I'd like you to read Victor Dover's evaluation of the Cotton District project in Starkville, MS. You might also find Brian Herman's essay insightful. For images of the Cotton District, click here and here.
Also, read this review of Google's new web browser, Chrome. The author is David Pogue, the New York Times' technology columnist. If you want to give Chrome a spin for yourself, it's free and a quick download.
**Addendum: The Cotton District falls under the rubric of the architectural movement known as New Urbanism, and I thought you might need a quick definition. From the Online NewsHour:
"New Urbanists promote a return to the traditional town planning that defines places like downtown Charleston, South Carolina; old town Alexandria, Va., historic San Francisco and Georgetown in Washington DC. These traditional neighborhoods feature walkable Main Street shopping districts, downtown parks, and grid streets."
The NewsHour's has a great resource on New Urbanism. Take a look.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
The Reopened USS Intrepid: a Review
The NY Times has a review of the reopened USS Intrepid--a retired aircraft carrier that has been refitted as a museum and permanently moored along the Hudson River....take a look for an interesting review of an attraction.
William Eggleston Retrospective
The Whitney Museum (in Manhattan) is holding a retrospective entitled “William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008.” Eggleston's a native Mississippian, and the bulk of his work captures life in the rural South. The New York Times has posted this slideshow of his work, and I think you might find it interesting.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Post-election political discourse
My sister called me yesterday in some despair; as many of you know, she's about your age--a college student at the Univ. of South Carolina. In her dorm, in her group of friends, and among her Facebook networks, have descended into shouting and name-calling after this election--with both sides bearing guilt. Similarly, I saw a many disgruntled faces across this campus yesterday. And that's natural; losing sucks, in politics, sports, the workplace, whatever. However, partisan hollering provides little headway.
For those of you who were ardent Obamaniacs: take this victory with some humility, because the road ahead is going to be nigh impossible. And remember: a vote for McCain does not equal a vote for racism. That's just dumb.
And for those of you who identify as conservative or Republican: don't despair. Your nation has not abandoned you, and a new socialist moment does not await you. In fact, given your age, the coming years will be exciting to be a Young Republican. Why? Because, after a fairly significant defeat, the GOP will have to reinvent itself, and you will be at the helm of the ship. In fact, nothing yields profound ideas like being out-of-power.
I recommend that each of you, regardless of affiliation, pay close attention to the policies and ideas generated by the serious, subtle and nuanced conservative thinkers who will play important roles in this reinvention process. Read National Review; pay close attention to George F. Will (hardly a young guy, but nonetheless a worthy read) and Kathleen Parker, both of whom write for the Washington Post. Ross Douthat, of the Atlantic Monthly, is excellent, but my personal favorite is David Brooks of the New York Times. I'm including below a link to a Brooks column, The Conservative Revival, in which he argues that the British Conservative Party offers an example from which American conservatism should draw.
For those of you who were ardent Obamaniacs: take this victory with some humility, because the road ahead is going to be nigh impossible. And remember: a vote for McCain does not equal a vote for racism. That's just dumb.
And for those of you who identify as conservative or Republican: don't despair. Your nation has not abandoned you, and a new socialist moment does not await you. In fact, given your age, the coming years will be exciting to be a Young Republican. Why? Because, after a fairly significant defeat, the GOP will have to reinvent itself, and you will be at the helm of the ship. In fact, nothing yields profound ideas like being out-of-power.
I recommend that each of you, regardless of affiliation, pay close attention to the policies and ideas generated by the serious, subtle and nuanced conservative thinkers who will play important roles in this reinvention process. Read National Review; pay close attention to George F. Will (hardly a young guy, but nonetheless a worthy read) and Kathleen Parker, both of whom write for the Washington Post. Ross Douthat, of the Atlantic Monthly, is excellent, but my personal favorite is David Brooks of the New York Times. I'm including below a link to a Brooks column, The Conservative Revival, in which he argues that the British Conservative Party offers an example from which American conservatism should draw.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Drive-By Truckers from 11/1
SouthernShelter has posted an authorized bootleg from the Truckers' Saturday show at the Tabernacle. (Alas, they haven't put up the opening set from The Hold Steady).
