Autumn sings coolness in Canyon, California. This week: stags along the road, explorer ants in the house ... a natural turn
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A virtual ethnography of World Univ & Sch - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/ - participant observation - cyber field work? Where to begin?
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A friend wonders:
wonders if it is a bad thing that both his children spent their last weekend of summer vacation making weapons.
(Other interesting replies in FB)
Scott:
Tool-making is 'thing' - a good thing, and old - how to move this along to MIT's drag-and-drop, free, fun, colorful Scratch programming language (http://scratch.mit.edu/) is one question I'll ask myself in the next years with kids. Is language-use an extension of tool / weapon making, and might it be substituted for 'weapon-making'? A friend visited recently, and his 7 year old son was making a weapon with stone and stick, but not his 5 year old daughter... All 7 billion-ish of us have language from age 2-ish
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A friend writes:
C'mon. Doesn't anyone want to debate? Who is your favorite Reductionist? heheh
Scott:
I'll see what I can find at MIT OCW, Berkeley Webcast, Yale OYC et al. ... looking first at philosophy of science (and the Oxford Companion to Philosophy :) ... invite friends to teach this, or add their blog posting to http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/ ... check out, too, the online, free Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/reduction-biology/), if folks want to learn more immediately :)
World Univ & Sch's 'Religious Studies' subject has a evolutionary focus - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Religious_Studies :)
Click 'edit this page' at WUaS to add resources, teach and learn :) Please invite friends to do the same ...
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A Quaker friend in FB writes:
would happily borrow more books from the library (instead of buying them used online)...if the library actually had the books I want to read.
Another friend:
I have that same problem. Actually, university libraries are better, but getting access can be tricky.There's also inter-library loan.
Scott:
Here are the beginnings of World Univ & Sch's "Library Resources" wiki page - with a lot of books and resources - all of which are in the public domain: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Library_Resources . As a free, open, wiki this will grow with what we add to it. :)
Just added Read Print - http://www.readprint.com/ - recommended by Time Magazine (as one of 50 best web sites for the year - http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2012721,00.htm) to WUaS's Library Resources: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Library_Resources.
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A friend posts a speech by Microsoft's Bill Gates:
Bill Gates speech: 11 rules your kids did not and will not learn in school
Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2: The world doesn't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=131190066891088&id=513625075&ref=mf
Scott wonders in response:
:) Unspoken codes? Is Bill Gates becoming an anthropologist? Perhaps WUaS could invite him to join the anthropology conversation at http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Anthropology :)
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A friend who is entering a Master's program at Columbia writes:
feeling like a kid who can't swim and suddenly got tossed into the deep end. will take a few weeks of kicking and struggling until i settle into all this learning.
Scott:
find the focus, read, write rhythm :) Self-motivation wins the day ... and can lead to rich 'flow: the psychology of optimal experience' experiences (Csikszentmihalyi)
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Napa Valley - Silverado Trail - sun going down - illuminated wonderland - Grateful Dead 1969 jam heaven - heading to Harbin's waters
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/stags-autumn-sings-coolness-in-canyon.html - September 8, 2010)
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Warm, Underground Water: Brief histories of Harbin 'place' as its waters, The warm pool, the warm, heart-shaped pool, ethnographically
Harbin ethnography:
... Brief histories of Harbin 'place,' as its waters, with their effects, follow.
As actual histories of the Harbin warm pool, here are some notes from my field notes, that bring into focus some of the fascinating aspects of the Harbin Pools that I'll explore in this ethnography.
“There’s a quality of seeing people’s true, lovely ‘spirits’ when soaking in pools – their soft selves. When people are naked and relaxed and in a beautiful place, and talking quietly, and meditating, something good emerges. It makes me want to spend a lot of time around warm pools. This is the poetry I’d like to write of Harbin, and which I’d like to explore in part (MacLeod, Harbin Field Notes 2007-2008, January 21, 2008).”
“As T. and I went into the warm pool separately, some folks were doing water dance, very intimately, normally, erotically, relaxedly and as part of the fabric of life at Harbin, and what happens in the pools, probably since when Ish came 36 years ago (MacLeod, Harbin Field Notes 2007-2008, February 1, 2008).”
“Meditating in the Harbin warm pool this morning, in padmasana (lotus pose in yoga), at the far end of the pool, I mirrored the bouquet of flowers above the hole where the hot water comes out (MacLeod, Harbin Field Notes 2007-2008, February 1, 2008).”
“Scott: . . . and I was camping, with good equipment, fortunately (in wintery, rainy, freezing January) [smile]. The warm pools, community kitchen, nice restaurant, lots of comfortable spaces to come inside to, like a library, a beautiful, masterpiece of a temple (hippie-minded), etc., make such living as good as it gets. (MacLeod, Harbin Field Notes 2007-2008, February 1, 2008 - from an online chat conversation in a cafe in Middletown, near Harbin, with a friend in Massachusetts).”
“I saw HeartSong give a Watsu last night (Fig. http://www.soulscode.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/mas_watsu365_pic.jpg) in the warm pool to someone. It was beautiful, and will be interesting to try to model the movement and art of it in Second Life (MacLeod, Harbin Field Notes 2007-2008, February 14, 2008).”
Each note highlights aspects of the Harbin warm pool with their effects on people. 'Place,' here, is the geothermally heated waters which flow into the Harbin warm pool and the aqueous milieu they create. Place's significance relates to what emerges in this milieu.
The warm, Harbin, heart-shaped pool is shaped like the heart symbol (Fig. http://www.harbin.org/assets/p-heartpoolL.jpg), slightly cooler in temperature than the Harbin warm pool, and kids can play in it, in contrast to the warm pool which is too deep for children. ...
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/warm-underground-water-brief-histories.html - September 7, 2010)
... Brief histories of Harbin 'place,' as its waters, with their effects, follow.
As actual histories of the Harbin warm pool, here are some notes from my field notes, that bring into focus some of the fascinating aspects of the Harbin Pools that I'll explore in this ethnography.
“There’s a quality of seeing people’s true, lovely ‘spirits’ when soaking in pools – their soft selves. When people are naked and relaxed and in a beautiful place, and talking quietly, and meditating, something good emerges. It makes me want to spend a lot of time around warm pools. This is the poetry I’d like to write of Harbin, and which I’d like to explore in part (MacLeod, Harbin Field Notes 2007-2008, January 21, 2008).”
