#anthology 13: cohorts

[oneshipress]

Kyle Lawrence on Starting Big

Kyle Lawrence is a comic writer from New Jersey whose work has appeared in two previous Oneshi Press anthologies (you can find Anthology #7 and Anthology #11 on our online store!). His featured comic in the Cohorts Anthology, “Br’er Rabbit in the Jazz Age Presents: Bam-BOOZE-led,” follows a superhero of color as he wipes out bigotry in the post–Civil War American South. We talked to Kyle about…

[revolutionarywarhistory]

"Flecking the hedges with red": Palmer's Ballad on the Maryland 400

A photograph of John Williamson Palmer who wrote ‘The Maryland Battalion’

Editor's note: this is an article I posted on September 28, 2016 on Finding the Maryland 400. Reposted from Academia.edu and my History Hermann WordPress blog.

In the past, we have written about poems and songs relating to the Maryland 400. [1] They were celebrated years after and during the Revolutionary War, with newspapers often containing poems and songs. Such poems included one about William Sterrett in 1776 and a song by Tom Wisner titled “The Old Line.” Poems and ballads, which are narrative poems, not only appeared in newspapers but also in books. This post analyzes the 1901 ballad titled “The Maryland Battalion in the Battle of Long Island” and its author. [2]

The ballad’s author was a native Baltimorean named John Williamson Palmer. He was a physician by profession, but later became a journalist, and served as a New York Tribune correspondent in Richmond, Virginia during the Civil War. [3] He traveled across the world to India and elsewhere in East Asia, worked for the East India Company, and warned acclaim after contributing to numerous periodicals. [4] During the Civil War, Palmer wrote the well-known ballad titled “Stonewall Jackson’s Way” during the Battle of Antietam in 1862. [5] This ballad became one of the South’s most popular lyrics. This is not surprising because Palmer joined the Confederate Army and later served on the staff of John C. Breckinridge, the Secretary of War of the Confederacy. [6] After the Civil War, he published a book of folk songs and numerous other books of note. He had become, as his former employer, the New York Tribune, called him, “a veteran balladist” who will “be long remembered” because of his good verse. [7] By the early twentieth century, some claimed that he become a writer with “vigorous lyric faculty.” [8]

“The Maryland Battalion” was originally printed in a 1902 book titled Every Day in the Year. The book was a “poetical anthology” which commemorated “the most striking events in history” and the men and women who “have left an imprint on their day and generation.” [9] The ballad was printed with an introduction making it clear it was about the Battle of Brooklyn. [10] His ballad fits with those he wrote about Stonewall Jackson and the Battle of the San Jacinto in 1836 by exhibiting a patriotic theme, from his point of view. [11]

The text of this ballad is reprinted below [12]:

Spruce Macaronis, and pretty to see, Tidy and dapper and gallant were we; Blooded fine gentlemen, proper and tall, Bold in a fox-hunt and gay at a ball; Prancing soldados so martial and bluff, Billets for bullets, in scarlet and buff— But our cockades were clasped with a mother’s low prayer And the sweethearts that braided the sword-knots were fair [13] There was grummer of drums humming hoarse in the hills, And the bugles sang fanfares down by the mills, By Flatbush [14] the bagpipes were droning amain, And keen cracked the rifles in Martense’s lane [15]; For the Hessians were flecking the hedges with red [16], And the grenadiers’ tramp marked the roll of the dead Three to one, flank and rear, flashed the files of St. George [17], The fierce gleam of their steel as the glow of a forge. The brutal boom-boom of their swart cannoneers Was sweet music compared with the taunt of their cheers— For the brunt of their onset, our crippled array, And the light of God’s leading gone out in the fray. Oh, the rout on the left and the tug on the right! The mad plunge of the charge and the wreck of the flight! When the cohorts of Grant [18] held stout Stirling [19] at strain, And the mongrels of Hesse [20] went tearing the slain; When at Freeke’s Mill the flumes and the sluices ran red, And the dead choked the dike and the marsh choked the dead! “Oh, Stirling, good Stirling, how long must we wait? Shall the shout of your trumpet unleash us too late? Have you never a dash for brave Mordecai Gist [21] With his heart in his throat, and his blade in his fist? Are we good for no more than to prance in a ball, When the drums beat the charge and the clarions call?” Tralára! Tralára! Now praise we the Lord For the clang of His call and the flash of His sword! Tralára! Tralára! Now forward to die; For the banner, hurrah! and for sweethearts, good-by! “Four hundred wild lads!” May be so. I’ll be bound ’T will be easy to count us, face up, on the ground. If we hold the road open, though Death take the toll, We’ll be missed on parade when the States call the roll— When the flags meet in peace and the guns are at rest, And fair Freedom is singing Sweet Home in the West. [22]

At the time, the ballad was positively received. Noted writer Rossiter Johnson said it reminded him of classic lyrics of another balladist, while the Chicago Tribune said that the ballad, along with his other writings, had become “familiar to the American people.” [23] The St. Louis Republic called it “blood-stirring” and the Baltimore Sun said it had no less “dash and ring” than his other ballads and would, which “rouse the blood to action and enthusiasm.” [24] Acclaimed poet Charles D. Roberts even praised it, calling it a “splendid piece of work, inevitable and unforgettable.” This flattery is not surprising because the ballad was written in style of that time by catering to a Victorian appetite for heroes and legends and preserving the Maryland 400’s story, while cultivating Maryland pride.

– Burkely Hermann, Maryland Society of the Sons of American Revolution Research Fellow, 2016.

© 2016-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] Another post on this blog also put the ‘Midnight Ride of Paul Revere’ into context as it relates to Maryland.

[2] Alan, a volunteer at the Baltimore County Historical Society, gave me a copy of this ballad this summer when I made a trip to this historical society. In order to be consistent, the word ballad is used even though some refer to it as a poem.

[3] Henry E. Shepard, The Representative Authors of Maryland: From the Earliest Time to the Present Day With Biographical Notes and Comments Upon Their Work (New York: Whitehall Publishing Company, 1911), 100; American History Told by Contemporaries: Welding of the Nation 1845-1900 (ed. Albert Bushnell Hart, Honolulu: University Press of the Pacific, 2002, reprint of 1921 edition), 282.

