December 17, 2014

Television in the 1950s

The Consumer Society: The “good life” meant more leisure and income. Americans were confident the good life was permanent and they enjoyed flashy cars, televisions, and an openness about sex. Consumer values dominated the American dynamic economy and culture in the 1950s. But, in some ways, mass marketing and consumerism

strengthened a material conformity. Religion and gender roles conformity seemed to be the norm but under the thin layer of banality America was still made up of dissimilar people. While some celebrated conformity, others reveled in unconformity. In the prosperous 1950s there was less demand on government -- the president provided reassurance rather than bold action. Dwight D. Eisenhower dominated the decade – he was a moderate leader well suited to the times. The “Modern Republicans” appealed to a prosperous electorate but Eisenhower’s anticommunist foreign policy was not bland. Socially Americans were challenged by a rebellious youth culture, the alienated Beat movement, and a divisive civil rights struggle. What seemed so homogenous and prosperous and secure was in reality none of those things.

 

 

December 10, 2014:
 
 Radio Sensationalism 2 of 2:  Amy Semple McPherson, Evangelical Politics and Media

Aimee Semple McPherson (October 9, 1890 – September 27, 1944), also known as Sister Aimee, was a Canadian-American Los Angeles–based evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and 1930s.  She founded the Foursquare Church. McPherson has been noted as a pioneer in the use of modern media, especially radio, and was the second woman to be granted a broadcast license. She used radio to draw on the growing appeal of popular entertainment in North America and incorporated other forms into her weekly sermons at Angelus Temple.

In her time she was the most publicized Christian evangelist. She conducted public faith-healing demonstrations before large crowds, allegedly healing tens of thousands of people. McPherson's articulation of the United States as a nation founded and sustained by divine inspiration continues to be echoed by many pastors in churches today. News coverage sensationalized misfortunes with family and church members; particularly inflaming accusations she had fabricated her reported kidnapping, turning it into a national spectacle. McPherson's preaching style, extensive charity work and ecumenical contributions were a major influence in revitalization of American Evangelical Christianity in the 20th century.

 

 

December 3, 2014:

Radio Sensationalism 1 of 2:  War of the Worlds

We generally think of Sensationalism as a type of editorial bias in mass media in which events and topics in news stories and pieces are over-hyped to increase viewership or readership numbers.  Back in the mid-20^th century and earlier, as the radio became accessible to the public, skillful manipulation of the audiences came to a climax with two particular examples:  Orson Well’s fake 1938 radio announcement that the world was being  invaded by Martians and the evangelical charisma of Amy Semple McPherson.

Media tactics appeal to emotions, especially those of a controversial nature, intentionally omitting facts and information, and being loud and self-centered and acting to obtain attention. Trivial information and events are sometimes misrepresented and exaggerated as important or significant.

The War of the Worlds is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It first appeared in serialized form in 1897 – the book has two parts, Book One: The Coming of the Martians and Book Two: The Earth under the Martians. The protagonist struggles to return to his wife while seeing the Martians lay waste to the southern country outside London.

The plot has been related to invasion literature of the time. The novel has been variously interpreted as a commentary on evolutionary theory, British Imperialism, and generally Victorian superstitions, fears and prejudices. At the time of publication it was classified as a scientific romance, like his earlier novel The Time Machine. The War of the Worlds has been both popular (having never gone out of print) and influential, spawning half a dozen feature films, radio dramas, a record album, various comic book adaptations, a television series, and sequels or parallel stories by other authors. The Martian invasion's principal weapons are the 'Heat-Ray' and the poisonous 'Black Smoke'. Their strategy includes the destruction of infrastructure such as armament stores, railways, and telegraph lines; it appears to be intended to cause maximum casualties, leaving humans without any will to resist. These tactics became more common as the 20th century progressed, particularly during the 1930s with the development of mobile weapons and technology capable of 'surgical strikes' on key military and civilian targets.

Wells's vision of a war bringing total destruction without moral limitations in The War of the Worlds were not taken seriously by readers at the time of publication.  H.G. Wells trained as a science teacher during the latter half of the 1880s. One of his teachers was T. H. Huxley, famous as a major advocate of Darwinism. Much of his work is notable for making contemporary ideas of science and technology easily understandable to readers.  In 1894 a French astronomer observed a 'strange light' on Mars, and published his findings in the scientific journal Nature on 2 August of that year. Wells used this observation to open the novel, imagining these lights to be the launching of the Martian cylinders towards Earth. The novel also presents ideas related to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, both in specific ideas discussed by the narrator, and themes explored by the story.  In an earlier essay he speculates about the nature of the Martian inhabitants and how their evolutionary progress might compare to humans. He also suggests that Mars, being an older world than the Earth, might have become frozen and desolate, conditions that might encourage the Martians to find another planet on which to settle.

