The Late Night English Blog with Andy Ferguson

How's it going internet? Welcome to the Late Night English Blog! I'm your host and possibly telepathic bag boy Andy Ferguson and tonight, we return once more to the dark side. By dark side, I of course mean tragedies, those stories we read when we want our hearts to break a little, or skip a few beats, or, in some cases, skydive without a parachute. You know, sad stories: the ones without happy endings. If you're looking for a more formal definition of tragedy, however, look no further than the oxford dictionary which says: 1.) Tragedy-  An event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe. Today, we'll be discussing a very particular tragedy. A real-life tragedy that may have occurred within some of y'all's lifetimes. If you can't tell who the tragic figure is just from the title, then you need not fear anything except my judgement regarding your music tastes. (For shame.) I'm talking...

I was too young to remember and too young to understand. I can recall vague snippets of conversation kept to a low whisper and a tearful explanation. I couldn't fully comprehend the gravity of what they meant when they said that Grandpa Smoke, my great-grandfather, wouldn't be around any more.  My great-grandfather, Delbert Smoke, had moved  to Georgia with his wife Margery from Ohio so that they could be closer to their family. In Ohio, he  had owned a music shop, selling various instruments and such. He himself was a proficient musician who could play, if memory serves me right, 7 different instruments. I'm sure I've heard him sing before but I can't recall it perfectly. According to all sources I asked, Grandpa Smoke had been the very definition in his every action. He was a quiet man, though, not in terms of volume. He didn't talk very often but when he did he made sure he was heard clearly. Furthermore, he had never been known to speak ill of anyone,...

How's it going  internet? Welcome to the Late Night English Blog! I'm your host and guy who just woke up Andy Ferguson and today we're gonna continue talking about epic heroes in the modern world. This time, however, I won't be working it out alone: today I'll be exploring the cases for modern epic heroes found in the blogs of Jnan Cabahug (aka The Asian Persuasion) and Marlyn Molton (aka Marlyn's World  Literature Blog). Without further ado, let's begin.  1.) The Flash- Cannot agree with my man Jnan more on this one. the Flash, a supersonic superhero with a heart of gold, is an excellent example of a modern epic hero. While Barry Allen himself may not be of noble birth like other heroes (his parents were regular people), his superpowered identity as the Flash could technically be considered a noble birth in an indirect sense as he gets his powers after being struck by a very special bolt of lightning (did somebody say Zeus? Well, he's not in the lore...

How's it going internet? Welcome to the Late Night English Blog! I'm your host and inexplicably despicable (I honestly just liked the way that sounded, to be honest) Andy Ferguson and tonight this is not the post I need to write but rather the one I deserve to. Why? Because it's about Batman. Ohhhhhhh yeah buddy, get ready for tonights discussion on how Batman is, in every single sense of the word, a modern epic hero. Let's get started. For those of you wondering what exactly an epic hero is, examples of epic heroes throughout history and mythology include:  - Hercules (or Heracles if you're greek)  - Achilles  - Gilgamesh  - Beowulf  - Oda Nobunaga (actual historical figure btw)  - Genji  - Maui (after watching Moana with my four-year-old sister, I did some research. He belongs here)  - Arthur and so on and so on. I think you get the point I'm trying to make here, right? Anyhow, you must be asking: okay, that's cool. but how is Batma...

How's it going internet? Welcome to the Late Night English Blog! I'm your host and deadline skirting ne'er-do-well  Andy Ferguson and tonight I'd like to talk to you about a little project I'm working on. It has come to my attention that the wikipedia article for "the Physician's Tale" from Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales  is somewhat lacking in substance (i.e references) and organization. At the present moment, the article in question only summarizes the story, gives vague descriptions for themes, and (perhaps most sinfully) has only one reference. I intend to, in my work, accomplish three tasks: 1.) organize the information of the article into a more accessible and logical structure 2.) Give more detailed analysis of themes using scholarly sources. 3.) Build a more complete list of references for the article's bibliography. That's it for today everybody. Short post? Yep! Anyway, I'll see y'all next time. Thanks for rea...

How's it going internet? Welcome to the Late Night English Blog! I'm your host and guy who starts lightsaber fights at Walmart Andy Ferguson and tonight we'll discussing something hysterically historical: the origins of Romance. Now I know what your thinking: whoa, that's a broad topic you got there buddy ole pal ole friend ole chum ole homeslice breadslice. And you're right. It's hella broad. But fear not kind sir, madame, or otherwise 'cause we're going to be looking at a specific question regarding the origins of amore. Why didn't I just say that earlier? No clue,the train of thought sometimes jumps the tracks. Anyhow, the specific question we'll be addressing is "Why did romantic love first develop in aristocratic courts with the upper class rather in the lower class?" The answer probably won't shock you: they could afford it. "What? That sounds like a cop out" Ahhh my dear friend Doubting Thomas (who I should have...

How's it going internet? Welcome to the Late Night English Blog! I'm your host and semi-avid human being Andy Ferguson and tonight we'll be taking things easy. Go ahead, take a load off.. I'll try to keep the behemoth text blocks to a minimum. Tonight, we'll comparing/contrasting views of sexuality in Ovid's Metamorphoses and Chaucer's The Wife of Bath with, quite possibly my favorite song ever, The Darkness' "I Believe in a Thing Called Love." If you haven't heard the song, no sweat. Here's a video of it complete with lyrics (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZtcz4WVBGg). Feel free to listen to the song while you read. God knows I am. In Metamorphoses, particularly in the story of Apollo and Daphne, Ovid characterizes sexuality as something as unavoidable and infectious as a wound from a marksman. Sound cheesy? Well, that doesn't even come close to what Apollo said about it to Daphne: "My aim is certain, but an arrow tr...

How's it going internet? Welcome to the Late Night English Blog, I'm your host and groundhog who's gone deep undercover to hide from his shadow Andy Ferguson and tonight we will be discussing everybody's favorite topic: Sexuality and Romance. Amore e Cuore. Going down and sticking around. Euphemisms. Now unless you're like me and spent the past twenty years filling that gaping black hole in your chest with the tears of your enemies and japanese entertainment mediums, you've probably had some experience with falling in love and/or making it. If not, never fear! We have dictionaries for a reason. Speaking of which, according to the Oxford Dictionary, sexuality and romance are defined as: 1.) Sexuality - one's capacity for sexual feelings or, alternatively, a person's sexual orientation/preference (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sexuality). 2.) Romance - a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love or, alternatively love, espec...