And that is why I am beginning my December 2008 project, 31 Movies in 31 Days. During the month of December, I plan on watching 31 films that I have not seen before and then writing up something about each of them. Ideally, I would watch one movie a day but my schedule clears up remarkably once the semester ends in a week and half, so I could double up if I needed to.

Why Paul, you must ask, why are you doing such a thing? For a variety of reasons (really only a few). There are a bunch of movies from this past year that I have not seen yet that I want to enjoy before I make a “Best Films of 2008″ list. Also, I have Netflix. Might as well take advantage of that. And finally, and maybe most importantly, I have two DVRs in my house filled with movies that I need to watch if I want to record any more.

So look forward to 31 movie writeups/reviews/commentaries in the next 31 days. And if I fail, like I tend to do with most of my long term “fun” projects, then you should at the very least get a few new blog entries out of it. Of course, I still have no idea who the “you” I was referring to in that last sentence is, but whatever.

EDIT (12.11.08):  Maybe this is a January project…

But the Social Scene delivered once again. When they came out on stage, in my head I dubbed it “Broken Social Scene: fall model” because they were all wearing button down flannel shirts and jackets, as opposed to the fedoras and tank tops that Lollapalooza and its accompanying heat brought. It was a nice, slow build with the initial instrumental jam into Shampoo Suicide, but when that first crescendo hit, I remembered why I love this band so much. It is an emotional explosion. Their songs take all these positive and negative emotions and blast them out from wherever they are hiding. We celebrate the good and the bad. We scream for whatever is inside us. That part of “Ibi Dreams of Pavement” where Kevin Drew counts to three and everyone screams as loud as we can gets me every time. We, as a collective, let everything out of us at that moment. These are no longer are individual hopes and fears, they are everyone’s hopes and fears.

“All right, it’s therapy time everybody. This little bit we do for everybody, every human being in the house tonight. For everything you’ve lost, for everything you didn’t get, for everything you hurt, for everyone that hurt you, everything you want to become, everything you never became, you’re gonna scream. All right? You’re gonna let it all out, you’re gonna be as loud as you can…On the count of three, you gotta scream your guts out. You ready? Therapy. One. Two. Three. Scream. Go.” – transcribed the best I could from this youtube video (not mine, but whoever shot it did a good job, but go to the actual youtube page with it so you can see the high quality verison)

The setlist was made up of a nice mix of BSS songs and songs from both “Broken Social Scene Presents…” albums. The Kevin Drew album was my favorite release of 2007 and the Brendan Canning album is growing on me more each time I hear it, so I would have welcomed more of those songs, but the ones they played were awesome. I was really happy to hear “Safety Bricks,” which Kevin Drew prefaced by saying it was a song about “having kids and making it work,” and then afterwards said, “That’s like my diary. ‘Dear Diary, I fucked up again.’”

The only weird moment came when they stopped playing “Superconencted” after two attempts because of too much feedback on the monitors on stage. I get really nervous whenever something appears to go wrong on stage, because I fear for the worst. But when Kevin Drew and Justin Peroff came back onstage after Charles Spearin’s “Happiness Project,” it looked (and sounded) like things had been taken care off. And then finishing the show with two amazing songs erased any nervousness for the band that I had.

Land of Talk was a really good opening act as well. I’m a relatively new fan of theirs and their set made me want to go listen to their new album, Some Are Lakes again real soon. And then Liz Powell did the lady part during the BSS set. I don’t want to compare it to the other ladies, as I was kind of spoiled seeing Broken Social Scene for the first time at Lollapalooza 2006 with everyone, but she did an amazing job. She fit right in and made her voice work for whatever it needed to do. I was really happy that the rest of the crowd thought that too and gave Liz a huge ovation after “Anthems.” And she was ridiculously cute when she would dance around on stage waiting for her part to come it. I know she is on Something For All Of Us, and hopefully they keep her part of the collective for the next “real” Social Scene release, whenever that might be.

This is what I could piece together of the setlist afterwards. No guarantees that it is correct, but I think I remembered everything they played.

