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Wow, Dano, nice blogging blog summary. You totally blogged up a blogging storm, man.


(Haha, much love, dude.)

Seriously, take a look at his blog summary, you know you want to.

Plato was a fascist...

Okay, so wow, I haven't really been keeping up with this blog thing.

Grr.... This week's going to be crazy busy though, with Jamboree and everything.

Anyway, I ran across something reading the Republic of Plato-

"The introduction of novel fashions of music is a thing to beware of as endangering the whole fabric of society..."

I think Plato would have had a problem with blues music- or jazz or rock or rap- basically any music that originated in the United States... Can you imagine a world where music is not allowed to have any sort of innovation? Who would want to live like that?

Sometimes, it's important to stand against convention in protest.

Speaking of protests- you should check out Culture Jammer's blog, she's got some amazing photos and information about the protest she attended over Thanksgiving. It's pretty incredible. Go look NOW!

Yay Banjos BOO Snow!

Wow. Banjos are really cool...

Well today had three pretty informative presentations.

First Kat delved into America's musical history by tracing back to Irish roots...- very cool!
I'm a huge fan of Irish folk music. Ya'll should try to find Johnny Jump Up on Pandora... I love that song.

Anyhoot, Kat also illustrated how one popular song (that I'm sure we all remember from every middle school dance) "Cotton-Eyed Joe" has both Irish roots and alot of American influence. Also a good example of musical irony- such a cheerful song about such a grisly subject.

It's interesting to note how music evolves when limits are put on it and new elements are introduced, between Irish music, black slave songs, and their eventual meshing in American folk music- it's really amazing to see how innovative people can become under adversity.

Also, she happens to be a great baker...;)

Then Dan stepped up to the challenge and gave us a pretty nice presentation on Duke Ellington.
(Don't worry, dude, I was totally impressed by your power-point presentation). And kudos for the trumpet playing- well done.

Anyway, Dan also discussed the Cotton Club, which it seems was pretty influential in the world of early jazz... lots of famous people got their start there, that was really interesting. I don't think I've heard of the Cotton Club before... guess I'm just not hip to the beat. Thanks!

Then the amazing Egan (is that how his name is spelled?) was kind enough to drop by our class and do some demonstrating on his banjo. That was amazing. I love how those things sound. They just make you want to get up and dance.

I hope Kat picks up some fiddle playing... it may not be as 'dignified' as classical, but it's still really neat. (Kat you should also check out jazz fiddle... there's some pretty cool things you can do with that surprisingly versatile instrument.)

Ashley told me that she almost got banjo lessons in high school but that her friends talked her out of it... but she might go pick up some lessons now... I hope you go for it! Seriously, there are four instruments that if any of you play one of them, you are totally my hero- 1. Banjo 2. Euphonium/Tuba 3. Hurdy-Gurdy 4. Didgeridoo.

Well, this was not the best of my blogs... but there you go (guess I'm just itchy for Fall Break...)

Happy Birthday!

We talked today about the kinds of holidays that were available to poor people in America's past- I remember stories my grandmother tells me, about how when she was a little girl she was so excited to get a nickel to buy a candy bar- and that was an extremely rare occurance.

It makes me think about how hard it must be for poor people today- when a nickel won't buy you anything at all, and everywhere around you are signs of prosperity and wealth that you can't seem to grasp. My grandmother never really thought about how poor she was growing up, because mostly everybody around her was in the same boat.

It's not necessarily that the gap between the rich and the poor is increasing (although it probably is), but there is more stuff to have, so the gap is more visible for the people who don't have all the new nice things, like flat screen TVs and cell phones.
I can't believe how lucky I am to have a computer to type this on... I can't believe how lucky I am to be in college.

On the other hand... I'm not yet nineteen and I'm already a couple thousand dollars in debt.
America's a strange country- you can't live if you've got nothing, but you can make out pretty well if you've got less than nothing.

Hobohemian Rhapsody

Well, once again while I was not studying for a test... (this is quickly becoming a bad habit) I began musing on my performance... I'm considering a costume... this is gonna be sweet... I hope everyone brings earplugs. Anyway, in researching my topic, I'm reading a book that brought up two really interesting and pertinent quotes referring to what we have been talking about in class.

First, one that would have fitted nicely into my last blog... look below if you want to see what I mean. "Here at hot bubble is the familiar chemistry employed to prepare the ground for persecution: establish that your victim is debased and barely human, thereby justifying inhuman, draconic measures."

I think some one used that term "dehumanizing" to describe the rape of cultures inflicted upon black slaves and other exploited minorities.

Second, here is a quote that puts Chicago in an interesting light, especially as it is describing Chicago from around the time when Muddy Waters and other blues musicians began emigrating there from Mississippi.

"This dumping ground, with accelerated change, has prolonged in Chicago the atmosphere of the frontier town it had so recently been. This leads to an atomization of social relationships, the swill of the shipwrecked and unadjusted through their half-life, their world apart: that quality of the adventitious that they seek yet which makes despair and detachment easier, but which also gives the life its element of chance and adventure, and stimulates behavior that is like 'the attraction of the flame for the moth, a sort of tropism.'"

