Cue Enthralled Obama Supporter.doc

Hilarious. I stumbled upon this link today and I thought I'd share it with you all. It's too good to pass up.

I think I've been cast as "enthralled, head-nodding, impassioned speech viewer." What I'm even more surprised by is my image gracing the 'youtube thumbnail'.

The video crew was around but we didn't make much of an attempt for on-camera time. Guess they found us.

Doc's Prescription of the Day: It may not be my best angle, but it was 5:00am and history was being made. 

Yes He Can.doc

I'm on a roll today. I wrote a ten page 'Creative Practice' proposal in six hours and had time to make a well rounded dinner. I decided a blog post would be final touch to an extremely productive day.

Recently, a dear friend who I haven't talked to in a long time mentioned that she has been reading the blog with excitement. Having travelled extensively over Europe, she knows first hand the potential that the continent holds in offering perspective to those who seek it. She said, "Just forget everything you ever learned and learn it all again." While I couldn't do without all the life skills I took in at Queen's, yeah and the course knowledge too, there is something in her statement that rings true. I think a certain 'altering' comes with being a foreigner - your perspective moves from being a point and shoot to a wide angle lens. This point was brought home on Tuesday evening in London.

If you read the previous post, you know I decided to take a spontaneous trip to London for Election Night coverage. It might have been one of the wisest decisions I've made since arriving here. I opted for the cheaper coach option to the big city and wasn't disappointed. The coach was about 30% full so, naturally, I lounged out in the very back over three seats. Instead of taking a backpack to the city (I was going to an all night party!) I brought four sheets of paper and a pen in my blazer pocket so I could continue to work on my assignment en route. Being the diligent student that I am, and hyped up on excitement for the night ahead, I filled all four pages with notes to make up for the time I had sacrificed with the trip.

Upon arrival I met up with Bec and we headed to the first stop of the evening: a music club for an Aussie concert. Now this wasn't any music club, it was The Troubadour, a popular spot where the likes of Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Jimi Hendrix, and Joni Mitchell all played in the 60s. Yep, I'm sure at one point, Jimi sat in the same bench we did. I expected it would be a really big venue, but the set-up was actually quite intimate (think the Cameron House in Queen West) Bec is a huge fan of the singer/songwriter Clare Bowditch and she didn't disappoint. After three of four songs I pegged her genre: she's an Aussie version of Feist who I had the distinct pleasure of seeing at Bluesfest in Ottawa this past summer with Emma and Tom. Clare played a really fun song on a casio keyboard, sang a special tune with accompaniment from a tea pot, and was nice enough to chat with us after the set as she was packing up - Bec was over the moon.

You'd think that would be a grand night on its own, but it was merely a warmup. From there we surveyed our election party options (page three ripped from the UK metro paper) and narrowed it down to two venutes: Planet Hollywood in Piccadilly Circus or a random warehouse club we didn't quite know where. Inevitably, Planet Hollywood won out - no cover (as opposed to 20£ being charged elsewhere) and the atmosphere was guaranteed to be laid back. Bec had never been to Piccadilly Circus and freaked out a bit when we got out of the tube station; she said they don't have anything as flashy in Australia. We waited in a lengthy cue for drinks and decided to down a jager-bomb to ensure we'd be up for the marathon night. At Planet Hollywood, all of the bartenders where a button stating their name and where they are from - there was Mike from Bulgaria, Alex from Ireland, and Ashley from CANADA. I asked her where she was from (it was Vancouver) and she was happy to meet a fellow Canadian amidst a sea of friendly American expats and students. Instant bar service.

We found a great viewing spot in the lounge and never moved from the location, save for getting drinks from the bar. We chatted with a host of different people - Americans, Brits, people from Ireland and Wales, and a group from Belgium. The Americans all asked what state I was from and upon hearing I was from Canada were pleasantly surprised to know that we were following their little election. The comeraderie was overwhelming. Even though the election was for one singular nation, it seemed everyone in bar was united around Obama's message of hope, change, and reform. Highlights of the night:

i) The ritual that formed around the predictions who would win each state as announced by CNN: the group would countdown from '5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1..." and would either cheer or boo depending on who carried it.

ii) The jeers and boos that erupted over the segment with will.i.am 'live via hologram'. Cheap. Honestly, if this is what we have to look forward to in the future, count me out.

iii) The obligatory 'Yes We Can' chants that accompanied an Obama state win.

iv) The 'Bacon Rolls' that the kitchen was serving until 4am.

