Saturday 31 December 2011
Tuesday 20 December 2011
A hot Barthes
Bit of a problem today with a Muslim student who thought I was making an adverse statement about the author of the Qu'ran during a class on Roland Barthes' 'Death of the Author'.
If ever this theory should apply to anything, it has to be to this issue wherein a text's meaning is constantly misinterpreted with disastrous consequences.
But then again, why should he take on board any Western theory?
If ever this theory should apply to anything, it has to be to this issue wherein a text's meaning is constantly misinterpreted with disastrous consequences.
But then again, why should he take on board any Western theory?
Wednesday 14 December 2011
Oh, why bloody bother...
One of the most important theorists of all modernity and the students couldn't give a flying Foucault. I give in…
Maybe I should have started the lecture with the story of when he was found tripping off his tits in a New York sauna and Edmund White was called in to rescue him…
That might have sparked their interest.
That might have sparked their interest.
Labels:
Edmund White,
Foucault,
Modernity,
Queer
Friday 9 December 2011
Punk Freud
Today I gave the lecture on the Freud key text, 'Family Romances'.
I wandered and blathered for three hours about the relationships between ourselves and our parents; about the emotional separation of us from our parents and about how our perception of our parents changed as an essential part of emotional maturity.
I talked about childhood trauma and how as adults we see those traumas reenacted within children that we know - yet fail to remember ourselves as traumatised children. Of how we've suppressed those major traumas and rages within ourselves; rages so catastrophic at the time yet now somehow diffused when remembered as adults.
I noticed a random, smiling student who looked to me as if the penny had dropped; that he'd perhaps reached some sort of theoretical epiphany. Yes - this would be it - he would explain his reading of the text back to class who will have already enthusiastically grasped it. He would continue with his explanation of Sigmund the Great; getting it all wrong but having been carried away by the joy and hubris of that first ever discovery - expanding enthusiastically but incorrectly. I asked him what he thought of Freud...
He smiled. "Isn't it all about wanting to shag your mother?' he said.
I wandered and blathered for three hours about the relationships between ourselves and our parents; about the emotional separation of us from our parents and about how our perception of our parents changed as an essential part of emotional maturity.
I talked about childhood trauma and how as adults we see those traumas reenacted within children that we know - yet fail to remember ourselves as traumatised children. Of how we've suppressed those major traumas and rages within ourselves; rages so catastrophic at the time yet now somehow diffused when remembered as adults.
I noticed a random, smiling student who looked to me as if the penny had dropped; that he'd perhaps reached some sort of theoretical epiphany. Yes - this would be it - he would explain his reading of the text back to class who will have already enthusiastically grasped it. He would continue with his explanation of Sigmund the Great; getting it all wrong but having been carried away by the joy and hubris of that first ever discovery - expanding enthusiastically but incorrectly. I asked him what he thought of Freud...
He smiled. "Isn't it all about wanting to shag your mother?' he said.
Monday 5 December 2011
Saturday 12 November 2011
Monday 3 October 2011
Thursday 29 September 2011
Tuesday 30 August 2011
Gay apps. Bauer. Gscene. Sept 2011
The age of virtual sex is upon us. Well, real sex but accessed virtually if
you will. There’s nothing I like more than logging onto Grindr and the
like on a Saturday night at Legends, sending a load of messages and
seeing all those boys that were in deep conversation, grapple around
their pockets to see where the nearest Gayer is. Yes, all of this in a GAY
bar.
I remember the good old days when one used to approach people directly and strike up a real conversation. If you were still there in 15 minutes you’d buy a drink, 30 minutes then it’s home/alleyway time. But Shagsite use is becoming increasingly ubiquitous with arguments on both sides of the page. Grindr has been called both a revolutionary dating tool (I actually have my own, thank you) as well as the worlds scariest Gay bar - and we’ve been to enough of those.
