Kevin Ryan in Tokyo

Category: culture

  • Tired of Mr, Mrs, Ms? Why not Mx?

    moto-cross-214937_640No, not motocross, which is what we used when I was a teen on a bike.

    This is a salutation, a title. The only time I use this in English any more is when I sign up to present at a conference. Some organizations insist I pick a title. But now on to the crux of the matter.

    Why not use Mx for everything? I didn’t realize that sex-based titles have only been around since the mid-1800’s. Go figure. Before that they were mostly about class and status. Read more about this over at Language: A Feminist Guide.

     

  • New Science Fiction with an old twist

    Kurt Vonnegut

    I am having a ball. Reading fiction again. Short stories nonetheless. Science Fiction. All because of Neal Stephenson.

    It was mostly detective novels in junior high, but when I got to high school, Kurt Vonnegut and Robert Heinlein got me hooked on science fiction. I wanted to be a chemist and felt science was the best thing man had created. We had just walked on the moon, and I was ready to follow. I told my 6th-grade teacher I would be on the moon before the new millennium. I only got to Japan, but that is pretty close.

    Asimov, the Foundation Trilogy. The Dune Trilogy by Frank Herbert, with the extra couple tacked on. Cycle back to the new Vonnegut, less science, more fiction. I credit him as much as my church for the decision to be a Conscientious Objector, refusing to go to Vietnam.

    Mid-career took me away to Tom Clancy and Stephen King, still fiction, but light. Oh so light. I was busy raising a family. Then on to non-fiction. I have drifted into almost exclusive non-fiction until about a year ago. Not sure what happened. Maybe I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Retirement. I can see all the non-fiction was good, but not so sure it helped a lot. I know a lot of things.

    So some Thomas Pynchon last year, and I did a course in poetry. I am starting to “get” poetry. Just have to keep at it.

    31KQ4hL96SL._UX250_Don’t get me wrong, but there has been one big exception, the James Joyce of our day, Neal Stephenson. Cryptonomicon is my favorite. The Baroque Cycle the most rewarding. I read everything he writes, down to branching fiction about sword-fighting on a website (Mongoliad). Last year, Seveneves came out and it was more science than in a long time. Some great new concepts about the world too.

    Best of all, he has been involved in the Project Heiroglyph, based at Arizona State University. The goal of the project is to bring back science fiction from its current state of common dystopia to something that works closer with scientists, to stimulate and be stimulated, to advance the human race. The first book came out over the summer, and I bought it, but only started reading yesterday. Can’t put it down, except to write this. Good thing my classes are all prepared.

    The first story is by Stephenson, about building a skyscraper…..actually a skypuncturer. Twenty kilometers high, this building goes right up into space. A crazy billionaire starts the project and has his ashes taken up to the top to get sprinkled, just as an unforeseen event occurs. Typical Stephenson, but with a tack that feels good.

    Kathleen-Ann-Goonan-Credit-Joseph-Mansy3-206x300The second story is by Kathleen Ann Goonan and it blows me away. Illiteracy is a disease. It gets cured. The guinea pigs are the dyslexics, and a little girl is the hero. Eventually, the treatment to improve brain function no longer needs drugs, but just mental stimulation from one to another. When everyone can read, it changes how people interact. Fear falls away. Education goes away, learning triumphs. I don’t want to spoil it, but I just bought her other books, and both volumes of Arc Magazine. See you in April.

     

  • Netflix in Japan, Death and Comedy

    OK, I now understand why Netflix is such a big success. Sure, people said that the all-you-can-eat model helps, and now with “binge-watching” of entire seasons of TV, Netflix is the perfect delivery mechanism. So when it came to Japan last September, I signed up. I watched a few shows, but did not get rolling until New Year Vacation.

    NetflixI am a documentary addict, so when Making of a Murderer came out, I was there. The problem is, you can’t binge watch a documentary, especially one like this, unless you want to blow your brains out. I am about 2/3 the way through this tale of two trials of one man, initially convicted for rape, serving 18 years before being exonerated by DNA tests. As soon as he gets out, he sues the police, and lo and behold, he gets charged with murder this time. The parallels between the two trials are amazing.