[4] Rand Richards. Mud, Blood, and Gold: San Francisco in 1849 (San Francisco: Heritage House Publishers, 2008), 201; Shepard, 100; American History Told by Contemporaries, 282.

[5] Richards, 86, 101; Southern Life in Southern Literature: Selections of Representative Prose and Poetry (ed. Maurice Garland Fulton, New York: Ginn and Economy, 1917), 259-261.

[6] American History Told by Contemporaries, 282; “Words of the Hour”: A New Anthology of Civil War Poetry (ed. Faith Barrett and Cristanne Miller, Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 2005), 389; Herman Melville, Correspondence (Chicago: Northwestern University Press, 1993), 516; Women reading Shakespeare 1660-1900: An anthology of criticism (ed. Ann Thompson and Sasha Roberts, New York: Manchester University Press, 1997), 110; Shakespeare: The Critical Tradition. The Merchant of Venice (ed. William Baker and Brian Vickers, New York: Thoemes Continuum, 2005), 86; Shepard, 100-101; Southern Life in Southern Literature, 259. Before the war, in 1855, he married Henrietta Lee, a Baltimorean who was a prolific writer and reader of Shakespeare. Palmer also had correspondence with the acclaimed novelist Herman Melville after the Civil War.

[7] “A Southern Poet.” The Evangelical Episcopalian. Vol. 14, no. 1. March 1902. pp. 464; Every Day in the Year: A Poetical Epitome of the World’s History (ed. James L. Ford and Mary K. Ford, New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1902), v. Others called him “one of America’s real poets,” before his death in 1906.

[8] John Wanamaker, Book News: A Monthly Survey of General Literature. Vol. 19 (Philadelphia: John Wanamaker, 1901), 684.

[9] Every Day in the Year, 289.

[10] Ibid, 133, 157-158.

[11] Poetry of the People (ed. Charles Mills Gayley and Martin C. Flaherty, Boston: Ginn & Company Publishers, 1904), 238-239; The Home Book of Verse: American and English 1580-1918 Third Edition (ed. Burton Egbert Stevenson, New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1918), 2429; Index of Current Literature (ed. Edward J. Wheeler). Vol. 40. New York: The Current Literature Publishing Company, Jan-June 1906, 449-450.

[12] The tune of this ballad is not known.

[13] “Scarlet and buff” is a reference to the uniforms Smallwood’s soldiers and said to have worn. In actuality they did not wear these uniforms. Instead, they wore white linen or hunting shirts, leather breeches, leather belts, stockings, leather shoes with buckles, and felt hats.

[14] General Sullivan was driven back by the Hessians, hired soldiers fighting for the British, and flanked by Clinton’s forces in Flatbush.

[15] Martenese’s lane was a road that was the Greenwood cemetery’s southern border in Brooklyn.

[16] As a private of the Maryland  William McMillian put it in his description of the battle, “We were surrounded by Healanders [Scottish Highlanders] on one side, Hessians on the other.”

[17] The “files of St. George” are British soldiers.

[18] A British general named James Grant commanded the left wing during the battle.

[19] Lord Stirling, or William Alexander, was a veteran of the Seven Years War, and was a brigadier general during the battle.

[20] Refers to Hessians.

[21] Mordecai Gist was a native Baltimorean and commanded the Marylanders during the Battle.

[22] The last lines are saying that people should fight at any cost for their freedom and is challenging readers to fight and not be weak.

[23] The Missionary Review of the World vol. 24, part 2. Funk & Wagnalls, 1901, 160.

[24] The Missionary Review of the World, 115, 160, 181-182; The Literary Digest Vol. XXII, no. 25. June 22, 1901, 1A2.

[brokehorrorfan]

Event Report: John Carpenter in Concert (2017)

After composing the scores to the majority of his movies over his illustrious, three-decade filmmaking career, John Carpenter released his debut solo album, Lost Themes, in 2015. He quickly followed it up with another record, appropriately titled Lost Themes II, the following year. He accompanied the second release with his first-ever live performances. It was unclear if it would be his only tour, so fans traveled from far and wide to witness the master of horror play his classic themes live. Needless to say, it was a massive hit.

Carpenter has just released his third studio album, Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998. While the previous records were all-new, original music, Anthology - as its name suggests - finds Carpenter re-recording his classic film cues alongside his Lost Themes collaborators: his son, Cody Carpenter, a talented synth musician in his own right; and his godson, Daniel Davies, the son of The Kinks guitarist Dave Davies.

The familial unit recently hit the road for the Anthology tour, bringing Carpenter to several cities that were missed on the first tour. I was fortunate enough to catch the show at Royale in Boston, Massachusetts on November 15, 2017. Along with Cody Carpenter on lead synthesizer and Daniel Davies on lead guitar, Carpenter is joined by the same backing band used by Tenacious D: drummer Scott Seiver, guitarist John Konesky, and bassist John Spiker.

Carpenter's musical influence can still be felt to this day - perhaps now more than ever - in the soundtracks to high-profile projects like Stranger Things, Tron: Legacy, and Drive. While his scores largely consisted of minimal, synthesizer compositions, Carpenter and his cohorts have reworked them as full-band songs. The brooding synth remains ever-present, but it's more layered and accompanied by blazing guitars and a driving rhythm section. It's particularly interesting to hear the group cover scores that Carpenter didn't compose: Jack Nitzsche's Starman theme and Ennio Morricone's The Thing theme.

The setlist was very similar to that of Carpenter's first tour, not only in terms of song selection but also in sequencing. The mannerisms - from fog shrouding the stage during The Fog to the band donning sunglasses while playing They Live - were familiar as well. I wouldn't have minded a few more different cuts mixed in, but those who missed the experience the first time around can enjoy all the classics, along with a few additional themes.

Carpenter played the entirety of the Anthology album - including the two 7" bonus tracks from Village of the Damned and Body Bags - with the exception of the theme from his first film, Dark Star. Hearing the instantly-recognizable scores from such classics as Halloween, Escape from New York, Assault on Precinct 13, and Christine would have been more than enough to leave fans satisfied - but the band also mixed in a few tracks from the Lost Themes albums ("Vortex," "Mystery," "Distant Dream," and "Wraith"); as Carpenter described them, "the soundtrack to the movies in your mind."

