MagicThought

The latest Time magazine had an article about the entertainment industry going apocalyptic, which we’ve mentioned plenty, particularly in relation to Iraq being both the birthplace and deathplace of civilization. Here’s the link, then some thoughts:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1704694,00.html

Writer Lev Grossman opens with a discussion of Mary Shelley’s The Last Man, and an exploration of that idea in pop culture (which we’ve already discussed on this blog) with Y–the Last Man and I Am Legend.

Cloverfield, the film producer JJ Abrams (Abram…father) wanted to become an American Godzilla, is the impetus for the article, which strongly cites the camerawork for providing the film with its power. The handheld camera style of The Blair Witch Project is called “the vernacular of the apocalypse,” meaning we’ve already given the apocalypse it’s own language. From my own viewing this year (well, technically last year), it’s interesting that the handheld camera scenes are the most gripping parts of In the Valley of Elah and Redacted, two of the prominent Iraq War movies (again, Iraq = apocalypse).

And now veering even further from the article, I just wanted to point out that the latest Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, and the recent Oscar trend toward violent movies with high body-counts (The Departed last year (or my favorite, Children of Men) and 2007’s No Country for Old Men or There will be Blood, among others) suggest not only a preoccupation with the apocalypse by the creators but an acceptance by their audience. Even the Nobel Prize, which went to Al Gore for his work on global warming, betrays an apocalypse fetish.

Almost exactly a year ago, the Doomsday clock moved two minutes closer to midnight, the closest to Armageddon it’s been moved since 1984. There’s that infamous year again.

–Brandon

P.S. 1984, for all its other parenthood/print-related events, is also the year of the first successful sexual harassment suit, dramatized in North Country, the landmark representation in America of women achieving de jure equality with men.

i read the most wonderful book over the break that is the perfect blend of the paternity issues and writing technologies that we discussed in class! its called the Thirteenth Tale by Diane Sutterfield published by Washington Square Press. ere’s a little overview: a young writer named margaret lea is asked by a famous author to do a biography about her because she is about to die. the author, vida winter, has never told the truth about her past to anyone… her “about the author” sections of her books are all completely different and complete lies. she finally wants to tell the truth. so… the entire book is focused on vida winter telling margaret her life story. i don’t want to say much more because i don’t want to spoil it, but its very much a gothic tale… it reminded me a lot of jane eyre but without the love story. its a huge web of incest, questions of both paternity AND maternity, pencils (which are strangely fetishized), and mystery, all of which combine to further what we talked about all semester. apart from all those things, its still a really great book that you won’t be able to put down. best book i’ve read in a long time…and that says a lot! so go read it!

jenna ward

I’d like to recommend Franz Kafka’s The Judgement (a short read)– he also wrote The Metamorphosis

http://www.mala.bc.ca/~Johnstoi/kafka/judgment.htm

Picked it up for a quick read and enjoyed the parenting and printing parallels. The son writes letters to an imaginary friend. The dialog is between a father and son, with references to a deceased mother. Questions of authorship over the friend, the mother, and writing are the major conflicts which escalate to the finale.

Sam

I finished a book by Margaret Atwood recently, called Oryx and Crake, and I ran across a passage that I thought was really interesting in the context of what the class was about, which made me start thinking about the whole book in those terms.

Basically, the book is centered around a post-apocalyptic world and its sole survivor, Snowman. In flash backs to the society that fell, we see that genetics had become the new language, genes like words and the genetically-modified people like masterpieces (if you think about it, the entire genetic code of a human is composed of symbols– ATGC on random repeat). Crake is the grand creator of a group of grand new creatures, lovingly called Crakers, and Oryx is their teacher, the nurturing force that instructs them on the ways of their oh-so-limited world. And while I don’t want to ruin anything, figuring out how Oryx and Crake disappeared turns out to be an awesome parallel to the ancient goddess, the Christian God and humanity, if you think about it.

I also found it interesting that the book uses a lot of magical thinking when it comes to names. HelthWyzer is the company that distributes treatments to promote physical and mental well-being. OrganInc Farms manufacture artificially-engineered organs. And (this is where it hit me like a ton of bricks) the main character says at the end of the novel, “It’s Snowman.” It’s no man.

Anyway, here’s the passage that I particularly picked out:

“Watch out for art, Crake used to say. As soon as they start doing art, we’re in trouble. Symbolic thinking of any kind would signal downfall, in Crake’s view. Next they’d be inventing idols, and funerals, and grave goods, and the afterlife, and sin, and Linear B, and kings, and then slavery and war. Snowman longs to question them– who first had the idea of making a reasonable facsimile of him, of Snowman, out of a jar lid and a mop? But that will have to wait.”

Also, one more quick, interesting tidbit. Not only did this book have an ‘About the Author’ section at the back, but it had an ‘About the Type’ section. It informs the reader, “The book was set in a digital version of Monotype Walbaum,” among other things.

Leahanne

Between the cursive, inky text of the beginning and ending credits was one big mess of money-making boredom.  Why was it successful? 

