IDEA13

Blog #337.
Stress Free
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/chris-port-blog-337-stress-free.html

‘Teachers don’t know what stress is, says Ofsted chief.’

Stress Free
© Chris Port, 11th May 2012
(with apologies to Wilfred Owen,
and contempt towards Michael Wilshaw, a stupid evil man)

Swinging under the moon -
Dead as the dust of ghostly suns,
At school, listening to empty rooms.
Always he laughed at evil Mondays,
Until this Sunday and this noose.
If anyone might find him now
He’s buried on page two.

Think how his eyes once shined, -
Joked, once, with girls as cold as stars.
Are dreams, so near-achieved, are minds,
Observed – still born – like broken hearts?
Was it for this he loved and fought?
- Oh what made fatuous Wilshaw talk
Of stress without a thought?

Some disturbing facts:

From 2001 to 2009, 435 teachers committed suicide: 249 men and 186 women, an average of 48 a year (nearly one a week).

Source: Office for National Statistics http://teachermentalhealth.org.uk/teachersuicide.html

63 Primary and Secondary teachers took their lives in 2009 compared to 35 in 2008; a spike of 80 per cent.

Instances of suicide are now 30-40 per cent higher for teachers than the national average.

Source: Channel 4 News
http://www.channel4.com/news/teachers-suicide-rates-double-in-a-year

Some disgusting facts:

“If anyone says to you that ‘staff morale is at an all-time low’ you know you are doing something right.” (Michael Wilshaw, Head of Ofsted)

Is the new chief inspector of schools just an instrument of government?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/jan/23/chief-inspector-schools-michael-wilshaw

Teachers don’t know what stress is, says Ofsted chief
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/may/10/teachers-dont-know-stress-ofsted-chief?newsfeed=true

Futility
Wilfred Owen, May 1918

Move him into the sun -
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields unsown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.

Think how it wakes the seeds,-
Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides,
Full-nerved – still warm – too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
- O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth’s sleep at all?

Blog #336.
’The Name of the Ghost’
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/chris-port-blog-336-name-of-ghost.html

I’m excited today about starting work on a novel (mainly because I won’t have to rely on other people!) The Name of the Ghost is an academic detective story… at least, to begin with…

Teaser: A PhD student is writing a thesis on cult classic horror films from the 1970s. He interviews a terminally ill actor about a legendary ‘lost cut’. What starts as a search for missing film cans soon leads into something more sinister. Everyone associated with the film has died in mysterious circumstances. Someone is trying to stop him – and someone else is leaving him clues. The trail leads from the halls of academia to the corridors of power, and then to a sleepy country village…

No matter how many detective stories or horror films you think you know, it’s not what you think. It never is… :O

Here are some clues (with apologies to William Shakespeare and Umberto Eco)…

The Name of the Ghost…
© Chris Port, 6th May 2012

It’s just my name that is a memory;
I am myself, though unmeasurable.
What’s measurable? It is not love, nor hate,
Nor joy, nor fear, nor any other dream
Emerging through a man. Oh, be some other name.
What’s in a name? That which you call a ghost
By any other name still haunts your dreams…

Blog #335.
On Absolute Evil
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/chris-port-blog-335-on-absolute-evil.html

A composite philosophical examination of the nature of absolute evil compiled from various Facebook debates. In essence, I conclude that goodness is an aesthetic concept while evil is stupidity…

Blog #334.
Somewhere Over A Black Hole
(Tales from the Undiscovered Country)
© Chris Port, 29th April 2012
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/chris-port-blog-334-somewhere-over.html

The mind climbs down into Conrad’s darkness
on Wittgenstein’s Ladder, an astronaut;

crossing the horizon of existence,
beyond all events, like a watch tick caught;

where every atom is torn apart from
the world above us, forever forgot;

love is left behind with its beaten heart,
here in perfect dark, there’s no thought of God;

being then nothing then stranger by far;
time starts again; we are born as a star.