What do you do in Legends when you see that someone is close? It’s one thing to wave your arm in the air, push through the crowds screaming “CutHung27” - you may even get a few locals waving their arms back too in the same rhythm as the Gaga track that’s on permanent repeat; but what happens when you actually find the Grinderee and realise that his face is actually a subtle but obvious remindr of Rudolph Hess’s.
It’s beyond me why people would choose to use Grindr in Gay spaces. I mean, the Gay clubs are the battlegrounds that were hard fought and hard won to give us the right to cruise in the first
place. I’ve heard that people are even using Grindr at The Bushes! What the hell’s that about? We’ve all heard of pizzas being delivered to cruising areas but even this is a bit too ‘coals to Newcastle’ for me. I suspect that we’re so entrenched in what used to be an exciting covertness that we just can’t seem to let it go. The idea now that technology is designed to make everything even easier and less of a hassle makes me wonder why we bother at all. Why not stay at home with a Jeff Stryker VHS?
“An aisle-specific GPS app would be
a must-have for supermarket cruising; I could easily go off someone who spent too much time in the male grooming section”
Consumption has definitely changed with mobile technology. We can now also have that scanned/barcoded shopping list on our phone too, so as we walk around Asda, we can tap into not only where the two tins of bangers and beans are located but also how many metres away our virtual shag is. I’m sure there will one day be an app to combine the two activities in one so you can food-stalk each other as soon as shopping lists are posted onto each other’s profiles. An aisle-specific GPS app would be a must-have for supermarket cruising; I could easily go off someone who spent too much time in the male grooming section, although less if they were say, at the Deli counter or the homewares section.
I remember the good old days when one used to approach people directly and strike up a real conversation. If you were still there in 15 minutes you’d buy a drink, 30 minutes then it’s home/alleyway time. But Shagsite use is becoming increasingly ubiquitous with arguments on both sides of the page. Grindr has been called both a revolutionary dating tool (I actually have my own, thank you) as well as the worlds scariest Gay bar - and we’ve been to enough of those.
What do you do in Legends when you see that someone is close? It’s one thing to wave your arm in the air, push through the crowds screaming “CutHung27” - you may even get a few locals waving their arms back too in the same rhythm as the Gaga track that’s on permanent repeat; but what happens when you actually find the Grinderee and realise that his face is actually a subtle but obvious remindr of Rudolph Hess’s.
It’s beyond me why people would choose to use Grindr in Gay spaces. I mean, the Gay clubs are the battlegrounds that were hard fought and hard won to give us the right to cruise in the first
place. I’ve heard that people are even using Grindr at The Bushes! What the hell’s that about? We’ve all heard of pizzas being delivered to cruising areas but even this is a bit too ‘coals to Newcastle’ for me. I suspect that we’re so entrenched in what used to be an exciting covertness that we just can’t seem to let it go. The idea now that technology is designed to make everything even easier and less of a hassle makes me wonder why we bother at all. Why not stay at home with a Jeff Stryker VHS?
“An aisle-specific GPS app would be
a must-have for supermarket cruising; I could easily go off someone who spent too much time in the male grooming section”
Consumption has definitely changed with mobile technology. We can now also have that scanned/barcoded shopping list on our phone too, so as we walk around Asda, we can tap into not only where the two tins of bangers and beans are located but also how many metres away our virtual shag is. I’m sure there will one day be an app to combine the two activities in one so you can food-stalk each other as soon as shopping lists are posted onto each other’s profiles. An aisle-specific GPS app would be a must-have for supermarket cruising; I could easily go off someone who spent too much time in the male grooming section, although less if they were say, at the Deli counter or the homewares section.
I’d also love to see the Grindr sexual hierarchy laid out as a map or a
graph and, even if the densest black scribbly bits were nowhere near
myself, it would be interesting to see where all the traffic accumulated.
Just imagine what gossip you could trace with such a graph - like a
painting in Chinese whispers.
