About This Blog

Dare to Dissemble is my little online ranting place, where I air my thoughts about the ridiculous state of affairs at the University of Alberta--a formerly strong public institution with tons of potential being driven into the ground by inept governance and irresponsible government funding policies. Comments are welcome, but not expected. Like most blogs on the internet, this one languishes in obscurity and is read for the most part by its proprietor.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

The Willful and Destructive Stupidity of our "Leaders"

Ever wonder what it must be like to have visionary leadership, either at the University, or in the Province, or the Federal Government?  Instead, we are shackled by the limited thinking of mediocre careerists, who cannot contemplate anything beyond the preservation of their current privileged positions, and the diminishment of their perceived adversaries.  At the local level, I cannot think of a politician who has truly had a vision for the future since Peter Lougheed.

Imagine if we had a leader like the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan.  Here is a telling quote from the New York Daily News:  "When former Sen. Daniel Moynihan was serving as ambassador to India in the early 1970s, he was asked what Bombay, now Mumbai, needed to do to become a great global city.  Moynihan answered, 'Build a world-class university and wait 200 years.'"  This pathetic crew can't think ahead 200 days, never mind 200 years.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Reminder: Know Your Enemy

No song of the week this time.  Instead, in light of the latest provocation ($55M extra to Mount Royal), I encourage you to review a previous SOTW.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Notley Nails Lukaszuk

Quite an energetic exchange between Rachel Notley and Thomas Lukaszuk from yesterday's legislative session.  I can't seem to embed it, so here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H8gHD9t14A&feature=youtu.be


THAT Was a Good Idea

Today we find that the NSA has obtained perhaps unfettered access to Google data.  Tell me again why the Gmail switch was such a good thing.  I'm not even sure it saved any money.  But it did take our e-mail out of the University's control.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Song of the Week: Be Here Now

"Be Here Now" is a concept first popularized by Baba Ram Dass (aka Richard Alpert).  Essentially, it states the yogic principle of living in the moment.  As one who is prone to a wandering mind, I find this concept important and difficult.

George Harrison released a song with this title in 1973.  However, I wish to present a different song, though with the same title, by the New England-based singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne.  His second album, Till the Sun Turns Black, was moderately successful, and spawned a minor hit in the UK, "Be Here Now."  The minimalist arrangement with breathy vocals are very effective in creating a mood, and the lyrics are interesting:

Don't let your mind get weary
And confused you will be still, don't try
Don't let your heart get heavy
Child, inside you there's a strength that lies

Don't let your soul get lonely
Child, it's only time, it will go by
Don't look for love in faces, places
It's in you that's where you'll find kindness

Be here now, be here now
Be, be here now, be here now

Don't lose your faith in me
And I will try not to lose faith in you
Don't put your trust in walls
'Cause walls will only crush you when they fall

Be, be here now, be here now
Be, be here now, be here now

Here's a video of a live version:


Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Preach It, Chris

I have had a number of "Songs of the Week" and "Movie Fridays" I wanted to post about, but it has been an intense first month and a half of the term.  Perhaps I'll resume later this month.  In the meantime, I wanted to share this excerpt from a recent column by Chris Hedges regarding the impending collapse of the American empire, and the farcical goings on that distract citizens from their imminent demise.  If you replace certain names like "Ted Cruz" with others whose initials are TL, AR, IS, MFP, etc., you might find some analogy to our current situation.

The final days of empire give ample employment and power to the feckless, the insane and the idiotic. These politicians and court propagandists, hired to be the public faces on the sinking ship, mask the real work of the crew, which is systematically robbing the passengers as the vessel goes down. The mandarins of power stand in the wheelhouse barking ridiculous orders and seeing how fast they can gun the engines. They fight like children over the ship’s wheel as the vessel heads full speed into a giant ice field. They wander the decks giving pompous speeches. They shout that the SS America is the greatest ship ever built. They insist that it has the most advanced technology and embodies the highest virtues. And then, with abrupt and unexpected fury, down we will go into the frigid waters.

