Home hunting all day ... TIRED!

Arrived in Oakland airport without a problem. Chillin' with my family at home. I forgot how good my mom's cooking was/is. =D

Off to California for the week ... it's not a vacation but we need to look for a new home in the SF Bay Area. =D

In reading today's court opinion upholding Prop 8, I came across this line: "Neither the language of the relevant constitutional provisions, nor our past cases, support the proposition that any of these rights is totally exempt from modification by a constitutional amendment adopted by a majority of the voters through the initiative process." It just occurred to me that there ought to be a proposition adding marriage as a fundamental right to all. Got to continue reading ...

What the hell is wrong with California?!? How is it that Iowa's high court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, and not California? What gives???

STOOOPID Is

From Volokh Conspiracy, I came across this post about Liberty University's decision to ban the Democratic Club on campus because its parent organization, the Democratic Party, allows abortions. Fine. Whatever. But along the lines of prohibitions and penalties, one poster indicated that the student code of conduct of the University hands out "30 reprimands" for possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages, as well as having an abortion, practicing witchcraft, or be convicted of a felony.

Another poster immediately responded to say, "If you're pregnant, don't drink & drive on your way to your coven meeting, is the message I get from that."

My last major effort to finish grading and turn in final grades by the end of today.

Finished the first round of grading. Lots of "A" papers, but the weekly assignments are hurting a lot of folks. Quite a few turned in only 3 out of 8 ... NOT GOOD.

Close to finishing grading. I think I handed out too many "A" papers. Hmmmm ... I'll deal with that later.

*WHEW* Done with one set of papers. Pretty amazing writing and research. Now onto the next batch.

Quotation for the Day

I love this ...

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor.

-- Neil Gaiman

Still More Prose and Stuff

Here's another hot one that held my attention. There's a really nice tie with toys and cultural studies analysis, and a strong argument calling attention to why Pokemon must be deconstructed. I also realized that most of my selections about writing have been introductions thus far so I'll try to diversify my entries.

Does Pocket Monsters (Pokemon), the never-ending video game, anime, card game, and retail kitsch franchise, deserve a racial analysis? There have been serious studies of the cultural effects of the franchise by social scientists such as Joseph Jay Tobin, yet there has been very little cultural studies-oriented scholarship on the subject. More in-depth analyses of the ideological constructions in the Pokemon canon are non-existent, perhaps due to its status as a children's icon. However, I feel that the fact that children are its principal consumers makes its ideological analysis even more important, if we are to understand the ways in which the media interpellates and socializes us into ideology. An additional point of departure is the fact that Tobin and his peers did not grow up inundated with Pokemon, as many people in my generation did. For us, it was more than a toy: it was and continues to be a consuming obsession. It is no wonder that its ideological work has been heretofore unexamined. To that end, I would put forward the argument that the Pokemon canon displaces racial Otherness onto Pokemon, and in doing so attempts to ameliorate the potent racial anxieties of its audience with its utopic vision of unquestioned racial domination. However, I will also point to moments within the text that work to deconstruct -- in the Derridean sense -- the seeming unity of that vision.

More Prose and Stuff

Oooh! I like the structure of these sentences, and how it situates the film, Aladdin, in a social, cultural, and political context of anti-Arab sentiment in the US. It raises the potential political stakes from an animated feature like Aladdin. I also like the air of sarcasm too:

To be fair, no one expects Disney to provide a fair and balanced portrayal of another culture for it certainly has "Disnified" Chinese (Mulan), Native Americans (Pocahantas), and Indian (The Jungle Book) cultures. However, the depictions in Aladdin are particularly nefarious given the anti-Arab climate that was reigning in America during the first Gulf War and especially today in a post-9/11 context. The film Aladdin is essentially an Orientalist production laden with ideas of exotifiation, domestication, and negative connotations and stereotypes the West hold true about the East, which ultimately carries tremendous social and political ramifications for Arabs.

Prose and Stuff

As I read and correct final papers, I come across some beautifully written prose that I think are worth nothing especially given the skill of writing from the students at Grinnell College. This selection is from a paper analyzing the TV hit show Lost that I found to have a clear argument, a strong voice, and it's concise, direct, and full of theoretical and analytical excitement:

With its incredible popularity, one questions what kind of ideological influence Lost may have beneath its enticing narrative. After following Lost for five seasons and deciding to study its intrinsic sociological implications, I initially turned to a neocolonial discourse. After all, the show is about a group of outside people who come to a tropical island and engage in conflict with the "native" peoples there, who come to be known as the "Others"; it seemed plausible that Lost was re-enacting a colonial discourse. However, upon closer study, I was surprised to find a much more subversive reading of Lost than I initially thought plausible. Instead of reproducing the tropes of colonialism, in this paper I argue that Lost actually critiques neolonialism by inverting the process of "othering" and the characteristics of colonized people, which is revealed through the character's experience.

was contacted by CCA to think of courses to teach for next year. Democracy? CRT? Law? Policy? Politics & Power? So many to choose from!

