Gene and Pual

"There's one glaring irony in the Paul-Gene power axis, however. Of all the songs KISS catalog, the one that stands out most clearly as a power anthem is "God of Thunder" from 1976's Destroyer (it even surpasses "War Machine," because "God of Thunder is more epic and archetypal). Simmons carried the vocals, and it ultimately defined what his onstage persona was all about: he usually did his infamous blood-spitting routine during the song's introduction. But what's compelling is that it was written by Stanley, who fully intended to sing it. Simmons likes to insist that Paul was deliberately writing a "Gene song" and always knew he would eventually handle the lead, but Stanley says otherwise. "You want to heal the real story, or do you want to believe the rumor?" he told me in a 1997 interview. "That was totally [producer] Bob Ezrin's idea. He thought it came across better with Gene's vocals." In other words, Simmons's powerful image was a better fir for the song's powerful imagery; Paul's androgynous Girl Power would not translate into menace. At least in this case, the tenuous connection between heavy metal and power was completely conscious in the minds of the people who made the record(33)."

The first thing I noticed when reading this paragraph was the diction that Klosterman used. Unconventional words are used very with this author. It seems like Klosterman's style of writing is very unique and modern, although he witty enough to add classical references. The second thing that pops out to me are the parallels he draw's between various bands and the members in those bands. Thus far Klosterman is still trying to explain the meaning of heavy metal. How it varies from rock 'n roll and "glam" metal. In this passage the author is trying to explain the differences between the meaning of "power" heavy metal. The example used here is the difference between Gene Simmons, a metal sex god who does just about anything he wants to do, and Paul Stanley, who apparently had more of a "Girl Power" approach to things. Meaning, he didn't treat woman like dirt. Here the importance of power metal is exemplified by showing how one "menacing" song written by Paul Stanley had to be sung by Geme Simmons because Stanley's voice was powerful enough and it didn't fit hit persona. It's strange to learn all of these facts about a genre of music I have never taken seriously before.

Fargo Rock City

"So there you have it: a hard rock band that wasn't ponderous and trippy (like Vanilla Fudge) or poppy and sloppy (like the Ramones). Instead of the Hammers of Thor, it was an assault from a thousand guerrilla warriors, all consumed with getting laid. Though the term wasn't yet applicable, those first two Van Halen albums created a future where metal would be "glamorous," both visually and musically. Marc Bolan knew how glam rock was supposed to look, but Eddie Van Halen invented how it was supposed to sound (22)."

This passage concludes another chapter in Fargo Rock City, and once again I find it very helpful. Klosterman states the differences between the first chapter (which was strictly about Montley Crue's style of heavy metal) and also helps outline his own growth as a heavy metal fenatic. I especially like the authors last sentense, "Marc Bolan knew how glam rock was supposed to look, but Eddie Van Halen invented how it was supposed to sound." Not once during this chapter did Klosterman say this yet the whole chapter was about this. It's very intersting how he saves his thesis until the end of the chapter. I noticed this structure change in the Meena Alexander essay Fault Lines we had to write about in class. In the oppening paragraph Klosterman tells the reader exactly what he's going to discuss during the chapter, which he does for the duration of the body of the chapter and then for the conclusion he explains the meaning and purpose of the things he has just talked about. I am finding this book very helpful becuase I feel like organization is my biggest flaw as a writer and already I am feeling better about essay structure.

Fargo Rock City

"It's easy for me to recall the morning I was absorbed into the cult of heavy meta. As is so oftem the case with this sort of thing, it was all my brother's fault.
As a painfully typical fifth-grader living in the rural Midwest, my life was boring, just like it was supposed to be. I lived five miles south of a tiny town called Wyndmere, where I spent a lot of time drinking Pepsi in the basement and watching syndicated episodes of Laverne & Shirley and Diff'rent Strokes. I killed the rest of my free time listening to Y-94, the lone Top-40 radio station transmitted out of Fargo, sixty-five miles to the north (in the horizontal wasteland of North Dakota, radio wanes travel forever). This was 1983, which-at least in Fargo-was the era of mainstream "new wave" pop (although it seems the phrase "new wave" was only used by people who never actually listened to that kind of music). The artists who appear exclusively on today's "Best of the '80's" compilations were the dominant attractions: Madness, Culture Club, Falco, the Stray Cats, German songstress Nena, and-of course- Duran Duran )the economic backbone of Friday Night Videos' cultureal economy). The most popular song in my elementary school was Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue," but that was destined to be replaced by Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" (which would subsequently be replaced by "Raspberry Beret")(7)."

