I had a great time in PEI last year at the APLA conference. A highlight was my first radio appearance discussing academic work. Karen Mair interviewed me for Mainstreet PEI She was an excellent host and I really enjoyed the experience. Here's the sound file if you want to listen to it:
billyonmainstreet_cbc_121111.MP3
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I went to a fantastic event for Guardian Extra members last night. Alan Rusbridger (re-) presented the Hugh Cudlipp lecture he originally gave in January, with the title 'Does Journalism Exist?' It was a fascinating discussion of current issues facing journalists/ newsmakers/news proprietors, beautifully presented and in a nice, informal and collaborative atmosphere. It also got me thinking about lectures in general and what a lecture is.
When we were setting up The Lecture List, we spent a fair amount of time discussing the semantics and pragmatics of the word 'lecture'. Everyone agreed it had a range of negative connotations (dusty dons, puzzled students, ...) On the other hand, public lectures are more and more popular, so there's clearly something attractive about the events behind the word. In the end, we decided the site would survive the connotations and that the notion of what a lecture is might also begin to change as the public appetite for lectures increased.
Last night's lecture was an excellent illustration of why lectures are so popular. A chance to be in the same room as someone with expertise in a particular area (one speaker in the front row began his question by saying how 'privileged' and 'honoured' he felt to be so close to the editor of the Guardian and to be able to ask him a question face to face). And it was a very engaging presentation with supporting audio-visuals, humour and insight, followed by a very relaxed and open discussion.
My heart kind of sunk at the beginning, though, when he began by half-apologising for giving the presentation in the 'archaic' lecture format (he said 'arcane' and then corrected himself, which I guess was also revealing). It sank again when he said 'I'm going to read it, because that's what a lecture is'. Two thoughts occurred to me: the happy one that we're lucky most lecturers don't stick to etymology when deciding what a lecture is, and the dread anticipation of a lecture read from a script. In linguistics, reading lectures from a script is very unusual. In some other subjects, they're more common. While some speakers can read out a text in an engaging way, others do it in a way which means no-one can maintain attention.
Luckily, this was far from a boring, old-fashioned 'reading'. The topic was fascinating, the structure was clear and the delivery was very relaxed and empathetic .
The lecture convinced me that journalism does exist but that it has moved on from an old-fashioned form where 'experts' with privileged access select what readers will be exposed to. Also that it's not completely clear what range of things count as journalism. I think it also demonstrated that something similar has been happening to lectures.
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I've been taking my beer reviewing task pretty seriously, far more seriously it seems than the Italians have been taking their football preparation. With my main aim being to write my Beer World Cup review while my team are still in the tournament, and Italy currently standing aside to make way for Slovakia in the last 16, there's no more time to faff around. So here goes.
Initial thoughts were that the obvious Italian beers are Peroni and Moretti. Initial text-based research suggests that the obvious adjective to describe Italian beer is 'crisp'. New research topic suggests itself: has anybody ever written a sentence containing the words 'Italian' and 'beer' that does not include the word 'crisp'? What does 'crisp' mean exactly? Essentially, it means they're not going for big, complex flavours. They're going for thirst-quenching. But they're also aiming not to be water.
Empirical research involved me trying five beers:
Having tried them all, the one I decided to review was the bottle of Moretti. I ruled out Nastro Azzurro as it's so well known. I ruled out Gran Riserva because it doesn't seem right as an Italian beer representative. I like its darker, chocolatesque flavours but it's not an organic flavour and quite untypical for Italian beer. Moretti draught was ruled out because I wasn't in competition when I drank it, and don't really remember much. And while I really appreciate Ohna sourcing the Marks and Spencer's bottle for me, I can't really review it because I don't know what it is (it was pretty good, actually, light and wet and not identifiable as one of the others in a different label). So the winner is Moretti in a bottle.
What to say? It's got a cute wee bottle with a guy in a hat on it. It's cheap and cheerful. It's not as 'crisp' as Nastro Azzurro. It's 4.4% as opposed to Nastro Azzurro's 5.1%. But it seems to me to do exactly what it's designed for. It's an uncomplicated way to give yourself something wet on a hot day. It's smooth and clear. You could say 'watery' but then water is a pretty good when you're thirsty. But it's not just a bland, insipid water substitute. There's just a little bit of bite to give it an edge as it disappears down your throat.
So there you go: something slightly more interesting than a glass of water to drink on a hot day. And I do mean that as a good thing. How do you think 'not quite water' would work as an advertising slogan?
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Still haven't blogged an Italian beer review. I was hoping to find something more interesting than the standard range (2 Peronis and a Moretti). Ohna found Marks and Spencer's's 'Italian Lager Made With Pure Spring Water From The Alps' for me so I've got a fourth option (wondering who really makes that, though). I should probably post before 3pm today as you never know what Slovakia might do and I wouldn't want to be blogging after already losing on the calcio side of things. Unfortunately, I do have other things to be writing ...
I drew Italy in the beer world cup
Pretty good draw, seeing as Italian beer is easy to get hold of and that Italy tend to be pretty good at football (My task is to post a review of an Italian beer before the end of the tournament. If I do, and if Italy win, I get three cases of interesting beer).
Chris drew Cameroon, which poses a bit of a beer sourcing issue. Yesterday afternoon, I found a source for Cameroonian beer in London for him. Yesterday evening, Cameroon became the first team to be knocked out. Reckon I'd better hurry up and post a review. I'd hate to have to write it, knowing I was already out on the football side. Italy's next game is against New Zealand at 3 o'clock today. No time now, though, as I'm off to see 'Please Give' as a father's day treat. Please, New Zealand, don't do anything rash.
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Paul Grice: Philosopher and Linguist
One thing I love about Grice is that he didn't do any of the things academics were supposed to do back then and 'have' to do now. We're lucky he ever published anything, never mind that he tended to wait until years after everyone had read the photocopies.
I've just been looking again at Siobhan Chapman's brilliant book on him and came across this quote from his first lecture on a course called 'Saying':
'Although the official title of this class is 'Saying', let me say at once that we are unlikely to reach any direct discussion of the notion of saying for several weeks, and in the likely event of our failing to make any substantial inroads on the title topic this term, my present intention is to continue the class into next term'
Wonder what his student feedback forms would have looked like?
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Billy and Tim on prosody and procedural meaning
Finally uploaded our talk on procedural meaning and prosody from the conference in Madrid in October.
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