the official word for those scrounging off welfare with 9 kids is Neet. in other news

A debate on telly has stimulated me to post this, quite intriguingly. As the title of the post suggests, it was about sex education/teaching of abstinence in schools.

We live in hard, beleaguered times. Our government is a pathetic mess of idiot politicians out of touch with the people they are supposedly in place to protect. On the one hand, they want safe sex to be taught in schools. On the other, they want 24 hour pubs open. A slightly confusing message would be the understatement of the year. The subject of STIs comes up in the debate, and eventually AIDS. Has anyone stopped to think, in the 'let's-have-science-cure-all-known-ailments' rush, that perhaps some illnesses can't be cured for a reason? Perhaps AIDS is nature's way of letting us know that the human race is erring?

I had a brilliant thought the other day, and the thought was that we could solve the NHS funding crisis by charging for the treatment and removal of STIs. It would encourage generally more monogamous relationships, and make a fuckload of cash to boot. Unfortunately it will probably never happen beacuse it's too radical ... these days you have fucking anti- and pro- everything. You can't please all the people all the time.

There was a brilliant argument from one (pro-abstinence) teen girl who thought it was right to value herself and her body, rather than just give it up to Joe Bloggs. The only problem is that a dire Western society such as ours, sleaze and smut in which we are all complicit, only keeps bringing down the people that want to escape. Sometimes you just have to be your own person, I guess.

The Foo Fighters had it right when they sang "what have we done with innocence, one in ten...." It seems that children no longer have the privilege of maintaining their own innocence about the world, and everything must be short-skirts-on-MTV, rappers telling girls to suck their dicks, teens getting free condoms in schools and fumbling around in the nearest park wasteland because they have nothing better to do. It's chilling how correct Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange is. Apparently some LEAs have also instructed teachers to start telling primary school kids as young as 7 or 8 what a "clitoris" is. Not to take the moral high ground or preach or anything, but that is just outrageous. If ever there was something that you could justifiably be in an uproar about, that would be it. I do believe I am right in asserting that our generation (and by that, I mean everyone currently aged from about 19-20 upward to 45) is probably the last to experience such innocence. Innocence is just like virginity. Once you've lost it, you've lost it for good.

University experiences also could be discussed here. How often have I seen the familiar nightclub scenario, a drunk girl surrounded by eight or so men, like dogs surrounding a stunned fox, swooping in for the metaphorical kill? She does nothing to try shoo them away, but invariably invites them to come closer, grind closer, feel. In my eyes, that girl is of little consequence to me, as are the men. It seems as though the ideology of "I'm entitled to have a little fun when I'm not around my parents" must pervade the general consensus, that consequentially, unviersity must be little more than one long shag-fest. It does invite the question, if a girl so valued her body, held herself in such high esteem, why she would do something like this? And the only reasonable answer I can think of is that she must have very little self-esteem, or be particularly insecure in such a way that carrying out this one-night stand must somehow fulfill some kind of Freudian need from within.

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to say that boy meets girl, falls in love, gets married, the end. Of course life isn't that simple, and I'm not expecting it to be for me, or for anyone else. If you want to win the scrum point, you're gonna have to get your hands dirty.

ad astra per ardua.

student who 'screened film to huge crowds' jailed for 3 months

One of those weeks where you feel you really haven't achieved anything, despite your best efforts and intentions. Sigh. I've started constructing a cue sheet for 'Psycho', and I've also been given permission to show a screening of 'Mulholland Drive' in one of the lecture theatres in 8 days time, as part of the statistics element of my dissertation, so I'm hoping lots of music ppl will show up. In other news, Dan's video game is finally up and running, although I've spotted about 4 bugs in it so far; the link to play the game is ... on the links page. This week I also feel washed out, and I can't explain why. Technically I should feel happy - I've only got 2 things to give in on Dec 10th, a 4000 word essay (2000 done) and the stupid Analysis, which I've actually done 6 mins/18 mins of 1 piece/4 pieces, so that's 1/12...not much really. So much work, so little time. As they say, there's no rest for the wicked. Or something.

customers of Italian takeaway become hospitalised; neighbouring undertaker blamed