This is the only book I haven't read by Chuck Klosterman and I think the best lesson I've learned about writing from him is to just relax. I always seem too formal when I write. But as it turns out great writing can "informal". Writing has very slim guidelines just so long as you follow gramatical rules. I contemplated blogging about the conclusion again but I figure the best way place to start writing better conclusions is to analyze introductions and work my way to the end of the essays (or chapters). The first thing I noticed from the inroduction (excluding the introductory first sentense) is how Klosterman lists all of the information he is going to talk about throughout the chapter. Of course every english teacher I've had tells me to use this method but seeing it used in a successful and entertaining book is sort of a slap in the face; organizing my essays will help me write a better essay.

Fargo Rock City - Chuck Klosterman

"Whenever social pundits try to explain why glam metal died, they usually insist that "It wasn't real," or that "It didn't say anything." Well, it was certainly real to me and all my friends. And more importantly, to did say something.
It said something to us(5)."

I know this is short but I choose it because it is a conclusion. I think my biggest problem with essays are my conclusions. I feel like I babble on without really knowing what to talk about because I've already talked about it in the body of my essays. Here, the conclusion is short and sweet. It gets the point across without adding too much redundant information. It states the purpose of the essay (or chapter); metal rock was real and it said something. I will definitely keep in mind that conclusions are best when they are short, and clearly state the purpose of the essay.

Fargo Rock City - Chuck Klosterman

"To me, rock was everything. As a skinny kid on a family farm in North Dakota, it seemed to be the answer to all the problems I thought I had. I couldn't sing and I played no intruments, but I knew I had the potential to rock. All night long I slapped Montley Crue and Ratt cassettes into my boom box (which we called a "ghetto blaster," which I suppose would not be considered rasist) and rocked out in my bedroom while I read Hit Parader and played one-on-none Nerf hoop basketball. Clearly, I was always ready to rock-but I needed the hair. I didn't care if it was blond and severe like Vince Neil's or black and explosive like Nikki Sixx's-I just needed more of it. It would have been my singular conduit to greatness, and it was the only part of my life that had a hope of mirroring the world of the Crue: They lived in L.A., they banged porn stars, they drank Jack Daniel's for breakfast, and they could spit on their kitchen floor with no repercussions whatsoever. They were like gods on Mount Olympus, and it's all because they understood the awe-inspiring majesty of rock. Compared to Nikki and Vince, Zeus was a total poseur(1-2)."

First off, this paragraph has a good introductory sentense, "To me, rock was everything," even though it has a 'be' verb. Klosterman has a constancy of using complex sentenses in the beginning of the paragraph, when he is describing himself and how great rock was to him as a child. He does a good job of connecting the his writing. Meaning, he connects all of his paragraphs by adding just a little bit of old information into a new paragraph without feeling redundent. "I was always ready to rock I just needed the hair." The paragraph before this is all about how he needed long hair although for his whole life he has had short hair. When he tries to convince his mother that he needs long hair he spits on the floor in frustration, he again add this cleverly "..and they could spit on their kitchen floor with no repercussions whatsoever." Klostermans diction stays constant with his rock-theme. I noticed he used Crue instead of crew, and by saying that Nikki and Vince understood the awe-inspiring 'majesty' of rock he is enriching the comparison to Zues.

Book blog #8

'Even chance meetings' . . . how does the rest of the go?"

" 'Are the result of Karma.' "

"Right, right," she says. "But what does it mean?"

"That things in life are fated by our previous lives. That even in the smallest events there's no such thing as coincidence(33)."

I had to back track a little, to try and figure things out. After flipping onto this page, there was a bit of confusion. This story seems to be all

about fate; finding fate, following fate, hiding from fate. Except this passage sits on the opposite end, Karma? I believe Karma to be personal

acts that affect the world around you. It's peculiar that Murakami would add Karma and fate into the same story, with the same character. I can

decide if I should think of this book in terms of fate, or in terms of karma. Looking at this book with a fate stand point, the characters have no
control over what is happening and they just have to rough it out until the end. In terms of Karma, the things that will happen to the characters
are determined by the action they do throughout the story. I'm trying to see how Karma and fate fit together as the book progresses; "that
things in life are fated by our previous lives." Maybe the way the characters spirits live will predicts how the physical body exist. It's very strange
how this will all fit into a story about a boy who ran away from home and is now living in a library, and the other character; an old man who used
be able to talk to cats and is now traveling on pure whim without any direction.

