On Collaboration- Music

Remember how I said I would be writing about collaboration? Well here is some of it.

One of the key issues with collaboration is remixing. Where is the line drawn between what is one person's work and what is another person's? How much sampling is ok? Do the people who own the sampled work make a profit if you make a profit? And can you make up an entire song made of samples? This poses quite the problem for the legal aspects.

Nowadays you can find websites dedicated to making samples and tracks of music available to those who would like to collaborate on music projects -and keep it within the law. Kompoz is one such site that allows for this collaboration. Using the Creative Commons permissions, tracks are made available for usage within the stated permission.

Here is a person who is obviously a genius at remixing: Norwegian Recycling. Listen to "Recychedelic". It is a mashup of 16 different songs. Seriously, this guy is good. Lend an ear.

On a side note, while exploring kompoz.com I came across a track I really like (see below) and so it makes me want to do something with it. I probably will because I am exploring collaboration- so it will be research! :)

On the topic of Film/Movies

I sometimes like watching movies with the audio out of sync. Provided it's not a thriller or horror, the experience can be more interesting. It leaves more to the imagination in some ways and it also causes you to think more, since you have to bridge that gap. It's also like watching a movie that has been dubbed. :P

Tonight I (randomly) ended up at a lecture by a professor from the University of Chicago. His name is Tom Gunning. The interesting part is that I have a book written by him. And I bought it too-it wasn't just randomly picked up! He's a history and film prof. and he talked about some crazy stuff. It was not something I am interested in. Personally, it's way to "filmy" for me. He talked about optics, light vs. dark, illusions, disappearance... etc. Again, it was too "filmy" for me, but it was neat to meet the author of a book that is on my shelf. I even shook his hand!

Also, one more movie comment. I am going to make a film tomorrow -in a 24 film challenge! I'm excited! We have 24 hours to make it with a specific props and location and the duration is going to be one minute! I haven't worked on a film in ages! And the challenge part of it should be fun too! I'll let you know how it goes!

On a Lighter Note... Adele!

Too many serious posts lately. And so we return to music!

I heard Adele last summer on CBC's Q radio podcast hosted by Jian Ghomeshi (I quite enjoy him!). Since then she has become pretty popular! Just check out her myspace page- see how many shows are sold out! Part of the fame has to do with her two recently won grammy awards for her single "Chasing Pavements".

This is both exciting and a little annoying. Of course I am happy that she is gaining success in the industry, but I get sort of possessive of my relatively unknown artists. I mean that I tend to think of them as my find- sort of like a secret. So if the secret is out, well- they a little bit of appeal. That's pretty bad, eh? Can't I just be happy for them? No... :S

So Adele is from the UK. She sounds like... jazz/pop/soul/R&B. iTunes says her genre is "pop", but what is that anyway? She has a big, soulful voice, but I wouldn't say her style is always the same- it ranges from jazz influenced songs to the upbeat "Right as Rain" to pop-sounding songs. I'm not sure how to explain her, but I would give her a listen if you like easy listening soft or upbeat music (depending on the song). -Oooh - I just realized that the song I'm listening to right now "Make You Feel My Love" makes me think of Billy Joel singing "Leningrad"- But maybe that's just me. *shrug*

BTW Billy Joel is one of my great music loves of all time. I fell in love with "Piano Man" when I was around 9 years old. If you've heard this song many times before, you may want to click the link and watch the video. It makes me happy to watch it. I think it's the familiarity. I mean I've heard about these people for years and years, but I actually get to see them in the music video!

"Talkin' with Davy who's still in the Navy and probably will be for life" haha

Women and the Telephone

Studying again... And now distracted.

Did you know that back in the day when telephones came into existence, the operators were almost only female. Apparently the people who ran the companies thought women would be better for the job. It is interesting to note that the job of telegraph operator was only filled by men. It was the isolation factor of the job that made it a job for a man.

Here is the telephone bigwigs' possibly gender stereotyped logic:

• Women work well together. They are better in community settings. (Notice that this is completely the opposite of telegraph operators?)
• Women are easier to control. They were concerned with unionization.
  
• Women have more patience.
  

In those days Bell Telephone Co. was marketing the telephone as something for business use only - and they were very specific with how the telephone should be used. Usage for anything other than business was seen as "a waste of time and money"1. The telephone's place was in the office and so it was primarily men who used it for professional work. Men did often often have a phone at home- but again, it was for business.

Women began to use the telephone in ways that were not prescribed by the Bell Telephone Co. Especially personal calls. They made these calls during all points in the day and that was only supposed to take place in the evening. Soon homes were equipped with two lines. One for the man's business use and one for the woman's increasingly social use.

There was also something called party lines. This is when a bunch of homes in the same area would share the same telephone line. This was like at your home. You pick up the phone only to find that your mom is on the phone already. Same concept. Party lines were used as a sort of modern day chat room by women. You would have Martha from up the road, Sarah from down the road, yourself, and other women you may not even know. This was a way for people to connect in rural settings and form community.

