A rant on Nathaniel Hawthorne

Dear Nathaniel Hawthorne,

            You sir, are an imbecile. Thanks for defiling the world and the 1^st semester of my English class. You wrote probably the most retarded book I have ever read so far, next to A Tale of Two Cities. You do not know how much agony this book has brought to me and my family. I got a C in English class because of how your book is impossible to read. Not only is it in stupid 12th century vocabulary, but the plot and readability of this book is so annoying, I shot it out of the literary cannon. I assume you don’t know what I’m talking about, so I’ll explain. The Literary cannon is a steel toed boot I wear whenever I drop kick books I don’t like off of my balcony. Whoever it was that decided your book was an “american literary classic” is a moron. I was forced to spend roughly two months with your infernal book in which time I could have done something so much more productive. Thanks to your book, my nights were spent eating ice cream, crying, and watching Oprah, all at the same time. My innocence is gone, and your book replaced it with the kind of feeling that produces some of the most wonderful suicide letters. Why couldn’t you have written something even moderately interesting. Who wants to read about some puritan hag committing adultery and getting pregnant? I guarantee no one in the late 21^st century will want to read your book. I can justify that because no one wants to read it right now. It’s a shame Hitler didn’t get his hands on every copy of this book… I’d be thankful for that. I’m sorry if this seems like a rant, but your book just sucks. It ruined my life. You better be happy the English department didn’t let me burn this book, because its starting to get cold, and I need to keep my house warm. Thus is probably the one benefit of your book: paper to BURN. Also, now my English class thinks I’m a retard because I wefused to read your book, and failed every test on the book. You should come to the 21^st century because I know quite a few people that need to beat the crap out of you; and before you leave take your ratchet book and A Tale of Two Cities with you… they dont belong here. Your book is like a troll within literature. It just goes around ruining people’s day and feeling good about itself. Why did you have to write it? Why cant you write like a normal person? You should have spent your time just going around the custom house counting all the illegal Mexicans instead. And don’t even get me started on the custom house. From your description, it sounded as if it were an Indian brothel. But anyway, I have a single suggestion for you. Go work for Disney Channel… you’ll fit in just fine.

With most disregards,

The Priest of Pain

A review on Around the World in 80 Days.

My time with this book has come to a close. I'm unhappy to say that, thanks to library policy, I was unable to finish the book. Of what I read of it, I wasn't the most amused, although it isn't the worst composition I've read. I didn't find anything wrong with the book, its just that I expected more of it. I expected humor, adventure, action, and something to give the book its own unique vibe. The book didn't have much motion and was really plain. It was just a bit too simple for my personal taste, but it has potential for being a good read for people who like this kind of book. The characters within don't really have anything special or unique about them, and the plot is very realistic in comparison to the time period. I really expected Mr. Fogg to be a CHARACTER but apparently he isn't. By character i mean someone who has an outstanding personality. The kind of personality that is a rarity as you don't get to meet very many people with that same style in your life. Mr Fogg is honestly just a really punctual guy to the point of it almost annoying me. The storyline is essentially the characters just traveling around. Its not the dramatic race against time i expected, and hoped it would be. Overall I felt this book was good because I could read it without having the want to kick it out of a window. I wish I had the time to finish it. I would have probably been able to appreciate it more.

Music to travel around the world listening to.

So I have spent about two or three weeks reading around the world in 80 days. I would make a post about music that is relative to the mood and setting of the book, but sadly, I dont know about any music that is dull. I'm sorry but around the world wasn't the most exciting thing I ever read, and it mainly consisted of the characters just traveling from place to place. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book... kinda, but it just doesn't have the action, thrill, drama, passion, or moving elements make a book unique. I simply looked at it and said, well this book is essentially about a race around the world against time... even though its not fast... at all... but anyway, here's the song I associate most with racing. 

Tiesto - Louder Than Boom


By the way, I also have a keen interest in foreign music since, well quite frankly, its better than the music produced in these states. Here's a list of music from around the world that i enjoy. BTW these all link to YouTube.

Colombia: Joe Arroyo - La Noche    This man is a genius.

Russia: Aidamir Mugu - Chornye Glaza   The accordion is just amazing. This is the song I grew up to.