I also want a nightclub app which would cause your phone to vibrate and light up even brighter – great for the Pride dance tent. Imagine everything stopping, with half the occupants swivel-heading where the nearest shag might be. I say half because Grindr is for boys only, as girls (apparently in that Victorian way) never get up to
that sort of thing. Well, apparently not. The joyously named Bender (a joyously successful Brighton company) nets approximately one thousand men per day and counting has recently been complimented by Brenda for girls, which scoops up 50 gals per day – which is a great start. Apparently a dedicated trans/intersex version is also on the cards by the same developers (suggested names on a postcard please).
I think a word of caution should be inserted here. Shagsite users have now spread across the globe including the dangerous homophobic parts of America, Africa and the Middle East. The sad thing is that we can never really protect ourselves against the usual persecutors who may stalk us - let alone geo-locate our Gay little asses. So, baiters aside, perhaps there may have to be some sort of policing of these sites - which may very well destroy the covert and dirty nature of it all anyway.
On the happy side, they have other uses as a fun ‘outing’ tool - send someone a message and watch people scramble for their iPhones at church, work, football matches, fire stations, National Front rallies etc. There is, however, a risk of handset damage if used at: Madonna and Gaga concerts, Liberal Democrat collectives or anywhere within three miles of Charleston South Carolina’s city limits (where I’m told that all the men are closets and all their wives alcoholics – ah, nothing could be finr)
I have suggestions for the developers too; I want my proximities in metric, imperial, acreage, fathoms and leagues. And I also want more exacting definitions. I need to know that my perfect mate is two ex’s away from where I’m currently swigging my beer and for Lee, who says he is a fat ten and a half inches away, to actually prove it.
Published version
I also want a nightclub app which would cause your phone to vibrate and light up even brighter – great for the Pride dance tent. Imagine everything stopping, with half the occupants swivel-heading where the nearest shag might be. I say half because Grindr is for boys only, as girls (apparently in that Victorian way) never get up to
that sort of thing. Well, apparently not. The joyously named Bender (a joyously successful Brighton company) nets approximately one thousand men per day and counting has recently been complimented by Brenda for girls, which scoops up 50 gals per day – which is a great start. Apparently a dedicated trans/intersex version is also on the cards by the same developers (suggested names on a postcard please).
I think a word of caution should be inserted here. Shagsite users have now spread across the globe including the dangerous homophobic parts of America, Africa and the Middle East. The sad thing is that we can never really protect ourselves against the usual persecutors who may stalk us - let alone geo-locate our Gay little asses. So, baiters aside, perhaps there may have to be some sort of policing of these sites - which may very well destroy the covert and dirty nature of it all anyway.
On the happy side, they have other uses as a fun ‘outing’ tool - send someone a message and watch people scramble for their iPhones at church, work, football matches, fire stations, National Front rallies etc. There is, however, a risk of handset damage if used at: Madonna and Gaga concerts, Liberal Democrat collectives or anywhere within three miles of Charleston South Carolina’s city limits (where I’m told that all the men are closets and all their wives alcoholics – ah, nothing could be finr)
I have suggestions for the developers too; I want my proximities in metric, imperial, acreage, fathoms and leagues. And I also want more exacting definitions. I need to know that my perfect mate is two ex’s away from where I’m currently swigging my beer and for Lee, who says he is a fat ten and a half inches away, to actually prove it.
Published version
THE APPLICATION OF CRUISING BY CHARLIE BAUER PHD
Wednesday 10 August 2011
The Riots of Consumption
Not that I hark back to the days of 'good brave causes', I mean rioting is rioting but this wasn't about any form of civil rights it was about consumption, it was about these kids not being able to afford anything that they have been marketed. It's about the X (factor) generation unable to be 'stars' themselves, about not having the trainers and the flat screen telly. It's about consumption gone wrong.
Most of all, it's about capitalism finally consuming itself.
Most of all, it's about capitalism finally consuming itself.
Monday 1 August 2011
Wednesday 27 July 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)