All the Young Dudes

So I have been grading like a fiend. It's that time, when all the papers are turned in and the Final Study Guide gets created. I love this time, but it is super hectic. I finally know my students names, we've gotten to the point where we can all joke together in class. Yesterday I was freaking out because I had lost the printed out copy (the only remaining copy) of a lecture I haven't had the time to re-type. I had lost the digital file somehow, but I've shuffled this lecture semester to semester. And now, it's lost! I was so busy finishing with grading that I didn't even let myself get too pissed about it. I just jotted down what I remembered in bullet form and took a one page sheet of notes to class. Can you believe I had a good time? Me!? Overly prepared, meticulous me went in with one page of bullet points. I had the shit down, too, with just the right timing. Very rewarding.
Today was also my Evaluations day, and I always get nervous when giving Evals because this is their chance to complain about me. But a couple of students came out and asked me what else I was teaching next semester and how they enjoyed my class! Such a mood lifter!


I have been watching/rewatching good flicks lately. What We Do Is Secret, about the Germs was worth buying on DVD, if you are into LA punk and the Masque and all that late 70s early 80s beautiful uglyness. I thought the actors did a good job, and it had Tina Marjorino (from Napoleon Dynamite and Veronica Mars), whom I love, as Pat Smear's gal. Her character has a gem of a scenen in which she refuses to pay a cover charge at the Masque. Watch it.

I rewatched Juno for the third time. I heart that movie. So pretty and messed up and amazing. I have a soft spot for Diablo Cody. She rules. Mott the Hoople was a favorite of mine in high school, and it is always nice to see and hear All the Young Dudes given some kind of emotional place in a person's story. Did you know that hamburger phone sales have tripled since the movie? That's a made up statistic, but I bet if you asked somone in the know, they would totally agree.

Last night, while I was grading, M. and I had Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, the documentary of metal music by Anthroplogist and metal head Sam Dunn, on in the background. What a great documentary. I may use it next year in my section on music. The Metal Genealogy Chart alone is worth the viewing. But really the best part is the interviews with the Norwegian black metal guys who totally support burning churches and are interviewed in dark chambers while sipping wine from fancy goblets! Like, these are serious satanists people! According to Wiki's entry on Norwegian black metal, they popularized corpsepaint. Yeah, go check the link. It's a thing.

Anyway, what I found interesting in the documentary is that bands like Venom really scared people:

Not too scary in retrospect, but apparently they were like "oooh the devil"

My generation is supposed to be shocked by Marilyn Manson, but I never really was:

I always found Twiggy and Marilyn kinda endearing. You know, like, "Aww, you are such a scawy widdle guy! Yes you are!" Maybe it's because of the inherent nerdiness that lies in the heart of the goth. Especially the kind that wears makeup. I mean, if you have a powder puff in your bathroom, you just aren't evil enough, dude. Sorry.

Not sure if I'm scared of Norwegian black metal guys. I probably should be. But M. and I agree that this...


...is actually kind of nightmarish. Kids from Iowa with leatherface masks actually make me kind of wonder if I should give out Ds and Fs at all.