Sweden: Swedish House Mafia - One
People who say perfection isn't real simply haven't heard this yet.

France: Alonzo - Determine
[Parental Discretion advised.... this is sick]

Germany: Extrawelt - confuzzled
Its just so chill. This song puts me to sleep really easily.


Netherlands: Armin van Buuren - Shivers
Peace. Pure and simple.

Sparknotes... shocking isnt it???

So I have recently been introduced to a website by the name of sparknotes.com. I must say this website is just so beautifully useful. Its essentially a compilation of study tools for books, as well as plentiful information about any book that you can access when you dont have the time to actually read whole passages, want a preview of it, or want info on a book you particularly dont want to read, especially when you're required to read it for a class. It includes summaries of the book, each chapter, characters, themes, plot, and important things to take note of. its essentially a cheat sheet for modern day English students. Any key piece of information is right where you can find it easily. There is a massive collection of books on the site and its all at the disposal of the people. I wish i had knowledge of this website back when I was reading A Tale of Two Cities and The Scarlet Letter. I wouldn't actually have to suffer through hundreds of pages of    :P.....    :( .....    uugghhh......      X(..... I would have also probably known more and gotten better grades on my tests of the books. This is what makes the website just so amazing. you dont have to read everything; just bits that give a complete understanding of what happens in the books.

Now although this website has wonderful potential, you just cant replace a book (especially if its good) with passionless notes... (unless you have a good enough excuse ;)   ). Its not the same experience. the author wants you to have a wonderful, moving experience as you flip through the pages, and notes just cant match the artistry and passion carved into the pages of the book itself. The writer wants you to read the words in the book because those are the words that they chose, and they put them there for a reason; for your enjoyment and learning. The writer doesn't want their work to be so easily replaced by simple notes that they didn't intend for you to read. Along with that, if its a goooooooood book, like the kind that drills through your sensitivity and manipulates your emotions and feelings, why would you pass up the chance to experience it? Its like listening to a 10 second sample of the most amazing song ever instead of the song itself. It just doesn't have the soul and force that makes you... move. The way I put it is that substituting the actual book for sparknotes is like taking the passion, feel, momentum, experience, imagery, imagination, creativity, and uniqueness of a book, crumpling it up and just reading the stupid words on the soulless paper... or in this case webpage...

Besides, its kinda disrespectful to the writer... how dare you replace their hard work they composed for you, and just passing it on your way to read the BS edition some person created on the website...

looking back.

So I have just received my grade for my 1st quarter blog. Its absolutely terrible and its safe to say that I got the lowest grade in the junior class. If anyone has actually read my blog, then they know that I deserve it. Even I'll admit it. I didn't put proper effort into creation of this blog. I didn't do most of what the teacher asked of me. For this second quarter, I intend of applying myself a little more along the lines of the rubric and accomplishing the set tasks instead of meandering around my own pointless ideas. I also intend on taking all the stupid trash out of my blog. Its time for a massive overhaul.

My attitudes on blogging? I have probably the most enthusiastic outlook on the concept. Its a turn away from the normal three page papers and I'm an advocate for variety and change. I love this assignment. Problem is, I took it the wrong way, hence the FAIL.

Now for my second book. I havent picked out a new book yet, but I'm thinking along the lines of: Around the World in 80 Days, Shipbreaker, or Theodore Boone, Kid lawyer. I'm leaning toward Kid Lawyer because now that the football season is almost over, I'll have the time I usually needed to recover from my war wounds in my pocket to spend on reading. You can expect a serious, well thought out blog for the most part unless my immaturity get in my way again. (Insert smiley face here).

A question to the audience.

Imagine you had eighty days to circumnavigate the world. you are at no rush in your goal. Where would you go? what places would you visit? Intrigue me with what you would like to do in an 80 day tour around the world?


This should be interesting and fun.






I hope someone actually replies for a change.....

An outlook on the 21st century english classroom.

What are your feelings towards the inclusion of activities such blogging, tweeting, facebooking, and interstate school interaction? How do these methods enhance your understanding of the text?