 

 

 

November 19, 2014:

Dementia and Brain Disorders Part 1 of 2:  Overview

With the rise industrialization and population growth in the 1800s, the number and size of insane asylums in every Western country became evident. This is often referred to as "the great confinement" or the "asylum era". Laws were introduced to compel authorities to deal with those judged insane by family members and hospital superintendents. Although originally based on the concepts and structures of moral treatment, they became large impersonal institutions overburdened with large numbers of people with a complex mix of mental and social-economic problems.  Although the success of moral treatment was questionable by the mid-19th century many became advocates argued that the mad also often had physical/organic problems, so that both approaches were necessary – in turn the profession's eventual success would secure a monopoly on the treatment of lunacy. However, it is well documented that very little therapeutic activity occurred in the new asylum system,

Syndromes, such as the condition that would later be termed schizophrenia, were being identified as relatively rare prior to the 19th century.   Numerous different classification schemes and diagnostic terms were developed as well as an anatomical-clinical descriptive approach. The term "psychiatry" as the medical specialty became more academically established. Asylum superintendents, later to be psychiatrists, were generally called "alienists" since the people they dealt with were alienated from society -- they adopted largely isolated and managerial roles in the asylums. The relative proportion of the public officially diagnosed with mental disorders was increasing, however. This was possibly because of humanitarian concern; incentives for professional status/money; a lowered tolerance of communities for unusual behavior due to the existence of asylums to place them in (this affected the poor the most); and the strain placed on families by industrialization.

By the early 20th century the development of) psychoanalysis, was growing.  Emil Kraepelin's  classification (grouping diseases together based on classification of syndrome — common patterns of symptoms) gained popularity, including the separation of mood disorders from what would later be termed schizophrenia.

Asylum superintendents sought to improve the image and medical status of their profession. Asylum "inmates" were increasingly referred to as "patients" and asylums renamed as hospitals. Referring to people as having a "mental illness" dates from this period in the early 20th century.

November 26, 2014:

Dementia and Brain Disorders Part 2 of 2:  Treatment and Care
Interview with Mary Hulme

Ms. Hulme, founder of Moonstone Geriatrics, is a licensed clinical social worker, geriatric consultant and healthcare advocate who has spent the last 18 years focused on dementia care and education.  She is especially interested in helping families struggling to cope with the many challenges that go along with caring for someone suffering from this complicated and vexing disease. 

 In addition to running Moonstone Geriatrics, Ms. Hulme is the mental health consultant for San Francisco North and South of Market Adult Day Health Care.  She is also a geriatric consultant for Tech-enhanced Life, a company focused on utilizing technology to improve the quality of life for the aging population. 

In addition to speaking at venues throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Ms. Hulme recently co-authored an e-book on a new category of products designed to keep seniors safely at home: activity-tracking home sensor systems.

 

 

November 12, 2014:

World Olympics & the Collision of Politics

The modern Olympic Games (French: Jeux olympiques are the leading international sporting event featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes across the planet participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered to be the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are held every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years but two years apart. Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority.

The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in several changes to the Olympic Games. Some of these adjustments include the creation of the Winter Olympic Games for ice and winter sports, the Paralympic Games for athletes with a disability, and the Youth Olympic Games for teenage athletes. The IOC has had to adapt to a variety of economic, political, and technological advancements. As a result, the Olympics has shifted away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by early 20^th c organizers, to allowing participation of professional athletes. The growing importance of mass media created the issue of corporate sponsorship and commercialization of the Games. World wars led to the cancellation of the 1916, 1940, and 1944 Games. Large boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Games.

November 11, 2014:

The View from Abroad:  Cultural Exchanges & Diplomacy

There was a time when travel was only available to the very wealthy. Times have changed with less expensive air flights since WW2 – if the desire is there and if funds are available adventure and exporation are yours.  Travelling abroad is a means of acknowledging our common human heritage. While our cultures and our languages differ enormously, our songs, stories, and histories express a shared human sentiment says knowledge-must.com…… journeys are about meeting people of diverse cultural background, exploring and experiencing a life you would not find in your familiar surroundings -- experiences for those who value the pursuit of knowledge. Travel is more than just seeing of sights. It induces deep and permanent change in your ideas of living. Embark with Travel Must on a journey you will never forget and explore alternative ways of life. A world of diversity is awaiting you.