Blog #333.
The Strange Danger of Love
© Chris Port, 16th April 2012
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/chris-port-blog-333-strange-danger-of.html

Strangers become friends
and friends become strangers,
but love never ends
and that is its danger…

Blog #332.
’Beach Fever’
For Sadie
Beach Fever
© Chris Port, 11th April 2012
(with apologies to John Masefield)
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/chris-port-blog-332-beach-fever.html

I must go down to the beach again,
to the empty beach and the night,
And all I ask is a blood moon
and a dog to steer my sight,
And the stone’s slip and the mind’s gone
and the foghorn’s dying,
And a cool kiss on a dream’s face,
and a mad gull crying.

Blog #330.
First Draft PhD Proposal – What Is The Current Role of The Martyr? Skeptical Romanticism and a Metamodernist Renaissance: The Resynthesis of Art, Science and Philosophy in the Context of Musical Drama
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/chris-port-blog-330-first-draft-phd.html

First Draft PhD Proposal
© Chris Port, 23rd March 2012

What Is The Current Role of The Martyr? Skeptical Romanticism and a Metamodernist Renaissance: The Resynthesis of Art, Science and Philosophy in the Context of Musical Drama

Brief résumé

From 1984 to 1996 I worked in the financial services sector for a life assurance and investments company. My job title was assistant manager of client services. I specialized in being an administrative ‘troubleshooter’, investigating and resolving problematic claims and complaints.

After 12 years I began to have deep-rooted doubts about ethics, corruption and systemic risk. Combining my love of drama with my interest in philosophy and writing, I decided to enter public service and become a teacher instead.

From 1996 to 2000 I studied Drama and Education at the Central School of Speech and Drama, graduating with a first class honours degree and PGCE.

From 2000 to 2010 I taught in secondary and further education. However, after 10 years, I began to have familiar deep-rooted doubts about ethics, corruption and systemic risk.

A proposal for a PhD research thesis:

What Is The Current Role of The Martyr? Skeptical Romanticism and a Metamodernist Renaissance: The Resynthesis of Art, Science and Philosophy in the Context of Musical Drama

In essence, my proposal falls into three broad areas of research:

1. Metamodernist Theory
2. Collaborative Practice
3. Interdisciplinary Recommendations

My principal aims are:

1. During the first year, to resynthesize art, science and philosophy into a pragmatic metamodernist agenda (in the specific context of musical drama)

2. During the second year, to devise collaborative methodologies for new musical drama (in the specific context of online resources and social/business networks)

3. During the third year, to create a prototype revisionist model project for development (specifically linking: actors, artists, atheists, community action co-ordinators, composers, designers, directors, educators, government agencies, media producers, philosophers, scientists, security services, sociologists, theists, writers).

Intended outcomes are:

1. A concise artistic manifesto (in the form of an interdisciplinary ‘language map’)

2. A concise ‘guerrilla handbook’ (detailing methods and examples for applying theory to practice)

3. An exemplary playscript, libretto, resources and production notes for collaborative development (with drama schools and media producers)

Here is a brief outline of some key influences, contexts and methodologies.

Ten years ago, towards the end of my degree studies, I became troubled by the implications of postmodernism. For ease of reference, I formulated two antinomic caricatures:

i) Pessimism. The ‘failure of the Enlightenment’ perspective: post-ideological trauma and the fragmentation of metanarratives into anomie, what Brian Appleyard termed the ‘survival of the atomised self’ (see Manifesto for Drama Education in the Twenty-First Century http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/chris-port-blog-110-manifesto-for-drama.html)

ii) Optimism. The ‘joys of interculturalism’ perspective: a playful pick ‘n’ mix approach towards individualism and creativity (see Example of interdisciplinary Postmodernism and intertextuality http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/chris-port-blog-121-example-of.html

I then taught Drama, Media and Film for a decade in secondary and further education. During this time, my experiences in ‘the system’ suggested that postmodernism was an ideological scam. There is a metanarrative: global capitalism.

‘Post-ideological’ ironicism is being reformulated by internet pundits (from all shades of the political spectrum). From a pseudo-Marxist perspective it could be seen as the cunning fragmentation of labour’s solidarity by a capitalist oligarchy. From a gender political perspective,‘masculinity in crisis’ forms an interesting subset of this paradigm.

