Author: filmscore80

Stainforth Was a Nerd, and So am I

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By Michael W. Harris

As part of my day-to-day job in Norlin Library Special Collections and Archives at CU Boulder, I work as a member of the Stainforth Library of Women Writers digital humanities project (the site is in the process of being migrated to a new platform, so please excuse our mess). Simply put, we are taking a handwritten catalog of the library of Francis John Stainforth (we will hopefully be updating and expanding the Wikipedia entry soon) and transcribing it into a searchable database.

Why? Because his library is one of the most complete records of poetry and drama (and some prose) by women and includes writings from the 16th to the 19th century. There is a whole lot more we want to do with the project and the data we create from the catalog database, but for the past two or so years, we have been simply focused on the task of transcribing the catalog and editing the data. And we are almost ready to release our first data set to the public. Continue reading “Stainforth Was a Nerd, and So am I” →

What I’m Reading: 17 June 2016

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I love to browse ArsTechnica and Wired as a break from my work day. I find both of them to have smart, well written, and insightful articles that speak to those things that I am passionate about.

Today, ArsTechnica has a feature story about the history of Open Access publishing in academia. As a librarian, this is a subject that is near and dear to my profession as probably the biggest issues facing libraries (even bigger than Google, Wikipedia, and eBooks), especially academic libraries, is the crushing cost of journal subscriptions. Within academic circles, this problem is well known and some very smart people, spearheaded by scientists who need open access to find the latest research and results in their field but sometimes find the way blocked by pay walls, have been leading the charge for journals without access fees.

I hope to write a post about Open Access, Open Source, and Creative Commons soon, but for now, just check out the ArsTechnica story here.

Everything is a Dumpster Fire (and I feel fine) – OR – Are We Worthy of Survival?

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By Michael W. Harris

I really don’t know if there is a right way to start this ramble of incoherence, so I’ll just launch in.

In the reimagined Battlestar Galactica that aired from 2004-2009, there was a central question that ran throughout the show: is humanity worthy of survival? Should they be saved from the cylon onslaught that threatens their extinction? The character of William Adama sums it up in a quote from a second season episode: “It’s not enough to survive. One has to be worthy of survival.”

Continue reading “Everything is a Dumpster Fire (and I feel fine) – OR – Are We Worthy of Survival?” →

From Kurosawa to Evangelion: Ma –or– Leaving Space for Thought

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By Michael W. Harris

Author’s Note: This is probably, by far, the longest post I have written for this blog. There is a lot to discuss so please, just stick with me. It will be worth it, I promise! For those who make it through, there is a special treat waiting for you at the end. Also, see the end of the post for a disclaimer about the videos (or lack thereof in one case) in this post

Part I: By Way of Beginnings

It has been a while since I turned my critical lens on Japanese cinema and culture in this humble blog space, so let’s dive back into the realm that constituted so much of my dissertation research.

At the recent 2016 edition of Music and the Moving Image, I was chatting with a good friend about future projects we might collaborate on. As is want to happen when two Japanese film music scholars talk, the subject of Kurosawa’s use of sound bubbled to the surface and I remembered two scenes from his early post-war films (No Regrets for our Youth and One Wonderful Sunday) that had always intrigued me. While these films are not all that highly regarded in the Kurosawa oeuvre, I do find many aspects of their treatment of music and sound (both on- and off-screen) interesting, and I mentioned these two specific scenes to my friend as ones that she might want to take a look at.

Fast forward a few days and a notion pops into my head: not only is Kurosawa probably playing with the Japanese aesthetic principle of ma (literally meaning “space” or “the space between”), but also by looking at these Kurosawa scenes through the lens of ma we might give ourselves a new way of looking at two rather infamous scenes from the 1995-96 anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. Scenes that are infamous for their lack of movement and are usually pointed to as examples of the production’s rather constrained animation budget.

So with that in mind, let’s dissect the concept of ma, watch some Kurosawa, and then talk some Evangelion. Continue reading “From Kurosawa to Evangelion: Ma –or– Leaving Space for Thought” →

On Storytelling

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By Michael W. Harris

I suck at video games. There is a reason why the most recent console I own is a Playstation 2 and it is not because I am cheap or that I do not enjoy video games. It is that I suck at them. I do not know the first thing about “first person shootin’” and I don’t really care to learn because I don’t really have the time. However, if you do look through what games I do own for the limited systems I do have (PS2, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Game Boy, and my PC), you will discover that the majority of them are role-playing or adventure games. The reason for this is because when I do play games, I am mainly in it for the story. I love a good story. Continue reading “On Storytelling” →

On The Past, Memory, and History

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By Michael W. Harris

N.B.: This is not the promised “Part Deux” I teased at the end of my last post. Rather, think of it as Part 1.5. Also, thanks to my friends who I pestered with questions of “what is the difference between history, the past, and memory?” this week.

In my capacity as a student in libraries and archives, I have been thinking a lot about three words that get thrown about in my readings: history, memory, and the past. Continue reading “On The Past, Memory, and History” →

On Rage Quits and Academia

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By Michael W. Harris, BM, MA, PhD, and MS (in progress)

Disclaimer: This is not the normal fare for this blog, but I think I am going to begin transitioning this to a more multipurpose topic space…so consider this your warning.

Further disclaimer: This is MY experience. I know many adjuncts who love teaching, make it work for them, and don’t have the burn out that I experienced. I applaud their good work and hope that some day soon that work will be rewarded.

I graduated with my PhD in musicology in May of 2013, and by August 2014 I had all but decided to largely abandon the traditional academic world. I did not last long in the adjunct teaching rat race. All of one year and three total semesters (including summer), not counting the three years prior that I was technically an adjunct while also a grad student. But in those three semesters, I taught 35 credit hours and made (pre-tax) just over $44,000. I know that compared to many in the adjunct life, this was comparatively good, and I even had health benefits from one of the institutions I taught at!

So why did I leave? Continue reading “On Rage Quits and Academia” →

Getting Loaded at The World’s End: Compiled Soundtrack in The World’s End

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By Michael W. Harris

One of the great things about using a song, or numerous songs, in a film is that they can immediately evoke a time or a place.  Think of George Lucas’ American Graffiti (1973) which gets so much of its power from its amazing use of music (and DJ banter) to recreate the ‘50s era, along with some great set and costume design.  Continue reading “Getting Loaded at The World’s End: Compiled Soundtrack in The World’s End” →