Sometimes musicologists are just too much:
From The Music Quarterly in the discussion of the rhetorical devices found in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis:
"Although we cannot know whether Beethoven was aware of these long-lived theological and iconographical traditions, and although we must admit that all music is heard through the ear, I am tempted to point out that the prominent sound of the flute not only corresponds to the light colors of the dove in paintings, but also, emanating as it does from a reedless wind instrument, renders the fertilizing breath of the Holy Ghost much more directly than the painted rays could do."
Now really? tempted? That's like saying: Although I really don't like insulting people, I am very much tempted to tell you that you are ugly. Completely worthless. This trend appears in a large portion of the literature that expounds the motives, compositional strategies, and inspirations of various composers. I've been editing Wikipedia articles on Beethoven for some time now. I tend to append my own opinions and otherwise unsubstantiated analysis to the end of various canonized Beethoven scholars. The difference between me and them? About a lifetime of legitimate Beethoven scholarship. But hey, when you write sentences like
"Whether analyzing a historical work with a new perspective or evaluating a modern work that hopes to find tenure in the ranks of the illustrious, those who write critically about music are challenged to transpose the excitation of the senses, both aural and visual, onto a philological plane."
No one seems to care whether or not you know anything :)
4.06.2009
8.14.2008
8.11.2008
Bad, Bad China
So these Olympic games have certainly been some of the most memorable, not necessarily for the 26 of 32 swimming events that now have new world records since Athens(2004), but for sovereign invasion, human rights investigations, horrific murders, and well, the blown-up, under-criticized affirmation and often times validation of stereotypes by the MSM(mainstream media).
Selena Roberts of Sports Illustrated had this to say on Olympic basketball (U.S. v China). In her article, "Give U.S. players credit for self-awareness during anxious times," she graciously affirms that "It was the American players, not President Bush, who were on the hook to keep the peace by maintaining their decorum on the court, by not humiliating the host nation with showboat moves, by not taunting the weaker team with a gimpy resident icon, Yao Ming."
"[...]The Beijing Olympics have morphed into the anxiety games. Beneath the veneer of architectural miracles and omnipresent smiles and the "one world, one dream" slogan, there is unease, exacerbated by a secretive Communist regime that rations information. No info, no closure. There are 100,000 Chinese security troops patrolling Beijing, all standing as still as scarecrows, many with the young, porcelain faces of toy soldiers. They are stationed on every street corner, ubiquitous under newly planted trees that line the sidewalks. They are numerically impressive but not especially comforting."
"Where were they Saturday at the busy tourist site of Drum Tower? Somehow, someway, a knife-wielding Chinese man, Tang Yongming, managed to fatally stab American Todd Bachman, critically wound his wife and injure the couple's tour guide without anyone stopping him before he jumped to his death from the tower. Who saw what? In our YouTube world, where cell-phone cameras pop up everywhere including a bathroom stall, there are surprisingly few hints to fill in the picture about what transpired, a tragedy that took at least three hours to hit the Internet as a story."
"That's slow-motion in the West. That's analog. In the U.S., an attack so public would have been quickly delivered to the masses. Bystanders would have spoken up, a profile of the murderer would have emerged, a sense of understanding would have materialized. Instead, silence. In fact, the story barely made news in China."
"The story was seen by a few readers, however, with about 60 comments posted by Sunday evening on ChinaDaily.com. One response in particular underscored the mistrust -- and disconnect -- between the U.S. and China: '... as much as Bush keeps drumming up and wants to isolate China and divide her people, the backlash will be stronger. With the arrogance of the mainstream Western and U.S. media of printing everything, 95 percent of the people know the truth of how evil the Western and U.S. governments are ...'"
"[...]As the U.S. played China, with its players on their most respectful behavior -- "The support we're getting so far from home is humbling," LeBron James said -- there was an odd vibe in the arena. Maybe it was the secret service detail guarding Bush Squared (son and pop). Maybe it was the dozens of surveillance cameras -- round and black like a Magic 8 Ball -- anchored in the rafters of the gym. Maybe it was not knowing what the heck is going on in China on any given day. One thing about Communism: You're always in the dark. And many folks are afraid of the dark."
