Like the Vikings November 12, 2009

Funerals, Reid thought, were almost never for the fallen or the grieving.

In this culturally-confused century, death had become a business. Modern funeral homes were venues of alternately spartan and extravagant economics. Surely no living person approved of the decor of a modern funeral home as a fair launching pad for the next stage of existence?

He lost hours of sleep wondering what the person who’d just crossed over really thought of the beige drywall and plaster pedestals adorned with red, yellow and blue flower arrangements? The pipe organ that needed tuning and the PA system that crackled tearfully as it played Elvis’s version of “How Great Thou Art?” What would they think of the mourners that deigned to show up, dressed in their dowdy, shapeless Sunday best? Wearing the same mourning outfit for their grandmother that they’d warn for their college roommate and the girl who worked in the mail room at their office? What would they think of having their blood — their life’s essence — drained out of them with a sump pump and replaced with a mixture of formaldehyde and ethanol?

Lise had looked up at him from her copy of Gray’s Anatomy, sucking lazily on a joint, as she told him that there was enough embalming fluid buried in the United States each year to fill eight Olympic swimming pools.

“So death is literally poisoning the earth?”

“No more for you,” she said, snatching the pipe he held. “And it’s not death. Death’s been around for centuries without poisoning the earth.”

“So it’s just the people then,” he said. “Man, humans ruin everything.”

“Not all humans. Modern funerals and burial have only existed for a few hundred years. And every culture has there own traditions. The Cheyenne built scaffolds, the Vikings had burial at sea. Not everyone got it wrong.”

–

Reid was wearing a red leather Highwayman jacket with a corseted waist, torn Levis and all-leather army surplus paratrooper boots. His stiletto, harpy and hunting knife were all properly folded, holstered and tucked into his pockets. His coarse black hair was cropped close to his scalp. A package of Sweet Aftons cigarettes was tucked into one front pocket, three joints peeked in the other.

The skiff was built from plywood planks he’d bought at Home Depot two years before. He’d sat up in bed one morning and called in sick to work to make the journey. Lise had returned from her nursing practicum late that night and found him cutting the shape of the bow with a circular saw.

“You’re going to need the ethanol if the price of gas goes any higher.”

“Only me?” she asked.

“I bike to work, remember? Pass me that sandpaper.”

Two of the boys grabbed either end of the skiff, guiding it towards the edge of the lake. A third boy doused the end of the torch with lighter fluid, holding it away from his body while one of the others struck a match, setting the thing alight.

Lise turned away, unable to watch what came next.

The wind blew fiercely, flapping the pages she held and blowing her hair into her eyes as she read the words aloud:

Lo, there do I see my father.
Lo, there do I see my mother.
Lo, there do I see my sisters
and my brothers.
I see the line of my people
back to the beginning.
They do call to me to take my place
in the halls of Valhalla
where the brave may live forever.

–

I lost a friend of mine just before Halloween. For various reasons, several of us were prevented from attending the funeral and were forced to have our own little funeral in the digital realm via Facebook and LiveJournal. The post that inspired the storyline came from a comments post by his ex-boyfriend:

I remember walking up to him in the hallway while he was laying in the floor with his legs up in the air against the wall, when I ask him what he’s doing, he simply smiles and responds, “…transcending…”.

Clueless November 12, 2009

My favorite kind of blog post is one that reflects popular culture new and old (see my blog here for proof – it’s new, obviously, but follow it!).  This reblog of a reblog on Tumblr from my old friend, Matt, is pretty much the awesomest of popular culture vortexes:

andreadonadio:

countbelvedere:

“So okay, I don’t want to be a traitor to my generation and all but I don’t get how guys dress today. I mean, come on, it looks like they just fell out of bed and put on some baggy pants and take their greasy hair – ew – and cover it up with a backwards cap and like, we’re expected to swoon? I don’t think so.”