Nowadays, when you think about the phone which gender do you connect to it? Probably female. You probably imagine your little sister talking away for hours on the phone. Or your mom talking to your aunt. Do you associate the female gender with telephone usage? What do people think about the telephone? Do you like it especially? Was there a time when you liked it more (especially since telephone use seems to be waning with the younger generation). What is the difference between using Skype rather than an actual phone?

1. Robinson, Daniel J., ed. Communication History in Canada. Canada: Oxford University Press, 2004. (All info comes from this source, not just the quote)

Why I despise "America"

Why is it that people who are from the United States are called "American"? That term is wrong. Everyone from the most northern part of North America to the most southern part of South America is "American". People from Europe are Europeans and people from Asia are Asians. Why do we use this word so incorrectly? Americans are from America - North or South America. By this token, we should be calling people from the US "United Statsians" or something. But alas, we don't.

But you know what bothers me the most? When people who say stuff like "for the good of America" and they are only talking about the US. It bugged me before when people said that, specifically those from the US, but only recently has it come to my attention the actual reason for this dislike. And I feel like this is related to the stereotypical attitude of those from the States- you know how they think egocentrically.

*sigh* This is not meant to be a rant on the US, but it's looking like it is at this point. I just don't like the word usage.

I am going to make a conscious effort to never refer to the States as being "American". But it will be tough, since we don't have a word that is in common usage. Maybe I will just go ahead and use United Statsian... Maybe I will... :)

Mini-Mystery: Corantos

I am easily distracted. I should be studying for my Communication History midterm, but here I am writing.
I am reading about newspapers at the moment. There is a precursor to newspapers as we know them today called "corantos". These were weekly journals starting in 1609 in German cities written and dispersed by postmasters.
The word "corantos" certainly did not sound like a German word- Spanish, I thought. So I looked it up. Apparently it comes from the French "courante". After discovering that I went back to reading. Once I was in the section of British Newspapers I noticed "The Daily Courant". Hmmm, sounds an aweful lot like "Current", a title of some newspapers. I was solving a mini-mystery!
So I looked up the meaning; "Current" originally comes from Latin currere "to run" and Old French corant "running". So interesting! Especially since I just received my package by courier from Gen (thanks again!).

I feel like I'm Marina from HotForWords, but can you think of any other related words?

And off I go... Back to the studying!

Youtube Musicians and a "New Era"

I don't know what you use youtube for, but I use it for a variety of things, including finding new music. It is an interesting thing to watch a person grow and become a better at what they do. You can see the humble beginnings of these people (even if you have not been watching them from the start) and you get to see where life -and often youtube- can take them!

Here are my three favourite youtube musicians:

Kokokaina aka Zee Avi
This girl has a voice reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald and other classics of the day. Her voice style combined with the ukelele that she plays creates light, slightly jazzy, easy to listen to songs. My favourite of hers is "Someone You Used to Know".
Word is that Jack Johnson picked her up after a video of her's was featured on youtube. She has now recorded an album under "Zee Avi" with Bushfire Records. It will be out on May 19th! I'm anticipating this eagerly!

alleycat82 aka Jess Chalker
A young woman with a folk sound and whimsical lyrics and she plays a guitar named "Maryanne". Jess Chalker has many original songs with simple melodies and lovely lyrics. Listen to "Said the Raindrop to the Seed" and "Airplane Song" (which sounds similar to "First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes.

newday38 aka Jennifer Yi
Her voice is pure and simple. You can really hear the emotion in her voice. This voice paired with piano makes for some very melodramatic listening! Check out her "Worn Me Down" cover and her original "Hallway Walk". She was also kind enough to send me some of her covers personally! Bet you don't get that with your big music stars!


On another note, Gen is leaving facebook and and is now writing a blog:"Little Rays of Genshine". I helped with that name. :) I am very excited about this "new era". I think that most of us are way too addicted to facebook (I will be leaving facebook shortly as well). So look for more postings in the coming weeks. There will probably be more on collaboration since I have a 15 page essay on a podcast with the same topic.

And don't think that I didn't try to get the pictures to line up. I did. Really. :\

Collaborating in Lomography

The Collaboration:
Flickr has some pretty awesome things to offer. Take this collaboration I stumbled upon between Liad Cohen (OuroborosX on Flickr) and Megan McDuffie. Both are lomographers (more on that later) who have taken photos on a roll of film and then forwarded the film to the other. Read Liad's comment to understand more:

I think that this is a pretty amazing idea. First you have photos that are completely unique to this person (chances are that no one else has take all of these exact photos before) and then you add the second element of adding photos that are completely unique to this person, making for a totally random occurrence of photography.

