The Bus and Books

I've been working full-time for the past few weeks, which means I am back to my routine of bussing three to four hours a day. While this is highly inconvenient and tiring, there is more of an opportunity to read recreationally than in the school year.

Since the beginning of the month, I have been reading, or have finished, the following books:

Paris to the Moon, by Adam Gopnik.

My romantic inclination towards travel drew me to this novel. The wit of the writer, the beautifully painted descriptions of his daily life as an expatriate, and the juxtapositions of cultures (New York versus Paris, Capitalism versus culture) support a lovely series of essays about a new father living with his family in France.

The theme connecting his essays (the author was on commission from the New Yorker) is the idea of the micro in the macro, or American culture (capitalism) versus the old French culture (one of both courtesy and superiority). These idea culminate within memorable episodes, such as his young son's discovery of Barney (The author is horrified -- this is one of the reasons Gopnik moved to France.), and the revolutionary sit-in at a favourite restaurant, which faces a takeover by a large corporation.

Although I didn't understand a few of his references and jokes (Gopnik is obviously a well-educated guy.), I enjoyed this novel a great deal. I can see why Johnny Depp, Hawksley Workman, and Buck 65 have moved across the sea.

Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, by Marshall Mcluhan

I'll admit it: I don't imagine I'll finish this book for a long time. The ideas presented are complex, and Mcluhan never intended for his books to be read from cover to cover.

Being a public relations student, I have the opportunity to one day act as a gatekeeper in the world of media. My degree intends to educate its participants of the effects of mass media, which significant occurred in my Mass Media class, taught by Dr. Wade Kenny.

Through history and current ideas on media ecology, McLuhan illustrates an evolution of media, from village to global village, and how that causes a change within social structure. He uses the examples of hot and cool mediums, and even discusses the relevance of the lightbulb as a form of media.

I'm struggling through this, but am capturing certain important ideas. I'll relate my progress at a later date.

Desolation Angels, by Jack Kerouac

This was a birthday present from my boyfriend, Andrew. I am completely certain that if someone truly loves you, they'll give you good books. It's no coincidence that our relationship started with me lending him Cohen's Beautiful Losers.

Here I am again with another "beat" novel. I've previously only read Kerouac's On the Road (Just like everyone else.) and a few poems/short stories. This is, apparently, a novel which indicates the place of religion within the beat movement. I am only a few chapters in, but already Kerouac's familiar writing style (visceral non-sentences) and inclination towards dreamy description has a hold on me.

At the beginning of this novel, Kerouac is atop a mountain, on watch for fires in the national forest. He is alone, save for weekly conversations with other fire-watchers. We are privy to his mad thoughts and memories.

I can't wait to read more.

Dartmouth Online

Alderney Landing is serving up a double-shot of Dartmouth music. On October 11th In Flight Safety, Joel Plaskett, and Matt Mays and El Torpedo will be playing for the home crowd in celebration of our hero Alexander Keith’s 211th birthday. Here is what you need to know:

· At 4:00 pm the beer garden opens. No, this is not an excuse to leave work early.
· The concert begins at 5:00 pm, and goes for a comfortable four hours.
· The beer garden closes an hour after the concert ends, giving you time to exchange numbers and find a cab home.
· It’s FREE, kiddies!

More information on the concert, and other Keith’s birthday events can be found at http://www.keithsbirthday.ca/en/concert.php.

Being a public relations student, and lover of all things interweb, I decided to see what kind of web presence these local artists, and other Dartmouthians, have.

In my daily jaunt around the www, I happened upon the Joel Plaskett blog, which is updated “semi-daily”. The blog is located at http://www.jpemergencyblog.blogspot.com/, and offers show information, videos, and a pretty neat picture of Joel’s Dad’s band. It runs in the family, I guess! The news section of Joel Plaskett’s main website also offers some blog-style updates from Joel himself. The website makes a smart Web 2.0 move by linking website visitors to fan photos and videos on great sites like Flickr and YouTube.

Cole Harbour favourite Matt Mays has a pretty swanky website. My lunch break at work was spent playing “El Dancer”, a pixelated video game reminiscent of an awesome 1980s dance-dance revolution on your keyboard. A band member needs help to learn the choreography to “On the Hood”, and it’s your duty to control his sweet dance moves.

More importantly, the news section of the website has informed me that Matt Mays has a solo record coming out on Halloween of this year. This album is titled When Angels Make Contact, with the title track featuring the vocal talents of one-time Mount Uniacke resident Buck 65. I’d like to think that Buck flew all the way home from France for this, because it’s bound to be an amazing collaboration.

Ricky, Bubbles, and Julian also have something special in store. Their first feature film, Trailer Park Boys: The Big Dirty, is set to be released on October 6th. In support of this, a new website has been launched, http://www.tpbmovie.com/. On this website you can enter to win tickets to the movie’s premier, watch the trailer, and “coming soon” you can send an e-card to your friends.