I work at a movie theatre and asked a friendly patron what the allure was–she stated that the N.T. movies were family-friendly and had something for everyone, from their vague educational benefit for the kids (the movies are loosely rooted in HIStory) and PG appropriateness (a subjective acronym instated by the powers-that-be) to their occasional bouts of car chases and explosions (aka penis imagery and senseless fighting to honor and protect kin/country).  What is “Book of Secrets’”general thematic content?  Arguably, the threat of the imaginary, in the form of the cameraphone, to the predominating reign of paternity and print.

Beginning:

-Ben Gates attempts to clear his great-grandfather’s name through the help of academia, computer technology, a word puzzle, and an old questionable diary page

-Next, he peruses a woman holding a tablet with a boy toy (a remote-controlled helicopter records with a video camera the statue of liberty’s curves in Paris)

-Then he looks at two desks covered in penises… i mean… pens

-Then?  Chasing down a codex in the Library of Congress using the dewey decimal system as a password… o this is just too much

-Ben Gates’ girlfriend and mother are estranged at this point in the movie

 Ending:

-Cibola’s pictographic writing system now takes center stage, and Ben’s Mom alone can read it

-to find the treasure the hunters must climb into a vagina-looking cave entrance and enter a water-filled “womb” marked by a picture of a bird

-good ol’ mom takes over the excavation of the final discover, thus clearing the name of Ben Gates’ grandpappy and proving that Mt. Rushmore is a big fat fake used to hide ancient architecture

-Ben goes home to the girlfriend and Mom tolerates Dad again

this movie felt like one big ad for the cameraphone

oh, and all of the characters are academics, authors, or politicians

the end, go take a nap, you earned it

-Sara B.

We mentioned the ABC soap opera/drama “Brothers and Sisters” before, back when Sally Field ranted about the war at the Emmys.  I just finished reading an article about (creator?) Jon Robin Baitz  leaving the show, where he says something similar to the comment about the episodes going from “Patriarchy” to “Matriarchy.”

“At the first meeting I had with the lovely Francie Calfo (head of drama), who has left the network after making sure we made it on the air, I said: ‘I want to write a show that proposes that the dead American patriarchy is being replaced by a vibrant matriarchy.’”

Obviously I had to share.   It’s fascinating to me that, a couple years ago, some TV writer had an idea for a television show that would reflect what he saw as the rise of the matriarchy.  There’s that collective unconscious again.  As I write this, Hillary is winning the New Hampshire primary (though Obama already won Iowa).  It’ll be interesting to see in the coming months how vibrant the American matriarchy really is, although even if Hillary doesn’t win, the mere viability of her candidacy is a strong indicator.

–Brandon

I saw a preview the other day for an upcoming movie (to be released in March) called “Inkheart” with Brendan Fraser. The central premise of the movie revolves around a single father who has the ability to “magically” bring stories to life by reading them aloud.

Yahoo:
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809787394/info

IMDB:
http://imdb.com/title/tt0494238/plotsummary

~Jenna P.

I just finished watching the Helvetica documentary we talked about in class, and it was pretty fascinating.  Here are a couple of things I found interesting:

1.  Helvetica comes from the Latin word for Switzerland (the neutrality reflected in the font), and it came out in response to the poor designs of the 1950s, i.e. the same time as the Xerox.

2.  The second type designer interviewed says he became a typographer because his father was one.

3.  One of the type designers (the only female one) talked about how, during the ’70s, Helvetica became the font of the establishment, so to the counterculture, it was the font of the Vietnam War.  The documentarian asked what the font of the Iraq War is, and she immediately responded, “Helvetica.”  She even goes so far as to say Helvetica is why we’re fighting again.

4.  Lastly, after recapping the modern era’s transition from overly stylized to Helvetica to grunge and back to Helvetica, the designers say, in a way, we’ve reached the end of history.  That reminded me of how our class studied history backward, to get to the end/beginning.

Semi-relatedly, young Irish folk singer  Fionn Regan released an album last year called The End of History, and it is pretty full of references from class.  The second song is even called “The Underwood Typewriter.”

–Brandon

~Jenna P.

Hey guys,

 http://www.pianomagic.com/google.asp

So i’ve resolved to take piano lessons. It’s something that I have always wanted to do. I got the name of a woman through a friend, and although this is not her site, I found it while looking for her since she teaches the same way.

 I have never played a musical insturment although it has always been a great ambition of mine. A big problem I always thought I had was the fact that I dont know how to read music.

 considering a lot of things, ….it almost makes sense to me that music shalt be something you have to ….read.

In fact, most of the soul music and rap that we talked about at the beginning of the semester did not come from planned, written out, lyrics. The words themselves….as well as the notes that cooresponded with them….flowed from the inside.

 The ear seems to be the dominant organ here. ………………….bah, ‘organ’.

 Anyway, I also just recently saw the movie “August Rush.” I thoroughly enjoyed it, and much of these concepts are found within it. Although he eventually learns music in the literary context, I found it notable that he did not FIRST learn it through the eye, but the ear, and well the fingertips.

Scroll down and read a bit of the website if you would. The fellow talks about human language and the order in which we learn things.

 See.. I’ve always thought that music is an exeption to any rules. Mainly because it will not remain bound to any ties we place on it.

 Isnt it fascinating?

Wish me well with my piano endeavors! And if anyone has any reccomendations, do please send them my way.

 Musically,

 Nellie

http://www.pianomagic.com/google.asp