The Count of Monte Cristo

i love a good revenge story. I also like Orson Wells. The mercury theater is pretty good, too. As you have probably surmised, I was especially drawn to the one hour episode of The Count Of Monte Cristo this week. Admittedly, I was a bit skeptical about cramming over a thousand pages into a 60 minute show, but I gave it a shot anyway. Having already been familiar with the book, I could fill in the gaps that were unavoidable due to the time restraints. I think this show would have been enjoyable for someone who hadn't read the book, but I think the program was geared to those who already had an understanding of the novel. I really liked it, but that's because I really like the book.

The time machine was another one I listened to. Being significantly shorter than The count of Monte Cristo, I think this story carried over into a radio show a little easier and with less dropouts. Plus, this is a great story, too, so it would be pretty hard to mess it up when all the hardest work is already done with the writing.

Week 7

101 - Douglas talks about two "very different kinds of verbal agility" fighting it out on the radio. What were the two linguistic tradition to which she refers? Can you think of any purely linguistic wars that are waged today? What are language wars about; what do they determine, according to Douglas?

Homogenized language and unassimilated linguistic holdouts. Basically slang verses formal speech. The same stuff happens today when you think about hip hop language and college board essays. Douglas says that power of speech commands authority.

102 - What did the BBC require of its announcers in 1929?

a single standard of pronounciation

103 - According to Douglas, which type(s) of programming made use of standardized pronunciations and which type(s) used "nonstandard" English?

Announcers and commercial voices used correct diction while the actual shows yielded to slang and local vernaculars

104 - In television, the phrase "appointment viewing" refers to people arranging their schedules so as to watch a certain show, at a certain time, on a certain channel. Which famous radio comedy is noted for first having this powerful effect on the American public?

Amos 'n' Andy

104 - What type of live entertainment, already eroded by the growing popularity of movies, found a great deal of success when modified for the radio?

vaudeville (wisecrackers)


104 - What is Douglas talking about when she refers to our "infantile greed for disorder?"

Everyone likes to snub the rules and norms once in a while, its fun and funny.

104 - What socioeconomic phenomena of the 1930's helped fuel the success of radio comedy and linguistic slapstick?

The Great Depression

106 - How does Douglas describe Vaudeville humor? What other, older types of live entertainment does she associate with the Vaudeville tradition?

agressive, defiant, and hostile. minstrelsy

108/9 - Which group(s) of people did Amos'n'Andy primarily target with their jokes?

whites

110 - What famous comedians debuted during the 1932-33 season?

Ed Wynn, Fred Allen, Jack Benny, George Burns, and Gracie Allen

Jazz Reading Questions (Week 6)

83/85 - In what way(s) did people listen to music before radio?

Music could be heard in Church, at live performances by professional groups or by yourself, or on phonograph recordings.

84 - What unusual type of literacy is mentioned as common among well-bred, young, turn-of-the-century women?

Piano literacy was a primary source of music proliferation.

84 - Douglas compares the private phonograph listener with the public, mainstream radio listener. Which type of listener are you? Do you want to be in tune with what others are hearing, or do you spend more time independently exploring individual albums?

I listening to whole albums to hear the artists entire message and creativity. Often the most interesting and creative tracks are those that you do not hear on the radio.

86 - What move did ASCAP make in 1923 to protect the record & sheet music industry? What was the result?

ASCAP provided ownership rights of record and written music to the composers and performers. Radio and sheet music companies had to pay royalties to the composer in order to distribute the music.

87 - Which types of music were early radio sets biased toward/against?

Rdio started with primarily voice music, but moved on to include classical instrumental solos, opera, and symphony. Jazz was limited at first, but became increasingly popular.

89 - According to Douglas, how did radio make music a more acceptable pastime for men?

I t allowed them to listen to it easily while carrying on there societal roles.

89 - What city does Douglas mention as being especially associated with jazz in the 1920's?

Chicago

90 - What does Douglas mean by the phrase "race music?"

Jazz and blues started in African American clubs, and was at first exclusively an African American Style

91 - The word "jazz" was apparently used to describe something other than a style of music. What was
that other thing?

Voodoo acompaniment

91/92 - What were the early forms of censorship against jazz and what was the outcome?

Section 26 of the 1927 Radio Act restirct racy vocab on the radio. Jazz endied up becoming very popular and was absorbed into American culture anyway.

93 - Who were some of the early "race musicians" to find a place on radio airwaves?

Earl Hines and Lois Deppe

94 - What was the price of acceptance for race musicians? ... for jazz music itself?

It had to become more polished to be permitted, this compromised artistic integratity and creativity.

97 - What does Douglas mean when she says "It also fanned both a sense of narcissistic individualism, the desire to be above the herd, and a sense of belonging to a community?"

People like to think that they are just one of the many so they associate with new nitch groups that are less popular, at least at first.

99 - How was the war fought over jazz and its presence on the airwaves also a battle over control of American identity?

It allowed for the african american culture to become a part of American culture as a whole.

Technology, LOOK OUT!!!

The enormous radio uses technology to examine american beliefs, societal norms, and especially the way of life of the main character. The main character is quickly jolted out of her fantasy world of symphonies, shopping, and self-righteousness when she realizes that her life isn't as perfect as she thought. She first gets drawn into the radio broadcasts of her neighbors in what seems like a kind of soap opera addiction and then becomes truly distraught when she eavesdrops family problems that stay behind closed doors. She inately believes that her and herown family don't have these kind of problems and that there lives are better. She is quickly jolted back to reality when her husband points out some of her own nefarious deeds and reveals that his job might be in jeopardy. This irony is brought about by the new FM HI-FI radio technology which causes introspection not only in the main character, but in the listener as well.

My favorite listening from this week was"{Sam, this is you." It wasw really cheesy, but in a good way. I thought that the way Sam talked was hilarious. His horrible jokes were pretty funny, too. In this one, technology brings about significant financial gain for Sam and creates a circular turn of events that plays out really well

The veldt strictly implies, "DON'T LET COMPUTERS BABYSIT."

The northern lights is an episode that we listened to in class and I'll go ahead and repeat my intial thoughts, it is absurd. That said, it is still pretty fun to listen to.