Long time

So my last post was last week? I wish I could say that I accomplished a lot since then, since I didn't have the "time" to post. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Nevertheless, I will give you a rundown of what is on my plate at the moment and any other news that is going on in my life.

I just received the His Dark Materials books by Philip Pullman. I will begin reading them after Christmas, as I am presently reading A Cry of Stone by Michael D. O'Brien. O'Brien's books are usually not my fare (often historical fiction - or at least this one is, sort of) but I find him to be a really great author. I was introduced to him in the mid-1990s and I have enjoyed him ever since. I have bought many of his recent books without reading the older ones, so I'm catching up now.

In other news:

I wrote an article for a national religious magazine that I hope might be considered for publication.

I have yet to hear about my Canadian music chapter on Feist. I should hear by the end of January 2008.

I have a review of a book about David Bowie being published in the January 2008 issue of Popular Music.

I continue to rewrite one of my dissertation chapters for possible publication. The editor continues to provide me with feedback.

I am reviewing another book for Popular Music, this one on rock performance.

Next week, I need to start to think seriously about papers for IASPM Canada and Canadian University Music Society conferences in the late Spring (in Saint Catharines and Vancouver respectively). There is also a conference in Liverpool in 2009 which I might attend. These papers would involve Roland Barthes' The Pleasure of the Text and Feist. I would like to take some of Barthes' thoughts and try to apply them to a musical analysis of one of Feist's songs. Perhaps a hit like "1234" or "I Feel It All" might be fun. The theoretical implications of taking a Barthes prose (a self-contained thought/section from his book) and using it as a base for musical analysis are daunting.

I watched "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" with my wife a few days ago. It is a nice movie, and I think it is well done. Not sure why the magic in that movie is somehow considered good while magic in Harry Potter is decried by some Christians as bad. I think Potter as a character has some serious flaws, and perhaps some questionable morals (for instance, he often lies). But there's a witch in Narnia too, plus all kinds of magic and so forth. Perhaps there are no "good" magicians in Narnia - only the evil characters use it. Not sure about that - I would have to read my books again. As for Tolkien, well, don't get me started.

That's all for now.