PTSD

In which I have Things To Say.

2011-03-25T23:43:00.000-04:00

This is not a post about the Triangle Fire.

This is not a post about suffrage, or equality, or family history.

This is not a post about the perils of unrestricted capitalism, of individualism run amok, or of anti-labor sentiment spilling into violence.

But all of these things are part of it. I am part of it.

This is a story of what unions mean to me.

***

My great-grandfathers and their fathers worked union jobs, in union shops, while their wives ran the farms, raised the children, made ends meet. They came to this country, all of them, hoping for more. And many of them fought for unions, for socialism, for their children, for the rights that every person deserves. With grade-school educations, they watched their children finish high school. That's what unions gave them.

My grandfathers both worked railroad union jobs. Their pensions are union-won pensions, and their politics are Labor Democrat, with the flaws and the triumphs that label implies. Unions have given them a political identity that has outlasted the strikes, the jobs, and over half a century of history.

My father was a trucker, and then a shop steward, before becoming a manager who wears a uniform and works the factory floor as much as any of his employees. Every day, my brother works a union job. Every day, my husband works a union job.

Unions built my hometown, and when the union jobs started to disappear, so did the city I remember. It's dying, fading away into history, cracking into a shadow of what it was. It is the Rust Belt, writ small.

But my grandmothers worked union jobs, driving a school bus and serving school lunches. My mother worked a union job for twenty years, taking care of other people's newborn children.

My sister's first job was a union job. She finished graduate school, working a union job. Her son went to daycare with the money from a union job.

The women I come from didn't ask for leisure or extravagance or special treatment. But they expected to have enough if they worked a fair day's labor, and when they didn't, when there were layoffs and cutbacks and excuses, they expected the union to help.

They expected more, whether it was the right to vote or equal pay or family leave or the choice for themselves to raise children or wait. Each of them, each generation, wanted things a little better for the next, and for as long as my family history goes back, unions have been a part of that. We are union, even when we aren't.

My first paycheck job included union dues. So did my second, and my third. Since then, I have worked for a city, a state, and the federal government. Every job I have, union or not, is better than it would be if unions didn't exist.

Every time I hear (or see) someone complaining that unions don't do enough, that unions aren't needed, that unions are obsolete, that unions interfere with business, I know that whatever we have done, my family and millions like it, whatever we have whispered, argued, shouted, it isn't enough. I know that not everyone knows Lowell, Centralia, the Haymarket, the Triangle Factory. That not everyone remembers Gompers, Debs, Moyer, Robins. That not everyone can tell the story of American labor in a hundred years of fighting and working and sweating and reaching, always, for a better life, for more, for fairness and justice and enough to survive.

There is no union for my profession, but I still reap the benefits gained by union members, benefits that spread out into the system until we think of them as constants, as natural rights. Unlike cutting taxes for businesses and the rich, union successes really do create gains that trickle down. Unlike natural rights (or perhaps exactly like them) these are gains that require our repeated, vocal commitment.

Unions are not supposed to give us everything we want. They are not supposed to overthrow the system. They are not supposed to do all the work, while we reap the benefits. Like any other social entity, they will only accomplish the goals for which we are willing to speak, to stand up, to take to the streets and the squares and the state capitols to defend. Unions are us, the people who labor and hope and ask that a country be more than profit and ledgers and the shiny trappings of capitalism.

Unions are supposed to get us what we need, if we give them our full support. Union demands gave my grandfathers and grandmothers schooling, instead of factory work. Union demands gave my father unemployment insurance when the economy tanked and there was no other money to pay the mortgage. Union demands gave my parents health insurance, to keep me alive when my lungs drew tight and every breath whistled like drafty windows.

Because of unions, I can choose to work overtime for more pay. I can choose not to work overtime. I can expect my workplace to be safe on a daily basis. I can expect a contract that lays out my rights and responsibilities, and those of my employer. I can expect days off, and regular breaks. If I get sick or injured or fired I can expect help from my government, even if it isn't enough to be comfortable. I can expect a minimum wage. All because of unions.

I can expect that my nephew will not have to quit the sixth grade and go to work. I can expect that my parents won't have to choose between working until they die and starving.

I can expect fire alarms and escape routes and enough light and ventilation and space to walk from my desk to the exit. I can expect that if the building catches on fire, the fire doors will not be locked. The fire doors will not open inward. The fire doors will exist.

And so we return to the beginning. One hundred years ago, 146 people died horribly, jumping from windows and tumbling from a fire escape, toppling into elevator shafts as the flames roared close, burning to death where they stood. They died because they were locked into a factory that demanded the exclusion of the union in exchange for employment.

But it isn't the fire that makes those 146 lives important. The fire, the tragedy that has littered my feeds today (but not enough, still not enough), that fire was only the tipping point, the moment that everyone realized unions were only asking for the bare minimum, for the things that anyone had a right to expect. Those balls of fabric, flame, and fear were people, women and girls and children and men. They were horrible, and galvanizing, and the coda to the story we ought to tell.

The year before, garment workers from the Triangle Factory started a picket line that grew into a strike that became thousands upon thousands of workers, all asking for more. They stood in the cold and the rain, against beatings and lies and imprisonment. They stood, and they demanded, and they were heroes in that moment, worth remembering for that bravery. For claiming for themselves, as workers and as women, some measure of justice.

We wouldn't have remembered them. Not for that. But we should.

That should be what we remember—that they stood up. That they fought, and the longer they fought the more the city stood with them. That when the bosses paid thugs to beat the strikers, when the police watched and allowed it, when the arrests and the workhouse and the supercilious magistrates didn't end the strike, other women joined in. Women stood on the picket lines and they spoke to the papers and they were more powerful, together, than they perhaps imagined. It was a strike begun by a woman, championed by women, for women's rights and workers' rights.

And we should remember, we should never, ever forget, that months later, when those women went back to work, the Triangle was one of the few shops that wasn't union. The locked doors, the empty fire hoses, the useless buckets of water in a cramped tinder box of a factory, the bent and broken fire escape, were all the result of someone cutting costs. Of saving money, at the expense of lives. Of the bottom line.

Unions are in my bones, my history, my identity. They are wound so tightly though the roots of my family tree that there's no difference between the labor movement and the names I've been given, the names of my great-great-grandmothers and their daughters.

Everything I am, I owe to a union. Everything I've had the chance to do, the education and the thinking and the writing and the teaching, has happened because somewhere, years ago, someone decided that the time had come to take a stand. To make demands. To say, as loudly as possible, that good intentions are nothing, absolutely nothing without contracts and solidarity and the will to walk out. Even if it doesn't always work. Especially then, because if it doesn't work this time, maybe it will the next. Hope, more than anything, is what unions mean to me.

Don't tell me that the days for collective bargaining are past. If workers don't stand together, then they won't stand at all.

Tammany Hall Redux?

2008-05-14T22:51:00.006-04:00

I've been watching, reading, and listening to a lot of the discussion going on with regards to the primaries. And I continue to be certain that it's one huge nightmare that I'm sure we'll all wake up from at some point.

But until that time...

There's a lot of stuff going on that has me scratching my head and going "Huh? Haven't we already learned about this from...oh...history class?"

The plan is simple…and oddly, has been out there for those who are paying attention to see.

I missed it for a while. Then I heard about it. And as soon as I heard about it, I started getting flashes from my HS/undergrad history classes and discussions of Boss Tweed, Chicagoans voting twice—even the deceased, and Eleanor Roosevelt’s New York Committee for Democratic Voters.

Here’s the plan as reported by Politico:

Senator Barack Obama’s campaign is steering the candidate’s wealthy supporters away from independent Democratic groups, calling into question what had been expected to be the groups’ central role in this year’s Democratic offensive against Senator John McCain.

Obama’s national finance chairwoman, Chicago hotel mogul Penny Pritzker, told supporters at a national finance committee meeting in Indianapolis May 2, and in other conversations, not to give money to the groups, people familiar with her comments said.

“From the beginning of this race Obama has told supporters that if they want to help his effort, they should do so through his campaign,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton, who confirmed that Pritzker has told donors not to give to the groups. “And he means exactly what he says.”

Most presidential candidates say they don't encourage the outside groups, and donors are accustomed to taking those words with a grain of salt. The candidates' words are typically seen as mere legal defenses against allegations that the campaigns are illicitly coordinating with outside groups.

Organizations like VoteVet, ActBlue, EMILY’s List, and others are about to feel the chilling effect of a political cold shoulder as the campaign seeks to take more and more control of who gets what money and why. Stoller points out that

"I'm also told, though I can't confirm, that Obama campaign has also subtly encouraged donors to not fund groups like VoteVets and Progressive Media. These groups fall under the 'same old Washington politics' which he wants to avoid, a partisan gunslinging contest he explicitly advocates against."

Ummm…gunslinging, Matt? VoteVets is an advocacy group that seeks to help veterans. It’s currently involved in trying to help Senator Webb pass a GI Bill that will help vets afford to pay for their college education—something that both the recent plan (intended for peace time soldiering) and Sen. McCain’s bill do not do as well.

And while I get the “grudging respect” that seems to be handed to the Chicago School of ‘Old School’ Politics graduate, Sen. Obama, with regards to his organizational style, I am pulled short by the shades of machine/boss based politics—Tammany Hall and Chicago Politics—and how quickly these machinations spiraled down from “ward based politics” into the “patronage driven” system that allows only the “approved” to have access and the very entity that Jeff Smith stood up and railed against in his filibuster—GRAFT.

Senator? If you want to take us back to the fine old days of Boss Tweed, say so. Don’t try to candy coat it with soaring, yet triangulating, rhetoric about “being above politics”…cause you aren’t.

Is this a path we want to go down...again?

This is not something I ordinarily do, but...

2008-04-30T02:33:00.004-04:00

The original post is specifically labeled as being link-friendly, and it's a conversation that goes on in lots of different places at lots of different times, usually with a great deal of handwaving and very little real discussion. So. A livejournal guide to not being That Guy.

(Whoops. I meant to add in this, which both neatly summarizes and links to several related discussions, including the blog post that started the whole conversation. Again.)

Ahem.

2008-04-14T12:29:00.002-04:00

So that was a nice little break we had. And Priya was absolutely right in pointing out that I (for a number of reasons, none of which are important here) have been gone for quite a while.

However. New things are afoot, and the posting around ptsd is about to become, if not frequent, at least intermittent and sometimes topical.

Anyway. Watch this space.

Always hated goodbyes.

2007-11-24T21:14:00.000-05:00

Especially since, for me, that means no more family get togethers for years (rather than months) and not much in terms of being spoiled by/getting annoyed by family on holidays. It sucks.

But, sometimes, it's necessary. And what better time than now? I reckoned I might as well make it official--PTSD was supposed to be E and I and since neither of us is doing much writing here, it's probably best we (well, I) lay it to rest. Fear not, those of you ("Hi Sis!") who read this for my repeated whinges can find it elsewhere. Teaching experiences and odd stuff about books, comics, politics and films will continue. And, E might want to keep writing here. PTSD'll be around but probably not very active (not much change then :))

Oh, yes. Before I go, one bit of news: Australia elected a Labor PM for the first time in over a decade. A chap who'd snuck out of a UN meeting* to visit a New York strip club (where he was warned for "inappropriate behaviour"--good on you, Mr Rudd!) and whose party has Peter Garrett (yes, that one) as its environmental spokesperson.

And, thank you readers. It's been fun.

* I can speak from experience and say that I am not surprised at his wanting to duck out of it.

teaching, conferences and rats

2007-11-16T20:37:00.000-05:00

Took over Prof P's class during Karin Fierke/Discourse Analysis session. Half the class was missing so turned it into a Q&A session in which I asked questions and expected them to answer/elaborate upon points we were making. The students didn't seem to expect the Q&A and took a while to start responding and asking questions of their own but it went off well.

Today, I had one of those classes when you know it's one of those days in which you'd rather not teach but just take things as they are and see how they go. All a rather fluffy way to say we sat and chatted about development, colonisation and globalisation--all in one one-hour session.

Why was I substituting for Prof P yesterday, yous ask (or, let's presume you do). Well, because he's off at SmallRegionalConference. I, on the other hand, am not. But, if I were, here's what I'd be doing.

Yesterday's Pearls Before Swine. Go here and check Rat.

sometimes i want to throw the book at the wall*

2007-11-15T22:40:00.000-05:00

As I sit here, flipping through the (required) text book for my class tomorrow, I come across this:

"This is the century in which desperate African states will be able to press their demands with weapons of mass destruction, and in which fanatics may destroy cities with nuclear weapons" (IR textbook)

Right. Exactly. Those African states. Huh.

* Though, with this book, it will probably bounce back and hit me on the head.

one of those posts which will piss off everyone (except my Mum)

2007-11-12T22:48:00.000-05:00

This is actually a self-congratulatory, "oh look how brilliant I sometimes am" post.

I just had an email from a former student from my Introduction to International Relations Research course from last semester. This student is currently in China (along with another of my students) for a semester abroad programme and he wrote an absolutely lovely email about how useful my class had been, how he had enjoyed actually doing research in my class and how some of the ethical issues we had grappled with had come up in the course of his current research. He gave examples of how the research tips we had talked about in class are helping him now.

Since I've spent a lot of time this semester agonising about whether how I am teaching my students World Politics is actually helping them*, this was a great email to get right now.

It's a few weeks to Thanksgiving, but I feel I can't take all of the credit for this. So, yes, thanks to Weberman and Prof P whom I nicked my syllabus from and to all those who had to listen to my stories about my class.

It's also one of those "oh so this is why I do what I do" moments and, yes, it feels fantastic.

* Especially in view of a recent conversation in which I was told that to expect "them" to have "sophisticated views" is to expect too much of them. "What do they know?" was the question I was asked. My response at that time was silence. Now, I'd say it doesn't matter what "they" know--it's more important to see what "we" can figure out in the course of a 75-minute class session.

teaching and television shows

2007-11-07T00:06:00.001-05:00

Today, I had a guest lecturer in my class. In terms of figuring out different teaching styles, it was a marvellous experience to watch someone else deal with my kids. To watch someone else perform.

I've more thoughts about teaching (and learning) styles and about how universities should really make junior instructors sit in on each others' classes so we can all learn from each other but shall save those for a later time as I am in need of sleep.

In the meantime, keep yourselves entertained with these: a couple of shows about fairly similar subjects ("race relations") and targeted towards a "tween" audience. I've only watched two episodes of one ("Life is Wild") and one of the other ("Aliens in America") but that (obviously--I mean, this is what academics do) will not stop me from writing about both from time to time.

If yous are interested-the first is an American version of a British show and features an American family who has moved to South Africa to run a lodge. The second is about a Pakistani (I think?) exchange student who has moved in with a typical (Midwestern) American family. Hijinks (presumably) ensue.

some random thoughts about groceries, mimes and teaching kids

2007-11-04T21:58:00.000-05:00

A day in which I spend nearly two hours walking to and from the grocery store, get honked at by folks in a car* and learn that most people I know in Pakistan are okay. Which is a good thing considering over 500 have been arrested and emergency rule established. With friends like these...

I also finally caught up on my students' online discussions--it's pretty encouraging how they have started becoming more confident in their views through the semester and how they are all bouncing ideas off each other. Online. In the class itself, it's less dynamic though the security simulation last week went well. I've also got a few fairly difficult cases and am slightly worried about what to do with them. On the one hand, it's their first semester so I don't want to crush their spirits. On the other hand, if they slack off, they should get penalised. I'll see how things go.

I'm still horribly behind on my grading. So far behind that I've papers from early October as yet ungraded. Between being ill and suddenly acquiring a tendency to fall asleep at odd hours of the day, things have not gone brilliantly this semester. I'm eagerly looking forward to its end.

Oh, and I made $7 as a mime during the time of a metro trip. That's $7 in less than 20 minutes. I suppose I can supplement my (future) pay by being a mime on my days off teaching.

* Thought that only happened in my part of the world. I also think it's because I was wearing a "I'm a Berkeley grouch" t-shirt (with a Sesame Street character on it) and carrying a couple of rather dodgy-looking BigNameConference bags, overflowing with groceries. The bags were free and are very convenient for grocery shopping (especially when the grocery store I like going to is half an hour's walk away). One of the bags had "Power Reconsidered"--in bold blue writing--on it.

A Mime For A Day

2007-11-03T00:20:00.000-04:00

Proving there is a little bit of an exhibitionist in all of us (or, maybe just in the quiet ones), tomorrow I plan to embark on a journey. It will be a soul-changing pilgrimage in which I wander along the routes that many have traversed and, yet, received little in return from and will search for the essential "me" which I'm sure is well hid within.*

Or, to bring us all back to earth, I shall be a mime for a day.

Why, yous ask? Why not, I reply--mainly because I'm rather keen on seeing how it'll all work out. I'll update yous after the grand event. Oh, and Washingtonians, if you see a mime out and about in town, do say Hi.

* What about that, eh? If pushed, I'm sure I can churn out more along those lines--big words saying little making no sense.

South Park and PhD Defences: Disturbingly Similar

2007-11-01T22:33:00.000-04:00

I just finished watching the final part of South Park's Imaginationland episodes. If yous have not seen them yet, go find them and have a look. They're all about terrorists taking over Imaginationland and the events thereafter--lots of people from pop culture and "reality" show up, the US military tries to nuke Imaginationland and Mel Gibson proves surprisingly useful to the boys.

I won't say more since yous really have to watch it. One thing though--today's final part had discussions about imaginary and real things and whether things in our imaginations can also be real (or, what is reality really?)

Surprisingly (or maybe not so much), a similar concern was raised during an event this afternoon--a dissertation defence* of one of TUWSNBN's PhD-ers. In terms of ceremonial pomp, the defence was quite different from South Park. In terms of some of the major issues raised, it was rather similar.

* It was definitely a defence--questions flew around the table, assertions were made and countered, heavyweights such as C. Wright Mills, the Monthly Review and Ralph Miliband--but not his more famous sons--made cameo appearances, the popcorn gallery (such as we were) was ruthlessly marginalised as we sat and watched and were silenced from speaking but the outcome was the production of a successful doctor of philosophy.

The mandatory Halloween post (but with not much to say)

2007-11-01T00:55:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween, folks!

I spent most of it being fairly intimately acquainted with the loo and cursing the 3-day old prawn sandwich* I scarfed down yesterday.

All in all, a pretty scary Halloween.

* Like Keane (see no. 4) I should have distrusted prawn sandwiches (yes, well, this will only make sense to PTSD's one football-following reader!)

The "burn those heels! " post

2007-10-30T23:34:00.001-04:00

Today, I actually did my usual walk to uni (well, half way there since I catch a bus part of the way) in a pair of shoes with actual, proper heels. If yous are interested in seeing what they were like, go here*

That meant I had them on all day.

During the course of the day, I managed to (literally) bump into practically everyone I know at TUWSNBN, was late to teach so had to detour through a floor I usually don't walk on (and tripped and almost fell on my way out a door) and actually did fall backwards while climbing stairs. The last could have been nasty but I was prevented from falling all the way to the floor by a rather helpful kid.**

I do have more classroom stories to share but am now sat at home, recovering from the shoes of horror so yous will have to wait till tomorrow.

* No, those are not the actual shoes I had on--mine were not "open-toed" and actually have lower heels. Still, for me, they were not low enough.

** Who commented, "I was scared you were going to fall on me"--well, so was I.

what's the deal with this robert cox fellow?

2007-10-29T17:56:00.000-04:00

I'm grading papers at the TUWSNBN's pitiful excuse for a PhD office. I'm also listening to some of the freshers discuss Critical Theory as they prepare for their presentation for IR Theory.

A couple of points: the ongoing debate about whether a "discussion of Marxism" is necessary when describing Critical Theory

and, "this is absolutely great. I love it. I want to know it inside out"* followed by "did anyone criticise this? I mean, how can they--there's nothing to say"

* Somewhere, many Critical Theorists (those who are still alive) are jumping about in joy.

For me, it's rather interesting just how much these people seem to know compared to how little I knew that stage. Perhaps that is why I am still here, even after all these years, plodding away at this whole dissertating/teaching gig.

"we" the people of wherever...

2007-10-27T14:18:00.000-04:00

A round-up of a few things since I don't have time for much else:

1. The class is going okay. I wouldn't say (write) it's going brilliantly but it's not going too badly. Another instructor and I had a long talk a few days ago and we both agreed that we hated the text book but we have been dealing with it in different ways. I have used it as a "reference" and assigned articles to the kids. He is using the book and realising it is not ideal. Hah.

The thing we both are having issues with is: how much is enough? Or, when I get one class session of just over an hour to cover "terrorism", what do I talk about? The problem I've been having (and my colleague agreed) was that we both tend to think we should cover a set amount of stuff and we end up talking too much. It's bloody frustrating.

2. Life: Life is not going okay. I mean, it's going but it's not great. I'm sure yous don't need to read all about that here so I'll save it until I see/meet some/all of yous in Real Life (if I do).

3. Midterms: I'm actually amazed that almost all the kids seemed to have understood most of the concepts well and can apply them on various occasions. The most popular section was my "self-made" section, in which I gave them two assignments.

In the first, they had to read a "foreign" newspaper for 5 days and answer a list of questions based on what they read. Then, they had to discuss how that country's "interests" were defined and communicated and, finally, relate what they read to concerns here in the United States.

In the second assignment, I proposed that Iran "was actively seeking to improve its nuclear capabilities" and then asked what different actors would do, in such a case. I then listed a few questions (Including: "Where would Iran acquire nuclear material from? Justify your answer" and "how would daily life for Iranians be affected--provide evidence from online sources")

For both these questions, the students spent a lot of time speculating on various actors, the differences among various actors and a few of them even proposed elaborate plans for what would happen. I enjoyed reading these.

Things I didn't enjoy reading? Well, the many, many common grammar mistakes that native English speakers made. During my undergrad, there was a class called "Effective Writing" which all students had to take. Most of my students here would greatly benefit from a similar class instead of some of the classes they are required to take.

The highlight (as a learning experience for me, too!) so far? One of my essay question asks: "Is democracy-promotion a policy worth pursuing? Why or why not?"

Almost half my students answered this question, including some international students. All the American students answered it as "Should WE (i.e. the United States) promote democracy?" but without specifying this. They then used "we" liberally throughout their answers. None of the international students did so.

I wonder why? I've noticed that I, too, don't talk about "We" (the Nepalis). Even when the discussion is about Nepal, I say (and write), "they" or "the Nepalese people".