The Lomography part:
Lomography is essentially a new spin on old photography- film photography to be specific. It began in the 1991 with a group of Viennese students visiting the Czech Republic. They came across a LOMO LC-A camera and subsequently bought a few on their trip. They took rolls of film in sporadic fashion. Apparently they were "charmed by the unique, colorful, and sometimes blurry" photographs. As were their family and friends since the popularity of this camera spread from there!

However, at this time this camera was going out of production, so this spirited group of people went to Russia where the camera was made and convinced the makers to continue producing them (since the demand was so strong).

In the end, the students formed a society of for Lomography and marketed the camera and the style of photography. The motto of Lomography is "don't think, just shoot". It is about being in the moment and capturing it just as it is. They also promote "shooting from the hip". There are 10 golden rules of Lomography to help you in your pursuits.

"The 10 golden rules are here to erase all traces of your photographer educations especially if you never have had one. Inhale them carefully and be prepared to forget everything you never wanted to know"

Lomography is not for every photographer, but I think that every photographer can learn something from the philosophy. Sometimes as photographers we ma be afraid to take risks (less so with the onset of digital photography, but nonetheless applicable). Lomography inspires us to not be afraid to "just shoot" and find out later what exactly you have captured. Too often fail to see how things really are- we want to see things in a certain way. And that's just not reality. So whether you embrace Lomography wholeheartedly or just think it's cool, it has something for everyone.

"Can you watch my stuff?"

Ever think about the bond that you share with your neighbour at the library? Aside from the whispered, "Can you watch my stuff" and perhaps a "thanks", there is no conversation. You do not know that person, yet you trust your prized possession: the laptop (aka your life), your notes, your books, etc all to acomplete stranger.

What makes us think that this person is anymore trustworthy than the next person in the library? Is it the commonalities? The both of you share some basic characteristics. You both came to this place for sanctuary, peace, quiet. You are both students, striving towards the same common goal; graduation.

If not the commonalities, then could it have something to do with the question "Can you watch my stuff?"...Because the person will no doubt answer "sure", then they are bound morally, to make sure your things are ok in your absence. Is that really it?

Perhaps. Maybe humans are really that good deep down inside.

Further Pondering: Are you required to watch their things if they leave more than once? And what if they ask you to watch their things and then later you leave- do you need to ask them to watch your things, or is it implied that they should?

On a Sunday Afternoon in Palmas de Mallorca

I just had a thought (while in the library researching an essay). I remembered this woman from Mallorca, Spain. It was a Sunday afternoon and outside of a church there was opera music. In the middle of a crowd of people, there was a woman who looked a bit like a bag lady, singing her heart out with a little karaoke machine. She could have been performing on a stage at the NAC or the Spanish equivalent, but there she was in front of a church on a Sunday afternoon in the oldest section of Palmas de Mallorca surrounded by people- young and old- in awe of her talent. I wondered if she preferred this lifestyle to another one that she could have. I wondered what brought her to do what she does. I also wondered if the money that people gave her for her songs gave her the things she needed in life.

Pomegranate Phone

First of all, if you haven't heard of the Pomegranate, you need to click here.

Now that you've seen what it's all about, here's what I have to say about it. I am not so strong in my reactions as others are to this viral marketing scheme. It does have it's positive and negative aspects. Of course, I have to ask, was this really necessary? Did Nova Scotia tourism actually need to create a campaign advertising one thing and but actually selling another? Do you feel cheated or let down or just plain confused when you find out that this phone is not actually coming out? Hmm, I have to say that I was confused at first.

I watched incredulously as the phone brewed a cup of coffee and as the shaver buzzed. I thought that this was certainly not possible right now- and then - Oh, Nova Scotia... Weird, but hey! Go Canada represent!... But why is Nova Scotia on this website? Oh well, it must be that they paid to get some ad space because they knew that lots of people would be curious about this... -And then- Well, it's clever I have to say that much... -And then- Hey, wait a minute! There is no release date! This phone doesn't exist! Yes that was my thoughts when on the site. My next question is how much did this cost? From other blogs it seems that it cost $300,000 to create. And of course this is coming out of taxpayer's pockets, so they are not impressed. There is a lot of buzz about this in various blogs and on Twitter. People are not happy. There is a lot of skeptisicm about it's effectiveness and the cost.

So how effective is this? Who is this targeting? Well, the phone is similar to the iPhone (compare the harmonica with the ocarina on the iPhone) and it is a very advanced phone. It seems to me that it's well suited to the business man on the go- shaver, coffee maker... etc. So we're looking at those people who are looking for the next best thing to help them with their lives, those who have the money to afford this, and those yuppy types. But why market Nova Scotia to these folks? What can they get out of Nova Scotia? Maybe there's nothing right away, but a perhaps on of the hopes of this marketing campaign is that people will see Nova Scotia as more than a fishing community. It seems that they want to show people that Nova Scotia is "up" on technology and that this province can actually have everything you need- all in one place- just like the Pomegranate.
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