Day After

It's sooooo quiet on campus the day after graduation. I didn't have to dedicate time answering phone calls and emails from frantic students about their presentations or research papers. It was simply peaceful.

Yesterday's graduation was truly an event for me. For the first time, I was acting in the official capacity as a professor with "all the rights and privileges" that my degree and rank afforded to me. You see I never went to my own graduation. Mine was rather anti-climatic, and if anything, I was more ecstatic at the thought of putting behind me ten years of friendly fascism from my school. I just wanted to leave and move on with my life and career. I don't know if "hate" is the right word to express my sentiments, but it's pretty damn close.

But at yesterday's graduation as the faculty gathered in ARH before our procession, I felt proud and privileged to be a part of this community of intellectuals at this institution. As we marched out, the graduating seniors and their families applauded us. Many of them cheered and called out our names. Donning the medieval regalia became more than dressing up for this ritual called "graduation." It was being recognized for our work and acknowledging an accomplishment not measured in the number of articles that I publish or grants that I receive, but from the smiles and endless "thank you's" from my students and their families. For the first time in quite a long while, I felt really great about being a professor, teacher, and scholar. For me, yesterday's ceremony was, in many ways, my own graduation, and that is a moment I will always be grateful for.

Besides, when and where else can anyone don flowing black and blue robes lined with the colors of knowledge and it'll be okay to yell out "Expelliarmus!"?

Of course, it was just a passing temptation for me. =D

The day after graduation ... it's sooooo quiet on campus.

Congratulations to the 2009 Class of Grinnell College!

Two hours for one paper?!? I've got to figure out a better way to do this. No way I can do this for 77 papers.

On my iPod, listening to Muse's live performance of "Supermassive Black Hole" ... I think I got the right motivation now. =D

Figuring out ways to procrastinate.

With the exception of two students, all papers are in. Congrats everyone! =D

Block Party at Grinnell ... ROFLMAO!!!

Time for the inevitable ... grading papers!!!

PostSecrets

Yep. I really like this one.

Things are picking up now that finals are coming to a close. Picked up my faculty regalia and getting ready to read the unavoidable mass of final papers.

Watched President Obama's talk on health care reform...good talk...Odd though to see Speaker Pelosi step in to finish Obama's speech as if he's just another member of Congress.

It's OFFICIAL! I received and signed my contract. I will be an assistant professor at the California College of the Arts! And it was on pretty nice letterhead too! =D

Just finished a wonderful dinner with some of the graduating seniors ... they totally rock! =D

News Summaries on Wesleyan Shooting

http://news.google.com/news/more?um=1&ned=us&cf=all&ncl=dPLRouYnyD2DSHMJy_puUXI1p9dQM

http://news.google.com/news/more?um=1&ned=us&cf=all&ncl=do5MiUoUuGs0eoMdDmekYHdJdFOJM

"Asher Roth and the Racial Crossroads"

A commentary about Asher Roth that turned into a discussion about race relations. Cool vid!

"World Builder" - Bruce Branit

As I was cleaning out my bookmarks, I came across this gem of a video.

World Builder from Bruce Branit on Vimeo.

A strange man builds a world using holographic tools for the woman he loves.

This award winning short was created by filmmaker Bruce Branit, widely known as the co-creator of '405'. World Builder was shot in a single day followed by about 2 years of post production. Branit is the owner of Branit VFX based in Kansas City.

More info, background and info on future releases can be at http://www.facebook.com/pages/World-Builder/73936485659 Become a fan and keep in touch.

I just finished the very last class that I will teach at Grinnell College. And now for final papers ...

"How'd Dick Cheney Do?" - David Letterman

Just saw a bumper sticker that read "When Clinton lied, nobody died."

Wordle of the Month

thinks to himself and says, "One more week and it'll be over."

Note to self: avoid starting the week by reading the latest hate violence incident reports ... http://ping.fm/byDhX

First Days of Spring

DSC_0272A by disoriented1969 on Zooomr