Saying "we" automatically gives a kind of legitimacy to what is being said especially in view of the person speaking being part of the "we". It is difficult to argue against statements like "we believe in democracy-promotion". Though, does "we" have a place in an academic essay? I say No. Not just because it's "unacademic" (whatever that may be) but because it is unreflexive.

But, I think it needs a different person than me* to explain the relations of power-knowledge inherent in identifying oneself with the dominant global power. Or, behind using terms such as "we" and "we promote democracy" while blithely unaware of the assumptions underlying such usage.

Right. Off to grade some more midterms. Hopefully it won't be a week before yous have to read all about my oh-so-exciting life again.

* Again, an "effective writing" course, which discusses issues of power (as mine did!) and the concept of reflexivity would be fantastic.

the week so far (or, how I learnt to stop whingeing and love grading)

2007-10-20T00:49:00.000-04:00

Monday: Finished grading one section of a graduate-level course I'm TA-ing for. Happened at 4am. Slept.

Tuesday: Got up at 7am. Thought that there was something that I needed to do. Ah yes, the lecture for my own class. Contemplated calling in sick. Realised it was "security" day and decided to ad lib.

Class went surprisingly well. We talked about issues of "traditional" security and "human" security.

Wednesday: Ditched the Dalai Lama to have lunch with two out of three dissertation committee members and a rather nice globalisation scholar (NGS). Wore a proper shirt (with jeans and a pair of red shoes) as a concession to formality only to find NGS was one of those typically-casual and amusing European types who wouldn't have cared if students had shown up in flip-flops. Joined 3 other TUWSNBN's PhD-ers in listening to said scholar's talk. It was all about how the state is now obsolete.

Felt rather miserable since my dissertation is all about the state. Wondered how to inform it that it was irrelevant and useless as various "transboundary" stuff was going on.

Graded. Unendingly. Still haven't gotten to my own class's grades yet. Slight panic.

Thursday: Only day off. Threw some more stuff at the floor, messed up the desktop even more and spent much of the day (you know what's coming up by now) grading. Still not even half-way done for the graduate class. Panic increased.

Decided to quell disaster by wandering off to the Verizon Centre to watch the Caps. It was "Student Rush" day (hence cheap tickets) but the Caps lost (as they tend to do when I watch). Displeased.

More grading. More last-minute lecture-writing. Realised that "following the text book" would have made for a much easier class. Instead, read the articles on "Security on Film", cobbled together a quick lecture (with a few pictures) and started off class discussion with this question:

"Why are we quite happy to celebrate the Dalai Lama and give him medals while worrying about Islamic theocracies?"

Got dirty looks for being a Conservative nutter type. Was informed the DL was "all about peace" and "looked harmless" (good way to get into issues of representation here)

Then, asked them whether the US would see it as a security threat if Gov. Arnold decided that California should secede from the United States and then establish his own "Terminatorland" where everyone would have to follow some odd religion*. Got them to think about this for a while...then discussed representations and contexts.

Finished up with a (slightly militant) commentary on representations replicating power relations in the world. Talked about the film Bridge on the River Kwai (which was mentioned in their reading) and about media ownership (Rupert Murdoch).

Not quite sure how all this went--was too tired to think. Went home, graded some more.

Blogged. Just to show how incredibly dreary and without-much-spare-time the life of a postgrad student/teacher is.

* One student yelled out "Jedi" at this point--led to another tangent about quite a lot of people picking "Jedi" as their religion in the last British census and speculation about the outcome of a fight between the Terminator and a Jedi.

Oh, New Zealand!

2007-10-15T10:27:00.000-04:00

NO, I'm not about to talk of rugby but of this: "New Zealand police hold 17 in terror raids".

Read the article further and you'll realise the operation was "reportedly targeting Maori sovereignty and environmental activists - not foreign groups".

And...

"The North Island raids were the first use of the country's Terrorism Suppression Act"

The reason why I find this interesting?* Well, take a look at what I've put up--this is the first time the Anti-terror law has been used and its been used against citizens rather than foreigners.

Keep in mind that New Zealand has, traditionally, been represented as a small power state in the international system which cares more for socioeconomic development and environmental concerns, provides foreign aid to regional countries (including Nepal) rather than for its military activities. In fact, most military activities rely upon joint alliances with Australia and the United States. Its Prime Minister is a former anti-war campaigner (during the Vietnam war) and fought against establishing foreign military bases in New Zealand.

New Zealand was seen to be in the forefront of economic growth, strong relations with Asia-Pacific, forward-looking immigration policies and, compared to other Western countries, fairly good relations with its indigenous community.

Now, this. I'm not saying these people weren't planning whatever it is they were supposed to be planning when practising during their "military-style training exercise". Merely that the use of Anti-terror laws and the identification of local people as terrorists is likely to lead to a dangerous area where the state can label any group they do not like as "terrorists". I guess my concern is this usage of "terrorism"--why weren't they arrested for "setting up military-style camps" (if that is illegal in New Zealand) or for "acquiring firearms"? Why weren't they (merely) criminalised instead of being called terrorist? Aren't we expanding the definition of terrorism to incorporate any and all types of illegal activities by doing this?

And, yes, getting back to the personal--it's New Zealand. A country of sheep and friendly people and a love of sports. Not terrorists. But, then, I thought the same thing about Nepal (well, apart from the sheep bit--we have mountain goats and yaks).

* apart from the purely personal reason of LilSis1 living in the country--in one of the cities where they carried out the raids.

The 9:30 Club: Still Awesome

2007-10-10T01:02:00.000-04:00

I'm thinking of turning this "academics should have hobbies" thing into a series. This time? A little DC live music review.

Even if they're getting a slightly wider variety of acts in these days, it's still absolutely worthwhile to head down and see a show at the 9:30 Club. I wasn't overly pleased with finding out that Josh Ritter wouldn't take the stage until 10:00, but between the bar and the crowd-watching, we managed to keep entertained.

Not the sort to sit around on the balcony, we scoped out a space on the right side of the stage, a few feet from the dreaded speaker towers. I work on the assumption that if you can't feel the bass in your sternum, you might as well stay home.

Old School Freight Train, the openers, had an alt-country/rockabilly set that was impressively well done. They played like a band used to much smaller venues, sticking to the center of the stage, and not really playing to the balcony at all. But they sounded good, and seemed to be having fun. There's not much more you can ask of an opening act.

Well, that and a fiddle player who clearly thinks he's the cool one of the group.

But this is where my first irritated observation of the night comes in--how hard is it to stop and listen to a 45 minute set? We had no trouble with it even without knowing the band, and yet during every song break the dull hum of conversation was clear. If, as an audience member, you're planning to hang out and chat until the headliner goes on, wouldn't it make more sense to grab a seat at one of the local restaurants until 9:45 or so?

Still 10:00 rolled around, and we had a small debate about whether the crowd was bigger than the last Josh Ritter show we saw, in February at the Birchmere. (Turned out it was--Josh said it was his biggest crowd stateside, which earned him a lengthy round of cheering.)

The last tour was acoustic, and if the change in openers hadn't clued us in, the first set of songs would have--"Moons" and then a lot of other new stuff, broken up with older favorites like "Girl in the War" and "Harrisburg." The new album is fantastic, different from his old stuff and really well suited to the livelier crowd that was there to hear it.

Well. Most of the crowd, which is where we come to my second complaint of the night. I have a little problem with people coming in late and pushing to the front of the crowd. But I put up with it, figuring that I'm easily tall enough to see over, and if somebody loves the music enough to be seriously rude and push in front of people, I can cut them some slack.

But when four girls, all dressed for a dance club rather than a concert, push themselves and their drinks through the crowd to the front and then proceed to text message and talk for most of the show, I find myself strangely unperturbed by the knowledge that in ten years they'll probably be deaf from standing directly in front of the speakers.

Seriously. It was rude to the audience, it was rude to the band, and that little hair-flip thing? Did not endear them to anyone. Nor did the random efforts at dancing, which seemed to involve trying to strike down anyone nearby with a well-placed (if unrelated to the current song) back-and-forth shove of the shoulders.

Given the situation, I felt absolutely no guilt about screaming in the nearest one's ear at every opportunity. Or about singing, probably off-key. Given that none of them knew any of the songs, I doubt it did much to lessen their concert experience.

(And although, yes, I am a music snob, in this case I feel justified. On three distinct occasions, I heard one of them point out that they didn't know what was going on, didn't know why certain bits of patter were funny, and didn't know the songs. Just...if you have to be ignorant about something, try to pretend to care about what you're hearing. It's not difficult. It involves standing there and keeping your mouth shut. And not having your phone out to send text messages during the set.)

Anyway. Despite the minor annoyance, the show was brilliant. Josh seemed to really be having fun, feeding off the energy of most of the crowd and the harder sound of the new record (which is wonderful. Have I mentioned that? Because it is and you should go buy it right now) and the band. His stories were just as wandering as ever, funny and a little odd, and the love for what he does was obvious.

His bafflement at the presence of actual people from North Dakota was sweet, and he gave a quick reference to the live webcast of the show on NPR. After that, it was mostly music, from the rock beats of "Rumors" to a rousing rendition of "Kathleen."

And the encore, which featured an acoustic song and then a quick joint number with Old School Freight Train (both of which I really ought to be able to pin down, but it's late and I'm tired and my brain has decided to call it a night) was a great way to round out the evening. All in all, every time I see him in concert I like Josh Ritter more, and this was no exception. He seems comfortable with the new songs, and although he was lovely to meet last time he came through and charming in a completely different way, he just seemed to be having more fun this time around.

And now I just have to remember to buy a ticket for The Academy Is... next week. They sound nothing like Josh Ritter, but it's looking to be a great show nonetheless.

the Daily Show, "Dark Liquid" and details of a field trip

2007-10-07T01:10:00.000-04:00

is the Daily Show "borrowing" Dark Liquid off us?

Or is it all a coincidence that Mr Riggle's fake film script on a charismatic leader who established a private army had the same (fake) name as the place-I-visited (and wrote extensively about) last year?

Does this mean I can have an alternative career as a writer/presenter for the Daily Show (they do need more women, in my view).

The PhD gig is not going too well--call me, please Mr. Stewart.

of ancient Scottish doctors and modern dark lagoons

2007-10-07T00:49:00.000-04:00

Talking to (one of) my sibling(s) just now, I was informed that one of the required books in her pre-19th Century English literature class is Tobias Smollett's The Expedition of Humphry Clinker.

Since I'd never heard of Tobias Smollett, I asked Wiki for help. It turns out Dr. Smollett was a (Scottish) doctor who ran off to London to become a dramatist. Not just any dramatist but he wanted to write tragedies. Unfortunately, he turned out to be better at comedies so he wrote a few, travelled around Europe, ended up in Jamaica (after being the ship's doctor for a trading vessel headed there) and married a rich Jamaican heiress once he returned to Britain.

Why is this relevant to anything, yous ask? It isn't really. But I felt I should share it anyway.

And, to show that this post's not all about eccentric Scotsmen, here are a couple of links for you:

The Daily Show with a brief history of Blackwater and what happens when you ("we"?) have people running about overseas--people who don't answer to American or overseas laws.

And no one predicted this could be a problem? Sometimes the absolute utter nonsense of the world we live in is astounding.

Academics should have hobbies, part two.

2007-10-06T03:00:00.000-04:00

The cool part about punk rock is that the songs are short, so you can get through fifteen of them in well under an hour. Also, they’re fast (except when they aren’t), angry (except when they’re happy), and heavily political (except when they’re about sex or something else entirely).

Do bear in mind that the following was also the era of glam, of folksy melodies, and of disco. Saturday Night Fever was released the same year as The Clash. We’re all lucky that the world didn’t come to an end.

Anyway. Moving on from protopunk (not without regret for the bands we skipped, but you all know how to use Google. I’d start with T. Rex, The Kingsmen, MC5, and The Bay City Rollers, personally) to the birth of punk as a genre and a movement. In this installment, we’re going to cover three continents, twelve bands, and four years: the first wave of punk.

As always, I encourage you to spend some of your hard-earned salary on the albums and bands found here. Really. Punk is all about DIY, and that requires a certain amount of audience commitment.

hxxp://www.sendspace.com/file/irf0tz
(xx to tt; download and unzip. 15 tracks, 50mb total)

The Songs

“Born to Run” Bruce Springsteen (1975)

in the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway american dream
at night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines

The first wave of punk rock was initially a scene, not a movement. Punk was the music produced by a group of artists who played in the same area (New York City), knew each other (including swapping tracks and filling in during concerts), and created music that fed off a limited number of other bands. CBGB’s wasn’t just a place that happened to get a lot of punk bands—for a while in the late 70s, it was the scene. It was how punk defined itself. Punk rock was a conversation, and the conversation didn’t require that everyone sound the same.

And so Bruce Springsteen sounds little like the Clash. But before the Clash, he was called punk. And maybe he still should be.

“I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” The Ramones (1976)

do you love me back what do you say
do you love me back what can i say

The Ramones. Possibly the first obvious “punk” band on the list, or at least the first one to be generally recognized as being part of the punk movement by people who didn’t care that much about it.

So they were definitely Punk. And stayed that way for a long time. And they’re absolutely necessary for understanding punk rock (more about that in a minute) but in this particular track, there’s something else going on.

The funny thing about the Ramones (well, one of them, anyway. Honestly, if the antics of artists freak you out, don’t ever research the lives of punk musicians) is that while a lot of the songs from their first LP sounded like punk, the ones that didn’t sounded like something out of a 60s girl group. This track, for instance.

“Blitzkrieg Bop” The Ramones (1975)

they’re forming in a straight line they’re going through a tight wind
the kids are losing their minds the blitzkrieg bop

This is the first single by the Ramones. It didn’t do so well, but everybody knows it now. Really. Give it to 0:22, and then sing along.

“Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World” The Ramones (1976)

i’m a shock trooper in a stupor yes I am
i’m a nazi schatze you know i fight for the fatherland

Okay, this may not be the greatest Ramones songs ever. But it has a few things of note. First, there's the 1-2-3-4 count at the start, which was central to Ramones live shows for over twenty years (and shows up again in a lot of the bands that came after them).

Second, there’s a certain difficulty in pinning down punk music to any particular political stance. And that difficulty starts right here, with a group using imagery for shock value and humor. In punk rock, you can’t take anything at face value, you need to assume that somebody’s trying to yank your chain, and the bands? Usually smarter than they seem.

This does, in fact, have to do with the initial reason for this series. So keep it in mind.

Does everyone get it? Given the airplay this track didn’t get, and the real existence of Nazi punk, I’m thinking no.

Third…well, there isn’t a third. But Ramones is a great album, the extended version has some interesting added demos and such, and when you’re finished buying that, go out and find some stuff by Television.

“Because The Night” The Patti Smith Group (1978)

take me now baby here as i am
pul me close try and understand

Horses was one of the first albums definitively labeled as punk. This song is not off that album. And it doesn’t sound the way people expect punk to sound.

It is, quite possibly, my favorite track by Patti Smith. And it was written by Bruce Springsteen for his own album. Didn’t work out, but in the exchange of tracks and samples between the band (they were recording at the same studio) it turned out that it did work for Patti Smith.

“Heart of Glass” Blondie (1978)

lost inside adorable illusion and i cannot hide
i'm the one you're using please don't push me aside.

Last one from the early New York scene; again, it doesn’t sound like early UK punk. But like everything, punk came from something else—glam, and garage rock, and a dozen other influences. The first wave wasn’t about who you sounded like, it was about who you knew and what you thought the point of music was. I actually sort of really dislike Blondie. A lot. But here it is anyway, one of their tracks from the late 70s.

The thing to remember is that punk music came from somewhere, and was going somewhere else. Right. Now let’s talk about what happened when the earliest punk bands started to spread.

“Let The Kids Dance” Radio Birdman (1977)

told grandpa just last year
watch out man she’s gonna strip your gears

Radio Birdman is a hard group to classify. On the one hand, they were influenced by MC5 and the Stooges, just like a lot of early punk bands. On the other, they were in Sydney and had a lot more influence on Australian indie rock than they did on later punk bands. So here’s a live track, and I’ll let you make up your own minds. Just don’t get used to it.

“Peaches” The Stranglers (1977)

strolling along minding my own business
well there goes a girl and a half

The Stranglers opened with the Ramones on their first UK tour. Both bands opened for the Flamin’ Groovies, who were most assuredly not a punk band by any definition of the term.

The Stranglers were…not quite punk, but not really anything else, either. They were close enough for the musicians who would later become the UK’s first punk rock wave, even though their lyrics were more intellectual and sexual than political and a lot of their hooks were slowed down.

This is not the radio edit. And it is not the sort of thing that was played in polite company. It is meant to piss people off. Fair warning.

“New Rose [Live]” The Damned (1976)

see the sun see the sun it shines
don’t get too close or it’ll burn your eyes

“New Rose” was the very first single by a British punk group. This is where it started in the UK, at least when it comes to selling records. And even though most of the music by The Damned isn’t quite this close to traditional punk (Dave Vanian actually likes to sing most of the time, and various incarnations of the band went on inspire the West Coast hardcore movement and play goth rock) it’s an important milestone.

This particular track is a live version of the song. In case you were wondering what a concert sounded like.

“Anarchy In The UK” Sex Pistols (1976)

i am an antichrist i am an anarchist
don’t know what i want but i know how to get it

Okay. We had to get there eventually. Here you go, the Sex Pistols, with the second UK punk single. And keep in mind that this was an alternative to synth rock and folk music and it wasn’t the way everyone sounded. When this came out, it had only been five months since the Ramones played London. This was new, and it sounded like something that was going to change the world.

And, although I’ve been avoiding the topic, as this goes on it’s going to be harder to ignore that punk rock was also the center of a political standpoint, a claim about the way the world worked and the ways that the political and social system failed people. It was a system of identity as much as a musical innovation.

(Also, please note that despite the unfounded assumptions of many people who criticized the punk movement, the Sex Pistols could play their instruments just fine. So could The Clash, and any number of other bands. As with any other genre, you just have to stop and listen to figure that out.)

“White Riot” The Clash (1977)

all the power in the hands of people rich enough to buy it
while we walk the street too chicken to even try it

Let’s talk about The Clash. Third out of four bands on the ill-fated Anarchy Tour, The Clash are another of the big names of punk rock, a band everyone knows and to some extent recognizes. They played their first gig (opening for the Sex Pistols) on the same night the Ramones opened in London. They saw a later show from the same tour, and this track, their first single, owes a lot to the Ramones and the music played in the early years of punk.

The Clash are important to understanding punk, and this is where they start. Class and race and fast, hard beats. And, although this is the 1979 re-recording that was released in the US, you should still get the idea.

“Police & Thieves” The Clash (1977)

police and thieves in the street
fighting the nation with their guns and ammunition

Right from the start, The Clash were doing interesting stuff—sampling reggae, stretching the boundaries of punk, pissing people off at every available opportunity. They were also quoting Ramones lyrics, but that’s not so surprising.

The key thing about the UK punk movement is that it had a generally accepted political intent, a point of view that worked, almost as must as the musical style itself, to identify the members of the scene. The Clash were actually less revolutionary than most, and as punk became more popular (due in large part to The Clash and bands like them) this political identity started to fracture. The first wave of UK punk was about as cohesive as punk rock got. And more than anything else, that unity may be why thirty years later it’s these two years of punk rock that people identify as the core of it all.

“Orgasm Addict” Buzzcocks (1978)

sneaking in the backdoor with dirty magazines
and your mother wants to know ‘what are those stains on your jeans’

Oh, the Buzzcocks. I sort of think of them as my ultimate first wave punk band. Because they weren’t as overwhelmingly popular as the Sex Pistols, or The Clash, and they were having fun with the music in addition to playing politics. Pushing boundaries, and putting out some really strong rock and punk beats, all while thumbing their noses at most of the mainstream music scene and a substantial chunk of their fellow punk rockers.

Seriously, do not talk to me about the mind-blowing originality of NIN. These guys have them beat when it comes to pissing people off by talking about sex.

“Overground” Siouxsie & the Banshees (1978)

this limbo is no place to be a digit in another space
in another crowd i’m nameless bound

This is not the punk version of “Overground.” It’s the post-punk, orchestral, years later re-recorded version, because we’re about to hit the second wave of punk, when it all splintered into dozens of smaller movements and everything got confusing.

No, really. This has been the simple part. Siouxsie and the Banshees were one of the last of the first wave punk bands, and they were one of the few who made a transition into other genres successfully.

I’ve left out a ton of great bands, and some fantastic songs. But I think you probably get the idea from what I have included.

”Shadowplay” Joy Division (1979)

i did everything everything i wanted to
i let them use you for their own ends

Joy Division. Um. Okay, sticking to the musical points: play this, and then replay “Born to Run” or “Blitzkrieg Bop.” Because within four years, this is how far punk came. From a group of New York bands that had the sort of underground, incestuous musical experience that starts almost every real breakthrough, to a band that was on the forefront of an international, popular, rapidly splintering new genre.

Joy Division were the start of the post-punk movement, and we’re going to talk about them again. For the moment, let’s leave it at this song, which is one of their more traditionally punk tracks.

Next time: the second wave of US punk. Along with some other stuff.

this is probably the only time i'll talk about this

2007-10-05T23:07:00.000-04:00

This evening, I hung out with a couple of people and we (all foreigners) watched that all-American of all sports: baseball.

Actually, we watched a team which, in polite circles, would not actually be credited for having the most politically-correct of symbols beat the (alleged) "Evil Empire" with a lot of help from a swarm of midges.

Sometimes, you can't make real life up.

the master and the sandman (and me)

2007-10-03T22:11:00.001-04:00

So, it's not just us normal people who get all silent and tongue-tied and speak in languages unknown to humans or beasts when we run across people we admire.

From Mr. Gaiman's blog (he's writing about attending the premiere of Stardust in London):

So I'm going to tell you my favourite part of the evening, which was talking to Kate Magowan about Una (which is the part she plays in the film), and her calling over her husband to meet me, a husband who turned out to be John Simm, who interrupted my stumbling burbles of "ulp Life on Mars erk The Master" with his own starry-eyed "glunk The Sandman!" and pointed out that that meant he'd been a fan of mine for much longer than I'd been a fan of his so hahah and there you go.