The last days of empire are carnivals of folly. We are in the midst of our own, plunging forward as our leaders court willful economic and environmental self-destruction. Sumer and Rome went down like this. So did the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires. Men and women of stunning mediocrity and depravity led the monarchies of Europe and Russia on the eve of World War I. And America has, in its own decline, offered up its share of weaklings, dolts and morons to steer it to destruction. A nation that was still rooted in reality would never glorify charlatans such as Sen. Ted Cruz, House Speaker John Boehner and former Speaker Newt Gingrich as they pollute the airwaves. If we had any idea what was really happening to us we would have turned in fury against Barack Obama, whose signature legacy will be utter capitulation to the demands of Wall Street, the fossil fuel industry, the military-industrial complex and the security and surveillance state.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Song of the Week: March of the Pigs

You gotta love Trent Reznor.  He goes his own way, refusing to kowtow to the corrupt music industry, and manages to keep a large fan base happy while winning an Academy Award for the soundtrack to The Social Network.  I have previously used one of the pieces from that soundtrack as SOTW, so I won’t belabour the biographical details,

Here’s a very old song, off of The Downward Spiral.  Marchof the Pigs comes off as a fairly standard thrash/industrial number, with the requisite screaming and distortion, and 29/8 time signature.  But what distinguishes it is the jazzy, Joe Jacksonesque ending, which is more creepy than the main part of the song.  The pigs have won indeed.


Here’s a video:




Wednesday, September 11, 2013

"It's the Faculty, Stupid"

Here's a thought-provoking piece on higher education trends.  (Warning:  Al Jazeera link, in case you're worried about the NSA.)

Song of the Week: Copperhead Road

There's no particular agenda with this song; I just like it.

I am big admirer of Steve Earle.  He is a strong performer, a true scholar of music, and he wears his politics on his sleeve with no apologies to anyone.  He has also been married seven times, and had his share of legal problems due to substance abuse.  Overall he is a flawed but impressive human being.

Hi debut album, GuitarTown, was hugely successful, especially with the critics.  However, his third effort, Copperhead Road, also did very well, and spawned a couple of minor hits, including the title song.  This piece, about a backwoods scion of a family of moonshiners who takes up pot farming, is a real foot-stomper.  I have seen him perform it solo with an acoustic guitar, and it is still a rousing number that gets the crowd fired up.


Here’s the official music video:


Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Cleaning House

Indira should maybe start worrying.  She may come back from China to a locked office and boxed up possessions.

More Turnover at NSERC

New opening advertised.  Given her implementation of a number of ill-conceived policies, I would welcome Isabelle's departure, except that I am sure NSERC will replace her with someone who will move aggressively to dismantle the DG program.  Why?  Because NSERC always finds a way to take a bad situation and make it worse.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Where Are the Alumni

As this PSE funding shit show has unfolded, one question that has haunted me is why Alberta's extensive alumni community is not working to reverse some or all of the cuts.  As they watch programs being cancelled, staff layoffs, and who knows what next, they should be concerned about the degradation of the UofA brand, and hence the value of their degrees.

And yet, when one goes to the Alumni Council website, is there even one word about the devastation?  No, just the usual PR happy talk, and the ubiquitous money grubbing.  Not to mention this nonsense.  It's embarrassing.  I would like to see some leadership from this group, to mount a campaign to protect the University from the inept mismanagement by this government.  Or do they even care, once they have their degrees and jobs?  Well, if they ever plan to seek employment based on their degrees, they should.  If they have kids they want to educate, they should.  If they want to see a sustainable, diverse economy in this province, they should.

Will they?  Because once it's gone, once we're gone, it will never come back.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Song of the Week: Angry Chair

Angry Chair was a minor hit for Alice in Chains in 1992, off their excellent album Dirt.  It has the distinction of having been written entirely by Layne Staley, rather than the usual Staley/Jerry Cantrell collaboration.  Like many songs on that album, it is filled with hostility, disgust and rage.  Somehow, as the semester starts up under the looming clouds of disastrous budget cuts, lay-offs, program cancellations, etc., I find this song nicely captures my mood.

Here's a live, unplugged version:



This song also makes me think of the hilarious "Angry Dome" throw-away line from Futurama:




Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Fantasy

Saw this video on a number of blogs in celebration of Labour Day (a Canadian innovation), and I felt a pang.  What would it be like to belong to an actual union?  We'll never know.


Saturday, August 31, 2013

It's a Mystery

I just have no idea why university tuition keeps going up faster than inflation.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Friday, August 23, 2013

Movie Friday: Stories We Tell

I've been a big fan of Sarah Polley since I saw her in Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter, a film that currently holds a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 100%.  Her directorial debut was the brilliant Away from Her, based on the Alice Munroe short story The Bear Came Over the Mountain.  I also have utter respect for her commitment to political causes, and her rejection of the traditional Hollywood existence in favour of remaining based in Canada.