A soundtrack will also be released on October 4, featuring Rush, Alexisonfire, J-roc (Jonathon Torrens), and of course, Ricky, Bubbles, and Julian.

Storytelling from the Underground

Young authors have a gruelling process to go through before their work can be read. After creating a polished piece of work, you must write to literary journals and magazines, complying with their terms of acceptance, format, and a wait time that can span up to a year. Publishing houses rarely consider an author’s work unless they have been previously published, an ironic twist that makes it hard for a fledgling artist to break into the scene. In this age of DIY, it isn’t surprising that writers are shunning conventional methods, and turning instead to self-publishing.

James O’Brien is a 21-year old English major at Saint Mary’s University, and graduate of Auburn Drive High School in Dartmouth. He is set to self-publish his collection of short stories …And Other Tales. O’Brien has been writing since the age of 12, and at 15 began performing his work at events such as Work on the Street. At the age of 17 O’Brien read his poetry at the Lieutenant Governor's residence to a standing ovation of over 200 for World Poetry Day. He was one of only 20 readers. He has been featured on CBC radio 6 times and developed a radio pilot with them when he was 18.

“[I’ve] been published only once (in The Talon, a literary magazine published out of Auburn Drive High School), have been rejected a lot, and have written even more,” said O’Brien.

…And Other Tales is shocking. It is vulgar and graphic in a way that I had only previously experienced in the works of William S. Burroughs, who had a lot of time to churn out such volatile words. Below, or perhaps in unison with the “shock” is a well-developed sense of storytelling, with some irony and black humour. His original manner of description, and its highly visceral results make this a compelling, through at times difficult, collection of stories. It sometimes reads like Hemmingway from the underground.

“The words "scathing" and "satire" would fit the description of it,” said O’Brien. “It is a collection of prose; horrific words of manic, stupid violence, and sexual surrealism.”

"Stories that could only be written in Halifax," O'Brien added with a snicker.

NothingPress is the name O’Brien has given to his publisher, which he anticipates will attract other artists to release their work. Other forms of self-publishing are now being offered by websites.

Lulu.com is a self-publishing website, where the creator of the work has full control over design and content. It is a free service for the author; each book is created and shipped with each purchase, with the website taking its fees only when a book is being bought. Their website explains that “Lulu lets you sell your work through Amazon, Borders, Barnes and Noble — and on Lulu itself. Lulu handles all transactions, order tracking and shipping.”

Other websites, like DeviantART.com, have been a platform for authors to showcase their work. It is entirely web-based, but hosts a huge potential audience of over 2 million users. The potential danger in using this website is its ownership policies, as work can be reproduced without permission of the creator.

Although self-publishing may not have the reach of more conventional methods, the control an author can exert of his or her work, and simply having the opportunity to be read proves its worth.

For information on distributors or …And Other Tales, please contact nothingpress@hotmail.com.

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Lauren Oostveen is a fourth-year public relations student living in Dartmouth. You can contact her at lauren.oostveen@hotmail.com and read her blog at laurenoostveen.blogspot.com

September's here...

The summer is coming to an end, and while the rest of my friends are going back to school, I am starting a new job and completing my final co-op term. From May to August I was taking "intensive" summer courses, a rather uncomfortable affair that ended about two weeks ago.

My degree's co-operative program requires that you complete three co-op terms, each being four months long, in addition to your four or so years of classes. I have previously worked for an international development agency and a credit union. This time around I am working for FEED Nova Scotia, the umbrella organization for all food banks in the province. I imagine that I shall be very busy, especially approaching the holidays.

Four months from now, when this term is completed, I'll be headed back to school for eight straight months of classes (examples of which are: media relations, crisis communications, advanced writing, modern film, et cetera). Then I'm done. Finito. Fin. I have no idea what kind of "career" is ahead of me; I'm equally interested in communications (especially regarding social justice and involving "new" PR) and journalism. I might go back to school for a degree in journalism, I might not, I can't say. There's also the pesky fact that my boyfriend isn't finished with his studies (engineering) for another two or so years.

The past two weeks of vacation have been nice. I've been seeing some neat movies, and enjoying a lot of solitary time listening to music. My playlist is seeing a lot of Arto Lindsay, Elbow, The Unicorns, Devendra Banhart, Joel Plaskett, Billy Bragg/Wilco, Kimya Dawson, Mogwai, Neutral Milk Hotel, Thom Yorke, Thrush Hermit, The Shangri-Las, and Alice Cooper (because I am tough).

As for movies, Brick was a big disappointment, and the Illusionist was very good. I'm looking forward to Trailer Park Boys: The Big Dirty, Inland Empire, and the Prestige. Rob Zombie's Halloween will be great.

I haven't read anything in the last month besides High Fidelity, but am starting on a Salman Rushdie novel that looks pretty good. Please note: I love book/music/film recommendations!

Thus ends the first personal post on this blog! Cheers!

Lauren