Carpenter keeps his between-song banter to a minimum, instead allowing the music to speak for itself. Montages of the films play on a screen behind the band as they perform the respective themes, with the crowd cheering for iconic moments, like They Live's lengthy fight scene and The Thing's chest defibrillation effects. It's easy to get lost in the films as the adroitly executed music provides the soundtrack, but be sure to keep an eye on Carpenter to catch him occasionally dancing or throwing up the metal horns.

Like his previous trek, there is no opener on the Anthology tour. While I'm perfectly happy getting right to the main event, it would be nice to see Carpenter bring out someone from the current crop of talented synthwave musicians that cite him as an inspiration - like Perturbator, Gost, or Carpenter Brut, to name a few - to set the tone for the audience.

Although only on their second tour, Carpenter and his band put on such a tight live show that you'd think they've been doing it for many years. They played nearly nonstop for a solid 75 minutes, nary missing a beat. The younger Carpenter and Davies have clearly inherit their fathers' respective musical talents, and the elder Carpenter seems more than happy to share the spotlight with his kin. In fact, he seems more cheerful on stage than he has in a long time.

It's just as exciting to be a fan of the current era of John Carpenter as it was during his 1980s heyday, during which he was crafting an unrivaled string of genre classics. As much as I would truly love to see him direct another film, I would be perfectly content to see Carpenter continue churning out new music and touring regularly. We've lost several masters of horror as of late, so it's truly a treat to see the 69-year-old Carpenter not only healthy and happy, but also creatively fulfilled.

Setlist:

Escape From New York: Main Title Assault on Precinct 13: Main Title Village of the Damned: March of the Children The Fog: Main Title Vortex Mystery They Live: Coming to L.A. Starman: Starman Leaves (Jack Nitzsche cover) The Thing: Main Title (Ennio Morricone cover) Distant Dream Big Trouble in Little China: Pork Chop Express Wraith Halloween - Main Title In the Mouth of Madness - Main Title Body Bags Vampires: Santiago Prince of Darkness: Darkness Begins Christine: Christine Attacks (Plymouth Fury)

See all of my John Carpenter photos here.

[heavywithfire]

All due respect, but the idea that “writing cannot be taught” is such nonsense to me. Literally every type of art can and has been taught. That’s how artists get skills to become artist.

Motzart was a child prodigy and he still had piano lessons. Talent without skills is a novelty at best,

As someone who went into an arts conservatory at 13 for writing and who got her MFA last year in fiction, here are a couple of books I’d recommend starting out with.

Theory books:

Writing degree Zero— Roland Barthes

Counter-Statement/ Philosophy of Literary Form- Kenneth Burke

Art of The Novel— Milan Kundera

Essays:

“poetics”- Aristotle

“On Truth And Lies in Nonmoral Sense”- Nietzsche

“On the sublime”— Longinus** if you love STYLE, this is the shit to read**

Fiction collections:

Norton Anthology of Short Fiction (any edition really)

Norton Anthology of World Literature (I & II)

General Advice:

-You have to read, but you already know that.

- figure out what you love to see when you’re reading (weird dicition, mythological underpinnings) and then what kinds of stories you like to read no matter what the quality (anything vampire related, scrappy orphans, etc.) They aren’t necessarily the same thing but usually you can combine them to figure out what you want to write.

-If you’re reading in English, you actually have a great advantage: tons of contemporary fiction is translated into English. Read both classics and contemporary fiction across cultures and languages.

- Reading classics is important not because they’re the best, but because so many works engage with them. Can never hurt to have a working knowledge of Shakespeare or the Old Testament.

-However, it’s also important to read writers who are not just the Dead Old White guys. There are plenty of Dead Old People and Women of Color to read from too. (Also plenty of living ones!)

-It’s important to read what’s coming out now. There are tons of websites (Electirc Literature, Conjustions, Tin House) that have free stories as well as magazines like Zootrope or The New Yorker. These writers are your cohort, get to know them.

- Poetry is so important to every type of writing (dramatic, long form fiction, short stories, creative nonfiction.) Explore all the same ways as mentioned above.

Any advice on some Creative Writing textbooks to start writing creatively?

I’m afraid not really sorry! The degree I did we didn’t have any textbooks as it was practice based, we just read a lot of good writing. I actually remember reading a fun book on how it isn’t possible to teach C.W... Perhaps I have followers who have a different experience who can suggest things?

[alexanderking]

Another top 20 albums of 2018

‘My 11th list, making this nearly 10 years of top 20 lists! There’s a lot more hip-hop on this one than recent years...

“Have I left anything out?”- Albums et al of 2017:

Iman Omari – IHY: I was asked to see him live in 2017. He was on one of my favourite tracks off of Jonah Levine Collective’s ‘Attention Deficit’ project. I even checked out some of his tracks. Yet I STILL missed out on this album until May of this year!!! ...Better late than never I guess...this would’ve got a 6...

Keyon Harrold – The Mugician: I heard this one last year, I just neglected to mention it on last year’s list...

Quelle Chris – Being you is great! I wish I could be you more often: While I still haven’t necessarily gained an understanding of this project lyrically, I really enjoyed the production. ‘Worth a mention...

Blue Lab Beats – Freedom: I only got hip to Blue Lab Beats this year and ended up going down a tiny rabbit hole. This EP in particular stood out to me. I love ‘Keep Moving’ and the title track...

Ivan Ave – Every Eye: Shouts to my friend Sherman for this one! MNDSGN isn’t really one of the producers I keep an eye out for (pun intended), but I was really feeling the work on here. This might have got a 19...

Smino – blkswn: I finally got on that Chicago wave of hip-hop. I never fully got into Chance, but I really like the work of a lot of his cohorts. I feel that Smino’s flows and general sound is really accessible to fans of Travis Scott, Drake and to a much lesser extent the Migos. I thought the middle of the album slowed down a bit (even though it’s growing on me) but I really enjoy the second half...