On an academic note, I'm off to BigNameConference in San Francisco next year, all going well. All the warnings about needing to organise a panel or have VeryImportantPerson in said panel were not spot on at all (to put it politely) since I sent in my (usual) last-minute proposal and it's in! I'm feeling rather well-pleased with myself, for once. This academic gig is sometimes easier than it's made out to be.

dealing with terroristic vegetables can be more difficult than you think

2007-10-03T17:20:00.001-04:00

So, a couple of nights ago, I made Nam Phrik Pao and had it with rice and finished off the meal with sticky rice and mangoes. The house still smells (a bit) of my efforts though said efforts were much appreciated by my fellow residents.*

Apparently the Thai Cottage restaurant in London had a similar idea (except, of course, it wanted to feed others, not feed itself since restaurants--as a norm--do not need food. But, as always, I digress).

In its case, there was a bioterror alert, police closed off the area and houses were evacuated.

A neighbour says, "I was sitting in the office when me and my chief start coughing and I said this was something really dodgy."

But, instead of going to investigate, people called the police to report "noxious smoke".

The more amusing thing is that the people producing the suspected bioterror agent had no idea what was going on. In the words of the manager of Thai Cottage:

My boss rang me and said I had to get out of the building because of a chemical attack. Then she adds:

Because we're Thai, we're used to the smell of chillies.

The story is frustratingly vague--does this mean the neighbours were not used to the smell of Thai chillies? After all, it's used in almost every Thai dish. How long has this restaurant been located there that these people didn't know what the smell was?

It would be interesting to see how community relations pan out after this. But, for now, the final words go to a Scotland Yard spokesman:

The street was closed off for three hours while we were trying to discover the source of the odour.

Really. And no one bothered to ask. Oh, and hadn't they ever had Thai food before? Presumably the gas masks they had on prevented them from actually smelling the smoke and so it took them 3 hours to figure all this out.

Soon, it'll be like the tale of the boy who cried wolf. When terroristic chillies do take over London, there will be no one to care. Mark my words, people.

* or so they said. I, as a wuss, was unable to actually eat much since, despite having grown up in South-east Asia, my tolerance for spicy food is remarkably low. My 76-year old landlady turned out to be better at coping with Thai spices than me. Loads of Asians are probably rolling around in their graves (except they'd have been burnt to a crisp at death and hence unable to roll--though I guess coffins don't facilitate rolling either. Again--tangent. Sorry).

A post about music. Because academics need hobbies.

2007-10-02T23:58:00.000-04:00

I was going to do a post on Fall Out Boy.

But it turns out that my post on FOB doesn’t make any sense if I don’t first talk about punk rock, and the history of a whole series of punk subgenres, and the way that the current Chicago hardcore scene developed out of a whole bunch of bands from DC and Minneapolis and LA and Boston. Because FOB (who are neither punk nor hardcore nor emo) came out of that scene. So then I was going to do a post on the history of punk.

Only…forty years is a lot of musical ground to cover in one post. And the 1300+ songs that I have from which to choose are a bit daunting all at once.

And so I’m going to do a short series on punk music. With a little culture thrown in. And some politics. Ready? Good.

A temporary link for these tracks:
hxxp://www.sendspace.com/file/bkv33b (31mb, change xx to tt and unzip)

There’s a term in punk history, now that it’s been around long enough to have a history, that gets used to describe the huge variety of bands that were said to be the foundations of the punk movement, the influences that became, in the 1970s, the source for a new musical movement. Protopunk bands run from garage rock to glam, and the only things they have in common are a certain “fuck the system” attitude and having been mentioned at some point by a punk rocker as an influence.

A lot of them played gritty music about subjects that weren’t for polite consumption. Except for the ones who didn’t. And so, the following is a playlist of tracks by frequently-mentioned protopunk bands. It’s not the full list, but it’s a decent selection of the groups punk rockers talk about.

They are not necessarily the most “punk” sounding songs by each band, because the point of this is not to cherry pick the songs that sound the most like later stuff. These are tracks that are either a) well-known, or b) my favorites.

“You Really Got Me,” The Kinks (1964)

This is the first single by the Kinks that actually went anywhere. It’s got the harsh guitars that later showed up in British punk, and the band wore leather capes and boots for concerts. They were also known for the sometimes violent fights the band members would have onstage, behavior which, let’s face it, is sort of the gold standard for any decent punk rocker.

The Kinks are referenced all the time by punk bands, and their influence and the chord structure they popularized remain sort of all-pervading.

“96 Tears,” ? And the Mysterians (1966)

Welcome to the garage rock that birthed American punk. Some key points about ? and the Mysterians: they were one of the first Latino bands to chart in the mainstream US music scene, the lead singer was crazycakes (there’s this thing about martians, and another about dinosaurs, and also, you know, he calls himself Question Mark), and this was their first hit.

In 1971, they were probably the first band to be called punk rock by a critic.

They’re from Flint, Michigan, and still playing shows. Which is sort of awesome, if you ask me.

“Oh! Sweet Nuthin',” The Velvet Underground (1970)

It would probably be shorter to talk about which bands and genres weren’t influenced by The Velvet Underground. Seriously. Lou Reed is like the patron saint of kids who want to start a band. And members of Velvet Underground were crucial for developing all kinds of later punk bands, both by producing and by filling in on various albums and tracks.

Their original drummer quit because they took some cash for a gig and he was in it for the Art. So it’s because they were sellouts that they ended up with one of the most interesting girl drummers ever.

This is not one of their toughest tunes. It’s not even the hardest rock from Loaded. But I love it, and so it’s the one you get.

“Baba O'Riley,” The Who (1971)

Right. Back across to the UK, this time to one of the biggest rock bands of all time. This, like the previous track, is not the most “punk” of their songs. In fact, it’s more about “Look! Synthesizer!” than disaffected youth. But that makes it the exception, and there are a ton of other songs and albums they did that had an impact on the development of punk all over the world.

Still. Beloved album, much-covered song, not actually called “Teenage Wasteland.”

"Raw Power," Iggy & the Stooges (1973)

Strictly speaking, I should probably have gone with “T.V. Eye” because of the whole Henry Rollins, Kurt Cobain, Jack White thing. But I’ve always liked “Raw Power” better, and this is the album that gets talked about the most.

The Stooges came about because MC5 originated in Detroit. And if you get a chance, MC5 has some tracks which have held up well, and they too are considered to be protopunk. I just don’t have any of their tracks in digital form, and I’m far too lazy to convert them this week.

Reasons that the Stooges are important:

1. Stagediving.
2. Covers by every punk band ever, practically.
3. Hamburger, peanut butter, broken glass, Iggy Pop’s stage show.
4. The Godfather of Punk. ‘Nuff said.

“Frankenstein,” New York Dolls (1973)

The New York Dolls were influenced by MC5 and the Stooges. They took it and ran, inventing glam punk along the way.

I actually started listening to them because I love Joy Division. It’s a bit of a long story, but my main argument is this: if you want to know where the Ramones came from? You need to know the Dolls.

“Never Gonna Kill Myself Again,” Rocket From The Tombs (1974)

It was this or Devo, folks. (Yes, (that Devo. They were a garage band before they got the keytars and funny hats.)

Cleveland protopunk, a band that was only around a year, and then…well. They’re on a couple of Playstation games, sampled by the Beastie Boys, their bootlegs were common right up until somebody finally collected them for a real album in 2002. They also inspired a later punk rock band, Rocket from the Crypt, and directly spawned two more bands, Dead Boys and Pere Ubu.

Oh, and in case you still aren’t convinced? Some of you have heard of a little Canadian film called Hard Core Logo, right? “Sonic Reducer” is a cover. Well, actually a cover of a cover, since Dead Boys played it after Rocket from the Tombs split up. Still. It started in Cleveland, back when this band was the entire punk scene.

So don’t ever say I never taught you anything. RFFT kicked ass.

the ways of the force are mysterious indeed

2007-09-29T22:26:00.000-04:00

Today, at the Book Festival, I ran into three of my students. We ended up talking about being in America (they are all from overseas and just arrived here this semester), finding things to do, having to always talk in a different language (I told them they'd get used to it) and so on. I almost had my picture taken with Clifford (the big red dog) and saw a singing and dancing sloth. Oh and, of course, Terry Pratchett (who didn't sing or dance but was good fun all the same).

Then, I went to watch the rugby World Cup and ran into a couple of graduate students whom I know from the class I'm TA-ing. We sat around and talked about rugby--how we all got interested (they are both American and I, as I'm sure yous know by now, am Nepali), what's the point of watching it (when "our" teams don't play or play terribly) and, as graduate students tend to, we discussed sports and politics--identity-formation and nationalism. All the while the All Blacks were running in over 80 points against the Romanians.

Finally, I walked home and ran into an ex-student. By this time, I was expecting to run into students--current or former--so, apart from not being able to recall his name (nothing new there), I was prepared. We discussed what he's been doing (this is his final semester, he's trying to decide between postgraduate studies, law school or travelling/working overseas).

Then, I got home. Home is thankfully empty of students. For now.

those crazy academics

2007-09-29T03:00:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'm finally catching up with my non-university readings so that's why you are getting all this. I did save the best for last.

Check out the "Academics: Still Totally Lame" post over at Cosmic Variance, which discusses a Chronicle article on what "guilty pleasures" academics have.

Then, read the comments which include:

There are plenty of professors who like dressing up in gender-inappropriate undergarments, using cocaine, kabbalah, shooting assault rifles, etc. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that on balance, academics have an above-average level of perversity and general weirdness. (Proof: they’re fairly imaginative people with loads of time on their hands.) But their continued employment rests on their seeming to be respectable.

Or, something to look forward to:

Ah, but once you have tenure it's all edible panties, firearms and blow.

and dodgy-behaviour:

Has NO ONE here ever gotten drunk/stoned with one of his/her professors?

Good grief, what is the world coming to?

Oh, and the comments at the original Chronicle article include this by "Musclememor":

Skipping my classes to cruise for young gay dudes
Strip clubs and gun running, snorting crushed quaaludes
Stealing department chairs' gold wedding rings
These are a few of my favorite things

When the urge strikes
When the day's long
When I'm feeling caged
I simply skip off to my favorite things
And leave my TA's
Enraged

Ditching a conference to drink with a minor
Poison-tipped arrows I'll fire at a shriner
Undergrads — they're all just fodder for flings
These are a few of my favorite things

Grading by chance, to make students' lives tragic
Sorcery, witchcraft, and vampire blood magic
Parking on homeless folk, plucking off wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Thank you Cosmic Variance, the Chronicle and random academics. I've been born again. Really.

ETA: And from the Guardian, via Crooked Timber, the utterly (un)predictable guilty pastime of Anthony Giddens is....wrestling.

book festival on the Mall

2007-09-29T01:51:00.000-04:00

For those of yous here in Washington, head down to the Mall and enjoy the National Book Fest on Saturday.

Drop by the Fiction and Fantasy section to hear Mr. Pratchett at high noon. He sums up World Politics in one short paragraph with:

"It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things."

Oh and apparently there is a real Miss Manners who is (allegedly) going to be there in person. I can't wait.

just bloody tired of it all

2007-09-28T23:00:00.000-04:00

After today's class, I am tired. Tired of teaching students. Tired of trying to find examples that make sense to students who don't remember a world in which terrorism was not the major organising feature of society. Tired of trying to talk of other parts of the world that aren't the United States and Europe and having students stare blankly back at me. Tired of dealing with a textbook with a strong normative bias towards "what is best for/the concern of the United States" masquerading as a book on world politics.

I remember my International Politics class. It was, as is this one I'm teaching, the first class I had to take as an undergrad. We read writings (on dealing with colonisation) from Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Burma, and Philippines. We read diaries of explorers who went to China and PNG. We discussed whether Australia would ever have an "Asian" identity. We talked about if multiculturalism could "work" and how this beast might look like. We talked about trade and how to make the trading system inclusive. We talked about the effect of trading patterns on small farmers and how trade had changed since the colonial days. Colonisation informed much of the dicussions--as did human (indigenous peoples') rights and trade.

I dug out a photograph (the only one I have) from my first year--it's a picture of students from Nepal, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Botswana, Vanuatu, Nauru, Fiji, PNG, New Zealand, Germany, Sweden and, of course, Australia sitting around a table at the student union, sheepishly looking at the camera. It's a picture where teenagers are sat with grandmothers. It's a picture of a class I would like to teach.

Yes, I'm romanticising. Yes, it was a different, pre-9/11 world. Yes, it was (is!) Northern Australia so the chances of a terrorist attack occurring there are minimal (leaving time for other concerns). But the time spent thinking about world politics--the time spent discussing how all of us--different in our own ways and histories--had ended up there at that time and place has been as useful as learning about Realism and Liberalism.

I just wish my kids now had that chance--to gather around and talk. To put themselves in other people's shoes. To not write statements like "I have travelled a lot in Europe and I realised they hate me as soon as I say I am American". To learn that being American is fantastic but, to people elsewhere, so is being whatever they are.

on the road to mandalay...

2007-09-27T01:28:00.000-04:00

...there are apparently quite a few monks. A lot of whom, tonight (US time), may well be dead. As may be the current protests there. In Burma, that is.

My first holiday, as a grown-up (I was 21 at that time), was to the borders of Thailand and Burma. As I trudged my way through the forests where the Thailand-Burma railway (or the Death Railway, as it is oh-so-poetically called) ran, it was fairly easy to believe nothing much had changed in the 50 or so years since the end of World War Two. The forests were quiet, not many people could be seen and the horror stories of wartime, which we'd had to read during my world politics class, were still fresh in memory. I went all the way up to the Three Pagodas Pass*, found out that the border guards were willing to let a fairly innocuous looking person through and had to haggle for a motorbike ride to the nearest (Burmese) town. Unsurprisingly, probably, it was not much different to the small Thai border towns and the people even understood my dodgy Thai as I bargained for a jade elephant (which I still have).

Later, I found out this border was different--other border areas between Thailand and Burma were teeming with people who had escaped from Burma, many of whom had been living there for decades. New people arrived every day. People were sold from the refugee camps (and ended up in dodgy parts of Bangkok) every day. There was tension among the local Thais and the refugee Burmese. But, at that time, it was my first holiday. I was seeing and walking through areas I'd read about in my classes. I was following the trail where over 120,000 people had died during the War, just making these train tracks. It was, as most things are for 21-year olds, a grand old adventure.

Why the detour into memory lane? Well, when I had to pick a case for my in-class exercise** for the kids I'm teaching, I thought of and rejected quite a few. The way the textbook for the class is organised, it focuses on cases which are "of interest" to the United States so you are likely to read about Israel, Palestine, NATO, the GWOT and so on. Smaller countries do not get much of a mention. Then, I thought of Burma--the BBC had been reporting about the few protests going on (at that time) and I thought it was an excellent case to see what different actors do (or would do) and to discuss issues of alliance, sovereignty, democracy-promotion and so on. I could (as I did) change the names of the actors and make my students guess the country.

One student did. Then, on Tuesday, I used Burma again as an example of how identities matter in world politics.*** We talked about whether assisting the pro-democracy forces in Burma was in the United States' national interest (and why or why not). We talked about social movements and the status of religious leaders in society. We talked about what would happen, in Burma, if one of them were killed. As they are all from the United States or Japan, the likelihood of their death being in the news would be high. Then, we went through what would happen if I was killed. As a Nepali, I'd hardly rate a mention.**** A rather cheery class, you might say. We also discussed allliances and why the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) admitted Burma as a member and maintained ties with it despite its non-democratic government. We talked about China and its policies. We talked about US interests and how "we" never hear about Burma (or hadn't until very recently). So, yes, Burma's featured a lot in my world politics class this past week.

This means the kids are keen to see what is going on there now. As am I. On a cynical level, I have a feeling that the end will somehow be similar to 1988. Or, even if the pro-democracy forces somehow overthrow the government, that will not change the lot of the people much. On a level that still remembers my walk through the woods at a time when I still thought the world could be a world of my (our?) making, I do hope the Burmese people get the changes they want. Or, at the very least, cheaper fuel prices.

* Not hiking all the way though--I took public transport partway there!

** See post on democracy: a social experiment.

*** This week is "constructivism week".

**** Unless I was killed in a rather spectacular fashion. And, of course, numbers matter.

democracy: a social experiment, part II

2007-09-22T00:33:00.001-04:00

Well, it went okay. I think they had more fun trying to guess the various actors (one kid guessed them all) rather than proposing options and I didn't have much time at the end to discuss some of the concepts I wanted to talk to them about. But it wasn't too bad and it got them interacting with each other rather than listening to me talk.

I still am not sure what this World Politics business is all about--I think most of them get issues of balance of power; role of the hegemon; alliances and regimes and so on but if you were to wander into my class and ask them to recite "the three strands of feminism" (don't ask--this was one of the topics in the study guide handed out to me a couple of days ago), then they'd probably turn blank faces at you. But (hopefully), they would be able to tell you what feminism offers to the study of world politics and how it is a critique of other ways of analysing world politics.

Is that enough? I don't know. Do they need to know what deterrence is (definition of), the three types of "decision-making models" and so on? I don't think so. I mean, I taught the higher-level research course for the past two semesters--I know that by the time they get to that class, these kids are not going to remember much of anything they will be learning in my World Politics class. But, just maybe, they will remember some of the exercises, arguments and debates we are having.

I do live in hope.

democracy: a social experiment, part I

2007-09-20T23:42:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow's class is on "democracy". The kids are reading Michael Doyle's 1986 article on "Liberalism and World Politics" and a couple of short pieces on democracy promotion and such.

But, instead of drilling into their heads whatever "democracy" is, I'm planning on doing a "Conference" in which I'm dividing them into 7 actors, giving them an issue and telling them to figure out what they would do about it. Since I've not actually done this sort of thing before, I'm laying it all out here for your entertainment.

I should probably mention that I want them to (hopefully) discuss the Democratic Peace Theory (we already talked about this in the previous class), figure out ways to balance/challenge the hegemon, talk about what "rationality" would entail and get into issues of hard and soft power, levels of analysis and get into how they would deal with each other. In other words, I'd like to get us to discuss concepts without making it obvious. Am I likely to be successful? Tune in tomorrow and find out.

In the meantime, have a read through and email me or comment on any additions/amendments yous can think of. As I said, this is the first time I'm even attempting this. Who knows what chaos it will lead to.

On Democracy:

The Issue

Country Y is currently experiencing political turmoil. For the past decade, it has been under strict military control and is considered to be very repressive. It is a “one party, military-led state”. Dissent is disallowed, press freedom is nonexistent and protesters are arrested and jailed. Many previous demonstrations have been ruthlessly quelled and people are “disappeared” yearly. The military has controlled political and economic activities of the country. The country itself is one of the poorest in its region. Inter-ethnic tensions are high. In addition, the trafficking of women and children from Y to neighbouring countries and across continents is high as is transport of drugs. It is believed the military junta is finding it difficult to quell the protests.

In the past week or so, there has been widespread protests over the rising costs of essential items. At the same time, the government has announced it has the means to acquire WMD's from a state not friendly with the Hegemon. Surprisingly, just yesterday, news filtered out of a find of Xacon in the country. Xacon is a mineral which can be used as an alternative energy source instead of fossil fuels. It is also inexhaustible—every time you remove a ton of Xacon from the earth, another ton takes its place. So far, Y is the only country in the world with a sustainable amount of Xacon.

Different actors are meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark next month to discuss what to do about this situation. You, as the representative, have to decide what to do. Keep in mind your goal is to maintain order and promote peace and plan accordingly.

The Actors:

Actors

You are the Hegemon. You do not border Y but Y occupies a strategic position in a region in which you are increasingly losing your foothold and you need allies there. You have also promised the other actors in the region that you will provide military assistance, if they are threatened. In addition, this new find of Xacon could allow you to change energy sources and increase your position of power in the global arena. So far, you have criticised policies within Country Y and have banned all investment in there but your main goal is to promote democracy.

You are Together, a regional economic and political organisation. Y is part of your organisation and you have been pursuing an “engagement” policy with it in the hopes that things will change. You do not have any sanctions or embargoes on Country Y. Should you keep up with this policy? What are the benefits (and drawbacks) of alliance? You are thinking about these issues as TogetherElsewhere, another more powerful regional organisation, has announced plans for an arms embargo against Country Y.

Mr. White: You are the leader of country Y. You have been invited to the conference in Copenhagen and need to have a plan ready to propose to the other actors. You have just received information about the Xacon find in your country.

Regional Power State: You are the regional power. Your relations with the Hegemon are good in terms of trade relations and yet you are considered to be a potential rival or threat in geopolitical terms. You also border Country Y and have been a supporter of Y's regime. You recently vetoed a UN resolution criticising Y's government's treatment of its ethnic groups.

Help All: You are an international nongovernmental organisation which campaigns for human rights. While other countries were ignoring Country Y, you have always tried to bring its issues to the region's, if not the world's attention. However, many of your representatives have been arrested and forbidden from entering country Y. The current situation could be an opportunity...or not.

You are two of Y's neighbours—X and Q.

Q: You border Y and the Hegemon has bases on your territory. If you are threatened, the Hegemon has promised to come to your help. However, Q itself had a recent coup in which the military took control. Many refugees from Country Y also live along your shared borders and you are likely to find it difficult to accommodate more refugees if the situation within Y declines. You have strong economic ties with Y and have built industries and hydroelectric projects there.

X is one of the most prosperous countries in the region. It has advocated engagement with Y and is also in favour of non-intervention. It argues for a local, regional variation on democracy and says the “Western” version of democracy is not suited for all places.

Mr Orange: you are the leader of the opposition in Country Y. For the past decade, you have had limited power but the current protests are giving you hope. You belong to a minority group that has been repeatedly persecuted by the military government. However, do you want to invite the Hegemon into your country? Your grandparents were killed during WWII and your parents fought for freedom from Colonial rule. You are not sure what to do now.

Well, there you have it. I'll let yous know how it goes tomorrow. This whole "teaching kids about World Politics" gig is far more time-consuming than I thought!

a pre-class dialogue, recreated

2007-09-19T22:19:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, the class that is held before mine ran over its allotted time. For those of you not at TUWSNBN, let me explain. My class starts at 2.10pm. The previous class is (in my understanding) supposed to end at 1.50pm. It was 2.05 pm and the lecturer was still in the classroom. Now, I like to have a few minutes before my starting time to set up my lecture and just make sure I've got pen and paper(s) on hand. As a fairly new lecturer, I take comfort in setting things up, in the routine. This is difficult when 40 kids are walking out of the room right when I am supposed to be in there, starting my preparation.

I finally got into the room and the professor was still there--getting ready to talk to a few students who had questions for him. As he was talking, I started setting up my lecture, opening up my notebook case and doing things that showed that his time was over.

