End-of-Semester Blog: Final Revisions

Original Reporting Article

The Eight-Legged Groove Machine Returns

The Wonder Stuff
Construction for the Modern Vidiot (2005)
By Boris Hartl
8.4 Rating

The Wonder Stuff’s musical concoction of majestic guitars and sneering New Wave sensibilities topped with lyrical wit should have propelled the group into the lap of pop royalty.

For nearly a decade the formula worked as the Stourbridge, England, natives became indie-media darlings at home, starting with 1988’s Eight Legged Groove Machine. With a reputation for performing invigorating live shows led by singer Miles Hunt, The Wonder Stuff ultimately succeeded in crafting four albums that matched the energy of its live-stage persona.

But any plans for music domination went askew as The Wonder Stuff only managed marginal success on the pop charts. U.S. audiences were simply indifferent all together. It sure didn’t help that the band followed an unremarkable period of little direction after Groove Machine —covering Tommy Roe’s Dizzy with comedian Vic Reeves comes to mind— before the band crumbled in 1994 after the release of the underwhelming Construction For The Modern Idiot.

Following a six-year break, The Wonder Stuff reformed for a series of live shows, and its return was gloriously captured in Construction for the Modern Vidiot, a collection culling performances from 2000 to 2002 at the Forum and the Longest Day and Fleadh festivals.

In the liner notes, Hunt, whose bravado remained unchanged, wrote:

“It took us six years of not writing together, not playing together and not recording together to finally realise (sic) what was so (expletive) good about The Wonder Stuff,” he wrote in the liner notes. “We were a fantastic live band. Simple as that.”

The live footage is expertly captured and dynamically filmed with the popular choices included in this re-released DVD which made its official U.S. debut in 2005. The songs flow seamlessly from the bounce of “Who Wants to Be a Disco King” to Martin Bell’s fiddle push of “Ten Trenches Deep” to a revved-up version of John Lennon’s “Gimmie Some Truth.”

The DVD also showcases the band’s maturation from a guitar-based outfit singing about cartoon boyfriends and circle squares to one reveling in the steadfast instrumental additions of mandolins and violins. Lyrically, Hunt moved from bratty lines (”I didn’t like you very much when I met you/And now I like you even less” from “Unbearable”) to mature heart stompers (”there are no words to illustrate/a marijuana trip away/confided all I had to say/only to watch it drift away” from “Storm Drain”).

All of which point out that Hunt and company still operate in a separate phylum from their peers. The Wonder Stuff didn’t aim to write national working-class anthems like Pulp, and the quintet didn’t have the identity and humor issues afflicting Radiohead. And they still don’t.

All that Construction for the Modern Vidiot proves is this fact: The Wonder Stuff is simply a group of cheeky buggers who forge ahead crafting silly pop songs — a feat few do better. Welcome Back.

DVD Extras:

• Interviews
• Band Biography
• Behind the Scenes Footage

News Release

THE NORTH CAROLINA BIOTECHNOLOGY CENTER TO OPEN
NEW OFFICE AT THE NORTH CAROLINA RESEARCH CAMPUS

Contacts:
North Carolina Biotechnology Center:
Barry Teater, director of corporate communications.
W. Steven Burke, senior vice president of corporate affairs.
919-549-XXXX.

North Carolina Research Campus:
Andrew Conrad, chief scientific officer.
704-687-XXXX.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Dec. 25, 2006 — The North Carolina Biotechnology Center, a private, non-profit corporation supported by the North Carolina General Assembly, will locate its new Charlotte Area office at the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis.

“This office is a great opportunity to leverage our shared efforts to develop biotechnology research, education, and business in the Charlotte region. Kannapolis will also benefit from this partnership,” said Andrew Conrad, the Research Campus chief scientific officer.

The Charlotte Area office will help institutions, schools and agencies identify area needs, goals, and niche capabilities; draw on the programs and activities of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center; and develop a regional Advisory Committee to guide biotechnology development — all toward the goal of creating biotechnology companies and the high-paying jobs they bring.