...2018:

20) Mick Jenkins – Pieces of a Man:

I had only been listening to Mick Jenkins for about a month before this one came out. The subject matter seems to cover various elements of how a man is perceived nowadays, as well as allowing for moments of vulnerability on tracks like ‘Soft Porn’ and ‘Heron Flow’. My favourites are ‘Stress Fracture’, ‘Plain Clothes’ and ‘Consensual Seduction’...

19) Prhyme – PRhyme 2:

‘Black History’ pulled me in. I was generally engaged from ‘1 of the Hardest’ to ‘Rock It’, then I was fully engaged from ‘Loved Ones’ onwards. While a lot of the subject matter remains being who rhymes the best and attracts the most women (-_-), the wordplay and Preemo’s experimentation kept this enjoyable...

18) Kaidi Tatham – It’s a World Before You:

I keep remarking on how ridiculous this musician’s output is...and no doubt I’ll keep doing so. This project has a more straight forward structure to his broken beat/jazz stylings, most prominent in the title track, ‘Your dreams don’t mean a thing’ and ‘2Tone’. While I still find myself comparing most of his music to ‘In Search of Hope’ (my favourite of Kaidi’s work), I was glad to hear a full version of ‘Cold’ and gems in ‘Joyous’ and ‘Cupid’...

17) Layfullstop – Colour Reaction:

Some reviews have said this is an EP, while others have said mixtape or album...I’ll go with the latter for now. This is one my friend Dan put me on. This nine track project consists of impressive flows, engaging singing and strong instrumentation; enough to have me coming back to this one throughout the year. My favourites are ‘Kriss’ and ‘Suits’...

16) Anderson .Paak – Oxnard:

It may be no secret that I wasn’t really blown away by ‘Malibu’ or ‘NxWorries’. This album however struck a chord with me. It may be (what a lot of reviewers are saying) the confidence of which .Paak tells us who he is, how he can be and also leaves us with poignant messages; some’ we’ve heard a lot in the past year or so but still remains very much HIS voice. My standouts are ‘Tints’, ‘Who r u?’, ‘Mansa Musa’, ‘Smile’ (not ‘Petty’ so much), ‘Cheers’ and ‘Headlow’ (I have to accept my ignorance to a further extent on this one as the song is merely about getting head in the car)...

15) Lupe Fiasco – DROGAS WAVE:

Lupe Fiasco returns with his most ambitious body of work to date. The first nine songs have a continuous narrative of a number of African slaves who are thrown overboard during the transatlantic trade to become the Longchains; spirits that reside beneath the waves, sinking other slave ships and often saving the lives of those drowning or thrown overboard (‘Alan Forever’ is an example of this). The remaining tracks come across to me as an anthology of this world. There’s a callback to the character ‘Stack’ from ‘The Cool’, as he daydreams about finally becoming an accomplished hip-hop superstar in ‘Stack That Cheese’ and we get the fictional story of Jonylah’s life in ‘Jonylah Forever’; she’s later courted by Alan on ‘Alan Forever’...I’m rambling!

This project is riddled with educational moments and distinctive flows. Strangely enough I found that musically, the more electronic leaning instrumentals worked better for me than the traditional hip-hop sounds. My standouts are ‘Manilla’, ‘Alan Forever’, ‘Sun God Sam...’, ‘Stack That Cheese’ and ‘Happy Timbuck2 Day’...

14) Phonte – No News Is Good News:

The long promised and awaited project from Phonte Coleman comes to fruition! Much like ‘Charity Starts At Home’, this album sees Phonte predominately rapping. While there’s a tiny bit of bragging, this album takes a chunk of it to talk on the physical health of the black community, particularly in relation to food. There’s also moments that Phonte reflects on his growth as a person, an artist and as a partner, giving us another “Grown ass rap album”. A lot of the production worked really well on here too...

 13) Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge – The Midnight Hour:

‘Another project Dan put me on. This project was being conceived when Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge were approached to compose the score for ‘Luke Cage’, hence why the spacious soundscapes, occasional burst of drums and laid back midnight session playing sound quite familiar. This is a great project to listen to in the night hours (as possibly its intention?). I loved ‘It’s You’, ‘Dans Un Moment D’errance’ and ‘Together Again’...

12) Kamasi Washington – Heaven and Earth:

After taking us on quite the journey with ‘The Epic’, Kamasi Washington returns with this double (triple) album. For me, the music writing has shown steady progression although I felt there were less stand out solos to go back to. I’d recommend listening to this the first time in the order the title suggests (‘Heaven’ and ‘Earth’), then’ as it is (‘Earth’ and ‘Heaven’)...

11) Killiam Shakespeare – A Town Called Elsewhere:

While I love Steve McKie’s work with Bilal Oliver, I had little to no knowledge of the Philadelphia collective he creates music with. The first couple of pieces on ‘A Town Called Elsewhere’ didn't quite catch my attention. But then the dramatic burst of drums and strings that open ‘1976 Heron’ did just that! From this piece onwards I found myself head nodding along with the slight rock stylings of ‘WDYKAL’, the ranting pulse of ‘Kelo B. Trippin’, the grand opening of ‘Sumido Querido’ and the rolling swagger of ‘Philip Eno Greene’...

10) Patrick Paige II – Letters of Irrelevance:

After a free EP of excellence and a breakdown of current events for his late mother, the bassist from The Internet delivers a personal and at times painful body of work. ‘Letters of Irrelevance’ covers his current status, the passing of his mother and rift it left for him and his loved ones. Paige raps some moments of reflection on ‘The Best Policy’ and ‘The Last Letter’, moments of lament on ‘On My Mind’ and ‘Ode to Inebriation’ and pulls off some impressive vocals on ‘Voodoo’ and ‘Red Knife’...

9) Jean Grae & Quelle Chris – Everything’s Fine:

‘Another recommendation from Dan! Engaged emcee couple (now betrothed) Jean Grae and Quelle Chris decided that they spent so much time together that they might as well make a collaborative album. So why not create a project that delves into the lie we often tell ourselves and others when responding to the question “How are you?”! My standouts are ‘House Call’, ‘Gold Purple Orange’, ‘Breakfast of Champions’, ‘Scoop of Dirt’ and the closing track ‘River’...

