A Visceral Review of Beach House's New Album Devotion

The Beach House has done it again. Not only have they impressed the Pitchfork elitists by receiving a whopping 8.5, but they have become a reliable album institution. Writing great albums seems to be a preternatural inclination. It’s not avant-garde by any means; they’re simply adjusting certain musical formulas and adding a hip contemporary sound by incorporating subtle symbols and impressive riffs. Much like Portishead, they utilize deep symphonies and compromise melodic musicianship with a strong female voice.

For anyone that’s interested in good Indy music, I strongly suggest this album. See also Radiohead’s In Rainbows, Vampire Weekend’s new full length Vampire Weekend, and Daft Punk’s Alive.

Listen away!

Like Richard Powers' Galatea 2.2, there's Another Reason to Celebrate Subjective and Objective Worlds

In ““Mr. Sauer” and the Writers,” James Parsons illustrates how two separate fields of study can coalesce. During the beat era, Charles Olson became a predominant figure as an accomplished prose poet. During his professorship at Black Mountain College, Olson insisted that his students read Carl Sauer, a geographer, to better understand how the landscape can stimulate poetic transcendence. This began a unique relationship, a genuine fellowship between two different spectrums of study: the subjective world of prose poetry (the arts), and the objective empirical understanding of regions and landscapes (geography). Olson attempted to shed the understanding of the archetypal poet, and their devout understanding of romantic sensibilities -- see Whitman and Frost. Olson was particularly interested in scholars having an interest in “history, geography, and engagement with them in prose where needed” (Parsons 24). This attention to empirical knowledge allowed for Olson to better appreciate Sauer. Olson was energized by Sauer’s interpretations of landscapes. They both understood that certain environments shape modes of thought, and stimulate poetic reactions.




I can agree with Olson. I believe environments not only shape our thoughts, but they also control our moods. Nature has the ability to immobilize us, whether it’s through repressive force or sheer beauty. Also, beyond natural environments, rural, urban, and suburban communities can evoke certain emotions. It may take Emerson’s “Invisible Eye,” but the relationship is obvious.

Lewis on Geography

In Peirce Lewis' Beyond Description he makes the claim that most Americans are geographically illiterate, and he creates a manifesto for contemporary geography. My reaction to this statement is a couple of questions: is it more important to know where a country lies on a map, or to know the culture of that country and what it stands for? Is cultural awareness synonymous with geographical intelligence? I have a couple answers to this. If students are making a conscious effort to immerse themselves in another culture, if they have the ability to produce a thought provoking opinion of third world ideologies, geopolitics, and international events, it would be trivial for them to be able to locate countries on a map. It is only when students are ignorant of other cultures, and refuse to be educated on these cultures, that the identification of countries on a map becomes a crucial role in the development of geography.
There is an argument against this, of course. Maybe the education of cultures includes their location on a map. Maybe cultures are highly dependant upon the regions they are located. I can agree with this argument. But the education of anything in America is very tricky. Students are allowed to choose which classes they are willing to take. If students have aspirations of becoming geographers, they will take geography courses. Likewise for math majors; they will take courses in mathematics. All Students have the choice of taking particular classes that pertain to their desired vocation. The true question lies in the student’s willingness to expand on their education.

