woolcovered

Jeff Howe from Wired is going to be giving away copies of his book, Crowdsourcing, to bloggers, provided they promise to review it.

Neat idea, seems like he's taking the opportunity to his money where his mouth is on crowdsourcing. Wired ran his post explaining how he came to the decision to do this.

Don't have a blog? Well, all you've got to do is provide him with a URL for the forum that you plan to review it on. Anyway, as of today he's still taking applications despite an overwhelming response.

Posted by Jason Guitard at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

To celebrate my downtime, I've been doing a bit more reading. Largely I've been checking out books I wanted to read throughout the entire school year but was too busy to get to.

I've literally just finished Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation and I've got to say I'm really impressed. This could be seen as a good companion piece to Super Size Me. While Super Size Me relied on a bit of sensationalism and shock value to sell a compelling experiment, Fast Food Nation has a meticulously researched, more sober take on the subject matter. It helps that the parts of Super Size Me that I enjoyed most (documenter Morgan Spurlock's research beyond the actual consumption of the food) are the subjects which are researched in much greater detail here.

So while Super Size Me drills into our heads that the food is bad for our health, Fast Food Nation shows us that there could be more at stake than our waistlines. The title does hint at what the book is all about, as Schlosser basically tracks the far-reaching social, economic and political effects that this relatively new industry has had on the United States. Among other things, the business practices of the major meat processing facilities are examined in the face of powerless institutions such as the USDA and the OSHA.

His access is as impressive as the research itself, as this book takes the reader to every step along the meat production process. This book takes the reader to urban ghettos in meatpacking towns, cattle ranches in the Western states, even to the labs where the artificial and "natural" flavours are engineered. What's more, when he visits a potato factory we actually learn just how the french fries are, well manufactured (reading the impressive amount of technology involved in this process will explain why this term is most appropriate).

Reading this book does scare me a little bit. The lax standards for food safety along the manufacturing process don't bode well in an era plagued by epidemic scares. Basically the system is to efficient (in terms of throughput and distribution), that by the time food borne pathogens are dectected, much of the food is already consumed.

One thing I really liked about the book is the Epilogue. Here, Schlosser actually makes recommendations based on his research. To go the extra mile, he even offers suggestions as to how his ideas could be implemented. Hard to say what'll come of it all, but the book did get a bit of attention in the UK as it came out right around when the mad-cow epidemic hit.

Most recently, the a film bearing the same title has come out. From what I've gathered, the film is a fictionalized take on what was a work of investigative journalism. So take from that what you will.

Posted by Jason Guitard at 09:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Alright, so I figure I can throw together another literature review from these notes of mine.

Will Brooker's Batman Unmasked was a book I started with great anticipation. It was near the beginning of my summer, having bought it as the school year was winding down. Towards the end of the year, seeing it on top of that pile of books in my room was a reminder that some day soon I would actually be reading books of my choosing for pleasure.

Anyway, the ironic thing about this one, is that had i read it before I started university, I probably would've been a lot better off. In short, this is a great primer for anyone interested in studying pop culture. I was even going to mention this to Kate at graduation, but in all the hoopla I unfortunately didn't actually get a chance to talk to her.

Anyway, after a brief introduction covering the validity of Baman as a cultural icon (inlcuding a semiotic analysis that any protrayal holds true to), Brooker moves through a timeline to discuss the rest of the Caped Crusader's history:

1. 1939-1945: Origins and Wartime
This section highlights how Batman was not as malleable as his counterparts when it came to acting as war propaganda. The only exception to this rule was in cover images, something which can be seen as 'lip service' that has nothing to do with the plot of the books or character development.

2. 1954: Censorship and Queer Readings
Were Batman and Robin a couple, or did the framework just allow homosexual readers to generate their own interpretation of the text? Intertextual readings are covered here. Secondly, this section serves is a response of sorts to Fredric Wertham's very influential Seduction of the Innocent, a book which factored quite heavily into the negative portrayal of comic books which one could argue is still held today.

3. 1961-1969: Pop and Camp
In this decade, the television series and rampant merchandising provided a different way of looking at the hero. Is it still true to the original myth?

4. 1986-1997: Fandom and Authorship
The four movies (Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Batman and Robin) are discussed, as is the refiguring of Batman as a 'Dark Knight' by writers such as Frank Miller. I had never really considered whether this portrayal of the man in the black cape was actually a response to these films.