This year, she released a fascinating documentary called Stories We Tell.  The film concerns the mystery of her real parentage.  I don't want to go into too much detail--it's better to watch the movie and let the story evolve organically.  It's extremely well done (currently 95% at Rotten Tomatoes), and I recommend it without reservation.

Here's the trailer:


Thursday, August 22, 2013

Why Do You Make Me Hurt You?

My original idea for the title of this post was "Stop Hitting Yourself," the classic refrain of the bully on the school bus or the playground.  This was meant to symbolize the way the provincial government is treating the university.  But then I realized that the nature of the relationship is much more insidious and abusive.  In essence, a domestic violence situation seems like the best metaphor for the current situation between UofA and the Redford government.  Consider the following features, taken from this informative page:
There are many signs of an abusive relationship.  The most telling sign is fear of your partner.  If you feel like you have to walk on eggshells around your partner–constantly watching what you say and do in order to avoid a blow-up–chance are your relationship is unhealthy and abusive.  Other signs that you may be in an abusive relationship include a partner who belittles you or tries to control you, and feelings of self-loathing, helplessness, and desperation.

...
Remember, an abuser's goal is to control you, and he or she will frequently use money to do so.  Economic or financial abuse includes:
•Rigidly controlling your finances
•Restricting you to an allowance
 •Withholding money or credit cards
•Making you account for every penny you spend
•Withholding basic necessities
One of the most important issues in abusive relationships is how the abused partner gets out of it.  This is what I have been thinking about lately.  The UofA can't very well move away from Alberta.  But those of us who do not want to be party to such dysfunction certainly have options, and would be foolish not to explore them.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Song of the Week: He's Misstra Know-It-All

This song of the week is dedicated to a certain Minister.  Stevie Wonder's He's Misstra Know-It-All appears on the truly awesome 1973 album, Innervisions.  Wikipedia says:

"The song is essentially a long description of a know-it-all confidence trickster character who is a "man with a plan," who has a slick answer to all his critics and who has "a counterfeit dollar in his hand."  It has been suggested that the song's subject was US President Richard Nixon..."

Here's the studio version on YouTube.  (Sorry, couldn't find any good quality live performances.)




Food for Thought

Paula Simons explains the underlying motivations of Lukaszuk and the Redford government with this new "financial consultant" nonsense.  It's all about taking away the autonomy of a formerly independent institution.  This crew even makes Klein look good, never mind Stelmach.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Look to Your Left; Now Look to Your Right

There's a famous urban legend about Harvard Law School that the 1-L's were told on the first day to look to their left and right, because one of them would not be there by the end of the year.  The tweet below from Andy Holt suggests a new variation on this for our faculty:  "Look to your left; now look to your right.  At least one of you will be at another institution next year, thanks to the government of Alberta."


But that's OK, it's only the best people who will be leaving.  Everyone else will still be here to help achieve the "Top 20 by 2020" goal.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Friday, August 16, 2013

Movie Friday: Before Midnight

I saw several interesting films this summer, but the first one to highlight should be Richard Linklater's Before Midnight.  This is the third (and last?) film in the series that includes Before Sunrise and Before Sunset.  All three concern the principal characters Jesse (a somewhat callow and annoying American writer) and Celine (a high-strung Frenchwoman working for an NGO).  The first has them meeting-cute as 20-somethings on a train and spontaneously deciding to spend the night wandering around Vienna.  The second occurs nine years later, when Jesse has had success as a writer (mining his actual experience with Celine for many of the details) and is visiting Paris for a reading.  Married with a young kid, he nonetheless realizes that it is Celine with whom he should be spending his life, and by the end of that film it is clear that this is exactly what he is going to do, regardless of the consequences.


Before Midnight takes up the story after another nine year gap, and now they are together with young twin daughters of their own.  In the space of one afternoon and evening, we see them slide from playful bantering and harmless bickering to an intense and bitter argument about the sacrifices and compromises they have made for each other (or are apparently contemplating asking for).  This is painful to watch and listen to, but it is utterly real.  Moreover, because you have invested so much into these two characters, it is absorbing even when you are squirming with discomfort.  Although things are left uncertain, I predict that these two will not be able to stay apart:  they absolutely need each other as foils for their various dramas, and inspirations for their accomplishments.  But their togetherness will be punctuated with many trenchant discussions, some of them intensely painful.


