Black

"Nearly every culture has a history, and some still have a practice, of mourning rituals, many of which involve changes in the dress or appearance of those in grief. The wearing of black clothing or mourning jewelry, hair cutting, and body scarification or ritual tattooing all made the grief-stricken immediately visible to the people around them. Although it is true that these practices were sometimes ridiculously restrictive and not always in the best interest of the mourner, it is also true that they gave us something of value. They imposed evidence of loss on a community and forced that community to acknowledge it. If, as a culture, we don’t bear witness to grief, the burden of loss is placed entirely upon the bereaved, while the rest of us avert our eyes and wait for those in mourning to stop being sad, to let go, to move on, to cheer up."

The Love Of My Life, Cheryl Strayed

Remix

First, a disclaimer: despite going to law school, I know very little about intellectual property or copyright law, although the field has always fascinated me. My curiosity is particularly heightened right now, since I'm reading Lawrence Lessig's Remix.

I'm only halfway through the book, but Lessig begins by discussing the difference between "RO" and "RW" culture. Essentially, a ''Read Only" culture is one in which culture is consumed in a static manner: think about reading a book or watching a television program. To contrast, a "Read Write" culture is one in which people "read" culture and then "add to the culture they read by creating and re-creating the culture around them." For example, think of the millions of online satires on Youtube, where people splice together videos from different sources to make a point. Some of the examples that Lessig employs are the Bush/Blair parody and the music of DJ Girl Talk.

I guess, in a way, this blog is a wee foray into the RW culture: juxtaposing passages that I'm reading/have read with other things that strike my fancy. It never occurred to me that I was engaging in RW culture, but what a fascinating concept...

Addendum: You can download a free version of Remix here!

Addendum 2: A fascinating article on Remix culture and authorship here.