it, I think the eating babies part was not literal at all. Now I comprehend as, “In order to graduate from poverty, one has to make a commitment as serious and challenging as eating one’s own children”. Perhaps it was a fable for adults?

Anyways, because of me, instead of talking about literary skills, satire, and language arts, it became more of a conversation that might happen in a Economy class. Well, talkin’ about poverty, you know.

PostScript: Now we’re reading and discussing Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, supposedly another satire. Family relations, class segregation and marriage is not my specialty of analyzing quickly. They are so unrelated to my life, and I barely had any research done or have experience with them and my participation points will drop if I prepare with all my might. I just get revved in discussions whenever we talk about materials I covered it on previous MUN conferences. Why can’t we read and talk about sustainability or more worldly stuff than satire of marriage-concepts? I think I’ll get a better grade that way.

Picture from: darkcomedyandsatire

I am a student and I have to take the AP exam which is about a month later.

I now have commitments to make, since I am barely prepared for it (practice tests proves it)

• Study World History at least 1-2 hour a day.
• Practice writing essays at least 2 times a week
• No more World Of Warcraft and any other means of totally unnecessary distractions
• No hanging out with friends
• Intensify my vocabulary for essay part
• Make a full length summary (what, a full-length summary?) and note cards for every facts
• Help and get helped from my friends
• Less piano/music time
• Manage time well so I can do all my studyings and still sleep early
• Perhaps less blogging and twitter
• AND still focus on other subjects

UNTIL MAY 15th !!!

Until then, I shall study like a motha.

(Oh shoot, 5/15 is a month before FINALS, again!)

Picture Credit: KemChickee

Technorati Tags: AP, Commitment

Finally, I serve again the title of this blog fully by posting a Music related post in million years. Welcome back, music!

LAST AUTUMN’S DREAM (AOR/Melodic Rock)

Members line up: (L->R) : Jamie Borgir (bass) Mikael Erlandsson (vocals), Andy Malecek (Guitar), and Marcel Jacob (Drums)

Last Autumn’s Dream is one of the most-least famous bands in the world. What I mean by that is very few people around the globe is aware of this band; LAD doesn’t even have their own website. However, the ones who know value of this band as one of the best. This album, Impressions, is their collection of best songs; clearly showing their potential and genius. Albums of Last Autumn’s Dream are very rare in Korea (True fans of music buy CD’s rather than Limewire!). I was very lucky to purchase one. Work of Last Autumn’s Dream sounds like a combination of typical Rock-Ballade (like Gotthard) with some Swedish pop mix (LAD is from Sweden, country of ABBA). LAD uses choir-ish backing vocal that resembles of 70’s soul music (T-Rex?) and melodies and song development is too predictable. That’s why LAD is very agreeable at first but it gets rather boring if overly repeated. They overly stress with the concept of ‘love’ in their songs, and that is probably why they couldn’t be successful (globally) in pop nor rock. But who cares, I listen to them because they’re good.

It is difficult to review a hit album, because the color of different albums are all mixed up. So I will have to group them in to respective albums, or make an overall view of it.

The overall taste of Last Autumn’s Dream, from my perspective, is a mixture of Korean Pop lyrics, Swedish Pop and European Rock. Always talk about love, have distinctive but familiar lines and the backing music that of a metal; producing a unique sound standing in the middle line of pop and metal.

None of the songs of LAD are bad, if they were going to make a Hit Album, they should’ve included all their songs. Every time I listen to them, I find myself falling in awe towards the “genius melody maker” Mikael Erlandsson (Seoul Records). Only problem LAD has is that they don’t have a diversity in their songs. All of them sound the same and taste the same.

Now here comes the really brief walkthrough of the legendary album.

Put the CD to a player, and press play. Wait for the melody to come out of the audio. Quiet squiggling of music approaches, and keyboard jumps in with mysterious Fmin. This song is Again and Again*. Then comes a familiar melody, new but unresisting, and tunes of different instruments harmonize in perfection.

*This is an 50-second appetizer of Last Autumn’s Dream (Actually the real reason I cut the song was to prevent arguments of copyrights…)

Then follows Break the Chains of Destiny, an encouraging songs to get rid of our unnecessary burdens. It crazes the listeners with deep sounds.

Now the third track, Pages, is recognized as one of the truly best of LAD. Very familiar and easy yet hyper listening. The song leads with energetic keyboard synths, and causes suspense with emergence of vocal. How many bands are able to control the instinctive ‘feel’ of sounds like this?

Next song Up In Paradise is not my style. Too old. Love to Go and Going Home are the 5th and 6th tracks, are rather slower than previous entries. Winter In Paradise, Brand New Life, are the same songs, same feelings with different melodies.

After Tomorrow’s Gone, the 9th track is another grand masterpiece, with its popularity rivaling to Pages. Specialty of After Tomorrow’s Gone are the offensive and fast advancement of melodies compared to other smooth and feminine songs. This song doesn’t make the listeners wait.

Then comes the three boring blobs of the album: Don’t Let Our Love Go Down, Rocket of Love, and American Girl. Titles are boring and cliché. So are the songs. Just too much pop features on these ones. (And why would a Swedish guy fantisize about American Girls?)

Only four tracks left now. Domino makes a listener feel as if the CD was starting over. Nice refreshing feeling of 4-second blank at the beginning with fresh introduction with genuine piano touches. Running adds on to the new feeling with speed (it’s running!). Out of all songs, this song probably contains the highest pitch in vocal. It stands out, and excites the listener with little inclusion of new techniques.

Second to last Doin’ Time, I don’t remember much about this song because I had erased it from my iTunes so long time ago (probably I was very bored by it). Then, last but not least, Skyscraper, the genuine best of best of the LAD. My vocabulary range is not wide enough to describe in words. Touching lyrics and melody loosen up the revved state of mind; a perfect song for a closing remark. “You will always be my skyscraper”. Didn’t know what that figurative language meant.

Congratulations, you’ve listened to 70 minute and 23 second album through words. It was a rather fast walk through, compared to the my previous lengthy review of Sonata Arctica.  If Last Autumn’s Dreams manages to expand their style of music a little more, it would be no problem sprouting to the world of mainstream. (And not only LAD’s songs, my sentence variety and vocabulary seems to be needing more diversity as well=/)

Technorati Tags: Last Autumn’s Dream, Impressions
, 2007, AOR, Rock, Album

No Music No Civilization – http://soojinl10.kiswrites.org via kwout

Okay…have you noticed the ‘noticeable’ part of the image above?

“?” A person from an Unknown country visited my blog, for the third time.

I don’t know what’s going on but I can make a conjecture. A conjecture that Central Intelligence Association or Federal Bureau of Intelligence is tracking me. I didn’t do anything wrong… swear to god.

Anyways, that was Kwout. Very convenient to use…Before Kwout, I screen captured using alt+shift+4, added to flickr, and then copy and pasted. Now i just graduated from stone age.

Wonder how people make and have access to all things like this. Somebody with great intelligence in computer science must have made it, and we’re all using them (Sitemeter, clustrmap, kwout, screen-o-matic, twitterific, quiksilver…and million more) for FREE.

Anyways, they’re free. That’s the thing fueling the blogosphere, like an apple tree produces more apples with fertilization.

Who knows, like the case in World of Warcraft (used to be free), those services will be charged if there are adequate amount of people using?

Gotta thank those guys.

Back to the real situation, this unidentifiable visitor is creepy. It reminds of the internet-psyche girl from one of the episodes of Heroes.

by the way, I didn’t know I had any friends from Slovakia and Italy?