Book blog #7

"By the way where are we?"I ask

"I have no idea," she says. She cranes her neck and sweeps the place with her eyes. Her earrings jiggle back and forth like two precarious pieces of ripe fruit ready to fall. "From the time I'm guessing we're near Kurashike, not that it matters. A rest area on a highway is just a place you pass through. To get from her to there." She holds up her right index finger and her left index finger, about twelve inches apart.

"What does it matter what it's called?" she continues. "You've got your restrooms and your food. Your fluorescent lights and your plastic chairs. Crappy coffee. Strawberry-jam sandwiches. It;s all pointless-- assuming you try to find a point to it. We're coming from somewhere, heading somewhere else. That's all you need to know, right?"

I nod. And nod. And nod.

The whole theme of this story is unveiling its self to me more and more as I read. Kafka is trying to change who he is, or he is trying to change his fate. He has been working all through junior high for the day that he can leave his home and start his "new life", as he calls it. He has been building up muscle, becoming as strong as he can, and he has made his mind like a sponge absorbing all the knowledge he could throughout junior high. This passage is very interesting because it is almost a metaphor to life, assuming that you believe in fate. She tells Kafka that it does not matter where they are because they will still end up in Takamatsu. In other words, it does not matter what you do in the middle you will still go from point A to point B. Assuming that fate is real, in Kafka's case this means that all hispreparations and hopes for a "new life" are meaningless because no matter what he will ultimately meet his fate, and he cannot change who he is. This is Ironic in away because she tells Kafka this and he nods, agreeing.

Klosterman Blog #2

"But sometimes what seems obvious is not, particularly when you're trying to categorize what an artist represents culturally. That certainly seems true with Ozzy Ozbourne, who doesn't seem obsessed with power at all. In fact, he seems more obsessed with weakness, particularly his own.
As a public character, Ozbourne is the wildest of wild men. During the height of his career, he was constantly chomping off heads of birds, pissing on historical landmarks, and generally acting like the most berserk, messed up lunatic in the universe. It's not an act, either; what's more unique about Ozbourne is that many of the stories about his behavior are at least partially true. But as he's grown older, another side of Ozzzy has become more and more obvious: He is an incredibly vulnerable person who plainly lacks confidence(33-34)."

I chose this passage because it's just strange to read about the ultimate prince of darkness being characterized as "vulnerable". Another thing I noticed which I have never really been clear on grammatically is the capitalization after the colon in the last sentence. I've never been taught to capitalize after colons. Now I know. This passage is in the middle of a chapter but it also introduces a new subject. So, the first paragraph is close to an introductory paragraph and the second paragraph could therefor be categorized as the first bulk paragraph. This might come in handle when I start my annotative bibliography.

Book Blog #6

"Listen-God only exists in people's minds. Especially in japan, God's always been kind of a flexible concept. Look at what happened after the war. Douglas MaCarthur ordered the divine emperor to quit being God, and he did, making a speech saying he was just an ordinary person. So after 1946 he wasn't God anymore. That's what Japanese gods are like-they can be tweaked and adjusted. Some American chomping on a cheap pipe gives the order and presto change-o-God's no longer God. A very postmodern kind of thing. If you think God's there, He is. If you don't, He isn't. And if that's what God's like, I wouldn't worry about it(286-287)."

This passage was a little irrelevant to the story line, considering the two characters that are interacting happen to be steeling a small rock. Although, it is very interesting. This passage sort of lets the reader into either the characters point of view towards God, or the authors point of view, either way they are probably about the same. Coming from an American stance on God, this seems like a much more relaxed way of looking at God. I'd have to agree with the book though, God does seem like a flexible concept, but at the same time a very strict concept, depending on how you look at things. Whether your religious or not this passage kind of puts you into whichever category. It is also interesting to see an Asian writer give an impression of god or even religion for that matter. It would seem that such a different culture would also have a different view of god, and also this view seems rather liberated, the view is still close to my American view of god.