Interesting week, work is coming along ok if only I could start doing things in the right sequence. I've put my balls to the grinder (not literally) to do composition work, and I have got about 16-17 mins of piano score, which would be great except composition is the last thing due in this term, whilst Symphonic Music Analysis is due on Dec 10, for which I have to analyse 60 mins of 1st movements, and I haven't even started. So, how much does a cheap wooden coffin from Co-op cost? Also managed to become slightly addicted to CM4, which is unbelievable since I don't even really like the game. Haven't exercised at all this week, so I'm nice and unfit.

student union rallies to defence of man who worked 10 hours without a break

Gone from completing four songs to five - yes, five - songs for the rock opera in piano score. Yet what does my tutor think when I present to him the work? "Is that it?" (Presuming he was expecting a full-blown set of orchestrations) Before my face crumbled, he quickly added, "But you've done loads of work, just orchestrate it in January or something..."

The sadly ironic thing about it all is I have completed about 16 minutes of music for composition, yet this is the last thing due in over the course of the year (May 05) whereas more pressing matters (dissertation, analysis of 60 mins of symphonic music) have been somewhat neglected. Trepidation is the predictable outcome. Tomorrow I must really crack on with my analysis of the 1st mvmt. of Beethoven's Eroica symphony.

I've also started to get paid for my job - what a relief. I received one cheque in the post and a bank credit when I checked my account online, so now I can finally start paying off that pesky credit card. By my calculations I should still be able to splurge on Xmas presents, work my current shift pattern (Mon 8am-11am, 5pm - 9pm (a killer) and Sat 8am - 6pm) and have enough money to go travelling after I graduate next summer. [Assuming, of course, nothing crazy happens, e.g. I fall in love and move in with some girl, so I have to work longer to make rent. (Un?)thankfully this is still in the realm of extreme unlikelihood, so I have decided not to contemplate such propositions.]

The gig at the OAP home on Thurs night was ok. There were more volunteers than usual (five) and my set got a decent enough reception - a heady mix of U2, Muse, Queen, Einaudi and Katie Melua. I may have to limit how many times I go there, since the student union is in crippling debt, and so therefore cannot reimburse the petrol expenses incurred by me. (Yeah, yeah, before you get up on the moral high horse, scream "it's voluntary!", and thrash your handbags at me, I also give several of the volunteers lifts home in the evenings, particularly if they are girls scared to walk home alone. We do, of course, live in rough times.)

Now the exciting bit! (Which you will know already if you read my website.)
After Christmas I will be turning my attention to the documentary that my housemate Ben is filming, since I agreed to write original music for it. Ben has let me be on set while filming happens in January, and I suppose I will add the music somewhere in post-production. Apparently it will be in the region of 45 mins long, so that's quite a challenge, but I like that. He also has plans to make 3 further parts to the documentary, which may or may not happen dependant upon the success of the original, but if that happens ... that's a "lorra lorra" stuff to write. Unless I resort to the time-hallowed composer's trick of sneakily recycling material ...

January 18th also marks the deadline for the Leeds Uni Liturgical Choir call for scores. The aim is to write a piece between 2-3 mins for the 22-strong Liturgical Choir (12 female, 10 male) that shouldn't be too hard. I may have to attend some of their few remaining Semester 1 rehearsals to find out their various capabilities; pointless to write something too easy or difficult. I was toying with the idea of setting Psalm 75 (see the previous posts in my blog) to music, part of which could be in the Lydian mode, (once outlawed by the Church for demonic connotations) which could then also play on the audience expectations surrounding augmented 4ths by reverting to diatonicism from modality. It all adds up to being quite a lot to pack into 2-3 mins.

