Exam ready

Your midterm is ready to go. You can take it any time between now and midnight Friday. There are 50 questions and you'll have 90 minutes to complete the exam once you begin.

When you get to the class page just click on quizzes. You'll find it there. Good luck.

New quiz ready/Midterm exam next week

The Chapter 6 Motion Media quiz is now available. I set it up so you have until midnight Monday to complete it.

This will be our last unit before the midterm. Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 will be covered on the midterm. I'll post some review items next week. The exam will be multiple choice. It will be available Friday.

Quiz ready

The Sound Media quiz is up and running. You have until midnight Wednesday to complete it. I think I have it set up so that you can see your answers, right or wrong, after you submit your work.

I have also opened up the three previous quizzes for those of you who have not completed them. This is a one shot amnesty deal, so if you've been slacking now is your time to make amends. You'll have until Wednesday to complete those as well.

Look for the next quiz on Motion Media Thursday.

Cheers,
Rob

The way forward

OK, we've got the quiz scores semi-fixed. We'll move forward with the Sound Media quiz this weekend. I'll post it on Friday and leave it open for four or five days to allow all of you time to complete it. I will also reopen the earlier quizzes for those of you who have missed assignments. And, I will take a look at where we are early next week and provide some instruction on when to expect the mid-term exam and on what it will cover.

Look for the quiz tomorrow, and a post about make up quizzes this weekend. I'll try to get through your papers as well, but my kids have a soccer match in Helena on Saturday so I'll lose a day for that.

Cheers to all and thanks for the patience with the quiz troubles.

Oh yeah, I will drop your lowest quiz score before I calculate your grade.

Can you see your quiz scores now?

I hope we have this issue resolved. Check to see if you can see your quiz scores. If yes, or no for that matter, post to let me know the result.

In the meantime, here's a short, short story, by Tobias Wolff I really like. The link takes you to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer blog post. Don't read the blog post, just click on the "Bullet in the Brain" link in the first sentence of the blog. That takes you to a PDF of the story. And I do mean short, its only four pages. But it is very good.

Sorry, there are a couple typos in the PDF file. You'll need to buy the book and load it onto your Kindle if you want to read a mistake-free version.

Quiz woes

I worked on the quiz issue on Friday, plus I received assistance from Swen on the help desk (I think he really was in Scandinavia judging by his accent which was a little tough to understand). I will work on it again on Monday. Hopefully I can get it set up properly and we'll be good to go.

Some of you have asked to have your quiz scores e-mailed to you. I have resisted doing this so far because it is potentially a violation of FERPA (Federal Education Records Protection Act). I'm hoping I can just get this grade book set up and you'll be able to access them on your own, and I won't get in trouble for sending grade information via e-mail. Sorry, I'm trying to get this fixed.

In the meantime, here's a link to one of my favorite poems. It's kind of funny, in a morbid sort of way.

New drop box, no quiz yet

I've created a new drop box for your Kindle papers. If you've already dropped your paper in the quiz drop box don't worry. I'll get it there.

I don't have the quiz situation squared away yet, so I'm going to delay the Sound Media quiz a little longer. It should be available next week. I'll keep it open longer than 24 hours so you will have plenty of time to finish.

Let's see some more feedback on the battle of grunge vs. hair bands post.

Grunge versus the hair bands

Sorry for the late post. My original plan went astray when I discovered the link to the Elvis Costello performance I wanted you to see has been blocked. But that's OK as Plan B is pretty good too, featuring nothing less than the ...

Best. Video. Ever.

This is Nirvana's grunge rock classic Smells Like Teen Spirit. This is the song that defines 1990s counter culture. In my opinion this is one of the greatest rock songs of all time, if not the greatest. And the video is something else. There's the band, the tatted up anarchist cheerleaders, the creepy janitor (every school has one) and the pep rally that has gone terribly, terribly wrong. Trust me, the pep rallies at Glacier High are nothing like this.

This is Nirvana's take on that universal theme, youthful alienation. It goes where Catcher in the Rye and Rebel Without a Cause once tread. The lyrics (posted below) are the poetry of teen angst.

Now compare Spirit to this 1990s hit.

Same decade. Same music genre. But could the music and message be any more different?

Also, is there any doubt which lead singer later died tragically by suicide and which went on to star in his own reality dating show just a few years ago?

So what do you think about these contrasting messages, both of which are well represented in the annuls of rock music? Which do you prefer, the tragic-artist posturing of Nirvana or the let's party philosophy of Poison? Do we have to choose?

And add a link to your favorite music on www.youtube.com to share with the class.

Smells Like Teen Spirit

Load up on guns
Bring your friends
It's fun to lose and to pretend
She's overborne and self-assured
Oh no, I know a dirty word

Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello ,hello
With the Lights out it's less dangerous
Here we are now entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now entertain us
A mullato an albino
A mosquito my libido
yay

I'm worse at what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Our little group has always been
And always will until the end

Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, hello
With the Lights out it's less dangerous
Here we are now entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now entertain us
A mullato an albino
A mosquito my libido
yay

And I forget just why I taste
Oh yeah I guess it makes me smile
I found it hard it's hard to find
Oh well whatever nevermind

Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, hello
With the Lights out it's less dangerous
Here we are now entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now entertain us
A mullato an albino
A mosquito my libido
A denial

Quiz this Friday?

I have some help (finally) to get the quizzes set up properly so that you can see your grades and monitor your progress. Assuming all goes well, the quiz on Sound Media will be available on Friday.

Some of you have asked to make up quizzes you missed. I'm looking into that as well and expect to have an answer this week.

In the meantime, this evening I will post a discussion topic focusing on the messages communicated in music videos. I'll post some of my all time faves to get the ball rolling. I'd like all of you to think about some of your favorite videos to share with the class. If you haven't done this before, just go to www.youtube.com and type in the name of your favorite song. You'll find just about anything on youtube.