- Cher from clueless

Ok the quote fits if I were to change a few things such as swap out baggy pants for skinny jeans, but dammit it still applies. SO basically I just don’t understand the attractive appeal of  hipsters. Now i know what your saying “Matt, aren’t you a hipster?” My reply “No!” I mean have you looked around at a bar in brooklyn these days its fuckin gross! Everyone looks the same. The guys are all crack addict skinny thin I could snap one of them in half and they all got bad long hair which is always noticiably greasy. And if the hair isn’t long it’s usually styled into something I can only describe as ‘Dr.Seuss meets the 60’s,70’s’. But that might be my own personal preference of short hair on men conflicting with there sublime beauty. Oh maybe its just that I appreciate men who are men. It seems that half these boys are so androgynous that I can’t understand how they could be attractive to anyone. I mean I’ve seen napkins that boast more sexuality then these guys. I’ve often found myself at times trying to discern whose a man or women when im out at the bar. OVerall though the main thing I hate is how it seems everyone is trying to look more weird then the next, so being unattractive is attractive these days…..

Well luckily im gay, so I don’t need to worry about the fate of this generation of breeders, good luck with that ladies. Thankfully us gays have style oh and muscles don’t forget muscles!

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, NO OFFENSE MATT BUT YOU ARE NO ALICIA SILVERSTONE- MORE LIKE ONE OF THOSE SHITTY GRANDMAS THAT COMPLAINS ABOUT THE KIDS THESE DAYS. IF I WANT TO FUCK A NAPKIN I WILL DO SO AND WITHOUT YOUR JUDGEMENT; CONSIDER YOURSELF OFFICIALLY FIRED AS MY WINGMAN.  LEAVE ME AND MY GREASY HAIR ATTACHED TO PENISES IN PEACE- WE ARE OK WITHOUT YOU. TRUST

Dibs on Belve being my wingman.

Aaaaaaaand scene.

Alan Moore is writing an opera November 11, 2009

http://www.nme.com/news/gorillaz/48306 

http://digg.com/music/Gorillaz_will_be_working_with_Watchmen_Mastermind_Alan_Moore

This is nerd-tastic! For all the people that love Alan Moore (you know where to find them — comic book shops, GameStop, mom’s basement, etc.) they are ecstatic that Moore is teaming up with Gorillaz’s pair, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlitt. Alan Moore, writer of such comic book classics as Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and the Killing Joke (where the Joker permanently cripples BatGirl), who was promoting his new magazine, Dodgem Logic, verified that the rumor was indeed true. This development will bring a brand new audience to opera culture.

The comments posted by the fans were mostly favorable, and nerdy. There were 16 comments when I first read it, but when I tried to re-read that postings, they had been deleted. I can only imagine what led to some of those comments.

DarthKevin: Dude, whatcha doin’?

SexyGuy48: Playing W.o.W. (World of Warcraft). ‘Sup?

DarthKevin: I just read on slashdot and confirmed on Wired and Digg that Alan Moore is writing a opera with the Gorillaz.

SexyGuy48: For real?

DarthKevin: Yep

SexyGuy48: Does that mean we have to listen to opera?

DarthKevin: Dude, do you want to be the only guy in the Math-letes who isn’t cool? It’s Alan Moore, so it’s going to be cool. I’m gonna post kudos to this and then start a flame war with anime club. ttyl.

SexyGuy48: w-ever, luzr.

 

 

The Berlin Wall: A Digital History November 11, 2009

“Fireworks illuminate the night sky in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, 09 November 2009 during celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.”

Gordon Brown has paid tribute to the “unbreakable spirit” of those who “dared to dream”, at an event marking 20 years since the Berlin Wall fell.

President Obama squeezed in a trip to Copenhagen last month to lobby, unsuccessfully, for Chicago to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. He plans to travel to Oslo next month to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, an award that even Obama has said he does not deserve. And this coming week, he sets out on a weeklong tour of Asia. But the president does not plan to travel to Germany to attend the 20th anniversary celebration Monday of the fall of the Berlin Wall, drawing heated criticism from those who say he’s ignoring a shining triumph of American-inspired democracy.

These are just a few of the headlines you’ll find if you search the Internet for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. This milestone is not only being covered by the media, but it’s also the topic of many digital narratives in the world of Web 2.0. People from all over the world, Germans, Americans, French, Italians, are communicating over the web and sharing their stories, their memories, and their photos. One of the most interesting digital narratives that I found on this subject is on Flickr. Xerxes2K started a group on Flickr called “Experience History: Berlin 1961-1989.” This group invites members to to take part in writing our virtual history book by sharing photographic memories of divided Berlin during this period.

