walkingshadow (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
walkingshadow) wrote2005-01-26 03:18 am
walkingshadow) wrote2005-01-26 03:18 am
All we want to do is bring them democracy and white bread.
Last Thursday the LAH prof quizzed us all on primary and secondary sources (*snore*), but then he stumped the class with tertiary sources because apparently they hadn't ever taken history with Dr. M. in high school as I had, and I was the only one who could pipe up with "blah blah blah historiographycakes." Today he was comparing the patronage system in the Old Republic of Brazil (1889-1930) to Boss Tweed et al., but couldn't remember the setting, so Tammany Hall came floating up helpfully from the back of the class, where I was dutifully filling in my crossword puzzle. Also today he brought in maps! and thank GOD for visual aids to break things up. He seems like a sad kind of guy, not in a hound-dog kind of way, but in an unsatisfied-with-himself-and-our-lack-of-enthusiasm kind of way, so on the way out I made sure to thank him for bringing the maps and said I always find them helpful, and it's good to know where the things that we're talking about actually are, e.g. I would not have put Columbia there.
Last week in Visual Anthropology we ran out of time before everyone could present their assignments (we postponed the last few in favor of eating lunch and discussing the reading), so I'll be doing mine tomorrow. Which is fine since she took home my CD with the pictures on it and emailed be back a couple of days later with my grade (47/50). It kinda takes the edge off. This week our only assignment was to come in with a good idea for the final project, which is going to be a collaborative effort (in groups of three (or four, if absolutely necessary) to be assigned based on who wants to do what topic) resulting in either a web page or a video on some issue.
The ideas this week don't have to be written down in formal statements and they don't need posterboard displays, so I intend to pitch them something like: advertising; people as brands; people putting themselves in the spotlight/limelight/public eye rather than their product (the movie they made, the song they sing, etc.); the person as product. This isn't new, or news, but![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gjstruthseeker and I reopened it the other night—it actually started when she was horrified at the public access of information to court records. I saw what made her so uncomfortable, namely that an awful lot of information, sometimes very personal information, is now available to absolutely anyone who comes in and wants to look at it. But the flip side of that is the ease of access should work in favor of the accused (another sticking point, because I think we can agree that criminals should give up some of their rights and privileges, but it doesn't sit right that the same should be true of someone who only stands accused of a crime, because they're technically all equally innocent until the case comes to trial and a jury finds them guilty); if something went wrong anywhere in the legal proceeding, anyone can request the file, document the grievances, and make a noise about it. So yeah, being accused of a crime when you're innocent of it is a bad deal, all around, and it'll touch your reputation even if all charges are dropped and you're acknowledged to be a model citizen, but if arrest records are going to be public, then so are the case files (and vice-versa), so are the court records and the prison logs; it's either everything or nothing, and at one point it seemed like I was trying to argue that we yield our right to privacy in the face of the rule of law, but instead I remembered that we get to be private and everything the government does should be completely transparent to us. We look at their books, we demand accountability of their law enforcement, we can read the legislation they want to make into law (though if Congress doesn't do it, I don't know how we're expected to), and they're the ones who need warrants and just cause if they want to look at anything of mine. Everything is visible or nothing is, and no government is ever concealing their plot to institute world peace. There is no secret plan to fight inflation. When no one can see the court proceedings or the arrest logs it's because there are no trials and people are disappearing off the street.
( . . . I haven't even opened the floor to the give-me-a-subject-to-rant-on meme and I'm already off and running on the Bill of Rights. If anyone has any other topics, I'm apparently in the ZONE.)
So I tried to reconcile why she would have such an ethical dilemma reading about these people's cases when she follows celebrities the way she does (though she's been re-evaluating the virtue of the entertainment magazine), and the distinction she made was that celebrities put themselves out there by choice, and maybe they're not necessarily asking for it, but they should know to accept it as the price of fame. Which is where I tried to make the distinction between promoting oneself and promoting one's movie or hit single, but I've long since known that I'm one of the vanishingly few who keep the two separate. I don't need to know about the band if I like the music, or the actors if I like the show, and I have absolutely no brand loyalty whatsoever. Conspicuous consumption makes me feel sick inside and I don't care who makes what as long as they make a quality product. I am a marketer's worst nightmare. Frankly, it won't surprise me when I'm finally declared a socialist and they show up to deport me. But over the summer I saw five women in one day come into the doctor's office with the exact same hideous Luis Vuitton bag, and P. Diddy has a clothing line of t-shirts with his signature scrawled across them; and if nothing else, it should all photograph well.
