Reflective Essay

A quick reminder-- your reflective essay should provide a description of the processes involved in the project, and you should address these three topics:

1. the initial collaborative work, including the decision about a topic and any technical problems that the group encountered. Describe how you collectively made decisions and solved problems.
2. Describe and rate your particular contributions; tell me what you did well and what you could've done better
3. Describe and rate the contributions of your teammates.

Also: the information about webspace for the projects is now up on T-Square under "Resources"

"Chinese Democracy" finally arrives....

Twenty years ago, Guns'n'Roses was the Most Important Rock Band in the World, and Axl Rose was the Biggest Rockstar on the Planet.

Seventeen years ago, when I was in the eighth grade and most of you were just learning to walk, they started work on their next album, Chinese Democracy. Within a few months, the band had split. Axl hunkered down in his studio and started mixing what they had recorded.

While you were learning to walk, he found new members and recorded some additional tracks.

While you were entering kindergarten, those guys left and were replaced by other people. Axl continued to mix.

You finished elementary school; Axl got ProTools and continued to mix.

You went to middle school, got acne, your voice changed. Axl showed up on the VMAs, fat and dreadlocked. He got so winded he could barely make it through "Welcome to the Jungle."

He promised us the album was coming; he scheduled tour dates. He didn't show up. People rioted. He went back to the studio and kept mixing.

You got your driver's license. Axl continued to mix.

You graduated. No album.

Now, it's here. And it is bad.

According to Jon Pareles

• "Chinese Democracy" is the Titanic of rock albums: the ship, not the movie, although like the film it’s a monumental studio production. It’s outsize, lavish, obsessive, technologically advanced and, all too clearly, the end of an era. It’s also a shipwreck, capsized by pretensions and top-heavy production. In its 14 songs there are glimpses of heartfelt ferocity and despair, along with bursts of remarkable musicianship. But they are overwhelmed by countless layers of studio diddling and a tone of curdled self-pity. The album concludes with five bombastic power ballads in a row.

Chuck Klosterman disagrees. Read his review too.

For Monday

Read Chapters 12-13 in Confederates in the Attic.

Submit your claim & criteria to T-Square.

In case you forgot...

The blog that's due for tomorrow is a continuation of the topic I assigned last week. Read here.

Follow-up: The South and the Election

The New York Times published a follow-up to an earlier article (which I posted) on the South, race, and the Presidential election. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts: read it here.

Wednesday's readings

I'd like you to read Victor Dover's evaluation of the Cotton District project in Starkville, MS. You might also find Brian Herman's essay insightful. For images of the Cotton District, click here and here.

Also, read this review of Google's new web browser, Chrome. The author is David Pogue, the New York Times' technology columnist. If you want to give Chrome a spin for yourself, it's free and a quick download.

**Addendum: The Cotton District falls under the rubric of the architectural movement known as New Urbanism, and I thought you might need a quick definition. From the Online NewsHour:

"New Urbanists promote a return to the traditional town planning that defines places like downtown Charleston, South Carolina; old town Alexandria, Va., historic San Francisco and Georgetown in Washington DC. These traditional neighborhoods feature walkable Main Street shopping districts, downtown parks, and grid streets."

The NewsHour's has a great resource on New Urbanism. Take a look.

Reading for Monday

Knock out Ch. 10 in Confederates in the Attic.