    I vacillate between the horror of the banality of evil and the stupidity of so many of the people in this story. The family of the persecuted and prosecuted Steven all seem to have an IQ of about 70. But the police and DAs, along with state officials and even the FBI don’t seem much better. Are they covering their ass or is he really guilty. Like any good story (see the podcast Serial, season 1 for inspiration), the perception goes back and forth. The whole thing is set 100 miles north of where I grew up, in rural Manitowoc County in Wisconsin the midwest US. My aunt lives not far away. They all have Wisconsin accents (never realized there was such a thing, until I saw this movie, after living abroad so long).

    Netflix 2So, to avoid blowing my brains out, I would watch 1 episode of the documentary, and sandwich in a comedy. Sherbet for the palate. Yesterday I watch Iliza Schlesinger rock Denver in a one-hour stand-up routine about women and relationships. Great stuff. But today, after more trials, tribulations, and documentary, I see John Mulaney, The Comeback Kid. John is playing at a theater downtown Chicago, looks like the Drake Hotel. Curved ceilings and all. But I find he is from Chicago. Catholic family. 4 kids. The parallels are awesome, and so is his humor. Side-splitting. Gotta see it. Really.

     

    Now back to my murder.

  • The Graduation Thesis: Insufficient and Outmoded

    This the title of a recent article I wrote for my university research journal (Gakuen). In it, I advocate for subsuming the Graduation Thesis, common here in Japan among undergraduates, among a collection of other possible ways for demonstrating ability to work in a field. Notice how I don’t use the word “mastery”, as that is not really possible in a foreign language at the undergraduate level (I work in the English Department).

    This collection of what I call Graduation Projects (sometimes called Capstone Projects) could entail a variety of different ways to demonstrate that one can use tools (not understand a field), as tools and skills are what will be needed in this world with the entire sum of human knowledge is constantly at our fingertips (OK, I exaggerate, but not by much). Knowing stuff is no longer as important as being able to learn new stuff by yourself.

    Read more about it in the article which I have attached here. Another thing I argue for is that all students should learn programming, or at least enough to be able to understand the thinking behind programming. Authoring is no longer just about writing words, and the people who program are creating a world that the rest of humanity has to live in (or will have to live in, soon). So if you want to control your creative production, you have to learn how to program.

    Since the article came out, a number of new events have reinforced the points I made. The most popular major among women at Stanford is Computer Science, along with the most popular course at Harvard, Computer Science. A recent article is going viral about how virtual classes can be better than real ones. Another thing I advocate is for Open Source Publishing, or Open Education Resources, and now the entire staff from a linguistics journal has quit Elsevier in protest over the policies that make huge profits selling things produced at universities back to the faculties.

    Lots more issues, but no time here. Let me attach my article, maybe we can get a discussion going.

    Ryan Gakuen Oct 2015 Grad Thesis Outmoded

  • Frank in Myanmar

    FrankKevin201408 On this most momentous day the first real democratic elections in Myanmar are happening. Frank Berberich, sends a message:

    Yes, I’m very glad to be here now. The run-up over the last few months has been noisy and intense. The “Reds” (NLD) supporters seem to vastly outnumber the government “Greens”.

    Today, it’s quiet on the streets, though, so a very easy trip to AA (six members!). Many shops closed, but lots of people lined up at schools for voting. One of our two Burmese members proudly showed us the ink on his little finger–the badge of a voter having done the citizen’s duty.

    Many people on the street, shopping, drinking tea, talking, taxis and buses mostly, but not nearly so noisy. If only this were normal…. Some fears about possible problems as the results start coming out, but no bulletins from the Embassy so far.

    I sent Wunna a note of congratulations on this historic day. Whatever the outcome, I hope it is “free and fair”, and I feel privileged to be here as this wonderful, but so long abused, place struggles to find its way into democracy.