He finally looked at me and went: Oh, hello young lady. Can you give me a minute? (there still was a line of four or five students waiting)

Me (in totally put on posh accent): Of course old chap. But shouldn't you be on your way--you seem to be running rather late.

He left right after that. No, I don't feel proud of myself but since this was the third week his class has run late, I don't feel too bad.

a brief comment on private security contractors

2007-09-17T19:14:00.000-04:00

I'm shocked. That's all I have to say (write) really. Shocked. Who would have thought private security contractors would ever be involved in something like this?

After all, they are well known for being defenders of children and the oppressed worldwide. They help those-who-cannot-speak make their voices heard in places as far flung as Papua New Guinea. They protect the weak and innocent from death and destruction in places like Iraq. They don't have to go through all that bureaucratic hassle that regular troops do--they have the flexibility to do things their way.

Obviously, the Iraqi government has gotten hold of the wrong end of the stick in expelling them. Now, who will safeguard the many civilians who depended on Blackwater for their safety? Who will "open fire randomly at [Iraqi] citizens" to make sure they knew they should always be ready and alert (in case of deadly gunfire)? No one, that's who. Then, more Iraqis will die.

So, yes, Bring back the Blackwater boys!*

* Nope, not being sexist. This lot's usually made up of blokes.

and now for something definitely not academic (but with song included)

2007-09-17T01:31:00.000-04:00

The "Primetime Emmys" were on tonight. I caught the opening monologue by the guy who's in American Idol. It was not funny and nor did it make the rest of the show sound the least bit watchable. But, hey, I think he made a Flight of the Conchords*-related joke. You judge:

Host (talking about past Emmy hosts): They were brilliant, if you're into it.
(emphasis mine)

FOTC...well, just see for yourself.

* This is important because FoTC are the fourth most popular folk rock due in New Zealand and, as such, the fourth most popular folk rock duo in the world.

students are multiplying like rabbits or something

2007-09-16T00:22:00.000-04:00

Going home on the bus at midnight and having a student pop up and say "Oh, hello Professor!" in a rather cheery voice is not what I wanted for Saturday night.

Do they have to be everywhere?

The rest of Saturday though: rather good. Went down to "spectate" (as one of my other students called it, in class) at the anti-war gig earlier. It's rather difficult to actually participate when I don't think "our troops" should be brought back home right now.

Talking of "our troops", it's surprising how difficult teaching World Politics without using a pronoun is. I have been doing my best to say "the United States" or "Southeast Asia" but, at times, I find myself slipping into "well, we would have done X". This often happens when I am talking about US foreign policy. I'm not quite sure why I don't use "it"--"we" just slips out, often when I'm making a controversial statement (so the kids can disagree--which they often do with great gusto*)

The kids all use "we" (except the few East Asian kids I have and they use--"the US" or "Japan". They've not said "we" when referring to their own countries) when talking about the United States. What this says about identity, I don't have space (nor time) to get into now but isn't it interesting that citizens of the most powerful state in the world use "we" when talking about their country's policies while others seem less inclined to do so?

Which sort of brings me back where I started--I know I have 37 students in my current class. So how is it that they seem to pop up everywhere around town? A bus at midnight, for ____ 's sake! And, maybe even more disturbing, why are they so cheery?

* I wrote gusto in a post!

realising realism rocks my canoe

2007-09-14T00:49:00.000-04:00

As I sit in front of my computer at 1am on a Friday, after having read quite a few articles about Realism and Hegemony (It's "Realism week" here at World Politics Central), I am reminded of just how much I actually agree with Realists. Also, how much they are slagged off in the world of International Relations, often for things they would never have agreed with.

Read this: "Realists are often accused of disliking democracy and even of being anti-democratic. This is a bogus charge. Every realist I know would be thrilled to see Iraq turned into a thriving democracy. Realists, however, are well aware of the difficulty of spreading democracy, especially by military means. They also understand that even if the enterprise is successful, that is no guarantee that peace will break out. Democracies as well as non-democracies like having nuclear deterrents, and both kinds of states support terrorism when it suits their interests." (Mearsheimer, at a talk in Germany in 2005)

Reminds me that I need to write up on his and Walt's performance a couple of weeks ago.

A long, long, long review of my current favorite album.

2007-09-12T21:01:00.000-04:00

The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, 2007.

This is a long review, because I love the album a bit more than I really want to admit. Given how much I admit to loving it (iTunes says 15 plays since Sunday on a weekend when I also heard the new tracks from The Weakerthans and took the time to watch the VMAs and all of the Fall Out Boy clips that weren’t aired that night) that’s a lot.

Josh Ritter can write lyrics. He’s been writing fantastic songs for years, and it’s great that people love him for that. But he’s coming out of a long tradition of popular music, a tradition that he respects and admires. Josh Ritter loves that music.

And he’s been doing his homework.

This is the album where Ritter makes it clear that he’s grown up, that he’s as much a musician as a lyricist, and that he’s ready to experiment with whatever catches his eye, whether it be classical harmony or The Clash. This is the one you’ll remember as a wonderful folk singer standing up and claiming that he’s more than that.

I’m not sure what the result is, but I can’t stop listening to it.

It’s impressive, the best album I’ve heard this year, and I can’t wait to see him live when he comes back to town in October.

And, because I can, you're going to get a track-by-track explanation of why.

To The Dogs Or Whoever

was it casey jones or casey at the bat
who died out of pride and got famous for that
killed by a swerve laid low by the curve
did you ever think they ever thought
they got what they deserved

My favorite image of the entire album is in this opening track, but it’s not the one I just quoted. Anybody who knows me will be able to figure it out. Just remember that I'm not a subtle person.

One of my favorite things about Josh Ritter is the way he plays with language. In this song, and the album as a whole, he’s playing with language and story and history. It’s no surprise that I’m smitten.

Mind's Eye

and when you come for me some night
you’d better bring a shovel be expecting the worst
cause i’ve got you in my mind’s eye

Listen to the piano in this. Really listen. And then listen to the lyrics, because this is the track where you’ll hear for the first time that this album is a challenge, a gunfight, a standoff between Josh Ritter and his critics. It’s an old-fashioned duel that he’s going to win.

Josh Ritter, gunslinger and guitar player.

Right Moves

all those lovers circling round their love
sling and arrows dogs and lions
rivers separating touch from touch
the comedy of distance the tragedy of separation

I am a sucker for a good tune. And for the sort of music that can’t be classified, that used instruments and mythology and echoes of beach music and rap and big band. I want this song tattooed on my skin, echoes of it in my head.

The Temptation Of Adam

if this was a cold war we could keep each other warm
i said on the first occasion that i met marie
we were crawling through the hedge that was the missile silo door
and i don’t think that she really thought that much of me

Some of you may remember my unreasoning adoration of the S60 version of “O Holy Night.” That reaction has got nothing on my love for the opening bars of this song and the mix of—if I’m hearing it correctly—trumpet, bassoon, and acoustic guitar. And, because he’s still Josh Ritter, we also get to think about war and love songs and personal history and language games and the ways that they’re the same.

Open Doors

i’m saving nickels and i’m saving dimes
i’m gonna kiss you where the sun don’t shine
and all those shadows gonna kiss them too
just so long as they come in with you

I’m not sure if I enjoy this because it sounds like Josh Ritter, only with a stronger rhythm, or because I would dearly, dearly love to hear it covered by Fall Out Boy. Possibly both. Probably both.

Rumors

there’s some bells in the belfry
hey what the hell if it helps me
i put a whip to the kick drum
but the music’s never loud enough

This starts with an unabashed reference to one of my favorite songs ever, and from there keeps a solid beat and a fantastic hook that I absolutely adore. It’s darker than a lot of his previous stuff, a tango instead of a ballad. I firmly believe that everyone should love this song as much as I do.

Edge Of The World

The change in pacing and sound between this and “Rumors” is a little jarring at first, but it grew on me. It’s like the Intermission on A Fever You Can't Sweat Out--a chance to come down from the harder tracks and get ready for the slower, smoother track that leads off the back half of the album. It’s pretty, and I can see why it’s necessary given the rest of the (fantastic, but tougher) tracks around it.

Wait For Love

This is the closest song on the album to the sound of The Animal Years, with that same minimal instrumentation. It showcases the way that Ritter is stretching his range, though, with a few harmonies and a melody that I’m not sure he’d have attempted before. Still really good, but not quite single material the way almost everything else here is. I’m a little disappointed with the lyrics, which is something I don’t think I’ve ever been with one of his songs before.

Ultimately, I’d prefer that this be switched out with one of the bonus tracks. It’s the weak point on the album, and that’s a shame because from anyone else it would be a lovely, if quiet, song.

Real Long Distance

telephone ringin’ mama
please don’t you leave it alone
don’t leave no breaks in the line
it’s the only thing that’s tied to home

The solid beats are back with a vengeance, and the sort of instrumentation that makes it clear (as if we didn’t already know) that Ritter means business with the music this time. The bridge, which is half jazz riff and half guitar rock, is something I didn’t expect and have grown to love despite my usual dislike of cacophony. (This dislike is a bit excessive, I’ll admit. There was an experimental overture I had to learn once, it was painful to play, I don’t want to talk about it.)

Next To The Last Romantic

there’s always whiskey and women
and women and whiskey around
and he can’t tell which is worse
to be dying of thirst or to drown

Josh Ritter can also do old-fashioned honky tonk. He just wants us all to know that. And while he’s at it, he can combine operatic background vocals with country rock and make you enjoy it. Everyone who said he was the next Dylan? Can, apparently, just fuck off.

Moons

Another break, this time with enough vocals that it’s obvious Ritter is still writing his usual thoughtful lyrics and playing with expectations; he hasn’t lost anything, he’s just gained a love of genre mixing. And, as with “Edge of the World,” it’s a cue that it’s time to slow down for a moment.

Still Beating

seems like everybody up and left
and they’re not coming back
the shadow that you’re standing on’s still here
sometimes that’s all that you can ask

I am a sucker for mournful brass interludes in weird places. I always have been and, after spending half my life playing horn, I probably always will be. I love this song for so much more than the lyrics (which manage to combine horror and hope in a way that I love) and it’s possibly my favorite track, if I had to choose one.

Or then again, maybe not. Because at the end of it comes “Empty Hearts.”

Empty Hearts

oh save all of your light
for those who can’t sleep at night
and they can’t even sing to their shadows

It’s the flow of all this that really gets me. Without being a gimmick, there’s a clear relationship between the pieces, the individual tracks. Both within the entire album and between individual tracks the music and the lyrics mesh well. Each track is an experiment, and as an album they add up to something that simply doesn’t fit the categories we use for music.

There are echoes of the first track in this, and of several others. And while I enjoy “Wait for Love (You Know You Will),” I’d have been just as happy for the album to end on this note.

Wait For Love (You Know You Will)

i got someone on my mind
and she don’t make me wait
the way you do

I can’t decide if this is really meant to end the album, or to serve as a bridge to the bonus tracks. I suspect it’s the latter, because “Empty Hearts” is stronger lyrically. And the things that I didn’t necessarily like about it the first time still apply.

So that’s the album proper. Now let’s talk about the bonus tracks.

Bonus Tracks:

Wildfires

you must be living on wildfires
that’s why your eyes are smoke and ash

A quiet, driving beat overlaid with a slow, painful lyric that is, quite honestly, heartstopping at times. It’s the sort of thing that I can’t even explain, because it has to be heard to be understood.

It’s also got echoes of the history and metaphors that underpin “The Temptation of Adam,” which serve as a beautiful link to the main album.

Spot In My Heart

This is…I feel like I ought to get this, to know why it’s here. I don’t. I’ll probably kick myself when I figure it out.

Naked As A Window

you know you’re asking too much
to be held and not touched
but somehow that’s just what you do

Old-school Josh Ritter, and much, much too short, although it’s lovely. The best thing about it is that it isn’t polished, and sounds like the sort of thing that makes his concerts a joy to hear. I'd like to see this as the closing track of the album, I think.

Labelship Down

we just pressed record
started singing like we’d sung before
we got enough so who needs more
of what we never really had

Josh Ritter has a sense of humor. QED.

An author and a monkey

2007-09-11T00:06:00.002-04:00

Following E's liveblogging of the VMA's, I thought I'd sneak this in "under the radar" so to speak:

First, Neil Gaiman asks: "I wondered if anyone knew whether there was a good on-line map of the actual journey from China to India made by the Monkey and his traveling companions in the Wu Cheng'en book Journey to the West?"

Then, his readers respond with this (among others, Mr. G says)

And, I'll just remind PTSD-ers that you can still watch the TV show (at odd hours, rather like Doctor Who here in the United States) at my part(s) of the world or you can read all about it here.

But just think: Neil Gaiman may be writing about Monkey. It'd be magic*

* Well, apologies and all that but who could resist?

VMA Liveblogging. It's a long story.

2007-09-09T23:12:00.001-04:00

Preshow (FBR related):

1. Patrick Stump interrupting! He's going to judge which of Pete's favorite tracks is better! They're so cute and pocket-sized that I don't see how anyone could dislike them.

Also, their music doesn't suck. Which is something of a rarity this year.

2. Aww. Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith weren't allowed into the parties this weekend. And...okay. There is an upper age limit for the whole emopunk look. And the MTV vj whose name escapes me at the moment? [ETA: John Norris.] Definitely well beyond it. Dude looks like a trailer park blond after a long night out at the dog track.

The Show (music and snarking):

1. Didn't Britney used to be better at lip syncing? And I love that she's still brave enough to get up on stage in tiny glittering hotpants. But she looks really uncomfortable in her costume, and that's not sexy.

2. Holy shit. Sarah Silverman is going to get her ass kicked in the parking lot of The Palms tonight after the VMAs.

Seriously. Paris and Britney are going to be out there waiting with stilettos and a tire iron or something.

3. Pete Wentz throwing his bass. And the speakers flying at the windows. And Patrick Stump's voice. Three things I'm glad I didn't miss out on tonight. Plus its nice to know that not everyone is using prerecorded music.

4. Beyonce and Shakira beating out U2 and Green Day for collaboration? They have GOT to be kidding me. That's just wrong, people. Wrong. I don't care if Shakira's in Canada. I wanted to see Green Day and U@ on the same award plaque.

4. Yeah. Still hate Justin Timberlake. A lot. Perhaps even more now than I used to.

But Rosario Dawson is hot.

5. Okay, I'm sorry. But Chris Brown acting like the evil puppet offspring of Charlie Chaplin? MTV, why must you torment me like this? This is just...creepy and bad. Which is a shame, because the song is better than the routine.

6. Yeah. I hate the artist announcements. The faux computer information voices are irritating, not edgy. I gave them an hour, but they keep getting more annoying every time.

Also, Justin Timberlake is a giant dork. The not-fun kind of dork. The kind who does not, in fact, rock his shiny little watch fob. Also, white boys? Should not pronounce damn with multiple syllables.

I will grant that I agree with him on the whole "Play more videos" thing.

7. I am very nervous about what they've done to Beowulf. I don't want to live in a world where Angelina Jolie plays Grendel's mother. Really, I don't.

8. So this is two, three appearances for Foo Fighters and Timberlake. Each. I'm feeling a bit deprived of music moments from bands I actually enjoy hearing.*

9. Shia LaBeouf looks like he drew his mustache on with an eye pencil. And he doesn't know his lines. And he's...talking about Indiana Jones? Well, if it makes him happy, I guess.

10. Wow. Somebody stepped on the cue, there. Was it Pamela Anderson, or the sound guys? That was just awkward.

11. I have no idea what's going on in the Fall Out Boy suite. But holy shit, I want to be at that party. Gym Class Heroes, Brendon Urie singing backup, Patrick Stump playing the keyboard (and fucking up his vocals, but whatever), Halloween masks.

It's like a kegger with Decaydance.

If MTV's smart, they'll stream the suite concerts after the show.

12. Lasers are ALWAYS cool.

13. Fall Out Boy is up against Gym Class Heroes. *snickers* Sorry, it's not funny. I'm sure it's very stressful. But honestly. It's not like they aren't the only two bands really in the running for this.

Pete Wentz has a little SIGN!!! A sign, people. He made a sign.

Come on. That's so goofy it's back around to brilliant.

14. Kid Rock. Oh, honey. I'm so sorry you ended up the sort of person who eats breakfast. That's got to be painful. (I remember him playing clubs in Toledo to, like, 60 people. I'm trying not to think about how old that makes me.)

15. You think Ryan Ross knows Alicia Keys stole his headband?

She gets points for the George Michael remake, though. Nicely done.

16. Oh look. MTV has figured out that the people in the Fall Out Boy suite are having the most fun, too. You can tell by the way they're suddenly showing clips from that party.

Dammit. I really wish I'd recorded this.

17. Gym Class Heroes for best new artist means it's a good night for FBR, really. I'm happy for them, even if they aren't my favorite band in the mix. At least they aren't Justin Timberlake.

[This is the point where my mother called. My grandfather had a party for his 79th birthday, and ate chili, onion rings, and ice cream. He washed it down with beer.

Short version: people in my family are strange.]

18. I actually missed the name of whoever won video of the year. She seemed pleased, though. So that's good?

19. Oh, look. The Foo Fighters are just as drunk as the kids in the Fall Out Boy suite now. Turns out they were just off to a slow start.

20. Lasers? Still awesome. Justin Timberlake? Still the unfortunate kind of dork. What's with the giant handkerchief in his pocket? Is it to wipe the last of his credibility up off the stage at the end of the song?

21. Oh, kids. If you can't hear the audience say, "Ye-a-uh," don't ask them again.

*Okay, that's not quite fair. There are Foo Fighters songs that don't suck.

if only my dissertation where a film (or Naomi Klein's got a good thing going here)

2007-09-08T22:41:00.000-04:00

Naomi Klein's new book The Shock Doctrine doesn't just have blurbs from academic-types recommending its wonderfulness but comes with a film preview.

The director of the film? Alfonso Cuaron (of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban fame. Well, he also made something else called The Children of Men starring that personification of magnification Mr. Clive Owen. Mr. Owen by the way is currently filling up our big screens as Mr. Smith in Shoot 'em Up. I shall be discussing that anon. But, as usual, I digress). Cuaron's film is disturbing despite being less than seven minutes long. The "Design and animation by Foreign Office" is cheeky, the images and the sentiments are not.

Check it out for yourselves:

Maybe I can persuade Mr. Cuaron to make a film about my dissertation. After all, terrorists. Fits right in with PoA (escaped Terrorist storyline) and CoM (Terrorists everywhere).

and on my way home...

2007-09-07T18:25:00.000-04:00

I run into a former student on my way to my new home from TUWSNBN. I don't recognise him. The conversation goes like this:

Student: Hello Priya.
Me (who the bloody hell is this?): Hello! How are you?*
Him: Fine. Starting off Friday night partying as you see (he's carrying a large carton of beer)
Me: Great. Good. Have fun.
Him: I live just up here (points to apt building next to my new abode). What about you?
Me: Oh, I live nearby (Still attempting to remember who this is). Well, enjoy your Friday.
Him: Thanks. I had a good time in your class.
Me (yay, he's a student! I think I even remember his name): I'm glad to hear that, [name]**
Him: Have a good weekend.

It's a bit weird having a student, even a former one, live right next door.

* Like many people, I become effusively friendly when I have no idea who it is I'm talking to, especially when it's clear they know me.

** Nope, I was wrong. I called him the wrong name. He didn't correct me. I think I can't be blamed for not being corrected when I say the wrong name. I'd correct people who called me [not]Priya.

meditations on (of) a sovereign power

2007-09-07T16:23:00.000-04:00

Today, I finished the second of my two classes on "sovereignty" for my World Politics course. A few highlights:

- The in-class exercise where I divided them into groups* and had them list characteristics of sovereignty worked rather well. The bit where I told them that our class was like a (domestic) sovereign with me as the sovereign power worked well too, especially as one of the students pointed out that I was not autonomous but had to answer to a higher authority--that of the department of SIS. So, the example (of the class as a sovereign state) wouldn't really work.

- After listing characteristics of sovereignty, we discussed Iraq and how domestic sovereignty was being "compromised" (their term). We also talked about how the invasion/occupation of Iraq was undertaken and the consequences to international sovereignty. Both these discussions went quite well with students ranging in their views to "War was a good idea" to "Well, we're there, we need to figure out what to do next" to "We are the United States, we can do whatever we want".

- Being told, "I want to write a paper on my mancrush, Henry Kissinger". Seriously.**

- Being given a paper with an elaborate drawing of "the Sovereign State of Petoria" by one of the students who then told me he'd like to found and run his own state and if I had any tips for such an endeavour.

- And a related story: One of my students was on the shuttle to the Metro yesterday. Contrary to the usual tactic of avoiding their instructor, this kid sat next to me and we discussed his interests in World Politics (cinema and IR), moving to Washington, going to university and so on. It was actually refreshing to have a student not avoid me (as is most students'--including mine--tendency!) but sit down and have a chat about stuff. Especially as this kid doesn't talk in class at all. It makes me realise that in many ways American kids are more trained in this "social interaction" business than I (and my non-American colleagues probably) have been. Even after all these years of being in academia, my tendency, when I see a professor I know, is to quickly leg it in the opposite direction.

* While I'd like to take credit for the idea, I actually nicked it off Weberman!

** I told the student that I really didn't need to know that and it was an image that will refuse to leave my head from now on.

*** It's a rather clever drawing. I wish I had a scanner to put it on Blackboard. E and I used to spend a lot of our time in one of our postgrad classes doing a similar exercise (drawing concepts out). I believe some of the results even made it to older posts on PTSD.

a collection of unrelated things

2007-09-05T20:56:00.000-04:00

Three things I did today:

I failed miserably at any sort of socially-acceptable behaviour by obviously changing the subject (when death of a colleague and mentor was mentioned) and then mentioning I was changing the subject.

I dropped a glass of soda in the middle of a crowded restaurant and walked away without offering to help clean it up.

I listened to John Mearsheimer and Steven Walt talk about the Israel Lobby at a local bookstore and actually thought it wasn't a half bad talk. They explained their views, in person, a lot better than they do in the book and they sounded surprisingly normal.

More on the last activity in a later post but, for now, a few thoughts on teaching freshers. Or, rather one main thought on teaching freshers World Politics.

What is the point of teaching them World Politics? Should I ensure they know the main concepts, even if it were possible to define "sovereignty" or "realism" OR should I make sure they are comfortable discussing these concepts, have some idea of how they are used in World Politics and can come up with exceptions where the concept has not worked?