“As T. and I went into the warm pool separately, some folks were doing water dance, very intimately, normally, erotically, relaxedly and as part of the fabric of life at Harbin, and what happens in the pools, probably since when Ish came 36 years ago (MacLeod, Harbin Field Notes 2007-2008, February 1, 2008).”
“Meditating in the Harbin warm pool this morning, in padmasana (lotus pose in yoga), at the far end of the pool, I mirrored the bouquet of flowers above the hole where the hot water comes out (MacLeod, Harbin Field Notes 2007-2008, February 1, 2008).”
“Scott: . . . and I was camping, with good equipment, fortunately (in wintery, rainy, freezing January) [smile]. The warm pools, community kitchen, nice restaurant, lots of comfortable spaces to come inside to, like a library, a beautiful, masterpiece of a temple (hippie-minded), etc., make such living as good as it gets. (MacLeod, Harbin Field Notes 2007-2008, February 1, 2008 - from an online chat conversation in a cafe in Middletown, near Harbin, with a friend in Massachusetts).”
“I saw HeartSong give a Watsu last night (Fig. http://www.soulscode.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/mas_watsu365_pic.jpg) in the warm pool to someone. It was beautiful, and will be interesting to try to model the movement and art of it in Second Life (MacLeod, Harbin Field Notes 2007-2008, February 14, 2008).”
Each note highlights aspects of the Harbin warm pool with their effects on people. 'Place,' here, is the geothermally heated waters which flow into the Harbin warm pool and the aqueous milieu they create. Place's significance relates to what emerges in this milieu.
The warm, Harbin, heart-shaped pool is shaped like the heart symbol (Fig. http://www.harbin.org/assets/p-heartpoolL.jpg), slightly cooler in temperature than the Harbin warm pool, and kids can play in it, in contrast to the warm pool which is too deep for children. ...
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/warm-underground-water-brief-histories.html - September 7, 2010)
Monday, September 6, 2010
Kalmia angustifolia: Actual Harbin's histories richly inform explorations of the concept of virtuality because place matters
Harbin ethnography:
... What will emerge and develop vis-a-vis virtual Harbin both follows and is to be seen.
HARBIN HISTORIES, ACTUAL AND VIRTUAL
While the above, personal Harbin histories extend ways I explore the concept of virtual vis-a-vis virtual Harbin Hot Springs in this ethnography, actual Harbin histories richly inform these explorations of the concept of virtuality because place matters; the Harbin valley, and its pool area and especially its warm pool and other pools are central to, and intertwined with, emergent (Fischer 2004), virtual Harbin. Without actual Harbin, virtual Harbin wouldn't have begun to emerge. And while “place is the first of all beings, since everything that exists is in a place and cannot exist without a place” (Archytas, commentary on Aristotle’s 'Categories'), the Harbin Hot Springs' valley and the Harbin waters, in northern California - these experiences of Harbin as place, emergent from the 1960s and written ethnographically – are the first context from which Harbin histories emerge new. Brief histories of Harbin 'place,' as its waters, with their effects, follow.
As actual histories of the Harbin warm pool, here are some notes from my field notes, that bring into focus some of the fascinating aspects of the Harbin Pools that I'll explore in this ethnography. ...
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/kalmia-angustifolia-actual-harbins.html - September 6, 2010)
... What will emerge and develop vis-a-vis virtual Harbin both follows and is to be seen.
HARBIN HISTORIES, ACTUAL AND VIRTUAL
While the above, personal Harbin histories extend ways I explore the concept of virtual vis-a-vis virtual Harbin Hot Springs in this ethnography, actual Harbin histories richly inform these explorations of the concept of virtuality because place matters; the Harbin valley, and its pool area and especially its warm pool and other pools are central to, and intertwined with, emergent (Fischer 2004), virtual Harbin. Without actual Harbin, virtual Harbin wouldn't have begun to emerge. And while “place is the first of all beings, since everything that exists is in a place and cannot exist without a place” (Archytas, commentary on Aristotle’s 'Categories'), the Harbin Hot Springs' valley and the Harbin waters, in northern California - these experiences of Harbin as place, emergent from the 1960s and written ethnographically – are the first context from which Harbin histories emerge new. Brief histories of Harbin 'place,' as its waters, with their effects, follow.
As actual histories of the Harbin warm pool, here are some notes from my field notes, that bring into focus some of the fascinating aspects of the Harbin Pools that I'll explore in this ethnography. ...
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/kalmia-angustifolia-actual-harbins.html - September 6, 2010)
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Desmodium callianthum: Affection - in life - between people ... how to generate this?
Affection - in life - between people ... how to generate this? Simply like (show affection to) people more & then complementary affection will grow? Add to http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Affection as subject - ? Affection is wonderful ... often emerges in families with kids & between teens, in my experience ... how else? Avatar affection in SL?
And bliss neurochemistry when you want it? Music listening is the easiest way I know of to elicit this. Loving Bliss neurophysiology - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Loving_Bliss_%28eliciting_this_neurophysiology%29 - at this Loving Biss subject to explore learning together, wiki-wise. :)
Build friendship and trust ...
I'm curious why a lot of people aren't exploring eliciting loving bliss neurophysiology much of the time in life {besides that they aren't many practices for this, comparable to, say, playing chamber music}? Why not?
What's the metaphorical musical score for this?
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/desmodium-callianthum-affection-in-life.html - September 6, 2010)
And bliss neurochemistry when you want it? Music listening is the easiest way I know of to elicit this. Loving Bliss neurophysiology - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Loving_Bliss_%28eliciting_this_neurophysiology%29 - at this Loving Biss subject to explore learning together, wiki-wise. :)
Build friendship and trust ...
I'm curious why a lot of people aren't exploring eliciting loving bliss neurophysiology much of the time in life {besides that they aren't many practices for this, comparable to, say, playing chamber music}? Why not?
What's the metaphorical musical score for this?