1. Fuzz (Late Nineties Bedroom Rock for the Missionaries / Shampoo Suicide)
2. Cause = Time
3. Hit The Wall
4. Churches Under The Stairs
5. 7/4 (Shoreline)
6. Fire Eye’d Boy
7. Love Is New
8. Farewell To The Pressure Kids
9. Safety Bricks
10. Three Thousand Miles (Hawaii song, Sam Goldberg on vocals)
11. Fucked Up Kid
12. Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl
13. KC Accidental
14. Superconnected (aborted)
——————(I guess this is the closest thing to an encore break)
15. Charles Spearin’s “Happiness Project”
16. Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)
17. It’s All Gonna Break

Broken Social Scene was:
Brendan Canning
Kevin Drew
Justin Peroff
Charles Spearin
Sam Goldberg
Leon Kingstone
Andrew Whiteman
Elizabeth Powell

U2 are self-aware. Unfortunately, they often don’t realize it until they have gone too far. The Joshua Tree does a great job of using those roots rock influences, but Rattle and Hum goes too far past that, so they returned a few years later with Achtung Baby, an embrace of electronic music, and to a lesser extent at the time, irony. When they went too far with that sound with Pop, they scaled it back again.

But for me, my introduction to U2 came with “Sweetest Thing” and to a greater extent, All That You Can’t Leave Behind. Here was a new album that I thought was great and vital from pretty much the only band that had already been canonized and was still doing anything remotely worthwhile. Since I didn’t know much outside of a few of the really big hits, being able to go back and hear the old albums for the first time is something I’ll never forget. You can hear not just the development of the “U2 sound” throughout, but also the growth of Bono, Edge, Larry, and Adam. Even when the bombast may be too much, or that delay effect on the Edge’s guitar starts to grate, or when Bono starts spending most of his time in the public eye meeting with politicians, I know that if nothing else, these are four guys who believe in themselves and everything they do.

With the release of album’s like The Killers’ Sam’s Town or Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible, the point of reference to most critics has been Bruce Springsteen. But to me, these recordings have more in common with mid-period U2. It was held against these albums that they wanted to be sweeping epics, that they try and do too much. These same ideas are what has been fueling the U2 backlash that has been around since probably The Joshua Tree Tour. I don’t know about anyone else, but I want my bands to want to be the biggest and best bands in the world. When they can pull it off, like U2 has, that’s when something really special happens.

Album Pick: Achtung Baby

Track Picks: “Bad”
“Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses”
“In A Little While”

Reader-response criticism involves the reader’s interpretations, responses, and emotional reactions to the text they are reading. This form of literary criticism is only concerned with that reader’s individual interpretation of the text. By using this technique, the reader only concerns themselves with their understanding of the literature because the understanding of the work is the creation of each reader. Every person that reads each work has the potential to react to the work in a different way.

Ernest Hemingway’s 1929 novel, A Farewell to Arms, is an excellent example of a piece of writing that can evoke different responses depending on the beliefs of the reader. Some may see Fredric Henry’s departure from the Italian army as cowardly, while others may think it is the most courageous thing he could have done. I found myself believing that Henry was right in leaving the army and the war that he did not believe in for something he did believe in. His loyalty to Catherine Barkley seems to be much more real than any abstract honor that could possibly be gained through fighting in World War I.

Analyzing Hemingway through reader-response criticism is different than for a large majority of novelists. Most writers present leave the reader with a batch of questions that need to be answered. The writing of Hemingway asks these questions too, but at the same time, he also proposes solutions to them. They are not always the right ones and are not always the same for everyone, but Hemingway does give at least some idea of how to answer these questions. It becomes up to the reader to then assess if they believe these would be the right measures to take.

When Henry leaves the army to go back to Catherine, I see that as him taking control of his own destiny and proving to himself that he will have the power regarding what happens in his life, not any of the world powers that create war. The opposite way of interpreting this event, which is probably how the character of Gino in the novel would see it, is that when Henry deserts, he is showing disrespect to his home country of the United States, Italy, and anyone else that he had worked with in the war. My interpretation of the novel supports my belief about Henry’s actions. Hemingway’s prose describes the hopelessness displayed in all of the soldiers as the Italian army was retreating. As the reader, it felt like I was there, experiencing this bleakness and despair with the soldiers. When I felt this, I immediately sympathized with Henry, knowing that he was in more misery as he was also separated from the woman that he loved. Henry had to make a personal choice, and for me as the reader, I believe that he made the right one.