I've been focusing on the latter--in my last class, I sidestepped defining "sovereignty" to discuss how sovereignty has been used. We talked about how the Peace of Westphalia occurred in a specific, historical and cultural setting (Western Europe) but the concept of sovereign states then spread throughout the rest of the world, thus ignoring existing patterns of political authority. I talked them through the examples of Australia (not "discovered" till much after Westphalia and not settled by Europeans till almost 250 years later. One justification for settlement being that Australia was not a sovereign state, in the sense that the Europeans defined sovereignty) and (recently) Burma.

We then talked about "internal" challenges to sovereignty (again, the example being Australia and the declaration by Aboriginal people of 26 January, Australia Day, as "Sovereignty Day").

Did we discuss definitions of sovereignty? No. Did we discuss scholars and their interpretations? No.

This is me, not gloating

2007-09-01T17:45:00.000-04:00

Not even a little bit. I mean, just because Ohio State blew out their first game (as expected) while Michigan lost to a AA team? That's no reason to gloat.

Nope. Not gloating. But if I were a student at Appalachian? Boy howdy, would I be in a fanfuckingtastic mood tonight.

I'm not sure I have anything to add to that particular discussion.

2007-08-29T13:26:00.000-04:00

When white, upper middle class, American guys start talking about how privilege is a meaningless term because everyone has problems?

And that it's really all about where you want to go and getting up and working hard?

I'm not sure I have anything at all to add to the discussion. Because really, there's no good way to explain the concept to them. They aren't going to get it.

another blasted syllabus

2007-08-23T23:32:00.000-04:00

After a summer full of writing and amending all sorts of syllabi, mostly on subjects I have little or no interest in teaching but decided to turn them all into "international development/environment/climate change" aka "how we make sense of stuff" classes, I really didn't need to see or write up another syllabus again.

But, guess what? I did. So, I'm at here, in someone else's house (I'm homeless, in case yous have forgotten), writing a syllabus for TUWSNBN's World Politics class and trying not to weep at the sheer amount of work there is to be done. That's before I even get to class.

Yes, I nicked syllabi off various people again. Yes, I think the "International Security" section is fantastic (I'm making them read about war on film). The other sections? Well, they're getting there. I'm still trying to decide whether I should call the final week's classes "silences and margins" (as a previous professor apparently did) or just "What you missed out in the previous weeks".

There're also debates and international terrorism simulations and discussions about the "North-South Gap".

Just to recap: This semester, I have my own class (World Politics), am TA-ing two postgraduate classes (and attending both) and ostensibly writing more of my dissertation.

Life? Who needs a life, really?

ETA: I just finished a draft of my syllabus--for the final class, I'm getting them to debate "The 21st Century is when everything changes". I wonder if some of them will get it?

Site of the Month Featured Site: Space and Culture

2007-08-21T13:48:00.000-04:00

One of the fun bits about teaching Engineering this summer was the section on "green design" and "green engineering" (the focus of the class). An interesting thing was how similar some of the concerns of engineers--at least those I was reading about--were to those of us who are IR specialists. Questions of space, power and culture and intersections among those were key.

For our irregular "site of the month" section*, I've added Space and Culture, a weblog that talks about innovative ways in which space/culture intertwine. It's got lovely pictures too--go check it out.

* Obviously I should pay more attention to what I'm writing before I post it--for the "Featured Site" section, I should have said.

when real life imitates virtual life

2007-08-20T22:59:00.000-04:00

As yous are well aware, engineering or global public health are not among my top 3 subjects to teach. So, this summer, I had fun trying to figure out ways to make these subjects interesting and fun for students when I myself had little or no interest in them. I used videos (do yous realise how many public health and "green living" videos are narrated by celebrities? A lot), we did simulation exercises, and argued about what would happen in hypothetical situations.

One of the things we did, in my opening 3-hour class for the Global Public Health course, was to talk about this--how virtual worlds can (and have) responded to epidemics.

making assumptions about the people around us

2007-08-20T09:15:00.000-04:00

First of all, yay E's back (sort of)!

So am I, unfortunately--back in Washington DC, headed to TUWSNBN today to sort out my class (which supposedly starts next week), homeless and missing the weather (and the used bookstores...and the eating places) of Northern California.

But, enough of that. Today's post is one about identities...and assumptions...and the usage of words.

I went to see Allah Made Me Funny on Friday at the Riot Act Comedy Club on 14th St, NW. It was actually very funny--Allah'd done his job well.

A couple of rough bits though:

One of the comedians, when setting up a joke about Bollywood films, pointed to an audience member and commented along the lines of "Oh, look at the white guy laughing--he's probably never seen a Bollywood film!"

Another made frequent use of the "N-word" and seemed to wait for reaction. It all seemed a bit juvenile, especially as the show had started off excellently, tapered off a bit and then picked up but went slightly off the rails towards the end when the most famous comedian took over the stage (more "preaching" less comedy; plenty of talk about how Black/African-American people are oppressed but do not recognise their own oppression, etc).

So, what's my point here? Well, about assumptions. Who doesn't know of and hasn't watched Bollywood films these days? I'd have thought most people, especially those showing up at a local comedy place in Washington, would have definitely seen a B'wood film. Or at least been aware enough to realise its main points--boy meets girl, conflict, running around trees and/or chandeliers while singing (it is often raining too), conflict resolved, all ends well.

The other example was more interesting in describing how words and terms are used in daily life. Well, in this case, the N-word was used, by an African-American Muslim bloke to refer to African-Americans. But, from what I remember, in each use the chap was talking about White people using it to refer to African-Americans (not Black people in general but African-Americans). This performs an act of distancing--look, I'm not the one using this (bad) word, I'm talking about someone else using it. And this isn't quite fair because white people (or Asian people) aren't allowed to use that word in public. At the same time, it calls upon past usage to establish that oppression is still going on. Rather clever, that. But, not clever in the sense that it doesn't provide alternative scenarios for the "oppressed" to imagine life differently. It disrespects the majority of African-Americans as they are constituted as being unable to recognise their own oppression (until this chap points it out to them). It doesn't provide spaces for engagement* or "face-to-face interaction despite differences" as Tocqueville would say, but distances these two identities--African-American and Others (Whites, in this example)--from each other and posits an ongoing hierarchy, one that is difficult to change.

This brings me to an article I wanted to discuss some time back but never got around to. It was written by an African-American chap in one of the local San Francisco area newspapers and it was along the lines of "Am I Black Enough?". In the article, he wrote that because he lived in the suburbs, liked opera, belonged to a wine club, etc he got asked quite often if he was "Black". His response? How is it that when reports about the local young criminal, the teenager who's doped up and preggers, the unemployed show up, no one asks if these identities are "Black" enough?

The point this chap made and one that I wish the Comedian had talked more of is that the way we conceptualise identities is limiting. We are talking about fixed identities--one that is oppressed and another that is oppressing. The media, songs and so on and even the people themselves work towards perpetuating notions of a fixed, single identity rather than less stable, multiple identities.

Let me give some more examples from the past few days:

- Being told by some of the people I was working with over the summer that the reason they didn't like San Francisco and Berkeley was because the places were "too Asian". Especially Berkeley, I was told.*

- Going to a new place to watch football (Liverpool were playing Chelsea. We were robbed of victory. Robbed) and having random people ask "So, why are you here alone then?" in the midst of an extremely-exciting match**.

- Having a potential housemate tell me that she was "impressed by your command of English" (seriously).

- The (Portuguese) manager of Chelsea, Jose Mourinho, slagging off Liverpool because "some" Liverpool players were "from a different [Spanish] culture" (and hence diving to get penalties).

The last one was especially interesting--Mourinho was pissed off because two new Liverpool signings--both recently arrived in Britain from Spain--were not English enough!

Allah Made Me Funny could be an excellent forum to discuss these issues of multiple identity-formation. Not that they'd have to but instead of using the same old tropes of "oh oh we're being oppressed", maybe a step further--okay, we're being oppressed, so what are we doing about it/can we do about it? It's not like all of us aren't getting oppressed in one way or another. Pointing out the oppression (however defined) may be useful, using it as a crutch when talking about selves and others as single-identity groups, not so much.

* This was actually a bit of a shock because I was convinced everyone had liked the area as much as I had. Then, thinking about it later, I realised that the bits of both cities that made them worth liking to me (e.g. being able to buy packets of dried squid in Walgreens!) might not have been to everyone's tastes.

** Lesson here: Don't go watch footy at bigger pubs/restaurants. Stick to smallish ones, where people ignore you or give you sidelong glances but ignore you anyway.

And by fathers' rights we mean, we hate women

2007-08-19T13:11:00.000-04:00

Let's hear it once again for my home state,* Ohio, and its progressive approach to gender equality.**

H.B. 287

Give it a rest, guys. You're making the rest of us look bad.

* One more reason not to ever, ever move back? You betcha.

** And by progressive, I mean dumbass.

Huh. So this is what a blog looks like.

2007-08-16T16:02:00.000-04:00

Right, yes, I know. I go off for months at a time, I never call, I never write, would it kill me to think about someone else for a change? Also, when was the last time I washed my curtains?

Blogging and my mother have a lot in common, it seems.

I have been, when not standing in a classroom (sometimes sans shoes, for several very good reasons) traveling a lot this summer.

So much so that now I can't find the time or money to go to the next BNC in Chicago, but I'm resigned to that now.

The short version of this summer:

1. Niagara Falls is touristy. So touristy that I suspect the Canadians are mocking us. Politely, of course.

2. North-central PA has many twisty roads, not all of which are safe to drive on.

3. Gas stations in NY are hard to find.

4. Hamilton, ON looks suspiciously like my hometown. Only with one-way streets. And French signs.

5. "Frozen Puck to the Head" is funnier than it ought to be.

6. Clove cigarettes may be my downfall. Or possibly real Canadian beer.

7. When your automobile begins to act strangely, it's a good idea to pay attention.

8. Backwards at 65 mph on the turnpike? Not as much fun as it sounds. Also, the smell of gasoline is much more unnerving when you're not actually at a gas station.

9. Ohio may not be exciting, but the mechanics, tow truck drivers, highway patrolmen, and tire salesmen are good people. Expensive, but helpful.

10. "Well, it could have been worse," is only a useful observation the first dozen times you hear it. After that, it starts to get annoying.

11. It is better to have people actually do what you ask than have them try to figure out what you really want. Helpful hint: I want you to do what I asked. Please.

12. Some houseguests are easier to deal with than others. The easy ones are rarely family.

13. There are good parties and there are bad parties. The good ones generally involve mocking of some sort.

14. Places which are good for a happy hour are probably not good for a writing meeting. Especially not if there's a jazz band.

15. DC is often unbearably hot, and yet you still need to venture outside and do things. This seems unfair, somehow.

So. That's 15 posts I won't be writing.

And while I'm catching up on things, here's a meme/quiz/time-wasting thing that I snagged from Learning to Live with It:

You Are The Hanging Man

You represent the seeking of enlightenment and spiritual clarity.
You tend to confuse others, but your oddities seem deeply satisfying.
Self sacrifice is easy for you, especially if it makes you a better person in the end.
You are the type of person who is very in touch with your soul and inner spirit.

Your fortune:

Right now is a good time for reflection and meditation.
You should stop resisting the problems in your life, and let yourself be vulnerable to them.
You may need to sacrifice something important to you to move ahead in your life.
Accept your destiny with courage, and learn to let go of what you think you need.

What Tarot Card Are You?

farewell to california

2007-08-08T20:44:00.001-04:00

Today's post combines a lot of things that I thought I'd have had more time to write longer posts on but didn't.

- The "Papers with the Prof" programme at the dining hall. Local and national newspapers are placed on a table. The resident facult, the "Prof", reads them and marks and comments on certain articles. Students and other staff are encouraged to do the same. For solitary eaters (like me!) or for generating conversations about news stories, it's a fantastic project and, as far as I could tell, it seemed to be going well. When I grow up, I want to be the "Prof".

- The used book stores. Of which many words have already been written so I won't write more here.

- The weather--once you get used to wearing jackets during daytime (in August!), you realise that the cooler weather facilitates walking about, bludging in the sunshine and is good for energy conservation (no need for air conditioners). I did read there's a heat advisory for Washington for the upcoming week. Fun.

- The students. I guess it goes without saying that engineering, global public health and law and human rights are not my preferred topics of choice to teach. It did help that the syllabi were developed by people who know what they were doing (more than I do) so all I had to do was tweak them. Still. The final two sessions--engineering and GPH with most classes being one after another--were fairly tough especially as the engineering kids seemed to expect, you know, actual engineering, not a class on the "let's talk about the social and environmental effects of engineering and technologies". Ah well.

It didn't help that, for almost all the kids, TUWSNBN was an unknown creature. I believe I have mentioned that more than one student asked if it was an online university. PR people, take note.

Overall, though, I think they all went remarkably well. The classes were well-structured, the students were keen to discuss issues raised (especially the global public health students, who were articulate and cheerful even at extremely early hours of the morning) and some even found me during "off times" to discuss topics raised in class.

- The homeless. Rather surprisingly, even for me who grew up in various "developing" countries, San Francisco and Berkeley have remarkably large numbers of homeless/street people. Many of them, especially in Berkeley, are not especially nice (though I do get the point that nice is probably not what I'd be if I were homeless either). Many have been fairly agressive, rather rude at times and seem to have psychological issues and not just a lack of a place to live.

Is the state doing something about this? Well, there was a recent article in the local newspaper about how the state was making plans to ensure homeless people got aid (including psychological assistance) but local people (well, the few that I've actually talked to) seem to think this is all part of the Mayor's campaign for re-election.

- This is the first time in my life that I've lived in a context where all my fellow employees are American. Not just American but young, undergrad-aged, Americans. It's been interesting, to say the least.

- Living in a dorm once again, ten years after I did so the first time around. See above re: interesting.

I think that's about it for now. I am headed back the same way I came over but will be spending a week at the Glacier National Park in Montana.

seeing things i'd only read of before

2007-08-05T23:20:00.000-04:00

Today's entry: the University itself. UC Berkeley (or "Cal" as the locals seem to call it) has a lovely campus, numerous sports fields, swimming pools and an excellent location with buildings meandering up on the hills overlooking the city.

It also has this. Sproul Plaza, was apparently "ground zero for '60's era campus activism", anti-war protests during the Vietnam era and a site where people were gassed by the National Guard*.

One of the best parts of this summer has been seeing places I'd read of in actual life, so to spreak. The Beat Generation's hangouts, Steinbeck's Cannery Row, the dodgy pub where Jack London used to drink, the rocks and crags where Chinese seamen used to live (before it became "cool" to immigrate to San Francisco), the gold rush towns that have now all disappeared (except as tourist sites) and the overall enjoyment of wandering through a university with a history of doing stuff.**

* Not on a regular basis, mind yous. Just once, I believe, sometime in the (when else?) '60's.

** I believe it has been frequently mentioned that I'm not the more articulate one of PTSD.

i was feeling lazy today, oh boy

2007-08-05T02:27:00.000-04:00

So, today's post is about watching a film and buying a t-shirt. F

The film was The Bourne Ultimatum. It's (isn't everything, really?) all about being under surveillance by (y)our own government, lines being blurred about good/bad people and shaky camerawork.

Also, nifty little sequences in Waterloo station in London and in a neighbourhood in Tangiers (the rooftop scene).

The t-shirt was this one. The chap (English guy who'd been to Nepal "four times" and "was too lazy to hike but went rafting" -- including once right near where my dad used to live) pointed out he'd gotten the definition from the OED.

Well, that's all right then. Why am I bothering to write dissertation on contested claims of definition when I can just buy a t-shirt instead?

from the outside, looking in

2007-08-03T23:33:00.000-04:00

I forgot to write one up yesterday. Apologies. Assuming you were keeping count, that is.

Today's entry is from Berkeley. On the corner of Durant Avenue (the street where the dorm that I've been living in over the summer is located) and Shattuck Avenue (which is one of the main streets of Berkeley), there is a bookstore called Pegagus. Not being content to be named after a mythical winged creature, it is one of those places where the staff leaves you alone and you can usually find one book that you've just been looking for (but not yet found). But, today's entry is not about Pegasus.

Next door to Pegasus, there is a yellowish-orange-walled building. It is sat between Pegasus and has an automobile dealership on its other side. There is no sign for this building. Nor is there an entrance--well, none that I have seen yet anyway. Instead, there are a few tall windows through which the insides of the building can be seen.

The inside is a large, dark room. The room is filled with 30 or so pool tables. Every evening I've walked past this building (and I walk past it 4-5 times a week), the tables are surrounded by people intent on the coloured balls in front of them. This being Berkeley, the crowd is ethnically-diverse though their ages appear to be in the younger side of 40 and they are mostly men.

Standing outside one of the windows, you realise that there's not much conversation going on. No one seems there to impress people. People don't even look up from their games. Instead, they wait. And, when it's their turn, they play.

It's not a bar. It doesn't look flash. It's always been busy, even on weekdays. And it's one of the (many) oddities of Berkeley that I've grown used to over the summer.

dreams of robots

2007-08-02T04:15:00.000-04:00

Today's entry is not about things or people but about shops. Well, two shops to be precise.

First,
Kidrobot.

A shop ful of incredibly detailed, colourful little robots (well, mostly little). If only it were bigger, I'd have managed to spend most of my afternoon there.

Then, the equally fun but unrelated to the above Giant Robot. Both a shop (in material as well as online forms) and a magazine. Described as "covering cool aspects of Asian and Asian-American pop culture". Has an excellent (and funny) review section.

Makes me feel right at home, all this.

concerns of today's youth

2007-08-01T00:00:00.000-04:00

Today's entry into the "This is Berkeley (for me)" category: two scenes from two days.

Yesterday (on the train to San Francisco):

Boy and Girl are sitting together, on a seat facing me. Boy moves closer to put his arm around the girl. Girl moves away.

Boy: Hey, no one's going to see.
Girl: doesn't matter.
Boy: You make it difficult to flirt with you.
Girl: We should look out for your sister
Boy: She's (something that sounds like) wacked (whacked?).
Girl: No, she just likes black.
Boy: Yes, that's what I mean. Wack.
Girl: My brother and his girlfriend work on Powell (street. Busy shopping area)
Boy (firmly): They are not going to see us. You're not letting me do anything anyway.

Today (at the cafetaria at uni):

Two girls are sat facing each other, fairly close to where I'm eating my supper.

GirlA: Is that all you're eating?
GirlB (who has a bowl with leaves in it. Just leaves): Yes
GirlA: Why? you not feeling good?
GirlB: No, I'm on a diet. Mom says if I lose ten pounds when I come back, she'll give
me $200 to buy clothes.
GirlA: I couldn't do that. I can't diet.
GirlB: I tried last year. Had anorexia (like saying "I had a cough"). Giggles I got over it. But, I still need to lose weight. (she wasn't overweight by the way. Slightly chubby--maybe a size 12 in US size)
GirlA: Well, if it makes you feel better, I have depression. It's genetic in my family.

of smoke shops and Nepali names

2007-07-31T00:36:00.001-04:00

Since I have about ten days more left in this part of the country, I thought I'd do daily posts about things I've been noticing. Or, stuff that's been happening.

Today was the last day of a 3-day break before the start of my final session of teaching. I wandered off to San Francisco (a 30-min train trip) and set out to explore Haight-Ashbury. H-A, for those of yous who are interested, is like a large (but seedier) Thamel. Or, for the non-Nepali reader(s), H-A is where the Grateful Dead used to live (or had a house). It's where the "summer of love" (apparently) happened so loads of folks flock down there to check it out (or so it seemed). I'm still unsure what the "summer of love" was about.*

During the course of the afternoon, I was sat at a park when a bloke wandered up (blokes tend to wander up fairly often in Berkeley/SF I've noticed). Bloke had a fairly ripe smell about him (SF is seriously lacking in public showers, it seems).
Said bloke started talking (most folks are v chatty here):

Bloke (waving what looked like a lit ciggie): want a smoke?
Me: No
Bloke: why?
Me: I don't smoke
Bloke: You have an accent. Where're you from?
Me: Nepal
Bloke: Oh, that's why you don't smoke then. I hear you eat ganja over there--ganja cakes?
Me: silence

So, it's nice that people know about Nepal. It's nice that half the shops seem to sell stuff from Nepal. It's nice that there are loads of Nepali restaurants about. But, it's not that nice that a lot of this association is to do with ganja**. We do have non potheads about as well--not that yous would know it if you were here. Most smoke (head) shops even have Nepali names, including one called Annapurna in Berkeley. Yes, well, from Goddess to one of the highest mountains in the world to a head shop. Oh why didn't some enterprising Nepali trademark the bloody name? An excellent money-making opportunity lost right there.

* I suppose I should Google it at some point or I'll just wait to get back to TUWSNBN and ask one of my fellow Americans there.

** Though perhaps ganja can't be much worse than being known as the royal familiy-murdering, politically-unstable, anachronistic country that the Northern Danes seemed to think we were.

oh, where do they all go to?

2007-07-30T00:18:00.001-04:00

Reason no. 853 for rather liking Berkeley.

The map of the park I was hiking to today had, in bold letters, this:

"South Park Drive is Closed from November 1 to March 1 to protect migrating newts".

I wonder where they migrate to?

of men (but not of mice)

2007-07-29T00:11:00.001-04:00

This is a post I've been meaning to write since I finished my Women in International Security Conference at Georgetown Uni (Washington, DC) in June (just before I left Washington for California). I think it has suffered in not being posted when the thoughts were still fresh in my head (mainly because I can't be bothered to actually care much about it now that some time has passed) but I reckoned I'd put it up anyway.

One of the running themes of the WIIS Summer Symposium, which I attended in early June 2007, was ongoing discussion about balancing one's career with personal life. Two things should probably be made clear before I write more:

- "work" was equated with (mostly) non-academic but executive-style (most women who were talking to us about it were policymakers or consultants) jobs and "personal life" was equated with (non gay) marriage. In other words, we were talking of work and men.

- And, yet, men were absent from much of this discussion. It was a discussion by women for women (both young and older) about men. It was a discussion about "compromise" and "being lucky to have had an understanding husband"* and how the chap was "supportive" of the speaker's job and career. It was a discussion about having given up a promising career (at least two of the women had this trajectory) to look after her children but "not having any regrets" and about how bosses and "mentors" (almost always men) were "supportive" in letting her (them) work part-time. It was a discussion about "not being guilty" to hire a nanny in order to get back to work.