The internet has obviously also provided a far better forum for fostering fanfics, and the reinterpretation that can take place is touched onto here. Also, despite popular belief, Batman actually has a surprisingly muddled authorship, and the significance of this into his iconic status is analyzed.

The end of the book seems to on making a case for cultural studies as a discipline, something which is unfortunately still necessary to do these days. In a related note, there is also a humourous (a snippet on back of the book describes it quite generously as 'hillarious') chapter on what Brooker went through as a minor celebrity following becoming Dr. Batman (his dissertation was on the Caped Crusader).

To break away from this plot synopsis, Brooker's writing style is fairly enjoyable, done so from an involved but still fairly academic perspective. The book is intended largely for those who haven't dealt with these concepts before, which is why I would reccomend it for cultural studies folk and general geeks alike.

I really should've written this review back when I finished is, as I'm sure there's plenty I've forgotten (as I had at least a dozen instances where I said 'damn I wish I had've read this before I took pop culture!').

Will Brooker is currently a professor and his next book is on Star Wars. I'm not sure if I pity him, or if he's my idol.

Posted by Jason Guitard at 04:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Of all the reviews, I suppose this has been the longest one coming.

As some may recall, last christmas I received The Vice Guide to Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll from Lexx. Like I said in the aforlinked entry, I didn't really know what to think of the book when he handed it to me. I hadn't heard of VICE, or rather I should say I didn't realize I had heard of them. He instructed me that he was proud of this gift, as he'd read on this page that I was looking for quality bathroom reading material. To give me an idea of what to expect, he told me with glee to read "The VICE Guide to Shagging a Muslim". My initial impression was that this was going to be a no-holds-barred, raunchier version of Maxim.

With a piece of toilet paper as my bookmark, I began. Thankfully, the anthology opens with an interview where the backstory of Vice Magazine is explained. The Cultural Studies kid in me was finally glad I was able to see a comprehensive example of what a 'zine is all about, as that's basically the subculture where VICE fit in the urban Montreal social fabric. What I didn't realize is that its controversial nature became rather marketable, allowing the VICE staff to move to New York and create a more concrete cultural brand identity(The Streets are distributed by VICE Records in North America, and this year the label curated the superhip(ster) Intonation Festival). Keeping with the theme of the title (I guess this makes it the third 'guide' I finished this summer), the book is split up topically, moving from Sex to Drugs to Music to a variety of other sections.

The quality of the articles varies by the contibutor, from the serious to the those with tongue planted firmly in-cheek, from those with a sober delivery to those who go purely for shock value, and for those that discuss rather trivial or juvenile matters to those which are concerned with drawing compelling observations on society-at-large. So, from politics to poo ("Experiment 36: Corn in Your Poo"), you can find pretty much anything in VICE.

It seemed fitting that "The VICE Guide to Shagging a Muslim" was the eye-opening surprise that made me realize why this volume warranted compilation. What I expected to be a racist article about picking up and getting laid in fact a very powerful, very personal anecdote from Bruce LaBruce about his Shiite Muslim boyfriend, focused primarily on Western misconceptions about Eastern Men, homosexuals, and the Muslim faith.

For me, VICE was at its best when it was willing to question the norm in an informed way. From what I've seen in here, VICE is a forum for asking the questions most are afraid to ask in our stiflingly politically correct society ("Interview with a Black Guy", "Was Jesus a Fag?" and "The Day I Joined the KKK" are personal favorites).

On the silly end, there's a full-color compilation of the VICE Do's and Don't - the funniest thing I've ever read about fashion...what's more, there's even some done with Joe Strummer!

So, if you need a set of relatively short articles that takes about seven months of bathroom trips to flip through, then The Vice Guide to Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll is worth picking up. Thanks again Lexx!

Posted by Jason Guitard at 02:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

As promised in the previous entry, today I'm going to talk about the second 'guide' I found myself reading this summer.

The back cover of The Way of the Rat hails the book as the "antidote to management books". After reading James B. Stewart's DisneyWar, I think I can understand why author Jeop P.M. Schrijvers feels the need to lambaste business books which overdramatically liken the fall of a business to a Shakespearean tragedy (Stewart actually commissioned an university English department to draw comparisons of Michael Eisner, the primary subject of DisneyWar, to possible Shakespearean characters).