I'm not sure how to summarize what Linklater accomplished with these three films, but they are truly a singular accomplishment, with fantastic writing and direction, and amazingly honest performances from the two leads.  And all the while, wrestling with deep ideas and highly personal dilemmas.  I recommend all three without reservation, but I think perhaps the third may be the best of all.

Here is the trailer:


Thursday, August 15, 2013

Do the Arts Subsidize STEM Disciplines?

As a member of the Science faculty, I found this post on Crooked Timber to be very interesting and illuminating.  Admittedly, it concerns the British academic system, whose funding model is not identical to ours, but the underlying principles (esp. cost to deliver various subjects vs more or less uniform tuitions and fees) still apply.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Where University Costs Come From

Here's an interesting preliminary (and very incomplete) coverage of rising costs (and tuition) at a series of US universities.

The Return of Song of the Week: Ode to Billie Joe

I saw Roseanne Cash at the Folk Fest this weekend, and one of the high points was her performance of the 1967 Bobbie Gentry classic Ode to Billie Joe.  Written as a southern Gothic story, set to a simple blues song structure, this song was amazingly popular when released, and even inspired a not-so-good movie starring Robby Benson.

Anyway, here is a live version of Bobbie Gentry on the old Smothers Brothers show:

And here is Roseanne Cash with husband John Leventhal:

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Compare and Contrast (continued)

First drew this comparison in March, when both NSF and NSERC had vacancies in their Directorships.

Now NSF appoints a noted astrophysicist, former president of Purdue University, and current Chairwoman of the Smithsonian as its new Director.  Meanwhile, NSERC's Presidency remains open, with an embarrassing notice of vacancy posted online.  For the time being, it seems that Canada's main natural sciences funding agency is being run by an executive team whose scientific credentials are, to be charitable, rather modest.  I really despair for the future of this country's science.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Situation Wanted

Slightly used science professor available:  good funding; commercialization experience; strong H-index; many former HQP in prominent position in industry and academe.  Will consider any reasonable offer as long as it is located in a province not run by irresponsible loudmouth buffoons.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

A Vanishing Breed

Here's a very sobering piece in The Atlantic about the dwindling percentage of tenured/tenure-track faculty at colleges and universities.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Song of the Week: Know Your Enemy

Rage Against the Machine was(is) an unstoppable force, an early purveyor of rap-metal, mixing ferocious, politically conscious lyrics by vocalist Zack de la Rocha with the contagious guitar riffs of Tom Morello.  While all of their albums were great, the stunning eponymous debut from 1992 is still my favorite.

Of the many great songs, I want to single out one:  "Know Your Enemy."  A hard rocking revolutionary anthem, its message is relevant to our current predicament.  Whether we want an enemy or not, we have one, and we need to wake up to that fact.  This government sees advanced education as something they can readily attack and cripple with no adverse consequences.  Are they right, or will they be made to pay a steep price for their perfidy?

Here's the song:


Friday, March 29, 2013

Movie Friday: Searching for Sugar Man

I saw an amazing movie this week, Searching for Sugar Man.  This documentary tells the story of a failed folk artist from the early 1970s, Rodriguez, who inexplicably became immensely popular in South Africa.  Convinced that he had committed suicide onstage, but completely deprived of any biographical information, some of his fans set out to find the truth.  And the truth proved to be quite unexpected:  after releasing two albums that failed to sell and being dropped by his label, Rodriguez had returned to a simple life of manual labor, and was alive and well and living in his hometown of Detroit.  The latter part of the movie details the resurrection of his career through a series of concerts in South Africa, and he is now enjoying belated success as a musician.  It won the 2012 Academy Award for documentary films.

It's the ultimate feel-good story, because Rodriguez is so obviously a good guy, unpretentious and with no aspirations of success.  It's also very interesting to learn about the effect his music had on the nascent anti-apartheid movement among young whites in South Africa.  Finally, there's the music.  This guy wrote some great songs, including "Sugar Man," from his first album Cold Fact.

Anyway, here is the trailer.  See this film if you have the chance.


Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Song of the Week: Poor Boy

Sorry, took some time off from blogging due to the current turmoil.  But it's Wednesday, so let's do a "Song of the Week."

One of my all-time favorite artists is the late English singer-songwriter Nick Drake.  A brilliant writer with a pleasant and idiosyncratic singing style, Drake was plagued throughout his very short career with depression and severe performance anxiety.  He died of an overdose of amitryptyline at age 26, and only achieved the renown he deserved long after his death, a notion that was eerily predicted in his song "Fruit Tree."