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/desmodium-callianthum-affection-in-life.html - September 6, 2010)
Caribou Lake: Relaxation Response - http://relaxationresponse.org/steps - is another musical score which can bring you home
Relaxation Response - http://relaxationresponse.org/steps is another musical score which can bring you deeply home, wonderfully - explore & enjoy :)
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/relaxation-response-httprelaxationrespo.html - September 5, 2010)
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/relaxation-response-httprelaxationrespo.html - September 5, 2010)
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Scottish Highland Landscape: If the world, social milieus & landscapes can be seen as musical scores for bliss, Music w bodymind musical instruments
If the world, social milieus & landscapes can be seen as musical scores for bliss, then why not see & make music with the musical instrument of your bodymind? In this context, with what nuance can one engage these Scottish Games as musical scores; for me, they are allegro & enlightening.
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Head to the Scottish Country Dancing tent (did a lot of this in high school). Pleasant, elevating Scottish form - gets you 'high' (& healthy), - it's enjoyable to watch, too.
Scottish forms that get you 'high' (some healthy): dancing, celeidhs, (whiskey & beer), rants, pipe music, (as computer output, for bliss elicitation)? :)
... hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, reels ... cultural forms that get you high, naturally :) in contrast with the strife of Scots' history?
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Is Piobaireachd - Ceol Mor (classical bagpipe music, or Great Music) -'other' in its beauty? Is it in a different 'beauty' register, that is, its own, vis-a-vis the field of aesthetics, or some generally shared concept of beauty, i.e. many people find Mozart's 'Magic Flute' beautiful ?
... as in the sentence: 'Piobaireachd' is an acquired taste.':)
(... interesting ideas from the previous post: http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/silver-thistle-pleasanton-scottish.html)
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/scottish-highland-landscape-if-world.html - September 4, 2010)
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Head to the Scottish Country Dancing tent (did a lot of this in high school). Pleasant, elevating Scottish form - gets you 'high' (& healthy), - it's enjoyable to watch, too.
Scottish forms that get you 'high' (some healthy): dancing, celeidhs, (whiskey & beer), rants, pipe music, (as computer output, for bliss elicitation)? :)
... hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, reels ... cultural forms that get you high, naturally :) in contrast with the strife of Scots' history?
*
Is Piobaireachd - Ceol Mor (classical bagpipe music, or Great Music) -'other' in its beauty? Is it in a different 'beauty' register, that is, its own, vis-a-vis the field of aesthetics, or some generally shared concept of beauty, i.e. many people find Mozart's 'Magic Flute' beautiful ?
... as in the sentence: 'Piobaireachd' is an acquired taste.':)
(... interesting ideas from the previous post: http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/silver-thistle-pleasanton-scottish.html)
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/scottish-highland-landscape-if-world.html - September 4, 2010)
Silver Thistle: Pleasanton Scottish Highland Games
Pleasanton Scottish Highland Games in the San Francisco Bay Area:
Friday:
Pleasanton Highland Games Solo Piping Competitions today at San Ramon Marriott in SF Bay Area - Scottish Games over weekend at Pleasanton Fair Grounds - http://caledonian.org/
2600 Bishop Rd, San Ramon, CA 94583 ... NOT the other nearby Marriott :)
DE:
Can anyone go to the Solo competition in San Ramon? Do you know the hours? Like will it still be going on if I take Emma after she gets out of school? And what's the cost?
Scott:
If I recall correctly from last year, you just walk into the hotel and listen, for free, to the professional Piobaireachd from 12-5 ... the rest of the Piobaireachd competitions - Grades 1-4 piping competitions are at the Fairgrounds, and I imagine a ticket is required at the gate ...
DE:
Awesome -- Are you going to be there today? I'm going to see what I can do to get there -- but it wont be before 4 we can get out that far.
Scott:
I'm planning on going ... would like to see if I can start a piping quartet (new to me) or trio in the East Bay, and this is a good way to find some of the best pipers ... I'd try to get there at 4 at the latest, as things may start to wind down in the last hour ... see you there, perhaps :)
Next 12 posts:
Scott:
Pleasanton Highland Games Professional Ceol Mor Piping Competitions underway at San Ramon Marriott in SF Bay Area - Scottish Games over weekend at Pleasanton Fair Grounds - http://caledonian.org/.
The "Lament for Captain MacDougall" (1864) (which I happen to be learning currently) is the next Piobaireachd to be played.
LT:
Darn it! So close to me, and I am scheduled to work both days. :(
Scott:
The next Ceol Mor (Piobaireachd) is "Lament for Mary MacLeod."
And the next is "Lament for Lament for Donald Duaghal MacKay" (?) played by Ken Sutherland
Justin Salazar's (actually Celek's) "Mary MacLeod" was particularly enjoyable ... some of his drones went off ... another lament is next ...
missed very nice ceol mor's name and piper's name just played
next piece is "Old Men of the Shells” (Bodaich Dhubha nan Sligean)
March, strathspey, reel and hornpipe and jig competition begins in same room around 4
Richard Gillies from Portland, OR, was the 2nd to last piper who is just turning professional in competing in this competition, and he played so well :)
Piobaireachd competition winners: 1) Ken Sutherland 2) Richard Gillies 3) Seamus Coyne
MSR 1) Richard Gillies 2) Justin Celek 3) Ian Whitelaw
Hornpipe-Jig 1) Richard Gillies 2) Seamas Coyne 3) Justin Celek
Interesting (Scottish/Celtic?) pattern - both youngish (in their 20s?) piping winners Richard Gillies and Seamus Coyne were accompanied by both parents. And Justin's girlfriend/wife accompanied him ... Is there a tie between family bonds and winning?
Saturday:
Pleasanton Highland Games today in the SF Bay Area - will probably pipe some at the Clan MacLeod tent ... How to connect Games & World University & School? (http://worlduniversity.wikia.com and http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Bagpipe_Tutorials)
Is Piobaireachd - Ceol Mor (classical bagpipe music, or Great Music) -'other' in its beauty? Is it in a different 'beauty' register, that is, its own, vis-a-vis the field of aesthetics, or some generally shared concept of beauty, i.e. many people find Mozart's 'Magic Flute' beautiful ?
... as in the sentence: 'Piobaireachd' is an acquired taste.':)
Pleasanton Highland Games: lovely day east of San Francisco on pleasant fair grounds. Enter the gate - $18 "1 day adult" ticket - sounds of pipes
- enter a different world ... on the left are men in kilts tossing the hammer: "52 ft and 6 inches," I hear in a Scottish accent ... I see a lot of clan tents
The Games are relaxed, out of doors, colorful, full of sound. Scottish-ness is in the air - many women drummers walking by, as well as many men with red beards.
