Joseph M. Jamison: March 2008 Archives

A Warning

I am going to preface this article by making it known that I am not a fan of Oprah Winfrey. I do not like her show, nor do I care for her body of work. I feel that she is pretentious and full of herself, feeling the need to put her name on everything and put her own face on her own magazine month after month. My final straw with Oprah was when she invited James Frey, the author of A Million Little Pieces, back on her show to “explain himself” after controversy arose concerning the fabrication of his memoirs. Oprah’s endorsement of the book skyrocketed sales, but the real story here is how she handled the situation; the video below sums up her involvement. In the end, Oprah blindsides the author and berates him on national television just two weeks after sticking up for him on Larry King Live, making the controversy more about her than the author himself. Why the quick change of heart? Her viewers were upset with her, and in the end, the almighty dollar does the talking.

As you know, my esteemed elder sibling, James J. Jamison, has been covering the NCAA basketball tournament for a few weeks now. His knowledge and expertise of the sport is astounding, most notably his 65 for 65 mark in the tournament selection. His love of the game is obvious. Unlike my brother, however, I’m really not into NCAA basketball. Sure, I root for Saint Joseph’s University (The Hawk will never die!) and hope that they perform well, and in same vain wish to see Villanova go up in flames. If the Hawks do well, great! If not, oh well. For as you read this, I sitting in the Scottrade Center in St Louis, MO watching the greatest spectacle in all of sports, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.

The Issue

I recently read an article in the National Education Association's publication, neatoday, entitled the Mind the Gap. The article discusses the "participation gap" that exists amongst our nation's public schools, in which digitally disconnected students are suffering due to a lack of learning opportunities. Where as the "digital divide" addressed the access to and discrepancy of technology in American schools and libraries 20 years ago, the "participation gap" refers to students who only have access to the Internet at school or in a public library, as opposed to students who have 24 hour broadband accessibility.

Read Sonic Youth - EVOL: The Evolution and Influence of an Indie Rock Legend (Part 1)

Beauty Lies in the Eye

While Sonic Youth's trademark sound may be unmistakable, it's definitely not for everybody. They stuck to their guns, however, despite feeling pressure to succeed (a.k.a. sell records) after signing with DGC records, and continued to break new ground like Glenn Branca and The Velvet Underground before them. The band isn't afraid of exploring and experimenting with new sounds to create white noise, whether they it be with alternate tunings or taking a screwdriver to a guitar. And while they may not sound like punk rock, their ideals are punk rock in its purest form: personal choice in the development and pursuit of greater freedom. Radical rejection of conformity, direct action for political change, and not selling out to mainstream interests for personal gain is at the core of Sonic Youth's ethos. Currently, Sonic Youth releases their experiments, a series of EPs entitled the SYR Series, via drummer Steve Shelley's record label, Smells Like Records. SYR7 drops April 22.

Any kind of music, it already kind of transcends understanding. It's a sensual art form. Noise music, for me, is the noise of life, in a way. It's so much more akin to the human condition. The human condition is not a song; it's not an organized composition. This is more the natural music of our lives.