The second of his three albums released while he was alive is Bryter Later, and it is quite different from the first and third.  Full of interesting, jazzy arrangements, it stands in contrast to the more stripped-down Five Leaves Left, and especially the bleak and minimalist Pink Moon.  I have loved those two albums for decades, but have now begun to appreciate what Drake was trying to accomplish with Bryter Later.  With that in mind, here is a very nice number from it, "Poor Boy," a bossa nova-ish tune with jazzy chords, soulful back-up singers, multiple sax solos, and lots of other touches one might not normally associate with Nick Drake, all performed in counterpoint to some typically Drake-ish depressing lyrics.  Enjoy!


Friday, March 15, 2013

Movie Friday: Animal House

In honor of the big dump that the government of Alberta has taken on postsecondary education, I have selected National Lampoon's Animal House as this week's movie.  At the time it came out, it was considered to be pushing the envelope of vulgarity; after the relentless coarsening of our culture in the intervening years, it seems almost quaint.  But Bluto's speech to his Delta House brothers after Dean Wormer kicks them out of college and disbands the fraternity seems especially appropriate for Alberta's mistreated universities.  So, enjoy the great John Belushi talking about "when the German's bombed Pearl Harbor."


Also, note the cameo by Doug Kenney (who co-wrote the screenplay) as the character Stork:  "What the hell we we s'posed to do, ya mo-ron?"

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Song of the Week: Love Alive

So I went to see Heart at the Jube on Monday night, and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised to see how well they did, considering that the Wilson sisters are 62 and 59!  They put on an enthusiastic and high quality show, not surprisingly playing most of their biggest hits, along with a few lesser songs of recent vintage.  For me, perhaps the high point was when they chose to include the song "Love Alive" from their second album, Little Queen.  It's one of my favourites.  Here is a recent performance from 2011 that is quite similar to what I saw:


One of Heart's longtime specialties is their outstanding covers of Led Zeppelin songs.  They closed this concert with a dead-on version of "Misty Mountain Hop" that was just awesome.  Below is another great cover, just by the two sisters, of another song from the Runes and Tunes album, "The Battle of Evermore":



I have to confess to having had a bit of a crush on Nancy Wilson since I was in my teens:  she is a truly great guitarist and songwriter and also a very beautiful woman.  Here's her doing the acoustic intro to "Crazy On You":


You gotta love it.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Compare and Contrast

Head of NSF resigns to take on university presidency, and the acting director that is appointed is a PhD sociologist with a long and distinguished record in research administration.  NSERC's president steps down to take on a university presidency, and the interim director is a former politician and broadcaster with no apparent background in science.

Slowly but surely, the Harper government is taking Canadian science, which has previously been able to show signs of excellence despite an overall amateurish management, and turn it into a clown show.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Movie Friday: This Week It's a Book

I wanted to pick a movie this week to reflect the shitstorm that the idiots who rule this province have inflicted on us, but I couldn't think of anything appropriate.  On the other hand, Straight Man, one of the earlier novels of Richard Russo, fits rather well.  Russo is probably best known for his novel Empire Falls, which won the Pulitzer, and was later adapted as an HBO miniseries.  But Straight Man is well worth a look.  It's about a middle aged English professor at a struggling state school in Pennsylvania that has a big budget cut hanging over its head.  Maybe a little too close to home this week, but the story is strong and the writing is crisp.  Someone should make a movie out of it, but in the meantime, give it a read if you have the chance.

Vote Them Out



Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Song of the Week: The Gentle Hum of Anxiety

I've been a fan of Trent Reznor for over 20 years, dating back to his first Nine Inch Nails album, Pretty Hate Machine.  Therefore, I've been interested to see his move into movie soundtracks.  I thought the score for The Social Network was exceptional, and apparently the Academy of Motion Pictures did as well.

In honor of the pending budget announcement and the recent ominous memo from the Dean of Science, I select The Gentle Hum of Anxiety as the latest song of the week.  It's perhaps not the best track from the album, but it does nicely capture the current zeitgeist:


Saturday, March 2, 2013

Late Movie Friday: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I barely heard about The Perks of Being a Wallflower when it came out last fall.  I don't think that the studio marketed it very aggressively.  It's too bad, because it's a great film.  I watched it last night on pay-per-view, and then woke up in the middle of the night and could not get back to sleep as my mind raced to mull over the plot.  I found this to be a highly affecting movie, with plausible characters and situations, and deeply emotional themes.

