"...it just says 'M'..."

My Providence

2012-01-27T11:39:00.002-05:00

New Post for a New Year

2012-01-01T16:26:00.001-05:00

It is no secret that our family spent a week before Christmas at Walt Disney World in Florida. It seems that this has become a bit of a tradition for us, as we have visited that spot 7 times in the last 10.5 years (and are already in the planning stages to go in May of 2013). When we arrived this time, I had the big idea to write a paper on the experience, to try to decipher why I find it so appealing to return to the same theme park year after year (and, potentially, every second year for the rest of my life).

The point of such a study is the relationship between power and desire at Walt Disney World. My idea is that power (Disney power) is what elicits desire (at least in the opinion of this researcher). Foucault might ask where biopower fits in to this. Is there anything in terms of what society needs from its people? Does Disney contribute to biopower, the requirements of modern society? I also thought about Paul Virilio, r regarding speed and spectacle, two elements of the Walt Disney World experience that often results in overstimulation (so much so that the girls needed to stay at the hotel for a morning to "decompress"). I'd also love to respond to Jon Pahl's various criticisms of the "public theology" of Walt Disney World. I think I agree with some of his criticisms. I'm just not sure that they are so problematic (maybe Disney can be "redeemed").

Consider the Disney monorail for a moment: it is a kind of site of conflation of globalization and postmodernity (or maybe modernity, more accurately). I'm thinking about Harold Innis' notions of space/time bias as well as concepts such as space/time compression in globalization. Typing this out, I'm not sure if this works theoretically (or what my original thoughts were).

So, here are some keywords at the end for consideration: biopower, speed, "secular" public theology, space/time compression in a Baudrillardian space. I'm not sure this will go anywhere, but it's a blog entry for a new year, in any case.

Lady Gaga

2011-11-29T08:34:00.001-05:00

I was asked by one of my students to post my recent thoughts on the song "Bloody Mary" by Lady Gaga, so I decided I would post it here. This fragment is a part of a much larger presentation on Gaga's "queer space." It isn't much, but it will probably be a paper one day.

Lady Gaga addresses the theme of death, I think, with a track on her newest album called “Bloody Mary,” a track which has recently been proposed (by her fans) as a “Halloween single.” In that song, Gaga sings, “I’ll dance dance dance / With my hands hands hands / Above my head head head / Like Jesus said.” This line always evokes strong imagery for me. When one considers lyrics, I think a simple question to ask, before “What does it mean?”, is “Why would she choose to write these lyrics?”, or “Why would she choose to sing these lyrics?” I wonder, why would she use such language? What did Jesus say? He certainly never talked about dancing with hands above his head, at least not in my recollection. He did tell his disciples, though, that they would have to carry their cross. Was Christ’s experience on the cross a kind of dance, with his own hands above his head?

The song is filled with agonizing screams, choir-like voices incanting the name “Gaga,” and the singer stating, “I won’t cry for you / I won’t crucify the things you do.” I read this song as a kind of defiant stance by the singer, suggesting that, though she be crucified (perhaps “carrying her cross,” as Christ said, a kind of “dance,” I suppose, one that demands that her hands be over her head as their nailed into the cross), she will not crucify others. Though she be judged, she will not judge. Here I must quote from Peter Kline: Gaga is “a figure we’d like to make capital off of (whether religious or cultural), but who instead confronts us with our own violence, and in doing so calls us to freedom.”

Later in the song, Gaga sings, “We are not just art for Michelangelo / To carve he can’t rewrite the agro / Of my furied heart I’ll wait / On mountain tops in Paris cold / Je ne veux pas mourire tout seule.” Here, perhaps she is pointing to her humanity (she is flesh, not art, no matter what others--or she--might say), what others might call the “human condition,” one of frustration (of “agro,” as shecalls it). Still, she will wait, as she does not want to die alone. Who is she waiting for?

2011-10-05T20:00:00.001-04:00

Academic Freedom

2011-10-05T11:27:00.001-04:00

I'm struggling right now with the notion of academic freedom in higher education in Canada. I'm thinking about this notion in the context of religious higher education. At the institution where I teach, all faculty are required to function within a certain framework of belief. If any work of the faculty fall outside of this framework of belief, then there might be a problem. Technically, this might seem to indicate a lack of academic freedom, though it is also a move against the agreed-upon framework of belief.

At my institution, I am restricted by a framework of religious belief. At all institutions, all academic work is restricted by an agreed upon framework of belief. There are certain subjects and viewpoints that are not acceptable even at public universities, and that might jeopardize employment.

I suppose the crux of the discussion is, what does academic freedom actually mean? What does it mean to have academic freedom within the bounds of explicitly-stated religious belief? What does it mean to have academic freedom within the bounds of implicitly-stated agreed-upon discourse?

I am struggling with these questions, in the light of CAUT's continued blacklisting of religious-based academic institutions.

What to say, what to say...

2011-10-03T15:59:00.000-04:00

I'm preparing for class this afternoon, and wondering why I've forgotten my Dr. Martens boots at home.

I'm discussing the notion of appropriation with my class today, and using Dr. Martens boots as an example. The first experience I have with these kinds of boots were my friends wearing them in high school (the early 1990s). The people that I hung around with that wore them were of a certain ethnic group that are stereotypically well-off. In this case, I think they were, but I can't be certain. But they did wear the boots.

The other groups who wore the boots then were the local "skinheads." I was never sure if they were real skinheads or not (I remember one fellow in my class was rather quiet and seemingly kind, so this seemed to not quite mesh with the picture we might have of roving violent gangs). I do remember some of these folk at my high school wearing clothing that denounced racism, so maybe these were the nice kinds.

My sister used to mention that one of her professors in Biology wore Docs. I thought that was interesting (and I think my sister wore Docs before I did). Once I went to college (to take theology) after a few years at university, I also bought my first pair of Docs, for utilitarian reasons. We needed shoes to wear to chapel; there was a dress code in place. I thought it would be easiest to get a pair of shoes I could wear all the time, and the Docs seemed to fit the bill. So that's what I bought. I wore those for years, then amassing all sorts of pairs: a couple of 3-eyelet pairs of shoes, both black and oxblood; two pairs of boots, "greasers" (which I still have) and a pair of shiny black ones (the first pair of boots, probably upon going to grad school).

At some point, I wanted to get another pair of boots, but found out that they were no longer made in England (they have since introduced a line that continues to be produced in England). So I moved to another brand, Blundstone boots, which have proved to be more comfortable to me. But immediately after I bought mine, they also announced that they would no longer be made in Tazmania. So, mine were the last of the Australian Blundstones. I need new ones soon, and I'm trying to decide whether to go with new Blunnies (made in China, probably), or return to Docs (English-made).

In any case, these are an interesting example of appropriation. What I think is an excellent question to ask is, what do Docs (or Blunnies, for that matter), mean to me? Why do I wear them? For certain, there is much more that simple utility going on here.

Money

2011-09-30T16:32:00.000-04:00

I've officially made some money on my book. The amount so far: $66.50.

You should take a moment and read this.

2011-09-21T20:21:00.001-04:00

This.

Then, this.

(via here).

Queer theory

2011-09-20T20:56:00.003-04:00

I received a call for papers from IASPM (that's the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, for those who might not know) today, and I found the write-up quite interesting. It deals with queer theory, and I think that it is one of the most misunderstood areas of theoretical inquiry around (especially in my immediate scholarly circles). So here is the write up:

Queer theory is likely one of the most well-known and controversial recent schools of thought, and its impact has been felt in the academic world and beyond. It appeared in the early 1990s in the United States, as a direct offshoot of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) collectives, the work of Foucault (in particular, his History of Sexuality and ideas such as “biopolitics”), and Derrida’s deconstructionism. This school of thought, while in no way a homogenous trend, is characterized by the questioning of the notion of gender and the idea that sexual identity and behaviour would be genetically determined. In this context, queer theory formulates the hypothesis that sexuality is actually a social construction. This presumes that sexuality is not biologically stamped on human nature, but rather takes on ever-changing social forms, wherein a given individual can live out one or many sexual identities. This hypothesis leads us to call into question social classifications from the fields of traditional psychology, philosophy, anthropology, and sociology, which tend to look at one measure at a time for classifying individuals (class, gender, etc.).

Musicology has also fallen under the influence of queer theory, what with the research groups, books, articles, and dissertations that address previously unexplored or even taboo issues, such as the construction of sexual identity through or in music. From a methodological perspective, this school of thought has been part of the recent theoretical renewal at an international level, wherein “traditional” methods of musical analysis and historical musicology are used in concert with historical, sociological, literary, aesthetic, anthropological, and socio-geographical techniques. This allows the researcher to apprehend the construction process of the musical “object” and its social dimension in all its complexity.

If interested, you can find the original call for papers here.

By the way, I do this in my work, I think.

Update

2011-09-16T14:09:00.002-04:00

This has been quite a week, especially in terms of my health.

I'm not dying or anything, but I have a terrible cold. I really don't care for it. And it isn't gone yet. (And it hasn't stopped me from writing in sentence fragments.)

In any case, I will begin to blog again presently. After all, there is really no excuse (except for the house being for sale, and coming home late, and having a daughter that continues to not want to sleep, plus all of the work for school, and the committee work, and the new program, and the fact that I have a cold).

Of course, I'm drunk with power, so I won't punish myself for not posting a blog post for the last 3 days; as professors throughout generations have exclaimed, "I've already taken the exam!" Even so, I will continue posting starting now (I've got the weekend to recover, after all). The Feist ideas are still germinating, and I'm beginning to think about the Gaga material I need to put together in earnest. Here's a hint on that latter material:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

You might think you know my answer re: Gaga, but you might be wrong. Or you might be right. Or whatever. I had better move on before my sentence fragments return.

Sick

2011-09-12T23:07:00.001-04:00

And I don't mean that in the "cool" way either. I've got a terrible cold, and I don't care for it one bit.

I've decided to begin writing about Feist's new single and her status as Canada's "darling," and the celebrant of the CBC's 75th anniversary. There should be some interesting relationships there, I think. I'm also going to start the presentation on Gaga for the end of the month at Aqua Books in Winnipeg. It'll be a busy few weeks. Did I mention that I'm developing my paper from the U of W McLuhan conference into an essay for a book? Add that to the list as well.

And a new Stonehill album is coming out next week. I'm glad for that. But for now, I must sleep. I feel so terribly sick tonight.

New Feist

2011-09-09T21:35:00.001-04:00

I was listening to CBC Radio 2 today (it is something that I have done in the past, but I have made a more consistent effort to do so the last few days) and they were promoting a concert to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the CBC. For those of you who might not know, CBC is Canada's public broadcaster; in other words, Canadians pay taxes, and some of that tax money goes to the broadcaster. It is supposed to be a kind of public service, both in terms of education and entertainment, but also in terms of culture. The CBC is like Canada's cultural watchdog, from the terrible influence of our American neighbours.