The honesty in Hemingway’s writing is another reason that A Farewell to Arms was able to connect to me as a reader so well. Even without knowing that much of the novel is autobiographical, based on Hemingway’s time spent as an ambulance driver in Italy during World War I, the tone of his writing illustrates the fact that Hemingway has respect for his characters. By showing this respect, Hemingway shows that he believes in these characters, which in turn, makes it easier for the reader to believe in them. The character of Henry is so well written that I was instantly drawn into his inner-mind and feelings.

The positive characters in all of Hemingway’s works believe in loyalty to what one’s true ideals are instead of false romanticism. This meant being realistic about what was actually happening. During the army’s retreat from Caporetto, Henry thought, “All I had to do was get to Pordenona with three ambulances. I had failed at that. All I had to do now was get to Pardenona. I probably could not even get to Udine. The hell I couldn’t. The thing to do was to be calm and not get shot or captured.” His realistic viewpoint also comes in handy for him as he realizes that the officers that want to kill him are just fighting for their country. He takes initiative to escape, therefore making his own “separate peace.”

Hemingway’s beliefs about life are ones that I have attempted to use in my own life. He describes his thoughts in A Farewell to Arms: “If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The word breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.” Suffering is an inescapable aspect of human life. Hemingway’s realistic beliefs state that no one can escape death, but they can find things to make it less painful by remaining true to themselves. When I have read Hemingway’s work, this set of beliefs has jumped out at me and made an impact. Life is about finding what makes one happy and living the best life they can according to their own values, not just trying to escape the inevitable death.

Introduction:
ATTENTION-GETTER: I play three instruments: piano, guitar, and bass. I’m not amazing at any of these, but I know enough to be able to play some of my favorite songs. I didn’t bring my guitar in, but I would still like to play a song for you. This is “Tangled Up in Blue” by Bob Dylan. Feel free to play along if you know it. That was both fun and stimulating.

THESIS AND PREVIEW: You should learn to play a musical instrument. The reasons include mental and physical benefits and more developed intelligence. Also, it is easy to do, it doesn’t need to cost a lot of money, and it can establish a sense of achievement.

TRANSITION: I will begin by describing the benefits of learning an instrument.

Body

I. There are many benefits that come from learning to play a musical instrument.

a. Learning to play an instrument has mental and physical benefits.
i. Recently, studies have been completed looking at the emotional benefits of music. Results have shown that taking music lessons has decreased the levels of anxiety, depression, and loneliness.
ii. Playing an instrument such as piano can increase coordination skills, according to the article “Benefits of piano lessons for a beginner.” On piano, your hands tend to operate individually of each other. Your right hand plays the melody which is on the sheet music as the treble clef, while your left hand is playing the bass clef which is usually a part that is like a beat.
iii. An experiment done by the Michigan State University Music Therapy department in 1996 and 1997 revealed that senior citizens taking music lessons had a 90% increase of Human Growth Hormone levels.
iv. This is significant because the level of hGH is usually decreasing as one gets older. The higher levels lead to more energy and decreases in the rate of illness.

b. While hopefully we won’t have to worry about hGH levels for a long time, playing an instrument can also help develop intelligence.
i. Researchers from the University of Montreal found that sight-reading and playing music involved activity in all four regions of the cortex’s lobes.
ii. John J. Ratey, MD said in A User’s Guide to the Brain, “The musician is constantly adjusting decisions on tempo, tone, style, rhythm, phrasing, and feeling–training the brain to become incredibly good at organizing and conducting numerous activities at once.”

TRANSITION: Your body might thank you in the long-term for the reasons I just mentioned, but there are more immediate reasons too.

II. Learning to play a musical instrument is easy to do.

a. While it can take years and years to master an instrument, it does not require too much time in the short-term.
i. Most people who take music lessons tend to practice for fifteen to twenty minutes a day.
ii. There are many opportunities during our normal days to find this time.
iii. I know that I usually stay in bed for at least fifteen minutes after my alarm goes off. I could take that time to practice an instrument, but I’ll wait until I’m back home and I can go in my basement and not wake anyone else up.

b. Playing an instrument does not need to be expensive.
i. Instruments can be expensive, but there are many models more suited for beginners that are also much cheaper.
ii. If you need to play a guitar like one of your musical heroes, instead of buying the $3,000 Eddie Van Halen guitar, you could buy the $500 Jack White guitar.

c. Finally, learning an instrument can create a sense of achievement.
i. The article “Benefits of Music Education” says that once you’ve mastered your first piece, the satisfaction you’ll feel is priceless…you’ll never forget the first piece you’ve mastered.”
ii. I can attest to this. For my first piano recital, I played a song called “Tap Dance.” Almost twelve years later, I can still play the song from memory.