MacLeod tent at Highland Games - warm welcome. Whiskey is passed around at around 9 am (Glen Livet, not Talisker). Stories ... talk of Clan Chief. Ongoing talk of new roof on Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye (expensive)
Head to the Scottish Country Dancing tent (did a lot of this in high school). Pleasant, elevating Scottish form - gets you 'high' (& healthy), - it's enjoyable to watch, too.
Scottish forms that get you 'high' (some healthy): dancing, celeidhs, (whiskey & beer), rants, pipe music, (as computer output, for bliss elicitation)? :)
... hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, reels ... cultural forms that get you high, naturally :) in contrast with the strife of Scots' history?
The day isn't too hot in the morning. Yesterday was hotter at 94 - onto the Scottish Goods' areas - Shall I get a great piping CDs (compact disk) played by Gordon Duncan, Bruce Gandy, or the yellow Pibroch tutorial?
just saw two lasses from the Clan Inebriated ... The MacInebriateds ... I know them :) they're from the far north Land Distilleries
... quite a fluid world they come from
While attending the Pleasanton Scottish Highland Games in the SF Bay Area: If the world, social milieus & landscapes can be seen as musical scores for bliss, then why not see & make music with the musical instrument of your bodymind? In this context, with what nuance can one engage these Scottish Games as musical scores; for me, they are allegro & enlightening.
Who is this singer on the stage? The lovely singer's name is Isla St Clair ... reminds me of Jean Redpath ... :)
from Isla St. Clair's lovely voice, I head on to the Birds of Prey area - fascinating explanations with 2 handlers on dais in pleasant walkway: falcons, owls ...
... eagles, raptors - the crowd is big & engaged with the Birds of Prey explanations - beautiful birds, some hybrids - from raptor breeding.
On to the Wicked Tinkers and their Celtic Trance music, which I saw last year at the next stage over in these shady fairgrounds.
Wicked Tinkers actually aren't here this year, instead Albannach will play Tribal Celtic Music at 1, for one - drums & bagpipes ...
Head to Living History area - very colorful & a LOT of it - nicely done - Viking battle now - drama - call for war - striking real swords & shields, no bloodshed
Come upon Vikings of Bjornstad way off in the north (out of the way at these highland games) - 1 warrior to 5 warriors - no bloodshed yet ... looks like actors, breaking into explanations, hmmm - lots of focus on weapons
A lot of fantasies are acted out here (historical re-enactments :)
On to the sheep dog trials - dogs poking their heads out of cages from vehicles
Shepherds & dog: "Carrie Bennett and Kate, her dog, are next up." Four sheep are released in far corner of the trials' area. Whistles. Then the sheep dog herding dance begins ...
The shepherd is still and quiet, she whistles - the dog crouches, rises, moves around - and the sheep evntually go through the gate. What's the code? ... 'controlled'
Lots of repeating patterns in Sheep Dog Trials. Handlers control sheep who do the same thing repeatedly ... all computer programs, that is both the handler's, and the trials, themselves, as a kind of social program repeated all over?
I head over to the Highland cattle (before heading to the shops), but the weather isn't the Highlands - it's hot - and these 3 beasts are long haired, with horns. Lots of breeding over millennia in Scotland
Heeland kuhs
California Highland Cattle Association, of course. Long horns, curly, - each has a brass ring in nose. They are docile, and there's cooling fan in background of the 1 bull's area. 1 bull, 2 cows
Pass by the Children's Glen ... Brother John, a rock band, is singing hypnotically, playing electric guitar and bagpipe, which is electronically synthesized. There's also a diggeridoo player, and a good drummer - He's singing about Australian Bush Rangers - outlaws who robbed stagecoaches down under
attractive woman is dancing in front of them ...
skipping the whiskey live pavilion - and heading into the Hall of Commerce - Scottish wifeys & lasses serving Scottish food at the food booth - family crests booth - beautiful clothes' booths
Decide to get Bruce Gandy's Compact Disk 'My Father's Son' ... ($19.76) looks great (Gandy is Richard Gillies' piping teacher; Gillies piped so well at the professional competition yesterday :) ...
Pipe Band competitions begin Grade 5 to begin ...
Time for a stuffed (veg.) baked potato with brocolli and cheddar cheese, no butter $5.50 - prices are so dear :) (an old Scottish refrain)
... then back to the MacLeod tent
O, there are the Revelers - not singing - green dresses for the ladies - have to listen for them (California Revels)
The Prince Charles Pipe Band - best in the Bay Area - is playing well, warming up ... right next to the MacLeod tent :)
... brings tears to my eyes
The Prince Charles Pipe Band, Grade 2, just competed - The PCPB actually has 3 bands - Grades 2, 3 & 5 .... a lot ... they're impressively well organized with a lot of young pipers and drummers coming up ... it seems they've created quite a culture ...
The Prince Charles Grade 3 Pipe Band Bass Drummer is small ... only twice its height :) "Smallest bass drummer on the Fair Grounds," I hear over the loud speaker ...
People migrate to Mass Bands around 5 ... and I head to the MacLeod tent for a visit & to share MacLeod stories ... caught the end of Mass Bands.
Scottish Games - a unifying, networking communitas experience? (anthropologically?) :)
http://caledonian.org/ Pleasanton Highland Games - SF Bay Area
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/scottish-highland-landscape-if-world.html)
(Twitter & Facebook posts)
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/silver-thistle-pleasanton-scottish.html - September 4, 2010)
Friday:
Pleasanton Highland Games Solo Piping Competitions today at San Ramon Marriott in SF Bay Area - Scottish Games over weekend at Pleasanton Fair Grounds - http://caledonian.org/
2600 Bishop Rd, San Ramon, CA 94583 ... NOT the other nearby Marriott :)
DE:
Can anyone go to the Solo competition in San Ramon? Do you know the hours? Like will it still be going on if I take Emma after she gets out of school? And what's the cost?
Scott:
If I recall correctly from last year, you just walk into the hotel and listen, for free, to the professional Piobaireachd from 12-5 ... the rest of the Piobaireachd competitions - Grades 1-4 piping competitions are at the Fairgrounds, and I imagine a ticket is required at the gate ...