Based on a book written by Stephen Chbosky, and then adapted and directed by him as well, this film considered the difficult life of a brilliant and highly sensitive boy facing isolation and depression in his freshman year of high school.  The performances were uniformly great, and I give this movie my unreserved recommendation.

Here's the trailer:

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Song of the Week: Jersey Girl

Tom Waits is an amazing artist whose oeuvre is diverse and extensive.  One song from relatively early in his career that is not usually associated with him is "Jersey Girl."  A sweet, romantic song, it is often attributed to Bruce Springsteen given its content and the fact that it is a staple of his live shows.  However, it was in fact written and recorded first by Waits.  Here's a version:



Or, if you're feeling contrary, here is Eddie Vedder performing it:


Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Song of the Week: The Dream Is Always the Same

Sorry for the hiatus; incredibly hectic couple of weeks.

This week's Song of the Week is actually from a movie soundtrack, to one of my all-time favorite 80s movies:  Risky Business.  The soundtrack was done by Tangerine Dream, the pioneering German synth band, and it was highly effective.  Of course, there was quite a bit of auxiliary music by the likes of Bob Seger, Muddy Waters, Prince and Talking Heads, but the cool synth washes of the TD music was a real high point, especially in two spots:  the opening scene ("The Dream Is Always the Same") and later in the movie ("Love on a Real Train").

Anyway, here is the first four minutes, including the great "Dream" scene, which perfectly sets up the tension around the striving and ambitious (but not immensely talented) main character Joel:


Oops, not allowed to embed that one.  Here is the link.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Song of the Week: (I Know) I'm Losing You

You wouldn't know it from his current crooner persona, but at an earlier point in his career Rod Stewart knew how to rock.  After rising to prominence as the lead singer for the Jeff Beck Group, Stewart followed his friend Ronnie Wood to Faces, the new incarnation of the Small Faces.  They did not last too long before Stewart embarked on a successful solo career with Every Picture Tells a Story, a very strong album indeed.

On this album is the song (I Know) I'm Losing You, written by Whitfield, Holland and Grant, and first performed by the Temptations, then by Rare Earth.  Stewart's version was recorded with his mates from Faces, including Wood on guitar, the late Ronnie Lane on bass, Kenny Jones on drums and Ian McLagan on keyboards.  This was a song that Faces had performed live, though they did not record it before disbanding.  Here is a live performance on the BBC:


I especially liked Wood's little riff at the beginning, and Lane's big bass sound when he joins in.  Unfortunately, the sound quality on this is not great.  If you want to hear the album version, try here.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Movie Friday: Dreddful

I posted on Dredd when it first came out, but did not get around to seeing it in the theatre.  I finally saw it last weekend, and hereby pronounce it to be entertaining dross.  It held my attention with a combination of interesting production design, occasionally flashy cinematography, and a minimalist script with several pithy exchanges.  Karl Urban was amusing, though one never sees anything except the bottom half of his face...interesting decision, though I guess  maybe true to the original comic.  Olivia Thirlby and Lena Headley were also good.

What it lacked was any particular depth.  Another action picture from 2012 that was at least as entertaining was The Cabin in the Woods, but that one was full of clever concepts that stayed with me long after I had watched it.  For that matter, even Looper had more going on underneath.  So, fun movie but nothing special.

Update (Jan 26):  this is funny, and the timing is perfect re this post from yesterday.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Song of the Week: The Lee Shore

On the great Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young double live album 4 Way Street, one can find many outstanding renditions of various songs by each of the principals.  Roughly speaking, the first two sides cover more of the acoustic material (Teach Your Children, Don't Let It Bring You Down).  On side one, nestled between Crosby's Triad and Nash's Chicago, is a less well-known gem titled The Lee Shore.  (Interestingly, the Byrds' reluctance to record Triad, which concerns a ménage-a-trois, contributed to Crosby's decision to leave that band.)

The Lee Shore follows a frequent theme in Crosby's music, which concerns oceans, ships and sailors.  It's a beautiful, contemplative number that I always enjoy listening to.  It was also recorded in live form from the Crosby & Nash period.  Below is a recording of those two, taken from a BBC program in the early 1970s:


Saturday, January 19, 2013

Mass Transit Redux

Since I already linked to the animation of the London tube system, why not also highlight the New York subway system as well.  A couple of things I did not realize came to light watching this:  (1) the earliest fragments were actually some stretches of elevated train in Brooklyn; and (2) one of the very first subway lines was my old IRT (123) line running up the west side of Manhattan. Good times.