I myself am an English Writing major. I chose to take this geography class so I could become familiar with geography, namely the important features of the study. I may actually be part of that 90% that cannot identify Grenada on a map. I felt self conscious of my lack of knowledge on the subject, so I took proper steps in order to better acquaint myself. So far, I love what I’ve learned. But I’m a senior in college, with a stable income, and a loose schedule for preferable electives. Others aren’t as fortunate.
My problems with Lewis’ response stem from my own interaction with traveling. I think geography can be practiced in local settings, but the romanticized understanding of geography takes place in foreign worlds. Growing up, I never had a chance to travel. I grew up in a low-income apartment with a single father struggling with addictions. I grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the first time I saw the ocean was when I was eighteen years old. I traveled to San Diego with some buddies during spring break. It took me eighteen years just to travel three hundred miles to the coast. Because my understanding of geography was limited to my local Clark County region, I was fairly apathetic about the outside world.
I think a big problem with intriguing students on the subject of geography is instilling the idea that they can empirically interrelate with regions. Education systems around the United States are worried about giving students the opportunity to learn things they can use in the American workforce. I think the expectation is that more students will refuse the chance to go to college, or they won’t be able to afford it. So, public schools work frantically to provide the necessary tools for students to mature in a fruitful middle class. These things are obvious in the urbanized areas of the US. Is it important for high school students to understand geography if they are planning on becoming blue collar citizens? Obviously there is nothing wrong with being part of a middle class blue collar workforce. So where is the argument aimed, public schools, education systems, what? Do we cities have enough money to implement geographical studies? I’m assuming not.
I appreciate Lewis’ passion for geography, and his curiosity into the philistines of America. He wants people to be more educated. He’s an intellectual preoccupied with the well being of future students. This is all commendable. But I think there’s more to it. I suddenly had a curiosity for geography when I found out I was going to Europe this summer. Maybe my ability to travel motivated me to become more cultured. Some don’t have these luxuries. What’s the point of teaching youngsters where countries lie on a map, forcing them to read from textbooks with hundreds of pictures and illustrations of far-off lands that they’ll never see or touch or smell or taste?
Then again, why take away these romanticized ideas? Why not give the middle class something to dream of: beaches in Australia, the nightlife in Holland, the cobblestone streets in Carrick Fergus, the wine in Spain.

I understand both angles. But there seems to be an explanation for it all, rooted in the basic problem. I’m just not sure yet.
Maybe we can blame it on technology. Why tax yourself on remembering where countries are in the world when you can just look it up on Google Map, or use your iphone?

Only Social Relevance

I stumbled upon this video earlier today. It has no geographic significance other than the jest motivating me to compromise with my geographic workload.

More on Lewis and Turner to come.

Al Gore has Spotted the Chosen One: The Select Few Selected

In January of 2008, a panel for The Guardian compiled a list of 50 people who could save the planet. These philanthropic redeemers consisted of farmers, geneticists, German and Chinese politicians, engineers, American entertainers, and of course . . . Al Gore. Among the amiable 50, one seemed questionable: Leonardo DiCaprio.

DiCaprio was chosen for his coincidental affinity for icebergs. Apparently he starred in a major motion picture during the nineties about a large ship – the titanic -- sinking. I think it was an original title . . . The Titanic. The movie had no relation to global warming whatsoever, but there was romance, suspense, predictable plot twists, and, of course, mild nudity. It was the quintessential philistine production. And then Van Gogh listened to the soundtrack.

DiCaprio helped produce The 11^th Hour, a documentary featuring “dramatic footage of icebergs . . . threatened by climate change” (10).

He knows icebergs.

His benevolence officially began after environmentalists attacked him for altering preserved ecological regions of Shangri- La while filming The Beach – which received mixed reviews. Now DiCaprio’s the environmental ambassador for the entertainment world.

He is contributing, but are his contributions laudable in a category of men and women who have devoted their lives to environmental transformation?

I would say no. He is an entertainer, not a revolutionary. His polemical films, although intelligible and prophetic, will still cost ten dollars at a theatre. The popcorn will still be overpriced. The seat cushions will always be lathered with butter and melted chocolate, the floors ubiquitously sticky. He is part of an industry that is founded upon public appeal, and right now the public could give a damn. And what demographic will identify with his belief systems? People who watch American films?Are his efforts in vain? Not at all. His labors will make an impact, but to a small majority. His reach is limited due to the fact that his commitment spans a whopping decade. His credibility, especially regarding scientific knowledge, is limited to superficial particulars. He says, "We must set an example," and "It's about being aware" (10) among other obvious statements. His proclivity and enthusiasm is ill-equipped. On the other hand, if he recreated Titanic as a satirical parody, featuring the ship safely voyaging home on behalf of melted glaciers, he may change my mind. Maybe he can dig up old Elliott Smith albums and add overly melancholic dimensions to the film's soundtrack. Redemption: Smith's "Beetween the Bars," for the Good Will Hunting soundtrack, lost the Oscar to Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On." And it was a sad and tragic day that I will remember for the rest of my life.