The Charlotte Area office will be the final office of the Biotechnology Center. Others established across the state since 2003 include a Western office in Asheville, a Piedmont Triad office in Winston-Salem, an Eastern office in Greenville and a Southeastern office in Wilmington.

The small offices, each staffed by a director and an assistant, work to strengthen biotechnology research, business, education and workforce training in all parts of the state, drawing on the unique resources of each region.

W. Steven Burke, the Biotechnology Center’s senior vice president for corporate affairs, said, “Because biotechnology is complex, its development requires that varied resources work together. Partnerships are key to a successful biotechnology community. Locating our office at the Research Campus is a smart catalyst for scientific and economic development.”

Developing biotechnology in all parts of the state is a major priority of the state’s blueprint for biotechnology development, New Jobs Across North Carolina: A Strategic Plan for Growing the Economy Statewide Through Biotechnology.

The 102-page document lists 54 strategies to strengthen education, business and workforce training programs. Such recommendation include expand funding for high-risk, early stage applied research to develop new products with commercial potential.

Some recommendations include:

• Earmark more funding to the community colleges to hire more instructors and purchase more equipment to train new workers in bioprocessing and biomanufacturing
• Create new investment funds to ensure young companies have access to early-stage investment capital

Niche Capabilities

The Charlotte region has a growing foundation of resources and capabilities for biotechnology development, from university research and workforce training to technology transfer and company development. The region offers niche capabilities in fields that offer promise for scientific and economic development:

• Nanotechnology: The manipulation of matter on an ultra-small scale
• Bioinformatics: The storage, retrieval and analysis of large amounts of biological data
• Biomedical Engineering: The development of prostheses, medical devices, diagnostic devices, drugs and other therapies

More Information

The North Carolina Research Campus, located 10 minutes from Charlotte, is a 350-acre biotechnology center that will create as many 35,000 jobs. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State and Duke universities will have research installations on site.

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center, headquartered in Research Triangle Park with five regional offices across the state, is a private, non-profit corporation supported by the North Carolina General Assembly. The Biotechnology Center’s mission is to provide long-term economic and societal benefits to North Carolina by supporting biotechnology research, business and education statewide.

###

End-of-Semester Blog: Theory

Issue: How to increase user interactivity at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Web site.

Possible Solution: Provide more interplay with the Biotechnology Center staff and Web site visitors through blogs and message boards.

When visitors arrive to the North Carolina Biotechnology Center Web site, they are looking for the employment board and the company directory. Web statistics easily confirm those pages are the most desirable targets on the Web site.

Visitors will spend up to five minutes looking for a job or a certain company, but no more than 45 seconds on the rest of the Web site. That is a problem considering the Biotechnology Center leaders view the Web site as a major tool to communicate with its constituents.

 

I hope to increase the time visitors spend clicking through the site, but more importantly, I want to encourage more two-way communication between the Biotechnology Center’s staff and industry stakeholders through blogs and message boards.

Let Us Blog

I envision the Biotechnology Center having a blog for each of its three main programs:

• Business Development
• Education and Training
• Science Development

As Brian Carroll wrote in the Writing for Digital Media study book, “blogs can make organizations who use them more accessible, answerable and transparent.” With that in mind, I envision the blogs would be written weekly by Biotechnology Center employees first, but then the roster of writers would grow to include high school and university science teachers and local industry leaders, among others.

The blogs could explain and enlighten biotechnology for visitors and make information palatable for people wanting to learn more about the industry. Readers could then leave valuable comments. The key is to provide context on a variety of issues by:

• Commenting on common mistakes committed by those applying for Biotechnology Center research grants and business loans
• Explaining the impact of a new drug
• Providing a transcript of a speech or a panel presentation
• Offering further explanation on how a Biotechnology Center grant will help a small start-up company

I will also look to include more topics after I attend the Jan. 20 North Carolina Science Blogging Conference. Of course, I can dream about the Biotechnology Center’s blogs matching the content and popularity of Microsoft’s splendid blog, Channel 9.