I think its a great idea. Why not take advantage of modern technology? It gives students the ability to publish their work where their peers, along with the rest of the world, can access it. It is also a completely different concept within the English classroom. All of my classmates and I have essentially grown up only reading books and writing papers in English class. The opportunity to do something completely different such as blog is a revolutionary concept of which we embrace. It gives us the liberty to step out of the generic classroom and allows us to experiment with these new activities. Blogging gives us the freedom to write in our own style, about whatever we want to write about (with limitations. This still is English class), and at whatever pace we determine.



Interstate interaction has been going on for like forever. Remember the Pen Pals concept? Its nothing particularly new. It allows us to communicate with students who may not think the same we do, and open opportunities to be exposed to different styles of thought from people our age. The other school contributes to our knowledge, and we contribute to theirs. Sadly, I haven't witnessed much direct interaction between the schools. Its been more of a passive interaction, where we aren't really directly acting on one another. It needs to be where we are actively engaging, and I mean ENGAGE, in what one another writes and discuss it with a passion. That's where you take full advantage of this ability to communicate with other schools. It takes more than a couple of posts and comments by an irrelevant third party for communication to be considered a discussion. There must be an exchange of ideas, points of view, philosophies and such and such. Imagine an internet, interstate debate where there is literally  massive gathering of people examining one another's ideas and discussing about the subject matter profusely, constantly learning from each single word casted into the fury of debate. This is where we learn... just like in the Greek or Roman forums or whatever....


How do these methods enhance our understanding of the text?  Shoot I dont know. Why are you asking me? I haven't been witness to an obvious or even subliminal change in understanding of content. No one has told me that this method of working and study help them understand the book better. It hasn't happened to me either, but thats probably because the past few books I have read I decided to shoot out of the literary "cannon"... literally.... the books kinda exploded against the target at the range I went to. But coming back to the actual discussion at hand, I'm not too sure if using blogging will actually help us understand the book more. It makes us approach the book differently than a book report does, so I think that's better. It may also provoke a sense of desire and enthusiasm students generally dont have, and that will definitely help. Only time will tell if these new methods will improve our comprehension.






 This has been your favorite English class troll with an actually, and surprisingly serious post.  Until next time.... whenever that will be.... I hear the economy is in crisis and the government is in trouble. I might have to take a break to go instill some common sense and solutions up in capitol hill, so I might delay in my posts. By the way, I gave up on writing in Spanish; Google Translate is pressing charges.... I think.... but anyway. Until next time.

Time for quarter numero dos!!!! [ENGLISH REMIX]

What’s up YAAALLLLL?????? I return with a new book to review. Its called Around the World in 8o Days by Jules Verne.  That’s why I’m writing in Spanish (LOLZZZ I'm actually writing in English :) ). Its because it’s a book around the world. So to add something special to my blog, I’m going to write in Spanish for the rest of the quarter.

 (If you haven't noticed... this is the English REMIX of this post.)

Now for the book…  I picked this book because I saw the movie with the ninja Jackie Chan and that fascinated me. Because of the movie, I have high expectations for the book. For this past week, I’ve been reading the first few parts and it has reached my requirements. There still isn’t anything special or stupendous but the book is worth my time and I’m content. I hope there are some jokes or something that makes me laugh because YOOUUUU KNOWWW that laughing is good for your life and health and I also like jokes…. DUUUUHHHHH

100 Points to whoever finds the reference to Mox from WDF.

Until next time.

this is soooo much easier than writing in spanish.

comments

The Priest of Pain said...on Michael Wilkinson's Blog

i cant wait to see your new blog for this quarter. your style of vocab choice is... appealing. dont drop the jokes. theyre funny. it'll be interesting to see how you apply your sense of humor to Langston Hughes. 

The Priest of Pain said... on Leslie Burke's Blog

youre a genius. its time to unscrew your bottle of creativity and hammer it into the blog. yes its true that the blog prompts are too much like school assignments, but you gotta just make the most of it. when you finish this book, please tell how this book was because im thinking about it for third quarter. i expect great things from you homie. good luck.

  

The Priest of Pain said... on Pierre McCauley's blog

its just so much fun when procrastination gets in your way. i know how you feel. i like the way you describe procrastination as leading you to have gray hairs. i always thought frustration causes wrinkles but i guess im wrong. the analogy you make of procrastination to your results is so true. i should start listening to you more. didnt i tell you that thing about this book being exactly like Twilight except with necromancers? if its not like twilight then whats it like? id like to know. to me it doesnt seem anything different. id like to see what your genius can cook up in your next few posts. i hope its entertaining.