As a prize for this contest, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the CBC, the broadcaster is hosting a concert at their own Glenn Gould Theatre in Toronto (my wife and I saw Douglas Coupland speak there once - it is quite the space). The featured artist at the concert is none other than Canadian songstress Leslie Feist. At the concert, she will be "debuting" her new album, Metals. Now, without reading too much into this (although I suppose I'm paid to do this kind of thing), Feist (remember: Canadian songstress) is being associated with: 1) our public broadcaster; and 2) Canada itself. Not only is Feist being associated with the CBC, but with 75 years of the CBC. Thus, Feist not only connotes Canada here, but a kind of nostalgic notion of Canada.

I'll post more on Feist in the days to come.

By the way, some might credit the CBC with Feist's stardom. In fact, it was Apple that made Feist famous.

Also, for my sister-in-law, you can find the post about Buffy here.

Not the most exciting event

2011-09-08T19:54:00.001-04:00

I've asked my students to write about a local, national or international event of the day in their blogs. Many have chosen instead to write about their lives on any particular day. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is interesting. On the one hand, I'm happy to read about the kinds of things that my students struggle with or enjoy; on the other, I don't want the daily writing assignment to be simply a place for students to write "sweet nothings" on the (web)page.

In any case, here's a bit of my life today. I've got this silly HP printer that I got with a purchase of my iMac; it was basically free with a rebate, so it seemed a good purchase. It had been sitting in my small office at home for quite a while and I thought that I would take it to school to use as a printer in my office there. Instead of transferring files from my MacBook to the institutional computer, I would simply print out a copy on the HP printer. Well, you would think it would be so easy. Instead, it has not been so easy.

It seems that I can't download the drivers for this particular printer from Apple (I never thought I would type such words - "drivers" and "Apple" in the same sentence). As an Apple shareholder (2 shares), I blame HP for this. Now, dear reader, not all hope is lost. I will try again with my MacBook and see if I can get the thing to work (it seems to work fine with the iMac, so there is hope, I think).

Exciting.

I'm toying with posting some writing that explores more interesting moments in popular music--hooks that make us listen and bring us pleasure (Roland Barthes, my favourite theorist, writes about cruising a text and finding those things that hook, and ultimately repeat, sites in which we experience pleasure). We'll see if I do that. You can see some of this kind of thing if you search my blog for an entry on Dylan and Tara's song on Buffy. I suspect that you could also read my book on the subject. Did I mention that already?

I've asked my students to do this, soooooo...

2011-09-07T12:26:00.001-04:00

I haven't posted since May (my ever-so-wonderful post waxing eloquently about U2 and notions of time and Christian redemption). Since I have asked my students in "Writing for the Media" to post every day (except weekends and holidays), I thought I would take on the challenge as well.

This is not the first time I've assigned this; the last time worked wonders for some and some, not so much. In any case, I will be interested to see what people write about. For now, I will convey some of the thoughts after my first double block of teaching. It was a bit short - I suspect that my students didn't mind. Often, with all of the introductory things and changes that accompany the first week of University, a shorter class might seem a pleasant chance to catch one's breath. I trust my students used the early dismissal as a chance to set up their blogs and, perhaps, take a breath.

We talked about Steve Jobs at (and away from) Apple, the transition from analog to digital television signals (over the air) and what Michael Geist calls UBB: Usage Based Billing. More on that here. For those who might not know, Dr. Geist is a law professor at the University of Ottawa. He's Canada's version of Lawrence Lessig, a powerhouse when it comes to copyright law and internet/intellectual property discussions. For any interested in Communications & Media issues in Canada, he is a good one to follow.

Above is 257 words, in case anyone is counting. That is all. I will make all attempts to post tomorrow with insight, wit and intelligence.

Some thoughts on U2: "What time is it in the world?"

2011-05-31T00:08:00.000-04:00

I had the privilege of seeing U2 in Winnipeg last evening.

"What time is it in the world?" This was a question asked (both directly and indirectly) throughout the concert. Before the band came out, the large screen displayed the current time and the corresponding time at other places around the globe, answering that question.

That question was alluded to in the video introduction to "Zooropa," when questions like "What do you want?" were asked. While "What time is it in the world?" was not one of those questions, the theme of questioning continued.

What is most interesting, though, was the asking of the question by the voice over the loudspeakers before the encore. The answer is, "It's showtime!" The band then embarked on their rendition of "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me," a song that originally appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Batman Forever. The original video for that song shows an animated MacPhisto, Bono's devilish character, as the singer of the song. Bono seemed to embody this character last evening as well, at a few times during the concert.

He was MacPhisto without the horns or makeup while singing "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me," but he was also MacPhisto during "Until the End of the World," where he also played Judas, the betrayer of Jesus. At the start of "Until the End of the World," the video screen displayed what appeared to be the time, "4:33." It is unclear what this "time" means. Perhaps it is a scriptural reference (one can't help but be reminded of the numbers on the cover of All That You Can't Leave Behind, J33-3, which refer to Jeremiah 33:3), though this seems unlikely. Perhaps it is a reference to the length of the previous song on the setlist ("Elevation") - also unlikely. Is it the length of that particular song? Maybe.

What it does do is link that moment with the later one. "What time is it in the world? It's showtime." That question, once we hear it, was asked earlier (silently), and an answer was given (4:33). Then darkness came out. Judas, or MacPhisto, or Bono, sang of betrayal, of sinking, and of redemption. This talk of redemption doesn't last though: MacPhisto returns later (probably at 5:30 or 6:00, of we want to push this silly time reference), less redeemed, as it is, after all, showtime.

What does this mean? I don't know, but maybe it speaks a bit to the notion of redemption and fallenness, failure and restoration. These are perilous states, as is, perhaps, the state of being at a concert. As concert goers, we are liminal, "betwixt-and-between," somewhat in a state of timelessness as well, removed from the everyday, ritualized.

The latter "What time is it in the world?" reminds one of the earlier moment of "waves of regret, waves of joy," reaching out to a redeemer. "What time is it in the world?" It is a time of failure, fallenness, redemption.

Followed by failure, fallenness and, thankfully, redemption.

Morrissey

2011-05-22T23:26:00.000-04:00

Happy birthday to Steven Patrick Morrissey, who turns 52 today. “In my own strange way . . . I’ll always stay true to you.”

Providence Communications & Media

2011-05-22T23:17:00.002-04:00

Consider Communications & Media at Providence College; an excellent education from a Christian perspective. http://tinyurl.com/3zlo5fw

Look what just popped up on the web!

2011-02-07T15:20:00.002-05:00

André Racicot

2011-01-31T19:56:00.003-05:00

It's not really a secret that I used to be a major fan of Montreal goaltender André Racicot. In fact, I used to collect every possible variant version of his cards (I still have them). I remember that I once sent a letter to him (care of the Canadiens), hoping that he would send me an autograph, but I never received anything back.

I remember, also, when my father and I went to see the Canadiens play at the Corel Centre (now Scotia Place, or whatever) and there was a girl in the distance that was wearing a Habs jersey with "Racicot" on the back. My father encouraged me to go up to her and say hello (I didn't).

I did a search for Racicot just now and found a page on the Canadiens' web site that did a kind of "Where are they now?" interview, so I thought I would reproduce it here:

Where are you living these days?
I live in Ste-Agathe-des-Monts in the Laurentians.

What have you been up to?
I’m working for a mining company called Agnico-Eagle. We’re just starting a new project in Nunavut that will see us open a gold mine there soon.

How many times a year do you strap the pads back on?
I got back at it last November. I was in nets in a game honoring the 45th Anniversary of the Rouyn-Noranda Citadelles, my old junior team. Prior to that, it had been five years since I’d played though. I’ve got to say that it really got the juices flowing again. I still play in a beer league with my buddies but not in nets.

Are you still in touch with any old teammates?
I’m still in contact with a few guys from the Rouyn area that are around my age, guys like Eric Desjardins, Pierre Turgeon and Stephane Matteau. We get together every once in a while, but we all have our own families and hectic schedules.

How many Habs games do you watch per year?
I watch whenever I can and I make sure to catch a few games at Bell Centre each season.

Who is your favorite current Canadiens player?
I really liked what I saw from Maxim Lapierre last season. He works really hard and has a nice edge to his game.

What is the favorite piece of Habs memorabilia that you own?
I sold a few things, but I still have a few collector’s items. Aside from my jerseys that I still have, I’ve a collection of blown up action shots of myself.

Where do you keep your 1993 Stanley Cup ring?
It’s resting comfortably in a safety deposit box at the bank and I never take it out. It’s probably been about seven years since I’ve seen it.

I think it's a bit sad that he doesn't wear his cup ring. He should be proud that he was part of that team.

Yay André!!

Yay for acceptance letters!

2011-01-30T21:47:00.003-05:00

My paper, entitled "'There is a Light that Never Goes Out': The Stage as Mediation in Live Performance," has been accepted for the IASPM-CA conference in Montreal in June. I'm very happy about this. It will be a return to Montreal for longer than a day, something I haven't been able to do since we moved in 2008, plus it will be a return to my doctoral school, McGill. I'm very pleased.

Great recent pic

2011-01-29T11:30:00.003-05:00

- from True to You, posted 11 December 2010 during the student protests in London.

(Note the Smiths T-Shirt that she is wearing)

There's a book coming out that you should check out (because I'm in it)

2011-01-28T23:16:00.004-05:00

Coming in May 2011: Jim Berti and Durrell Bowman, Editors, Rush and Philosophy (Popular Culture and Philosophy Series) (Open Court, 2011).

From Amazon:

Rush and Philosophy does not set out to sway the public’s opinion, nor is it an awkward gushing of how much the authors love Rush. Rush and Philosophy is a fascinating look at the music and lyrics of the band, setting out to address thought-provoking questions. For example, elements of philosophical thinking from the likes of Jean Paul-Sartre, Ayn Rand, and Plato can be found in Peart’s lyrics; does this make Peart a disciple of philosophy? In what ways has technology influenced the band through the decades? Can there be too much technology for a power-trio? Can listening to Rush’s music and lyrics lead listeners to think more clearly, responsibly, and happily? Is the band’s music a “pleasant distraction” from the singing of Geddy Lee? In what ways is Rush Canadian? How can a band that has been referred to as “right-wing” also criticize big government, religion, and imperialism? Rush and Philosophy is written by an assortment of philosophers and scholars with eclectic and diverse backgrounds who love Rush’s music and who “get” the meaning and importance of it.

The part of the description that mentions the idea of "pleasant distraction" is referring to my essay, entitled "'Cruising in Prime Time': The Drumming of Neil Peart as Distraction." Look for it!

