It is a story that goes back a ways and concerns the debate handbook we did each spring-summer to earn money for the debate program. I called on volunteer labor, and as we all know, some of that is wonderful and some is not so dependable. The point was to try and get as much effort as possible from everyone towards the main goal of finishing the project. In describing this process to people I often used the metaphor of the movie with Frank Sinatra., Cary Grant and Sophia Loren "The Pride and the Passion." [
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pride_and_the_Passion] The struggle to "pull the cannon" in that movie involves main characters, people who show up and help for a day, people who run away at night when the going gets tough, people who pledge a short amount of time -- but in the end the huge cannon gets to Avila to rout the French. "Pulling the cannon" became the expression for "working on the debate handbook."
Thus, this program. Deep in the midst of "pulling the cannon" this program is a dark industrial look at the process of focused work-drudgery. But even then it has its very relaxing side. This is an excellent program. Music included: Zoviet France, Nurse with Wound, Lustmord, Etant Donnes, Nocturnal Emissions, and even more Zoviet France.
Download or listen right away:
http://www.uvm.edu/~asnider/listen/cmk940618cannon94.mp3
![Recording a radio play. The Netherlands, [1949].](http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Opname_van_een_hoorspel_Recording_a_radio_play.jpg)
Image via WikipediaThis is a delightful mix of all sorts of things -- music, spoken word, sound effects, noise collage, media ecology and a lot of other stuff. The month is June, the juices are flowing, and in my case they are creative juices, trying to find interesting sounds and put them together into a whole that says something more than the parts. Sitting here 18 years later, I am not sure what that whole is, but listening to it brought me a lot of smiles. Almost a swoon.
Image via WikipediaThis is a long and involved critique of television. Sound and voice are put together with a random plan that becomes an incredible audio vengeance that may change your ideas and feelings later. You may or may not be aware of it. This kind of thing is a new construct for me, and I hope you enjoy it. After all of the noxious noise, there is a normal sport of ending that even make you feel OK about the world. The last song is way simple but it always makes me feel better. It still took me a few years to follow through on this message and purge my life of television. See, it took the program a while to sink in. Try it!
Image by Sune Rievers via FlickrSorry for the long introduction, skip it if you can, but it is always nice to hear Sister Susan's Astronautica again.