Outside reading #4 (I hope this is a valid topic)

Ok well hopefully this song will continue my theme of strange topics for outside reading. The song is American Pie, written in 1971 by Don McLean. I decided to choose this song because it has many interpretations. One fact is fairly clear, however. The song is very likely about the death of Buddy Holly, and how when he died, the "music died" for McLean. McLean actually said as much in an interview. The interesting part, however, is that the song seems to reference other musical artists as well, although this can not so easily be confirmed. I think the line that mentions "the Jester", (with the jester/ on the sidelines/ in a cast), actually refers to Bob Dylan, (he is sometimes called the jester, and I believe that when he sang about the joker in 'All Along the Watchtower', he was referring to himself, since he seemed to be on the joker's side). The song also possibly mentions the Byrds. They actually say the word birds once, and on songmeanings.com, the administrator actually spelled the word 'Byrds'. Also, the line 'helter skelter/ in a summer shelter' may refer to a Byrds CD, fallout shelter. Finally, the line 'eight miles high/ and falling fast' refers to the Byrds song Eight Miles High. I couldn't find actual evidence of any of these tree references anywhere, but it seems really coincidental. The line may, however, refer instead to the plane crash that killed Holly. Online, I found many more possible interesting references, such as to the Rolling Stones and to the Beatles. I think the overall topic of the song is the decline of music in McLean's life. The song has an overall negative tone, and I think an era of music ended for McLean when Holly, (the American Pie?) died.

American Pie." Lyrics007. 27 May 2008. Lyrics007. 30 Oct 2008 http://www.lyrics007.com/Don%20McLean%20Lyrics/American%20Pie%20Lyrics.html.

Sharks Are Weird. (Outside Reading)

This article describes the second known occurrence of the virgin birth of a shark (a birth with no father). This was an interesting article since virgin birth is a concept very foreign to us as humans. Having said that, however, it should be mentioned that other animals have also had virgin births. The specifics of the article are that an autopsy of a blacktip shark showed a fully grown embryo. The dead shark had had no access to male sharks for the past eight years. I thought this article was interesting because human virgin births exist only in biblical tales, and it is a very strange and foreign concept to us. People should be aware of this since it may alter their view of nature and the noteworthy capabilities of other species.

" DNA test proves it -- baby shark has no father." CNN. 10 Oct 2008. CNN. 11 Oct 2008 .
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/10/shark.virgin.birth.ap/index.html
(Originally October 11)

A New Point Of View (Outside Reding)

I don't know if I was supposed to read a forum, but I hope this is OK, because the content is thought out and neat, (proper grammar and spelling, not slander). The post is someone's opinion about problems in the US government right now. The poster has several points, but he starts by mentioning that the 2 major presidential candidates, in the process of campaigning for office, have not been doing their jobs as senators. It is unclear exactly how the author can back up this point, but it is still an interesting prospect, because not many people seem to notice this. The article also brings up the essentially undiscussed topic of term limits- the poster thinks that a president shouldn't have served too many terms as another prominent political figure. This is also an interesting point since too many terms in a different office gives a name notability, and a president shouldn't receive votes purely based on notability. The final complaint of the author is that presidents shouldn't have purely political experience, (law degrees, social science degrees), that they should have education (or degrees) in math and science as well. This is a debatable point, since political education obviously would help as president, but a mathematics degree could also be useful since it would allow the president to make more logical decisions, (about budget, military movement, etc.) by himself. Overall, the author's points are clearly debatable, but definitely worth considering.

"What happened to campaign reform?." Rolling Stone. 9 Sep 2008. Rolling Stone. 2 Oct 2008 .
http://www.rollingstone.com/forums/?plckForumPage=ForumDiscussion&plckDiscussionId=Cat%3a738938f9-1261-44ee-82c6-fb85fdcd8430Forum%3a37d4a2a8-e28c-4500-abb5-19d3d2e33e36Discussion%3a80166a48-ee15-4272-b3b3-484dfc008c54&plckCategoryCurrentPage=0
(Originally on Oct. 2)

First Real Post With Relevant And Work Intensive Content

This is a very strange piece since it's content is an enormous departure from american culture. A rich buisinessman was handing out money to waiting civilians. The Indonesian citizens stampeded each other in eager attempts to reach the money. At least 21 were killed. This sort of relates to The Iliad theme of brutality. Eager citizens gave no thought to the lives of others when working towards their own goal. They were strangely brutal (trampling women and children) to reach their goal. Even though the brutality may pay off in the short term, they will have the deaths of others on their conscience forever. This is like Achilles in The Iliad, when he was torturing Hector's dead body. He would enjoy it in the short term, but it would haunt his conscience in the long term.


Saptura, Andy. "Indonesia cash handout spurs deadly stampede." CNN. 15 Sep . CNN. 15 Sep 2008. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/15/indonesia.stam

(Originally done Sep. 15)

Five To Ten Sentence Introductory Post

Hi I am Joe. This is my ELA outside reading blog. I will post throughout the year about literary works that I read. For the first quarter, I will be posting responses to short pieces. Check my blog often for weekly updates.

(Originally done on Sep. 8)