Sleepy thoughts

What if I just typed the words that came out of my head without deleting anything? Just, constantly writing. Streaming of words, flowing, leaking, upsetting the balance of white to a blur of meaningless pixels. No word deleting. It's tempting, but I'll stick to it. Thoughts. Thinking thoughts. Sleepy thoughts. That's the title I'll give this blog. I'm tired, and it shows. This blog will be either weak or like sudden prose. A story. I should think of something interesting to say. I'm thinking of the window. I'm thinking about thoughts I had earlier.

The garden in the house I live in is a highway for cats. Motor highway. On the fence at the back. Always will be a cat. Cat fights. Cat walks. Cat climbs. Cat. In the mornings I have been waking up before my alarm. I hear the birds. I wonder why, a creature with wings would stay in the cat ghetto of Bath. Surely it's the land of death for them. But maybe, they are proud of the land (air space?) they were born and raised in. Perhaps they are determined to outlive the evil cat species. Maybe they are foolish, ignorant, idealistic. Maybe they have comfort in false hope that one day their aunties, uncles, mothers, sisters, fathers, lovers (what kind of order was that?) will cease to be slaughtered by furry claws and vicious teeth. Or maybe the birds don't have an issue. Maybe they're tweeting away at 6am everyday because they are actually safe and growing in numbers. All those mating calls may be a sign that they are climbing up the population ladder. Maybe them birds are happy, and the cats have more important things to worry about. Like the rats. Perhaps they're eating the rats next door, which I think, would be a good thing, because I don't want the rats to think that they will do better in our house. Because they probably would, but that'd be besides the point. Perhaps it's better for all of species-kind that species-kind have this hope and this ignorants and this idealism, to prevent things going weird.

Jenseits der Stille - Beyond the Silence, a German Film.

I've been meaning to watch the film for a while, as I found the basic concept interesting. Jenseits der Stille or Beyond the Silence centres around a hearing child that grows up with two deaf parents. It begins in a small German town, where there are no professional interpreters nearby and both parents never learnt how to speak. Deafness is a keen theme in the film, as well as the use of sign language. But the main core is the concept of Music, as the hearing child grows with a love of playing the clarinet.

There was some interesting scenes that would repeat throughout the film, such as the deaf father looking at the window and asking his daughter what it sounded like outside. This helped emphasis the change of scene and was well conducted. There are other scenes that repeat too, and overall I have to comment on how artistic Beyond the Silence is. There is plenty of dancing, including in the best scene of the film where the song 'I will survive' started to play, which was an incredible mix of sign language and sound. Constantly, there is beautiful background music which only on occasion stops into silence which is bold and dramatic.

There is a mix of tragedy, love and romance which has a neat balance. The romance is especially well portrayed and easy to understand. There is one or two romance scenes that are nude but remain artistic. There is also a lot of skinny dipping for reasons I never really followed........

A few things were a little sudden and the plot didn't convince me completely. The father's personality and motives was not clear and while the script said he was against the child playing her clarinet, he never really said it himself, it was more the girl being a little angsty and a bit jumpy.

But as characters, each character was great and had some good depth. I liked how 'real' they seemed to be - no one looked overly beautiful like a model, each seemed like a person that could exist in everyday life. There was also mini sub plots for example, between the father and his sister, and the aunt and the uncle. This was good and made a good story altogether. 

Overall, this is an interesting film to watch for the curious and there is a lot of style in the film. I enjoyed it. However, it's not for everyone and I do not think it would have decent rewatch value.

Points wise...

The Plot: +5 Points

The Quality of Drama: + 8 Points

Music/Settings/Charisma of the film: + 10 Points

The Characters: + 10 Points

Cheese: 0 Points

Bonus Points: +5 for topic, +3 for particually excellent scenes

This film scores 43 points, equal to four stars.

Doing Day

Today a friend and I are determinded to rid ourselves from procrastination and do a chunk of work and admin that really needs to be done and polished quite soon. We're also going to London in three days to help a bunch of young Dutch students get to know the city. I'm also admin-volunteering on the Monday before getting the train, so it'll be a busy, yet hopefully fruitful three day.