Rough Translation:
We, the glorious people of the United States of America, sent our illustrious, untouchable basketball team to that backwards land of insular people whose country gets about as much reception as Faraday's cage. Naturally, we won...by a lot even against that "gimpy" foreigner Yao Ming. But oh, we won with so much humility, so much grace and sportsmanship, how is it that we are ever accused of not sincerely upholding the values so dear to the Olympic Ideal.
You know, I have to say I told you so. Since it's 2001 Olympic bid, China's promises are more full of hot air than their economy. Look around even here, all these supposed Chinese guards, "all standing as still as scarecrows, many with the young, porcelain faces of toy soldiers," "ubiquitous," same, alike, uniform, inscrutable, untrustworthy, dangerous.
After all, the aftermath of the Centenniel park bombing in Atlanta was seen in the blink of a camera phone, although YouTube wasn't exactly operational, we did our part. But oh, murder at the Olympic games. Such a thing could only happen in the land where these gooks eat dog, cat, and will stab at anything that moves. And it only showed up in the margins of a local newspaper? How dare they? Where are our headlines? A United States citizen was murdered. How is that not more important than anything else you could possibly report? In America, it would have been splashed across the news 5 minutes before it happened.
Obviously, that is why China is clearly in the technological, social, and moral stone age. Not only that, they like it this way. They like to cloak themselves under the cloak of anonymity, in the sea of empty faces, in the darkness of that Red curtain.
Maybe they should take a leaf out of America's book. Or rice paper, whatever they have evolved to now. After all, our boys are doing it all right.
Selena Roberts of Sports Illustrated had this to say on Olympic basketball (U.S. v China). In her article, "Give U.S. players credit for self-awareness during anxious times," she graciously affirms that "It was the American players, not President Bush, who were on the hook to keep the peace by maintaining their decorum on the court, by not humiliating the host nation with showboat moves, by not taunting the weaker team with a gimpy resident icon, Yao Ming."
"[...]The Beijing Olympics have morphed into the anxiety games. Beneath the veneer of architectural miracles and omnipresent smiles and the "one world, one dream" slogan, there is unease, exacerbated by a secretive Communist regime that rations information. No info, no closure. There are 100,000 Chinese security troops patrolling Beijing, all standing as still as scarecrows, many with the young, porcelain faces of toy soldiers. They are stationed on every street corner, ubiquitous under newly planted trees that line the sidewalks. They are numerically impressive but not especially comforting."
"Where were they Saturday at the busy tourist site of Drum Tower? Somehow, someway, a knife-wielding Chinese man, Tang Yongming, managed to fatally stab American Todd Bachman, critically wound his wife and injure the couple's tour guide without anyone stopping him before he jumped to his death from the tower. Who saw what? In our YouTube world, where cell-phone cameras pop up everywhere including a bathroom stall, there are surprisingly few hints to fill in the picture about what transpired, a tragedy that took at least three hours to hit the Internet as a story."
"That's slow-motion in the West. That's analog. In the U.S., an attack so public would have been quickly delivered to the masses. Bystanders would have spoken up, a profile of the murderer would have emerged, a sense of understanding would have materialized. Instead, silence. In fact, the story barely made news in China."
"The story was seen by a few readers, however, with about 60 comments posted by Sunday evening on ChinaDaily.com. One response in particular underscored the mistrust -- and disconnect -- between the U.S. and China: '... as much as Bush keeps drumming up and wants to isolate China and divide her people, the backlash will be stronger. With the arrogance of the mainstream Western and U.S. media of printing everything, 95 percent of the people know the truth of how evil the Western and U.S. governments are ...'"
"[...]As the U.S. played China, with its players on their most respectful behavior -- "The support we're getting so far from home is humbling," LeBron James said -- there was an odd vibe in the arena. Maybe it was the secret service detail guarding Bush Squared (son and pop). Maybe it was the dozens of surveillance cameras -- round and black like a Magic 8 Ball -- anchored in the rafters of the gym. Maybe it was not knowing what the heck is going on in China on any given day. One thing about Communism: You're always in the dark. And many folks are afraid of the dark."
