Thursday, July 27, 2006

Emo Syntax



One of the most important devices in emo songwriting is that of emo syntax. Sure, saying outright that your girlfriend dumped you is awesome. But... what if you can convey your pain to the listener outside of the restrictions of single gestures? Make the listener think about it, make the emo connection, stretch out their understanding like your ex stretched out your heart and hung it to rot on the clothesline of rejection, slowly festering in the setting sunlight of her abandoned love?

Example: 'Ten Minutes' by the Get-Up Kids:
"Sometimes I miss you more... whenever I'm at home.
I've been home all summer."

See how he doesn't just say he misses his ex, but he sets up being at home as an emo quantifier :'(, and then later tells us just how long he's been heartbroken e. Because the e is communicated by an indirect, familiar variable connected only by prior quantifier association, the impact is increased tenfold.

emo = e + :'(e + k

k = ex-girlfriend's phone number.

That's emo syntax in work!

Another example: 'Neighborhood #2 (Laika)' by the Arcade Fire:
"When daddy comes home you always start a fight, so the neighbors can dance...
Now the neighbors can dance!"

Friday, July 21, 2006

post graduation

So... I've finished uni and am happily living the world's most unfulfilling life. Just like the one I dreamed about during those crazy thesis days! In fact, the entire contents of the last few weeks can pretty much be summed up through montage:




1 - With no thesis, my new goal in life is to watch the entire first season of 24 in 24 hours. Then the next season the next day. Then the next. Then the next. Then the next. Then wait impatiently (perhaps in suspended animation) for them to film and release the next. Unfortunately, my stupid body's basic vital functions have rendered me a failure... only 14 episodes in 4 days.

2 - I made a Snape stencil, in preparation for the mind shattering depression madness that will set in when I finish the final two chapters of Harry Potter 6.

3 - Dora the Explorer is the best show in the world. Sure, its target audience is ages 3 - 5 and its aim is to teach numbers, but it features a Mexican fox called Swiper. Mexican! From Mexico! I went out and bought all the DVDs of it I could find.

4 - While putting up Snape stickers and generally loitering around smoking a fine Cuban cigar, I got seen by hotel security at Port Douglas. The security began to chase me in a golf buggy, so I made a run for it, smoking a fine Cuban cigar. Unfortunately, when I decided to hide in some bushes, my cigar gave away my position, so I was apprehended and given a talking to. While smoking a fine Cuban cigar. The moral of this: always smoke a fine Cuban cigar.

5 - Give me the chance and I'll gamble my life away. Eg: at Star City the other night, I won $300, then lost it all on Black Jack. So I went straight to the ATM to take out more money to win back all my losses. According to G-line, this is the sure sign that you are a gambling addict. But what does G-line know, because I won it all back with a $200 profit. And I'll do it again!

6 - I need pringles all the time now.

7 - Why am I making ridiculous montages when I could be watching 24?

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Lazy

Pull the other one, it totally missed...



Also, my thesis is arrived.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Uno is a game of skill.