The photo above is a photo I took when I stayed at a Buddhist Monastery. This was when I had to be very active, and I felt very much 'alive', (don't kill me for the cliché!) time didn't blur not felt like it never existed. So here's the aim to get that feeling back again.

Photography

I've always enjoyed taking photos, although it's never been a strong point of mine. There is a lot that goes into the theory - colour, balance, light, contrast, angle, focus, meaning... Etc.

All the photos I've taken above aren't good, because although they capture the animal fine, they are generally quite dull and frankly boring. The poses are typical, and the colours are desaturated and uninspiring.

Out of focus red panda

Out of focus red panda II

Out of focus red panda III

Out of focus red panda IV + Bad Background/Lighting

Alas, I have a whole folder of bad attempts, but it hasn't gone to waste. I think it's important to also recognise and look at the subject without the lense as well, and so, in this case, memory is gold.

In future posts I'd like to feature artists that I admire, starting first with a photographer with an delicious recognition for all things sweet and savoury.

And signing out.

Brown Sprite

Did you know?
In the early nineties, there was a fad for clear drinks. Crystal Pepsi and Tab Clear stole the fizzy consumer market for a short moment, but then the cap was opened and the drink vanished from the shelves. People wrote their dissertations to explain the Crystal phenomenon, and many argued it was because consumers preferred cola to look like cola.

Thus, introducing, Brown Sprite.

Because no matter what colouring you use, it doesn't change the taste.

Music and Work

I recently wrote a review about a restaurant whose music unintentionally sped in rhythm when there was more customers. I think this is a good idea, as a faster rhythm could help give andreline and passion to the workers, while a slower rhythm could help relax to the worker and improve concentration. Imagine that the slower, ultra-cheese Chinese song playing in the background makes the staff member concentrate just a little more on your Mango Pudding, and you can romanticise my idea a little more. It would also help kitchen staff know when they're busy and give them the motivation they need to keep on top of things and maybe help moral if the music isn't actually all that bad. It could become stress relief.
But how does music actually affect workers?

Music and Work

I did a very small amount of research, and came across Marek Korczynski's 'Rhythmns of Labor: Music at Work in the British Isles' and 'Stayin' Alive on the Factory Floor: An ethnography of music used in the routinized workplace.' I wonder if he thinks of the names himself?

Marek Korcyznski argues that rhythm of labour reflects rhythm of music, and coordinates labour. According to his research and quotes from previous research, "music's role at work has changed under industrialisation." (DeNora 2000) Korczynski emphasises that popular music 'primarily operates as a tool for social control, creating "One-dimensional," passive, uncritical listeners."(Adorno 1941,76) and effectively, makes workers work harder with less resistance. The musical 'song' allows a voice that would usually be banned from normal discourse at work, and hence, essentially replaces this and thus, resistance. In the past, workers may have sung about their woes and this would be acceptable. Take a look at folk songs for example. Nowadays, the popular song has different themes, and there tends not to be a singalong during work because this is seen as negative by the employer. Korczynski suggests that singing gives workers power, and of course, from an employers view, they don't want that.

So the cheesy music you hear controls staff and efficiency levels. Workers discount the boredom of repetitive work, removing the threat of workers uniting and rebelling. Korczynski suggests that music helps "factory-goodwill" in Britian and helps the "Stayin' Alive culture." He also suggested when business was slow or there was no work to do, there was little engagement made with music.

While repetition may have its benefits in the eye of the employer, I believe this on the whole would lower the moral of the workers - and while it may encourage suppression, it would also discourage ambition and creativity. 
Music that reflects the pace of the situation in the restaurant could help reduce stress, help focus and coordination.
But for the good of everyone, it should be varied. In this economy, I think rebellion is a little less likely, and repetition may only reduce ambition, moral and effort.

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Notes:
Marek Korczynski is a Sociologist specialising in studying the workplace. He has written various works including Rhythms of Labor: Music at Work in the British Isles and Stayin' Alive on the Factory Floor: An ethnography of music used in the routinized workplace. You can find every sociologist/psychologist mentioned above in his work.