by ROBERT KRULWICH on NPR
May 18, 2013 5:47 AM
This being Commencement Time, I'd like to share this gently dramatized version of David Foster Wallace's 2005 address to the graduates of Kenyon College, in which he makes the argument that when you are dog-tired, stuck in traffic, waiting in the supermarket line, when everything is flat, dull, empty, purposeless, this is where being educated helps. Because you went to college and learned different ways to think about things, you have the muscles. You exercised them at school. You can stand in that supermarket line, surrounded by irritating, equally bored people, and if you want, you can imagine them beautiful or gentle or helpless — even if they're not. You have the choice. Your education gives you the option to see things from several perspectives. You can call it delusional. Or you can call it hope. Or you can call it a form of pain relief from your own pain. Whatever you call it, with it, you are unshackled. That's what a college education can give you, says David — a chance to fly free.
05 May 2013
Grades are ready for review
I have read all your finals and have posted the gradesheets in the normal place. I was quite impressed by the imagination and flair put into this task. I will have a follow-on posting about my thoughts about what you had to say. But for now, review your gradesheets. If you want to discuss them with me, I'll be in my office on Monday until 3. I plan to put the grades into Connect Carolina about that time.
01 May 2013
Finally up to date
All your tasks have been reviewed and, as I said in class, you all did well on all of them. Look at my notes on your gradesheets. In one or two cases, there are issues that need clearing up. It should be clear to you what these issues are (i.e., if you see an unexpectedly bad grade for a task, there are things that need clearing up).
Finding articles for final task
Question:
I have trouble viewing the full version of 'Lending a Hand' and 'More Feast, Less Famine'. I went to the UNC link you give us, the search box didn't return much and the categories are ambiguous.Could you help me with viewing them?
Response:
Go first to the Economist (London) locationhttp://vb3lk7eb4t.search.serialssolutions.com/?V=1.0&L=VB3LK7EB4T&S=T_AZ&C=E&N=100&B=700
Then go to the single journals location
http://www.economist.com/printedition/2013-04-27
Once there, look for special reports under the print edition tab just below the search window
http://www.economist.com/printedition/specialreports
Then use the drop down box to find the 2011 special reports
http://www.economist.com/printedition/specialreports?year%5Bvalue%5D%5Byear%5D=2011&category=All
The one you are looking for is on page 2, on Sep 8th 2011 - the future of jobs
http://www.economist.com/node/21528433
24 April 2013
blue rondo à la turk
Music has been a means of international and intercultural information exchange for eons. Musicians pick up things from what they hear and the mix informs a new way of listening, and perhaps a new way of thinking.
Dave Brubeck is an example. His piece entitled Blue Rondo à la Turk was inspired by hearing things he hadn't heard before.
Dave Brubeck is an example. His piece entitled Blue Rondo à la Turk was inspired by hearing things he hadn't heard before.
Brubeck heard the unusual "1-2 1-2 1-2 1-2-3" rhythm being performed by Turkish musicians on the street. Upon asking the musicians where they got the rhythm from, one of them replied "This rhythm is to us, what the blues is to you". Hence the title "Blue Rondo à la Turk".
The Kids Of PS22 Take On Tame Impala
by OLIVER WANG
January 08, 201312:00 PM
It's not every day that a children's choir gets to open for the Polyphonic Spree — unless, of course, you're talking about Staten Island's remarkable PS22 Chorus. Manned by public-school fifth-graders, the PS22 Chorus has made its name by covering the pop hits of everyone from Janis Joplin to Lykke Li to Phillip Phillips. Apart from opening for the Spree, its members were most recently a big part of the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Most times, their covers are ear-catching because they take the hyper-produced sound of a chart-topper and replace it with the decidedly lo-fi — but earnest — approach of recording an auditorium full of children singing in unison. It's a cold heart that doesn't find some appeal in this.
However, on rare occasions, the PS22 Chorus doesn't simply offer a contrast to its source material; it finds ways to transcend it. Tame Impala's "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" has already been a breakout hit in 2012, with singer Kevin Parker concocting a marvelous earworm with the title hook. In PS22's take, the chorus is an ideal fit with Parker's falsetto, preserving the original fragility on one level but then adding the stirring power of a large group.
Choral makeovers sometimes sacrifice the intensity of a lead vocal in favor of a symphony of voices, but PS22 offers the best of both worlds: The full choir sings the main body of the song, then shifts to its two young leads, who perfectly harmonize the hook. (It's an absolute joy to watch the female lead, Jianna, bob and sway during her parts.) It didn't occur to me, before, that "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" would be a perfect candidate for a choral makeover. But after you hear PS22 tackle it, it's hard to imagine how it was ever meant to be heard any other way. Kevin Parker himself summed up the response when he posted the video on Tame Impala's Facebook page, simply exclaiming, "holy bajoly Batman."
January 08, 201312:00 PM
It's not every day that a children's choir gets to open for the Polyphonic Spree — unless, of course, you're talking about Staten Island's remarkable PS22 Chorus. Manned by public-school fifth-graders, the PS22 Chorus has made its name by covering the pop hits of everyone from Janis Joplin to Lykke Li to Phillip Phillips. Apart from opening for the Spree, its members were most recently a big part of the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Most times, their covers are ear-catching because they take the hyper-produced sound of a chart-topper and replace it with the decidedly lo-fi — but earnest — approach of recording an auditorium full of children singing in unison. It's a cold heart that doesn't find some appeal in this.
However, on rare occasions, the PS22 Chorus doesn't simply offer a contrast to its source material; it finds ways to transcend it. Tame Impala's "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" has already been a breakout hit in 2012, with singer Kevin Parker concocting a marvelous earworm with the title hook. In PS22's take, the chorus is an ideal fit with Parker's falsetto, preserving the original fragility on one level but then adding the stirring power of a large group.
Choral makeovers sometimes sacrifice the intensity of a lead vocal in favor of a symphony of voices, but PS22 offers the best of both worlds: The full choir sings the main body of the song, then shifts to its two young leads, who perfectly harmonize the hook. (It's an absolute joy to watch the female lead, Jianna, bob and sway during her parts.) It didn't occur to me, before, that "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" would be a perfect candidate for a choral makeover. But after you hear PS22 tackle it, it's hard to imagine how it was ever meant to be heard any other way. Kevin Parker himself summed up the response when he posted the video on Tame Impala's Facebook page, simply exclaiming, "holy bajoly Batman."
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