All At 'C' - Confused

So I joined a Zoom about the MORE form. It was mostly for Module 2, but I thought it never hurts to have another look and a reminder. Should have goaded me into action, but it hasn't.

Then there was the academic writing Zoom. Useful, but I'm still unconvinced about the use of exclusionary language. If I write about music using that vocabulary, anyone I know connected with music is likely to say "huh?" But hey, I don't make the rules. As I've said before, I just need a glossary. That way I can write in English and then swap out some of the vocabulary.

But enough of that. What's confusing me the most is the blasted website. Things I should be able to find are just not there. I search and follow links down blind alleys and...nothing. If I used a PC instead of a Mac would my entire experience be different? I rather think it would. Hours spent signing in. Leave loads of tabs open, as I may never again find the right pages. Just where the recorded Zoom calls are, I really couldn't say, I've never found them. Presumably they're on a page that won't open in Safari.

Fed up.

Yoohoo! Back In The Saddle.

Missed the first meeting of the new year. It was on Zoom, I was looking for Skype. Oh well.

So Zoom, then. I've spent days of my life during the last year on Zoom. Funny to see everyone sat watching, caught looking. We had a module 3 meet. I confess I didn't share what I was on about. I did speak up, but only in answer to something someone else said.

Quick explanation, I'm a musician. I've danced as a hobby, which means not all that's talked about goes over my head. I've studied different techniques and I even did Laban Notation, when I was at school, for my Modern Educational Dance exam. However, I am a musician. It's what I've done for over forty years. I'm the middle one in my family's three generations of musicians. A griot dynasty.

My inquiry is called 'What Is Soul?', with the subtext being 'and what is the language we use to describe it?' I am talking to various experts in different fields of the music business, from vocalists to sound engineers, to see if they have a definition and, if so, how they describe it. Analysis is, for me, the most difficult part of the whole task. What conclusions to draw, what those conclusions mean. There will be many hours staring at a blank page. Hopefully, it won't stay that way.

Sunday discussion. I know I saw the time, as I read the post. The page where the link was had a different time. I looked it up the night before, as logging in is such a palaver. So, at the time stated on the 'link' page I logged in. Nothing. After a few goes I waited. Then I went back and discovered it had already happened. I think it may have been for dancers above my pay grade, so probably for the best in the end! Funny how things work out.

Call Me Miss Communication!

I had to calm down before I could write this. I'm a lyricist. Words are important to me and because I have studied a few foreign languages, so are the meanings of those words. In order to translate from one language to another, it is vital to understand what is meant, what is intended. I find imprecision irritating. Consequently, the notion of finding your way whilst talking, even though I do it myself, is uncomfortable. 

I feel just as strongly about opinions. It is not necessary to have an opinion on every topic. However, once you have drawn your conclusions and embarked on a direction, it should not be taken lightly. It is absolutely fine to change your opinion. Indeed, it is vital, it is how we grow intellectually. Have an opinion. Own it. Support it with ideas and conclusions. Should a better, more plausible idea come to light, by all means adopt it. 

As a rule, I am not an 'either/or' person. However, presenting one argument, changing direction when challenged and then returning to a previous position without explanation is ridiculous. I am used to presenting cogent arguments that can stand up to inspection. Safe to say I seem to be entirely out on my own in that respect. It's like being a musician in a sea of dance specialists. Using the same language but almost deliberately misunderstanding. 

One day this course may have more non dancers which will ease communication. Cross fertilisation often occurs when people from different places and traditions meet and enjoy a common activity. I recently made a film about just that, which I'll post at the end. If we were meeting face to face I think that notion would have more success, for me anyway. As it is, I find I end most discussion groups with a mixture of frustration and irritation.

Here's the link, should you wish to watch:

The Venues That Changed Everything

To Be Or Not To Be An Equivocating Iconoclast?

Couldn't get into Sunday's Skype, so was immensely frustrated when I couldn't join this evening's Academic Writing Skype. Though on the outbound journey I had continued to take part in an NHS governors' meeting on Teams, Skype was not willing to offer me the same courtesy on my return. Joining half way through was better than nothing. I did at least get something of an answer. 

Music writers, the ones I have read, don't use academic language to speak of. Peter Thomas suggested some work written by a Music lecturer at Mdx. Not any different, but I did get a lead from it on Google Scholar. I'll spend some time with the texts I found tomorrow. I then remembered I have three music-related friends who have PhDs, so looked up some of their work. Once again, it's not language they use. 

I hold no fear of complicated language, if I could find it relating to my subject, I would happily use it. I think my only hope is via Somatics. I'm sure therein will yield a rich seam of complex language, even if the discourse is relatively simplistic. 

I do find myself torn. The notion of dressing uncomplicated ideas in complex language looks more like self aggrandisement than good communication. Peter Thomas said there are differing schools of thought surrounding definitions of some of the academic terminology. This then goes against the idea of using this language for specificity. It does not make for ease of communication if I am then providing my own definitions. However, he did say that it is important to use appropriate language for the subject about which you are writing. If that can be agreed upon, I shall take that and run with it.

Iconoclast it is then. Unequivocally. 

