Well, today I went to a kickboxing "boot camp" and now I cannot lift my arms...
awesome...
in other news, planning on heading out for a late night drive tonight to think about plot lines and syllabi for the classes I'm teaching this fall... plot lines apply to the couple of fics that I have kicking around in my head right now...
we'll see what happens. Nothing really other than that to report. More movies to watch tomorrow and pull reviews of. Also, will be reading on the grotesque, the monster and what it means to be human.
Thinking that when I teach my class I'll start them off with Plato and his conception of the body as a prison and an infection that taints the soul... maybe use that as an entry point into H.G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau. First I'll have the students tell me what they think about Plato, get them to start thinking in terms of dualism, and then hand them Doctor Moreau and ask them how their previous thoughts apply to the text. Bonus points if you can pick up on the racist/misogynist/colonial impulses in the narrator as well.
From there, I think that we'll move into a discussion of animal/human hybrids (wolfman, Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, probably something from Victorian England) and then into plant/human hybrids ("Rapuccinnis Daughter," "His Vegetable Wife," maybe an episode of TOS Star Trek, something else that I can't think of right now...). After that, I think that I'll move into the grotesque body (elephant man, conjoined twins, blind people/beggars, etc;) to talk about the stigma of ugliness and poverty and what they mean to how we think about humanity... and lastly, I'll end with a talk about disease... for disease is the uber terror, for it is the invasion of the body by an outside entity... So yeah, "Masque of the Red Death," excerpts from Defoe's The Plague Years and maybe something else. I'd like to fit in a section about temptation and the demonic (pretty much so that I can teach "Young Goodman Brown," Robert Johnson, and "Goblin Market"... but we'll have to wait and see. I may be able to fit those into other categories).
Second semester I'll be teaching about the cyborg and the human and really digging into some of the concepts that were taken for granted in the first class (the separation of mind/body, the idea of the body as "infection," the fact that there is such a thing as an "interior" and an "exterior"). The book will be Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (and yes, we'll be watching Bladerunner) and I may be pulling in some Star Trek fandom here as well (for instance, what's so great about being human?? What about Spock? etc;). I know that I will be teaching, "The Real Girl," "The Sandman" and maybe one other piece (that I cannot remember the name of). For sure, we will be reading Haraway, probably Minsky, LeMettrie, and Hayles. After that, I'm not sure. I plan on hitting them pretty hard with the theory that I think they'll need to begin classes next year.
Anyway, this was a successful little note taking adventure for me and I now feel better about my classes. Good thing, I'd like to have a syllabus up and running in the next couple of weeks, and now I know what kind of reading I need to get done in order to do so. The first thing: More Theory for First Semester. After that, we'll see. I need to re-read Do Androids Dream... and Doctor Moreau as well as come up with class notes on all the short stories. I also need to develop a course-pack of the short stories and excerpts for the students...
hmmmmm... of all the things I have to do, I'm actually really looking forward to this. Tomorrow I will have more. Hopefully I will have been to the library and pulled some of the texts that I need. I need to start taking notes on all this (another reason that I want to teach Victorian texts, I can use them in my field exam!) so I'll get to that tomorrow.
Anyway, I guess I can go drive around and think about plot now... awesome.
Peace and good night.
ee..
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Perhaps now is a time for a colorful metaphor...
Well, after a break of almost two months, in which time I completed two papers, spent two weeks in hospice with a family member (who has since passed, another reason for the radio silence) and completely rearranged my apartment, I have returned with many tidings of good news and such...
or at least, good movies and such.
Recommended for the non-existent viewing audience of this blog:
1. Star Trek (2009)
2. The Maltese Falcon
3. Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
My justification for a total geek-out is as follows...
1. Star Trek (2009) *spoilers*
Perhaps my favorite moment in this whole movie is about a two-second clip of Spock rejecting the Vulcan Science Academy after they insult his mother (somewhat disturbing mother-issues aside, perhaps a discussion for another post) when he says, "Live long and prosper" in a way that directly implies, "Live Long and Suck It, you bastards." I've seen the movie a few *coughcoughfourcoughcough* times now and each and every time I giggle in a way that is distinctly unprofessional. Add to that spot on performances by both Quinto and Pine and you have a knock out movie that impresses both visually (incorporating camera techniques from across the field of sci-fi and contemporary digital techniques... you know what I'm talking about) and textually (the script is tight, the characters are solid, and the motivations crystal while still leaving enough room for fandom to build). This is a MUST SEE for all who love fandom (and fanfiction) as much as I do.
2. The Maltese Falcon
Do I need to put a spoiler alert on this?? Anyway, awesome film noir that rocks the camera in a way that few movies of the time could. The characters are amazing, and it is Sam Spades relationship with his secretary that has me recommending this movie to you (non-existent and purely imaginary) readers. I couldn't help but get sucked in by a friendship/partnership between a male lead and a female supporting actress that is based on respect and intelligence and not sexuality in a movie where everyone seems to be out to get something from anyone they encounter. Loved it, see the trailer here, and then go see it and tell me what you think. There is a lot going on here, most of which has been written about extensively, but I still get a kick out of it. Anyway, enjoy.
3. Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan *spoilers*
Oh god, where do I begin with this movie? The overacting? The mullets? The plot so thin you can see through it? No, I begin at the end. In one of the most talked about scenes ever to come out of the Star Trek fandom, I begin with the death of Spock. In the moment that Henry Jenkin's has described as the uber-moment of slash fanfiction, the death of Spock, and Kirk's reaction, is perhaps one of the most poignant and moving moments ever produced in the Star Trek canon. While Spock slowly dies of radiation poisoning, separated from his dear friend Kirk by a pane of glass, the viewer is privy to the deep bonds between the two as Spock attempts to comfort his friend in what is to by his final moments (at least, for this movie). Not gonna lie, folks... I cried. I totally shed tears over this single moment and then rewound and watched it again. For this moment alone, I cannot recommend this movie enough. Perhaps I will write later on what Jenkin's has to say about this moment (for it is, indeed, an excellent reading of this moment and its impact on the burgeoning slash fanfic community), for now I will simply allow the film to speak for itself. It works, in a way that only TOS Star Trek can, and I cannot get enough. (p.s. check out how Spock straightens his jacket before turning to face Kirk... Quinto totally pulls out this move when he stands up to face Kirk before the academic hearing in ST 2009... just another one of those little moments that makes me want to hug the 2009 cast until they squeak!)
So anywho, now that I am done gushing about a few of the many movies that I have watched in the past couple of weeks (not having a job, and not have classes has not been good for me) I'll quit now. It's been fun looking over this blog and reading about all the fun I had with school before Tony died (my uncle, who was more like a big brother to me...) and I feel now like I can begin to re-emerge into the wild world of academia. I'm working on a noir round-robin with some friends (hence, The Maltese Falcon) and that has been helping as well... I'm also thinking about trying to convince my beta to work on a piece of K/S with me. She's a little more invested in the canon than I am, so it may not work out well, but she and I read Spock in a somewhat similar manner, so I might be able to convince her on that account.
There seems to be something about repressed boys that calls to my fanfic muse and makes me want to write out their interiority. Between Heero and Trowa from Gundam Wing (my first and still enduring love of fandom... I pulled out my old action figures and models to put in my new geeked-out office), Dean from Supernatural, Ianto from Torchwood and now Spock, I seem to fall for characters who exist in two different worlds, the mental and the material. Spock and Ianto, specifically, seem to resonant with me as characters who keep so much caught up inside and yet let so little out that their appeal is in everything that you don't see. Ianto is a little harder to write now that Torchwood finally took off and started building actual characters and not just caricatures and I feel a little bit caged in by fandom (specifically the movement toward the monogamist Jack and the the deep, soulful loverboy Ianto). I like my characters fucked-up and not necessarily with happy endings... perhaps this doesn't bode well for Spock at all.
Anyway, that is neither here nor there. If I do write anything K/S I expect it will be drowning in angst and probably fall in nicely with my Torchwood writings (for more on that, check the LJ here). My beta is in India right now, though, and I'm not really comfortable asking anyone else to it (I've been in fandom for years but have been lurking for most of it, so I'm outside the normal relationships that build within the communities) so it may be a moot point. Maybe I'll e-mail her tonight and see if she wouldn't mind working with me.
So yeah, thanks all you imaginary friends for reading (I keep talking about this because I can't get over how I can't help but pretend that there is actually someone out there... which makes me wonder about who my imaginary audience might be... which leads to questions about who I want them to be... which leads to the kind of introspection that makes sane men mad and thus, I comment on it...). Peace. Good night.
And yes.
Live long and prosper.
ee.
p.s. Here is your poetry excerpt for the evening. This is the last thing that Tony and I really talked about before we said goodbye, and so... well... it means a lot to me. Look for the full text here.
"Song" by Allen Ginsberg
The weight of the world
is love.
Under the burden
of solitude,
Under the burden
of dissatisfaction
the weight,
the weight we carry
is love.
or at least, good movies and such.
Recommended for the non-existent viewing audience of this blog:
1. Star Trek (2009)
2. The Maltese Falcon
3. Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
My justification for a total geek-out is as follows...
1. Star Trek (2009) *spoilers*
Perhaps my favorite moment in this whole movie is about a two-second clip of Spock rejecting the Vulcan Science Academy after they insult his mother (somewhat disturbing mother-issues aside, perhaps a discussion for another post) when he says, "Live long and prosper" in a way that directly implies, "Live Long and Suck It, you bastards." I've seen the movie a few *coughcoughfourcoughcough* times now and each and every time I giggle in a way that is distinctly unprofessional. Add to that spot on performances by both Quinto and Pine and you have a knock out movie that impresses both visually (incorporating camera techniques from across the field of sci-fi and contemporary digital techniques... you know what I'm talking about) and textually (the script is tight, the characters are solid, and the motivations crystal while still leaving enough room for fandom to build). This is a MUST SEE for all who love fandom (and fanfiction) as much as I do.