But I’ll be content, for now, with having blogs encompassing various viewpoints that strengthen the Biotechnology Center’s mission to support the industry through communication and education.

Meet Me at the Bulletin Boards

Besides offering blogs, the Biotechnology Center could maintain message boards to foster more interaction with lawmakers, scientists, business executives, students, teachers, and yes, the taxpayers.

Message boards often succeed because a sense of community often develops around forums or boards that feature regular users (The Virtual Community by Howard Rheingold.) The Biotechnology Center’s Education and Training staff could moderate a few boards to facilitate discussions with teachers from around the state.

For instance, the community college instructors in BioWork, a two-year program designed to train entry-level technicians for careers in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and chemical manufacturing, could discuss teaching tips and textbook evaluations. Educators enrolled in the Biotechnology Center’s popular Biotechnology Workshops for Educators could also discuss current science topics and offer insight into new lab activities.

I hope that by writing blogs and maintaining discussion boards, visitors will look to ncbiotech.org as a virtual coffeehouse where people will meet to exchange ideas and information that will strengthen the biotechnology community.

End-of-Semester Blog

1. Write an end-of-semester blog post that catalogs, explores and details how your writing for and understanding of digital environments have changed.

• Discuss how your writing has changed since the beginning of the course.
• What you have learned in the course that you think will prove most
  useful going forward.
• What unanswered questions remain for you.
• How this course could be enhanced, improved, changed.
• What the instructor could perhaps do to better facilitate maximum learning.
• Discuss how your writing has changed since the beginning of the course.

A.) Discuss how your writing has changed since the beginning of the course.

My writing changed because I have made a greater effort to cater to an online audience. And that includes writing short, taut sentences. Removing introductory clauses. Giving equal emphasis to how the words read and look onscreen.

Or, in other words, thinking about how to present my writing in digestible chunks. The key I learned is to rewrite text made for a print publication — say a brochure or magazine article — into short paragraphs. The Web reader skips and skims over the text, so short paragraphs make online content easier to consume. The tools I consistently turn to increase scannability on my Web pages include:

• Using meaningful headings
• Using bulleted lists (my favorite content organizational tool)
• Using highlighting and emphasis
• Placing the most important information first

(All bulleted points provided by Hot Text: Web Writing That Works by Jonathan and Lisa Price. 2002.)

I have forwarded a lot of the readings and discussion points to my colleagues and they are beginning to incorporate those lessons into their own writing.

B.) What you have learned in the course that you think will prove most useful going forward?

I now understand links must give the Web site visitor an idea of what content will appear upon clicking the hyperlink. I’ll go back for a moment to my first days as the Web editor for the Biotechnology Center.

The first page I created for my company in 2003 was a primer on the state’s activities to nurture biotechnology. A feeling of accomplishment washed over my supervisors after they counted 21 one-word links scattered throughout the 319-word article. My supervisors said, “Great use of hyperlinks.”

I look at the page today and all I can say is “Ugh.”

Now that I have nearly completed the digital writing class, I will always remember links are signs along a highway offering suggestions to the web traveler where to go next. The page in question led too many visitors into traffic jams. I now design pages that eliminate any confusion (think “mystery meat” navigation) relating to the site’s navigational and linking hierarchy.

So I now spend two hours a week reviewing pages to create more descriptive links, in an effort to make www.ncbiotech.org a true web portal to all things biotechnology in North Carolina.

Some examples:

• Library Home Page
• Intellectual Exchange Home Page

C.) What unanswered questions remain for you?

I would have to say at this point, I am still struggling to decide how to best craft a style guide governing writing and editing for the Biotechnology Center Web site. As a former newspaper/magazine reporter for four years, I am partial to the Associated Press Style Guide. So that means, for example, writing “Web site” as two words. Other manuals I have studied write “website” as one word (Wired magazine).

So which is the better choice?

And since I work for an organization that does not have a large roster of writers on board, I am trying to determine the right balance between using the Associated Press and other style guides while allowing for some “author flexibility,” as Brian Carroll wrote (Writing for Digital Media study book) to meet my co-workers’ needs.