Rugby World Cup 2011

this is completely off topic, but i have to do this.


Congratulations New Zealand All Blacks!!!!

that was a great match you played against Le Blue. Its about time you won another world cup. it was evident that you worked hard on the pitch and you should be proud, as the the rest of the world is proud of you. whoever scored that try for New Zealand made the biggest difference in that game and essentially got you the win. overall, well played game. My expectations for you next year will be even higher. you guys are my favorite team. until next season.



Congrats.

1st quarter comments

on Leslie Burke's blog

"I got dibs on the tuatara. that is one beautiful piece of carbon fiber machinery."

on Michael Wilkinson's blog

"Genius"

on Leslie Burke's blog

"wonderful musical choice by the mix master himself."

on Michael Wilkinson's blog


"what are you talking about awful? this is like the best and most intriguing blog I've seen. this is pure art homie."

Un vlog sobre mi libro.

(agregue video aqui)












Este video esta oficiado por el pirata Pete.

This was filmed after i had just recently finished busting a cap with my lazer gat.

Classical Music For The Soul.

check out this fresh tune:
Overture (Halo Reach Original Soundtrack) - Martin O'Donnell & Michael Salvatori
Im sorry theres no link. just go find it on youtube or something.

The Arabic feel and the percussion in the beginning of this song is like totally amazing. the maracas and violins freakin killed it. don't forget my homies in the bass section; they brought the authority. this is music done right. If only our percussion had these skills. Im honestly considering asking my band teacher to have us play it.

since we're on the subject of music, i shall share some quotes with you.

"Music is the sound of the soul taking control for a change."

"Its always the little things that make music so beautifully perfect."

whoever guesses who wrote these correctly gets +50 karma points.

the song in relation to the book. 

there isnt much relation to the book, as i found no mood in the book to tune a song to. the closest thing to similarity is how the book opens with the author talking about how it is over in the middle east on duty. the song opens up with a more, what i would like to call a "clandestine" feel, which i have alwasy paired with the image of combat. within a number of chapters in the book, the author leaves behind all the descriptions of his experiences and solely talks about the dog for the rest of the book. the song is quite the same. after a number of measures, it mellows out into a calm harmony, which i honestly dont like. id prefer a more moving and aggressive mood in both song and book.

Websites...

So i'm supposed to add a number of websites that relate to the book. ... ...    ...  ... Great... Where to start...




http://www.vohneliche.com/
The people who helped get Lava out of the country.



http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/from-baghdad-with-love-a-marine-the-war-and-a-dog-named-lava
A summary of the book.


http://www.apdt.com/conf/speakers/bio_kopelman.aspx
another, smaller summary.


http://www.bookslut.com/nonfiction/2006_10_010021.php
i'm sorry, but i just cant stop laughing at the website title to actually write something. just click the dang link, its actually kinda good.


http://www.marines.mil/unit/mcbhawaii/Pages/110413_RejoiningthefightLavaDogsleaveforAfghanistandeployment.aspx
An article about recent deployment of the lava dogs.


 http://www.freedomisnotfree.com/
Organization created to aid the families of wounded or fallen service members, of which the author is executive director of.



http://www.mcbh.usmc.mil/3mar/1dbn/1-3%20INDEX.htm
Lava Dogs' website.

I found this on a bumper sticker lol.

DISSENT IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF PATRIOTISM.


beautiful isnt it. i wish we could add arrogance to the mix.

Book Conclusion

So i have finally finished From Baghdad, With Love and i am actually happy to say that i am satisfied, which is simply due to the fact that i'm not annoyed, frustrated, or or absolutely infuriated like i am with most other books im forced to read, cough* a tale of two cities cough* cough*. i chose this book simply because when i opened it to a random page, the 1st three words were explosion, rpg, and firefight. i went into this book hoping for a violent, action packed novel. thats not what this book is about. there was just enough action  to fill my blood thirst, but this book was overall an actually real story about a marine in Iraq that had a personal connection to a dog and tried his hardest to take it out of the war zone and bring it home with him. my satisfaction was found in how this was a first hand account of what was happening over in the middle east. it provided a perspective of what's really behind the news headlines. im sorry but i didnt really care that much about the dog, but the author's description of the situation and the actual setting are what interested me, but i was fascinated about how so many people worked so hard to get this little puppy out of a war ridden country. overall this is an ok read in my opinion. i think of this book as more of a short, minor memoir instead of  teen literature. A dog person would probably enjoy the book more than i did, but all in all, it was actually worth reading.