Wonderful Quote

2011-01-27T22:49:00.001-05:00

Don't let the guy with the broom decide how many elephants are going to be in the parade.

- Merlin Mann, MacBreak Weekly Podcast #191: "Lost" (20 April 2010).

Stupid cars

2010-11-21T19:24:00.002-05:00

I'm pretty depressed right now about vehicular transportation, especially automobiles.

This week, the local Toyota dealer called us asking us to come in. They were low on used cars, Yarises in particular, so they invited us to bring it in, and they would "give us a deal" for bringing it in early (we're leasing). Well, after a tiring 2 hour debacle, we signed a contract to purchase a 2010 Yaris sedan that was coming from somewhere else. Immediately after leaving the showroom, we began to second guess ourselves. Not 14 hours after signing the contract, we asked to get out of the deal. We were able to, but the dealer insisted that we pay for the transportation of the car from one dealer to another.

Then, this morning, coming out of the driveway, the front end of the car "brushed" with the snowbank and made a big noise. I wasn't very worried. After church, we noticed that the bumper was damaged and coming off on one side. We snapped it back as best we could, but you could imagine how I felt after that.

Right now, we are considering finishing up the lease and not getting a car at all. With this latest bumper incident, perhaps we will not even buy this current car. I don't know.

I just don't get it. I know that for many, this would not be a big deal. But to me, this is just such a downer.

Investing in Providence

2010-09-26T14:18:00.002-04:00

Please considering supporting Christian higher education in Canada. Providence College provides excellent university-level education from a Christian perspective. I am the program coordinator for the Communications and Media major at Providence, and have done so for the last 2 years. I also teach most of the courses in the major. It is a great place to learn about the media that we invest in, and the highly visual world around us. For more information on how to give to Providence, go here.

Roland Barthes

2010-09-25T19:12:00.004-04:00

It's no secret that the work of French theorist Roland Barthes is at the core of much of my academic work. I enjoy reading him, and I think that his ideas concerning pleasure and desire are quite useful in the study of celebrity. I find, also, that when I read Barthes, I am carried away by the prose (perhaps I lose subjectivity because of being assaulted by Barthes' "grain" within the "voice" of his writing?).

I was quite happy to hear that there is a new book by Barthes coming out in the next few weeks, called Mourning Diary, which is comprised of notes that Barthes made after the death of his mother (this is a subject that he speaks of in his wonderful Camera Lucida as well - students taking my course on photography next semester, take note). The New Yorker website happened to publish some of these cards (and their translations) recently, and I have decided to post one of the cards here.

Translation:
—”Never again, never again!”
—And yet there’s a contradiction: “never again” isn’t eternal, since you yourself will die one day.
“Never again” is the expression of an immortal.

I was also looking at Advanced Book Exchange and found this:

$300 USD is a bit out of my budget, but it would be a nice thing to have. I will be buying Mourning Diary, though.

(You can see the other cards, and read more at the New Yorker website.)

Some random thoughts

2010-09-19T22:50:00.003-04:00

I watched My Neighbours The Yamadas (Isao Takahata, dir., 1999) today. Of course, the version I was watching was dubbed in English, with Jim Belushi as Takashi (the father Yamada) and Molly Shannon as Matsuko (the mother). Though I own the DVD (released by Disney somewhere around 2005 or 2006), I've only watched the film once. Watching it today was a great experience. First of all, it is a funny movie. There isn't so much a consistent narrative, but there is a kind of bookend sequence: it opens with an older relative giving the newly married Yamadas some advice on how to weather the storms of life, and ends with Takashi giving some unscripted advice to another young couple. I found some sequences actually quite touching (especially one part where Takashi is asked to tell some local hoodlums to stop racing around the neighbourhood on their motorcycles - he attempts to confront them but ultimately fails to be a "hero"). If you haven't yet seen it, I would recommend it. It is not a normal North American cartoon (nor is it in the regular Studio Ghibli style that one might expect), but it is worth the time to watch.

In other news, I bought a new Douglas Coupland book today, called Player One. I was under the impression that the book came out in November, but alas the local bookstore had 31 copies. I picked mine up, and will start reading it tonight. I am currently slogging through William Gibson's Spook Country (second attempt). I love his stuff, but I'm having trouble with this one. His new book came out last week.

I am also reading through the old 1990s comic book run of Starman (from DC Comics). I am enjoying it, though perhaps not as much as I thought I would. A few days ago, I rewatched Watchmen (Zack Snyder, dir., 2009) and really enjoyed it. I am tempted to pick up the "Ultimate Edition" of the movie, but I probably won't. It is one of those movies that no one in my household enjoys, except for me.

On that note, I saw that Clerks 2 and Zack & Miri (both directed by Kevin Smith) were on sale at the local HMV for $6 a piece. I didn't particularly mind those movies last time I saw them, though I think I've grown out of that style of humour. In any case, I might pick them up - I think I would rather pick up Watchmen, though.

Thanks for reading. Good night.

that pesky book

2010-09-16T23:37:00.001-04:00

It's now in the hands of the people at McFarland.

Gaga and Moz!

2010-06-18T08:10:00.002-04:00

From Morrissey-Solo (who got it from Rolling Stone):

"The Fame Moz-sters
Lady Gaga, Morrissey and Justin Tranter of Semi-Precious Weapons hang out backstage in Manchester, England after Gaga's June 3rd show."

(I don't know who Justin Tranter is, and I don't care. Gaga and Morrissey!!)

Christians and Music

2010-06-07T18:24:00.003-04:00

A great quote I came across today, from Lee Bozeman:

Music and Christianity. Has there ever been a more misunderstood and terribly unhealthy relationship than between these two? The evangelical mentality has so pervaded and manipulated the modern western Christian that he is unable to see that Christianity is not a product to be bought and sold, nor is it a message to be propagandized, but rather, it is a completely counter-culture existential lifestyle. Contemporary Christian Music is nothing more than a musical version of McDonald's. They offer little in the way of true sustenance and appeal to our lowest common desire: our desire to be entertained. A true artist seeks to find peace with himself, and we, as onlookers, see something that is real and we cling to and believe in it. The truest Christian artist is the most human artist.

You can find the original interview here, and listen to Bozeman's music through here.

Big News!!

2010-05-28T13:33:00.002-04:00

Morrissey and death

2010-05-04T07:32:00.003-04:00

From a recent posting by singer Morrissey, reflecting upon the death of a "super-fan" Melinda Hsu, a.k.a. Mel Torment:

The only way to deal with Mel's death is to accept it. There is no other way. We all have a certain unbreakable appointment and we are all helpless targets in that regard. Life's only promise is its final deadline. When Mel, and others who are dear to us, depart, we should at least realize as we shuffle along living our small and persecuted lives, how absolutely ridiculous it is to be afraid of anything or anyone on this unhappy planet. Most people are standardized and unoriginal, which is useful, because it makes the Mels of the world stand out even more. Rich in ideas, her self-made calendars and t-shirts were always very funny. You will catch up with her in the afterlife, where I'm sure she will be as creative and busy and as Mel Torment as ever.

The whole post is worth reading. This is an interesting window into Morrissey, a rare view of a different side of him. I should mention that I never met Hsu, either online or at any concerts (of course, I've only seen Moz twice). Hsu was a scholar, though, and I cite her Master's thesis in my doctoral dissertation.

You can read the rest of Morrissey's post here.

Great Quote

2010-04-23T07:55:00.001-04:00

"Don't let the guy with the broom decide how many elephants are going to be in the parade." - Merlin Mann

(From MacBreak Weekly episode 191. Listen to it here.)

Published

2010-03-22T18:40:00.002-04:00

For my first ever post-Ph.D. publication (besides book reviews), take a look at:

Greco, Nicholas. "The Companion as a Doll: The Female Enigma in Whedon’s Firefly and Dollhouse." Sexual Rhetoric in the Works of Joss Whedon: New Essays. Edited by Erin B. Waggoner. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2010. 239-247.

You can take a look at the book here:

http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-4750-3

You can also find it on Amazon. Yay me!!

Sick

2009-12-29T14:10:00.004-05:00

I'm sick. Serafina's sick. My wife, thankfully, is not.

Christmas was a nice time had by all (as was my birthday). I received all kinds of nice things, including a couple of shirts.

I also received (gave?) Serafina some sloppy kisses (that's probably why we're sick).

I have a book to review, and I have yet to review it. It is called The British Pop Dandy: Masculinity, Popular Music and Culture (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2009) by Stan Hawkins. While I am looking forward to reading through it, I find it a bit daunting right now (since I'm sick).

Also, I am writing yet another article on Dollhouse for a collection by BenBella Books (edited by Jane Espenson). I'll hopefully be presenting a paper on this article in St. Louis in the Spring for the Popular Culture Association conference. I suppose I have yet to mention that I will be presenting a paper on violence and popular music in Regina at the IASPM conference in June.

Oh, what fun!

Have I mentioned that I am sick?

For those keeping track ...

2009-10-24T23:30:00.001-04:00

Another publication (a long awaited review):

Queering the Popular Pitch. Edited By Sheila Whiteley and Jennifer Rycenga. New York: Routledge, 2006. xix + 308 pp. ISBN 0-415-97805-X (pb)
Nicholas P. Greco
Popular Music, Volume 28, Special Issue 03, October 2009, pp 450-451
doi:10.1017/S0261143009990262, Published Online by Cambridge University Press 20 Oct 2009

Everything counts.

Watch Dollhouse

2009-10-08T10:40:00.001-04:00

Fridays, 9pm eastern, 8pm pacific, on FOX!

SOUNDS (without actual sounds): Morrissey - "It's not your Birthday Anymore"

2009-09-14T23:27:00.003-04:00

I'm presenting on Morrissey's "It's not your Birthday Anymore" in the "Popular Music and Culture" class at Providence College tomorrow morning. I am a bit concerned because I find the song quite mean, not to anyone in the class, but rather to the person in the song. There is a certain air of violence in the song, including some of a sexual nature, it seems. While Morrissey's lyrics have often been mean, I think that this song is downright terrible. This isn't to say that there is no merit to discussing it; actually, it needs to be discussed. I think in terms of a narrative analysis. What is going on? And why is Morrissey yelling?

If one places the song in the context of the singer's other work, within the discourse of his vocal expression, it is extremely striking. Morrissey is never this loud, to be frank. Is it a coincidence that the song precedes another song about death? Is the second half of Years of Refusal darker than once thought, or can the album be thought of as another part of the spectrum of violence begun on Ringleader of the Tormentors and "The Father who must be Killed"?

If you get a chance, take a listen to some of these songs. How do you (or I) think Morrissey is situating himself with these violent lyrics and (frankly) violent vocal expressions?

