Little Known Fact

Whoa.

Did you know that Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's godfather is Joe McCarthy?

Fellowship

I write this with some trepidation, because I'm sure I will eat my words in a decade or so. But nevertheless, I have to say: I HATE being on fellowship.

It seemed like such a good idea. A whole year to finish up my dissertation and go on the market for the first time. A chance, after teaching for the previous three years, to focus just on research, to immerse myself in archives and interviews and music and all that juicy stuff.

But you know what? I miss teaching! Part of it is simple time management. I always work better when I am overworked; my theory is that I will accomplish about 85% of my goals, so if I commit myself to doing too much, then if I do the math right I end up back at accomplishing 100% (or so) of what I actually need to be doing. This approach served me well in college and in grad school. Now, the days stretch before me with nothing but writing.

In addition, though, I miss the act of teaching. There has been a meme going around, started by Dr, Crazy, that asks academics why they teach their subjects. Historians, english professors, and scientists have all chimed in, providing a refreshing counterpoint to the usual Rate Your Students-style complaining. And you know, reading these posts, I am jealous. Doing research really just isn't the same without teaching. It's not that teaching necessarily helps with research, since it is rare for people at my stage in their careers to be doing much teaching on topics of their own choice. But there is a palpable synergy between figuring out new things, and newly explaining old things to people. I always used to get my best writing done on my days off from teaching, because being around students would give me the emotional energy to get excited about research. These days, as I write alone in my apartment with only a reproachful dog to keep me company...well, I look forward to teaching again in the fall!

To cheer me up, here is an amusing video (via MAN) about what happens when you have to dispose of a Richard Serra sculpture.

Speed and Accuracy

See, I'll have this dissertation done in no time.

106 words

Touch Typing online

Via Dr. Medusa.

Another Blog

Bob Kosovsky, the curator for rare books in the music division at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, has a newish blog, and it is fascinating! Especially for those of us into book porn and historical trivia. Check it out.

'Tis But a Dainty Flower

If you think it was unusual to see Hillary Clinton cry...

I realized there is not nearly enough footage of McCarthy on YouTube, so I took the liberty of uploading a famous scene from the March 9 See It Now broadcast. At a banquet in Milwaukee, former Congressman Frank Keefe recites a love poem to Joe, who wells up with tears and is unable to speak. It's actually one of the more controversial moments in the broadcast; McCarthy's defenders rightfully point out that Murrow used a jump cut (between "this is the answer" and the poem) to make the speech fit the narrative, as if Keefe's response to attacks on McCarthy was to recite love poetry. And, of course, it's a classic example of how the Murrow broadcast traded in innuendo to imply that there was something unseemly about McCarthy. He doesn't come out and call Joe a queer, but...well, the clip doesn't have a whole lot to do with the rest of the broadcast.

Still, it's a pretty weird moment. One question for the internets: anyone know what poem Keefe is reciting? I hope I am not embarrassing myself by not knowing what might be some famous verse, but Google was no help to me.



P.S. Don't tell Ann Coulter.

Thoughts of the Day

Student loans are very complicated. And I not cheered by the fact that I remember when one of my graduate school professors finally paid off the last of his student loans. He was, at the time, in his forties. And he had not paid for a veterinary education.

Why did the musicology gods think it was a good thing to have the AMS 50, AMS conference abstracts, and the SAM Mark Tucker prize submissions all due on the same day? Thank goodness I'm not a person of color, because the Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship was due on that day as well. Also, the privilege.

It's snowing here in Philadelphia, and I'm celebrating by making goulash. It's a chance to use the paprika given to us by my uncle-in-law, who bought it in a market in Bulgaria, and also to use our new dutch oven. However, I did not realize how long it would take to mince three onions.

I was idly watching Best in Show the other day. It is my second favorite Christopher Guest movie, behind Waiting for Guffman. A Mighty Wind was too glib, and For Your Consideration wasn't funny, it was seriously depressing. But re-watching Best in Show this time, now that I am a dog owner, became slightly depressing. Because although I am not involved in the world of pure breeds and dog shows, I highly identified with some of the characters. That scene where Parker Posey and her husband almost don't go to a party because they think their dog looks depressed? Been there. And when Parker Posey goes screaming around the hotel because she can't find her dog's stuffed toy named "Busy Bee"? Well, let's just say that Mabel has a certain stuffed Frankenstein monster--"Frankie"--and we do not travel without Frankie. Also, we have no less than three framed pictures of Mabel displayed prominently in our apartment. Who in their right mind would hire me?

I have no idea who this man is.