DE:
Awesome -- Are you going to be there today? I'm going to see what I can do to get there -- but it wont be before 4 we can get out that far.
Scott:
I'm planning on going ... would like to see if I can start a piping quartet (new to me) or trio in the East Bay, and this is a good way to find some of the best pipers ... I'd try to get there at 4 at the latest, as things may start to wind down in the last hour ... see you there, perhaps :)
Next 12 posts:
Scott:
Pleasanton Highland Games Professional Ceol Mor Piping Competitions underway at San Ramon Marriott in SF Bay Area - Scottish Games over weekend at Pleasanton Fair Grounds - http://caledonian.org/.
The "Lament for Captain MacDougall" (1864) (which I happen to be learning currently) is the next Piobaireachd to be played.
LT:
Darn it! So close to me, and I am scheduled to work both days. :(
Scott:
The next Ceol Mor (Piobaireachd) is "Lament for Mary MacLeod."
And the next is "Lament for Lament for Donald Duaghal MacKay" (?) played by Ken Sutherland
Justin Salazar's (actually Celek's) "Mary MacLeod" was particularly enjoyable ... some of his drones went off ... another lament is next ...
missed very nice ceol mor's name and piper's name just played
next piece is "Old Men of the Shells” (Bodaich Dhubha nan Sligean)
March, strathspey, reel and hornpipe and jig competition begins in same room around 4
Richard Gillies from Portland, OR, was the 2nd to last piper who is just turning professional in competing in this competition, and he played so well :)
Piobaireachd competition winners: 1) Ken Sutherland 2) Richard Gillies 3) Seamus Coyne
MSR 1) Richard Gillies 2) Justin Celek 3) Ian Whitelaw
Hornpipe-Jig 1) Richard Gillies 2) Seamas Coyne 3) Justin Celek
Interesting (Scottish/Celtic?) pattern - both youngish (in their 20s?) piping winners Richard Gillies and Seamus Coyne were accompanied by both parents. And Justin's girlfriend/wife accompanied him ... Is there a tie between family bonds and winning?
Saturday:
Pleasanton Highland Games today in the SF Bay Area - will probably pipe some at the Clan MacLeod tent ... How to connect Games & World University & School? (http://worlduniversity.wikia.com and http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Bagpipe_Tutorials)
Is Piobaireachd - Ceol Mor (classical bagpipe music, or Great Music) -'other' in its beauty? Is it in a different 'beauty' register, that is, its own, vis-a-vis the field of aesthetics, or some generally shared concept of beauty, i.e. many people find Mozart's 'Magic Flute' beautiful ?
... as in the sentence: 'Piobaireachd' is an acquired taste.':)
Pleasanton Highland Games: lovely day east of San Francisco on pleasant fair grounds. Enter the gate - $18 "1 day adult" ticket - sounds of pipes
- enter a different world ... on the left are men in kilts tossing the hammer: "52 ft and 6 inches," I hear in a Scottish accent ... I see a lot of clan tents
The Games are relaxed, out of doors, colorful, full of sound. Scottish-ness is in the air - many women drummers walking by, as well as many men with red beards.
MacLeod tent at Highland Games - warm welcome. Whiskey is passed around at around 9 am (Glen Livet, not Talisker). Stories ... talk of Clan Chief. Ongoing talk of new roof on Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye (expensive)
Head to the Scottish Country Dancing tent (did a lot of this in high school). Pleasant, elevating Scottish form - gets you 'high' (& healthy), - it's enjoyable to watch, too.
Scottish forms that get you 'high' (some healthy): dancing, celeidhs, (whiskey & beer), rants, pipe music, (as computer output, for bliss elicitation)? :)
... hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, reels ... cultural forms that get you high, naturally :) in contrast with the strife of Scots' history?
The day isn't too hot in the morning. Yesterday was hotter at 94 - onto the Scottish Goods' areas - Shall I get a great piping CDs (compact disk) played by Gordon Duncan, Bruce Gandy, or the yellow Pibroch tutorial?
just saw two lasses from the Clan Inebriated ... The MacInebriateds ... I know them :) they're from the far north Land Distilleries
... quite a fluid world they come from
While attending the Pleasanton Scottish Highland Games in the SF Bay Area: If the world, social milieus & landscapes can be seen as musical scores for bliss, then why not see & make music with the musical instrument of your bodymind? In this context, with what nuance can one engage these Scottish Games as musical scores; for me, they are allegro & enlightening.
Who is this singer on the stage? The lovely singer's name is Isla St Clair ... reminds me of Jean Redpath ... :)
from Isla St. Clair's lovely voice, I head on to the Birds of Prey area - fascinating explanations with 2 handlers on dais in pleasant walkway: falcons, owls ...
... eagles, raptors - the crowd is big & engaged with the Birds of Prey explanations - beautiful birds, some hybrids - from raptor breeding.
On to the Wicked Tinkers and their Celtic Trance music, which I saw last year at the next stage over in these shady fairgrounds.
Wicked Tinkers actually aren't here this year, instead Albannach will play Tribal Celtic Music at 1, for one - drums & bagpipes ...
Head to Living History area - very colorful & a LOT of it - nicely done - Viking battle now - drama - call for war - striking real swords & shields, no bloodshed
Come upon Vikings of Bjornstad way off in the north (out of the way at these highland games) - 1 warrior to 5 warriors - no bloodshed yet ... looks like actors, breaking into explanations, hmmm - lots of focus on weapons
A lot of fantasies are acted out here (historical re-enactments :)
On to the sheep dog trials - dogs poking their heads out of cages from vehicles
Shepherds & dog: "Carrie Bennett and Kate, her dog, are next up." Four sheep are released in far corner of the trials' area. Whistles. Then the sheep dog herding dance begins ...
The shepherd is still and quiet, she whistles - the dog crouches, rises, moves around - and the sheep evntually go through the gate. What's the code? ... 'controlled'
Lots of repeating patterns in Sheep Dog Trials. Handlers control sheep who do the same thing repeatedly ... all computer programs, that is both the handler's, and the trials, themselves, as a kind of social program repeated all over?
