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December 29, 2005

Still kicking

Just wanted everyone to know that I'm still blogging. Holiday business and travel has eaten up a lot of time, as has simple laziness. I'm also working on a redesign of professorpope.com.

Just a quick summary of what's been going on over the holiday break:

Movies watched: King Kong (GREAT!), Scarface on DVD (who actually believes this film is good?)

Reading: A People's History of the United States (long overdue, I know)

Listening to: Kicking Television, the new live Wilco album (which is phenomenal)

Travel: Irving, Texas to visit Sarah's family. Conway for a brief visit to my family, particularly my grandmother, who has been ill. About to go to Edisto Island for New Year's and Amelia Harper's 30th Birthday.

Vists by: Andre, Heidi, Dad, Teresa

Working on: New, revised syllabus for my 110 course, syllabus for Teaching in a Democracy (graduate course for MAT students), grant proposal, and figuring out what my new line(s) of research will be.

Posted by Nakia at 01:16 PM | Comments (2)

December 14, 2005

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Sarah was working late Monday so I went and saw the Narnia movie by myself. I drove to the Regal off 485; it's a little nicer theatre than we have here in Rock Hill and I have that Regal club card where you get points for seeing movies. It's good to be in the club, since I got a free popcorn coupon after buying my ticket Monday.

I read and enjoyed the Narnia books very much when I was younger, but have not read them in a long time. I was looking forward to the movie a lot, just to see what would be done with the property, and to see how the movie "felt" compared to LotR.

I liked it, but didn't love it. 7 out of 10.

There are spoliers in the rest of the review.

I enjoyed the film very much up until the "war". The actors who played the children were very good (Lucy and Edmund especially). The faun and other creatures were well done. The White Witch was meanacing, yet seductive (in a PG appropriate way). The film made it clear why Edumund would have betrayed the other children. The religious overtones were there, of course, but not in an obnoxious way. The story is a very nice retelling of the Passion and the essence of Christ's sacrifice.

I have a hard time putting my finger on why I did not enjoy the movie more, but it had something to do with Peter. Not with the actor, or even the character, really. I think I had my suspension of disbelief damaged a bit by the fact that these four children go from being just ordinary kids to great warriors and leaders of Narnia in about 36 hours. There was an attempt to show Peter's reluctance of taking up the leadership mantle, to approach the difficulty even a prophesized king would have taking a life for the first time, but that never really worked for me. Maybe it was the "clean your sword" comment from Aslan about a not-bloody sword (which I suppose was not bloody to keep the movie PG and kid friendly). If they would have held that scene a little longer, given us a shot of Peter wiping the blood of the foe from his blade with a look of sadness yet determination on his face, maybe things would have been fine for me, I don't know.

Maybe expecting character development from a two hour film that comes from a children's story is asking too much. Maybe it's the source material; the book probably just has the children assume their roles as Narnian royalty without batting an eyelash. Maybe that lack of character drama is why I have only read the Narnia books two or three times since that first time in the third grade and I have read Tolkien's stuff fifteen or twenty.

Good, yes. Definetly worth a viewing. A very good children's movie, but ultimately just and only that (for me at least).

Posted by Nakia at 01:58 PM | Comments (0)

December 13, 2005

Contentment vs. Complacency

Occasionally, I'll drive Sarah to work at Pasta and Provisions, especially when we want to go out in Charlotte. I'll take her up there in the morning, come back to Rock Hill and do whatever needs doing, then go back and pick her up when the store closes. It's rather inefficient, but it lets us go out in Charlotte with only one car and gives us a little more time together.

The store is in Myers Park, which is an old(er) money part of Charlotte. It's a very nice neighborhood -- big trees, homes that are nice but not huge or gaudy, lots of people walking around, cool local bars and shops. As I was drving to pick up Sarah on Saturday night, I caught myself thinking "This is the kind of neighboorhood I want to live in. This is the kind of life I want." Then I had to say to myself "Nakia, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

I was abashed at my own materialistic envy of the Myers Park people. I was embarrassed at my own base desires. I was the punk rock kid who railed against the system. I am the philosopher who wants authenticity and discusses Marx. I'm the educator who talks about the fallacious Myth of Merit and the educational inequalities that result from it. Yet, I find myself daydreaming about a house in Myers Park and cashmere sweaters and badger-bristled shaving brushes.

How did this happen? Do I read to many magazines? Am I becoming brainwashed by GQ and Men's Health? Isn't Target just as good as Nordstrom?

Some of it is natural, I think, given my recent assent into "real-job" status, home ownership, and life as a professor. Contrast these things with my rural, blue-collar upbringing and there is bound to be some class anxiety. Add to this neurotic mix five years of living in Charlottesville, where one wore the cashmere sweater to work in the garden and people dropped tens of thousands of dollars on garden furniture (while we and our friends helped them work out, sold them the garden furniture and woodstoves and books), then you have one messed-up, confused Pope.

Sarah and I talked about this and many other things Saturday night. One of the things we tried to hash out was the difference between contentment and complacency (or, alternatively, envy and ambition). We should be happy and greatful for what we have and where we are at. But when does that contentment lead to stagnation? Where is the line between (constructive) ambition to have a better life and sheer materialistic desire for more stuff? Is it the obejcts of that desire and ambition that matter? I want to be able to travel without feeling a significant financial pinch. When Sarah and I have children, I want them to be able to go to college without having to take out the student loans that I did. Am I equating money/financial success with personal growth?

I don't really know the answers to any of those questions. I do know a house in Myers Park will not make me a better person or a better husband or a better teacher. I intellectually know that and the sooner that intellectual knowledge reigns in the base desires (to drop some Plato on you), the better things will be.