One person can’t save the planet. He or she may utilize certain effigies in order to inspire an insurgency. But revolutions must include the masses. It will take millions, maybe even billions.

African Jest and Obvious Appointments

The African Consciousness: The Torment of God’s Ill-fated Bearing in Mind Divine Activities – Drinking La Crema From the Ripest Pinot Grapes in Heaven: How a Starving Ethiopian died of Gluttony at a $3.99 All You Can Eat Las Vegas Buffet

The youthful German Shepherd fell into a chasm

The landlord found the pup months later

He had survived off rats and sheetrock, but

He had developed a limp, and the appetite for inedible objects

The 121^st Mahdis building named him Providence and fed him table scraps, mostly bread

And they let him lick condiments from their plates:

Propitious dishwasher, with a heavy craving

But Providence relapsed into a world too dependent upon the anxiousness of survival

Consequently, he ate the spoons and forks, and other objects proven valuable and sentimental – jewelry and love letters.

He ate the building free of times past.

He transformed into a dandruff furball, misshapen and unripe – portly.

Clever tenants, from the dilapidated floors (where water and soap is a luxury)

Decided to replace Providence with a cat named Cupcake

So they decided, while arm wrestling, that Providence be placed back into the Chasm to spend his remaining years

Only to lick salt from the inner walls and to listen as the tenants played with Cupcake.

In other news . . .

What did Sudanese President Bashir do with an iniquitous war criminal? He gave him a promotion! Bashir has appointed the militia leader, who helped orchestrate genocide in Darfur, as a senior adviser on ETHNIC affairs. Impetuous and consistent insubordination of the U.N. won't stop - not as long as Bashir has China to protect him.

Some leaders in Congress are gathering support for an official letter to President Hu of China, letting him know that his indifference toward Darfur is deplorable.

I can’t help but to draw upon Cormac McCarthy’s The Road as a prophetic sermon. Africa has become Mordor.

Geography in the Abstract

Epistemological conundrums are raised in Agnew's "Regions on the mind does not equal regions of the mind." Let's think of a local question. The boundaries of Nevada were created for certain reasons, but are these regional schemes at all intellectual? Or are they socially constructed? Agnew claims that, "they must reflect the biases, intellectual and political, of their originators" (95). In 1861 President Buchanan signed a Congressional Bill which created the Territory of Nevada. On March 2^nd, just two days later, Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as the 16^th President of the U. S. Nevada was established by railroads, mining, and vast landscapes. Economic scenarios infested Eastern reveries. Truthfully, Nevada was founded under economic pretenses. The region was socially created. According to Agnew it can be argued as otherwise. “Realists” claim that a region “exists ‘out there’ in the world, even if there is a prior requirement to think that the world is divided up in this way” (92).

I think Nevada was part of a social construction. The name and boundary is a product of economic circumstances in the mid nineteenth century. Nevada could have expanded further north, occupying the Sierras and most of, what is now, Boise. But the region was chosen for certain reasons that may seem arbitrary to us today. The state could have easily been called something other than “snowcapped.” Nevada could have easily been named “James Warren Nye World”: de Saussure would argue for “Spoon,” or “Catworld.” Agnew's greatest point in the essay is when he refuses to understand the foundation of regions solely through binary oppositions – realism vs. constructionism. He states:

Regions both reflect differences in the world and ideas about differences. They cannot be reduced to one or the other. Observers and people in the world use regional designations to make sense of the world and these draw on real differences between parts of the world but they cannot claim total fit to the world because they are based on ideas about regional differences that are not simply about those differences per se but also about ideas of how the world works (93).

One can argue that the oppositions are temperamental and reflexive. They feed off one another. There are instrumental ideas that coalesce and materialize into regions, all because of antiquated, familiar ideas of previous social progressions.
. . . I'm not sure if that's worded correctly. Thoughts?