From a pseudo-liberal perspective, the rise of religious fundamentalism is ambiguous. It appears to be a Third World backlash against neo-positivist hegemony. However, it is simultaneously appearing on the political agendas of the developed world. This suggests that fundamentalism may have deep-rooted psychological and memetic causes as well as political and economic ones. Is fundamentalism the inevitable sequitur to postmodernism, or are there more sophisticated and pragmatic options?

I am particularly interested in focusing on the conflict between science and religion (as exemplified by the work of Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens). One aspect of my proposed ‘language map’ would be the repositioning of aesthetics as a lingua franca (with the ultimate aim of reconciling science and religion in an artistic framework).

I intend to analyze the role of mainstream musical theatre within this framework since this is clearly one of the most populist art forms. My aim is to subvert the dominance of formulaic commercialism by devising rhizomatic strategies to circumvent the existing cartels. Ultimately, I intend to use these as a springboard into new ‘total’ art forms (influenced by some of the ideas of 19th century German Romanticism) reconciling skepticism with romanticism.

German Romanticism is associated with a synthetic nostalgia for medieval integration of the sacred with the secular. I intend to transpose this paradigm to metamodernism, positioning Sam Harris et al. in the secular camp.

I have not yet decided on the ‘sacred’ camp and will be open to suggestions from my supervisors here.

I intend to position my resynthesis using both a Žižekian framework (based on an interdisciplinary analysis of power relations) and a Wittgensteinian analysis of the language games involved.

Here is an initial epistemological ‘debate map’. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B19dnXpLCCwgMWJhYmVmNTQtNzIwNi00ZDFkLWJjODYtYzkyNGI3ZDk2NTc0/edit?pli=1

From an initial manifesto, I intend to research and develop effective online networks leading to collaborative partnerships (initially with composers). This action research section of the thesis will be heavily dependent on advice and contacts provided by the university. One of the challenges of the research will be in developing effective methodologies which preserve the artistic and ethical integrity of the project while adapting to the realpolitik of parochial agendas. A rhizomatic, interdisciplinary approach is therefore vital here in order to tap into different funding root systems.

For further elaboration on preliminary research, please see:

Marty Gull Ideas Tap
http://www.ideastap.com/people/martygull

Marty Gull – Open Invitation for Collaboration on a New Musical Art Form – Link to Central School of Speech and Drama
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/marty-gull-open-invitation-for.html

Marty Gull Complete Libretto
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/chris-port-blog-57-marty-gull-complete.html

Marty Gull Playscript Extracts
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/marty-gull-playscript-extracts.html

The ‘Meaning’ of Life (Emergent Properties)
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/chris-port-blog-102-meaning-of-life.html

Here’s Hoping the Chinese Still Like Ghost Stories: Why I Love Gothic Horror Films
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/chris-port-blog-126-heres-hoping.html

Avowed Atheism versus Deputized Deism: God, whatever He is (or isn’t) is certainly a sense of humour…
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/chris-port-blog-246-avowed-atheism.html

Can Science Answer Moral Questions?
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/chris-port-blog-250-can-science-answer.html

The ‘God’ Measurement. “It doesn’t really matter, does it? I think we’re both talking about the same thing…”
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/chris-port-blog-259-god-measurement-it.html

God’s Null Hypothesis: The Banana Skin on the Pavement…
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/chris-port-blog-261-gods-null.html?spref=tw

“The truth of any statement depends upon its purpose.”
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/chris-port-blog-262-truth-of-any.html

Winning the Narrative: Empiricism, Rationalism and Metaphysics
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/chris-port-blog-263-winning-narrative.html

A Classic Example Of How Empiricists Can Get Themselves Into Trouble… Which came first, maths or the universe?
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/chris-port-blog-264-classic-example-of.html

The Incomprehensibility of Car Mechanics
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/chris-port-blog-265-incomprehensibility.html

Free Will: A Suspension of Disbelief in Our Own Ghost Stories (The Rugby Ball in the Mud, the Ghost in the Machine…)
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/chris-port-blog-267-free-will.html

“I name my demon…” – the Atheist’s Epiphany
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/chris-port-blog-271-i-name-my-demon.html