Questions about it being the norm to have an "understanding" husband (in the sense of the woman continuing to work and the man sharing in the childcare/housework) and, if there was finances, hiring a nanny to make life easier all around (after all, why not get someone trained for looking after a kid?) were sidestepped as easily as was the fact that, really, there was no bloke speaking out in favour of (or not) men.

During the course of the Symposium, there was a lot of talk about how brilliant we all were. How brilliant women were. How supportive and encouraging of each other women were. And, there was also frequent mention of "not like men". Or, "we applaud each other (unlike men)". But, as I wrote above, there were no men to agree or disagree with this stereotyping.

All in all, for a non-American person, it was a rather depressing discussion. None of the (main) panellists in the formal discussion or in the many informal discussions which followed seemed to have had a partner (husband or whatnot) who participated equally in childcare. They all seemed to think they were fortunate to have a husband who "supported" them going back to work! That, to me, seems incredibly daft. I look around now at the people I know--the few who read PTSD and the many who don't--and, in most cases, the bloke** is as equally involved in parenting and "supporting" his partner as the woman is. Midnight feedings and changing nappies are not just the woman's job, despite what we heard in WIIS.

Maybe it is a generational thing. All the women who talked to us of balancing work and family were of (my) parents' generation. But, then, my father fed, changed and carried me (and my siblings at various points in time) about (and this was the 1980's). As did his mates. My Mum (sensibly) produced us and decided it was time for a bit of a rest. Husbands (and nannies, if they could be afforded) were part of the child-rearing process. I'm not saying this wasn't a challenge--Asian blokes are not really supposed to become part of child-rearing than those here in the West. But, in my family and in other families I know, people did what they must. After all, most couples aren't too keen on having one of them be the one looking after a crying, messy, hungry child all the time. Sharing the duties then becomes a matter of consideration, of partnership and that's how it was.

I'm also not saying that balancing work and a personal life is not a challenge. Not that I'd know since I don't actually have a personal life but I know most people do! But, I reckon it's important to keep in mind that it's not just a challenge to women. It's a challenge for everyone. And, having discussions about what "women" do and what "women" can expect from men, without actually having any man involved in said discussions doesn't help in learning about and from each other's experiences (since that was, ostensibly, the point of the discussions).***

* The word "partner" was rarely mentioned.

** Substitute whatever gender you want, as necessary. I'll stay with "bloke" since that was the focus of the WIIS discussions.

*** This was actually part of my comments for the overall programme. I also added that perhaps having an academic and also someone from overseas (all the panellists were older policymakers based in the United States) might help in clarifying that "women's experiences" in balancing work and a personal life were more varied than we heard of. Especially as the participants themselves were from 16 countries.

taking the long road back

2007-07-28T01:13:00.000-04:00

Since I have nothing academic to write for yous and since E's disappeared (meaning this space is mine, I reckon), I thought I'd write about what I've been doing for the past two hours.

Planning my trip back to Washington.

Why is it taking so long, yous ask?

Well, do I go to Yosemite for two days, then to Sacramento for a day (for the gold-mining history) and then East Glacier National Park for 3 days and then DC? This would mean travelling back on the Empire Builder, a trip I did on my way here (but without the stop at the National Park and the Park seemed magnificent)

OR

Do I avoid Yosemite (why join the hordes or people and it's bound to be more expensive) and go to Tahoe (hopefully few people in the summer and yet good for hiking and biking about) and then DC through the Rockies (and Denver)?

OR

Do I just go directly to DC and see if I can last 55 hours on a train? (the answer's Yes. I can amuse myself endlessly by staring out the window and making notes on things seen)

And, how do I coordinat all this (well, except the last route) when the public transport system is such a bloody hassle to maneuvre?

Well, there yous have it. Nothing academic. I did mean to write about the final Harry Potter/Simpsons' film (which I just saw) and how they both benefit by having what went before go before.

Or, how Homer and Harry are rather similar, actually.

of technologies and magic

2007-07-25T01:11:00.000-04:00

My engineering class here at Berkeley, almost all nicked from the wonderful notes (and syllabus) of a fellow PhD-er at TUWSNBN,* is about the social, political and cultural effects of engineering. I talk of how we can decide (or even if we can decide) to use technologies in a way that benefits the world we live in, rather than increase social, political and economic divides.

With that in mind, we have discussed green design ("eco-effectiveness" rather than "eco-efficiency"), wandered through (and discussed) what made the Cal cafetaria "green"** and checked out the top 10 "green" skyscrapers in the world.

Tomorrow's lecture is on a slightly different topic--a "post-human future".

This, unsurprisingly to most PTSD readers, seemed to be to be a wonderful time to bring up science fiction (or "future fiction") novels. However, I have managed (with difficulty it has to be said) to avoid doing anything of the sort. Instead, in tomorrow's lecture, I shall talk about (what else?) Harry Potter. Yes, Harry Potter.

It seemed to me, while writing up the lecture, that some of the themes from the books--how we deal with changes in our lives in view of increasing powers we acquire--are similar to what I want my students to discuss. Yes, technologies are changing rapidly. Yes, these kids will grow up in a world that I (or other kids in "my" part of the world) will never know or understand. But, the concerns they share--how to use technology and do little harm as possible -- are similar to that of the students and teachers of Hogwarts. And so I shall start the discussion.

After writing my lecture, I found I wasn't the only person who thought of this. Joel Garreau, whose book Radical Evolution forms the guideline of this section of my course expressed a similar view, much more eloquently than I ever would.

* With his permission, of course.
** It was apparently the first "green" building on the Uni of California Berkeley campus. It also has a fully organic kitchen.

a quick thought on you-know-what

2007-07-22T21:52:00.000-04:00

Like the many, many people who have finished reading HP7, I'm rather sleep-deprived but not so much as to write:

What? When did a brilliant, witty, sarcastic and yet strangely fascinating bloke turn into a Disney hero? When? I wouldn't be surprised if Snape secretly listened to the Smiths and had discussions about how no one really understood him.

Oh, JKR.

chasing cars along the california coastline

2007-07-16T02:34:00.001-04:00

I figured, since I'd disappeared, that E would keep yous company. I guess not and it behooves me (always wanted to write that) to update yous on what I've been up to:

- Taught a Global Public Health course for the first time ever. Realised that, in the end, my international law and GPH courses are quite similar (all about complex emergencies, international actors, social responsibility, access and equity issues and so on).

- Was quite sick for the ONE day I had to teach 3 classs. Typical.

- Started and finished indexing a book on Northern Ireland and realised I can now distinguish between the many different paramilitary organisations' acronyms with ease. A tough task that.

- And, best of all (and the reason this is short for now), met up with a (Swedish) friend from grad school days, rented a car (first time ever) and drove on Highway 1* along the California coastline for the past 3 days. Just got back and am now in the process of letting yous know about it.

Highlights: Massive redwoods (well, duh!), magnificent coastlines, seals, sea otters and sea lions, lots and lots of birds, hiking in the forests and sleeping on the beaches and just the general good fun of actually going on such an American thing like a road trip. Oh yes, and the car we were given had Texas plates (which was amusing in itself for no particular reason except that "OH, there was a Nepali and a Swede who went on a road trip along the California coast in a car with a Texas plate" sounds like the start of a particularly bad joke).

There were also two nights in a proper, actual American motel. A seedy-ish one right by the entrance to the highway.

* Without a road map, by the way. We both decided that "there'll be signs" and just went with that. Surprisingly enough, we only got lost once.

brief moments of frivolity on a friday

2007-07-07T13:34:00.001-04:00

If anyone had told me, two months ago, that I'd be spending a Friday evening in mid-July in the Western USA walking around in 50-some degree weather (Fahrenheit, thank you), dressed in all the "cool weather"* clothes I brought (a cotton hoodie, a short-sleeved t-shirt, jeans and slippers) while trying not to get blown off track by the 20 mph winds, I'd not have believed them.

If they'd said I'd actually be enjoying this experience**, I'd have laughed in their faces.

* Seriously--I thought California was all about beaches and sand and sea and more beaches. Now, people tell me, "oh, right, but that's Southern California!".

** Well, maybe not the 8am classes.

How to learn everything in 3.5 hours

2007-07-06T00:19:00.000-04:00

Today's class session notes, if I were to write them up, would probably amuse ProfP, Weberman and E. At times, I was sat there thinking "this would make an excellent reality TV show" and fighting a strong urge to look back and see Nemesis (of the Machiavellian kind) shadowing me about.

So, what happened? Well, the session itself went off okay. This was one of those sessions where my two classes--Global Public Health and International Law and Human Rights--were at the same time and each was 3.5 hours long. We started off with introductions, I emphasised their general good luck in acquiring (if they finished all assignments and I liked said assignments) one university-level credit for doing far less work than "normal" university-level students usually do, introduced them to the wonders of Blackboard and the wondrous site that is TUWSNBN's library and got on with the business of actually getting them to learn.

I should probably digress at this point by adding that I had acquired, for the purposes of this first class, two Teaching Assistants. One, about to enter Medical School in the Fall, was for the Health class and the other, about to enter Law School next year, was for the Law class. Their jobs was to facilitate each of the classes since, despite my wishes, I couldn't be in two places at one time.

So, the introductory lecture: I have a bit in the beginning where I talk about how Global Health and International Law are related. Some of the challenges they face are similar--we go on to discuss things like "public goods", transboundary issues, sovereignty of the state and social justice and equity (my themes for all my courses--might as well stick with things I know). We watch a film on Climate Change and how that will affect global health and also how it's a challenge to international law. It (seems to) go okay.

Then, we separate out and I have to hand over my Health class to HealthTA. HealthTA is fantastic and she's supposed to be leading an in-class exercise on "Neglected Tropical Diseases". They watch a video on Guinea Worms (pretty gruesome and available on YouTube if yous are interested), read a NYT article about tropical diseases and start a discussion. We were trying to get them to think about "health" and "global health" from a perspective which they (usually) wouldn't have thought of.

While this was going on, LawTA had the Law class and was conducting a Negotiations Exercise on Climate Change. Each student had a reading packet and was one of the major actors in the International Climate Change regime. They were supposed to discuss what the main goals and interests of each actor was and how the interests could be (and whether they could be) accommodated through the international regime.

Where's the amusing part you ask? Well, after having been a "veteran" of these gigs by now, I knew that we had to explain basic concepts like the United Nations,* The G-8, the Kyoto Protocol and so on. I forgot to tell this to LawTA who, understandably, thought they knew all this and was surprised when they didn't. The conversation we had very much resembled numerous conversations I've had with the people mentioned above:

LawTA: I can't believe they didn't know the UN! Or, "developing countries"
Me: Yes, well, these are not terms that come up often in high schools, presumably.
LawTA then explains how, in her high school, they had Model United Nations and Amnesty International and such. Pretty much what I tend to do when talking to the people mentioned earlier. Role reversal--this time around, I was explaining that concepts seemingly-obvious to us aren't to the students we are working with. There's not much point in whingeing about it but, instead, get them to understand these things.

My learning experience here? LawTA's easy acknowledgment of "we Americans can agree that human rights should be gender-neutral and encompass the whole world, right?" when discussing Universal vs. Culturally-specific rights. It's a statement that, as a non-American, I wouldn't be able to make. I can't say: Look, we don't do X in our country since the "us"--the students and I sharing an experience of having lived and having been from here-- is missing. For me, it's always, "you", which then distances me from the students I'm interacting with. Something that I hadn't thought about much until I watched LawTA in action.

On the HealthTA side, the learning experience was a practical one. It's been a hot day here in Berkeley (hot, being about 85 degrees Fahrenheit) and the room we were sat in was humid. The students, some of whom had travelled across the country, were falling asleep. So, HealthTA made each of them read from the PowerPoint slides we had--slides about how Global Public Health is about issues such as equity, access, affordability and not just about being free from diseases. She then made each student explain what they thought the slide meant and come up with examples. This actually generated a fair amount of interest and discussion and is definitely a tip I shall pick up on, I reckon!

So, there yous have it. Tomorrow morning, my Global Public Health class continues at 8am. Hopefully, we've not yet scared off the kids.

* Really. I had a student define the United Nations as "all the rich countries". I know people despair of the high school system all the time but, really! However, I guess they're still kids and it's our task to get them to think on such issues. Have I become all Berkeley-ian and Zen?

biting the hand(s) that feed(s) them: the Transformers

2007-07-04T03:11:00.000-04:00

Happy Independence Day, all you Americans!

I spent the eve watching the Transformers. For a film that probably cost massive amounts of money and was called "military porn" by one of the film reviewers (in one of the local 'papers), it was actually rather subversive and critical of the current imperial government/military*. I'm rather knackered for much discussion but here are a few examples to argue my point:

- The President, when on Air Force One, is shown asking for "ding dongs"** and wearing bright red socks (in bed).

- The (Australian) computer chick tells off the (American) defence people for not paying her attention by saying something along the lines of "we need to figure out who's doing this [jamming defence signals. We the viewers, of course, know it's the evil Decepticons] so we can save you from going to war with the wrong country"

- The credits at the end: "Our government doesn't keep secrets. It doesn't lie".

- The "good" guys in the government use Macs. 'nuff said.

- The Australian computer chick--she gets quite a few lines emphasising it's you [Americans] doing dodgy things without having all the info.

- The Secret Secret Agency guy (yes, it's double secret since not even the DoD knows of its existence) saying something about his "ridiculous salary that the government pays me".

- The good Autobots turn into sturdy, run of the mill, land-based vehicles (including a Hummer, I think and some sort of large truck). The evil Decepticons turn into military hardware, including a stealth bomber-type aircraft and a tank.

That's it folks. If American, do enjoy your Indpendence Day. If not American, do whatever yous usually do on a Wednesday. I am working all day and then headed down to "the Mission" to watch fireworks across San Francisco bay. Hopefully, public transport back to Berkeley will still be running after that(or else yous will hear of my night out in the open air, warding off chill and nutters).

Oh, and if yous are wondering, the Transformers is well worth the $8 yous will pay for the ticket. It surpassed my (well, fairly low) expectations--the CGI is fantastic, the action sequences are well-done and the acting and the dialogue are both suprisingly good. Add a geeky audience which cheered at all the rights spots (with a HUGE cheer for "My name is Optimus Prime"), it was a movie-going experience which has increased my liking for Berkeley.

* Is that irony? I mean, on the one hand, you have adverts for General Motors, discussions (by the "good" Transformers) about "everyone should be allowed a choice" and "all sentient beings deserve freedom" and, on the other, you are criticising the government.

** No, I've no idea what these are--must be an American thing.

in-between teaching sessions

2007-07-02T17:57:00.001-04:00

Highlights from the first session of my International Law and Human Rights course:

- Being asked "so, did they kill children too?" when discussing the Rwandan genocide and realising that things I think of as being obvious aren't really.

- "Why didn't you do anything?" (again, when discussing Rwanda and Darfur--and realising that, during the Rwandan events, I was the age my students are now).

I didn't have an answer to this except the rather weak "I didn't even know what was going on", which led to a discussion about news sources, globalisation and living in a fairly remote part of the world. When I was 14-15, I was busy studying for my School Leaving Certificate (Grade 10), we didn't have cable/international television and my reading consisted (mostly) of old Agatha Christie mysteries, Charles Dickens and suchlike.

- Their surprised looks (and "oh, now I feel terrible--greedy, you see") after the Tragedy of the Commons exercise.*

- Being told by the TA's that four of my students now wanted to "learn more about international law" and maybe even "join the United Nations". Bit worrying, that.

- Having one of the students bring up female genital mutiliation (when talking of women's rights) and another ask what that entailed.

- Realising that my flunkie gig provided valuable experience in talking of American law school systems (and first year classes). There's probably some moral in that story about how all painful experiences are ultimately useful but I refuse to believe it.

- Going out to eat with the TA's and project managers (all Juniors or Seniors in undergrad with a couple of recent graduates) and falling back into "Professor" mode while talking about post-undergraduate options.**

The next sessions--law again and also global public health--start on 5 July. I'm sure I'll have more to say on those in upcoming days. Now, it's the first "over 75 degrees" day here in Berkeley so I'm off for a long walk--one which will, hopefully, avoid the (many wonderful) used bookstores. There's a hill behind the university that I want to climb up on.

* This actually went off rather well--no one waited for the second round (where they would have received more money for their fish) as they all grabbed their fish during the first round of fishing. As an exercise in how the Commons are destroyed, it went off perfectly and set up the stage for discussing options of managing such issues.

** I suppose it comes as no surprise to those who know me in that our discussions were mostly about travelling and working overseas.

what is the world coming to?

2007-07-01T01:27:00.000-04:00

Remember how I said I'd talk about the boundaries between my students and the professor (aka Me) here?

Well, tonight there was an awards ceremony/farewell gig. During it, two of my students hugged me. Seriously.*

* For those who know me, I'm not a huggable-type of person. Or a hugger. Not by any means.

who's a danger, then?

2007-06-30T16:50:00.000-04:00

In view of the reports about car bombs being found in London and the explosion at Glasgow airport, where "two Asian men" have been arrested, I reckoned this is as good a time as any to write about the security of public transport here in the USA.

No, I'm not going to provide a long-winded analysis of what can/should/cannot be done but just a few sketches from my trip from Washington DC to Berkeley CA:

ID checks are few and far between. I got my ticket (DC to Chicago) off a machine and, later, when the conductor checked it, he didn't ask for ID. This, however, seemed random selection as he did ask other people for ID.

For the Chicago-Portland (Empire Builder) part of the trip, we were made to line up as a conductor went along the line, checking our IDs and tickets. A few people (including one lady with her son. The son had a school ID card but apparently this was "not proper government-issued ID". Also, a couple of Spanish backpackers who appeared not to speak English very well but had, what seemed to me to be, proper EU identification) were pulled out of the line and told to stand aside. They were, later, allowed to join the line (no one else from Amtrak approached them when they had their own separate line. It just looked odd).

While all this was happening, a group of (older) people were exclaiming that there was a lounge for First-class ("Sleeping Car" though the terms were used interchangeably) passengers and how they hadn't known about it. There were about 10 of them, chatting and making jokes and suchlike. As the ticket and ID check progressed down the line, one of them--an elderly woman dressed rather like Queen Elizabeth in a pink skirt set and a hat--realised she didn't have her ID with her. She made loud exclamations about her forgetfulness, mentioned repeatedly her ID was in her "checked luggage" and was (it seemed to me) told that she could get on the train this time but not to do it again.*

As a few of my fellow terrorism scholars (ex-practitioners) would tell yous--terrorists can come in all shapes and sizes and colours. Just because someone's a little old lady more suited to play Miss Marple on BBC than your non-English speaking dodgy type, doesn't mean they should be allowed to flout the rules.

For the Portland-Sacramento part of the journey, we also had two lines but both just checked our tickets rather than tickets and ID's. There were no ticket checks on the train itself. So, theoretically, we could have had our tickets checked within the station and someone else could have taken our place during the distance from the station to the train.

Again, for the Sacramento-Berkeley trip, there was no ID check either. I presented my ticket, the conductor tore off a strip and handed the rest of it back to me. Done.

Contrast this with my (one and only, I have to admit) air journey within the USA--I flew from Washington to San Diego last year. During the "take shoes off and put your belongings into the machine" part, I was pulled aside and asked for ID. I showed my (Virginia-issued, caused no trouble anywhere) Drivers' ID. The woman asked me for my passport. Thankfully (since, as I wasn't planning on leaving the country, there was no reason for me to actually have my passport with me) I had my passport with me. After a few more minutes of questioning, I was allowed to go through.

Compare this, too, with stories of (most of) the women who flew in for the Workshop I attended just before I came to Berkeley--almost all of them, including one who had a United States "Green card"** mentioned they were pulled aside and questioned about their reasons for visiting, how long they were staying and what they planned to do when they left the United States. The longer questionings were reserved for people flying in from Britain (compared to the rest of Western Europe--there was no one from Eastern Europe at the Workshop) and Australia. Apparently these countries are U.S. allies in the Global War on Terror but that doesn't mean they aren't suspected of potentially nefarious deeds.

* I would like to point out that I was sat on a chair by the line, in hearing and seeing distance of what was going on but, really, there may be alternative interpretations of any/all of this. But, I saw what I saw (as the phrase goes).

** I think this confers Permanent Residence status on its holders. There's a separate line, at airports, for United States citizens and those holding green cards (those two groups being linked together)

and then there were...the undead!

2007-06-30T03:31:00.000-04:00

I spent almost 10 hours today, walking up and down the streets of San Francisco and pretty much covering (some streets more than once) the entire downtown area. More on that later.

I also came across this: "The Vampire Tour of San Francisco".

I'm not sure whether I should sign up or whether I'd just find it funny (and thus offend the well-meaning vampires-in-training).

High plains driftin': on the trail(s) of race and history

2007-06-29T00:43:00.000-04:00

Well, PTSD-ers remain silent for nearly a week or so and then write two posts in a day . E's previous post got me thinking that I'd not written to regale yous with my adventures in the Northern reaches of this great country as I made my way across it. I should probably mention that none of what follows here is likely to have anything to do with academia but, then, as yous may have gathered by now, little of what I seem to write does.*

First, the name of the train itself. The way the Amtrak system works is that I had three choices for my cross-country trip: Washington to Chicago and then 1) across the Northern reaches of the country 2) across to Denver and Salt Lake City and 3) down South to New Orleans and through Texas. Well, when I found that one of the trains was called "Empire Builder", there really was no choice to be made. I had to take that across.** The Empire Builder made its way across Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana and Oregon. In the process, we passed through towns which, apart from their tarred roads, seemed little changed from the days in which Mr. L'Amour wrote about them. Having grown up with a steady diet of "Westerns"--both books and films--actually passing through countryside that resembled this mental image I had of America was pretty "cool".

Of course, there were differences--the ubiquitous utes; the communication towers; the sign advertising "free wireless internet" on a wooden shack near Malta, MT; the paved roads (I think I mentioned this already?)-- but the image of small frontier towns in America with their (one) main street and shoddy train stations, with their shops with names like "Jed's saloon" and "Burt's tack shop" and with people who waved at us as the train passed by, fitted in well with my (imagined) reality of going out West in America.

And then there were the oddities and marvels--the "Torture Museum" at Wisconsin Dells, the nightlong thunderstorms (during which the skies did turn red and streaks of lightning bisected the dark), the town of Fargo (in the midst of a blinding rainstorm--just what I would have hoped for), the "recreated" trading post of Fort Union (with its oh-so-fake wigwams situated stiffly in front of the post), seeing buffaloes run across the plain (oh-so-"Western")and crossing the continental divide.