SOUNDS: Amber Benson - "Under Your Spell"

2009-09-12T09:09:00.003-04:00

What to write about this song? It is all about Amber Benson's voice here. I particularly find pleasure in the way that she slightly shortens the word "right" (at the end of the line "something just isn't right"). I also think that the slightly subdued nature of her voice, and the fact that it is placed at the front of the mix, is particularly striking. Listen:

This is a beautiful song. Something that is particularly interesting is, as the character Tara, Amber speaks with a slight stutter. Of course, while singing, Tara does not stutter. How, then, is this weakness (if you will accept my reading of a stutter as a weakness) expressed?* Her voice is at the front of the mix but still seems somewhat subdued. It is a powerful but delicate voice. Barthes' "grain of the voice" comes to mind here (yes, again). I hear Amber's breath in the voice. Her throat "gets in the way," but it sounds nice. I don't really know how to explain it. Her words are clipped, and much of the singing points to her physical body: her throat, her lips and tongue. If you haven't listened to this song, I encourage you to track down a full version.

Let me know what you think.

* I should mention that Tara's stutter seems to be an indication of her timidity. Her discomfort in being around other people (in particular, Willow, who she loves) is expressed in her stutter. So, perhaps the general example of stuttering as a weakness is not really what I am suggesting.

Beginning a new series here - SOUNDS

2009-09-10T21:46:00.008-04:00

I thought that I would attempt to post at least as often as my students, and I'll really try to do this. I may not be able to do this all the time, but I'll try. I thought, if I'm going to try to force myself to do all of this writing, then I should write about something worthwhile. Therefore, I will try to document moments in the music that I listen to that seem to be flashes of pleasure, something which philosopher/semiotician Roland Barthes would suggest is involved in what he calls "cruising."

So you know what I mean, I can try to provide a small sample of the song to which I'm referring.

I think I can identify a kind of “break” that Barthes might talk about, that brings pleasure as I "cruise" a "text," which, in this case, is Bob Dylan's song, "Tangled Up in Blue." At around 32-33 seconds (7-8 seconds in the clip below), just when Bob sings “rain,” his voice ascends in pitch and it kind of squeaks (not the right descriptive, but whatever). This is a moment of breaking, a fragmenting of the voice, and it’s a kind of moment that surprised me. In my “cruising,” I experienced this “turning” which caught me (and continues to catch me). The same feeling now happens for me while he continues singing. Every time he enters this part of the song (the chorus?), I am “flooded” with pleasure. Now, I suppose my language is too flowery, but hopefully you get what I mean.

From an email with Michael J. Gilmour:

Around the time he was writing the album, Dylan was studying with painter Norman Raeben. According to this book, "Raeben brought Dylan to a more fruitful understanding of time, enabling him to view narrative not in such strictly linear terms, but to telescope past, present, and future together to attain a more powerful, unified focus on the matter at hand. ... [in "Tangled Up in Blue"] temporality, location, and viewpoint shift back and forth from verse to verse, rather in the manner of montaged jump cuts in a movie ... allowing him to reveal underlying truths about the song's characters while letting them remain shadowy, secretive figures" (Andy Gill). Not related to "cruising" but a fun observation just the same.

Oh, but it is related to Barthes' "cruising." Barthes talks about cruising being “related to the catch of sentences, citations, turns of phrase, fragments.” This last part, fragments, would seemingly correspond to the “montaged jump cuts” that Gill identifies. I wonder if, also, the text (the song) is put forth like a film, to be “spied-upon,” as Barthes would say.

Also, I read more into “turns of phrase” than simply “a manner of expression,” but rather a kind of contour, either in terms of vocal phrasing or even melodic contour.

Funny how even the quote from Gill seems to talk about desire, as well as this idea of enigma. The enigma of the narrative captures the listener, I think, and Dylan’s voice, I would argue, is part of this.

For more on Barthes' notion of "cruising," see Barthes, Roland. “Twenty Key Words for Roland Barthes.” The Grain of the Voice: Interviews 1962-1980. Translated by Linda Coverdale. New York: Hill and Wang, 1985. 230-231.

Writing, Writing, Writing

2009-09-08T20:01:00.002-04:00

One of the classes I am teaching this term is called "Writing for the Media." One of the things that I will be demanding of my students is that they write, and that they write a lot. One way that they will accomplish this will be through the continual creation of blog entries (every day, except for weekends and holidays). While this can seem a daunting task, it is not unlike writing for media in that there are constant deadlines and constant requirements in terms of columns and there is a constant readership (or a perceived or perhaps potential readership) that is waiting for the next piece to be written.

So, this might seem to be a difficult and unfair assignment. After all, so many words over the term - something like 6000 words or around 24 pages - for a first year class. Crazy! Mean! Just plain silly!

Or extremely practical. And maybe even beneficial. I suspect there might be budding writers in this class, and perhaps it will be a treat reading what they have to write. I look forward to it.

After a long while, I return . . . with wonderful insights!

2009-08-08T10:42:00.002-04:00

In June, I presented a paper at the IASPM conference in Halifax. At the conference, my colleague from the University of Toronto at Scarborough, Dr. Alan Stanbridge, presented a paper on the new generation of jazz musicians successfully engaging with current pop music. One of the examples that he gave of the previous generation's quite unsuccessful engagement with contemporary pop music was Frank Sinatra's cover of Petula Clark's "Downtown." Stanbridge suggests that disgust seems to be evoked by Sinatra's voice, a disgust with the mainstream rock or youth music, or the synthesis of pop and jazz, that Sinatra was performing.

I wonder if something else is happening here. Morrissey does something similar vocally, recently, especially in live performance. I wonder if it is a kind of ironic self-reference rather than a kind of statement against the mainstream (unless it is perhaps a kind of self-reference that is in fact of distaste because he is performing that particular music). In any case, I read Sinatra's performance as an aural gesture which refers to the singer rather than explicitly the mainstream.

I should mention that Sinatra's performance (with its "barfy" sounds) is full of wonderful musical moments, however cheesy the performance might be. It is now one of my favourite recordings.

New Arrival

2009-05-02T11:47:00.002-04:00

Dearest friends!

We would like to announce the arrival of Serafina Persephone Greco, born on April 29th at 11:12 pm Central at the St Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg. She weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces at birth and was 21 inches long. Both baby and mommy (and daddy) are doing fine.

We came home last night around 7pm and we are proud to say that we made it through our first night at home alone - all three of us are exhausted. She is a patient little thing - you should see us trying to take care of her in the middle of the night!

Thanks for all your prayers and support. Here are some hospital pics you may not have seen yet (unless you're on facebook).

Thanks for all the love and support!
Antonella, Nicholas and baby Serafina Persephone

so-so day

2009-03-16T23:52:00.003-04:00

Things are moving along in my life. Work is okay - busy. I find that I can get upset easily, and, for sure, I am beginning to really tire (I'm sure my students are also feeling it at this point in the semester).

I was happy to hear from an old friend recently. I often wonder about where people have ended up after all this time, people that I used to invest a whole lot of myself into. I'm happy that they are doing well.

More people are seemingly interested in a course on Joss Whedon's Firefly. I'm hoping to have it on the books in 2010. I wish it could be offered more quickly, but I can only do what I can do.

That is all for now.

I apologize

2009-03-12T15:58:00.003-04:00

I'm sorry for not posting for months and months. There are no excuses (in fact, I'm doing this right now instead of working on a lecture for tomorrow).

I should tell you that a lot has happened here in sunny Winnipeg. So you know, my wife and I are expecting a little one to arrive by the end of April. I sent another review to be published in Popular Music. I'll be presenting a paper on Barthes and "cruising" the voice of one Leslie Feist at the 2009 IASPM Canada conference in Halifax. And, this summer, I'll be preparing some book proposals, to see if anyone might want to publish my PhD dissertation as a book.

I'm also a Founding Fellow in the Canadian Institute for the Study of Pop Culture & Religion. You can find out more about the Institute by going to http://popculturecanada.ca.

So, that is all for today. Feel free to follow my Twitter stream - you can see it on the left of this screen. Hopefully I will post there more that I post here. Watch for more updates to come.

My very own work of Abstract Impressionism

2008-12-02T22:20:00.002-05:00

This is me working out my frustrations that no one was listening to me during my class today.

Of course, this isn't really true. Most were listening to me during my class today.

Another publication

2008-11-11T13:13:00.003-05:00

For those of you keeping track, I have had another review published in the primary journal for popular music studies, Popular Music. You can find my review of David Pattie's book, Rock Music in Performance (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007) in Popular Music 27:3 (October 2008), pp. 515-516.

Disney

2008-10-21T14:38:00.002-04:00

I have often been fascinated (especially when I've visited the Parks) with the power of Disney. What always go me was (is) their park in Florida. I've been there many times in the last seven years (oh, to have that money back; alternately, oh, to be there again) and I really like the fact that the Disney parks in Florida cover an area the size of Boston, they have their own transportation infrastructure, and police, too (well, security guards really).

It's about POWER. It's not the cuteness or the imagery, although I like that too. It's not the sanitization of the global experience (although that is an element of their power). It's the sheer control that the corporation holds.

I don't think this is a negative (although it might very well be). It is certainly fascinating.

The Apostle Paul's Movie Guide

2008-09-30T11:15:00.002-04:00

Peter Kerr, in a vignette article in the book, Understanding Evangelical Media (edited by Schultze and Wood), writes about how Evangelicals filter which mainstream movies should be watched. "WWJD" is often an acronym that comes up in oonversation: what would Jesus do? Well, in a way, I think that is a bit of a loaded question. Would he go to a movie in the first place? Not sure - they didn't have movies when He was on the planet, so we don't know. We know that He ate with sinners, which I suspect might be similar to going to bars and so forth. He drank real-life wine - most would agree with that. Would he engage with modern media and entertainment? Well, if He was truly human (and most would agree with that), then he would have engaged with whatever mainstream media there was then.

I wonder if people would consider what Jesus would do when they get into a car. Would He drive? Not sure. He didn't drive while He was on the planet (most would agree with that). So should we drive now?

But that's maybe not a moral issue. Or is it?

Back to media, and the article at hand, Kerr suggests that Paul might have something to say about watching movies. Kerr quotes 1 Corinthians 6:12 and comments:

He refuses to become a slave to things that are merely permissible and not really beneficial. He captures the middle ground between outright rejection and mindless acceptance. (p.63)

I suspect that Paul liked entertainment a lot. He was a scholar after all, and probably liked to think about how things, thoughts, metanarratives, work. He did flesh out much of the theology of the Christian Church (most would agree with that).

And I think most of us like entertainment. That's why many of us find it hard to just stop watching everything; you know, Jesus didn't own a television (most would agree with that).