On November 4, PicFiend wrote: I was in my bedroom reading when I heard noises out in the hall way. I got up to see what was making the noise when I noticed that there were more lights on than should be at that time of the morning. I went to the top of the stairs and look down into the entry way and saw my Dad, his two aides, driver and other officers I didn’t recognize. I ask what was going on and my father looked up and said for me to go back to bed and that he would see me later. All of the men were dressed in fatigues, helmets and holstered side arms. You see my Dad was the US Commandant at that time and he had been notified by the red phone in his bedroom of East German troop movement heading toward the entry points from West Berlin.I did not find out until later that morning that the East Germans had sealed off all access routes into East Berlin and that three East German vehicular water cannons had been dispatched to the Brandenburg Gate to seal off that entry point.

More to follow

mobilene says: I was 16 and on a summer exchange program from Indiana, USA, in 1984, and we visited Berlin for a few days on our stay. I had a terrible pocket camera and no photographic sense. On the day the wall came down, I got my photos off the shelf and looked at them again. I had been overwhelmed by the Wall when I experienced it, but I was even more overwhelmed to know that it was coming down. Posted 26 hours ago. ( permalink )

squirrelmonkey says: Thanks for sharing your word and photos mobilene   I found these different view points of the Brandenburger Tor really interesting.   The group has many other members who have shared their stories with one another. While their stories and comments certainly create narratives, it is their photos that tell the real story. I strongly encourage anyone who is interested in the subject to visit the site and click on some of the member’s links to view their photos. You may find that you need to dig around a member’s site in order to find the photos, but many of them are worth the search. One that I enjoyed was Pjern‘s photos of Berlin. The captions he wrote for each photo go tell a very nice narrative.

Truth and Interpretation in Historical Narratives November 7, 2009

I’m sad to admit Ryan’s text was more than a little over my head, but I refuse to take all of the blame for being confused. The author teaches us how to read her own academic narrative in the introduction, explaining her terminology to describe certain studies of narrative and media synergy. Then she seems to abandon her narrative map early on in the text: using “narrative” and “narratology” interchangably. Still, there was one quote in Chapter 3 on “Drawing and Transgressing Fictional Boundaries” that piqued my interest:

“Whereas truly fictional texts create their own world and constitute the only mode of access to it, nonfictional texts refer to a world that forms the potential target of many texts, because this world possesses a extratextual existence. Fictional worlds are automatically true of their reference world, but nonfiction texts must establish their truth in competition with other texts that describe the same world.”

…hence all the rivalries in academia over the depiction of history.

The most recent argument for context in historical narratives I could think of was the current war of words in the art world over Vermeer’s The Milkmaid. The painting’s exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City sparked a controversy when the written introduction accompanying Vermeer’s second most famous piece extensively covered several sexual implications in the painting’s various details (Ex: the open mouth of the milk jug, the footwarmer in the corner, the dangling bird and chicken impaled on a spit).

Walter Liedtke, the curator of the exhibition and author of the article cited historical perceptions from Vermeer’s home country of milkmaids and other female laborers as being “sexually available” to credit his analysis of the seventeenth-century painting. Other art historians like Victor Wiener, argued that Liedtke’s radical new reading of the painting was part of a sales ploy to drum up more visits for the Met. Opposing scholars have argued that Vermeer’s Milkmaid is a subject with a more innocent intent: according to E.H. Gombrich, she is “a simple figure employed in a simple task.”

The argument here is between two significantly different narratives stemming from the same source material without the benefit of the artist to clarify his original intent in composing the work. The subject of the painting is both fictional and historical and therefore held to a standard that doesn’t exist in the literary world apart from that of the literary novel or historical fiction. Ryan herself describes historical fictions as interpretations of the common world and interpretations of history as artificial as the fictions themselves. I’m inclined to believe this is true: that all visual art is a form of historical narrative and that any interpretations of the artist’s intent are fiction written by perceptions of both scholars and non-scholars.