8) Noname – Room 25:

I really paid no attention to this Chicago-based emcee/singer/musician until the buzz around the release of this project; I even missed out on seeing her live at North Sea Jazz Festival in 2017...I’m so glad I finally caught up! ‘Room 25′ explores a number of moments that occurred in Noname’s 26th year of life (yes, it’s her 26th year), including an intense relationship, her nomadic lifestyle due to touring and the loss of a friend. Musically, I felt this album peaked with ‘Windows’ but lyrically I’d say on ‘Ace’ (named after the Ace Hotel in Shoreditch) and ‘Part of Me’...

Side note: Listening to this album took me down the Chicago-based wave rabbit hole...

7) Saba – CARE FOR ME:

Out of the Chicago wave, Saba took the top spot for me this year, with this cathartic project, mainly exploring his relationship with his late cousin. This doesn’t become fully evident until the closing 11 minutes of ‘CARE FOR ME’, with ‘PROM/KING’. This piece begins with Saba and his cousin becoming close and ends with his untimely death. This is followed by the beautifully harrowing ‘HEAVEN’, in which he sings from the perspective of his cousin’s spirit; this is one I often feel uncomfortable singing along to because of how personal it is...

6) Royce Da 5′9″ – The Book of Ryan:

Royce Da 5′9″ continues the trend of “Grown ass rap albums” (several of which are his previous works) with this insight into Royce’s story. The first act of the album (tracks 1-7) addresses where he’s at with current events. The second act (tracks 8-16) speaks of his younger years, covering addiction and family relationships, especially his brother and father. The third act (tracks 17-20) returns to the present, dealing with issues of mental health before closing with the joys of having just got paid on ‘First of the Month’. My personal standouts are ‘Godspeed’, ‘Life is Fair’, ‘Legendary’, ‘Outside’ and ‘Strong Friend’...

Side note: This album works a lot better without the ‘Caterpillar (Remix)’ bonus track, which for me, has the whiniest verse I’ve heard from Logic to date (even with ‘Everybody’)... 

5) The Internet – Hive Mind:

After a string of solo albums, EPs and the odd track over about two years, The Internet band reunite to give us what is possibly their most cohesive album to date. After the first four tracks (many of which were singles), this project initially took me aback by how straight forward the song formats generally become. After a few listens, it really worked for me. My favourites are ‘La Di Da’, ‘Next Time/Humble Pie’, ‘Wanna Be’ and ‘Beat Goes On’.

4) DJ Jazzy Jeff – M3:

Continuing from the inspiration that gave us last year’s ‘Chasing Goosebumps’, DJ Jazzy Jeff collaborates with Daniel Crawford, Kaidi Tatham, Stro Elliot, Killiam Shakespeare and rap group ‘The Trinity’ (I seriously didn’t intend for the roll call to be this long...) to give us the third instalment in his ‘Magnificent’ series. Lyrically, the group bounce off of each other really well, even pulling off some super rapping at times. While this is a showcase for the writing ability of Rhymefest, I felt that Dayne Jordan in particular, held his own. My favourites are ‘M3′ (the intro and outro), ‘Skaters Paradise’, ‘2 Step’ and ‘The Government’s Dead’...  

3) Vertical Current – The Future is Bright:

‘Another Philadelphia based group I wasn’t privy to until Eric Roberson shared the video for ‘Open’ on which he features. To me, this group is what would have happened to Snarky Puppy if they kept experimenting with the sound they utilised on ‘Bring Us The Bright’. Not to take away from this group at all! There’s a strong mix of Jazz, Rock, Soul/R’n’B and to an extent scoring. I can play this album in it’s entirety really easily but my absolute favourite on here is ‘Trocodile’...

2) Daniel Crawford – Revolution:

I wasn’t hip to Daniel Crawford until seeing how significant his contributions to ‘Chasing Goosebumps’ and ‘M3’ were. This had me check out what I call the “Woke” trilogy, starting with ‘Red Pill’ and continuing with ‘The Awakening’. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the conclusion had been released!

This project deals mainly with the theme of inequality in the States. An initial indication is the first official piece titled ‘Kaepin’’. The issue is more explicitly addressed from ‘Sirens’ onwards. The more Jazz oriented pieces, starting with ‘Before The Storm’ seem to convey a build up to a revolution, the drums and guitars on ‘Checklist’ sounding like a group being gathered, the urgent synths on ‘March of the Gullah’ conveying an unrelenting determination and the title track giving us the possible climax! ‘Strong features and playing all around on this one. It was almost my number one but in the end I went with...

1)

Sy Smith – Sometimes a Rose Will Grow in Concrete:

This album was entirely written, produced, arranged and performed by Smith. This has been a joy to get lost on walks to! It remains a damn shame that she is still to an extent, an unsung talent (pun intended!) despite a number of strong releases and prolific features among the underground but recognised. ‘Sometimes a Rose...’ has the general subject matter of love and being in it, but also addresses self belief on the title track and disillusionment on ‘We Were Never Free’. My favourites are ‘Camelot’, ‘We Were Never Free’, and the ‘Closer Than You Know’ segment...

Honourable Mentions: There are quite a few more albums I could mention, but I’m limiting this section to 10:

Chima Anya & Slone – People Forget: ‘Another “Grown ass rap album” from an artist who continuously shows growth in his lyrics. From reminding us to ‘Do Less’, to reflecting on where he is now on ‘It Wasn’t Always Like This’. From acknowledging the ethereal factor to (mis)fortune on ‘Luck’, to taking in those moments to appreciate a win on ‘Make Do’.

C R O W N (Formerly Lauren Crown) – Epicene: C R O W N’s third EP, addressing romance, heartbreak and the hypocrisy of our expectations of women when pursuing love. ‘Womxn’s Way’ continues to be my favourite piece by C R O W N to date, although I must say ‘How Many Times’ hit WAAAAAAAAAY too close to home!

Phony Ppl – mō'zā-ik: This was a recommendation from a tweet by ‘The Internet’; A group of vocalists, musicians and occasional emcees who somewhat help fill a void of black modern male crooners in Soul/R’n’B. There wasn’t anything I disliked on here, but there wasn’t anything I LOVED either; ‘REALLY liked, but not loved...