Update:  link fixed.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Movie Friday: Looper (Finally)

Some time ago, I expressed some enthusiasm for seeing the Rian Johnson film Looper. Sadly, a busy fall kept me from seeing it in the theatre.  However, I did finally see it on PPV, and I have to say that it was one of the more entertaining movies of 2012 that I have seen. Unfortunately, I could not buy the "Bruce Willis as older Joseph Gordon-Levitt" concept, but both were very good. I highly recommend this clever and original movie.

This film has a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (95% top critics). Importantly, the idiot Cole Smithey didn't like it, which I take as a strong positive rating.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Song of the Week: Born, Never Asked

Laurie Anderson is an interesting character.  A graduate of Barnard College, with a subsequent MFA from Columbia, she became part of the avant garde art and music scene in New York during the 1970s.  Much of her work featured her violin playing, but also lots of experimental electronic effects, found sounds, etc.  She has been together with Lou Reed for many years.

I still remember the first time I heard Big Science in the early 1980s.  It was unlike anything else I had listened to.  Full of catchy tunes and occasionally over-clever lyrics (often in ironic spoken word), it was genuinely fun.  Unsurprisingly, it was subjected to quite a bit of criticism from the "serious" avant garde community as a sell-out.

Does it stand the test of time, thirty years later?  I gave it a listen recently, and found it to be quite enjoyable, though perhaps a little bit quaint.  For myself, I prefer her follow-up, Mr. Heartbreak.  But anyway, here is one of the songs from Big Science, titled Born, Never Asked, which I always found kind of spooky and profound:


Tuesday, January 15, 2013

What Jeremy Said

Jeremy very concisely states the issues facing the absurd situation of looming provincial budget cuts in a relatively booming economy.  Sadly, it appears that most journalists are not likely to make those connections.

One hand washes the other.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Movie Friday: Les Misérables

So, I saw Les Mis in the theatre over Christmas Break.  Since then, it has received 4 Golden Globe nominations, 9 BAFTA nominations and 8 Academy Award nominations, and lots of recognition from various film critic societies.  In particular, Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway have been singled out for praise, and it is mostly deserved.  That said, the two who most impressed me were Samantha Barks as Éponine and Aaron Tveit as Enjolras.

In any case, I do not think this was a great film, and I frankly do not understand how it ended up nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, nor with a total of 8 nominations tying it for third behind Lincoln and The Life of Pi (neither of which I have seen yet).  It is telling that Tom Hooper was not nominated for Best Director.

All in all, it was worth seeing, but it will not go down as one of the best movies I saw in the last year.  Here's the trailer:


Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Yay Mass Transit

Great animation of the evolution of the London tube system.

Song of the Week: The Man With the Child In His Eyes

I have to confess to having something of a Kate Bush fixation.  Her music confounds and inspires me, most especially the amazing Hounds of Love from 1985.  Her sporadic output and idiosyncratic style have probably contributed to her periodic problems with highly dedicated stalkers, most recently about a year ago.

I still have a very sharp recollection of my first exposure to her, as a musical act on Saturday Night Live.  The song she sang was from her first album, The Kick Inside, which contains a number of songs written when she was 15-16.  This particular song, The Man With the Child In His Eyes, just bowled me over with its emotion and intimacy.  Sadly, that version (with Paul Shaffer doing the piano accompaniment) does not seem to be available online.  But here is another live version from 1979:


Sunday, January 6, 2013

Pravda on the North Saskatchewan

Colloquy continues its tradition of publishing happy talk and avoiding any sort of substantive coverage of the many challenges faced by this institution with an end of the year post by President Samarasekera.  In it, she talks up the Rhodes Scholarship won by Megan Engel (a nice accomplishment for Megan, but not really something for which the University can or should claim credit); the dodgeball record (no comment; I've addressed this previously); and the establishment of the India-Canada centre of excellence (a reasonable thing to tout, though symptomatic of the reflexive drive towards internationalization of the University while neglecting our basic missions of providing quality education to Alberta residents and maintaining our status as a preeminent research institution).  It's hard to imagine that anyone involved in Colloquy ever really believed the hype about serving as a forum for discussion and debate of important issues.