At the same time, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I don’t take Camille Paglia’s interpretation of Donatello’s David as a factual depiction of the artist’s appetites and intent in creating the piece. But like any other fictional narrative, it’s fun for me to imagine it.

Narrative in New Media November 5, 2009

Marie-Laure Ryan shows how narrative has transcended into new media, in line with our culture, which has transcended into a new, digital age. Although the modern narrative seems unrecognizable from its traditional form, the interaction, engagement, and storytelling is still there. While digital narrative is more than language and in a form other than oral or print—website, game, interactive storyspace—it is still an expression of human experience, thus a narrative. Ryan showed this evolution of digital narrative through semiotic analyses; I especially liked her analysis of structure.

Since new media allows nondesigners, nonarchitects to build websites, we have seen our fair share of poorly structured websites. A website that does not allow for clear navigation loses its story. No user wants to stay with a site that is not aesthetically and structurally pleasing. Ryan said, “the typical structure of a website is not a maze that exposes visitors to running in circles, but a sea-anemone, or radiating structure, that connects every page to the center, so that a visitor can always return in one click to the home page, no matter how far she has wandered along the arms (148).” A story will not be understood if the user cannot easily navigate through it. So many websites have the right concept, but were poorly executed. Not enough time was spent in the planning and architecture stages to make the site functional—enticing users to stay on board and learn more. Like a book in super-small text that isn’t even legible, an interactive narrative with poor design and structure is overlooked, the story is lost.

Ryan found structure to be one of the most prominent components of interactive narratology “the structures of choice (textual architecture), the modes of user involvement (types of interactivity), and the combinations of these parameters that preserve the integrity of narrative meaning.” There is an interrelationship among structure, interactivity, and narrative. We must consider structure and interactivity in the creation of our own narratives in new media—to ensure our stories are not overlooked, and that users remain enticed and engaged.

Avatars of Story November 5, 2009

When I was finally able to sink my teeth into some solid examples in Chapter 3 (Narrative in Fake and Real Reality TV) of Ryan’s text, I became far more interested in the book. Though her sources are painfully dated (Only 8 years, but hey, isn’t that the speed the digital world has plunged us into?), she does do a fine job pointing out the draw of reality tv and the narrative within it. I do wish that she had spent more time pointing out the many Hands of God that go into producing this “reality” (producers, cameramen, director, editor, casting agents, etc), but that could also be chocked up to the age of the piece. 

I think there’s a fascinating connection with reality tv and web 2.0. Right now, the world at large in this Social Age is in love with the Everyman. It’s the unadulterated, ultra-human quality that we want; the “they’re just like me”; “I could do that” that is so powerful a draw. But the narrative by nature can never be real. It’s architecture; it’s ordering; it requires the hand of an author. Reality TV originally did an excellent job of suspending our belief that what we were seeing was pure(r) than a scripted show. But ultimately it had to feed back into traditional storytelling methods to sustain itself, which explains why it has had to become increasingly ridiculous to maintain its audience. The great big arc of rising action, climax and falling action cannot be withheld for long.  It was a step forward, but since, has stalled. And Ryan does her audience justice by nodding to the fact that no one actually believes that reality television is 100% life. It seems to me that the web has picked up where this left off. Now, we can be ourselves online, participating in narratives that happen at the speed of Now. It’s alternate reality, but a reality of sorts nonetheless. We are no longer really content with watching others act out the real. And why should we be when our PCs allow us to take part in the action any time we want?

I honestly see no further need for reality tv; I think it has already begun to date itself. There are directions it could go…remember the built TV wall theater plays in Fahrenheit 451? Get your script in the mail and take part in a neverending conversation with strange faces? No? I really don’t think it’s that far off. Odd how in seeking to be connected to everything we continue to alienate ourselves further…

Stories Sell November 5, 2009

In Chapter 8, Ryan mentions that many people “attribute the difficulty of creating truly good game stories . . . to the inherent incompatibility of interactivity and narrativity” (p. 196). Ryan goes on to refute this statement by pointing out that “the narrative design is not the focus of the player’s attention but an ‘affective hook’ that lures players into the game” (p.196). I have to agree with Ryan on this subject. The stories that are created around games are simply a way of attracting players. This is perhaps why games that are based on movies work so well—the story already exists and the characters are well known.

