I have a new job teaching music theory to 7th and 8th graders in the Great Hearts Academy charter system. One of their main talking points is “No pop culture! Do not make pop culture references in the class room!” For me, this is going to be torture. I can see their point- the kids are immersed in pop culture for the other 17 hours of the day- so don’t waste tax payers money by bringing up subjects on which the kids are already well versed. Ok, fine, I see your point. But I feel like ignoring pop culture- American culture- is just as bad as teaching the Iliad by showing clips of the movie Troy. (Having never read the Iliad, when we went over Book I during our in-service seminar, I replaced the name Achilles with Brad Pitt in my notes… shhh!!) I don’t think that ignoring the world outside is doing the kids any service. Do I think we should teach our subject material primarily using pop culture references? No, I don’t. But if there is a teaching tool that references a band or movie- and is truly will help the students understand the material better- I don’t think we should be disallowed to use it. (EX: Playing chord progressions from Coldplay to demonstrate the use of Mixolydian mode.)
Anyway- here is a little rant by John Adams on pop culture:
It is my first weekend in Pavia. I’ve started to receive multiple emails from work and I honestly am looking forward to going home and relaxing before the school year starts. Granted, I only have a part-time job, but I do want to be prepared. When you receive an email from your boss stating “you should have signed and returned your contract by now…” and you were never sent a contract, it might make you worry and want to be in the same state/country as your job.
I’ve been up for an hour an a half. It’s 10:30 and I’m still not out in the amazing Italian sun window shopping or reading. I’m sipping my burnt espresso, watching another episode of South Park and thinking about what I really should be doing today- printing out scores for my presentation on Tuesday and double checking the score for my string quartet. We haven’t had a rehearsal yet and it’s making me a little nervous. There were a lot of issues I wanted to work on, and I really don’t think there will be time. It will be interesting to see what happens.
There is a meme going around. Possibly one of the most annoying and awesome memes I have seem… at least in the last few weeks. It is (dun dun dun) The Annoying Orange.
Behold:
I have written a little poem in honor of The Annoying Orange.
I am The Annoying Orange
I will judge you
I will call you fat
I will make fun of your name
And the color of your skin.
I will question your mother’s fidelity
I will taunt you.
My words will get under your eyes
And rot your very core
My laugh will cut you.
I will warn you that death is right behind you
But you will not listen
And that is why I will laugh as you sit
On that bloody chopping block
And die.
I have no soul
I will spit my seeds of hate on your grave
And better yet- you can also buy the miniature replica of the double-neck Ovation.
Item number 2:
A robot mouth that imitates the human voice… sort of. It has been called “creepy” and “unsettling” by 99.9% of viewers.
Item number 3:
Spider Man 3 the movie. It was terrible. And not even funny. My friend and I walked out of this movie many many years ago. It was at a dollar theatre. I still want my time and money back.
Item number 4: The Trikke. Of all the awkward, inefficient ways to get around, this takes the cake. Even the name is ridiculous- Trikes already exist. It’s any vehicle with three wheels- and a lot of them are really cool. But now we have a new 3-wheeled wonder on the block whose owner can’t even come up with a new name. “Trikke” should be pronounced “Trick-ey” or “Trick-uh.” When you ad another “k” you loose the privilege of saying “i” like “eye.”
I’ve noticed that hair has become a prominent theme among visual artists. Detailed, realistic and think.
Simon Shucert’s sculptures have no faces. Only full heads of hair encircling their necks and resting on their shoulders. Are the figures coming or going- the clothing gives a hint of orientation, but it is still difficult to decide.
Winnie Truong paints bearded ladies and braided eyebrows.
markus leitsch’s work can be seen on Designboom and on his website. It reminds me of Woolies… surprisingly, I find his sculptures less creepy.
Then comes Crochetdermy- crocheting figures of animals as if they were taxidermied. The fur patterns of the animals must be accurate to give these figures a sense of movement.
Susanna Hesselberg, Crochetadermist, follows suit with more hairy sculptures and photographs.
Justin Bryan Nelson inks out all of hair’s frizzy, gross details- but at the same time, he gives the woven hair a very textile look.
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