1.

Knock, knock, knocking on

Heaven’s door; I find that there

Is nobody here.

I find Heaven an

Abandoned house vandalized                                                    5

By societies.

There are no pearly

Gates or white angels, just spray-

Paint obscenities.

The tattered curtains,                                                                10

Like robes of fallen heroes,

Shivers the light beams.

Broken needles lie;

Among many broken things

Are my broken dreams.                                                            15

Specifics: Haiku format, house being a metaphor for Heaven, Heaven as a synecdoche to represent religion, Rhyme scheme for last lines - ABBCC

2. “To a Friend who sent me some Records”

As late I rambled through the record fields,   

What time the punk kid shakes the tremulous dew   

From her patch’d denim jacket;—when anew

Adventurous knights take up their dinted shields:

I saw the sweetest vinyl wild thrashing yields,                                       5   

A jet-black wax-disc; ’twas the first that threw   

Its sweets below the tone arm: graceful it grew

As is the wand that queen Titania wields.

And, as I feasted on its fragrancy,  

I thought the compact-disc it far excell’d:                                              10

But when, O Wells! thy records came to me   

My sense with their punk-rock thrash was spell’d:

Intense screams had they, that with tender plea   

Shouted of peace, and truth, and friendliness unquell’d

Specifics: Sonnet, parody of John Keats “To a Friend who sent me some Flowers,” Rhyme scheme - ABBA/ABBA/CDCDCD

3.

Sarcastic, short, and activist as well,

With screams of power ‘nough for mighty Thor,

Ideas that confront what we abhor,

Insatiable desire to rebel.

To march with her, to walk these streets with her,                      5

To spend late nights and weekends with this girl

In cities bathed in colored neon swirl,

I wish more oft would nights like these occur.

Companion? That would mean to understate!

This bond beyond what most could ever dream,                        10

Beyond the physical, our souls in seam,

A kind which few are able to relate.

In love, I’m bound to little Emily.

Together, we will scream in harmony.

Specifics: Sonnet, Rhyme scheme - ABBA/CDDC/EFFE/GG

4.

The march through Oakland made those people see.

Those people that, through use of violence seek

To force a peace and calm out there; this weak

And poorly-planned idea leads to tragedy.

Is this the future of democracy?                                     5

To send out loved ones overseas to bleed,

To force our will, was this our country’s need?

Is this our future, imperialist country?

These people - War Hawks! - saw no vote from me!

I never wanted to strike there first!                                            10

Entangled in their feud - with this, we’re cursed,

And maybe those with thirst for blood will see

Why we, to put an end to greed and hate,

Will organize and smash the state!

Specifics: Sonnet, Rhyme scheme - ABBA/ACCA/ADDA/EE, Line 4 too long to represent the feeling that this war has gone on too long, Line 8 switches from iamb to trochee to bring attention to the “imperialist country” claim, Line 14 too short to represent impatience with the government’s policy.

5.

People are like seashells.

There are two kinds:

One kind has a hermit crab living in them-

They shelter and protect a living, breathing thing;

They have a purpose to exist.

The other kind hold nothing within them,

And when you listen to them,

You can only hear a vast ocean of nothing.

Specifics: Free verse, imagery to represent the difference between authentic, caring ("shelter" and "protect") people and shallow, apathetic ("holding nothing within them") people. Spontaneous; thought up and written down several months ago while at work.

1) A way of distinguishing the USA from the rest of the Western Hemisphere. A play on the way the far more ambiguous "America" sounds.
2) What british people sometimes refer to people from the USA as.

The band American Head Charge has a song called "Americunt Evolving into Useless Psychic Garbage." This could be the word's origin.

Example:
-Americunts, (also known as Amerifags) are Quite possibly like, totally the dumbest breed on Earth. Also note that they live in the best country on earth which is further proof that God hates you. Americans are the indigenous people a bunch of squatters sack of hammers who call America (pronounced "murka") home. A veritable melting pot of races, creeds and colours, this species has been rendered practically brain dead by being force-fed vast quantities of "stuff" and relentlessly beaten about the head with the Stupid Stick.
(From Encyclopedia Dramatica)

A loosely defined sub-style of hardcore which almost completely eschews traditional song structure in favor of an all-out blitz-speed musical attack. More well-known power violence bands include Infest, Spazz, and Scholastic Deth.

It was first mentioned by name in the song "Hispanic Small Man Power (H.S.M.P.)" by genre pioneer Man Is the Bastard.

Example:

Screwdriver in the Urethra of Hardcore

• Story by Anthony Bartkewicz

An oral history of powerviolence

Annoying autobio: Late last year outside a Radio Birdman show, I met a zinester who had been the subject of a song by Black Army Jacket, one of NYC’s few contributions to the mostly regional sorta-subgenre known as powerviolence. I told him that I was planning to write this article. “Really?” he responded. “Who still cares?”

(From Decibel Magazine)

I chose "Power-Violence" because I love this style of music. It is so raw and intense; the structure and the lo-fi quality of the songs are entertaining enough. I'm in a Power-Violence band named Masochrist. My other band Shrike Beats Bee has power-violence tendencies. Whether the term is hyphenated or note is beyond my knowledge, but I think it seems more proper with a hyphen.

If anyone is curious to hear some power-violence, look up Crossed Out and Dropdead on Myspace. Pretty standard PV.