The final question would be how to entice my co-workers to use the guide.

D.) How this course could be enhanced, improved, changed (be brutal!)

“Writing for Digital Media” was one of the two classes I enrolled in to satisfy the Certificate in Technology and Communication requirements. So my suggestions will focus on three areas:

• Blogging Software
• Writing Length
• Class Standing

Blogging Software

I would recommend allowing students to use any blogging software such as Blogger or Live Journal. My time on WordPress.com was one marred with frustrations. After hand-coding my pages, the blogging system did not display my writing samples properly.

Writing Length

I’m sure a few posters have mentioned the slight confusion regarding writing length. One class rule is to write short and tight, but yet, the some assignments call for at least 700 words.

Class Standing

I would estimate I spent about 12 hours a week studying the assigned readings, thinking and posting messages on the class discussion board and completing the assignments. Yet, I never had a true sense if I was exceeding Brian Carroll’s expectations as a student in this graduate-level class. I know Mr. Carroll is not a “vending machine for grades,” but I often wondered how I was truly performing in the class. I valued Genie Tyburski’s grading scale for JOMC 714: Database Research.

E.) What the instructor could perhaps do to better facilitate maximum learning.

Mr. Carroll, I think you did an admirable job in offering constructive criticism to our writing. You also offered points and readings that allowed the class to think about the digital writing world in a different context.

This was the first class in my academic career where “burn out” did not become an issue. So for that, I thank you. And I don’t think you need to ask this question in the future because the students enrolling in your class are serious about contributing and growing as writers in the digital world.

Module Week 14 Assignment: FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Pitchfork.com.

I. GENERAL

1. Who are you?
Pitchfork is a daily Web-based magazine devoted to album criticism, music news and artist interviews.

1.2 What of type music do you focus on?
Our reviews tend to fall on the independent side with a focus on guitar-based independent rock bands. But our tastes are broad and cover everything from folk to jazz to pop to electronic music.

1.3 Why did you name the publication Pitchfork?
We named the site after Al Pacino’s tattoo in Scarface, which marks him as an assassin in the Cuban underworld. Site Founder Ryan Schreiber said: “It just seemed concise and easy to say. It had these devilish overtones.”

1.4 What is your rating system?
Album reviews are graded out on a 10.0 scale and we are specific right down to one decimal point.

II. WRITING FOR PITCHFORK

2.1 I am a published journalist. How do I write for Pitchfork?
Send three or more published reviews to our reviews editor.

2.2. I have never been published, but I want to contribute. What should I do?
No problem. Write a review from a recent album in your collection — one released in the last six months and that is not in our archives. If you are hired, then your review will be the first one we use for the site. Please remember the review must be at least 400 words long.

2.3 Will I be compensated?
We pay $20 per review and $50 per article.

III. CONTACT INFORMATION

3.1 I saw something crazy at a concert. How do I contact you?
Send an e-mail to our news department. You will remain completely anonymous unless we get your permission to publish your name.

3.2 I want to do the following:

• Submit an album for your consideration.
  Please send the package to:
  Pitchfork Media
  1834 W. North Ave. #2
  Chicago, IL 60622
• To send a news release.
  Contact the News Staff
• To report broken links or factual errors.
  Contact the Web Editor
• To search through your company directory.
  View our Staff Page

IV. ADVERTISE WITH PITCHFORK

4.1 How many daily site visitors do you receive?
About 150,000 people.

4.2. What are your advertising rates?
Ad rates generally range from $3.50 to $8 per 1,000 impressions with a minimum buys of between 100,000 and 300,000 impressions depending on the ad’s size. Our rates are negotiable. Contact Advertising Director Chris Kaskie for more information.

Writing Example Round Two.

The Eight-Legged Groove Machine Returns

The Wonder Stuff
Construction for the Modern Vidiot (2005)
By Boris Hartl
8.4 Rating

The Wonder Stuff’s musical concoction of majestic guitars and sneering New Wave sensibilities topped with lyrical wit should have propelled the group into the lap of pop royalty.