A Thorn Among Roses

This evening we had a Skype with Module 3 focus. Long silences, which seem to be par for the course. It seems the point was to have us understand why we use the language of research. When explained at the end it made perfect sense. I did feel slightly cheated though. However, I accept that this is the way information is imparted and not everybody speaks another language, so the following analogy would be lost. 

When my children were at school, the household language was a kind of Franglais. We all spoke French and English, but some things were described more succinctly in one of the two, so we favoured that. French nouns in English sentences were commonplace. As the children grew older and their world became more Anglophone, English dominated. Adesola was talking nuance. The English word 'kitchen' and the French word 'cuisine' are both describing the same room. However, the perception is different. A kitchen is somewhere that work is done, cooking, cleaning and so on. La cuisine is where recipes are dreamt up and meals are created. Art versus toil.

The language of research is used as a standardised form of describing the process. I would've accepted that upfront. Now, of course, I've got to go out and find a research glossary, so I can transmogrify anything I write. I have been reading, but I haven't come across anything that encompasses my enquiry using language I wouldn't use myself. Suggestions appreciated. Any treatise on the language used to describe Soul (music) not in plain English? Anyone?

Screen If You Wanna Go Faster

On Monday this week I had seven (7!) 'virtual' meetings; telecons, video calls and plain old phone calls. In the world 'before', that would have been a ridiculous notion. And, in reality, it was indeed ridiculous. One call ran over and then I was late to the next two. Mind you, the second of those I had little interest in and it finished on time, so...result! It seems so long since the Skype on Sunday, I can't really remember what I said. In my journal I wrote there were silences, so, once I'd finished my dinner I joined in to fill the void. Whatever I said I believed at the time, yeronna.

I've just commented on Adesola's post about Connectivism. Social media for me comes with the territory. I can cope with it, as I'm a shouty person with opinions. I try hard not to make stupid statements, or to post things as fact if I have no other source. However, I saw this cartoon...

And this seems to be how we draw conclusions these days. Boris does badly at PMQs because, apart from ineptitude, he doesn't have his 'chaps' in the seats behind 'hear, hear-ing' him on. It's social distancing's fault. The misnomer irritates me and I've probably said it before. We are, of course, physically distancing. All this screen time is our effort to avoid social distancing, it's the antidote. It reminds me of an Asimov story, which I think was The Naked Sun. It's science fiction, at least it was when it was written. People stay in their homes and 'socialise' by a kind of projection. The end of your room disappears and is replaced with your friend's room with your friend in it. Like a whole wall is a giant Zoom meeting with one other person, or several. 

Only one Zoom today, but it was being recorded so I had to 'dress up'. I've really got out of the habit and it seemed such a faff. With Black History Month approaching, it seems I'm more 'gob for hire' than 'flavour of the month', but I'll get over it. It's not like I've got much else on.

I'm back teaching next week, doing a face to face class. To be honest I'm a bit anxious about it. We'll see how it goes, fingers crossed, sanitiser at the ready. Don your masks, get set...go!

It's OK, I've Done This Before!

I'm getting straight in with my first blog of the new term. Partly so I don't forget what just happened and partly so I don't forget. It seems a long time since the start of last term. I was in Australia for one or two Skypes. Mind you, I've participated going through security at airports and hotel rooms more than once. I'm fairly certain the current pandemic will ensure my continued presence in my own home. I'm a singer and it's not just my international gigs that have been cancelled, they all have. Just out of interest and by way of encouraging interaction, what's happened to everyone else? As we're all over the world, I'm interested if anyone is getting to perform or teach at all?

Lots of information was imparted during the Skype and though I've definitely been there before, the memory's a bit hazy on detail. So it was welcome. Since we're all based outside the university, we can't help but draw on our experience, both in our own lives and our practice. Reflection is, for me, a very important part of this course. It has become more obviously important as time goes on. I'm in Module 3, so nearing the end of my studies, hopefully. I say that as I have no idea what the immediate future holds. None of us have. But I'm beginning to feel I know what I am doing. I may feel differently with a week to go until deadline, of course.

One thing that was touched on that I feel it's necessary to address is the notion that we are living in a 'post truth' society. History has always been written by the victors, so there is always another story to be told. We are beginning to hear these other stories and that is a good thing. However, when that 'post truth' notion is used to describe science, I have a problem. Scientific knowledge is not immutable. As you uncover more about an unknown, facts change. What was true beforehand may no longer hold. This doesn't mean we can throw the baby out with the bathwater. I'm putting it out there that my tolerance of crackpot, tinfoil hat theories has worn thin. I have to engage in social media, it's part of my job. The nonsense I have come across is startling. So people, think what you like, but please don't invite me into your wardrobe. I don't believe in Narnia. I'll always try to be nice. At first.

If you want to know more about me, here are a couple of recent(ish) links. The first is when at the height of #BLM protests the university posted a video of a single we released during lockdown, which was good of them, here it is:

'Stand Together' - Dub Pistols ft Rhoda Dakar

And this is how I've been amusing myself with no gigs, my radio show 'Pork Pie & Mash Up'. Produced at home, because the studio was shut. Though that may be changing:

Pork Pie & Mash Up - September

So that's me. What's your story?