Last week we also discussed an article that touched on many subjects, but what I really took away from it was appearance vs. reality re: power. The most vivid example I remember is the idea of collaborative projects, where the subject of a documentary is willing to reveal much more than they might otherwise when their lives are being filmed because they have been granted a part in the editing process, or perhaps even final veto on what will go in. The problem is that unless these people are skilled documentarians themselves, they have no real way of making informed decisions about these films, and therefore no film (the author of the article argued, and it is a bit outdated) can ever be truly collaborative; what happens is the final product emerges and it isn't the way the subject imagined it would come out in the end, but he's lost his right to protest it because he helped to make it. I think this class will consist of a lot of these moments for me, of revealing imbalances and discrepancies behind paradigms so persuasive or ubiquitous I've never thought them anything but fair and right—if I'd ever thought of them at all.
I haven't actually read this week's article yet. Whoops.
[This post interrupted to announce the spotting of PART 32 of THE ARCHER. *flails* I've been busy making a mess of icons for this story, not because there's a lack of them (smartlikejustin et al. are clever and way faster than me), but because that's what I do.]
And just for fun, the other daystubbleglitter wished everyone a Happy Worst Day of the Year, which linked to an article on BBC News about January 24th being mathematically proven to be the most miserable day of the year ("the formula for the day of misery reads 1/8W+(D-d) 3/8xTQ MxNA"). This is slightly amusing all on its own, but what was really hilarious were the comments below it from people who had written in. These were my favorites:
I love winter and really miss the decent fog and snow of East Anglia. Once experienced, who would not miss the keening wind, straight from the Steppes that cuts through you like piano wire? It makes arriving at work seem cosy.
Fran, UK
I find that the best way to beat the blues is to watch the film The Sound of Music. The heady mixture of drama, action, romance and music lifts the spirits no end.
Ketan B Shah, Harrow, England
I dread January because I get really cold waiting for the pub to open.
Danny Harrison, Milton Keynes
The whole of January is very depressing. Going to work and coming home in the dark, no money, dreadful cold and wet weather - it's enough to send anyone into depression. I find a few gin and tonics help!!
Sarah Elliott, Leicester, UK
Erm, excuse me, but not only is the 24th January my birthday, but it is also pay day. Makes it a pretty good day to me! How wrong the Welsh can be!!
Daniella, London, UK
This is the biggest waste of mathematics I have ever had the misfortune to read, and is an embarrassment to anyone who is a member of a British university.
Adam Thorn, Cambridge, England
I'd say I'm going to bed now, but there's a new part to THE ARCHER just posted, and I'd only be a filthy liar.
Last week in Visual Anthropology we ran out of time before everyone could present their assignments (we postponed the last few in favor of eating lunch and discussing the reading), so I'll be doing mine tomorrow. Which is fine since she took home my CD with the pictures on it and emailed be back a couple of days later with my grade (47/50). It kinda takes the edge off. This week our only assignment was to come in with a good idea for the final project, which is going to be a collaborative effort (in groups of three (or four, if absolutely necessary) to be assigned based on who wants to do what topic) resulting in either a web page or a video on some issue.
The ideas this week don't have to be written down in formal statements and they don't need posterboard displays, so I intend to pitch them something like: advertising; people as brands; people putting themselves in the spotlight/limelight/public eye rather than their product (the movie they made, the song they sing, etc.); the person as product. This isn't new, or news, but
gjstruthseeker and I reopened it the other night—it actually started when she was horrified at the public access of information to court records. I saw what made her so uncomfortable, namely that an awful lot of information, sometimes very personal information, is now available to absolutely anyone who comes in and wants to look at it. But the flip side of that is the ease of access should work in favor of the accused (another sticking point, because I think we can agree that criminals should give up some of their rights and privileges, but it doesn't sit right that the same should be true of someone who only stands accused of a crime, because they're technically all equally innocent until the case comes to trial and a jury finds them guilty); if something went wrong anywhere in the legal proceeding, anyone can request the file, document the grievances, and make a noise about it. So yeah, being accused of a crime when you're innocent of it is a bad deal, all around, and it'll touch your reputation even if all charges are dropped and you're acknowledged to be a model citizen, but if arrest records are going to be public, then so are the case files (and vice-versa), so are the court records and the prison logs; it's either everything or nothing, and at one point it seemed like I was trying to argue that we yield our right to privacy in the face of the rule of law, but instead I remembered that we get to be private and everything the government does should be completely transparent to us. We look at their books, we demand accountability of their law enforcement, we can read the legislation they want to make into law (though if Congress doesn't do it, I don't know how we're expected to), and they're the ones who need warrants and just cause if they want to look at anything of mine. Everything is visible or nothing is, and no government is ever concealing their plot to institute world peace. There is no secret plan to fight inflation. When no one can see the court proceedings or the arrest logs it's because there are no trials and people are disappearing off the street.( . . . I haven't even opened the floor to the give-me-a-subject-to-rant-on meme and I'm already off and running on the Bill of Rights. If anyone has any other topics, I'm apparently in the ZONE.)