Anyway, as with much non-fiction, the subtitle of The Way of the Rat explains what to expect: "A Survival Guide to Office Politics". Schrijvers used to conduct seminars that are intended to show management how to come out on top in the backstabbing world of corporate conflicts. The way the book is structed reads like a lecture; each of the seven sections is comprised of a a number of clearly outlined subsections - you could draw a mindmap to each one if you felt the need. I'm guessing this book is really just an expanded version of his course notes (though I should note that its refreshingly brief at 170 rather small, double-spaced pages). Schrijvers ultimately structured this as a 'letter', perhaps as an out to use farily casual language, but I found myself forgetting the medium until he brought it up at a few points.

Its hard to know who to thank for the writing style used in this, as it was translated from Dutch. However, given the amount of analogies and terms of phrase I didn't recognize, I'm assuming this is fairly faithful to the original work. Since I read this awhile back, I'm struggling to think of specific examples, but I did remember thinking it was quite cleverly put together on numerous occasions.

For those intrigued by the books' overall philosophy, its comprised of equal parts Machiavelli and Carnegie. Access All Areas also borrowed from Carnegie's work, so I'm thinking I should probably look into reading it first-hand soon.

Another similarity I found to Access All Areas was that Schrijvers concludes his book by tracing the historical background as a means to abstractly frame an otherwise practical work. While Ninjalicious was concerned with very specifc events in Urban Exploration in AAE, Schrijvers charts the philosophy behind what he refers to as the "will for power" throughout a large chunk of history.

I'll return to the back cover of the book for the final word on this one: "Read it - but don't leave it lying on your desk."

Posted by Jason Guitard at 03:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Alright, so in quest for quality non-fiction, I seem to have been gifted with a few guides. Its worth noting that both of these led to me receiving some pretty strange reactions from my onlooking coworkers.

Access all Areas was written by the late Ninjalicious and is intended for those who wish to "discover a hidden world inside [their] own city" or partake in what is defined as urban exploration. Basically, if you've ever wondered what a storm drain or sewer drain looked like (or even what the differences between the two are), then this book is for you. Naturally, my favorite section of the book was the 'Social Engineering' chapter. I suppose its the aspiring PR man in me, but I enjoy the challenge that the human element could provide: basically, I like the prospect that I could be caught somewhere I'm not supposed to be and possibly walk away from it. The strategies put forth in the book are hardly foolproof, but there's some good ideas presented, and some good caution flags are raised. Unfortunately, as this is intended as a newbie guide to urban exploration, there's some pretty obvious, banal sections. However, I guess its comforting to know that some idiot will have less of a chance of getting run over by a subway train after reading this. I did find the 'us vs. them' perspective a little patronizing at times, but its bearable.

In true indie nature (Ninjalicious was a zinester responsible for Infiltration, and Kev bought this book for me at a hip Toronto release party thingy), Access All Areas unfortuantely suffers from some sketchy production values. All of the images are in black-and-white (which I commend; a great way to save a lot of cash), and at least two sections just cut-off prematurely upon the page break (which I don't commend, although I couldn't help but chuckle at the irony when it happened to the list of people who proof-read the book). Hopefully, the latter problem will be fixed in the second printing which is currently happening according to the Infiltration site.

I think the smartest thing Ninjalicious did with this book was to include a timeline of Urban Exploration as an appendix. Not only does this show where some of the innovations in the practice have originated, but it also legitimizes a largely marginal hobby. This plays into a major motive of the book; to break the negative perceptions commonly held regarding Urban Exploration.

Next entry...the second guide that occupied my spare time, The Way of the Rat.

Posted by Jason Guitard at 02:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Alright, so I'm figuring last night's entry was pretty self-indulgent. As such, I'm hoping to provide something a little more readable today - the oft-delayed, frequently-promised literature review! This is the first of many parts, as I had more to say about this book that I had initially planned.

I've just finished up James B. Stewart's DisneyWar. Devoted readers are probably wondering why I'm not following my reading list I posted in May. I may have neglected to mention it, but Co bought me a triliogy of bizknobby books as a graduation gift a few months back. They were late shipping in, so I've been trying to finish 'em all before the summer is out. But really, I only read before work or on the can (and of course, on the can at work), so its hard to have enough dictractions to get through this ever-growing list!