For nearly a decade the formula worked as the Stourbridge, England, natives became indie-media darlings at home, starting with 1988’s Eight Legged Groove Machine. With a reputation for performing invigorating live shows led by singer Miles Hunt, The Wonder Stuff ultimately succeeded in crafting albums that matched the energy of its live-stage persona.

But any plans for music domination went askew as The Wonder Stuff only managed marginal success on the pop charts. U.S. audiences were simply indifferent all together. It sure didn’t help that the band followed an unremarkable period of little direction—covering Tommy Roe’s Dizzy with comedian Vic Reeves comes to mind—before the band crumbled in 1994 after the release of the underwhelming Construction For The Modern Idiot.

Following a six-year break, The Wonder Stuff reformed for a series of live shows, and its return was gloriously captured in Construction for the Modern Vidiot, a collection culling performances from 2000 to 2002 at the Forum and the Longest Day and Fleadh festivals.

In the liner notes, Hunt, whose bravado remained unchanged, wrote:

“It took us six years of not writing together, not playing together and not recording together to finally realise (sic) what was so (expletive) good about The Wonder Stuff,” he wrote in the liner notes. “We were a fantastic live band. Simple as that.”

The live footage is expertly captured and dynamically filmed with the popular choices included in this re-released DVD which made its official U.S. debut in 2005. The songs flow seamlessly from the bounce of “Who Wants to Be a Disco King” to Martin Bell’s fiddle push of “Ten Trenches Deep” to a revved-up version of John Lennon’s “Gimmie Some Truth.”

The DVD also showcases the band’s maturation from a guitar-based outfit singing about cartoon boyfriends and circle squares to one reveling in the steadfast instrumental additions of mandolins and violins. Lyrically, Hunt moved from bratty lines (”I didn’t like you very much when I met you/And now I like you even less” from “Unbearable”) to mature heart stompers (”there are no words to illustrate/a marijuana trip away/confided all I had to say/only to watch it drift away” from “Storm Drain”).

All of which point out that Hunt and company still operate in a separate phylum from their peers. The Wonder Stuff didn’t aim to write national working-class anthems like Pulp, and the quintet didn’t have the identity and humor issues afflicting Radiohead. And they still don’t.

All that Construction for the Modern Vidiot proves is this fact: The Wonder Stuff is simply a group of cheeky buggers who forge ahead crafting silly pop songs — a feat few do better. Welcome Back.

DVD Extras:

• Interviews
• Band Biography
• Behind the Scenes Footage

Module Week 12 Assignment: The News Release

Note: This is not an official news release. 

THE NORTH CAROLINA BIOTECHNOLOGY CENTER TO OPEN
NEW OFFICE AT THE NORTH CAROLINA RESEARCH CAMPUS

Contacts:
North Carolina Biotechnology Center:
Barry Teater, director of corporate communications.
W. Steven Burke, senior vice president of corporate affairs.
919-549-XXXX.

North Carolina Research Campus:
Dr. Andrew Conrad, chief scientific officer.
704-687-XXXX.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Dec. 25, 2006 — The North Carolina Biotechnology Center will locate its new Charlotte Area Office at the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis.

“This office is a great opportunity to leverage our shared efforts to develop biotechnology research, education, and business in the Charlotte region. Kannapolis will also benefit from this partnership,” said Dr. Andrew Conrad, the Research Campus chief scientific officer.

The Charlotte Area Office will be the fifth and final regional office of the Biotechnology Center. Others established across the state since 2003 include a Western Office in Asheville, a Piedmont Triad Office in Winston-Salem, an Eastern Office in Greenville and a Southeastern Office in Wilmington.

The small offices, each staffed by a director and an assistant, work to strengthen biotechnology research, business, education and workforce training in all parts of the state, drawing on the unique resources of each region.

W. Steven Burke, the Biotechnology Center’s senior vice president for corporate affairs, said, “Because biotechnology is complex, its development requires that varied resources work together. Partnerships are key to a successful biotechnology community. Locating our office at the Research Campus is a smart catalyst for scientific and economic development.”