Lyric L – UnequiVocaL: ‘Lyric L’s sophomore project. ‘A blend of hip-hop, soul, deep house and broken beat. There were significant moments on the first half of this album (‘Dreamstate’ and ‘Try’), but the second half takes the gold for me, with tracks like ‘Expected To’, ‘Why (Find the time)’ and the humorous ‘Oh No (Here we go)’...

Black Milk – Fever: This is one I’ve only revisited a couple of times over the year. 'Fever’ delves more into Black Milk’s musical craft, the raps feeling more sparse than ‘If there’s a Hell below’. ‘Laugh Now, Cry Later’ and ‘True Lies’ deserve a shout.

JID – DiCaprio 2: This is one I ignored until I watched Dead End Hip-Hop’s review of this project. ‘Playful flows, ‘a head-nod factor and crossover appeal without losing its character at all. I just hadn’t revisited this as much as other albums...

Blue Lab Beats – Xover: I was late on this artist. This brought in the spring perfectly, with borderline Neo-soul vibes and spacious jazz pieces. There was a slump in the middle of the project for me however...

Pusha T – Daytona: While I haven’t revisited this much either, I can’t deny the attitude or the confidence of Pusha’s flows and the instrumentals. ‘Santeria’ is a standout...

Children of Zeus – Travel Light: 'Another Dan recommendation. This is a long-awaited, well deserved win for the ‘Broke ‘n’ £nglish’ cohorts. This is another one I just didn’t revisit much. ‘Kintsugi’ is a stand out for me...

Tom Misch – Geography: I got hip to this musician the day AFTER he performed at North Sea Jazz Festival. I enjoyed this album way more than I thought I would. ‘South of the River’ to ‘It Runs Through Me’ is my favourite section of the project...

[ramrodd]

COMMENTARY:

Mike Mazzalongo

I'm sure you haven't.

Cornelius is the author of The Gospel of Mark. It was written after his debriefing of Peter in Acts 10 as an intelligence appreciation of Jesus in the context of the resurrection,

Cornelius is the Q source. He is Pilate's senior centurion and probably came down to Palestine with Pilate to head up Pilate's administration, including the military intelligence capacity. The Gospel of Mark begins when Jesus appears above the Roman military horizon as a potential insurgent and is a combination of spy reports, Peter's testimony in the 3 days in Acts 10 and Cornelius's own experience with Jesus:

Cornelius is the centurion in Matthew 8/Luke 7. He is the station chief for the Praetorian Guard (Italian Cohort) in Palestine and Theophilus is the operational name of the head of the intelligence section in Rome, An analogue is Theophilus as Smiley in John LeCarre's MI6 novels and Cornelius is a station chief.

The first report of Jesus' resurrection is contained in the Roman content of the Gospel of Peter, which is the source, and not derived, from Matthew and Luke. This intelligence goes up to Tiberius in Capri, who is newly engaged after the discovery of the Sejanus plot and his execution. Sejunus conducted a extentsive, and effective, reforms of the Praetorian Guard before he was dispatched that raised the executive, judicial, military and intelligence functions of the Empire significantly. In fact, the centurions, as a structure of the Roman legions, represented an important Inspector General function horizontally acroos the legions that was unique in all the military of the world, including Alexander's Companions. The modern NCO is based on this template.

After Sejanus is executed in 31, Tiberius re-engages with his intelligence services and realizes that there was a great deal of rising civil agitation in the Empire. Philo of Alexandria brings an embassy to Rome in 40 to address these issues with the Emperor, although Tiberius died in 37.

However, something before he died, Tiberius proposed to elevate Jesus to a legal status as a deity, but the Senate rejects it. This incident is cited from Roman archives by Tertullian in his Apology, chapter 5. TIberius also introduces the term "Christian", which is clearly an invention of the Roman soldiers like "Jew", to Rome, which migrates from Rome back to Antioch.

Cornelius is the only other person in the Bible besides Abram in Genesis 15:6 to be justified by faith by God in Matthew 8:10 and he and his household are the only people in the Bible to be baptized by the Spirity of God before being baptized by water. As the military intelligence chief in Palestine, he established a listening post on the trade route from Asia through Galilee at the synagogue in Capernaum. He is a personal friend of Jarius, who provides the eyewitness testimony of both the revival of his daughter but of the woman with the chronic flow. Cornelius is very careful to keep himself and most Roman interaction (such as any appearance by him before His arrest and any engagement with His tomb after the chain of custody is broken by Pilate). However, it is important to understand that Cornelius knows Yaweh, Queen of Battle, from his profession in the same way Jesus and Jarius and Joshua do.

Gary Habermas is exactly correct: the core Christian doctrine emerges almost immediately after Pentacost and Peter reviews it in Acts 34 - 43.

N.T. Wright makes the point that Paul's theology originates from "a new way of knowing' or epistemology, for the 1st Century Jew. And he, N.T,. Wright, is exactly correct, but it is not a new way of thinking for the Romans, who were alread2y engaged, epistemologically, with the process theology introduced by Melchizedek to Abram in Genesis 14:8. Theophilus apparently was aware of melchizedek in the misty path of Rome, which makes sense in terms of other things that began to develop at the same time.

The purpose of the Bible is epistemological. It's narrative is inerrant in this regards, Bart Ehrman notwithstanding. Rome was already employing the epistemology reflected in the Lord's Prayer, and they had a wide personal experience of Yaweh, Queen of Battle, but they didn't have Jesus until Paul shows up to defend Romans sometime after 52. They, the Romans (i.e. Theophilus) discard most of the Jewish hocus pocus, but abstract the ethic of Jesus, acknowledge the validation of secular rule of law and embrace the divinity of Jesus.

Along these lines, Theophilus commissions Luke to expand on the intelligence report received in 40 from Cornelius, the head of Pilate's intelligence service. It is obvious that Luke has Mark and Matthew available to him, plus the Q source Cornelius has assembled in the Roman intelligence archives.

Matthew is the outlier in that it is a polemic supporting the position of the Judaizers who plague Paul's ministry to the gentiles. Luke's preamble to Luke includes a mild rebuke to Matthew's version.