For games that are not based on movies, a decent story must be created in order to attract players as well as to sell games. Not all games are created equal. Some games have more moves or tricks that players can do, but moves and tricks aren’t enough to attract players. The companies that make create the games have to find a way to stand out among the crowd, so they create narratives. Ryan points out that other texts use stories to achieve certain goals as well. The example that seems the most obvious and the easiest to find all around us is advertising.

Marketers spend time, energy, and money creating stories for all different types of products. We know about Brawny paper towels because of the Brawny man who comes and saves the desperate housewife from the giant spills in her house. We know Mr. Clean for the same reason. While these stories are not that rich or engaging, they are still stories we can follow and that we recognize. And a successful one will be around for years.

It seems that the stories that accompany games serve the same purpose of the stories that surround products like paper towels and cleaning supplies—the stories sell the games. While the story for paper towels essentially ends once we have the product, the story for the game is somewhat ongoing. We can manipulate the players and keep creating new chapters of the story. However, the bulk of the story really exists outside of our game-playing time. Without the story, we simply wouldn’t care about the game. Ryan also points out that certain games, like Tetris, can be sold without a story. This is certainly true. However, an interactive game with a story will probably sell better than an interactive game without one, just like paper towels with a story will probably sell better than paper towels without one.

Avatars November 5, 2009

I can’t lie.  Reading this book makes me feel like I’m listening to every adult in the Charlie Brown cartoon series at once. Only without the cute elementary school teacher crush.

 

And thus I post about Chapter 5: Toward and Interactive Narratology.  A subsection of this chapter concerns the myths that apparently teem around the digital narrative.  I don’t necessarily think that these are myths per se – not because I think that they are in fact true but because I think they are not things that people think about often enough (if at all) to earn the label myth:

1. Digital narrative is about choice…
2. Narrative can be produced through a random combination of elements…
3. Becoming a character in a story is the ultimate narrative experience.

 

Well, I guess I think that there is an element of choice in the digital narrative in a different way than there may be in traditional narrative forms.  Obviously, we all have the choice to say yes or no to reading something, to involving ourselves in a narrative.  The options for the reader in the digital narrative may be greater in number or impact due by a creator’s utilization of technology.  Choose  your own adventure books are cool enough when you’re a young reader – though I tend to think that they lose a little something as you age – but the digital world enables the choice not only of plot twists but also the possibility of scene, multi sensory experience, or in-the-moment revision.  In traditional books, you can skip a page or visit a section when the bottom of the page tells you to do so.  The possibilities with new technology could involve anything from physically taking a protagonist (or antagonist or narrator or secondary character or witness for that matter) into and around the narrative world to changing the narrator.

And yes, I know that is neither the entire first myth nor the completeness of their argument.  But it’s the most interesting thing I could think of at the moment.

Avatars of Story November 5, 2009

Ryan provides both history and theory of narrative in the digital age. I must admit her theory went right over my head. The history I am somewhat familiar with.

One of the things I took away from the reading is that less is more. (Something I am trying very hard to learn for myself.) According to the author, the idea that digital narrative is about choice and the more the better is a myth. The more choices we have the harder it is to make a decision. This is something that the economists have been learning these past few years. Having so many choices leads to indecision for some or no decision at all for others. There are just too many colors in the crayon box.

Another point she made is that becoming a character in a story is not necessarily the best thing. Do we really want to live in the head of a character who is depressed, insane or some other negative type (like a serial killer). I certainly do not, but I suppose it takes all types. She suggests that we need to be an “external witness.” p 125

As I am in the New Media Studies program to learn the tools to bring my subject history into the digital age, I much appreciated her use of the example of the “Discovering Lewis and Clark site. The use of multimedia and a database is very exciting to me. In fact that is something I had hoped to create myself sometime in the future. However, based on what I have learned in the past six years, it is not something I think can be done solo.

The Center for History and New Media at George Mason University is a wonderful program for the historian who wants to learn how to bring history to life in the digital age. I dream that someday I will actually be able to study there.  I should be so lucky.