Conclusion
REVIEW: Today I told you about why you should learn to play a musical instrument. It can make you feel better mentally and physically, along with helping to make you smarter. You can find time within your regular schedule to practice, you can find good, cheap instruments, and every time you learn to play a new song, you’ll feel a real sense of achievement.
FINAL COMMENT: There was an article in the Musician’s Educators Journal entitled “We Need More Amateurs!” It makes an excellent point that there is no shame in playing an instrument as a hobby. You don’t need to get paid to play to have a good time. I know that no one in their right mind would pay me to play music. They might try to pay me to stop, but I don’t think I would take them up on that offer.

2) You are only masturbating too much if it gets in the way of you doing your job and making money (note: I do not know if they included getting paid to masturbate in these findings).

3) The term “Party Rape.”

4) Blake Livley, of the CW’s Gossip Girl and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 fame, thinks her best feature is her eyelashes.

5) If you are friends with a guy and you would like to know how large his penis is, getting close to him and “accidentally” knocking your hand into his member is perfectly acceptable behavior.

“Eight.”

“All right. I was kind of expecting you to say ten, so I need a moment to figure out how to lie to you.”

Save

He sees her struggling. He stands up and blows his whistle as he points to her in the water. His legs push off the chair as he makes his flight into the air. He crashes into the water, a huge wave is created as he swims to save her. It turns out she was faking.

Race

The racers sped around the track, their colors combined into one orangish-red. We thought it would have been a little longer. The fanatics were there, cheering for their favorite like it was their own son. Oh no! One racer curves off towards the side. He’s out of the running, he cramped on the hurdles.

Flight

After sitting for twenty minutes, the plane finally took off down the runway. I felt us aim towards the sky, I was leaning back without reclining in my chair. My ears popped. I released my breath and pushed them back out. We finally leveled out. I glanced out the window as we hit the mountain.

Mirror

She saw everything behind her, the street lights made it all clear. There was something else coming up. She started to slow down. It was another thing she recognized. She thought back for a second about everything in her past. She stepped on the gas. Everything got smaller as she looked through her rearview mirror

Running

The bright lights and sounds made him realize he had to leave. He cut across the sidewalk, burst through some bushes, and tucked and rolled onto someone’s lawn. The footsteps were approaching, he could hear them getting louder and the shadows became larger. He couldn’t run away any more. He had lost in flashlight tag.

Andy

He makes his way out to the jeers of the crowd. He declares he is the real King of Memphis. He makes an open challenge to the audience for a match. The challenger steps through the ropes, but she’s quickly defeated. One. Two. Three. Andy Kaufman remains the Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion of the World.

This is my big, dumb rock song.
Chunky chords and a flying riff,
Nonsense lyrics
That seem to stick.

The old fans scream, “Sell Out”
As my face is splashed on MTV,
Those same fans are still at my shows,
The crowd goes back as far as I can see.

The arenas are booked
And my hair is gelled up.
To get the crowd in my hands
All I need to say is some random stuff

Like, “Hello Boston,”
“Hello California” and “New York”
My face on the Rolling Stone
Can erase my past life as a dork.

We play the intro of the hit
And we hear the crowd roar,
They’ve never ever even heard
The other songs we wrote before.

“La La La La,”
We sing on the hook,
The masses will never realize
That all that this took

Was just ten minutes
To write this big, dumb song,
When you write about girls and parties and cars,
On the radio you can do no wrong.

My indie-cred is show
Until they release the next single,
We’ve weaned the masses
On this stupid jingle.

The next single’s still catchy
Like the Beatles or the Stones,
But a little more raw
Like the Clash or the Ramones.

The difference it comes
By the words in the song,
They mean so much more to mee,
But you’ll still sing along.