Providence: The Lazarus Taxon
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/chris-port-blog-273-providence-lazarus.html

Marty Gull – The Guerilla Guide to Revenge Musicals Publishing Pitch
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/chris-port-blog-308-marty-gull-guerilla.html

Is all art inherently political?
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/chris-port-blog-311-is-all-art.html

“Art & politics Now” – Transcript fragments from a Facebook forum discussion in September 2011 (no longer available online)
http://martygull.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/chris-port-blog-325-art-politics-now.html

Blog #327.
The Last Escape (March of the Bastards)
http://martygull.blogspot.com/2012/03/chris-port-blog-327-last-escape-march.html

The Last Escape (March of the Bastards)
© Chris Port, 8th March 2012

(Supplementary song from Marty Gull: The sink estate kids march off to another oilfield war – to the tune of The Great Escape)

“Mother?”
said my dear brother
“I kissed a girl, I think I love her”
Said my dear mother
to my dear brother
“Pull up yer pants and shut up”

“Mother?”
said my dear brother
“I’d give the world to have a father”
Said my dear mother
to my dear brother
“Son you’re just like your papa”

Glory to God so
now I’ve become a man
Though what this thing’s for
I’ll grow to understand
Now I’m at war
with a big sword
here in my hand
Virgins, oh virgins, beware

Glory to God
now I have a weapon
Where do I put it?
“Back in – your – sheath – my son”

(One-two-three, and a-one-two-three, and a-)

“Father?
Just thought I’d ask yer
whether or not you ever loved me?”
Said my dear father
to my dear brother
“Why don’t you ask your mother?”

(Two-three-four-)

Father
up there in heaven
how you must know the ways of women
Said my dear father
to my dear brother
“How do you think I got here?”

Captain Winters’ Memories

Another exemplary style mix for Marty Gull composers. ”Beethoven’s Colonel Bogey” by Dudley Moore.

Original version

Hitler has only got one ball,
Göring has two but very small,
Himmler is somewhat sim’lar,
But poor Goebbels has no balls at all…

Bridge On The River Kwai

See also: Hitler Has Only Got One Ball
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Hitler_Has_Only_Got_One_Ball

Blog #326.
To See, Or Not To See…
http://martygull.blogspot.com/2012/02/chris-port-blog-326-to-see-or-not-to.html

Who would farces bear,
To tongue the arse of such a dreary boss,
But that the red of sloe gin on our breath,
The sun-discovered party, from whose dawn
Each straggler returns, nuzzles a chill,
And makes us rather scared of bills and chavs
Than cry for lovers with a smoker’s cough?
Thus joblessness makes cowpats of us all…

IdeasTap is proving to be an excellent collaborative platform after only 2 days. Marty Gull’s profile is at http://www.ideastap.com/people/martygull. Already getting some good feedback from interested composers. Most are asking similar ’commitment’ questions, so here’s my general reply…

The schedule and completion date are flexible, so please don’t worry about commitments at all. It would be helpful to have musical compositions by the summer. However, the overriding priority at this stage is to get a good collaborative team and a good creative process in place.

There’s no money up front I’m afraid, so whatever you do will have to be motivated by artistic passion or curiosity. The money bit (if any) will be in a possible workshop project (funding permitting) and a book (see Marty Gull – The Guerrilla Guide to Revenge Musicals Publishing Pitch http://martygull.blogspot.com/2011/07/chris-port-blog-308-marty-gull-guerilla.html). I will come to more detailed legal arrangements with contributors on this at a later stage.

I’m happy for composers to take the songs wherever their creative juices flow. If you come back with an interesting composition and say ”Sorry, it doesn’t fit your lyrics”, that’s fine. I might rewrite the lyrics, or I might write some new ones.

The objective at this stage is to get as many composers as possible working on as many (or as few) songs that capture their imaginations. My job will then be to make the whole thing work as a whole (which I’m looking forward to!)

All contributors to the project will reserve and retain full copyright on their submissions (whether used or not). Your work will not be publicized or used without your prior written permission.

