From Round to Square (and back)

For The Emperor's Teacher, scroll down (↓) to "Topics." It's the management book that will rock the world (and break the vase, as you will see). Click or paste the following link for a recent profile of the project: http://magazine.beloit.edu/?story_id=240813&issue_id=240610

A new post appears every day at 12:05* (CDT). There's more, though. Take a look at the right-hand side of the page for over four years of material (2,000 posts and growing) from Seinfeld and country music to every single day of the Chinese lunar calendar...translated. Look here ↓ and explore a little. It will take you all the way down the page...from round to square (and back again).
*Occasionally I will leave a long post up for thirty-six hours, and post a shorter entry at noon the next day.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Hurtin', Leavin' and Longin'—Listening (and Reading) Tips

YouTube videos present a bit of a problem for the serious listener, since it seems that there is no end to the schmaltz and cliché of some otherwise interesting video posters (or poseurs).
  
In any case, my advice is very simple:

          1. Open a second Round and Square page in a new tab.

          2. Click on the YouTube link for the song in the first tab.

          3. Go to the second Round and Square page (the first will have the YouTube video—ignore it) and read the lyrics while you listen to the song.

If that sounds too onerous and "school-like," you might ask yourself how you stumbled onto this site in the first place (I say that with deep appreciation for every reader, from the bottom of my heart). How on earth did you get the idea that we would not be overthinking everything...all of the time? Really, that's the whole point.

I mean, this is not meant to be fun, people. I am trying very hard to take pleasant melodies and interesting little thoughts and suck the very life out of them with philosophical, neurobiological, and social-cultural analyses. That's why we're here. It isn't supposed to be fun!!!!!

O.k., I am kidding (a little). In all seriousness, though, the point of the Sunday Hurtin' posts is to "hear/see" the lyrics. Watching a cliché video posted by an angry ex-lover (you would not believe how much of that is out there) is not going to help us in our pursuits. Even relatively generic videos aren't as useful as just listening and reading.

Just think about my suggestions. "Watch" the lyrics.

No comments:

Post a Comment