My final question, though, is how do you know if some kind of media object (film television broadcast, popular song) is ultimately beneficial. Who is the judge of such things? What is the answer? Who knows (and most would agree with that).

How to blog (from Merlin Mann)

2008-09-25T14:31:00.003-04:00

Blogging as a waste of time

2008-09-11T19:33:00.002-04:00

In a short piece that is inserted in the first chapter of Schultze’s Understanding Evangelical Media, the author suggests that Evangelicals might spend more time doing nothing in the activity of blogging, and reading blogs, than being productive. I wonder, though, what the difference might be between wasting time blogging (or reading blogs) or wasting time going to church.

While I’m not suggesting that one shouldn’t go to church, I’m thinking that it is not much of a stretch to suggest that there are times in each of our lives when attending a church service is an activity of shutting down. We do not want to be there and we spend that precious time with a black cloud over our head, as if it was raining and everything. We wish we were elsewhere and we spend all of that time thinking of other things when we should be thinking about God and allowing Christ to change our lives.

I wonder if the author decided that blogs were apparently the real “time stealers” of society, one of the most terrible ills brought to us by the satanic members of the New Media cadre. Now, perhaps I’m going too far; after all, the short segment appears in a chapter of a book that is, in part, encouraging Evangelical media makers to make Evangelical media better. But why all of the negativity regarding blogging? Can not the same criticisms (that we waste time) be levied against all text-based media that ends up not imparting much wisdom to the reader?

I bet you’ve wasted all kinds of time reading this little rant. Go to church!!

At the intersection of society and media

2008-08-20T09:20:00.002-04:00

I had an interesting talk with a local newspaper journalist about the advent of new media and its implications on society. She mentioned that she has progrssive lenses, where the top of her lens is for seeing far, the middle of the lens is for mid-distance looking, and the bottom of her lens is for reading.

She mentioned that, for reading things online, she required mid-distance lenses, but because the style of glasses a few years ago were too thin from top to bottom, this would cause problems with her reading of a computer screen. She claims that it is better with the wider (or taller) styles of glasses now. There is more room for that mid-range section in the middle of the progressive lens.

This just might be a case of new media (newspapers online, for instance) beginning to dictate style.

Or not. But it is something very interesting that I never ever thought about.

Update

2008-08-05T14:30:00.002-04:00

Things are being repaired at our place at a quick pace - at least in terms of foundation work. I suppose that when you pay lots for something do be done, it is, and it's done quickly.

We will still have to wait until September for the bathroom and, I suppose, the other plumbing work to be done. We are hoping that there isn't a problem with the main sewer drain, but there might be.

As for work, things are moving along. I'm continuing to finalize the syllabi and they are just about done. I am looking forward to teaching these courses.

That's all for now.

Believe me, no news from this end could very well be good news.

Terrible

2008-07-28T13:11:00.000-04:00

Foundation problems with the new house. $15k.

There are plumbers here

2008-07-16T10:18:00.002-04:00

We have plumbers ripping up concrete in our basement to install a sump pump and pit right now. I'm content that they are doing work but not so happy that the work needs to be done in any case. I'm glad that we are getting increased flood protection, and the fellows were also going to redo the pipes that are coming down from up above (because they are completely illegal), but the wall hasn't been moved yet (we were not told that this was going to be done today). In any case, it will be rescheduled. That means that the wall needs to be moved soon, as early as early next week.

I'm continuing to plan courses and that is going well. Two syllabi are well on their way, one is in development with a lot of supporting documentation from the publishers (which should be a great help). There is a 3rd year course on New Media which will be supported by a coursepack (actually, articles on reserve in the library). It will be extremely interesting. I have a great idea for a large-scale project, one which, while large, could be interesting for all involved.

The other night I drove from Niverville in the dark (maybe a 25 minute drive) - it went well. I am becoming more confident, although I don't like it so much.

That's all. I will update the work going on downstairs soon.

Still alive

2008-07-07T13:41:00.003-04:00

Things are crazy. We are still alive. I'm driving a Yaris. I have cut the lawn 3 times already. I cleaned the eaves troughs. I ordered textbooks for the classes. My wife and I (and a colleague) have gutted the basement (what was a finished basement is now unfinished - we had water upon entry).

My sister had a baby boy on the 2nd of July. I haven't gotten paid yet, but I haven't had to fill the gas tank yet either.

We are getting the bathroom renovated. We need to have a sump pump installed. We are getting the plumbing fixed.

I've been outside more in the last 2 weeks than in the last 7 years. I have arm muscles now (although I can stand to lose a few more pounds - I'm not big by any means, but I should be a little leaner).

That's all. I will update as things progress.

Moving soon

2008-06-12T11:17:00.003-04:00

I'm just getting ready to pack up the computer (although I just got a Macbook, so I won't be out of computer range) so I thought I would type a little note before ... um ... packing up the computer.

We're moving. The apartment is a mess of boxes. Almost everything is done except for some larger items, and I'm trying to get most everything of the rest in boxes before tomorrow. The truck is supposed to come, although I have yet to hear confirmation that they will in fact be coming tomorrow, and at what time.

In any case, the wireless network will come down tonight, and that'll be it for internet until next Friday (although we'll have access in Hamilton, on our way to Winnipeg).

As some might know, my sister is due to deliver her new baby boy any time now, so we are all excited for that.

I am entering another phase of my life. I never thought that I would get a job. I am anxious about it, although I know deep down that I can do it and things will turn out. I'm just very very very very scared. And, I think, when I'm scared, I freeze and things don't get done. So that'll be a thing to work on when we arrive in Winnipeg. This coming week will be a forced "relaxing" time before the busy-ness of home improvement and course preparation.

I will check in again when we arrive in Winnipeg. Thanks for reading, and for those who feel so inclined, please consider praying for us.

A few more thoughts on Feist after a long while

2008-06-10T09:58:00.002-04:00

After returning from the conference at Brock, I never got around to writing out some of the comments and thoughts that my colleagues of IASPM imparted to me after the presentation of the paper (which was well-received). For one, Feist's perceived weakness (or actual weakness, if one takes into account her vocal injury) is a choice. Perhaps she is able to sing loudly, but it is a stylistic choice of hers to sing softly. Something to think about: the relationship between the timbre of the bass (fuzzy vs. clear) and the timbre or clarity of the voice (this is what one listener latched onto when hearing "1234"). Finally, the work of ethnomusicologist Kyra Gaunt might be something to think about, in terms of songs that sound like games (although Gaunt's work, I think, explores games with songs, rather than the case of Feist - songs without games). See Gaunt, The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double-Dutch to Hip-Hop (New York: NYU Press, 2006).

In case you might be wondering, right now I'm "reading" the following:

Wilbert J. McKeachie & Marilla Svinicki, McKeachie's Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers, 12th Edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006).

Parker J. Palmer, To Know as We are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journal (New York: HarperOne, 1993).

Sheila Whiteley & Jennifer Rycenga, eds., Queering the Popular Pitch (New York: Routledge, 2006). [I've got to write a review of this one for a journal.]

George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four (in the public domain in Canada, downloaded from here).

Dan Brown, Deception Point (New York: Pocket Books, 2001).

By the way, we say goodbye to Montreal this coming Friday, June 13. Au Revoir, city of my birth.

New Moz album

2008-05-30T08:48:00.004-04:00

True to You, Morrissey's mouthpiece to the outside world (run by the super-fan Julia Riley) announces that a new album, entitled Years of Refusal, will be released in September. Also, a remastered version of Southpaw Grammar will be released in July, with 3 unreleased bonus tracks (probably just live).

[Photo from here.]

Just checking in

2008-05-26T08:42:00.003-04:00

Yes, I am still alive. The last few weeks have been hectic. I finished the revisions to a chapter on Feist for a book that will appear in 2009. I presented a new paper at the IASPM Canada conference at Brock. And my wife, father and I went to Winnipeg, signed papers and got possession of the house. There might be a bit of work at the house - nothing major, really - although the large yard needs some work.

So, in short (too late), I'm still alive, trying to clean things up here in Montreal to get ready for a move in 3 weeks.

By the way, while in Ottawa, I was able to secure myself a fully working iMac DV SE (graphite) for $5. Retail in 1999, $1499 USD.

Not that it matters

2008-04-24T11:29:00.005-04:00

I got preliminary results from FQRSC (the provincial funding body for postdoctoral fellowships). Confusing at best, but not confusing enough to give me hope that I got the fellowship. I didn't get it, but I don't know why yet. Something must have been wrong with my application.

The results are as follows:

Cote attribuée par le comité d'évaluation à votre demande: Z [apparently because I didn't receive a passing grade in one or more of the sections]
Rang attribué par le comité d'évaluation à votre demande: 40
Nombre de bourses offertes actuellement dans votre comité: 44

So, this would lead me to believe that I would have gotten a fellowship, as I am ranked 40, and 44 got the fellowship. But what is this "Z" all about? Last time I got a "C."

They must not have received one of my letters (see all about that here), although I would think that that would have been reflected in my ranking.

As I say, not that it matters. But it still makes me sad.

OUR NEW HOUSE!!

2008-04-23T15:30:00.000-04:00

(as seen from space! - More info soon.)

For those who might be interested...

2008-04-23T13:00:00.003-04:00

New single by Nine Inch Nails. You can legally download it by going here (the link brings you to NIN's website). I like it a lot. The mp3 tags of the song encourage the listener to visit nin.com on May 5th. A new album perhaps, with the same distribution and payment model as Ghosts I-IV? I can only hope.

Did I mention that I like the song a lot?

More work on "Canada" (veiled as an exciting blog entry)

2008-04-22T09:49:00.002-04:00

I will post a bit of news from our recent trip to Winnipeg, a visit to my future workplace and a search for a place to live. For now, though, I need to write a short bit on Canadian identity and nation building in the postwar period. For that, I am happy to quote Paul Litt:

Canadian Nationalism in the postwar period, then, was fuelled by hope and fear--hope that Canada could seize the moment and ensure its destiny; fear that American influences would smother a new Canadianism in its cradle. (377)

Litt maps the Canadian "experience" as the movement after World War II from a colony of Britain to a stand-alone nation, with the fear that Canada would become a colony again, but this time of the United States. The locus of this perceived fear was in the area of culture.

Source: Paul Litt, "The Massey Commission, Americanization, and Canadian Cultural Nationalism," Queen's Quarterly 98:2 (Summer 1991), 375-387.