2. The Maltese Falcon
Do I need to put a spoiler alert on this?? Anyway, awesome film noir that rocks the camera in a way that few movies of the time could. The characters are amazing, and it is Sam Spades relationship with his secretary that has me recommending this movie to you (non-existent and purely imaginary) readers. I couldn't help but get sucked in by a friendship/partnership between a male lead and a female supporting actress that is based on respect and intelligence and not sexuality in a movie where everyone seems to be out to get something from anyone they encounter. Loved it, see the trailer here, and then go see it and tell me what you think. There is a lot going on here, most of which has been written about extensively, but I still get a kick out of it. Anyway, enjoy.
3. Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan *spoilers*
Oh god, where do I begin with this movie? The overacting? The mullets? The plot so thin you can see through it? No, I begin at the end. In one of the most talked about scenes ever to come out of the Star Trek fandom, I begin with the death of Spock. In the moment that Henry Jenkin's has described as the uber-moment of slash fanfiction, the death of Spock, and Kirk's reaction, is perhaps one of the most poignant and moving moments ever produced in the Star Trek canon. While Spock slowly dies of radiation poisoning, separated from his dear friend Kirk by a pane of glass, the viewer is privy to the deep bonds between the two as Spock attempts to comfort his friend in what is to by his final moments (at least, for this movie). Not gonna lie, folks... I cried. I totally shed tears over this single moment and then rewound and watched it again. For this moment alone, I cannot recommend this movie enough. Perhaps I will write later on what Jenkin's has to say about this moment (for it is, indeed, an excellent reading of this moment and its impact on the burgeoning slash fanfic community), for now I will simply allow the film to speak for itself. It works, in a way that only TOS Star Trek can, and I cannot get enough. (p.s. check out how Spock straightens his jacket before turning to face Kirk... Quinto totally pulls out this move when he stands up to face Kirk before the academic hearing in ST 2009... just another one of those little moments that makes me want to hug the 2009 cast until they squeak!)
So anywho, now that I am done gushing about a few of the many movies that I have watched in the past couple of weeks (not having a job, and not have classes has not been good for me) I'll quit now. It's been fun looking over this blog and reading about all the fun I had with school before Tony died (my uncle, who was more like a big brother to me...) and I feel now like I can begin to re-emerge into the wild world of academia. I'm working on a noir round-robin with some friends (hence, The Maltese Falcon) and that has been helping as well... I'm also thinking about trying to convince my beta to work on a piece of K/S with me. She's a little more invested in the canon than I am, so it may not work out well, but she and I read Spock in a somewhat similar manner, so I might be able to convince her on that account.
There seems to be something about repressed boys that calls to my fanfic muse and makes me want to write out their interiority. Between Heero and Trowa from Gundam Wing (my first and still enduring love of fandom... I pulled out my old action figures and models to put in my new geeked-out office), Dean from Supernatural, Ianto from Torchwood and now Spock, I seem to fall for characters who exist in two different worlds, the mental and the material. Spock and Ianto, specifically, seem to resonant with me as characters who keep so much caught up inside and yet let so little out that their appeal is in everything that you don't see. Ianto is a little harder to write now that Torchwood finally took off and started building actual characters and not just caricatures and I feel a little bit caged in by fandom (specifically the movement toward the monogamist Jack and the the deep, soulful loverboy Ianto). I like my characters fucked-up and not necessarily with happy endings... perhaps this doesn't bode well for Spock at all.
Anyway, that is neither here nor there. If I do write anything K/S I expect it will be drowning in angst and probably fall in nicely with my Torchwood writings (for more on that, check the LJ here). My beta is in India right now, though, and I'm not really comfortable asking anyone else to it (I've been in fandom for years but have been lurking for most of it, so I'm outside the normal relationships that build within the communities) so it may be a moot point. Maybe I'll e-mail her tonight and see if she wouldn't mind working with me.
So yeah, thanks all you imaginary friends for reading (I keep talking about this because I can't get over how I can't help but pretend that there is actually someone out there... which makes me wonder about who my imaginary audience might be... which leads to questions about who I want them to be... which leads to the kind of introspection that makes sane men mad and thus, I comment on it...). Peace. Good night.
And yes.
Live long and prosper.
ee.
p.s. Here is your poetry excerpt for the evening. This is the last thing that Tony and I really talked about before we said goodbye, and so... well... it means a lot to me. Look for the full text here.
"Song" by Allen Ginsberg
The weight of the world
is love.
Under the burden
of solitude,
Under the burden
of dissatisfaction
the weight,
the weight we carry
is love.
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