I head over to the Highland cattle (before heading to the shops), but the weather isn't the Highlands - it's hot - and these 3 beasts are long haired, with horns. Lots of breeding over millennia in Scotland
Heeland kuhs
California Highland Cattle Association, of course. Long horns, curly, - each has a brass ring in nose. They are docile, and there's cooling fan in background of the 1 bull's area. 1 bull, 2 cows
Pass by the Children's Glen ... Brother John, a rock band, is singing hypnotically, playing electric guitar and bagpipe, which is electronically synthesized. There's also a diggeridoo player, and a good drummer - He's singing about Australian Bush Rangers - outlaws who robbed stagecoaches down under
attractive woman is dancing in front of them ...
skipping the whiskey live pavilion - and heading into the Hall of Commerce - Scottish wifeys & lasses serving Scottish food at the food booth - family crests booth - beautiful clothes' booths
Decide to get Bruce Gandy's Compact Disk 'My Father's Son' ... ($19.76) looks great (Gandy is Richard Gillies' piping teacher; Gillies piped so well at the professional competition yesterday :) ...
Pipe Band competitions begin Grade 5 to begin ...
Time for a stuffed (veg.) baked potato with brocolli and cheddar cheese, no butter $5.50 - prices are so dear :) (an old Scottish refrain)
... then back to the MacLeod tent
O, there are the Revelers - not singing - green dresses for the ladies - have to listen for them (California Revels)
The Prince Charles Pipe Band - best in the Bay Area - is playing well, warming up ... right next to the MacLeod tent :)
... brings tears to my eyes
The Prince Charles Pipe Band, Grade 2, just competed - The PCPB actually has 3 bands - Grades 2, 3 & 5 .... a lot ... they're impressively well organized with a lot of young pipers and drummers coming up ... it seems they've created quite a culture ...
The Prince Charles Grade 3 Pipe Band Bass Drummer is small ... only twice its height :) "Smallest bass drummer on the Fair Grounds," I hear over the loud speaker ...
People migrate to Mass Bands around 5 ... and I head to the MacLeod tent for a visit & to share MacLeod stories ... caught the end of Mass Bands.
Scottish Games - a unifying, networking communitas experience? (anthropologically?) :)
http://caledonian.org/ Pleasanton Highland Games - SF Bay Area
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/scottish-highland-landscape-if-world.html)
(Twitter & Facebook posts)
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/silver-thistle-pleasanton-scottish.html - September 4, 2010)
Friday, September 3, 2010
Lake Foliage: A key facet of this actual / virtual Harbin ethnography includes defining virtual as visionary
Harbin ethnography:
... And, as personal, virtual Harbin history, my leaving Harbin as resident opened the opportunity to eventually write this actual/virtual Harbin ethnography.
As a last, personal, virtual, Harbin history, a key facet of this actual / Harbin ethnography includes defining virtual (something not physical, but created by software to appear so), especially vis-a-vis Harbin Hot Springs, as visionary, too. Visionary here includes giving shape to what could be, and Harbin's culture, vis-a-vis its pool area, can find form in virtual expressions. Indeed, at this point, it's words – as virtual expressions and signifiers - that are giving form to this virtual Harbin, the first digital, virtual Harbin in OpenSim having been stolen. As examples of already existing hot springs and related bodies of water in Second Life, the Gardens of Bliss in Second Life, a SL 'build' now taken down, but about which I made the ethnographic machinima “The Making of Harbin Hot Springs as Ethnographic Field Site” (2009 - which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nhvcHw54GE) is one example, although it didn't correspond topographically to any actual place that I know of. I hope virtual Harbin Hot Springs will correspond to actual Harbin's Mainside area, to start, and eventually to the whole valley area including many of Harbin buildings and pools: the Harbin Domes, the Harbin Conference Center, the Harbin Gate, and all of the area from the upper parking lot to the Tea House on the Mainside side of the valley, which includes the pool area, the Temple, the Guest Buildings and Stonefront Lodge - and eventually fitting into a hypothetical, northern California grid. Marron's Onsen Jinjya Hot Springs in Second Life, with some Japanese influences is both a virtual, in-world hot springs (i.e. steam rises from the water) and natural, i.e. it's quite green, and doesn't have a lot of virtual buildings or 'development'; it's the closest in-world hot springs I know of now, to what I have in mind for virtual Harbin. (These 'builds' keep changing, and this one has recently, too – September 4, 2010). Visit it now to get a feel: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Niwa/170/19/21. In general, Second Life's whole digital world environment is conducive to the building of a virtual Harbin. When I first went in-world in 2006, I met a lot of furry avatars, as well as saw bubbles floating through the air, almost psychedelically; SL is a richly stimulating environment. Second Life currently has a virtual Burning Man (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rydal/238/141/24) (this 'build' has recently changed, too – September 4, 2010). Second Life is also open to intimacy, in ways the 1960s explored. SL has virtual Woodstock, which is more museum than massive party, without many avatars, when I recently visited it (September 1, 2010). Also, in Second Life, I participated as a juror in a mock Burning Man trial in Second Life conducted by Harvard Law Professor Charlie Nesson who was the judge, for a course he was teaching (http://socinfotech.pbworks.com/Oct+17+2007+Burning+Man+Mock+Trial), also an expression of virtual vision. In this instance the Burning Man man was burned early, as an expression of original Burning Man anarchistic freedom, but as Burning Man developed over years, ownership issues emerged and there was a actual lawsuit, which Charlie Nesson used to explored as a trial case. The possibility to act out trial roles in a virtual world, anonymously, is a innovative teaching tool. As personal virtual Harbin histories, each of these examples show some realizable, virtual visions, and influenced my understanding of virtual world possibilities, thus informing aspects of virtual Harbin to come. What will emerge and develop vis-a-vis virtual Harbin both follows and is to be seen.
HARBIN HISTORIES, ACTUAL AND VIRTUAL
While the above, personal Harbin histories extend ways I explore the concept of virtual vis-a-vis virtual Harbin Hot Springs in this ethnography, actual Harbin histories richly inform these explorations of the concept of virtuality because place matters; the Harbin valley, and its pool area and especially its warm pool and other pools are central to, and intertwined with, emergent (Fischer 2004), virtual Harbin. ...
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/lake-foliage-key-facet-of-this-actual.html - September 3, 2010)
... And, as personal, virtual Harbin history, my leaving Harbin as resident opened the opportunity to eventually write this actual/virtual Harbin ethnography.