#3. Skram:

Skram is a corruption of the word screamo, first coined in 2004 by Alex Bigman, a.k.a. thebigmin, on the messageboard Cross My Heart With A Knife as a joke. Over time, people took it somewhat seriously, and has now come to be used as a less-commercially co-optable term for screamo, since that word has been bastardized into oblivion, used to describe any shitty whine-fest bands on MTV and the Warped Tour that incorporate maybe 30 seconds of screaming per song.

Typically, true skram records are pressed only on vinyl, with handmade covers, and in quantities of far less than 1,000.

Previous and less successful attempts to create a term that the mainstream media and major record companies would deem "too stupid" to steal and repackage included kittencore, and the more appropriate, kitten violence.

Superlatives:
-ultimate skram : literal meaning
-epic skram : skram that usually contains abrupt and extreme tempo and volume/distortion changes, nontraditional rock instrumentation (cellos, violins, trumpets, various other orchestral instruments), and other effects to heighten the "epic" feel of the song, these songs tend to be longer in length
-1337 skram : more obscure and elitist skram
-OOP skram : used for skram records that have gone out of print, but are still in demand, and hence, command a princely sum on eBay or board.vivalavinyl.org

Variations:
-skramo
-SKR##M)
-teh screamies
-skramz0rz (or further variations, ex: skramzei0rz0ers, the more ridiculous and over the top, the better)
-amo the little-mentioned counterpart to skramo, if screamo:emo::skramo:amo, get it?

"Yo his skramz are of high skramality....he seems influenced by early Spirit of Versailles." - SKRAM KID

Example:

k1ckthecat

12-05-2005, 08:43 PM

"in a movement against the errors of catagorization, i've heard a lot of people (in the midwest at least) rename emo/screamo bands to "skramz." it kind of sounds stupid i know, but people got sick of mentioning the terms "emo" or "screamo" and having the uneducated blurt out MCR and Senses Fail.

not only the stupid name, the devoted emo fans around here complain that doing this "abandons the name of what we love." i'm undecided, anyone care to discuss?"
(From skramz[Archive] forum on sputnikmusic.com)

A show where everybody gets together and throws shit and eats soybeans

Dude, that soylent shitfest last night was terrible.

Actually, I only wanted to throw that one in there because this is the name of the first song by my band, Shrike Beats Bee (don't ask me what exactly the song is about; it's long, complicated, and odd). Some random person apparently decided to put this into Urban Dictionary. We don't know who did it, and chances are we don't know the person, cause if it was someone we knew, they'd be like, "Dudes, I put "Soylent Shitfest" in Urban Dictionary," and we'd be like, "Why?" But it's cool nonetheless that someone we don't know knows us.

The title of my blog is from another Shrike Beats Bee song, "City Folk and People."
Say that fast with a bit of a slur.

John Keats: “To a Friend who sent me some Roses”

As late I rambled in the happy fields,   

What time the sky-lark shakes the tremulous dew   

From his lush clover covert;—when anew

Adventurous knights take up their dinted shields:

I saw the sweetest flower wild nature yields,                                        

A fresh-blown musk-rose; ’twas the first that threw   

Its sweets upon the summer: graceful it grew

As is the wand that queen Titania wields.

And, as I feasted on its fragrancy,   

I thought the garden-rose it far excell’d:                                                  

But when, O Wells! thy roses came to me   

My sense with their deliciousness was spell’d:

Soft voices had they, that with tender plea   

Whisper’d of peace, and truth, and friendliness unquell’d.

Parody: “To a Friend who sent me some Records”

As late I rambled through the record fields,   

What time the punk kid shakes the tremulous dew   

From her patch’d denim jacket;—when anew

Adventurous knights take up their dinted shields:

I saw the sweetest vinyl wild thrashing yields,

A jet-black wax-disc; ’twas the first that threw   

Its sweets below the tone arm: graceful it grew

As is the wand that queen Titania wields.

And, as I feasted on its fragrancy,  

I thought the compact-disc it far excell’d:

But when, O Wells! thy records came to me   

My sense with their punk-rock thrash was spell’d:

Intense screams had they, that with tender plea   

However, now I'm not sure that it's not so much the fault of my procrastination. Starting this coming week, I'll be working less hours during the week, so I'll be coming home before 9-10 PM and be able to get an earlier start on homework, enabling me to do more each night.

-Coverage
These blogs include a direct quote from the assigned reading, identify the source of the quote, and links back to the course web page devoted to that reading (all of my blogs contain this, so I'll just list blogs that don't fit into any of the following lists):

Taste of innocence

Joey Two-Times: "Hey! How ya doin, how ya doin?"

I killed your mother today, and it's because she made me reflect upon myself and see my vulnerability

The Faith's In My Chest

The panda says no!

The panda says... idk

Dogs don't please me so often

Punct Art

A!D!D!!!

Shaw is the bom

-Timeliness
This blog I posted on time (agenda items need to be posted 24 hours before the class discussion):
Goin' Souf

-Interaction

In Goin' Souf, I received a lot of comments. The first being from Dr. Jerz, which I replied to, which then prompted many comments from my peers.

In Angel of Gawd, Greta Carroll left me a comment, which I responded to. This influenced her blog, Abandoning an Angel.

Corporate Big-Shot to Rebel Radio

Here are some blogs I responded to:

Ally's A Stickler for Grammar

Angela's These guys are goofs!

Steph's Aren't we all displaced persons?

-Depth
Very simply, these blogs show my ability to write in depth:

A Tale of Two Futures

"Nursing home" is a misnomer

Adhere to the system

Them backwards Europeans