The Weathermen Documentary

In the documentary, there was a short piece of an official at a press conference who stated that it was "sick" for people to use violence in order to try to change political and social reform, to get the government to change. Did anyone else sense the hypocrisy? The parallelism in his statement to U.S. involvement in Vietnam? What are your opinions on what he had to say?

modern day

if the situational comedy in the 50s and 70s tried to show a more realistic view on society and family in those times, what influential shows in our era (90s and 00s) are best representations of average american life?

60's sitcoms

Why did the situational sitcoms of the sixties resonate with the majority of people? They did not reflect anything that was actually happening at the time in the sense that they did not portray events accurately. They were a symbol of conformity in a time of radical change, so how could people relate to them? Could it have been an escape from the monumental changes that could have been very draining on an individual?

is anyone else wondering...

...why all these shows in the 60s have the title of the show be the name of the main ACTOR? And yet the CHARACTER'S name in the show is somewhat different? I just don't get why they had to use the actor's real name, like Mary Tyler Moore in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", in the title and slightly change her name in the actual show. Maybe it's just me, but I find it odd.

Wooden and Minow

Did anyone else notice that the video clip of Coach Wooden and his actions kind of resembled those of Newton Minow? Coach Wooden told the one player that he couldn't force him to cut off his hair and be clean shaven because that was his personal choice. However, he did control who was going to play and start, and the player already knew Coach Wooden's rules. He wanted to play, so he shaved. His seniority didn't give him any advantage. Newton seemed to have these same persuasion methods because he had his six principles and let the networks know he was "opposed to governmental censorship," but there might be a chance that your license wouldn't be renewed if your programs didn't fit his principle (57).

SDS what what??

What does everyone think about the weatherman underground? At this point, we have taken a consistently objective viewpoint in class but I want to know the opinion on these guys. Are they criminals and terrorists? Or are they heros? Liberal idealougues or students with kindergarden logic?

I'm Rambling

If the nature of televsion allows it to reflect social values in its entertainment, do networks have a public responsibilty to broadcast programs that are concerned with relevant issues? But in addressing relevant social issues, programs are often labeled controversial. Do networks purposely aim to be controversial to garner viewership, or are they committed to reflecting social values? Or, should televion be offered as an escape from the real world, without trying to impart values on its viewers?

Maybe this isn’t terribly relevant…

But anyways:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/01/25/us/politics/state-of-the-union-words-used.html?hp

This kind of shows the shift in what concepts are considered important issues and how they are expressed. Or rather, how US presidents interpret what they believe the public wants to hear. So, it’s slightly relevant to this period when you think about public opinion on the whole range of issues prevalent during the sixties and what government leaders made of it. That being said, the Times thing does primarily focus on more current lexicon.

Quiz Show

The first article we had to read for Thursday, "Equal Time: The Private Broadcaster and the Public Interest" mentions the rigged quiz show scandals that scarred 1950's television. I browsed the web and came across a movie called Quiz Show, directed by Robert Redford. I had previously been unaware of its existence (maybe some of you are not as ignorant) . I posted a link to the trailer and a synopsis of the movie from Rotten Tomatoes; the film seemed to attract some pretty high praise. Enjoy!

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOSnYt9k4kM

Synopsis: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/quiz_show/

Thanks a lot Cluster

Has anyone else found themselves noting the "notable" shifts or the use of distortion in songs while listening to music since turning in our charts? With every song that comes on my iPod while walking to class, I find myself thinking "wow, that was a distorted electric guitar" or "that was an interesting use of percussion/shift of tempo". Thanks a lot Cluster, now even between classes I'm thinking about class subjects.

the "new?" new journalism???

here is a link to a website describing a new text titled the new new journalism

it seems interesting check it out!

http://www.newnewjournalism.com/about.htm

I Love College

Ronald Reagan made extremely clear statements of the inappropriateness of the link between the extreme counterculture/hippie movement and a university campus. What formality should be displayed on a college campus? As productive as the Berkeley sit-in may have been, how productive is the hippie movement in terms of an education? Are these students in their noble struggle against the conforming powers of super plaster man in fact bettering themselves with sex, drugs, and rock & roll? The purpose of an education seems to be more in line with Joan Didion's lessons of the power of vocabulary and language rather than diction defined by imprecision, yet, Ken Kesey seemed to believe his pranksters were much more enlightened than its nom-acid using counterparts. Where does this hippie movement fit into our pre-conceived notions of a formal education? Is there a place for LSD?