So, DisneyWar is a tell all about Michael Eisner, CEO of Disney from 1984-2004. The book is split into three parts: "The Wonderful World of Disney" which basically tells Eisner's background life story, his start at Disney and his success at turning the company around. The funny part about this is that this is the era that started in the late-eighties with Little Mermaid (as far as feature animation was concerned), so its really the Disney I'd always known. I had never realized they were struggling prior to then, so it was cool to read about how things were before I came along. The section about Eisner's childhood is useful in understanding his management style and personality, but was far more detailed than necessary. This section concludes with Eisner's falling out with Jeffrey Katzenberg, his apparent 'partner for life' in the business world. For those who don't know, Katzenberg left to form Dreamworks SKG with his close friend David Geffen (former owner of Geffen Records until he sold it to MCA for about $1 Billion) and superproducer Steven Spielberg. I had always wondered what the K stood for...

Anyway, the second part of the book, "Disenchanted Kingdom" basically looks at Disney's slide after Katzenberg's departure and the untimely death of Frank Wells in 1994. Wells was hired as with Eisner in 1984 and took the role as President and Chief Operating Officer (for those unfamiliar with corporate hierarchal structure, as I certainly was until reading this, that makes him #2 to the C.E.O.). For shorthand, the title of this could apply to the overall morale at the Walt Disney Company, as there was a revolving door of executives in this era. This area also covers the aquisition of ABC and the Fox Family channel, two very costly moves, at least in the short run.

The third section of the narrative is where the book gets its title from, and focuses on Eisner's ouster from his post by Roy E. Disney, Walt's nephew who was one of the few voices of dissent (along with his lawyer, Stanley Gold) on the Disney board. As they had no success in the boardroom (Eisner ultimately forced their resignations), they decided to that the key to getting rid of Eisner would be to gain support from their fellow shareholders. I should say the book is still worth reading even if you know the end: Eisner ended up resigning a full year before his contract expired due to shareholder pressure.

Anyway, to move away from the plot, Stewart has honed a narrative style which initially annoyed me, but made much more sense when I read the 'sources explained' section at the end of the book:
"This book would not be what it is without the unstinting cooperation of many people with firsthand knowledge of events at Disney and spoke to be at considerable risk to their careers, espescially given Disney's reputation for vindictiveness and litigiousness. Many of these people spoke on a not-for-attribution basis; others were on the record. An advantage of using a narrative approach is that none of these sources are identified." Stewart actually has a guide out ("Follow the Story") that I'm considering picking up, as this could be a useful way to write nonfiction. At one point or another he taught at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, so I'd assume the book would be worth getting.

The book probably didn't need to be over 500 pages long; after reading the sources at the end, I'm inclined to think it was over-researched if anything. I suppose in the end I would've perferred a 'tell-most' to a tell-all. He's got a few other books out that have tickled my fancy, so if they fall under the 500-page mark I think I'll pick them up! Thanks for the new writer, Co!

Posted by Jason Guitard at 04:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hmm...I would call this the sweet spot of my week. I'm so excited to be off work for the weekend, that I generally end up chilling out on here in no hurry to go to sleep, which really gets my 'waking' weekend off to a pretty slow start. Man, I could devote this entire blog to my weird sleep patterns. Wouldn't that be something?

But anyway...this is an espescially sweet one: because I work ten hour days, I actually get ten hours of holiday pay for this coming Monday (Wood's would actually only supply the legally required 8-hours, forcing us to put in two longer days to compensate for the extra two hours...the more I think about that place, the less I miss it).

Anyway, for those keeping score, I've got four days off (Friday-Monday), three back at work (Tuesday-Thursday) then another three off! Most people scoff at the prospect of ten hour days (though I know some cazy folk working 12's), but the payoff comes on the holiday weekend: who doesn't love it when the weekend is longer than the work week?

Now I know I have a reputation for being a tad tangential, but I'm really thinking we should consider this on a broader scale in our capitalist society: a shorter work week has been proposed as a means to fight inflation. In my case, I have less, longer days, so the only thing I'm really saving is gas money (which I suppose is notable in our current social climate for those commuting in from outside town), but I'm hopeful that such a method is eventually adopted in some way, shape or form. I've heard Google allows their staff to devote 20% of their time to independent research (which I would assume would then become Google's research should it become profitable?), which would translate into a day of the week for the typical 9-5'er. I suppose it is still work, but the idea of free thought for a work day seems to be a step in the right direction for me.