As a last, personal, virtual, Harbin history, a key facet of this actual / Harbin ethnography includes defining virtual (something not physical, but created by software to appear so), especially vis-a-vis Harbin Hot Springs, as visionary, too. Visionary here includes giving shape to what could be, and Harbin's culture, vis-a-vis its pool area, can find form in virtual expressions. Indeed, at this point, it's words – as virtual expressions and signifiers - that are giving form to this virtual Harbin, the first digital, virtual Harbin in OpenSim having been stolen. As examples of already existing hot springs and related bodies of water in Second Life, the Gardens of Bliss in Second Life, a SL 'build' now taken down, but about which I made the ethnographic machinima “The Making of Harbin Hot Springs as Ethnographic Field Site” (2009 - which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nhvcHw54GE) is one example, although it didn't correspond topographically to any actual place that I know of. I hope virtual Harbin Hot Springs will correspond to actual Harbin's Mainside area, to start, and eventually to the whole valley area including many of Harbin buildings and pools: the Harbin Domes, the Harbin Conference Center, the Harbin Gate, and all of the area from the upper parking lot to the Tea House on the Mainside side of the valley, which includes the pool area, the Temple, the Guest Buildings and Stonefront Lodge - and eventually fitting into a hypothetical, northern California grid. Marron's Onsen Jinjya Hot Springs in Second Life, with some Japanese influences is both a virtual, in-world hot springs (i.e. steam rises from the water) and natural, i.e. it's quite green, and doesn't have a lot of virtual buildings or 'development'; it's the closest in-world hot springs I know of now, to what I have in mind for virtual Harbin. (These 'builds' keep changing, and this one has recently, too – September 4, 2010). Visit it now to get a feel: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Niwa/170/19/21. In general, Second Life's whole digital world environment is conducive to the building of a virtual Harbin. When I first went in-world in 2006, I met a lot of furry avatars, as well as saw bubbles floating through the air, almost psychedelically; SL is a richly stimulating environment. Second Life currently has a virtual Burning Man (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rydal/238/141/24) (this 'build' has recently changed, too – September 4, 2010). Second Life is also open to intimacy, in ways the 1960s explored. SL has virtual Woodstock, which is more museum than massive party, without many avatars, when I recently visited it (September 1, 2010). Also, in Second Life, I participated as a juror in a mock Burning Man trial in Second Life conducted by Harvard Law Professor Charlie Nesson who was the judge, for a course he was teaching (http://socinfotech.pbworks.com/Oct+17+2007+Burning+Man+Mock+Trial), also an expression of virtual vision. In this instance the Burning Man man was burned early, as an expression of original Burning Man anarchistic freedom, but as Burning Man developed over years, ownership issues emerged and there was a actual lawsuit, which Charlie Nesson used to explored as a trial case. The possibility to act out trial roles in a virtual world, anonymously, is a innovative teaching tool. As personal virtual Harbin histories, each of these examples show some realizable, virtual visions, and influenced my understanding of virtual world possibilities, thus informing aspects of virtual Harbin to come. What will emerge and develop vis-a-vis virtual Harbin both follows and is to be seen.
HARBIN HISTORIES, ACTUAL AND VIRTUAL
While the above, personal Harbin histories extend ways I explore the concept of virtual vis-a-vis virtual Harbin Hot Springs in this ethnography, actual Harbin histories richly inform these explorations of the concept of virtuality because place matters; the Harbin valley, and its pool area and especially its warm pool and other pools are central to, and intertwined with, emergent (Fischer 2004), virtual Harbin. ...
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/lake-foliage-key-facet-of-this-actual.html - September 3, 2010)
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Solidago nemoralis: As a Harbin telephone operator (with writing a Harbin ethnography in mind), candidate to become a Harbin resident
Harbin ethnography:
... As an ethnographer, I'm personally exploring questions of hippie communitas as a kind of virtuality, at Harbin.
As a Harbin telephone operator (with writing a Harbin ethnography in mind without field notes) I was a candidate to become a Harbin resident, and then after 3 months, became a resident, I think, but to become a full resident at Harbin one had to stay for more than a year in 2005. I left after 4 ½ months, because I wanted to teach, and I didn't see this opportunity emerging at Harbin. During my time there, I also made a proposal to Harbin M.D.s (managing directors) to create a Harbin fundraising department, and a M.D. position explicitly for this, but this wasn't taken up. During my time there, my pay checks came from Heart Consciousness Church, although, in general, the 'church aspect' of Harbin is as low key as the effects of its warm waters. The reality of being a Harbin resident contrasted, however, for me, with the beauty of Harbin, both natural, and as a kind of realized vision of sustainable, alternative community, as well as with the ease of being a visitor to Harbin. I worked hard, lived upstairs and downstairs in the dorms in the Fern building, very close to the pools and pool area, and got to know Harbin from the inside out (2001 - the title of one of Victor van Kooten's Yoga books) a little. During my time there, both the masterpiece straw bale Harbin Temple and the Residents' Community Center were built. Building the Temple involved, on one or two days, everyone getting naked and throwing mud at the walls (and at each other, a little) to help with the plastering of this cosmic structure. The welcome Residents' Center, for residents only, with a group kitchen, piano, and comfortable, communal spaces, was a big and valuable contribution to life of Harbin residents; the Residents' Center has nice energy. It is also an expression of Harbin's communalism for residents, very much in a kind of 1960's Harbin way; Heart Consciousness Church put money into a nice space for residents. Harbin hadn't had such amenities before for residents, some residents camping outside on Harbin property for much of the year – living outside in northern California all year round is nice - and preparing food in the Fern community kitchen (it's like a youth hostel kitchen), where Harbin visitors also prepared their own food. Harbin residents welcomed the Residents' Center, - a good financial and community investment in residents. As a complement to this brief, personal, virtual Harbin history, my work experiences at Harbin helped me see it as the real place that it is, - as a resident. In the summer of 2005, after leaving Harbin in June, an opportunity arose to sail on Semester at Sea around the world, working in its field office, - another realized vision. And, as personal, virtual Harbin history, my leaving Harbin as resident opened the opportunity to eventually write this actual/virtual Harbin ethnography.