There were two moments of indescribable jubilation that I'll remember forever. The first occurred sometime around 4am in London when Wolf Blitzer announced what everyone in the bar was waiting to hear, that Barack Obama would become the next President of the United States. The response was deafening. I don't remember rising from my seat but I joined everyone else in the eruption of emotion - cheering, hugging, and chants of 'O-BA-MA!' From then on all of the coverage seemed a bit surreal. I was certain Obama would triumph but the historical weight of the decision really began to set in. I thought McCain delivered a wonderful conciliatory speech and was thankful that Palin wasn't given an opportunity to speak.

The moment Obama appeared on stage was just as memorable as the announcement of his win. Finally, the man those of us in the bar had been waiting for had finally appeared. It was almost as if seeing him in the flesh was a reassurance that the result was actually true - he had won the election. The bar stood like silent statues during his speech, save for a few eruptions of cheering that mirrored that of the massive crowd in Chicago. I recorded this video with my digital camera:

We filed out into the heart of London at 5:30am, exhausted and worse for wear after staying up all night, but overjoyed and hopeful. Obama won't be able to fix all the problems in the United States, but I believe he's currently the most suitable candidate to be at the helm. We had arrived at Piccadilly on the last train of the night and found ourselves waiting outside the station to catch the first train of the morning (no joke). Going back to the advice I received from a friend, I couldn't have experienced the election the same way in Canada as I did here in London.  I won't necessarily forget everything I've ever learned while over here, but the night was an example of the "relearning" that comes away from home and surrounded by new perspectives.

Doc's Prescription of the Day: A petition banning any future "live via hologram" feeds. Please don't tell me anyone thought it was cool. I'll write will.i.am a big old prescrip' for that.

Election Frenzy Takes Me London Bound.doc

I figured it would be irresponsible of me to not blog today. Not only will November 4th, 2008 be a defining moment in the history of the United States of America - whatever the outcome of tonight's election - but we may also witness the most historic speech of of the young century. That being said, when I look back on the archive of my European adventures I want to remember how I've situated myself on this important day.

I've been in the library since 10am (so for the past four hours) working away at this portfolio project due Friday when a tempting offer came my way. My Australian friend Bec is going to see an Aussie singer named Claire Bowditch at a bar in London tonight and wondered if I wanted to tag along. I politely declined since I had plans to watch the election at the student union when I had a small epiphany. Why am I staying on Warwick campus for one of the most important events this decade?! (I don't think my characterizations are hyperbolic - anyone disagree?) After negotiating with Bec, who is also a politically engaged youth, we decided to train into London for the concert set to begin at 9:45pm. After the concert ends around 11:30pm/midnight we'll hop to one of the few American election parties happening just in time for when the results will start to get interesting (7pm EST)

We have a few options: an upscale American bar in the city which indicates gentlemen should be wearing jackets, a 35£ a head full out jam with an American buffet and drinks all night long, and two parties with free cover that looks like they'll be packed. I'm leaning toward the former of the options since I'd rather avoid the upscale dress and 35 quid a head is pretty steep. I RSVPed online, along with 1200 other people hoping to attend, so hopefully this spot will prove successful. We're going to head wherever we can get in.

The plan from there is to surround ourselves by fellow engaged youth, American ex-pats will most likely be out in abundance, and follow the results all the way to the speeches at the conclusion of the evening. By the time that happens it will most likely be 4/5am - I'm certain the sun will be rising as we train back to campus. As much as this puts a dent in project time this week (I've been very diligent thus far) sometimes you've just got to grab life by the horns and be spontaneous. This isn't just an event, it's history in the making. Being in one of the world's most historic cities as the night plays out makes the experience all the more worthwhile.

A collection of interesting material to peruse while procrastinating today:

Finally by Terence Samuel at TheRoot.com

I think it articulates the mood of November 4, 2008 very well. The point of note is that whoever wins, this is a landmark decision on both the nation and international level.

The majority of us don't have an opportunity to vote today, but if you could...

If The World Could Vote

It's a well known fact that Obama's support base is more technologically mobilized so the results aren't surprising. Still, quite an interesting concept. That rally for Obama in Germany is an illustration of his international appeal.

Poor Sarah Palin. I'm sure she expected an uphill battle but the ridicule has been overwhelming. First Tina Fey then Quebec radio personalities, and now an interactive click and laugh website...

PalinasPresident.com

If you wait for the flash to load you can click your way through Sarah's Oval Office Playhouse.

And finally, an oldie but a goodie...

It still gives me shivers.

Doc's Prescription for the Day: Watch. Participate. Engage.