I think this pretty well describes not only hobo culture, which the book is about, but also a certain amount of the blues attitude, especially in the lines "that quality of adventitious... which makes despair and detachment easier, but... gives life its element of chance an adventure."

Needless to say, I really like this book... but rather than copy the whole thing on my blog and risk copyright infringement, I'll just tell you the title and author and let you read it for yourself should you care to- HARD TRAVELLIN': The hobo and his history by Kenneth Allsop.

Alright... now I'm seriously going to study. No really. I mean it.

-Ruby X

Herd Poisoning...

Wow... we talked about a lot of really heavy subjects today in class. It's something I was thinking about while at the library not studying Chemistry... this country was built on a lot of people's pain. It was built on alienation and control. Even the disconsolate and destitute were pitted against each other, often to the benefit of the more affluent members of society.

There was something that the book mentioned... "blacks learned to consider 'white trash' their natural enemies" and "When there were outbreaks of night riding or lynching, poor whites were the perpetrators."

Meanwhile the rich white plantation owners shafted them both- by not hiring the poor whites (keeping them unemployed) and keeping the black sharecroppers in more or less slave conditions. The sad thing is, if the poor whites had fought (through their unhindered voting rights) to protect the civil rights of the black sharecroppers- both groups may have come off a lot better.

Of course, this is an oversimplified view of an incredibly complex subject.

There is also to consider human psychology... in class, the question came up- why do people fear and try to control groups different from themselves?

I think that PART of it, is that we all desire so badly to be part of a group... maybe it will be easier to explain this using the microcosm of high school and its cliques- if you notice, each group has it's hierarchy- there's always some cheerleader at the bottom of the pyramid. If she can keep the rest of her clique targeting some other group... say, the "anime fangirls" then the upper hierarchy of her own group won't turn against her. Also, though she may not be the "Queen Bee" she has the ego boost of NOT being one of THEM.

Similarly, the poor backcountry whites might be rednecks and WHITE TRASH, but at least they're not BLACK.

Besides, that way it's not their fault... it's the blacks, or the Jews, or whatever else other group you want to blame, and a million other excuses that have no excuse for why people treat each other so horribly.

People treated each other atrociously back then, and we still do today. It's something we all have to struggle with. And as was brought up in class, it isn't necessarily racism- it can be something as simple as judging a person based on their clothing or mannerisms... anything that makes us actively step outside of our safety zone can cause some sort of prejudice- and it's different from seeing it through the media... For instance, I can watch Discovery Channel shows full of tribal New Guineans wearing nothing but penis cones and it doesn't perturb me. If a guy wearing nothing but a penis cone sat next to me on the bus... well, it might be a different story.

Well I've rambled long enough... (my, that's a horrible conclusion- I'm glad this isn't being graded as an English paper...) anyway, that's all for now.

Some More Thoughts...

Well, we had a lively discussion today about Gov. Blanco's speech... makes me really glad I'm not a politician. Yikes. Wow, we really are pretty judgmental about our public figures... I don't know quite how I feel about that- to a certain extent, I think it's important that we judge our public figures... but it's sometimes hard to do that fairly.

Although, on the plus side, it got a few more people to talk in class besides just the one or two that are usually involved... This is going to be an interesting semester. Looking forward to it.

Oh, and it's Magick with a 'k'. Because yes, I am just that obsessive-compulsive =). teeheehee (evil laugh)

1. Why did you sign up for this seminar?

Hmm... at my high school senior prom they played a polka as a joke. Only two people danced to it- me and my date. Oh yeah, I'm that big of a nerd. 'Nuff said.

2. If you could take five pieces of music with you to a desert island, what would they be?

1. Polska- Garmarna

2. The Entire Hildegarde von Bingen Project

3. Suvetar- Gjallarhorn

4. I Wish my Baby was Born- Cold Mountain Sdtrk

5. Johnny Jump Up/Drunken Sailor- Great Big Sea

I'm willing to bet that most of you have not heard of any of these bands. You should look them up- expand your horizons a little. teehee =)

3. What's a piece of music you associate with someone older than you?

Hmm... I have a couple. One's an old German love song that my Grandpa used to sing, but I don't remember the name. Other than that, probably Amazing Grace and Flow Gently Sweet Afton. And Edelweiss, Hey, any one remember that one from the Sound of Music?

4. What would you choose as a new national anthem?

I suppose this would be something that I would have to put a great deal of thought into- but really the first thing that comes to mind is One Whiskey, One Scotch, One Beer. Anyway, that one would be a lot funner to sing at ball games.

But seriously, I guess I would have to go with something a little more patriotic, somthing like America the Beautiful- but NOT This Land is Your Land. Man I hate that song.

5. What kind of music related performance do you do?

I play the flute, badly. Actually, I have a collection of odd intstruments at home... I can play some of them. The Irish tin whistle and the the crystal flute are two of my favorite.

I sing a little... a little off-key that is... Nevertheless, I think it's a lot of fun, even if my listeners would say otherwise.

Also, I am a didgeridoo enthusiast... although mine is more or less made out of plastic piping...

6. What is one question you would ask Gov. Blanco?

Why is it important to rebuild New Orleans, especially if it is only to be rebuilt in a place that is also open to future disasters? I believe that there must be good reasons, but I don't think I've really heard a definitive answer for this one.