For the moment, put copyright entanglements out of your head. That’s what lawyers are (highly) paid for. Just enter the project with an open and honest spirit and get your toe in the door. Don’t send me anything until you’ve had a good look round the many rooms.

I would suggest just having a curious poke around Marty’s blog to get a feel for the project. There’s rather a lot there, I know… so here’s a few pointers:

Open Invitation for Collaboration on a New Musical Art Form
http://martygull.blogspot.com/2010/11/marty-gull-open-invitation-for.html

Status Update and Complete Lyrics
http://martygull.blogspot.com/2010/11/marty-gull-status-update-and-complete.html

Concept Pictures
http://martygull.blogspot.com/2010/11/chris-port-blog-56-marty-gull-concept.html

Complete Libretto
http://martygull.blogspot.com/2010/11/chris-port-blog-57-marty-gull-complete.html

Playscript Extracts
http://martygull.blogspot.com/2011/01/marty-gull-playscript-extracts.html

Blog List and Links
http://martygull.blogspot.com/2011/02/chris-port-blog-93-blog-links.html

Think surreal. Think satirical. Think tragicomic. Think musical political theatre. Think novels and poems. Think TV and films. Think intertextual. Think naughty. Think fun.

At this fluid stage, probably the best thing to do is just go with your gut instincts. Some lyrics and influences will tickle your creative juices more than others. Obviously don’t get stuck into anything (unless the muse carries you away, in which case nothing on earth could stop you). Just dog-ear a few likely candidate songs and start humming a few tunes at the back of your head while doing the shopping or the ironing. It’s the best way in.

One of the key words of the whole project is “rhizomatic”, so just go where those random neuron connections take you. One of my jobs (later on) will be to draw all the different strands together to make them work as a whole… But this is the fun part where I just put my feet up and release creative control to everyone else… Have fun with it.

Please feel free to circulate my work to anyone you think might be interested, and I look forward to hearing from you after you’ve had time to look around the project in more detail.

Marty Gull is now on IdeasTap, a creative network and funding body for emerging arts talent. The group page is at http://www.ideastap.com/Groups/Group/fe0136d4-16d3-4160-8da3-9feb011452fe#Overview

‘Marty Gull’ (Marty[r] Gull[ible]) is a collaborative, surreal, satirical, tragicomic piece of musical political theatre. I’ve written the first draft libretto using a medley of melodies in my head from well-known musicals. Intertextuality and pastiche are the key to understanding the ethos of this project. I’m currently looking for composers to submit their own musical interpretations. The plan is to develop a new collaborative form of musical theatre. Once we get a good working team of lyricists, composers, musicians, actors and designers together we can decide on the final evolution of the piece and arrange copyright accordingly.

Blog #325.
“Art & politics Now” – Transcript fragments from a Facebook forum discussion in September 2011 (no longer available online)
http://martygull.blogspot.com/2012/01/chris-port-blog-325-art-politics-now.html

Blog #324.
”So long, and thanks for all the money.” Is there a workable alternative to Capitalism?
http://martygull.blogspot.com/2012/01/chris-port-blog-324-so-long-and-thanks.html

”… The problem isn’t really the system. All systems are doomed to failure. The problem is whether or not the system allows us to promote good leaders…”

Blog #323.
“Boléro”, “The Man From T.H.R.U.S.H.” and Moriarty…
http://martygull.blogspot.com/2012/01/chris-port-blog-323-bolero-man-from.html

Blog #322.
Wintertime (The Coffin Tree Sighs)
http://martygull.blogspot.com/2011/11/chris-port-blog-322-wintertime-coffin.html

“The thought of suicide is a powerful solace: by means of it one gets through many a bad night.” (Friedrich Nietzsche)

Wintertime (The Coffin Tree Sighs)
© Chris Port, 25th November 2011
(with apologies to George Gershwin, and everyone else)

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong

Wintertime
And the living are sleeping
Wind is blowing
And the coffin tree sighs

You let it in
And the spirits are creeping
So hush whiskey dreamer
Life goes by

One pearly morning
A girl will find you swinging
Then they’ll pack your things
And they’ll never ask why

It’s Christmas morning
A man next door is coughing
And bringing you news of other life