So I tried to reconcile why she would have such an ethical dilemma reading about these people's cases when she follows celebrities the way she does (though she's been re-evaluating the virtue of the entertainment magazine), and the distinction she made was that celebrities put themselves out there by choice, and maybe they're not necessarily asking for it, but they should know to accept it as the price of fame. Which is where I tried to make the distinction between promoting oneself and promoting one's movie or hit single, but I've long since known that I'm one of the vanishingly few who keep the two separate. I don't need to know about the band if I like the music, or the actors if I like the show, and I have absolutely no brand loyalty whatsoever. Conspicuous consumption makes me feel sick inside and I don't care who makes what as long as they make a quality product. I am a marketer's worst nightmare. Frankly, it won't surprise me when I'm finally declared a socialist and they show up to deport me. But over the summer I saw five women in one day come into the doctor's office with the exact same hideous Luis Vuitton bag, and P. Diddy has a clothing line of t-shirts with his signature scrawled across them; and if nothing else, it should all photograph well.
Last week we also discussed an article that touched on many subjects, but what I really took away from it was appearance vs. reality re: power. The most vivid example I remember is the idea of collaborative projects, where the subject of a documentary is willing to reveal much more than they might otherwise when their lives are being filmed because they have been granted a part in the editing process, or perhaps even final veto on what will go in. The problem is that unless these people are skilled documentarians themselves, they have no real way of making informed decisions about these films, and therefore no film (the author of the article argued, and it is a bit outdated) can ever be truly collaborative; what happens is the final product emerges and it isn't the way the subject imagined it would come out in the end, but he's lost his right to protest it because he helped to make it. I think this class will consist of a lot of these moments for me, of revealing imbalances and discrepancies behind paradigms so persuasive or ubiquitous I've never thought them anything but fair and right—if I'd ever thought of them at all.
I haven't actually read this week's article yet. Whoops.
[This post interrupted to announce the spotting of PART 32 of THE ARCHER. *flails* I've been busy making a mess of icons for this story, not because there's a lack of them (
smartlikejustin et al. are clever and way faster than me), but because that's what I do.]And just for fun, the other day
stubbleglitter wished everyone a Happy Worst Day of the Year, which linked to an article on BBC News about January 24th being mathematically proven to be the most miserable day of the year ("the formula for the day of misery reads 1/8W+(D-d) 3/8xTQ MxNA"). This is slightly amusing all on its own, but what was really hilarious were the comments below it from people who had written in. These were my favorites:I love winter and really miss the decent fog and snow of East Anglia. Once experienced, who would not miss the keening wind, straight from the Steppes that cuts through you like piano wire? It makes arriving at work seem cosy.
Fran, UK
I find that the best way to beat the blues is to watch the film The Sound of Music. The heady mixture of drama, action, romance and music lifts the spirits no end.
Ketan B Shah, Harrow, England
I dread January because I get really cold waiting for the pub to open.
Danny Harrison, Milton Keynes
The whole of January is very depressing. Going to work and coming home in the dark, no money, dreadful cold and wet weather - it's enough to send anyone into depression. I find a few gin and tonics help!!
Sarah Elliott, Leicester, UK
Erm, excuse me, but not only is the 24th January my birthday, but it is also pay day. Makes it a pretty good day to me! How wrong the Welsh can be!!
Daniella, London, UK
This is the biggest waste of mathematics I have ever had the misfortune to read, and is an embarrassment to anyone who is a member of a British university.
Adam Thorn, Cambridge, England
I'd say I'm going to bed now, but there's a new part to THE ARCHER just posted, and I'd only be a filthy liar.
no subject
omg. aieee. seeeeeeeaaaaan.
Hi.
no subject
(Um. The other man.)
And they're getting soft! The first time Orlando came back, Karl heard him trip over the door jamb, and now he can have sex down the hall, and should they just bring the marching band through the bedrooms and what kind of agents ARE you? I'm going to have to worry about you now!
Sean on the floor! With Orlando standing over him and his eyes are black and lifeless!! eeeep!
*flails back*