The scenes of natural beauty which were pretty breathtaking as well--dry, dusty towns shifted to rocky mountains and evergreen trees with West Glacier National Park as a highlight, especially when the train went through tall mountain ranges with the river far down below. Except for the differences in the types of trees, it was almost like being back home in Nepal. Empire-building was actually an experience of homesickness, as the mountains, rivers and the high waterfalls were rather similar to the physical geography of home.

At this time, I would like to do a bit of advertising for Amtrak and highly recommend their "Trails and Rails" programme. This programme, where wildlife rangers rode on the train and explained about historical and natural heritage of the part of the country we passed through, was an excellent source of information and entertainment. However, as is usual in modern retellings of history, the stories about "Empire-building" that were actually told were heavily "sanitised"--not much mention was made of diseases, deaths and dodgy dealings with difference.

Then, after nearly 2 days of passing through the Northern Part of the United States, the train was just leaving the mountains, the rain stopped and there appeared a rainbow.*** It was a time to glory in the successful trip out West, in having survived a gruelling trek and it was a time to be thankful for the Empire Builder. Yes, I do see the irony in typing that but I shall do so anyway.

Next post--teaching and eating (in the main mess) and living with the students I am teaching. Seeing them at mealtimes, chatting to them on the buses as we go on trips and then teaching them "in class". Blurring of boundaries, as it were. An example: today's discussion in class, in between talking about international law and genocide, was about which of the TA's was the "hottest". How to draw lines when, on the one hand you are "hanging out" with them (eating and going on trips) and, on the other, are teaching them? Stay tuned for my reflections.

* This is a convoluted way of telling yous that you can follow my (train)trek across the United States by checking out this map. I went from Washington DC to Chicago to Glacier National Park to Portland to Berkeley. I shall remain in Berkeley until mid-August and then will make my way back across the country. I've not yet decided that route but I shall be taking the train...again.

** LilSis1 would probably tell you this is because of "reading far too many Louis L'Amour books when younger". Also, all Nepalis are frustrated Empire builders at heart. If only we had but world enough and time, we say as we pine for our (non) Empire-building pasts (though Berkeley, California folks' views of Nepal (and Nepalis) seem to be more along the "free love" version of Marvell than the Empire-building version Nepalis usually go for).

*** I kid you not. I couldn't make this up if I tried. There was a proper, shiny rainbow. If I'd seen this scene in a film, I'd have groaned at its utter cheesiness. But, it did happen. This is not to say I shan't groan at similar scenes in future films.

Testing the waters: fanvids as artistic expression

2007-06-28T11:54:00.000-04:00

Perhaps foolishly, I promised Priya that I'd start posting more often. So. The posts may be shorter than usual, but I'll try and link to some interesting stuff that has some relationship to academia.

First up: a link to an introduction to fanvids.

Ephemeral Traces

You may have noticed, Loyal Reader, that Priya and I have more than a passing interest in popular culture. For me, at least, this extends into an interest in how popular culture is reworked by audiences and the public (including a recent paper on the creation and posting of fanvids for the First World War) and fanvids as a genre are a big part of that.

Kristina's post is both a decent introduction to the concept and development of fanvidding and a way to start exploring the limitations that vidders and fandom put on the popularity of their works.

She's limited her recommendations to pieces available on imeem, a hosting platform similar to youtube, and thereby excluded any number of influential and iconic vids posted elsewhere. This was mainly a question of access--many vids are available only through password-protected sites because of copyright questions--but it does tend to skew the choices to newer vids in particular fandoms with a strong imeem presence.

She's also attempting to create an introduction that requires little deep knowledge of particular canon sources or fan history, which means that some videos (those requiring additional knowledge of dominant pairings, the dynamics of slash fandoms, foundational fanfic tropes, and fandom histories) are excluded. This isn't a problem, so much as an example of an internal fandom mechanism for limiting the audience for the vids. Many of the pieces left out require a particular level of commitment from the viewer that makes them especially successful in fannish circles but potentially incomprehensible outside the confines of a given fandom.

Even so, her choices (especially regarding multifandom vids) offer a strong selection of the varieties of vids and the popular fandoms for them.* In addition, she spends some time deconstructing the choices, creating a way in for viewers who are new to the concept of reworking texts in this manner.

It's a post that ought to be read by anyone interested in popular culture or fandom studies.**

* I do quibble with her inclusion of here's luck's "In the Mirror" as a stand-alone video. It's really best understood as one half of a duet, and makes much more sense when viewed along with "Out Here," another piece by the same vidder.

Not that such arguments couldn't be made for most of these vids (it's a conversational medium, after all) but that omission is especially glaring, given that "Out Here" is iconic in the fandom in question.

It's available on imeem, here. I'd suggest watching "Out Here" first, and then viewing "In the Mirror."

[ETA: To be fair, she does point out that "In the Mirror" is a sequel. And I suspect that her decision not to use "Out Here" may be related to the limitations of imeem, which doesn't allow the particular editing style of "Out Here" to come through.]

** Fair warning: imeem vids begin playing as soon as the window opens. As with youtube, it's a good idea to pause the videos while they load in order to get the full effect.

[ETA: Note that Ephemeral Traces has a sidelink to "An Archive of Our Own," about which I will have more to say later.]

A brief moment of political relevance.

2007-06-26T18:54:00.000-04:00

H.R. 1592 passed in the House last May and its Senate counterpart, S. 1105, has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Now might be a good time to contact your Senators and ask them to support it.

Senate Sponsors

PTSD of course believes you should support only things you agree with. This particular member of PTSD, however, isn't sure she wants to hear about it if you don't.

Seriously. The idea of opposing this bill (which is in fact a much-needed expansion of existing hate crimes legislation) completely baffles me and makes me very cross.

if only i didn't have to work...

2007-06-16T12:41:00.000-04:00

Yes, well, apologise for cheesy title. I only have 30 mins of 'net access so can't afford to actually think about these things. So, onwards to another list:

- Living in a Residence Hall--a branch of the same one I used to live in when in Sydney, Australia--at the U of Chicago is an absolutely marvellous experience. Having to actually do work (mainly because the Symposium at BigNameUni took up most of every day, leaving no time for my own uni stuff) is not as much fun. But, doable.

- Said Residence Hall is beautiful. U of Chicago is beautiful. Stone buildings, ivy growing on the walls, lovely people and did I mention a great place to live?

- Chicago itself is a lot more interesting in the summer. Free concerts, the "beach" (yes, well, I did have a few days to spend here), the Pier, the museums (Art Institute free on Fridays).

- Speaking of museums, I've found my two favourites--the Oriental Institute museum and the Museum of Science and Industry. The latter was a brilliant example of the "modern" type of museums--lots of interactive displays, multimedia, different types of exhibits. The former? A "classic" museum--shards of pottery and statues along with one of King Tut himself. Quiet, cool and perfect for the end of the day.

- The best bit though? Bookstores. U of Chicago appears to be set amongst some of the best bookstores in town. I managed to spend most of the evenings browing among them (and buying quite a few). Why don't any of Washington's unis have such places around them?

- Food--based on my earlier visit during BigNameConference, I couldn't say Chicago and food went together (for me, anyway). This time around--great neighbourhoods and foods. I had Polish "traditional" cuisine (seemingly lots of meat and onions).

Off now to worry about whether the train, on which I'm spending nearly two days on my way across the country to Portland, will have outlets so I can actually do the work that is due on Monday. But, before that, I have to lug my stuff (including the additional books I bought here!) to the train station.

Hopefully, E will entertain yous in the time I'm slaving away on the train.

so much to write on, so little time

2007-06-13T11:25:00.000-04:00

Being lazy, yous get another list:

- The rest of the BigNameUniversity Symposium turned out to be rather excellent, in fact. Managed to get into contact with a lot of younger people doing similar types of stuff, realised the "divide" between how we here in the United States do this and how (most of) the other parts of the world do it is immense and it's not much to do with gender but with geographical spaces.

- The amusing (and yet disturbing because I thought we'd done away with this quite a while ago) equation of "gender" with "women". This was actually one of the issues brought up during the evaluation session at the end of the Symposium.

- The intensity--we had sessions from 8am to 9pm, full-on, including people talking at us during our meals. Yup. No spare time to do anything at all, including email.

- The strange unfamiliarity of being in a place I know quite well (BigNameUniversity) and yet feeling rather like a stranger but, also, the familiarity of having people from South-east Asia, Australia (yes, peeps, I missed yous!) to chat with. During BigNameConference, I always feel rather lost when colleagues start bandying names about. For once, I had my own (places, not people--not many famous people in Oz or Southeast Asia!) names to bandy about and argue over.

- Another amusing (yet disturbing) observation that, in a 200-people reception for "women in government", "women in security" and "women in defence", our Symposium members (5 of us) were the only Asian folks about. So, the security field is not much diverse after all.

- Discussing subject positioning and power politics with a colleague who was giving the Thank You speech at this reception (said colleague being dressed in a sari during this occasion).

- Realising that I can't restrain myself from being cheeky as, when asked to provide a "two minute summary of policy prescriptions from your research", pointing out that I plan to teach kids to think about assumptions underlying and constructing their views of security (and our views of security) and that's that. This, needless to say, did not go down well at all.*

- The sheer good fun of having lunch at the Canadian embassy, seeing people hang about in the House of Reps and the Senate (we saw the No Confidence Motion for the Chief Justice thingy--the Senate is actually a rather small space) and going to the American Academy of the Sciences to talk about science and security "nexus".

- SO, now, I'm sat in a coffee shop in Chicago, taking a break before I go to find my lodging. I just got here after a 17 hour train trip in which I was sat next to this kid, who wants to join the marines. We had a great chat about music, films and gaming as well as relationships with blokes. She kept on telling people she was on the phone to that she'd met someone who was "almost 30--isn't that insane?"** She was almost the same age as one of my sisters, she knew what she wanted to do ("go to the Marines because they will pay for me to go to school. Also, I can travel the world"). Coming from a Symposium which discussed ways to get more women into decision-making positions, it was interesting (and yet sad) to see how her choices were fairly limited despite being from one of the richest countries in the world. She worked 12-hour days at the local mall and planned to join the marines so she could get "stationed somewhere cool". Compared to the kids I teach at TUWSNBN (all the kids in my last class had travelled overseas, spoke another language apart from English and were planning on living abroad), this girl was the same age but her position was such that her options for doing what my kids take for granted, were very limited.

All right, off my Speakers' Box for now. I should head off to find my lodging (a dorm room--another one!--at the University of Chicago). For those interested, I'm here till Saturday, then I leave for Wyoming and then Portland (Oregon) and finally Berkeley on the 21st. I don't have a camera but yous will be forced to read about my trip (assuming it goes well).

* The "feedback" I received from my discussant said that I had not thought through the policy implications of my research and that this was a "strong drawback". It also said I should ditch discussion of methodology and just "let the example (a case from Nepal) speak for itself".

** Yes--her Mum, "nana", two friends and boyfriend all got to hear about me. And my advanced age. And how I was still single "but she doesn't seem to care". I think the entire train carriage knew all that about me by the end of the journey!

things i did today

2007-06-08T19:47:00.000-04:00

Yous might have wondered where I've been. Or not. Let's pretend yous did. In the past couple of weeks, I've become (once again) homeless, faced numerous (and ongoing) crises and, after living off various friends for two weeks, I'm now safely set up in a dorm room in one of our nation's most prestigious universities. As we were told repeatedly at today's "Dinner reception", it's got the top-ranked programmes in most fields--both graduate and undergrad--and especially in security studies.*

Since I'm supposed to be preparing my presentation (tomorrow--yes, this is how us folks spend our weekends) right now, let me procrastinate and give you a few high (low?) lights:

The Good:

- Talking about Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and even England/Wales with people who are from there or going to university there.

- The admittance by BigNameTerrorismScholar (who happens to head this uni's security studies programme) that he has no idea what goes on in Malaysia and him turning out to be a rather nice, friendly bloke.

- The Dean of said department turning out to be this elderly man who was dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt and then apologised for his gear.

- Actually having a place to stay in for a week. Really, not enough can be said about this. Said place is a dorm room, with internet access and opposite the loo. Perfect.

It's rather amusing though that this seems to be the blokes' only floor (apparently such things are common here--we used to have co-ed floors and bathrooms) so most of us (who weren't told this) spent a lot of minutes yesterday trying to find the "women's" toilets. Unsurprisingly, they didn't exist. A few of my fellow participants actually apparently didn't go to the loo or went to the lobby's toilet since they weren't sure if they could go into the men's.

- Listening to a speaker detail her job which involved staying in IDP camps in Northern Uganda and trying to persuade a "fanatical rebel leader" that, really, he should give up his arms and, ideally, stop raping women and recruiting children.

The odd:

- Having designated tables at the first night's dinner. The tables turned out to be arranged according to (or so we were told) "region". I ended up in a table with students from Malaysia (going to uni in Australia), Indonesia (going to uni in Malaysia), Pakistan (going to uni in London), and India (going to Aberystwyth in Wales!) and the US (studying "South Asia"). The logic of selection was quite weird since none of us were doing anything similar but we all happened to be from (or, in the case of the only non-Asian girl there, studying) "Asia".

Worked out quite well I guess since I've spent most of today hanging out with these same people.

- Realising that the people who have name cards and ask questions during the sessions are usually a) American and b) from American universities.

- Being told, repeatedly, that "as women" we shouldn't "play the boys' game". Also, that "when walking into a room, walk as though you're the boss even if you may not be all that sure about what you're doing or saying."

- Realising the utterly American-centric and policy-oriented nature of the programme so far (and wondering what this says about "women in security"). Talks about jobs invariably become talks about how to get a job in an American think tank or the government (not so much academia), examples about foreign policy and democracy invariably lead to discussions about America** and talks about "leadership" were about "believing in oneself" and being aware that "what I do is right and good"***. I did point out that belief was a fat lot of good if one didn't have opportunities and choices to actually work on making that belief work out (yes, I usually don't make sense).

- One speaker equating "progressive" with "being Western in outlook" as in "We have been working with women in the Afghani parliament. Some are very conservative but others are very progressive, Western in outlook". Said speaker was from a RatherFamous Think Tank here in Washington.

- The experience of being in the city where I've lived for the past four years and, yet, feeling like a stranger as I'm living off a backpack and sat in a dorm room, with people from other parts of the country/world and being involved in sessions from 8am (yes, we have people talking at us during breakfast and lunch!) to 9pm.

- Oh, yes, and the (eerie?) similarities between the biographies of many of the speakers here (Army/Air Force experience, counterterrorism, think tanks, especially RAND Corporation) and at the Summer Workshop on Teaching about Terrorism that I was at least year.

* My fellow diners, from England, Indonesia and Australia, were all miffed at the "America-centric" nature of the rankings.

** The Australian participant pointed this out and added "no one else is as arsed about the US as the US". I defended the US (well, I felt I had to) by pointing out that a) this was a VeryPrestigiousUniversity which provided a lot of foreign service folks and b) we are in the capital of the free world, after all.

*** Is it ever?

A snippet of conversation

2007-06-06T22:36:00.000-04:00

"Guess that's it, then."

"Yep."

"There they go."

"Are they jumping on each other?"

"Just the goalie."

"Oh."

"Aww. Ottawa's *sad.*"

"Great. Emo!hockey."

Not much of an apology.

2007-06-03T20:31:00.000-04:00

Priya's right, I haven't been around for the last few weeks. That could change this month, but I can't promise anything.

Some reasons that blogging is very far down on my list of things to do right now:

1. My mother's broken arm and subsequent titanium implant, which required me to spend two weeks in Ohio throwing a party for my grandfather and taking care of her and the house.

2. Various conference proposals and papers and other academic commitments that aren't finished, were going to be skipped for this year, and then received CFP extensions.

3. Both cars having mechanical difficulties at the same time. Totally different, but equally expensive, difficulties.

4. Our external media hard drive going kablooey and (potentially--fingers crossed that we can recover the data somehow without emptying the checking account) taking five years of photos, home movies, music, and my laptop backup files with it.

Related issue: S has been having trouble with his ipod, which won't accept a return to factory settings and sync with my laptop's music collection. His collection was run through the external HD (whirr-whirr-click, which can't be good) and is, therefore, MIA.

5. Preparing for this summer's teaching, which involves finding all the assignments from last year (see #4) and rerecording lectures and powerpoint files from scratch.

6. Scheduling vacation time only to have my teaching schedule change to the dates that we had reserved for said vacation. The reservations can't be changed, so this is going to be interesting.

7. Finding out that my student loan company doesn't know I'm still enrolled, a week before my grace period expires.

8. My sister's custody hearing.

9. Trying very hard not to think about my 30th birthday, which is rapidly approaching.

10. Non-academic commitments for posts and pieces of writing on my personal blog, which aren't any more important than this one but do involve people being annoyed if they aren't finished.

11. Finding out that my personal blog has perhaps been 'discovered' by an academic crush. By way of a non-academic interest. And trying to decide what to do with that bit of potentially problematic information.

An assortment of posts about the recent livejournal fracas, FanLib as a threat to fandom, interactions between real life and online life, and the temptations of moving somewhere with reasonable rents and maybe even the potential of a decent job may, if things start going back to normal, show up here soon.

don't panic...well, not on 25 May anyway

2007-05-24T12:35:00.000-04:00

For those (three?) PTSD readers out there, a reminder that tomorrow 25 May is Towel Day.

As Wiki puts it: Towel Day is celebrated every May 25 as a tribute by fans of the late author Douglas Adams.

So, there yous have it--don't forget your towels tomorrow. And, if you happen to see other towel-carrying people, tell them not to panic.

a face in the crowd

2007-05-24T11:56:00.000-04:00

So, LilSis2 (who's here for a week before heading back up north to hole herself up in SmallTownMaine all summer), IntLaw and I headed over to Harp and Fiddle yesterday to watch the Liverpool-AC Milan match.

The least said about the result, the better. So, I will talk about the people instead. Now, the British media had been reporting how the Greek media focused only on the negative potential of British fans travelling overseas. The aftermath has gotten ugly with UEFA blaming Liverpool fans for pre-match chaos. But, read this (from the Guardian, which isn't much of a football-supporting newspaper in general):

While hundreds of Liverpool fans with forged tickets got into the ground, many with genuine ones were turned away and sprayed with tear gas by riot police.

I wasn't there. I don't know if this did actually happen. But, wouldn't anyone be rather miffed at that?

The UEFA bloke, though, was having none of that:

"Liverpool fans are responsible for the problems before, during and after the game," he said. "Unfortunately in Britain it is the behaviour."

Well, not really. Granted the English fans were known for hooliganism in the past couple of decades but that has been well under control lately. Compared with Spain (racist comments by supporters against players from one's own team), Italy and even Germany, things have been fairly calm in England in the past decade.

But, notice how this doesn't much matter when people are trying to make sense of things. England fans = hooligans = "it is the behaviour" = it's the norm.

Getting back to my viewing--the place we were watching had about 60-70 blokes and about less than 10 women (counting LilSis2 and me). Most of the (other) women were in a mixed-gender group and were fairly sedate. It was rather interesting because this was the same place where I'd watched the World Cup Cricket final. At that time, the crowd was more mixed in terms of gender and age while this lot seemed more geographically-diverse. There were Australians, Italians, Danes, locals, East/Southeast Asian folks and the usual Brits and Irish, just based on a few accents ringing out.

I guess I had some point to this: Oh, yes, the geographical diversity at the local pub reflecting the popularity of football worldwide.

But, really, no matter how much I try to make this experience seem better, it sucked. Liverpool bloody well lost. Maybe next year, they'll do better.

how do you do it?

2007-05-23T00:56:00.000-04:00

Date: 25 May, 2005
Place where I was: Copenhagen, Denmark
Time: Night
Event: Champions League Final Liverpool vs AC Milan

After having spent the day wandering around the sights of the city*, I wanted to end it by watching the Liverpool-AC Milan Champions League Final. At half-time, I gave up and started walking back, through the city centre, to my hostel. Score: AC Milan 3, Liverpool 0.

At the entrance to the alley which led to the hostel, there was a small pub. Space for about 10-12 people. I glanced at it as I walked past. There was a small television in the corner. Score: AC Milan 3, Liverpool 3.

In the rapidly-cold night, I stood outside (the pub looked rather dodgy and I had no money left), watching the ensuing penalty shootout through a fairly grimy front window.

Final score? Well, yous should all know it. I believe I blogged about it. Liverpool won on penalties.

Two years later. 23 May, 2007.
Place: Washington, DC (Harp and Fiddle in Bethesda, to be precise)
Time: Afternoon

Champions League final at 2.30pm, Washington time. I've got my red shirt ready (and, being a realist about my team, a different shirt to cover it with)

It's really too much to hope for (and expect) that a similar tale will be told for the second time in three years. It's pretty much inconceivable that a team which could barely finish third in the Premiership will win against a team composed almost entirely of World Cup winners (or finalists).

But, as always, I hope. I don't want a good match, I just want Liverpool to win.

* All yous need to know is that the Little Mermaid is actually quite tiny, there are a lot of buildings--churches and suchlike-- upon whicn one can climb all the way to the roof and there are free bicycles to ride about in the city centre. Bright red bicycles. And lots of dodgy-ish take-out joints selling (my favourite food there, really) kylling kebabs.

we're clearly soldiers in petticoats

2007-05-22T00:17:00.000-04:00

There's a long post from Joss Whedon over here. It's on women's rights.

It's well worth reading. For me, it's an example of something that started off excellently but then gets a bit problematic in parts.

Let me explain with a few highlights:

A point worth reiterating--it's not just them, it's also us who do this:

Women’s inferiority – in fact, their malevolence -- is as ingrained in American popular culture as it is anywhere they’re sporting burkhas. I find it in movies, I hear it in the jokes of colleagues, I see it plastered on billboards, and not just the ones for horror movies. Women are weak. Women are manipulative. Women are somehow morally unfinished. (Objectification: another tangential rant avoided.) And the logical extension of this line of thinking is that women are, at the very least, expendable.

But, a bit further:

It’s no longer enough to shake our heads and make concerned grimaces at the news. True enlightened activism is the only thing that can save humanity from itself.

Now, I like the chap--he has helped me while away some of the precious little time I have in this world but, really. "True enlightened activism"? What is that when it's at home? Whose enlightened activism should we favour?

Any one of you would have cried out, would have intervened, had you been in that crowd in Bashiqa.

Would we?