Great Blogs

There is a way in which the blog world can be a little insular. I read the same blogs every day, and I notice, from blogrolls and comments, that the bloggers I read also read those same blogs. Nothing wrong with this, of course, but I suspect I am missing some fabulous blogs out there. Here are a few that don't often show up on musicological blogrolls.

What great blogs do you read?

Feminist Specator. Jill Dolan is a theater studies person at UT Austin. If you don't know her academic work, it is absolutely brilliant; my old roommate introduced me to her book Utopia in Performance, which should be required reading for anyone who, well, cares about something in life. Dolan's blog is mostly her own lengthy reviews of films and plays. It's not updated that frequently, but it is super smart.

Tenured Radical. I plug TR a lot on this blog, and I do so again now. Read it.

Pretty Dumb Things. An anonymous sex blog written by a (now former) Ph.D. candidate in 18th century literature in New York City. Uniformly thoughtful, engaging, sex positive, and one of the best-written blogs out there in any genre.

Oh! Industry It's like Defamer, if Defamer was written by hip queer intellectuals. (Hat tip!)

Tales from the Archives

The new John Cage biography by David Nicholls has been out a few months now. I won't be reviewing it here. I will, however, register one particular disappointment. I bought and devoured this book hoping that Nicholls would finally provide the answer to one of the most vexing questions we face in Cage scholarship. And alas, he did not. John Cage: did he or did he not like flannel pajamas?

...I bought flannel pajamas (1st time in my life) and tried to convince Bunny to get some. He said he hated p.j's and wouldn't hear of it. He stamped his feet and became very militant. You know how he is--last night I wore mine and he thought they were so cute he said he must get some to match. I should know by now, but I never learn.

-Letter from Xenia Cage to a friend, 1941

Come On a-My Houses

"Come On a-My House" was Rosemary Clooney's first big hit, in 1951. It was originally written in 1939 by William Saroyan (the same year he refused a Pulitzer for The Time of Your Life because he didn't want to be a sell-out) and Ross Bagdasarian, who later created Alvin and the Chipmunks. Aspiring to a more high-minded career then novelty numbers in faux Italian accents, Rosemary famously hated the song. Later she warmed up to it--after all, it did launch her career. As I side note, I have to say that of all the people I discuss in my dissertation, Rosemary Clooney is the person I would most like to have been friends with.

Since 1951, the song has been recorded all over the place. Here are some of my favorites; click the link below to see them. I'm sure scholarship was possible before YouTube, but it must have been a whole lot less fun.


Madonna lipsynching the 1961 Della Reese version (from her album Della Della Cha Cha Cha) in the box office flop Swept Away



Some Australian named Kylee Thompson doing a burlesque to a version sung by Julie London.



A young German teenager lip-synching the Della Reese under the name "BarbietheBitch."



Japanese pop singer Ayaka Hirahara in a live version. Stay for the vocal break at the end!

Public Musicology

In line with yesterday's post, here's another example of musicologists doing their thing in public! I kind of like the idea of turning the usual EMP crowd into a traveling circus. I won't be in town myself, but I hope the Angelenos among my readership will think about it. Somebody needs to keep them honest.

A Special Evening at Redcat:
Listen Again
Music You Should Change Your Mind About Right Now

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

All pop music, past and present, is fair game on this night of live, rapid-fire music criticism as the members of a distinguished panel of writers, musicians and scholars have five minutes each to persuade the audience to reconsider a series of pop tracks -- and find in them hitherto undiscovered pleasures. This high-spirited confab celebrates the publication of Listen Again: A Momentary History of Pop Music, a Duke University Press collection of writings drawn from the Experience Music Project Pop Conference. Panelists include Christine Bacareza Balance (UC Riverside), Alice Echols (USC), Robert Fink (UCLA), Oscar Garza (Ciudadmagazine), Judith Halberstam (USC), Ernest Hardy (LA Weekly), Rod Hernandez (Cal State-Dominguez Hills),Josh Kun (USC), Anthony Miller (Los Angeles CityBeat), Neal Pollack (alternadad.com), Ann Powers (Los Angeles Times), Ned Raggett (ILM-ILX website), Randall Roberts (LA Weekly), Janet Sarbanes (Cal Arts), RJ Smith (Los Angelesmagazine), Karen Tongson (USC),Elijah Wald(UCLA), Oliver Wang (Cal State-Long Beach, Soulsides blog), Eric Weisbard (editor, Listen Again). Tuesday, January 22, 2008, 8:30 pm.$8 (students $4, CalArts & USC free)

INFO AND TIX HERE: http://redcat.org/season/0708/mus/listen.php

In other news, I am typing this from the hammock on my back porch, where I am lying in short sleeves and bare feet enjoying the 70 degrees. The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and the only sound is Mabel worriedly humming along with passing ambulances. Weird weather. Weird dog.