As a last, personal, virtual, Harbin history, a key facet of this actual / Harbin ethnography includes defining virtual (something not physical, but created by software to appear so), especially vis-a-vis Harbin Hot Springs, as visionary, too. ...
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/solidago-nemoralis-as-harbin-telephone.html - September 2, 2010)
... As an ethnographer, I'm personally exploring questions of hippie communitas as a kind of virtuality, at Harbin.
As a Harbin telephone operator (with writing a Harbin ethnography in mind without field notes) I was a candidate to become a Harbin resident, and then after 3 months, became a resident, I think, but to become a full resident at Harbin one had to stay for more than a year in 2005. I left after 4 ½ months, because I wanted to teach, and I didn't see this opportunity emerging at Harbin. During my time there, I also made a proposal to Harbin M.D.s (managing directors) to create a Harbin fundraising department, and a M.D. position explicitly for this, but this wasn't taken up. During my time there, my pay checks came from Heart Consciousness Church, although, in general, the 'church aspect' of Harbin is as low key as the effects of its warm waters. The reality of being a Harbin resident contrasted, however, for me, with the beauty of Harbin, both natural, and as a kind of realized vision of sustainable, alternative community, as well as with the ease of being a visitor to Harbin. I worked hard, lived upstairs and downstairs in the dorms in the Fern building, very close to the pools and pool area, and got to know Harbin from the inside out (2001 - the title of one of Victor van Kooten's Yoga books) a little. During my time there, both the masterpiece straw bale Harbin Temple and the Residents' Community Center were built. Building the Temple involved, on one or two days, everyone getting naked and throwing mud at the walls (and at each other, a little) to help with the plastering of this cosmic structure. The welcome Residents' Center, for residents only, with a group kitchen, piano, and comfortable, communal spaces, was a big and valuable contribution to life of Harbin residents; the Residents' Center has nice energy. It is also an expression of Harbin's communalism for residents, very much in a kind of 1960's Harbin way; Heart Consciousness Church put money into a nice space for residents. Harbin hadn't had such amenities before for residents, some residents camping outside on Harbin property for much of the year – living outside in northern California all year round is nice - and preparing food in the Fern community kitchen (it's like a youth hostel kitchen), where Harbin visitors also prepared their own food. Harbin residents welcomed the Residents' Center, - a good financial and community investment in residents. As a complement to this brief, personal, virtual Harbin history, my work experiences at Harbin helped me see it as the real place that it is, - as a resident. In the summer of 2005, after leaving Harbin in June, an opportunity arose to sail on Semester at Sea around the world, working in its field office, - another realized vision. And, as personal, virtual Harbin history, my leaving Harbin as resident opened the opportunity to eventually write this actual/virtual Harbin ethnography.
As a last, personal, virtual, Harbin history, a key facet of this actual / Harbin ethnography includes defining virtual (something not physical, but created by software to appear so), especially vis-a-vis Harbin Hot Springs, as visionary, too. ...
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/solidago-nemoralis-as-harbin-telephone.html - September 2, 2010)
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Durian: The concept and experience of community at Harbin is virtual in at least two ways here
Harbin ethnography:
... As an anthropologist, I add this personal history to situate, and make transparent, my personal interests while engaging in the social science practice of writing ethnography, now with the addition of the building of virtual Harbin, in a virtual world, for ethnographic study.
The concept and experience of community at Harbin is virtual in two ways here. By community here, I mean 'a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals; [in sing. ] a similarity or identity; joint ownership or liability' (Apple dictionary). So, in addition to building virtual Harbin in Second Life as ethnographic field site for participant observation study of the Harbin community which emerges there, possibly around Harbin 'New Age' practices such as Watsu, community as a concept has a virtual aspect, as well. Virtual, as something “not physically existing, but created by software to appear to do so” (Apple Dictionary), for me, is like community at Harbin where the software, as metaphor, is the countercultural influences of the 1960s, that create very fascinating appearances at Harbin – its clothing-optionalness, colorful, creative hippie clothing from ALL over the world - but also unique kinds of serendipity and synchronicity. Anthropological interest in community at Harbin for me also relates to expressions of communitas (Victor Turner) – betwixt and between togetherness – which the pools and the pool area, in particular, within the milieu of Harbin as a whole – seem to create, in their own kind of easy-going, hippie style. As an ethnographer, I'm personally exploring questions of hippie communitas as a kind of virtuality, at Harbin.
As a Harbin telephone operator (with writing a Harbin ethnography in mind without field notes) I was a candidate to become a Harbin resident, and then after 3 months, became a resident, I think, but to become a full resident at Harbin one had to stay for more than a year in 2005. ...
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/durian-concept-and-experience-of.html - September 1, 2010)
... As an anthropologist, I add this personal history to situate, and make transparent, my personal interests while engaging in the social science practice of writing ethnography, now with the addition of the building of virtual Harbin, in a virtual world, for ethnographic study.
The concept and experience of community at Harbin is virtual in two ways here. By community here, I mean 'a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals; [in sing. ] a similarity or identity; joint ownership or liability' (Apple dictionary). So, in addition to building virtual Harbin in Second Life as ethnographic field site for participant observation study of the Harbin community which emerges there, possibly around Harbin 'New Age' practices such as Watsu, community as a concept has a virtual aspect, as well. Virtual, as something “not physically existing, but created by software to appear to do so” (Apple Dictionary), for me, is like community at Harbin where the software, as metaphor, is the countercultural influences of the 1960s, that create very fascinating appearances at Harbin – its clothing-optionalness, colorful, creative hippie clothing from ALL over the world - but also unique kinds of serendipity and synchronicity. Anthropological interest in community at Harbin for me also relates to expressions of communitas (Victor Turner) – betwixt and between togetherness – which the pools and the pool area, in particular, within the milieu of Harbin as a whole – seem to create, in their own kind of easy-going, hippie style. As an ethnographer, I'm personally exploring questions of hippie communitas as a kind of virtuality, at Harbin.
As a Harbin telephone operator (with writing a Harbin ethnography in mind without field notes) I was a candidate to become a Harbin resident, and then after 3 months, became a resident, I think, but to become a full resident at Harbin one had to stay for more than a year in 2005. ...
(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/09/durian-concept-and-experience-of.html - September 1, 2010)
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