Signifiers of Psychedelia

Professor Fink talked about the signifiers of psychedelic music on Tuesday: dynamization, dechronization, and depersonalization. Does literature have the same signifiers? Both Professor Fink and Professor Decker talked about Ken Kesey and the Acid Tests and how they made made things that were inanimate seem to be moving, like the ceiling. Professor Fink went more into what psychedelic looks and sounds like, and Professor Decker talked about the differences in hippie language and new journalist language. But can the music, literature, and styles of art all be identified with the same three signifiers?

The Literary Post

What makes Carl Solomon’s From Howl so atrociously powerful, is it solely the content of the poem or does he use certain literary techniques to create the images of destruction and chaos caused by the psychedelic drugs.

The Dance of the Cosmos

"To make music for dancers like these is the rarest honor - to be coresponsible for what really is the dance of the cosmos" (Lesh 69).

I was impressed with this sentence, not only for its subtle beauty, but for its statement about universality. However, it also led me to think about who psychedelic music was meant for: the audience, the band, or the population at large. Considering that psychedelic musicians would often separate from their group in order to play whatever they (or the LSD made them) feel like playing, my best guess is that in most cases the music was intended for the artist. Their presence on the stage gave them a position of leadership in the drug-addled "dance of the cosmos," and the listeners followed along both collectively and individually.

From the Beatles to Tarantino

"Pop had a new purpose: to make out of pleasure a politics of optimism, to turn passive consumption into an active culture. Such ambition derived from the Beatles' authority as superstars- not just skilled pop musicians but skilled pop artists, self-conscious, calculating their entertaining effects"("Rock and the Politics of Memory", 60).

(image is taken from Google Images)

While reading this, I immediately thought of a comment I've heard made by Quentin Tarantino, director of such movies such as Kill Bill and Inglourious Basterds. When criticized for the violence in his movies, he responded by saying, "What if a kid goes to school after seeing Kill Bill and starts slicing up other kids? You know, I'll take that chance! Violent films don't turn children into violent people. They may turn them into violent filmmakers but that's another matter altogether"(IMDB).

Do artists have (or should they have) an obligation to be aware of what they are injecting into the mainstream culture and the impact of their art? Or is it our responsibility as the audience to consume media with our discretion?

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

I'm so naive I didn't catch LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLucy in the SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSky with DDDDDDDDDDDDDiamonds.

Week 3 Post

In Simon Frith's "Rock and the Politics of Memory,

he says "pop had a new purpose: to make out of pleasure a politics of optimism, to turn passive consumption into an active culture" (60).

Would a song a today be able to accomplish this, and sell? Would people today be willing to purchase a politically charged song, a song that would be able to create an active culture?

But were songs from the 60's so different from the songs being produced today? Today's songs are over flowing with drug, violence, abuse, and sexual references. A lot of the songs from the sixties were composed while the writer was under the influence of some hallucinogenic drug, and probably had some sexual references, with war references which corresponds to today's violence references.

"Hearts and Minds"

What were the messages in "Hearts and Minds?"

Was the documentary trying to highlight the injustices and brutality of the American military or just war itself?

Was it targeting the American military?

Did the film receive any backlash, from Pro-war Americans, because it did not show the perspective from the Viet Cong?

Bob Dylan's Transformation

Much of Thursday's lecture revolved around the authenticity and sincerity of protest songs. By giving the example of Barry McGuire/PF Sloan's song Eve of Destruction, Fink pointed out that folk signifiers such a acoustic guitar and harmonica were used. Did Dylan change his style to include the sounds of electric guitar, percussion, and kazoo in his ironic song "Highway 61 Revisited" to mock such songs? Was this his way of distancing himself from phonies like McGuire who stole his original sound and made his songs sound cliche?

Keeping You Thinking...

In the Mueller reading on tuesday, the author addresses many potential negatives of a war and the potential strains on public opinion that could occur, stating that "compared to world war 2, the enemy is less obviously 'evil', progress in battle is more difficult to measure and comprehend, the american entrance into the war is less easily rationalized, and the end of the war is more likely to prove puzzling and unsatisfying". Due to all of the ill effects of partaking in a war some would say that the U.S. wasn't meant to fight, would you say that the U.S. involvement and war in general is a necessary and efficient means of solving a conflict in a situation like in vietnam?

What's wrong with McGuire?