Posted by Nakia at 02:23 PM | Comments (3)

December 08, 2005

Upcoming Movies

Sarah and I used to go to the theatre a lot to see movies, despite only having crappy ones in Charlottesville. Since we've moved, we've gone to the movies a lot less. I think we have seen maybe four movies in the theatres since July (Batman Begins, War of the Worlds, Wedding Crashers, and Walk the Line). There are a lot of reasons, I guess: Netflix, money, crappy movies in the theatres, and a not so great theatre in Rock Hill.

But there are a number of movies coming out that I want to try and get to, beginning this Friday.

Syriana is already out in select markets. I don't think it will make it to Charlotte, but who knows. This looks good, with a good cast and engaging issues.

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe tomorrow. I'm excited about this one. I read these books before LotR. Weta did the effects. It looks very cool.

King Kong on December 14th. Giant ape, dinosaurs, Peter Jackson. How could you go wrong? This is also one of those "must see in the theatre" movies. I'll probably have to see it twice in the theatre because it's three hours long and I know I will have to get up during the movie at some point to go pee.

The New World on January 13th looks interresting as well, with Terance Malik directing and Christain Bale and Colin Farrell starring.

Next year also brings the new Superman movie, the next X-Men movie, and perhaps both of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels.

Posted by Nakia at 12:46 PM | Comments (5)

December 06, 2005

Student writing and why I teach

Today is study day here at Winthrop. Exams start tomorrow, but since mine is a take home, I'm just hanging out at the office grading the final papers my freshmen submitted last week.

Most of my students need writing help.

Granted, they are freshmen, so they have plenty of time to develop their writing skills. My class is but the first of many they will have to write papers in; I must be wary of expecting too much. Grading these papers has, however, helped make some things clear about why I chose the profession I did. Andre posed the question is his comment to my previous post about the end of the semester. I'm going to try and answer that, in part, here.

Part of (perhaps most of) the reason I do what I do as a professor -- part of the reason I am a professor -- is because of a commitment to the goals of personal freedom and authenticity. I want my students to know more about the world and to know more about themselves so that they will have increased ownership of their own identities, lives, and choices. Since most of the students I teach will go on to be teachers, there is a trickle down effect. Hopefully, my students will help their students take increased ownership in their lives in some unknowable future.

In order to do that, students must posess two skills. First, the ability to reflect on and interpret experience (their own and the knowledge of other's experience granted through texts). Second, they need to be able to process and express that reflection in a way that is meaningful to others. They need to be able to reconstruct their own experiences and represent them in ways others can understand.

Writing is a key part of that second skill. There are other ways of reconstructing and representing experience -- more "artistic" ways like painting or sculpture or whatnot. Writing, to me at least, is a (if not the) primary way of doing that. It is certainly the way most privliged in higher education. It is also the way in which I best reconstruct and represent my own experiences, so I am biased. Writing, ideally, forces a student to think about, clarify, and present their own ideas, beliefs, experiences, etc for public consumption. That's why it is so important to do it well.

Posted by Nakia at 02:02 PM | Comments (10)

December 05, 2005

Primer

Sarah was out of town this weekend, which meant Nakia watched movies Sarah has no interest in whatsoever.

Saturday night I watched "Primer". Made for $7000 and filmed in Dallas, it was a Sundance selction. Two guys build a "time machine" in their garage while researching superconductors. Put that way, the film sounds kind of silly, but it actually was a complex movie that realistically addresses the paradoxes of time travel and important issues of trust. Not wanting to meet themselves when they go back in time, the hole up in a motel while their temporal doubles go back and relive the day again. They become day traders, finding out what stocks increased the most in one day, then going back in time and buying those stocks. But what happens when you (or your double) screws something up one day? Is it okay to go back and fix it? How do you go back and fix it and avoid meeting yourself? Are you sure the other guy isn't going back and changing things when you're not around?

The possibilities are limitless and, in the case of the film, occasionally confusing and a little slow. But overall I enjoyed this indie for it's realistic take on a sci-fi trope and the thought provoking issues it brings up.

Posted by Nakia at 01:58 PM | Comments (3)

December 02, 2005

The End of the Semester

Yesterday was the last day of classes for me for this semester. I gave my students a take home exam, so we will not meet again. I am glad to have one semester under my belt, even if I still have a boatload of grading to do.

One of the things I am trying to do is establish my professional identity -- who am I in this department? Who am I when I am in the classroom? Am I the "young and hip" professor, the one who knows about the bands my students listen to and can relate the classroom material to their lives, because I am not that much older than they are? Am I the "geeky and not really funny" professor who tells bad jokes and embarrasing stories about himself? Am I the "really hard" professor who gives his students essay tests and grades with a red paintbrush? Am I all of those people at the same time?

Any big change, like a new profession, forces us to reevaluate who we are, especially in relation to those whom we serve in the profession. While I think it is always good to question ourselves, evaluate our methods of doing whatever job it is we do, and constantly strive to grow, having a clearer sense of my identity as a professor would make me a better professor, I think.

Perhaps I can begin with a clearer sense of what I want my students to get out of my class -- a list of goals and expectations. I can then think about how to get my students to know and achieve those expectations and consider my role in helping them get to the place where I want them to be. That's a pretty concrete way to start. I can put it on my syllabus. I can structure the course (and my own place within the course) accordingly. Hopefully, a clearer Dr. Pope will emerge.

And, on a related note, I had several students give me very high compliments and praise after class yesterday. I am sure there are students who did not like the class at all and I will hear about it on the evaluations. Yet, getting a Christmas card with "you were one of the best professors I had in a very long time. I actually learned something I can use in life" makes me feel pretty good.

Posted by Nakia at 12:20 PM | Comments (3)