Tuesday, June 29, 2010

More 英会話 (Eikaiwa) Ads

These videos demonstrate the extraordinary range of English conversation schools and their advertisements in Japan. Notice the vast gap in production values, from camcorder to full-scale studio productions. How would this influence your decision of where to study?

















Monday, June 28, 2010

Toward a Media Studies Framework for Music

The article from Gnovis below inspired this thought. Not sure if it has any validity yet, but just wanted to get it down.

Why approach music from a media studies framework? What are the advantages and disadvantages of such an approach? One might argue that media literacy offers a more holistic approach to the study of music by placing it in the context of its mediated environment. Whether the soundtrack of film seen in theaters or a Wagner opera or the theme that opens the nightly news or the Daily Show, each music is part of a more general experience such as seeing a movie, going to the MET, or watching TV on a weeknight. These contexts naturally shape the way music is listened to, appreciated, and absorbed. One can divorce music from its context and study the theory of a composition or acquire the technical skill to perform a given piece, and these are valid and important pursuits that implicitly contribute to a thriving artistic culture. Yet those who lack formal or intensive education in music are bound to approach it from another angle, one which might be more akin to the ways they approach the other media in their life, such as books, television, radio, or websites.

Educators are identifying the need for media literacy curriculum in schools throughout Canada and the United States. I fullheartedly support the effort, as I fullheartedly support music education in all its forms. (By the way, music can be an excellent medium for teaching math and science, not to mention it's parallels with history and social studies, literature and language arts.) I'm no expert, but I would argue that the education system could benefit from more of both media studies and music education.

One particular qualification of a media studies approach is that it calls on skills we build in everyday life. In other words, we are already media literate in a basic sense by virtue of our existence in a media saturated culture. Students process sounds, images and text all day - from billboards on the road to school, to daily announcements and the pledge of allegiance over the intercom, to their textbooks, to afterschool television, and perhaps a bedtime story or song. Thus, a basic acquaintance with media is already inherent in the daily lives of children and adults. An awareness of this media environment and its interpretation is what is fostered by media studies and media literacy.

Granted, music occupies a similar role in our lives, and with the appropriate awareness we can find music in many moments throughout the day where we might not expect it. The bell that signals the next class, the song in a commercial, a ringtone or a tune hummed by a friend. Yet these musical or auditory experiences are not generally perceived as separate from the other mediated experiences of which they are a part. The school day, watching TV, getting a phone call or taking a stroll with a childhood friend. In this regard, music as media asks us to break down some of our constructions about music. That music is only in a CD or a violin or a concert hall. Though the musical traditions embodied by these objects are important and worthy of perservation, equally important is the socially embedded meaning of these objects or other musical/sonic artifacts.

I can think of a few disadvantages of studying music from a media studies framework. The arts are already lacking general cultural support and the funding associated with it. It's become axiomatic that these are often the first programs to get slashed when budget cuts role around. The constant threat of annihalation has forced music educators to also become advocates for their field. Arguably, the lack of money devoted to arts has caused those commited to them to hone their standards and push their boundaries of creativity and innovation. Conversely, one might argue that music and other arts have been pigeonholed into historic relics to be conserved and savored only by the elite who have the suitable means to afford their appreciation. In any case, music or other academic pursuits are often fractured by the lack of support from the public and private sectors. Thus, the temptation to study music as media may lead to a further fracturing of an already delicately balanced are of education. And, if warranted, the approach to music as media will have to work hard to achieve the standards achieved by performers, educators, critics, historians or theorists that have been crafted for centuries.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Confessions of a Megavideo Junky

I have a confession: I've been watching Dawson's Creek a lot lately. And I've really been enjoying it.

I also have to confess that, since I started this blog, I have lapsed into total media mindlessness. "Mindful Media" started with the best of intentions, but it has come to represent an idealized set of virtues I find myself constantly unable to embody.