Canada as instituted by the government

2008-04-14T11:05:00.003-04:00

Maurice Charland presents the notion of "technological nationalism," where Canada is said to be manifest by the Canadian Pacific Railroad (a transportation technology which allowed the eastern part of the country to be united with the western part, in terms of trade, commerce, passenger movement, and even communications in the form of the telegraph which followed the tracks) and the CBC, the uniting factor for Canada in terms of media communications. He calls this a "rhetoric of technological nationalism in anglophone Canada which ascribes to technology the capacity to create a nation by enhancing communication." Furthermore, "the CBC is legitimated in political discourse by the CPR." (197)

Source: Maurice Charland, "Technological Nationalism," Canadian Journal of Political and Social Theory 10:1-2 (1986), 196-220;

Regarding Canada as a "mosaic" rather than a "melting pot"

2008-04-11T14:39:00.002-04:00

Another prevalent model of Canadian nationalism is that Canada is a "mosaic" rather than a "melting pot," the latter being a model upon which the United States is (arguably) based. The "mosaic" model is actually the policy of "multiculturalism," as instated in 1971, "where cultural difference is acknowledged and accomodated within the "mosaic" of national culture." But there is an argument that multiculturalism is "simply another way of entrenching separateness and marginalizing those not recognized as belonging to the dominant culture." Furthermore, the "mosaic" model:

views cultural inscriptions, and hence the notion of difference, as stable, coherent and autonomous. . . . In such a "multicultural" nation, differences are organized into neat, virtual grids of distinct ethnic communities, each with its own "culture."

The "melting pot" model (which is what is generally considered to be the American model of nation-building) refers to a "process of assimilation, where the different cultural and ethnic communities in a nation are conceived as coming together to create a new 'American' race or culture."

Source: Sharmani Patricia Gabriel, "'Between Mosaic and Melting Pot': Negotiating Multiculturalism and Cultural Citizenship in Bharati Mukherjee's Narratives of Diaspora," Postcolonial Text 1:2 (2005); available from http://postcolonial.org/index.php/pct/article/viewArticle/420/147; Internet; accessed 8 April 2008.

More about being "Canadian"

2008-04-10T14:53:00.002-04:00

Harry Hillier talks about the evolution of thinking in terms of what constitutes the "nation" of Canada. From the country's inception, there was an idea that the political entity affiliated with Britain would bear its imprint (called anglo-conformity). This evolved into the two-nation view by 1960, when new accommodations between English and French in Canada were required. By the 1990s, the notions of a three-nation view emerged, with the "realization" of the prior presence of First Nations. So, in conclusion, the cores and essentials of Canadian nationality are no longer clear. (295)

Kieran Keohane suggests that "Canadian" is defined as manifested in a "way of life." In other words, "Canadian" is how we live. (19) He also suggests that there is an enjoyment of endurance hardwired into Canadians:

Throughout Canadian popular culture there are discourses that celebrate an enjoyment of endurance and a valuation of tolerance. (35)

There also exists a lack of particularity in the character of Canadians. (38)

Keohane writes:

At the heart of the symbolic order of Canada is a knot where endurance and enjoyment, and enjoyment of endurance of lack of particularity, are articulated. This knot of meanings supports values of tolerance and unpretentiousness. (40)

Of course, one of the common conceptions of Canada is that it is not the United States, and nor are Canadians all the same.

Finally, there is a friendly character of Canadian humour. We are not afraid of making fun of ourselves, with self-disclosure and self-deprication. (153-154)

Sources: Harry H. Hillier, Canadian Society: A Macro Analysis (Fifth Edition) (Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006); Hieran Keohane, Symptoms of Canada: An Essay on the Canadian Identity (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997).

Defining "Canadian-ness"

2008-04-09T14:48:00.002-04:00

In an article that appeared in the Dominion paper, Susana Ferreira discusses how the definition of being "Canadian" is difficult (in the context of immigration, in particular), and that this difficulty is part of how one defines "Canadian":

The question of Canadian Identity is a familiar and prominent one. Canadians spend so much time agonizing over our lack of solid, touchable, definable identity that it has practically become a national pastime. Some would argue that it is this agonizing itself that best defines our national identity.

She goes on to suggest that a firm identity of who we are requires a firm identity of what we are not. I think that most would agree that Canadians certainly know what they are not, and that this knowledge does nothing to tell them who they are: Canadians are not American (or, to a much lesser extent, British or French).

Ferreira blames Canada's laissez-faire attitude regarding identity to the "broad embrace of Multiculturalism."

She outlines how "Canadian-ness" is built: "The process of nation-building is tied to space, language, education, and common or shared knowledge." For Ferreira, Multiculturalism is a barrier to a shared space, language, education and knowledge. She states, "Canadianness becomes something obtainable via assimilation to White, Western mindsets and practices."

Sumayya Kassamali and Usamah Ahmad continue with similar sentiments in suggesting that Canada is built on the ideals of tolerance, democracy and justice. They also identify the difficulties faced by immigrant communities even in a supposedly multicultural society.

Nationalism always works to shroud status quo relations and exploitation by constructing an imagined commune to which one must be emotionally and viscerally committed. There have thus been charges that if certain groups do not accept dominant mores, they have no reason to be here. We are forced into celebratory nationalism or are labeled "Enemies Within" who need to be exorcised (or deported).

While these two articles provide scathing criticisms of Canadian nationalism and especially multiculturalism, they point to inadequacies of the Canadian "imaginary," to borrow from Kassamali and Ahmad. Do other countries suffer with similar problems? Or perhaps as Ferreira suggests, "Canadian-ness" must make the Other suffer, and thus (I would argue) suffer itself, in order to remain "Canadian."

Sources: Susana Ferreira, "Multiculturalism: It Hurts Us All," The Dominion (6 November 2004); available from http://www.dominionpaper.ca/features/2004/11/06/multicultu.html; Internet; accessed 8 April 2008. Sumayya Kassamali & Usamah Ahmad, "Wounded Sentiments: Multiculturalism, the 'Toronto 17,' and the National Imaginary," The Peak 123:7 (19 June 2006); available from http://peak.sfu.ca/the-peak/2006-2/issue7/fe-mus.html; Internet; accessed 8 April 2008.

I thought I would chime in...

2008-04-08T11:22:00.003-04:00

I'm a bit late but I would like to congratulate Leslie Feist on winning 5 Juno awards this last weekend. I wasn't able to watch the telecast on Sunday night, but I did see many of her acceptance speeches on the CTV website (only after I downloaded the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in; Silverlight is MS's answer to Flash video). She seemed genuinely thankful to receive the recognition that came with the awards.

I'm writing about her right now, so she's on my mind.

Picture from REUTERS/Todd Korol (and here).

More on Feist, Leclerc and France

2008-04-04T14:06:00.003-04:00

Christopher M. Jones describes Felix Leclerc in Paris in 1974:

Felix Leclerc was the authentic Quebecois--with acoustic guitar, boots, and flannel shirts on stage at the Olympia in Paris--seemingly just emerged from the woods, representing the origin myth, an unspoiled New World Man.

In an interesting twist, Jones suggests that, with few exceptions of what he calls "crossover" artists, Quebec music has not been embraced in France, nor have French artists been embraced in Quebec (he quotes Gilbert Ohayon of EMI France to support this). So, Perhaps Leclerc was seen as an Other, a kind of "exotic" or something. In a way, perhaps Feist is seen in a similar way, but where Leclerc was linked to a Quebec "nationalism," Feist is linked to ... nothing.

Source: Christopher M. Jones, "Quebec Song: Strategies in the Cultural Marketplace," Quebec Studies 31 (Spring-Summer 2001), 50-60. Also available here.

The successes of Félix Leclerc vs. Feist

2008-04-03T13:25:00.003-04:00

Things are starting to become a bit more clear in terms of why Feist's successes in France problematize her categorization as "Canadian," while the successes of Félix Leclerc in France do not problematize his status as a contributor to Quebec culture within Canada.

To recap a bit of what I wrote yesterday, there is a historic boundary in Quebec music. On one side are songwriters (and Michèle Ollivier calls these "rock artists" as well), and on the other are interpreters - Ollivier calls them artistes populaires (they primarily perform songs written by others).

I suggest that Feist's work in the French language can be placed in the second category, as she does not write her songs in French. She usually performs known works (like "La Javanaise" with Juliette Gréco or Gainsbourg's "Boomerang"), while her more recent song in French for the movie Paris, Je t'Aime was written by Elizabeth Anaïs and Christophe Montieux.

Here is what Ollivier says about Félix Leclerc's successes:

[His] success in France as a songwriter-interpreter in the 1950s contributed to the emergence both of a new style of popular music and of a strong nationalist movement in Quebec. (98)

Ollivier suggests that there is a high level of "prestige" associated with Leclerc and artists like him in the Quebec music scene. This "prestige" also corresponds to those artists that are considered "song writers." rather than those who were only trying for quick and temporary successes. (98, 103) Again, from Ollivier:

Félix Leclerc experienced a phenomenal success in France. His success abroad gave new legitimacy to local artists and paved the way for the development of a new genre of popular music artists, who became known as the chansonniers. (99)

One might wish to compare Feist to three Quebec singers that Ollivier mentions: Céline Dion (large success in the United States), Roch Voisine (large success in Europe), and Ginette Reno (large success in the rest of Canada). Feist is different that these artists in that she is completely outside of the Quebec music scene. Her French work does not find its origin in Quebec. Her origins might be placed in Nova Scotia (by birth), Calgary (early music formation), Toronto (as a base of operations and beginnings of success) and even Berlin or Paris ("origins" of her currently popular persona).

Quebec does not figure at all in the career of Feist. Therefore, when she aligns herself with French singers and chanson, this does not gain her any prestige with Quebec audiences, because she's not from there. Leclerc and these others were able to remain Québécois(e) because of the strong ties to that province; their global successes followed them back to their home to reinforce that original nationalist association (I cringe to use the term "nationalist"). Or at least that's what I think.

Feist is English-speaking and Canadian. Her alignment with France and French culture problematizes her status as Canadian. If she was from Quebec, or if she was French-Canadian, perhaps her successes and acceptance in France would imbue her with "prestige" back at home.

Source: Michèle Ollivier, "Snobs and Quétaines: Prestige and Boundaries in Popular Music in Quebec," Popular Music 25:1 (2006), 97-116.

Feist and Quebec

2008-04-02T14:28:00.003-04:00

In preparing revisions to my paper on Feist and Canadian Popular Music, I'm exploring how her case is different from other Canadian musicians as per the following. Why is it that her acceptance into the French (as in France) chanson scene renders her less Canadian (or as a problematized Canadian) when a Quebec singer like Felix Leclerc is popular in France but still considered no less of a Quebecois artist?

There is a historical conception of popular music in Quebec as being separated into two genres, chanson (or singer/songwriter) and mass culture, or American-style pop styles. (Grenier 212) It seems that all French-language Quebec music has since been bunched together as chanson, and that, though the distinction in styles has been ignored, there has also been a resurgence in popularity of the traditional singer/songwriter or chanson style. (220)

Also, Quebec music has found itself aligned to (or included in) a greater global "movement" of francophone music, "la francophonie." There seems less nationalistic associations embedded in this music, then, when considered from a global perspective.