Fink didn't have to tell me McGuire was a phony. I knew right when I so those interpretive dancers sitting on those junk mobiles. My question is why have interpretive dancers and junk mobiles? I hope that's not what he defines as destruction. If that's destruction to him, I would hate to see him in combat.

Mailer's Self-referential 3rd Person

I found it interesting that Mailer chose to describe himself in the third person in The Armies of the Night. It’s a stylistic choice that creates a distance between himself as a writer and as a person, kind of allowing him to step outside of himself. Mailer transforms himself into more of a character than a real person, which perhaps gave him as well as his readers some insight into self-perception. Considering that, is The Armies of the Night meant more as a memoir or as an exercise in New Journalism?

Damn Viet Nam

Had the American public been fully informed about the war from the beginning and given the chance to have a public debate, would the general public have supported Johnson's decisions in 1964 given the anti-communist feeling of the nation?

Oh Bob Dylan

Robert Zimmerman, a.k.a. Bob Dylan has been placed in and out of many a category in his time as a musician. Started a rock band in high school, became a Woody Guthrie groupie, was a folk singer, then a folk-rock singer, and threw in some country folk rock in the mix as well. If there was one category to put Mr. Zimmerman in, where would you put him? And where do you think he'd put himself?

Eve of Destruction!

I do not think we should be so quick to undermine the efforts of these Vietnam protestors regardless of their intentions. Artists such as Barry McGuire may be phonies, however, their impact upon audiences was substantial and, in many cases, evoked "sincere" responses of anti-war sentiment. In that case, I believe we should give these figures of protest more credit to their impact and not entirely focus on their personal characters. It reminds me of the Lynn Rabinowitz paradox--her intentions are questionable and her motives are driven by a fascination of her symbolic conception of the African American culture as "Art." Many white student civil rights activists perhaps had similar intentions but their impact does not go unnoticed and, as we studied, is often seen as heroic. In terms of Vietnam protest, how do we purely analyze an artist such as Barry McGuire who, needless to say, had a number one hit through "Eve of Destruction"? Do we study McGuire in terms of sincerity, impact, or a mixture of the two?

Pseudo-Sincerity

In my (admittedly large) naivete, I always believed that the Vietnam protestors were people who were all so impassioned, so informed, and so convinced that the war was inhumane that they went to extremes to let the public know that they should "give peace a chance." However, after this morning's lecture and the corresponding readings, I realize that they were just as lost as most of us; at least, many of them were. I wonder how many of those people were genuine supporters of the war, and how many were there because it was easy to dress in paisley, throw up a peace sign, and stand up for something, anything. Were their actions really in response to the plight of the Vietnamese, or was it (as I am now inclined to think) a way to flaunt a giant middle-finger to the Man? I wonder how much of the hippie movement was a bandwagon response, the "hip" thing to do, and how much of it was genuine criticism of the Vietnam War.

I'm Lost

where do i post my question at?

"A New Vocalism"

In John E. Mueller's article he talks about the new left of the 1960s (p. 372), which he deems to be "the old left with new methods of expression." He goes onto talk about the young people, which he says "are the most conspicuous element of any political movement presumably because of their physical energy and their lack of occupational and familial obligations".

I'm curious- with the infiltration of social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogging)- have we lost our reputation as staunch political activists? Or has our involvement increased/ taken a turn for the better (as in educating our fellow student via the internet)?

I am inclined to believe in social media's benefit; I enthusiastically take part in it and find myself educated on more issues/opinions I would not have been exposed to otherwise. However, I'm not sure if at the same time it has caused us to become a more passive group living vicariously through the internet.

"Hair" RSVP

Rather that trying to coordinate this thing via dozens of back-and-forth emails, if you're interested in attending the performance of "Hair" on Sunday, 1/23 (6:30), please leave a comment to this post. I should have a final price in the next couple days.

"Let the sun shine in!"

QMS Song Download

I've hosted the six parts of QMS's "Who Do You Love" on mediafire. Follow the links below to download:

Who Do You Love (Part 1)
When Do You Love
Where Do You Love
How Do You Love
Which Do You Love
Who Do You Love (Part 2)

Class Blog

Welcome to the 1J discussion section blog! Use this space to post your questions and thoughts relating to course content (weekly readings, lectures, music, etc.), or anything else that you'd like to share with the group (links to interesting articles, websites, videos, etc.). Every week, I ask that you engage in some way with the blog, either through posting or through comments to your classmates' posts.

Happy blogging.