But now I am off to bed. I have been up since 6.45 this morning due to a 10-hour shift at work, and I am absolutely fucking shattered. On the other hand, I don't suppose I'd be doing anything else at 6.45 on a Saturday morning, so I might as well drag my arse to LS27 and earn some money for sitting on my posterior. Feeling a bit under the weather as well of late; I think I have caught a cold that's spreading throughout our house. And goddamnit, it's the badminton tournament tomorrow (50p entry to play a team player, pint if you win.) and so my chances don't really look that great. Sigh.

consumer credit spirals out of control in the last quarter

A minor tautology is the understatement of the month, yet this baffling film-score vocabulary - synchresistically synchronised synchresisms - seems at the heart of my Herrmann module. Mickey-mousing is what they call it in the movies when the music closely follows the action (e.g. Donald Duck falls down stairs, cue orchestral imitation of falling down stairs (cymbal clash, comical brass and wind, etc.)) and synchretic music is the music corresponding to the relationship between what you see and what you hear. It's not quite mickey-mousing but it's not not mickey-mousing, either. Synchretic music can be subject to synchresistic procedures which may also be known as synchresisms. These new words come from a combination of synthesis and synchronism. (Just wait until you have synthesised synchresistically synchronised synchresisms...)

My first real day of work today, also. My shift was 8am-11am and 5pm-9pm. I was supposed to be up at 6.45 for my morning shift but managed to oversleep and get up at ... 8am. I rang the sick line to say that the traffic was heavy and arrived at 8.45, at which point my manager told me to go on break and start at 9am, then do an extra hour to last until 12. Thing is, I was really into my work, so I ended up finishing at 12.30 (not paid, don't ask me why I did that...) and I managed to collect about £700 for GE today. Yay. The dumbarses at Kelly Services have also found out that they posted my paycheck for last week to my old residence at Knowle Road, which is very helpful, but they're gonna stop the cheque and issue me a new one since I can't be bothered to head over there and pick it up. I won't be minted come Friday either, since it's all going on the piece of plastic we commonly call a credit card. Damn those evil things.

Pleased as I have also started a good portion of the 5th (out of 16) song for my rock opera. So far I think I have managed to bring a decent variety of material into my work, but with the music school being typical as usual with half the tutors away on holiday in the middle of term, I suppose it will have to wait until later this month before I can show anyone the progress I have made. By which point they willl probably tell me it's all bullshit and I'll be left shitting bricks before the December deadline, but hell, you wouldn't be a student if you didn't, I suppose.

Went to see Joss Stone play at LUU last night with a couple of guys from my house. Tell you the truth I was quite impressed with the set, and I wasn't expecting much either, but the girl can sing. I just hope she doesn't sell out to the core audience after 2 albums like Charlotte Church. Particularly impressed with the integration of the gospel singers into the typified funk structures. It all basically comes down, as Ben said, to 'call and response'. It's how workers in the slave fields of America in the 1800s used to communicate with each other throughout the long, arduous working day. It's how choirs communicate with each other from various sides of the vestibules and spaces within the church. And, above all, it is a natural way of equalizing texture and making sure that no one singer hogs the limelight too much. The fact that Joss was as fit as fuck was a bonus, of course. Haha.

Ah well. Maybe this time next year ppl will want to see me play piano in a band. Who knows what the future holds? (cheese alert!)

Tired. Off to bed. Bonne nuit.

Book of the month: Waiting, by Ha Jin.

suggested that the composer thought he could "bend time"

Below is 100 or so words from my latest essay for "The Music of Bernard Herrmann." Developing arguments about film music is virtually impossible because technological advances have changed the nature of it into something more scientific than artistic; and so everything is more clinical, sterile, logical, and, dare I say it, mathematical. This deeply disturbs me. Music is not something to calculate, not something to explore with a ruler and compass. That's what I loved about music, and why it is so fascinating. It is the not knowing, the unpredictability that you can shun or conform to your audience's expectations, that makes it so worthwhile.

“Musical time is abstract time”.[1] The implications of this are that a necessary operating condition of the music accompanying the narrative – whatever their nature – is that the music is structured in its own individual way; in other words, the inherent logic of this abstract time propels and impels the music to conclude at a temporal point in filmic space not necessarily in accordance with the logic of ‘human time’ as expressed in the diegesis.
[1] Gorbman, Claudia. Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music (Bloomington, 1987, University of Indiana Press), p. 24

Our house is also throwing a fireworks & pie party on Thursday, the 4th. (£2 to cover expenses) So ... do come. If we know you.

situational inverse

You know what? It's really boring not having lectures. I wish I had 25 hrs a week like chemistry ppl, or something like that. Worse news, I have to go back to my bum-sucking job tomorrow. Perhaps a fry up would improve my mood.