I wonder if Feist's "Canadian-ness" is simply* a non-francophone "Canadian-ness." Her chanson singing is part of this "francophonie" rather than a Canadian French-language tradition.

* "simply" is not the right word. Nothing is simple, and if one argues that something is simple, someone else can argue that it's not. Thus, with the presentation of that argument, the thing is certainly no longer "simple," whether one thinks it is ... or not.

Source: Line Grenier, "The Aftermath of a Crisis: Quebec Music Industries in the 1980s," Popular Music 12:3 (October 1993), 209-227.

Winnipeg-bound

2008-03-30T21:49:00.004-04:00

I'm pleased to announce that I've accepted the job as Assistant Professor in Communications and Media at Providence College & Seminary outside of Winnipeg. Very exciting!

My favourite comic

2008-03-28T14:12:00.002-04:00

Post #151 and news

2008-03-27T14:12:00.003-04:00

I'm pleased to announce that I've been offered a job as Assistant Professor in Communications and Media at Providence College & Seminary outside of Winnipeg.

Post #150 - and an update from the West

2008-03-27T09:29:00.003-04:00

Back from Winnipeg, where I had a nice time meeting with professors and discussing the place of Communications and Media in the context of theology and Christianity. I should hear something later today about moving out there.

I'm very tired. I'm going to try to do something today - I have all kinds of things to do in the next 4 weeks (even if moving isn't one of them).

Happy Easter

2008-03-19T14:01:00.002-04:00

I wish everyone reading a blessed Easter. This is the time of year that Christians remember the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, for our redemption and salvation. Thank God for His goodness.

I am off to Ottawa for the weekend and then flying out to Winnipeg. I will not be back until Wednesday, although breaks on this blog are no surprise. I hope to have some (good) news upon my return.

Approaching 150 posts

2008-03-17T09:54:00.003-04:00

I'm very busy right now. I've had quite an eventful few days.

I'm off to Winnipeg to visit a school on Easter Monday, right after visiting my family in Ottawa. My Feist article has been accepted as a chapter in a book. I've been accepted to present a paper at the IASPM Canada conference at Brock University in May.

I still have that book review on the go as well as that piece for that national religious magazine (Friday was really productive).

I might be in the market for a laptop. It depends how today goes. I might require one for my little post-Easter trip.

(By the way, Friday wasn't productive at all, in case you didn't get my dry humour over the Internet)

I'm not feeling well (but here's a nice picture of my iPod)

2008-03-14T08:43:00.004-04:00

Things are getting crazy here. I haven't been feeling 100% in the last few weeks, not sure why. I'm trying to get better before the next few weeks come upon me, as they may be a bit crazy.

I'm going to try to get another piece for a national religious publication out today. Thus far, none of my pieces have been approved for publication, but this one might.

I am half-way through a review of a book on authenticity and rock performance. I should be able to scrub that one together and get it out. Sometimes I just need to dedicate a relatively short time and just do what I need to. It's not that hard.

One of my chapters on Feist has been conditionally accepted for a book on Canadian popular music. The next 6 weeks will be filled with research for the revisions of that. I'm happy about this, though.

I was approached by a German publisher about publishing my dissertation. Apparently the only thing that separates this particular press from a "vanity press" is that it doesn't charge the author to publish the work (unlike something like Lulu.com), and it does pay royalties. The press also markets through amazon.com and other online retailers. The publication, though, is not peer-reviewed.

I've been advised against publishing this way, though another colleague told me to go ahead, publish with this press, and then concentrate on publishing new material. The above piece on Feist will be the first publication of new material, which might be a signal to publish the dissertation with the German press. I'll have to think about it.

By the way, the iPod arrived safe and sound

2008-03-01T08:02:00.003-05:00

Sorry to keep everyone in suspense (as if). My brand new Project (RED) 1gig iPod Shuffle arrived by FedEx on Friday (after missing the delivery guy on Thursday). The little thing left China on Monday and arrived in Canada on Thursday. What a world traveller.

Some of you astute readers might remember that I had a shuffle before - a coveted Orange one. I returned it because of a perceived "hum." Alas, it seems that the hum is a "feature" of this model, and I now feel that I should have kept that beautiful little marvel. The price did go down, though, so I still come out a winner.

iPod moving

2008-02-27T06:59:00.003-05:00

Larry Norman 1947-2008

2008-02-26T12:08:00.002-05:00

Anyone who listens to what is now called Contemporary Christian Music should know the name Larry Norman. In 1969, Norman recorded Upon This Rock on Capitol Records, considered by many the first rock release that was also considered gospel music. He later went on to create the Solid Rock label, which had on its roster Randy Stonehill, Daniel Amos (the band), and Mark Heard, as well as others. So, I suppose that I owe him for my musical tastes. Although I own no Larry Norman recordings, his mark is left on the music of Stonehill and Daniel Amos. He was always a mysterious figure for me - there was always an air of controversy around him, especially because, when I was a teen, he and Stonehill (as well as all of the old Solid Rock people) were not talking. It seems that the various parties forgot their differences in recent years, although I know that the Daniel Amos people were trying to put together a reissue that was a bit undermined by the release of said reissue by Norman's people.

Details are silly, though, at this point. You can find more information around the Internet about Larry Norman, and even more about the controversies, and so forth. I know that I'll give some of his stuff a chance today, and I'll certainly pull out a copy of Stonehill's Welcome to Paradise in Larry Norman's honour.

New iPod Shuffle Tracking

2008-02-26T09:44:00.003-05:00

I ordered myself an iPod Shuffle (Project (RED) version) from Apple and it's on its way to me. Funny that those in charge would send it straight from the factories in China instead of sending it from the Apple Store in Laval, about an hour and a half away by metro. I can expect to receive it at some point this week, I assume.

As for the Christmas CD, I still haven't received it. I again spoke to the store and I'm not going to initiate a charge-back with my credit card just yet. It's not really acceptable, though.

We might invest in a Dyson DC21 stowaway vacuum.

I think I'm getting a cold.

2008-02-19T11:06:00.002-05:00

I'm starting to cough. I don't like that.

Did I mention that I'm really into photography? We were at my parents' house this weekend and I took some pictures. While I have learned an important principle in photography ("The quality of the camera makes much less of a difference than the quality of the photographer" - since most of my pictures are still pretty bad), I do enjoy it. I hope that at some point I'm able to take a few high quality pics. Right now I'm just learning how to control the aperture to make a blurry picture (with a subject in focus). I'm not sure that the aperture setting can go as low as I would like. But I don't know enough about the camera. It might be that I can zoom and then change the aperture. I have to play with the camera a bit.

It must be really exciting to read something from someone that actually doesn't know what they're talking about. But I'm getting better!

Mail woes continue with me. I ordered a Christmas CD at the beginning of December and it has yet to reach me. Perhaps it will arrive before next Christmas. I've been in touch with the store and I hope that they will resolve the issue soon (i.e. send me a new one).

Also, I sent an envelope by Canada Post expresspost on Thursday to Manitoba and it hasn't arrived, according to tracking HQ. I'm really not impressed. I could have sent it regular, instead of being ripped off of $15 by sending it express. As long as it gets there. Right now, it's who knows where.

Here's a picture of an RCA Victor SHC667 Integrated Amp (circa 1961) that I am interested in (i.e. getting my cousin to fix for me so that I can gloat). It has tubes!

SSHRC bid unsuccessful

2008-02-12T11:14:00.000-05:00

I received the letter from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada today, announcing that my bid for a 2008 postdoctoral fellowship was unsuccessful. The success rate was 25.2% this year, and the letter suggests that there were 676 applicants trying for funding.

I did receive 2 points more than I did last year (that's a 6.7% increase from last year's score!). This was reflected in the "Track Record" portion of the ratings, rather than the "Program of Work" (or proposal) portion. The latter actually scored slightly lower than last time, which is strange considering I worked on that part to improve it.

FQRSC, my next chance for postdoctoral funding, announces results in April.

I'm lonely already

2008-02-08T14:06:00.000-05:00

My wife is leaving for Hamilton as her grandfather has passed away. Although I do have experience living alone, I'm a bit lonely right now, and she hasn't even left the city yet!

I'll be praying for her and her family this weekend.

Photography

2008-02-08T11:05:00.000-05:00

My cousin told me that I should consider becoming a professional photographer. I'm not sure if it's the quality of the photos (in terms of composition) or the fact that I "look" like a photographer.

Anyway, here are a couple of shots of me in "photography" mode.

(The second photo was flipped in a very inelegant way, importing the 10 megapixel image into Apple Pages, flipping the photo horizontally, and then taking a screen capture to .jpg and uploading it here.)

A Picture for Lent

2008-02-07T15:22:00.000-05:00

I went to a Lenten service today at the Prebyterian church in downtown Montreal, after a Bible study on 1 Peter chapter 5. Before the chapel service, I took a quick picture of the tapestry that hangs there with my new camera. It isn't the most wonderful photo in the world, but it's not bad.

The service was very nice. The sermon was excellent (very thought provoking, exploring the modernist notion that all religions are the same). The Bible study was also quite stimulating, and although there was a bit of discussion, there wasn't the real "getting off the rails" that there sometimes is when attending such discussions. The church also has a lunch after the chapel services during Lent. I didn't go today (part of me is thinking that not eating lunch on Thursdays might be my Lenten sacrifice), but I might go next week.

By the way, I submitted a proposal for a conference in Vancouver in the early summer, but the proposal was rejected. I was hoping to present at that conference.

No word on the electric train set yet.

Site changes

2008-01-30T14:33:00.001-05:00

If you still see google ads at the top of this site, then let me know in the comments, because there shouldn't be any anymore. I've removed the code from the site as far as I can tell.

Also, I encourage any interested parties to visit my website at nicholasgreco.ca. If the page still says "NetFirms" at the top, then refresh the page and see what comes up. I'm now hosted on .mac because of google ads on NetFirms.

I'm no longer a fan of Google AdSense (if I ever really was).

A quote from Rowan Williams

2008-01-28T15:29:00.000-05:00

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the highest rank in the Church of England, had this to say about Pullman's His Dark Materials in 2004:

If the Authority [who is killed in Pullman's novel] is not God, why has the historic Church so often behaved as if it did indeed exist to protect a mortal and finite God? What would a church life look like that actually expressed the reality of a divine freedom enabling human freedom?

A modern French Christian writer spoke about "purification by atheism" - meaning faith needed to be reminded regularly of the gods in which it should not believe. I think Pullman and Wright do this very effectively for the believer. I hope too that for the non-believing spectator, the question may somehow be raised of what exactly the God is in whom they don't believe.

