Dialogic Cinephilia - December 31, 2017

Danny Mayer's and Josie Mayer's newest episode of Travels with Jo exploring gentrification in the Northside of Lexington - please share with those that would be interested. This is a great exploration of the subject through representations of the Lexington (KY) northside places being described and visual representations of the sources being discussed and a clear visual representation of Danny's critical thinking. Also great music by Wes Houp, Lyle van Outer and Chris Sullivan.

 

When I got on my plane yesterday I was carrying a book and as I was taking my seat the flight attendant made a production out of the fact I was intending to read a book (she was being playful). Amusingly, people around my seat started gawking in amazement/shock? This was following my observations that out of the sizable crowd of passengers waiting pre-flight for our continental trip I was the only one reading a physical book (or newspaper/magazine). Cell phone usage dominated people's consciousness. I'm not being judgmental, just reflecting on the changes. Amused, gather around folks and see the freakish book-reader ... in that spirit my year-in-books is gathered in this link: "My Year in Books 2017." 

Alt, J.D. "The New Poverty." New Economic Perspectives (December 28, 2017)

ENG 282: 2010 - 2014 Dialogic Cinephilia (Ongoing archive film studies resources)

ENG 282: 2015 - 2019 Dialogic Cinephilia (Ongoing archive film studies resources)

Gee, Alastair. "“Bussed Out”: How Cities Are Giving Thousands of Homeless People One-Way Bus Tickets to Leave Town." Democracy Now (December 29, 2017) ["A major new investigation by The Guardian examined how cities are struggling to solve the problem of homelessness throughout the year, and found many have come to rely on an old solution: a one-way ticket out of town. Relocation programs that offer homeless people free bus tickets to move elsewhere have been around for at least three decades. But as the homeless population rises for the first time since the Great Recession, relocation programs are becoming more common and are expanding to more cities. We speak with The Guardian’s homelessness editor, Alastair Gee, about many people who were bused out, remained homeless and eventually returned to the city they had left."]

Insdorf, Annette. Cinematic Overtures: How to Read Opening Scenes. Columbia University Press, 2017. 

Smith,Yves. "Wired: Self Driving Car Hype Crashes Into Harsh Realities." Naked Capitalism (December 30, 2017)


The Legacy of Paranoid Thrillers from Travis Lee Ratcliff on Vimeo.






My brother Robert cited these lyrics to me as we were adventuring on the Mushroom Trail (more formally known as Annie's Trail) in Solana Beach last week - we grew up roaming the canyons of San Diego and he said when we walked into the arroyo I would have a strong sensory sensation. He was right - memories flooded back to me of long past youthful days roaming through the interlocked San Diego canyon systems filled with thrilling adventures and flights of fantasy (because the outdoors was my childhood virtual reality where I created new worlds and adventures - in those wild spaces I could be anyone and go anywhere). The lyrics by Twenty One Pilots:

Sometimes a certain smell will take me back to when I was young. How come I'm never able to identify where it's coming from. I'd make a candle out of it if I ever found it. Try to sell it, never sell out of it, I'd probably only sell one. It'd be to my brother, 'cause we have the same nose. Same clothes, homegrown, a stone's throw from a creek we used to roam. But it would remind us of when nothing really mattered. Out of student loans and tree-house homes we all would take the latter.