I'm still having some residual ringing in my left ear....
I'm still having some residual ringing in my left ear....
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Unit 3: Evaluatons
I will formalize the following during the week, but I wanted to give you a heads up now....
Our next unit will deal with EVALUATIONS. Of the various permutations of the genre, you are probably more familiar with them as reviews. And, of the many types of things that are reviewed, you are probably familiar with reviews of works of art (i.e., books, films, music) and places (i.e., attractions, restaurants, hotels, etc.).
For this final essay, you will compose a brief (4-5 page) review of a topic of your choosing. The parameters: you may choose to evaluate an album that loosely fits under the umbrella of southern music (Option A), or you may evaluate a place here in the metro Atlanta area. Topics might include: a building, a park, a development, a restaurant, a club, a farmer's market, etc.
Remember, a review is a type of argument: your essay should make a CLAIM about the topic and then support that claim with evidence.
As we work toward writing the essay, we will use the blog as a place to workshop ideas. This week, you will write a short evaluation of a song or album; next week, you will evaluate a PLACE--a building, a park, a development. You will choose one of these blogs and develop it into your essay.
Briefly...
Blog for this week: Select an artist that interests you, and then find a review. In your posting, you should examine how this particular review functions as an example of the genre. You will need to address most of the following questions:
Blogs will be a rich source of music criticism....you should have no trouble finding something to write about.
Next week's blog: evaluation of a place
Find a review of the general type of place you might write about (i.e., if you want to write a restaurant review, read a restaurant review; if you're evaluating a place, read an architectural review). Ask the same questions as last week:
Schedule for the final paper:
Topic due: Friday, Nov. 14
First draft due: Friday, Nov. 21
Peer Review: Monday, Nov. 24
Final Draft: Wednesday, Nov. 26.
Our next unit will deal with EVALUATIONS. Of the various permutations of the genre, you are probably more familiar with them as reviews. And, of the many types of things that are reviewed, you are probably familiar with reviews of works of art (i.e., books, films, music) and places (i.e., attractions, restaurants, hotels, etc.).
For this final essay, you will compose a brief (4-5 page) review of a topic of your choosing. The parameters: you may choose to evaluate an album that loosely fits under the umbrella of southern music (Option A), or you may evaluate a place here in the metro Atlanta area. Topics might include: a building, a park, a development, a restaurant, a club, a farmer's market, etc.
Remember, a review is a type of argument: your essay should make a CLAIM about the topic and then support that claim with evidence.
As we work toward writing the essay, we will use the blog as a place to workshop ideas. This week, you will write a short evaluation of a song or album; next week, you will evaluate a PLACE--a building, a park, a development. You will choose one of these blogs and develop it into your essay.
Briefly...
Blog for this week: Select an artist that interests you, and then find a review. In your posting, you should examine how this particular review functions as an example of the genre. You will need to address most of the following questions:
- what is the claim?
- what evidence does the author provide to support the claim?
- what contextual evidence does s/he provide?
- how does s/he hold your attention?
- what sort of nontextual elements (illustrations, images, embedded songs) does the author employ?
- what are the standards that the author employs?
- does the author use any specialized language? If so, explain how understandable it is, what else you need to know, etc.
Blogs will be a rich source of music criticism....you should have no trouble finding something to write about.
Next week's blog: evaluation of a place
Find a review of the general type of place you might write about (i.e., if you want to write a restaurant review, read a restaurant review; if you're evaluating a place, read an architectural review). Ask the same questions as last week:
- what is the claim?
- what evidence does the author provide to support the claim?
- what contextual evidence does s/he provide?
- how does s/he hold your attention?
- what sort of nontextual elements does the author employ?
- what are the standards that the author employs?
- does the author use any specialized language? If so, explain how understandable it is, what else you need to know, etc.
Schedule for the final paper:
Topic due: Friday, Nov. 14
First draft due: Friday, Nov. 21
Peer Review: Monday, Nov. 24
Final Draft: Wednesday, Nov. 26.
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