Cornelius has composed Mark as an exercise in almost pure journalism in the modern, magazine article, sense of the word and any of Jesus' or Jewish theology is coincidental to Jesus' activities. Cornelius provides all the dots, but simply is too unfamiliar with Judaism to connect them, Matthew does it in spades. All the pericopes containing "Immediately" were collected before Jesus was arrested and represent a literary device to inject them into the narrative. The declining appearances of "Immediately" after the feeding of the 5,000 suggests that Jesus had fallen off of Cornelius 10 most wanted list as potential threat to Roman interests and. possibly, a pacifying element in the Galilee. In all four Gospels, Jesus appears as something of a surprise to Pilate. Luke reflects that Felix's spy system knew all about the Christian community in his region (Acts 24:22), which Luke could have only known from his interview with Cornelius and Peter, probably together, given the richness of detail in the episode. In other words, Luke sat down with Peter and Cornelius in Caesarea to interview them.

John Mark did not compose The Gospel of Mark, but was a character, contributor, editor and, in Alexandria, the publisher, which is how his name became associated with it. The codex is obviously a Roman invention, based on the expediency of assembling the Gospel of Mark from his loose-leaf archives and binding them for transmittal to Theophilus in Rome, It was written in Latin, which explains the coarse nature of the Greek (as compared to, say, Hewbrews or John)

John Mark is the author of the Gospel of John and was the beloved Desciple, a sort of jurior member, a mascot. He was no older than 15 when Jesus died and probably 14 because he offered no more threat to the Roman soldiers in charge of the executions than the women who came up to His feet. John Mark mentions the spear thrust because it was yet another indignity performed against Jesus, while, for the Roman soldiers, dead is dead. The centurion in Mark 15:39 is not Cornelius, but a company officer in the Roman forces assemble around Jerusalem and in the Praetorium as crowd control during Passover. John Mark was there to witness what Jesus shouts in a parade ground voice before giving up the ghost.

The Gospel of John is written as a complimentary anthology to the Gospel of Mark, There narratives converge at Mark 11 and John 11, although John Mark moves events around to make his points, while the time line of the Gospel of Mark is assemble by the date-time group of each spy report as they were collected, For example, Lazarus is raised the evening of Palm Sunday, but John Mark delays this entry until several days after Lazarus. The important time line is between John 11:35, which is when the Holy Ghost informs Jesus it's show time and the withering of the fig tree in Mark 11, on His way to piss off the powers that be. John Mark is not witness to the Palm Sunday entrance to Jerusalem, nor the actual timing of the Scouring of the Temple the next day, but John 12:16 is an allusion to the Gospel of Mark, which was an aide memoire for Peter and the other Apostles John Mark acquired elements of his narrative. However much of the Gospel of John is his eyewitness. For example the first time he meets Jesus is at the wedding which Jesus transforms into a net profit for the house where the wedding celebration occurred.

John Mark acquires his mid-Platonic conceits in his Prelude, John 1:1 ff, from Philo of Alexeandria.

John 4 is an important contact with Mark 4 and Matthew 13. Revelation 13 is a sort of literary Cubist portrait of the centurion in Mark 14:39 and the Mark of the Beast, DCLXVI, is the death warrant of Jesus. The Beast is the Roman bureaucracy, like a beast of burden, which preserves these records. The 18 lines of Revelation 13 have the same structure as Matthew 13, including a direct quote of Mt 13:9. The intention is to signal that the Roman legions were the fertile soil of the parable: the word of Jesus' resurrection would have gone through the Roman legions like grass through a goose. If you consider how the word of Fort Pillow went through the colored troops of the Union Army by Petersburg, resurrection would have captured the imagination of the Roman soldiers, all of whom were acquainted with Yaweh, Queen of Battle.

Hebrews is a staff finding regarding the nature of Jesus as revealed by the intelligence from Palestine and Paul's defense of Romans. The phrase in Hebrews 13:24 "Those who come from Italy send greetings to you" is an explicit signiture of the Praetorian Guard, which was composed exclusively of Italians. There was a covert Christian Church in the Praetorian Guard who would preserve this finding until Milvian Bridge.

Constantine's dismantling of the Praetorian Guard is the proximate cause of the rapid decline of the Empire. The theocracy he imposed was decadent, structurally, and a reversion to the social organization of fallen societies.

[smilestonzforbooks]

Module 13:  Zita the Space Girl

Genre:  Graphic Novels and Series Books

This is one of three books in a series.  

Book Summary:

This is the first in a series of graphic novels whose main character is Zita.  Zita and her friend, Joseph find an orb.  Then, Zita pushes the button to it.  As a result, Joseph is immediately whisked away to another planet.  Zita decides to follow him in order to rescue him.  In order to help, Zita befriends a giant mouse that gives her rides and several others that help her rescue Joseph.  In the end, Joseph returns home, but Zita was unable to.   

APA Reference of Book:

     Hatke, B. (2011). Zita the spacegirl. New York, NY: South Chin Print

Impressions:

This was a book full of adventure.  I think students would enjoy reading it because there are few words in most of the book.  But, you can still understand what is happening in the story.  Primarily due to the illustrations.  This book will be great for a struggling reader since a lot of story is told by studying the illustrations.  Zita is a brave girl who sees a need and does not hesitate to rescue her friend.  

Professional Review:

Grade 2–5—While exploring a meteoroid crater, young explorers Zita and Joseph discover an unusual device featuring a conspicuous red button. Zita's curiosity compels her to press it, only to discover that it summons an alien creature that instantly abducts Joseph. The fearless heroine follows him to a planet inhabited by Scriptorians, who intend to use him as a ritual sacrifice to prevent the destruction of their planet. In her quest to save her friend, Zita assembles a cadre of unusual cohorts: a giant mouse that she rides; an oversize bloblike creature named Strong Strong; a Heavily Armored Mobile Battle Orb known as One; and Robot Randy. Together they head off to the Scriptorians' castle to rescue Joseph. Along the way, she meets Piper, a fellow earthling traveling through space who becomes an important player in the story. Aptly named, he is part Pied Piper and part inventor but always a smooth talker who alternately assists and sabotages the mission. In order to save her friend, Zita must ultimately risk her own chance to return to Earth. With echoes of The Wizard of Oz, this charming, well-told story has a timeless "read to me" quality that makes it perfect for one-on-one sharing. Adults will enjoy the subtle humor and inside jokes, and children will love intrepid Zita and her adventures. The art is simply delightful: a realistic heroine surrounded by a world of bizarre creatures. Fans of the Flight anthologies (Villard) will cheer for the return of Zita.—Barbara M. Moon

APA Reference of Professional Review:

School Library Journal. (2011).