So what can we do? According to him:

All I ask is this: Do something. Try something. Speaking out, showing up, writing a letter, a check, a strongly worded e-mail. Pick a cause – there are few unworthy ones. And nudge yourself past the brink of tacit support to action. Once a month, once a year, or just once.

I rather like the implicit optimism of this preceding paragraph--there are few unworthy causes and action (though undefined as to what this entails) is always a good thing.

Overall, though--his comparison between a girl being stoned (and the footage then shown on CNN) and a film poster? Well, in the latter, the actress presumably had a bloody choice as to whether she wanted to be in the film (or not). The former? Not so much. By ignoring the issue of choice, isn't Mr. W also denying women their voices, an act he spends quite a lot of words arguing against?

Also, the post starts by describing how some people were filming a young girl being stoned (to death). But, then, if I were there at that time, I'd probably do the same (film, not stone). It's just damned easy to sit on my sofa in front of the telly in some city and express outrage.

I do like how he ends it though--an example, as I wrote earlier, of the sentiment of the post itself being excellent, its execution slightly shoddy:

I have never had any faith in humanity. But I will give us props on this: if we can evolve, invent and theorize our way into the technologically magical, culturally diverse and artistically magnificent race we are and still get people to buy the idiotic idea that half of us are inferior, we’re pretty amazing. Let our next sleight of hand be to make that myth disappear.

map of the problematique

2007-05-20T15:29:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know both E and I have disappeared--well, more E than me. I'm back--sort of--with this

I am trying to re-write a paper that I need to present in less than two weeks' time. The paper itself is supposed to be given to the Conference organisers by Thursday. In between working on weekends (and on weekdays) to make, you know, actual money, paper-writing has taken a distant second. Today was my first day off in ages so I was doing some research. I did find this excellent (in the "I can't believe people write this" sense) article:

Apparently postmodernism (and, if you read the text, feminism) are threats to science and to Buddhism. Well, of course, yous might say. But, apparently, so is the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK--the topic I'm working on). As the author kindly points out to us laypeople:

"The branch of sociology variously known as Sociology of Scientific Knowledge (SSK) or Science and Technology Studies (STS), had the objective of showing that the results of scientific findings did not represent any underlying reality, but were purely the ideology of dominant groups within society.

Consequently, if one held a sufficiently radical ideology, one could walk out of a sixth floor window and be immune to the effects of gravity."

Well, and I suppose no one actually told the SSK folks this because, shockingly, they don't appear to have understood the radical potential of their research. After all, all they seemed to be doing was to show that science is a social process--one that involved people and, as such, was fallible as well as based on sociocultural norms and historical understandings. What they were really doing was discovering a way to counter gravity.

should i intervene or should i leave?

2007-05-15T00:41:00.000-04:00

I'm rather incoherent for a proper post right now (grading, grading and more grading) but wanted to share some of the "discoveries" I've made in the course of grading my students' papers:

1. How to access sources?: Be creative!
A student doing research on a rather sensitive topic uses MySpace and CraigsList to find sources. The results are actually quite amusing.

2. What to do?: Can't tell, really.
Students researching the "war on drugs", female genital mutiliation and HIV/AIDS all ask how they would (hypothetically) react if their research participants had wrong medical information about their subject matter.

3. Who are we talking with?
Discussions of "research participants" versus "research subjects"; "Third World" folks; "Leftist" governments and so on.

4. Where does it all come from?
A student doing scientific research pointing out that the data she's using "used to be someone's words at some point". So often that point gets missed amongst the numbers we see.

5. Where did they all go?
This time around, there were a few kids who never handed in written work, hardly ever showed up to class and who couldn't be tracked down at the end of the semester.

E's disappeared so you'll be stuck with me until she returns. Yes, yous can join me in hoping she will be back soon

i made the news today oh boy

2007-05-11T15:26:00.000-04:00

On YouTube

The Beeb tells me that the US military now has its own channel on YouTube.

It's called, snappily enough, the "Multi-national Force Iraq Channel" and includes titles like "Battle on Haifa Street" and "Iraqi Boy Scouts Prepare for Jamboree".

It's apparently all part of the Cyberspace War the that US Military is now just getting into.

As Lt Col Christopher Garver puts it, "The cyberspace battle space was not one that we were particularly operating well in. This was one of the first public steps into that cyberspace." (yes, well, my emphasis)

starting from ants, leading up to meese

2007-05-10T13:50:00.000-04:00

I should really be grading but don't have much desire to do so. So, for your entertainment and mine, go have a look at the Encyclopedia of Life.

Thanks, Dr. W. Should be a fun project. Why can't I work on something like that instead of blathering on about terrorists?

Or, combine the two: "Himalayas found to be home to 200-ft ants. Potential sources of global terror"

Right. Obviously, I shouldn't be let off to write anything until I regain some modicum of sanity.

Also, if yous live in Washington, there's an event on the Mall yous might be interested in. Apparently kids get to ride in an F-16. Too bad I'm not a kid since adult activities ("search through thousands of job options") seem dreadfully dull by comparison.

I'm not too sure about the "Virtual Army Experience" either. It's described as "a computer game rendered with state-of-the-art Army training simulation technology... with action-packed scenes featuring combat soldiers."

Don't we call that the daily news these days?

On a slightly cheerier note, I was asked this question a few days ago and was rather amused to find, after a quick Google search, that loads of people had already had similar questions and attempted to answer them.

Keeping in mind that my questioner was a friend of one of my students and hence of a younger generation than myself and just started off on the world of learning (presumably. I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt), here are some I would add (from the past few months):

I enjoyed*

Albion by a bunch of people (maybe a bit too postcolonial for an Amercican undergrad though its intro, praising the oddities of the world, is worth reading)

Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness by Bryan Lee O'Malley (rather "emo" in bits but then which comic isn't? It's also laugh-out-loud funny in other parts)

American-born Chinese by Gene Yang (We are living in a multicultural world. Not really)

Tintin. One can't go wrong with Tintin. I am still saving up to buy the hardcover sets so I can have a collection here to keep me company throughout times of mental strife. Like now.

Guy DeLisle's books. Nonfiction (I think?)

I haven't read 100 Bullets (on request list at the library) or Ex Machina but would like to get around to them eventually. I'd provide more of a list (and links!) but deadlines for grade submission and other stuff are looming about right now, looking for all the world as though they were gigantic (and yet, right now, rather shy) meese** and shuffling their feet, looking slightly out of place in my living room.

I dread to think what will happen if I don't get my stuff in on time. They don't seem like the sort to be patient.

* All acquired through my local public library. As far as I'm concerned, the public library system's the best thing about America.

** Mooses, I know. But doesn't Meese sound better?

writing terroristic comics can (also) be bad for you

2007-05-06T23:26:00.000-04:00

Read this.

Was quite surprised.

Thought it was an urban myth--I mean, bloke gets fired for supposedly talking about guns and then the police show up because he writes about said firing in his webcomic--not exactly something that might go on in real life you know.

But it's (most likely) true.

Comics=terroristic act.

Right, I'm too knackered to write a slightly coherent statement about all this, probably sparing all of yous my usual drivel. More shiny, happy 8.30-7pm goodness (and grading of rather long final papers) starting tomorrow.

Via Mr. Gaiman's blog

I feel pretty (dreadful and yet rather well-pleased considering everything)

2007-05-06T12:01:00.000-04:00

Since E's disappeared, let me update yous (slightly) on my newfound love for American (in the United States-sense) musicals. Well, just one in particular but since most of research seems to consist of generalising based on a sample ("personal experience") of one or two cases, who I am to not follow the trend?

I came home from the sixth day of my 9-7pm (leaving the house at 7.40am, thank you. Usually I don't even wake up by then) flunkie-ness to find West Side Story was on the television.

Three things about said film:

1. I'd heard about it but never seen it before
2. Why did they cast an actress with a dodgy "Latin" accent as the main ("Puerto Rican") character?
3. If it had been made these days, they'd definitely have changed the ending (yes, yes, "based on Romeo and Juliet...etc etc etc" but they'd still have changed the ending)

Three other things about the film:

1. It was surprisingly good in terms of showing the changing relationships between various groups--the more-established group is fighting with the immigrant group yet both pretend to be not up to anything when the police inspector walks in. The police inspector himself allies with the "Americans" (Irish? I was nodding off but do recall them being called "Micks" at some point though the main bloke was called Anton, not a very Irish name) versus the "Puerto Ricans" and tells the Americans "I'm on your side".

2. Love, thankfully, doesn't "win". There's all this soppiness about "Love" and "Magic" and suchlike and yet, the ending. Ah yes, I did like the ending.

3. It's surprisingly "Universal" in the sense that it's got themes of love, rival factions, authority figures trying to maintain said authority, gang rape (almost), unemployment, death, and just trying to get along in a new society.

If I were in the Ministry of Culture of this country, I'd probably start exporting West Side Story rather than just telling foreigners about the great glory of America.

As a foreigner here myself, this film from 1961, felt surprisingly topical. Let me tell yous why: a couple of other TUWSNBN studnets and I were sitting out on the sun last week, having a very similar discussion along the lines of whether people from "different cultures" (their words) could get along, both personally and in groups. I was told (for WSS literates, I was of the Maria-Tony camp) that I was "such an optimist"*for thinking that getting along is possible and that people from the same culture (however defined) also face problems, though said problems might be different. I was told off for being a deluded nutter (though in nicer terms than that) and there were numerous stories about how people they knew (of) had had their relationships broken up due to "pressures from family and culture". Well, yes, but there are also people I've known of who've had their relationships broken up by things which aren't to do with "family and culture". I'm not generalising based on those that all relationships (in which one person has a reptile, in which one person wants to travel to Mali, in which one person loves bungee-jumping and so on) are doomed.

This leads me to another thing that I kept on emphasising throughout my Intro to Research class:

People usually base their arguments on personal experience (this, as I told them based on my decade-longer experience in surviving in this world, is common in and outside of academia). Since this is what we all do, my kids found this quite an easy concept to grasp.

Arguing based on personal experience is wrong if we do so to stop or close off the conversation. ("Well, I was in Venezuela and that is how it was over there")

But, it is okay if we use it to provide a means to start off (or continue) a conversation

I can definitely say that the class, this time around, was a lot more fun in terms of students talking about some of these issues. It was a lot less fun in terms of them hardly ever handing in their assignments in time.

Back to relationships: I suppose I would like to remain a cockeyed optimist in this sense. I would like to think I can well pick a fight with a bloke from my own culture as with one from elsewhere.

Back to the film: I'd still have liked WSS better if Maria'd offed herself as well but one can't have everything in one film, I suppose. If yous have not seen it before (though, considering most of yous are probably American, I'd assume yous have unless you have a strong aversion to musicals), it's perfect for a Saturday evening after a long work week.

* This was not seen as a good thing, btw.

Health alert: Real Life becomes a Bit Too Real

2007-05-02T18:23:00.000-04:00

Posting is likely to be limited from me for the next couple of weeks as I slave away, 9am-7pm at the flunkie-ing gig (including 9-5 on weekends, thank you) to earn money so the U.S. government can promptly take it away from me. I also have 20-some research papers to grade, students to piss off, dissertation stuff to think on and a "joint" paper to edit and amend.

Long story? Well, apparently after being here for 5 years, one is counted as a "resident for tax purposes" (but not anything else) and has to pay medicare and social security taxes*. TUWSNBN's HR people had apparently forgotten about this so I owe them a lot of money by the end of May.

I did point out that I'd not been here for five years since I didn't get here till the end of August 2002 and spent six months overseas in 2005. But, apparently, those (like Denmark) do not matter. Just the year of entry matters.

That means, according to this rule, I was somehow here in the United States in early 2002 even though my physical self was in Nepal (till May) and in England/Wales (till September) and had not even entered the United States till September.

* A very helpful Human Resources person pointed out that I would get that back "when you retire" but added (when told that I am from Nepal) "oh, but only if you retire in the US".

I'm hoping this is some kind of twisted joke.

2007-05-01T19:59:00.000-04:00

Loyalty Day?!?

GWB, I hope Emma Goldman comes back and haunts your ass.

Idiots. They can't just let an embarrassing,* anachronistic** holiday*** die?

Apparently not.

Because heaven forbid that we should admit that workers and immigrants have some sort of rights or something.****

* Try and explain this to someone who isn't a redneck asshole. Go ahead, I dare you.
** Eisenhower had the Soviet Union as a communist threat. GWB has...who, exactly?
*** Pfft. The only people taking this as a holiday are the ones involved in May Day.
**** Yes, I know the USC requires a proclamation. It doesn't require that the proclamation be a heavy-handed effort to guilt people into supporting the war.

And, if we're all supposed to be "learning more about our country's grand story of courage and simple dream of dignity," how about we start with the Haymarket Riot? Or maybe the Triangle Factory Fire? Or, here's a thought, Labor Unions?

all it needed was us to link arms and sing Kumbaya

2007-04-28T19:54:00.000-04:00

Spent all day today in an Irish pub, watching Sri Lanka play Bangladesh in the cricket world cup final (played in Barbados). The place was packed with folks from South Asia, the Carribean, Australians and the English.

Highlights? A TUWSNBN professor (who bought all our drinks so is rated pretty high now) singing songs and other folks joining in. Realising later on that he didn't actually understand what the words meant but still knew them perfectly well.

The Australian cricket team--most of whom I remember seeing from over a decade ago--winning their 3rd World Cup in a row.

My being the only person on our side of the pub supporting (bloody annoying but rather endearing at times) Australia.

My usually quiet (Kiwi) flatmate pointing out the flaws of Aussies overseas by saying: Oh, I thought I only got annoyed with them when I was at home but they are equally annoying overseas too (very true with the lot who were at that pub)

Being given a bottle of Scotch by the Sri Lankan ambassador. Really.*

Came home to discuss said match with folks at home in Nepal (whom I've not seen in person for two years and miss them, dammit) who watched the same match, sitting at home in Nepal and catching it on a) BBC World Service (Radio) or b) Star TV (cable channel owned by Rupert Murdoch).

Yesterday night, heard Nepali being spoken on the crowded train. Introduced myself and realised the kids were friends of my sister (the one in Kiwiland) and had gone to the same school. Now, what are the chances of that?

Before the cricket, watched Liverpool lose, while sharing memories of Michael Owen from ten years ago with the only non cricket-watching person at the pub.

* I wasn't the recepient but our entire table of people was. For the loudest cheering. Though I think they may have given it to us just to stop the singing.

$39.00 to ship a box of potato chips? Would be totally worth it.

2007-04-27T20:50:00.000-04:00

Last week, my parents brought us Ballreich's chips, three cans of chili dog sauce, two packs of Packo's hot dogs, white fudge oreos, and a jar of pickles no peppers.

There is hockey on my television, and has been almost every night for the past two weeks. Tomorrow we are going to see The Invisible and then coming home to watch the Wings play the Sharks.

If I had a bottle of faygo or a can of fresca, my life would be complete.

accentuate the positive

2007-04-26T00:20:00.000-04:00

So, remember that post on mercenaries ("private security contractors" or whatever we are calling them these days) that I never wrote? Well, the bloke who wrote the book whose reading I was at* was on the Daily Show last week. Watch him and John have a chat here.

Turns out the bloke has a few stories that he repeats--Blackwater as the "Praetorian guard", his tale of seeing BW folks in New Orleans and some others. Oh, dear boy, you look good and the scruffy beard is very emo but repeating most of your tales at various gigs isn't very helpful. It just makes one wonder: It's a thick book that you've written. Didn't more stuff happen that you can tell us about?

* did yous follow that? I nearly didn't.

songs from the south

2007-04-24T23:36:00.000-04:00

Today's "experience of the day":

Went into the local BigNameBookstore to buy Coraline as a pressie for a kid I know. This is (not verbatim, of course) what followed:

Me: Umm...I'm trying to find Neil Gaiman's Coraline. Would it be in the Young Readers section or with the rest of the fiction and literature?

Bookstore person (BSP): Never heard of it. Who did you say it was by?

Me: Neil Gaiman? He writes comic books and wrote Anansi Boys and Fragile Things?

BSP: Oh, you mean like what-they-call-it...manga?

Me: No, it's not that. It's a proper book* with illustrations. It's supposed to be for older children...younger than teenagers...

BSP: I know people read those. But, I've never let my children...Maybe you could get her one of these? These are very good stories...(points towards books that are filed under "empowering girls" and seem to feature a lot of pink covers)

Me: No, thank you. I am not too keen on empowering her.

During all this, we've both been looking through the shelves. I actually find Coraline in the young adult section and pull it out.

BSP: Oh, it's Caroline! Why didn't you say so before? It's pronounced "Ca-ro-line"

Me: Coraline.

BSP: Well, I'm from Texas. There, we call it Caroline.

* Ah, disciplinary power! As soon as she said "manga" *sneer*, I automatically defended the book by calling it "proper". Didn't even think, really.

oh the places you will (not) go...

2007-04-23T22:24:00.000-04:00

It's been a Dr. Seuss kind of weekend. First, there was the absolutely brilliant GBS concert, about which Elizabeth has already written. I first heard them in Australia, through a Canadian student who used to live on my floor in the dorms. He used to blast their songs at all hours of the day and night, especially during exams. If you've had "Marie-Mac" and "Rant and Roar" played at you, while you're trying to finish up that blasted Econometrics project at 3am, you'll realise GBS songs are something that stick to mind. On Friday, they played lots of their old songs, I knew the words to (almost) all of them and some random kid bought me a beer (which cost $6). These things never happen to me at regular concerts.

Then, yesterday, I found out that I got accepted to this Symposium thingy that I had given myself about a 5% chance of being accepted. Before you say, "Ah, that Priya. She's so modest", let me point out that a) I'm not modest about my work since I rather think I'm good at the whole research and teaching bit (not at writing, not at all) and b) this is a Symposium at a BigNameUni and over 200 people applied for a total of 30-something spots and c) see b) and remember that I do "odd" stuff, not the usual terrorist-y things where all "we" are trying to do is get rid of those pesky buggers.

Really, the likelihood of my being accepted was about the same as Nepal qualifying for the next (cricket) World Cup. But, law of averages and probabilities aside, I got a letter saying that they had decided I should join them this Summer. Good news, yous say.

Well, no. Let me clarify.

For once, I had a plan for the next few months. I'd planned to move out of my place of residence when my lease ran out (at the end of May), gather up LilSis2 (who will have finished exams in her place of learning and will be visiting our glorious city) and wander up the Northeast Coast of the USA, stopping at various places along the way. After about 10 days or so of this, LilSis was to have returned back to her place of learning in the wilds of the Far North and I would have crossed the country (not on foot or car but by train) and ended up in sunny (or, as people keep telling me, foggy) California, just in time for my two-month coralling the hormonal youngsters gig. Yes, well, I had it all planned.

Now, the Northeast's out since I have to be here for the Symposium. I have nowhere to stay (since my lease runs out) and no bludging around Massachusetts, as planned. In a fit of what can only be called temporary insanity, I also volunteered to present a paper at this gig and have to have said paper ready by 25 May. I didn't feel like telling them that I didn't actually have a paper. After all, they are mostly academics--they should know that, right?

I am still hoping my train-across-the-USA trip will come through since if I have to fly to California after all this, I will be deeply disappointed (if not quite terrified).

Well, tomorrow, it's Workshop-ing and Student Presentations time for my class. The ones doing "scientific research" go first. I'm sure yous want to know how this will go so I'll keep yous updated.

Franzen takes the ice

2007-04-23T00:41:00.000-04:00

I'm beyond pleased that Calgary's asinine strategy to throw the Wings off their game didn't work out.

That series of shots in Game 5? Cheap and unworthy of an otherwise strong team. I wanted to like the Flames, but that was right up there with the Game That Made the Avalanche Worthy of Undying Hatred.

That Franzen is the one who took the winning shot tonight made me cheer in a terribly unbecoming manner. Good for him, and I hope whoever called that play with McLennan gets his ass fired. You don't pull that kind of shit in hockey. It makes everyone else look bad, like they're some kind of thugs.

Violence in hockey is a carefully regulated technique. They should have known better.

Canucks vs. Stars tomorrow night to finish this round in the West, so you can guess what I'll be watching. And who I'll be cheering for.

One of these days, I'm going to follow through.

2007-04-21T02:05:00.000-04:00

The interesting thing about concerts in DC is that, like the residents, almost no one who plays a show is *from* here.

I'm not saying that this is a bad thing. As you may have noticed, Priya and I (separately, although we did meet up briefly a couple of times) went to tonight's Great Big Sea concert at the Warner.

GBS are not from DC. They are (big surprise to those of you who know me) Canadian. And their show was possible the best one I've seen since moving to the city.

I say that even though I saw BNL (no, I don't know why Canadian bands give themselves long names and then shorten them to initials. Must be something to do with curling) here a couple of years ago. I love Ed and Steve, but this show? Was better.

However, that is not the point of this post. Other than a not-at-all subliminal message to go see them and to eat more poutine, I'm not talking about the concert.

What I learned tonight was that my inability to talk to people I think are completely brilliant at what they do (see previous whining about conferences and such) extends to bands. Even bands I've been listening to for a very long time.

Perhaps especially those bands.

I sat with a friend just two tables away from the guys from Great Big Sea, drinking beer and not-so-covertly watching the band (Great Big Sea, people. Not BNL. Try to keep up), and was totally unable to think of a way to walk up to them and say anything about how good the show was, and how I spent the week getting my parents properly hooked on the music so that I could bring them along (because the other option was to leave them at the hotel, since I wasn't going to miss it). For an hour. An hour, people, and I had on great shoes and a great top that did very nice things for my cleavage.

My hair was endearingly spiky, too. I was in rare form, and if ever I were to introduce myself to random people and offer to buy them a drink, it should have been tonight.

I wanted to ask for a photo, but every time I thought about it, I also thought about how much I dread running into students outside the campus setting.

For a musician, I would expect that the need to have something (like dinner or drinks at a local bar) that didn't involve an audience would be much, much greater.

So I didn't walk over, and I didn't buy a round of drinks (although the waitress presumably got a pretty good tip from us, because I also don't seem to have picked up my change from the table before we left) and I didn't tell anyone about my Stan Rogers fixation.

Because you all know how well that went last time.

Now watch. As with many bands I have loved, they're going to promptly become famous (which would be wonderful) and start playing big venues and I'll have missed my chance to meet them.

Although I did manage to joke around with one of the guys working to get the bus loaded and parked up the street. So I suppose the sum total of my interaction with Great Big Sea amounts to snarking at a roadie.

And it was entirely my own fault.