For Williams, the Church of the books is a Church "without creation or redemption, certainly without Christ." You can read the whole article, which is in fact a review of the stage play, written by Nicholas Wright, based on the books, here.

I did some work today!

2008-01-22T14:02:00.001-05:00

Just to update those who care, I worked on an expansion of a musical analysis that is in my dissertation. Being away from musical transcription for a long time meant that writing out a simple melody seemed to take forever. I can only assume that the next bit of the melody line will be easier since I'm now "in the zone" (of course, I'll be "out of the zone" tomorrow when I continue to do this work).

I'm going to now read a bit of a book that I'm to review for Popular Music, so that I can get a review out to them sometime soon. I just need to get back into it; I need to read to the end of the chapter I was on.

I'm also continuing Pullman's The Golden Compass. There's something that bothers me about the title, though. It has been published here as The Golden Compass, although the original title is Northern Lights. There isn't a compass in the book, although the althiometer is compass-like, and I can only suppose it's golden. But why do the publishers (or whoever) think that they need to change the name of the book for the American (or North American) audience? The same thing happened with the American version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (called ...and the Sorcerer's Stone in the U.S.).

I'd also like to start to read Nadine Hubbs' The Queer Composition of America's Sound: Gay Modernists, American Music, and National Identity (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004). First step is to take it off the shelf.

A new camera

2008-01-17T09:47:00.000-05:00

I've just put an order in for this:

It's a new Sony dSLR. We're using most of our points from our credit card to buy this (I have a Sony Points card), and only a bit of cash for taxes. I'm excited - I hope my pictures get less blurry with this camera!

Some might know that I am a notoriously bad photographer, but I always wanted to get a high quality still camera. This looks like a good choice. And now that Apple is introducing HD movie rentals over iTunes and AppleTV (which I have), I'm glad that I didn't jump into buying a Blu-ray player (although I'm sure "Cars" on Blu-ray would make me cry ALL OVER AGAIN). Even if HD rentals aren't available in Canada until later this year, I hope that this distribution system brings some sort of serious competition for next-generation disc-based video formats. I've said that this was coming, and felt that Blu-ray and HD DVD was silly in the light of future broadband distribution from companies like Apple (although it was really late coming - and, actually, it's not here yet, just announced).

I do like the MacBook Air, but I don't need one.

I'm really enjoying Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass. My Christian faith hasn't been shaken yet, nor do I expect it to be.

Almost done with that pesky proposal

2008-01-11T10:49:00.000-05:00

The proposal is coming along nicely this morning, thank God. I'm done the basic part, but I would like to add a little bit about the importance of melody to the music of Feist. It seems that after her vocal injury (from decidedly unmelodic singing), Feist learned to appreciate melody through her learning of the guitar in the late 1990s. At least this is what she says in an interview from 2005:

"It was a dark time…being unsure of what’s going to happen is scary, but it motivated me in a way to learn guitar, because I had just been a singer up until then. I found a new way to understand [melodies] through playing guitar."

Seth Berkman, "Feist," Mote Magazine, 29 November 2005. Available here.

She says a similar thing in another interview:

“It felt like an exciting self-project to not speak. I wrote a lot of letters, bought a guitar and a four-track [recorder]. … I would have never approached singing in a quiet, melodic way when I was with [Placebo]. Once you're by yourself, you realize singing monotone won't cut it.”

Krissy Teegerstrom, "Venus: Feist," Venus Zine. No longer available online.

So, I suppose her music is now decidedly melodic. There is a certain quality that her melodiousness carries with it but, again, I'm having trouble putting it into words. Perhaps it's a European sensibility, or just an older pop sensibility (I have no way to back this up - these are just feelings I have). There isn't the same sense of melody in much of the pop or dance music available today. That's not really a slight against current popular music (or "pop" music in particular).

Leslie's use of melody seems to add to a certain sophistication.

In a more recent article from Venus Zine, Feist's music is described as follows:

her records gracefully unfurl like fading nostalgia, like the soundtrack to seductions, soft and lithe, mysterious and breathy. Both Let It Die and The Reminder ostensibly could come from a time when movies were black and white and when “romantic” wasn’t always attached to “comedy.” And much to Feist’s chagrin, there’s something inherently French about her songs that conjure up the imagery of a European café filled with aromas of espressos and cigarettes.

Arye Dworkin, "Feist," Venus Zine 31 (Spring 2007). Available here.

Here is an unusual pictures of Leslie that I found on my computer today which I forgot about. The picture shows her holding a cigarette, and comes from Teegerstrom's Venus article above. I am not sure if Feist smokes - strange to me if she does.

By the way...

2008-01-10T15:58:00.000-05:00

In case you were following, T.O. wants me to post a photo with the engineer's hat that I got for Christmas. Unfortunately (for you, but fortunately for me) the hat is not with me. It is with the train. And the train is not here. Nor is my train set (which is not yet available in North America).

When all the things come together, you will get your wish, me with the hat and pictures of the train up and running. In abundance.

Be careful what you wish for.

I'll probably be crying with happiness when that photo is taken, me in a hat with a train set running.

Boy, am I struggling...

2008-01-10T15:33:00.000-05:00

Talk about staring at a piece of paper/screen/book. I'm trying to finish up this proposal (as I have been since we returned from Christmas break) and I just can't crack it. Maybe I need to do a bit of research, but I know what I want to do - I just can't seem to put it down on paper.

So, like I so often do (at the expense of you, my dear reader), I will try to flesh out my thoughts on this very blog.

By the way, right now I'm listening to Scott Walker. This probably doesn't help. He's a bit dark.

My whole idea focuses on Roland Barthes and his point that there is a kind of artistic expression that somehow externalizes "discourse." I'm not exactly sure what he's saying here, but I don't have to know right now. What he does say is that, in this externalization, there exists "bliss." Again, the exact meaning of his terms doesn't matter so much. He is talking about pleasure and desire - this is clear. So, there is a certain pleasure that comes from this exteriorization of discourse, and he calls this exteriorization of discourse "writing aloud," and he suggests that it finds its best representation in singing.

Except, for Barthes, melody is dead.

So, instead, he looks to cinema. But let's back up for a second. Who says that melody is dead? I don't. Our friend Leslie Feist is certainly melodic, and, compared to our other friend Steven Patrick Morrissey, overly melodic (active? masculine? different paper?).

I would like to explore Feist's über-hit "1234" and that melody for this "writing aloud" in order to get to the root of that elusive "bliss." We can also assume that this "writing" occurs in conjunction with the lyrics that she sings. So I would like to do a contour analysis of her melodic output, as well as a textual analysis of what she sings, and look at the result of those two things together. Such an analysis would be looking at elements of singing such as musical phrasing, word pronunciation and vocal timbre, too. As for analytical frameworks, I know one that talks about gender and inactive melodies (and, I'm sure, my readers do too . . . and are sick of reading about it), so I think I can try to leave it at that.

As for conclusions, I want to conclude that: 1) melody is not dead (at least, not in this song); and 2) "here" are the examples of "vocal writing" in the song.

Any feedback is welcome.

I should add this while I'm at it

2008-01-09T09:42:00.000-05:00

We also ordered one of these Procor tank cars from a store in Ottawa for the future train set, as my wife's grandfather used to work for the company, fitting the couplers. It should be very similar to the one below, except in black with white lettering.

I forgot

2008-01-09T09:32:00.000-05:00

I also have a new book to read and review. The book is called Rock Music in Performance by David Pattie. It explores the assumption that live performance in rock music is a sign of "authenticity," as opposed to the mediated nature of "pop" music. Pattie argues that live rock performance is also mediated, and he goes on to explore the live experience of U2 and later talks about Morrissey, gender and performance. It seems that this book, released in 2007, is a good choice for me, as I am pretty familiar with all of these subjects. So that is also on my plate.

The bad thing is that I don't feel like doing any of this. I received a couple of rejection letters over the holidays. I'm a bit in the dumps.

On a lighter side, here's one of the train cars that my father purchased for me over the holidays. It's a VIA baggage car. Yesterday I mentioned that the colours were from the 1970s, but they might be a bit later than that.

Putting stuff in order

2008-01-08T10:40:00.000-05:00

Now that Christmas is over (and that I am now 34 years old), and a new year has started, I thought I would sign in again and use this blog as a place for me to organize myself and try to get going on work I need to do.

For instance, I've been contacted by a prominent national magazine which focuses on a particular religious fellowship to write a short article (or articles) for possible publication. I've sent one and I've been asked to write another.

I have to rewrite my musical analysis, again for possible publication (I've forgotten about this over the holidays). There is a blog entry from before Christmas that gets into this.

I am developing a proposal for some conferences in the spring; one proposal is due this week and another before the end of the month of January. I'm again going to explore Leslie Feist as a singer, but now as one who successfully employs melody which, for Roland Barthes, seems to be a key to "writing aloud," a bodily "exteriorization of discourse."

I was telling my wife that I mentioned my current research to a couple of my academic mentors, that is, applying Barthes' notions of pleasure of the text to the study of the singing voice in order to try to figure out how to discuss the singing voice and why we like "it." These two profs both said something to the effect of "good luck with that." She laughed.

At me.

In other news, the train has been ordered. My father was kind enough to buy me a couple of VIA train cars circa. 1970s, which I'm happy with. My sister gave me some money for a locomotive, so I bought the one below, and got the nice people at the store to install a DCC chip in it, so that it would be fully compatible with the Hornby DCC set I've ordered. She also thought of getting me an engineer's hat, which made me cry at Christmas.

I am thinking about picking up a Blu-Ray player, now that the format war is pretty much over. I am considering a PS3, simply because it has full Super Audio CD support, and it plays games, all for the same price as (or cheaper than) a BD player. Or a 400 disc DVD player. Or a dSLR. Anyway, it has to be a Sony product. I have Sony points and I've decided that I no longer wish to collect Sony points - I want to get cash back on credit card purchases instead. Now, if there was an Apple card, that would be another matter.

Here's the locomotive:

Happy Christmas

2007-12-21T10:17:00.000-05:00

I wish everyone and anyone reading this blog a happy Christmas and holiday time, and only the best for 2008. May all your dreams and hopes come to fruition this coming year, and may God bless you.

I'll post again in a couple of weeks, and I'll let you know if I got that train I wanted!!

I'm Published (again)

2007-12-14T14:33:00.001-05:00

For those who are keeping count, my review has been published in the most recent issue of the journal Popular Music (Vol. 27, No. 1, January 2008), pages 183-184. It's a review of Nick Stevenson's book on David Bowie.

I do have a previous publication: “The Berlin Wall: Bowie, U2 and the ‘Urban Real.’” Culture of Cities: ...Under Construction. P. Moore & M. Risk, eds. Oakville, ON: Mosaic Press, 2001. pp. 92-94.

Hopefully this is only the beginning.