Hopefully i will also be posting a vlog shortly about my response to the book.  



wow...     i actually took something seriously for a change.... 8P

(insert title here)

The Priest of Pain is known as such because he preaches the truth no one wants to hear. Thats why its called the UGLY TRUTH.

Behold the justification for lying.

In Depth

"I was once told my sense of thought was 'deep'. ... ... ... Yeah about as deep as the shallow end of the kiddie pool thats got a bunch of absent minded 8 year olds doggy paddling around in it." - The Priest of Pain

politics from a 12 yr old mind.

so i just recently saw the republican debate and it was quite interesting. in my opinion it was just a massive fail.     1) the CEO of Godfather's Pizza is running....wtf    Do we Get free pizza to feed the hungry?
2) it seemed to be a massive roast of the Texas governor.     
3) i dont think the republicans have a plan... they just go along with their drift of "Get Rid of Obamacare!!!".
4) a classmate once said, "Its not politics, its just a bunch of stupidity and white people."  .. .... im starting to believe him.
5) at this point i dont think anyone really has a plan for fixing our current situation.


Oh well. Looks like this country is in trouble....

question of the day.

"Have you ever wondered why cherish rhymes with perish?"- The Priest of Pain

pictures.

these are some pictures that i believe pertain to the book.

The author

The Lava Dogs

Home

Today,

Tomorrow,

and the next day.

Companions

Vohne Liche Kennels

Remembering them.

Lava Comes to his new home.

AWWW YEEEAAH

Lava Dogs on patrol.

Whats Good My Homies.

Ay whats up my g's. My name is Angel Agrawal. you may address me as the Priest of Pain or Gargoyle if you wish. I am a junior at CCHS. I work for a world class organization by the name of CCHS football, and all we do is dominate. I play football obviously, tennis, rugby, soccer, and my favorite sport: paintball. I absolutely love music. I play for Illinois's finest high school band, CCHS Marching Terriers. My DJ name is DJ Chuzo. My favorite types of music are house, electro-house, progressive-house, deep house, Deadmau5, Mau5step, Dubstep, 1 step 2 step. I try to have a positive attitude and positive personality. the way i look at life is to enjoy childhood and cherish and embrace free spirit and mild immaturity, but also be mature and adult when required. I'm friendly and i think i have friends.... i think....   . Its hard to describe myself. Personality isn't something easily put in words. But insults are. I can be an extremely aggressive and rude writer if i feel up to it. Ive coined the term Literary destruction to describe my writing style. i also have a tendency to write ina conversational manner. By the way, i made up my own character involved in every story i write: Philmo Philmak. i dont write about him much anymore because I'm busy observing my takeover of the world, and writing this here blog.

 So the purpose of this blog, as required by my teacher is a blog about a book im reading. but my secret reason for having this blog is to just write straight up about anything and everything. but anyway I'm mandated by the school to stay on topic. Im reading a book called From Baghdad, With Love by Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman and Melinda Roth. 

Book Cover

I chose this book because the description of it on the list of books i had to choose from that wasnt absolute FAIL. Plus when i opened the book, the first words i read were RPG, bullets whizzing, screaming, dead bodies. I love combat and this book was appealing to me.... besides im not going to read a BS version of Twilight except with necromancers, or some stuff about teenage girls and drama wannabe trash stuff.... i dont like modern teen literature. Its too... whats the word... teen...   ...   ... it still sucks and i dont like it.

i have been asked what i want to blog about. answer: something interesting please. no trash. i dont like boring trash. no copy and paste or dumb stuff. something that makes me think like a philosopher. philosophy is fun. topics of which interact with current events might also seem appealing.

thats all for today mi gente.

on a final note, i shall add my own quote.

"Every one is equal. But only in Death."





by the way go check out my bro Leslie Burke's blog. its like total $wagg.