Rough Translation:
We, the glorious people of the United States of America, sent our illustrious, untouchable basketball team to that backwards land of insular people whose country gets about as much reception as Faraday's cage. Naturally, we won...by a lot even against that "gimpy" foreigner Yao Ming. But oh, we won with so much humility, so much grace and sportsmanship, how is it that we are ever accused of not sincerely upholding the values so dear to the Olympic Ideal.
You know, I have to say I told you so. Since it's 2001 Olympic bid, China's promises are more full of hot air than their economy. Look around even here, all these supposed Chinese guards, "all standing as still as scarecrows, many with the young, porcelain faces of toy soldiers," "ubiquitous," same, alike, uniform, inscrutable, untrustworthy, dangerous.
After all, the aftermath of the Centenniel park bombing in Atlanta was seen in the blink of a camera phone, although YouTube wasn't exactly operational, we did our part. But oh, murder at the Olympic games. Such a thing could only happen in the land where these gooks eat dog, cat, and will stab at anything that moves. And it only showed up in the margins of a local newspaper? How dare they? Where are our headlines? A United States citizen was murdered. How is that not more important than anything else you could possibly report? In America, it would have been splashed across the news 5 minutes before it happened.
Obviously, that is why China is clearly in the technological, social, and moral stone age. Not only that, they like it this way. They like to cloak themselves under the cloak of anonymity, in the sea of empty faces, in the darkness of that Red curtain.
Maybe they should take a leaf out of America's book. Or rice paper, whatever they have evolved to now. After all, our boys are doing it all right.
8.09.2008
Too far?
I'll admit that I am on occassion sucked into the seemingly alternate entertainment reality that is propogated by Japan, Korea, and China (of three different brands, to be sure). Despite certain cultural facades and stereotypical notions of insularity and reticence, I think that we are just as enthralled by romantic cheesiness and happy endings as the next guy in line in the human race. However, sometimes I feel that the entertainment industry is a little bit cuckoo. Maybe it's just me, but the first time i saw this (South Korean pop star Rain --yes he is apparently on the solo sobriquet level as Cher):
The first thing I immediately thought of was this:
hmmmm...
7.29.2008
Word of the Day
Sometimes the vocabulary on various blog posts is just unnecessary.
la·cu·na /ləˈkyunə/ n.
1. a gap or missing part, as in a manuscript, series, or logical argument; hiatus.
2. Anatomy. one of the numerous minute cavities in the substance of bone, supposed to contain nucleate cells.
3. Botany. an air space in the cellular tissue of plants.
la·cu·na /ləˈkyunə/ n.
1. a gap or missing part, as in a manuscript, series, or logical argument; hiatus.
2. Anatomy. one of the numerous minute cavities in the substance of bone, supposed to contain nucleate cells.
3. Botany. an air space in the cellular tissue of plants.
Real Power
"According to a TV Guide piece on him, Fred Rogers drove a plain old Impala for years. One day, however, the car was stolen from the street near the TV station. When Rogers filed a police report, the story was picked up by every newspaper, radio and media outlet around town. Amazingly, within 48 hours the car was left in the exact spot where it was taken from, with an apology on the dashboard. It read, 'If we'd known it was yours, we never would have taken it.'"
Dang. Maybe that neighbor thing does work.
Dang. Maybe that neighbor thing does work.
7.28.2008
Awkward
So I am in ACA, attempting to design a Mealy circuit that implements a binary-10's complement converter with FPGAs when I notice a guy over to my left completely passed out. This, in actuality, is not a rare occurrence as many in EE and BME are often driven to complete exhaustion, even by 1:30pm. Nevertheless, I look back a few moments later and he's awake on the computer. No big deal. HOWEVER, moments later, I look again (my attention span is really indicative of how interested I am in digital logic design), and he is completely comatose again. This happens a few times and I find it interesting enough to get out my camera to take a picture of him sleeping (for your viewing pleasure). So I sneak up on him(really, no sneaking was necessary) and am about to take the picture when I realize...
DANG. he's still awake!!
oh man. awkward.
DANG. he's still awake!!
oh man. awkward.
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