Library Uses:  

After reading the book for AR points, bring in a lesson on the importance of research. Create a lesson on how to use Alexandria Researcher in the library for research.  Encourage search of information on aliens, space, planets, heroism or any subject matter of the student’s choice.  

Readalikes:

The Return of Zita the Space Girl by Ben Hatke - to encourage students to read a whole series of books

Hank Zipzer  by Henry Winkler and Henry Oliver - to give students a choice of series books to read

The Lonely Alien by K. Lorraine - in case a student becomes interested in the subject matter of aliens

[mikethepoetla]

Bridges Across the City

Despite the divisiveness that has been rampant around the country, my cohorts and I have been a part of many bridgebuilding activities across Southern California in the literary community. As much as many around America are clashing, there’s a lot of diverse and progressive people working together everywhere to make community and fight for justice. The first half of 2017 has been a blur.

I have worked with dozens of educators all around Los Angeles County. These teachers give themselves selflessly 25 hours a day, 8 days a week. I have been a guest speaker at Edgewood High School, Loyola High School, UC Riverside, East Los Angeles College, Cerritos College, Inner City Arts, Get Lit Players and Woodbury University. The students in these spaces have been great.

In February, I read with Sean Hill at the Hollywood Ivar Public Library, I read a poem with three of my students at Los Angeles City Hall in March. On this occasion, I was awarded with a Certificate of Commendation from the City of Los Angeles for my involvement with the Big Read. I also read at the Grand Park Book Festival in March. The same week, I hosted Chiwan Choi’s book release for his latest, The Yellow Door.

In April, I hosted Tia Chucha’s Screening of Luis Rodriguez’s new video-poem. In May, F. Douglas Brown and I did a poetry presentation on Emily Dickinson at the Expo Park Library. Another May event was the Pasadena Lit Fest. I moderated a panel on Literary Los Angeles with Traci Kato-Kiriyama, Chiwan Choi and Daniel Olivas. I read an extended set at the Glendale Central Library in June.

I also read an opening poem at Michael C. Ford’s book release party in July during the same week I read at the Community Coalition’s “People Power Progress,” convention at Trade Tech College. On July 30th, I read at the Hotel Cafe as a part of Tongue & Groove, the monthly series curated by Conrad Romo.  

Over the last four months, I have delivered dozens of city tours. I gave a literary walking tour for the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs in May. I have also given several private city tours for corporate groups, school groups and international travelers from South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. In the most recent tour we went to the top of Los Angeles City Hall and to the top of the Library at Cal Tech in Pasadena. On Sunday August 20th, I gave a walking tour of Downtown Los Angeles to a group of students from Woodbury University.

I am doing another series of private city tours in September and October. On October 1st, I will be doing a series of tours for the city of Santa Monica.

Writ Large Press is amid its #90x90 Summer of Literary events and I have participated in several nights such as the Little Tokyo Walking Tour and the event honoring Sade through “The Golden Shovel” poetic form. On September 16th, I will be hosting an event at the Cielo Gallery with my students as a part of 90 for 90.

I have also published recent articles with KCET, Entropy, Lana Turner, Cultural Weekly, Brooklyn & Boyle, Angel City Review and Eastside Rose. I have a poem published in the forthcoming anthology, Voices from Leimert Park Redux.

Thx to Elizabeth Moran and the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Grand Park, Azul Amaral, F. Douglas Brown and Loyola High School, Entropy Magazine, Janice Lee, Eastside Rose, Professor Obed Silva and East Los Angeles College’s English Department. Professor Sara Borjas and UC Riverside’s English Department, Abel Salas and Brooklyn & Boyle. Adriana Rivera, Karla Lopez, Kaleidoscope Kollective, Tonalli Studio, Ofelia Esparza, Rosanna Esparza Ahrens, Trade Tech College, Community Coalition, Rocio Contreras, Dexter Story, Tafarai Bayne, V Zamora and Cerritos College, Craig Michael, David Lau, Lana Turner, Cultural Weekly, Adam Leipzig, Chiwan Choi, Alexis Rhone Fancher, Michael C. Ford, Rocio Carlos, Kate & Ko Maruyama, Michael Foster, Luis Rodriguez, Tia Chucha’s Cafe Cultural, Jesse Bliss, Inner City Arts, Abraham Alvarez, Leo Imbert, Shavone Adams, Tony Slayton, Alma Gutierrez, Elizabeth Schuricht, Peter Woods, Dr. Ron Hays, ArtShare, Joe Del Rio, Mezcla.

Gratitude to Traci Kato-Kiriyama, the Little Tokyo Service Center, Rissho Kosei-kai, Mike Murase, Scott Oshima, Kristin Fukushima, Ruben Guevara and Satsuki Shibuya. Thx to Traci for inviting my family and I to the Obon Festival at the Gardena Buddhist Center on August 13th. Over a thousand people were dancing a circle on Halldale Avenue for an entire city block. I witnessed a similar spirit at the Nisei Week Parade on August 20th in Little Tokyo.

Thx to Kaleidoscope Kollective for hosting Semiotic Sutras. . On Sunday September 10th. Kaleidoscope will be hosting a closing party for this exhibit with paintings and poetry. 1511 Sunset in Echo Park. 5pm.                                                                     

                   These are a few of the bridges across the city.

[oneshipress]

Zilson Costa on Cohorts, Br'Er Rabbit, and Working Together

Zilson Costa has a degree in fine arts from the Federal University of Maranhão. He is a teacher in the municipal education systems of São Luís and São José de Ribamar, working on the subject of art with students from 6th to 9th grade. He has been a comic creator since 1996 and publishes his own characters, Skull Man and Poodle Man, in his own comic books. His short comic, “Br’Er Rabbit in the…