You Mean I Have to READ over Reading Week?!.doc

Halloween is celebrated here in England as it is in Canada. One difference I'm told is that 'trick-or-treating' isn't as popular for young children as it is back home. From speaking with Lotte, I've learned the English haven't really embraced the tradition of dressing their children as ghosts and ghouls, accompanying them door to door in the neighbourhood, accepting candy from strangers, and allowing them to eat more sugar in one week than they would in two months (when described in those terms, it does sound quite ill-planned) Nonetheless, it is still a popular night for adults and we celebrated with the MAIPR group on campus.

My costume was of course a last minute creation, we had class from 9am-6pm on Friday, but it was really well received. I went as the "Corpse of Capitalism". In light of the world economic crisis and the collapse of Wall Street I read some articles in the past month talking about the "Death of Capitalism" so I thought the corpse resulting from this death would be a timely costume. Now, please don't feel I'm being insensitive - I am well aware that the economic crisis has spelled real world trouble for many in Canada and the world, but my intent was to make light of the ludicrous idea that capitalism as practice is dead. Also, Halloween has traditionally been a time where people dress up as that which scares them and economic woes are definitely at the forefront of our social conscience.  

The costume was pretty much a disheveled corpse in a flashy suit with all the markers of capitalist society - it played particularly well in academic circles. I saw two Sarah Palins out and about, and a guy in a white lace 'teddy' undergarment with FREUD written across the front. He was a 'Freudian slip'. The group of us that went out stayed close to home and went to the Union bar which was well populated. Instead of traditional Halloween and cheese music (which I've become accustom to these past few weeks) the night was geared towards more alternative indie bands - Justice, Bloc Party, Kings of Leon, and they even played some Arcade Fire which was a little touch of home. 

Unfortunately, we faced an early morning the next day which at a 10am - 9pm conference in Coventry surrounding the work of Federico García Lorca, a Spanish playwright best known for Blood Wedding and The House of Bernarda Alba. He's kind of like the Spanish Chekov in some respects. The conference was quite interesting and made me want to learn more about Lorca. That evening we saw a really interesting production of Bernarda Alba at the Belgrade Theatre. We had grand plans of going out for a second Halloween party after the conference but we were too wiped.

Reading Week is upon me! It has been a really fast five weeks with a pretty rigourous schedule of lectures, seminars, conferences, plays, and group discussions. We now have a "week off" from course material and then return to do group projects (the schedule of which is determined by the members of the group) This means that formal classes and assigned readings are for the most part finished for this first term; I don't return to this format until February 1 in Amsterdam. I know, I know I'm a luck guy. Three months spent outside the classroom with just under two months off before the start of semester two - how can you complain?! I won't complain. It just means that Reading Week will actually be spent doing school work. It's a small price to pay for the holiday time I can look forward to post Dec 5 when week 10 signals the end of term. The trouble is that actual reading during Reading Week is a bit of a foreign concept. Without further ado, a photo essay of 'reading weeks' past:

First Year, Queen's

Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

Second Year, Queen's

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Third Year, Queen's

In studio for X/Why Rehearsals, Kingston

Fourth Year, Queen's

Varadero, Cuba

MA Year, University of Toronto 

Hincksy and the Doc vs. the City, Toronto

Wow, we have fun. As the photo essay has illustrated, books have not been a common staple of the past five reading weeks. I know that I have no right to complain since instead of spending the time on a beach or in a bar I'm in Europe. My point is that I'll have to disassociate from the Reading Week habits I've developed over the past five years and orientate myself towards reading, research, and output:

Second MA Year, University of Warwick

Warwick Campus, West Midlands, UK

It's probably about time to get back to the true origins of the 'Reading Week' holiday. I'm sure the scholars and academics studying by candlelight never imagined the week of grace to catch up on their Aristotle and Plato would be spent by students of the future soaking up rays on a beach. Have we lost the true meaning of Reading Week amidst consumerism and commercialization?! This week I'll find out...although I'd rather be jumping around the continent.

Doc's Prescription for the Day: I'll be reading for most of the week, so you should too. Or at least read something - a novel, a short story, a newspaper, a flier, a traffic sign. I don't think this will prove difficult, just don't strain your eyes.

Skool Projects.doc

I never know how much to write about what's going on academically (know your audience, they say) but this post will give you something of an idea of the type of work I'm up to here at Warwick. I figure posts of this nature balance the 'this is where I traveled' or 'this is where we had a few pints' type of entries. Now that the first five weeks of lectures and seminars are over, we are beginning to focus on the final group presentations which will happen in five weeks time. This past Friday we were to present two abstracts to our class relating to two of the three modalities we've been working in this term: scholarship, curation, and creative practice. Here are my two abstracts which I treated more or less like project proposals - I focused in on creative practice and curation (I did enough scholarship at UofT)

i) CREATIVE PRACTICE
Staging Symbiosis: “The Archive and the Repertoire” in Studio

Finding inspiration from the research of Diana Taylor, this study seeks to examine the relationship between the archive and the repertoire using a research as practice model.

