Brian Burks' Low-Tech Homepage

"Serving the Internet since 1998"

I started this page nearly two years ago and it is still under heavy construction. Right now all I have is a fairly good-sized page of reviews of rock records - several hundred so far. I won't be getting it done anytime soon since I plan on reviewing every record I own, which is somewhere around 1,500 or so. But so far I've compiled and composed what I humbly think is a pretty decent review site. As for my other interests besides a perversely obsessive interest in pop music (I do have a few others, hard as that is to believe), I might eventually get around to posting some stuff about them sometime, but don't hold your breath. Currently I'm a graduate student at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and a graduate teaching assistant in the English Department as well. I like to read, and I like to write, which I find difficult to stop sometimes when I'm on a roll. Unfortunately, I'm also a fairly sloppy writer since I often write as fast as I think (sometimes faster). Since I'm by nature an overanalytical smartass, my best work consists of criticism and parody, and sometimes even parodies of criticism. Sooner or later I'll get around to a Parodies Page containing some of my funnier moments, including a mockery of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children involving the bastard son of Bill Clinton, a deconstruction of deconstructionism, fake film reviews of a fake movie I scripted about a loony ultra-ultra-left-wing governor of Utah (don't ask), and more. Don't worry, I won't clutter the information highway with my "serious" writing, mainly because a)none of it's good enough for other people to see, and b)I'm not that egotistical. As for personal info, well, I'll see if I can whip up an mini-bio sometime in the near future. Single white male, 24, birthdate 11/20/73 in Malvern, Arkansas, have spent most of my life in the same state. I am generally very polite and a bit shy around people I don't know well, but can become loud, rude, and obnoxious once I feel comfortable around you - you've been warned. Raised Baptist in a small southern town, had your average American lower-middle class childhood, played Little League, basketball, football, etc., even though I have a singular lack of talent at sporting (my vision is 20/200 or so, and probably due to this I have very poor hand-eye coordination. I also quite uninterested in the visual arts for undoubtedly the same reason. It must seem odd to those of you who get drunk off a painting to hear of a fellow who doesn't care for sunsets - unless it's a Waterloo Sunset - much like I can't comprehend people who only listen to music for 15 minutes in their car, if at all). Errr....maybe I won't do that autobiography after all - it gets pretty boring talking about yourself, and you just kind of randomly ramble on to other subjects. My personality should shine through in my discussions about other things, which you can piece together through my lengthy reviews of modern youth music with a backbeat. I titled my record reviews page Creative Noise because it sounds faintly generic, but not too generic.

I've just added a few new pages to my website. The Modern Library has drawn up a list of the 100 greatest novels written in the English language in the 20th century, so I have copied down the list and added comments on the books I've read. The American Film Institute has done the same with the 100 greatest American films, so I've given my opinions on all the films I've seen - which is all of them! I kind of made it my summer project to watch every film on the AFI's list that I hadn't seen yet. You can find the AFI commentary on my newest page, Lumiere For Lunkheads, which is kind of the kid brother of Creative Noise: my page of movie reviews (finally!). I also got around to starting on my Parody Page, so follow the link to get to it. Plus check out my newest page, the Weekly Book Review, where I talk 'bout all that fancy book readin'.

Creative Noise

Lumiere For Lunkheads

Parody Page

The Weekly Book Review

What I Thought of The Modern Library's 100 Greatest Novels List

The University Of Arkansas

E-mail if you feel like dropping a line