I suspect my story is common. I come home from work (keep in mind I have the least stressful job imaginable), and I'm ready to relax. I open up the computer and go straight for surfthechannel.com. Maybe I'll warm up with an episode or two of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia downloaded from iTunes, watch a streaming episode of The Daily Show or listen to All Things Considered from NPR if I'm feeling particularly mindful and self-aggrandizing. Then inevitably, favoring instant food over a well-cooked meal, I eat some dinner and fire up the Dawson's Creek. Though the addiction to this particular TV show was instigated a little over week ago by a friend, I have embraced it full-heartedly from the second season. (Will Joey and Dawson fulfill their destiny as star-crossed lovers? Or will Jen and Jack continue to tear them apart, as Pacey and Andy, equally lovable, continue to feel utterly powerless in taking control of their lives??? The suspense is killing me. Drama!) I must also confess that this is not the first TV series addiction I've fostered since reaching young adulthood. With almost equal embarrassment, I admit that I plowed through all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, all 178 forty-five minute episodes, during my first year in Japan. The nostalgia it evoked was my only comfort for a while as I adjusted to my new, post-college life with relatively few friends to keep me entertained.

TV addiction is not new to me. It reaches deep back into my childhood, from Mr. Rogers to Sesame Street, to Barney to Lamb Chop, to Dennis the Mennis and Punky Brewster. Then on to family sanctioned television events, most notably TGIF with Family Matters, Step by Step, and Boy Meets World, and the Sunday night phenomenon of Dean Kent as Superman. Such networks as MTV, NBC, and FOX were influential in my development throughout my pre-teen and teen years, as I developed a taste for music videos (No Doubt's Just a Girl or Silver Chair or Jewel's What if God Was One of Us all come to mind for some reason), sitcoms (Seinfeld and Friends the most notable, save the Drew Carey Show or Rosanne), and, eventually reality TV (The Real World, Road Rules, Survivor). With the advent of DVDs and digital file sharing, I could rediscover classics I hadn't really appreciated as a child, like The Simpsons, which I watched practically every day in college. And my friends introduced me to a realm of wildly irreverant comedies like South Park, Chapelle's Show, and Family Guy. The list could go on.

When I think about the number of hours I've spent consuming TV, it's an affront to my protestant work ethic, which I've recently tried to rationalize away with post-colonial, postmodern rhetoric and mental bullshitting. Many would agree that my laziness is a sign of my self-indulgent, narcissistic, white-male privileged, consumerist, socio-economically imperialist, downright spoiled, and ultimately piggish existence. And I wouldn't be able to say they are wrong.

Perhaps even more frighteningly, I don't think I'm unique. (Image above is from a blog entry entitled "Teenage Angst My Vice".) As noted above, how many reading this can relate? Even if your addiction to television doesn't run as deep as mine (or perhaps it runs a lot deeper), does something else in your life resonate with the underlying concept of overindulgence to the point of destructive behavior? I'd rather not list the other vices in my life that compete for my constant attention - "FEED MEEE!" they say "FEED ME!"

So what keeps us coming back for more? Why do we choose to ignore the unhealthy and unhappy relationships we have with television and other luxuries that keep us in looped into a cycle of craving and ignorance? We enjoy it and it's fun. TV and the entertainment industry provide us with a great deal of pleasure and maybe even joy. I have to add that a state of mindlessness has it's advantages - relieving stress and anxiety and allowing us to drift into a state of unthinking being or doing. That's exactly what we want sometimes.

A variety of voices tell me to stop overanalyzing. The answer is simple: moderation. Just do it less to enjoy it more. Though this is the simple answer to so many of my self-imposed conundrums, my behavior rarely changes. In some ways, I'm not sure I want it to. That is until it starts to cause problems and bring pain, as well as pleasure, sorrow as well as joy. In this regard, I can be remarkable childish and shortsighted.

My recent thoughts on individual/social change and self-help have helped me reach this conclusion: changing one's media environment is not enough. Community is also necessary to help such changes stick. A commitment to one's goal along with a lot of hard work and the positive support of media and community may help one to evolve peronsally and create change in the world. Though a laundry list of moderation strategies might be in order, it sounds rather lame. My gut tells me to just suck it up, be a man, and get a grip. Since that hasn't worked yet, I'll request some advice.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Just Enough: Lessons on Living Green from Traditional Japan


Today attended a Unitarian Universalist meeting in Tokyo with guest speaker Azby Brown, author of Just Enough: Lessons on Living Green from Traditional Japan. His presentation was fascinating, focusing on the lessons we can glean from the successes in sustainability Japan achieved during the Edo period (ca. 1600-1868).

Conversation after the talk led to the question, "How can we apply lessons from this period to the current post-industrial economies of the world's richest countries?" In other words, people in Edo Japan lived sustainable lives, reusing everything from garment scraps to nails out of necessity. In a society with surplus resources (time, energy, and money), excessive consumption, and a culture of debt, how can we have the same sense of urgency about conservation?