Been a bit
Not that anyone's really reading this, but- you know- I thought I might take the opportunity to post a quick message I sent to one of my profs.
As background, you should know that this professor always talks about how he would just be satisfied if we make a connection between the "real world" and the material in his class. After typing this out, I figure I'm now guaranteed an A+ for sure..
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You'll be pleased to know I've officially made a connection between the real world and your class. In writing a project proposal - just now - I came across a particular section where I wanted to write the following:
{{Performing a text-based query on the Overtone database is similar to other database lookups, except that this also searches for lyrics as the “content” of a particular song.}}
Then- suddenly- I came across the dilemma. Can I really describe lyrics as the "content" of a particular song? According to our recent discussion in class and the readings you've presented us with, it would probably be more prudent to point to lyrics as the message...initially.
But then I thought about it, and realized it could be interpreted more in a tree form; that is to say, the lyrics themselves might be more of the medium than anything else- the message might be more the concepts and ideas contained within the lyrics. That is, of course, assuming you even believe in the idea of message as medium, or vice versa.
Of course, this dropped me into trying to manually process the concept of a series of containers containing containers, where these concepts and ideas are contained within lyrics, which are contained within a given song, contained within a given medium (be it CD, vinyl, or otherwise)- all assuming you don't actually break down into the structure of the song and talk about chorus, verse, and other structures of the lyrics as containers themselves.
At this point, I realized my head was on upside-down and my eyes were starting to roll back in my head, realized I might be making the transition into a posthuman mode of thought, and snapped out of it.
Your class is making me lose my mind. Thanks, and see you Thursday!
John
As background, you should know that this professor always talks about how he would just be satisfied if we make a connection between the "real world" and the material in his class. After typing this out, I figure I'm now guaranteed an A+ for sure..
---
You'll be pleased to know I've officially made a connection between the real world and your class. In writing a project proposal - just now - I came across a particular section where I wanted to write the following:
{{Performing a text-based query on the Overtone database is similar to other database lookups, except that this also searches for lyrics as the “content” of a particular song.}}
Then- suddenly- I came across the dilemma. Can I really describe lyrics as the "content" of a particular song? According to our recent discussion in class and the readings you've presented us with, it would probably be more prudent to point to lyrics as the message...initially.
But then I thought about it, and realized it could be interpreted more in a tree form; that is to say, the lyrics themselves might be more of the medium than anything else- the message might be more the concepts and ideas contained within the lyrics. That is, of course, assuming you even believe in the idea of message as medium, or vice versa.
Of course, this dropped me into trying to manually process the concept of a series of containers containing containers, where these concepts and ideas are contained within lyrics, which are contained within a given song, contained within a given medium (be it CD, vinyl, or otherwise)- all assuming you don't actually break down into the structure of the song and talk about chorus, verse, and other structures of the lyrics as containers themselves.
At this point, I realized my head was on upside-down and my eyes were starting to roll back in my head, realized I might be making the transition into a posthuman mode of thought, and snapped out of it.
Your class is making me lose my mind. Thanks, and see you Thursday!
John
posted by jp at 6:08 PM
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