While the group may have a working knowledge of the outlined terms, this study seeks to transplant the concepts from the page and “put them on their feet” and “into dialogue” in a studio setting.  Diana Taylor states:

The relationship between the archive and the repertoire, 

as I see it, is certainly not sequential…nor is it true versus false, 

mediated versus unmediated, primordial versus modern. Nor is 

it binary…We need not polarize the relationship between these

different kinds of knowledge to acknowledge they have often

proved antagonistic in the struggle for cultural survival or 

supremacy.

Taylor indicates how one should avoid characterizing the links between the archive and the repertoire – the exchange is fraught with complexity. The space of negotiation ‘in between’ the archive and the repertoire seems to defy definition. How might we visualize this relationship between the archive and the repertoire? How does an item move from the repertoire into the archive and is the process a violent one? How has the continued privileging of the archive threatened the repertoire?

I propose looking at the relationship symbiotically – defined as the cohabitation of two dissimilar organisms. In psychiatry, this is characterized as “a relationship between two people in which each person is dependent upon and receives reinforcement, whether beneficial or detrimental, from the other.” How might a concept like symbiosis enhance our understanding of the relationship between the archive and the repertoire? Experimentations, responses, and an “in studio” working out of this concept – ideally using a variety of forms of expression such as movement, sound, light, images, bodies in space, multimedia explorations, video, etc. – would seek to address the initial questions. The final phase is the dissemination of research through practice (not necessarily a show but maybe a workshop, an interaction with an audience, or an experiment)

Symbiosis is just an example of how a group might address the topic of staging the relationship between the archive and the repertoire. The methodology for this study would ideally follow the four phases mentioned above: research questions to be addressed, theorizing responses, experimentation, and dissemination.
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ii) CURATION

Curating for the “Imagined Community”: Examining the Curatorial Practices of ‘National Theatres’ in Relation to the Thematic of Reception

This study seeks to explore the curating, archiving, and programming practices of “National” theatres.

Schiller states, “A standing theatre would be a material advantage to a nation. It would have a great influence on the national temper and mind by helping the nation to agree in opinions and inclinations.” Schiller proposes harnessing the collective nature of the theatre for political purposes – namely, unity and solidarity, the creation of a collective identity, and nation building. His characterization highlights the problematic concept of a ‘National” theatre and raises a host of questions concerning its formation and execution: How does a “National” theatre position itself and its goals in relation to the citizens it claims to represent? How does it present concepts of history, memory, and identity in relation to the nation? How does a publically funded theatre negotiate its relationship with the state and avoid censorship? And most importantly, is a “National” theatre a “material advantage to a nation” as Schiller claims?

Interacting with the above becomes possible when the theoretical questions are put into practice through an examination of the curatioral, archival, and programming practices of “National” theatres. I propose to approach this examination with focus on the thematic of reception. How is performance from a “National” theatre received as an expression of collective identity and history? And how does the theatre program its material in relation to Benedict Anderson's "imagined communities"?

The methodology for this study is threefold. First, the members of the group will research the “National” theatre of their homeland (if one is present) and draw conclusions about their programming, curating, and archiving methodologies. After sharing their findings with the group, members will work together in deconstructing the concept of a “National” theatre and its complexities. The third and most important phase is the dissemination of their findings - a presentation of the concepts surrounding the curation and programming of “National” theatres (ideally using a research in practice model) that has been informed by their research and discussion.
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In the end, the instructors had to negotiate the proposals of all thirteen students into the forming of three groups each with its own modality. My proposal fit most with the other students who presented proposals relating to curation. We now have the task of merging aspects of our projects together and creating some type of performance or presentation relating to curation - the ideas thus far are to curate an exhibit for an imagined season of work at a well know theatre, deconstruct the idea of the 'National theatre' and its curatorial practices, create an exhibit for a performance that never happens yet publicize as if it will, or imagine a fictionalized utopian society and the creation of its art - where does the idea of curating and programming art for a Nation come from?

Doc's Prescription of the Day: Collaboration is essential to the success of future projects. If you have any thoughts about curation, programming, and archiving of theatre in relation the concept of the 'Nation' please feel free to make suggestions.