If my stance sounds a little socialist, I should probably pay mention to my influences: this past semester, I was required to read a choose a book for study dealing with a social issue. The one I ended up going with was Linda McQuaig's All You Can Eat: Greed, Lust, and the New Capitalism. On the simplest of levels, the basic premise of the book revolved around the argument that capitalist thinking does not occur naturally in humans. Basically, a revolution is impossible if such ideologies are naturalized, and in an effort o break out of this framework McQuaig wants to provide her readers with another option.

Anyway, In an effort to prove her point she looked at a study of workers from other countries who were managed by North American folk. In order to reward their good work, management would offer these employees raises. Of course, they figure that a significant raise would motivate the workers to work even harder, but the opposite seemed to occur: as wages increased, labourers would start to request more time away from work. The idea of working when they didn't need to (as the increased wage would allow them to pay their bills quicker) seemed to be a less attractive option when they could be spending leisure time with their families and friends.

Despite the fact that I wrote a 16-page paper bout the title, I wasn't able to actually read the entire book, so I'm actually probably going to pencil it in next as a write-in to the summer reading list I posted awhile back).

Wow, that entry didn't go as planned...but ah well, hopefully it made for an o.k. read. Well, I've got just over a hundred hours off, so I plan to start them off right: time for some Playstation!

Posted by Jason Guitard at 04:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Back on the home compy, complete with internet connection. I'm not sure how long this will last, but I'm sort of testing the waters here in the 'rents place - my mother wasn't terribly fond of sharing a modem with her last year, but I'm hoping this will speed along the 'let's get a router' talks we've been having since then.

Anyway, it's sort of sad how much I've missed having a line running into this PC. My current MSN name is a bit of a spin on this ("give me internet of give me death!"), but in reality old compy here has been nothing more than a glorified paperweight since returning to Guelph with me (which I've just realized is a bit of a pun, given that its sitting on stacks of paper as we speak). Truthfully, my comp generally serves two functions: communications tool and stereo. As I can't seem to find my cable that connects my speakers to the PC, listening to music without headphones became impossible. Without internet, I was really left wondering why I bothered to turn it on.

So, last entry I alluded to Hunter S. Thompson. Well, he's first on my summer reading list, but I'm not sure if I'll make quite as much progress this summer as I did last. It seems as though I'm a bit more social at the workplace these days, so that hour (30 min lunch plus two 10 minute breaks) I would spend reading is non-existent. Regardless, we'll see how it goes...anyway, back to the book: I'd had Hey Rube, a collection of the man's sports columns posted on ESPN's web site since receiving it at Christmas (thanks again, Brian). Its very good, but I had been forced to shelve the book shortly after winter semester started, only having a chance to read the first 'part'. Its strange to read of the man's gambling tips (which is what I'm assuming he was commissioned to write to justify having his column appear on a sports page) a few years after the fact (espescially given that I don't gamble), but the work is an entertaining read nonetheless as he frequently goes off on all kinds of enjoyable tagents (normally about politics).

So, once I finish that, my list is looking as follows:
1. Batman Unmasked: Analyzing a Cultural Icon (by Will Broker)
I was lucky enough to grab this from the Bookstore at a pretty sweet discount awhile ago. This gives me a chance to scratch my 'cultural studies intellecutal' itch while reading about familiar (and quite enjoyable) subject matter. These are my favorite type of books.
2. Access All Areas: A User's Guide to the Art of Urban Exploration (by Ninjalicious)
Kevin and Ryan bestowed this upon me, a book that I've only had a chance to flip through so far. I'm wary of reading this at work given the subject matter, I'd think such a thing could be misinterpreted by the less intellectually inclined folk that pass through the lunchroom.
3. The Beatles: The Biography (by Bob Spitz)
This is a relatively recently-released bio on the fab four should be a fun read, though given its size (and the fact that its hardcover) I can't see myself reading this one on-the-go. This was supercheap, thanks to my mother's bulk-buying-book-club ways.

I've also picked up some fiction over the year (Marc Acito's How I Paid for College and Robert McGill's The Mysteries, both unedited advance promo copies I got for free from the Bookstore during some spring cleaning) and even one left over from last (Angela Carter's The Passion of New Eve, which was required course reading I never quite got to in third year).

Needless to say, I should have plenty to keep my mind sharp during the mentally dull factory routine.

Posted by Jason Guitard at 04:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)