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5 Questions …
from Dr. Jackie Orr’s course last night. We were warned that her instructional goal may make us uncomfortable — cognitive dissonance brings about change/growth. 1. What happens to theory/thinking (the practice of thought; something we “do”) when the body is taken seriously or as central animate space? 2. How has a focus on “difference”/multiplicity troubled everything in contemporary theory? (how has decentralization of western civilization affected contemp theory, from philosophy to feminist theory…) 3. Where does the renewed attention to marginalized histories and popular memories lead us when trying to…
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Modern Cuneiform
i stare oblivious to the glare paper mountains scaled, as yet in vain there is no respite thoughts they desist word strings, one and then a few in caprice, halts and spews solitude incubates this industry of zeal and rage ~ author, ywk, jan 17, 2010
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Theater and Twitter
(Image source: http://to.pbs.org/dPjzea) I had a taste tonight of what it was like to watch theater on TV and tweet. Verdict: I couldn’t do it — very well, that is. I had my laptop and Downton Abbey in full view before me on HDTV. I tweeted, maybe only twice during the show. The action was unfolding much too furiously on TV for moi to tweet and watch the episode together. No, multitasking was not possible and an undeserved injustice to a fine program like Downton Abbey, a Masterpiece (literally!) where…
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Automatic Captioning & Automatic Timing from Google
I had a pleasant surprise today as I was researching how social media technology supported d/D participation. As of November 2009, Google offers automatic captioning (uses the same voice recognition algorithms in Google Voice to automatically generate captions for video) and automatic timing service (attach a script without time codes and Google will do the rest for you!) in YouTube. So, if I watch a Spanish video on YouTube, I can simply click on the cc button and have Google transcribe it into English or any of the 51 language…
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Just keep writing
I’m beginning to understand what dissertation-writing is about. As students reach this “terminal” stage in academic pursuit, the challenge is for students to identify/find their own problems, or set their own assignment topic (as opposed to instructors giving you a topic; although sometimes, it may not happen that way, :)). Write a gigantic long essay. Once it is approved and graded by a committee of experts, it passes for defense. The student then gets her PhD. As in creative pursuits, the greatest challenge is in problem-finding. Once a student gets…
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Unaffiliated Sites
Last night, I locked up my blog for security.The downside of social media. http://movie-ozone.com.- This site on movie review claims I’m a fellow blogger along with medical doctors researching dementia and fishing enthusiasts. I would not mind someone following my blog if I know who they are. However, there is no name or contact information on their site. Any writer on the blogosphere with the intent to share knowledge does not go about nameless, without even a pseudonym. There is a blogger’s code of conduct. http://pingywebedition.somee.com/ – This site has…
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Edson’s W;t
I came across the Pulitzer-Prize-winning play enough in my readings to decide that it’s definitely on my readlist and maybe, watchlist. After some scouting around my vicinity, it was ferreted out. The book/play and DVD were both located within a five-mile radius. I started by watching the movie, egged on by Bob. My preference would be to read the play first. But time is of the essence with my research. The movie with Emma Thompson in the lead as Dr. Vivian Bearing was pretty intense. Bob says it was “riveting”.…
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Bruno Mars Performs ‘Grenade’
Not many pop singers-songwriters today capture my attention. To me, they are either not “singing” (but talking gibberish) or their voices are drowned by all the digitization. Not to mention some who absolutely have zero talent but think their lives are worth beaming to the world as entertainment. Ouch, sarcastic much, ;-P. I am sure some doctoral student must be studying these media trends right now, LOL. But this Bruno Mars, methinks he is talented. Thanks Ellen! (Yes, The Ellen Show). “I’d catch a grenade for love”, anyone else thought…
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Resilience
In an interview with Elizabeth Edwards, Matt Lauer read the last paragraph in Edwards’ book aloud: “I have said before that I do not know what the most important lesson is that I will ever teach my children, Cate and Emma Claire and Jack. I do know that when they are older and telling their own children about their grandmother, they will be able to say that she stood in the storm, and when the wind did not go her way — and surely it has not — she adjusted…
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Another Year Beckons
Adieu, 2010, and salut, 2011. The year was packed with several academic accomplishments. I leaped onto the treadmill of dissertation writing, hitherto a much longed-for state. Now, I’m decidedly less sure if it’s the magical playground I had so desired, just like Narnia is to Lucy and Edmund. The thought of reading Lewis’ Chronicles stirs up greater excitement in me. Perchance I might move past this fog I seem to be suspended in? The drudgery of it all is that I have to distill exactly what I’m studying, yet again…
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Performance Studies in the Electronic Age
I came across this conference call for paper through a Twitterer I follow: Internet Research 12.0 – Performance and Participation is the 12th annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR), an international association for students and scholars in any discipline in the field of of Internet studies. Internet Research 12.0: Performance and Participation will provide a space for interdisciplinary researchers to reflect on, describe, interrogate, challenge, and stake new claims to various performance and participation issues, including: * Creative performances and digital arts * Participatory culture and participatory…
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Paulo Freire, Boal, hooks…
More names to get acquainted with. Wish I know how to speed-read! Just lugged 10 books back from the Bird Lib. The librarian even placed them in a bag for me. Wow! The library is spiffing up not just physically. R sent me a paper she had co-authored on a title I had envisioned for a possible project. But of course, my research will extend their study. I will develop a new perspective to the topic as an instructional design research student doing interdisciplinary work. She also sent me links…