 

October 29, 2014:

Post Modernism Dilemma in the 20^th Century

So many “isms” – these isms categorize and organize historical information neatly and, unfortunately, sometimes turning off many otherwise inquiring minds. We all learned in school about the industrial revolution and the modern movement that spun out of control after World War I and the new philosophies that advanced past 17^th century Western Enlightenment’s notions of reforming society though reason while challenging ideas based on tradition and faith, and to advance by imposing scientific thought, skepticism, and intellectual interchange.

Modernism is seen as a socially progressive trend of thought that affirms the power of human beings to create, improve and reshape their environment with the aid of practical experimentation, scientific knowledge, or technology.  Modernists in the 20^th century believed the traditional forms of art, architecture, literature, religious faith, philosophy, social organization, and activities of daily life were becoming outdated in the new economic, social, and political environment of an emerging fully industrialized world. Criticizing an obsolete culture of the past the motto "Make it new!" was the modernists’ movement's approach to what was now.

20^th century Modernism tends to be self-consciousness, leading to experiments with form – the movement explicitly rejected the ideology of realism. The elements of Modernism which accentuated the benefits of rationality and socio-technological progress were being challenged. For example the International Style, emerging in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of modern architecture, reflected the modern movement --rectilinear forms; surfaces that have been completely stripped of applied ornamentation and decoration -- glass and steel, in combination with usually less visible reinforced concrete. Particularly after World War Two, the International Style provided the International Style emerged largely as a result of a strong desire to create a "modern" style of architecture for "modern man". This underlined the need for a neutral, functional style, without any of the decorative features of period styles such as Romanesque, Gothic, or Renaissance architecture, all of which were old-fashioned, if not obsolete.  

 

Postmodernism, a late-20th-century movement in the arts, architecture, and criticism was a departure from modernism.

Postmodernism includes skeptical interpretations of culture, literature, art, philosophy, history, economics, architecture, fiction, and literary criticism. It is often associated with deconstruction and post-structuralism because its usage as a term gained significant popularity at the same time as twentieth-century post-structural thought.  The movement reacted against tendencies in modernism, and was typically marked by revival of historical elements and techniques.

 

 

October 15, 2014:

The Making of Los Angeles Part 1:  WATER


Though many disagree about what can be done about the current drought and its accessibility to a growing population, Californians agree that the state is in the throes of a serious water crisis. This is not unique to California – the issue is global especially in portable water in developing countries. According to Water: Local Action For Global Challenge, January 19, 2006 “even where there is availability of water, conveying it to communities that need it becomes an issue. Provision of drinking water is expensive and difficult”. Approximately 1.2 billion people don’t have access to potable water and 2.4 billion people lack access to sanitation services. The water crisis has affected the health of many people and at the moment, it is estimated that half the hospital beds in the world are being occupied by patients who are suffering from water related illnesses.

October 22, 2014:
Stereotypes of Gay Masculinity:  from femme sissy to uber manliness (1^st hour) and Interview with Will Fellows:  Wisconsin writer and author

WE all use generalizations or profiles about other persons or groups.  It seems human nature to categorize or store such types of information in our brain.  As we expand our experiences and connections with individuals of a particular collective profile we, theoretically broaden our views.  Newcomers are often demonized or stereotyped as a threat – sometimes stereotypes create more obstacles for all of us to “simply get along” with each other.

A stereotype adopted about specific types of individuals may or may not accurately reflect reality.  For example since the 1970s and the increasing visibility of the homosexual male, a stereotype of gay men ranges from the emasculated femme sissy to the uber manliness of extreme. Gay masculinity attributes, behaviors, and roles are socially constructed of both socially-defined and biologically-created factors. Such traits associated with female or male characteristics vary depending on location, context, and a variety of social and cultural factors.

Interview with Will Fellows, author of Gay Bar: 

questions to consider.  Please send me additional questions you feel will be appropriate:

 1.  Tell us about your background.

2.  What inspired you to investigate gay men and their interests in preservation?

3.  Your earlier book "Farm Boys" was a popular success in the gay community -- tell us about the experience of writing the book, intent, topic, the reviews, etc. and working on the stage play/production?

4.  Elaborate on your second work, "Gays in Preservation".  What were some of the findings, commonalities, observations etc from your interviews? How did it differ (or similarities) from "Farm Boys".

5.  Talk about your current book "Gay Bar" and the upcoming film production.

6.  How have your writings and projects influenced your own life.   the importance of documenting glbt history.

7.  Other thoughts...