The Charlotte Area Office will help institutions, schools and agencies identify area needs, goals, and niche capabilities; draw on the programs and activities of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center; and develop a regional Advisory Committee to guide biotechnology development — all toward the goal of creating biotechnology companies and the high-paying jobs they bring.

A Strategic Plan Priority

Developing biotechnology in all parts of the state is a major priority of the state’s blueprint for biotechnology development, New Jobs Across North Carolina: A Strategic Plan for Growing the Economy Statewide through Biotechnology. The 102-page document lists 54 strategies to strengthen education, business and workforce training programs. Such recommendation include expand funding for high-risk, early stage applied research to develop new products with commercial potential.

Some Recommendations Include:

• Increase funding for university research, particularly high-risk, early stage applied research, to facilitate a constant flow of new discoveries with future commercial potential;
• Earmark more funding to the community colleges to hire more instructors and purchase more equipment to train new workers in bioprocessing and biomanufacturing; and
• Create new investment funds to ensure young companies have access to early-stage investment capital.

Niche Capabilities

The Charlotte region has a growing foundation of resources and capabilities for biotechnology development, from university research and workforce training to technology transfer and company development. The region offers niche capabilities in fields that offer promise for scientific and economic development:

• Nanotechnology: The manipulation of matter on an ultra-small scale;
• Bioinformatics: The storage, retrieval and analysis of large amounts of biological data; and
• Biomedical Engineering: The development of prostheses, medical devices, diagnostic devices, drugs and other therapies.

More Information

The North Carolina Research Campus, located 10 minutes from Charlotte, is a 350-acre biotechnology center that will create as many 35,000 jobs. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State and Duke universities will have research installations on site.

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center, headquartered in Research Triangle Park with five regional offices across the state, is a private, non-profit corporation supported by the North Carolina General Assembly. The Biotechnology Center’s mission is to provide long-term economic and societal benefits to North Carolina by supporting biotechnology research, business and education statewide.

###

Module Week 11 Assignment: The Blog

Battling the Rain at Shakori Hills

Note: I covered the third day of the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance (Oct. 8, 2006)

SILK HOPE, N.C. — For the second year in a row, the annual Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance has been dubbed by some attendees as “Mudfest 2006.” Here in the parking lot of the 72-acre festival grounds, cars are covered in a soupy mix of mud and grass. And now a light drizzle grows in intensity as I gingerly move through the muck to the main gate.

But the weather doesn’t affect the mood of the ticket checker adored with dreadlocks, a yellow jacket and corduroy pants. The man continues to spin a hula hoop with stretched arms as if to welcome the rain.

Dance With Me

No dance partner? This isn’t a problem it seems at the Dance Tent where it takes only a few moments before you are engulfed by a large circle of barefoot dancers. I am paired with Elizabeth, an organic farmer who closely resembles actress Alexis Bledel. We spend the next 10 minutes learning the basic shag steps, but several missteps later, I realize my lack of rhythm makes it hard for me to succeed.

A Trip to “Antarctica”

There have been some great concept albums. The KISS classic, Destroyer comes to mind. The Who’s Tommy. Radiohead’s OK Computer. But the Never, based in Pittsboro, may be the first band to craft a storybook album focusing on a nuclear bomb and witches.

Antarctica centers on a young lad, Paul, who travels to the city to return the device to its owner. The book’s authors, the five-piece alternative band, handle the material with aplomb. The gentle guitar strumming and sunny harmonies provide a welcome contrast to the weather, and the music plays out well with the band’s young fans sitting in front of the stage. Behind them, a few kids shake their heads and flap their arms near a screen showing 40 different oil paintings from the book.

“Finger Billiards”

Billy Stevens sips hot chocolate from a biodegradable cup as he points out two teenage boys wandering to an open Carrom table.

“They’re back, so that means they are hooked,” he says with a smile.

Stevens can appreciate the addictiveness of the game that seems to attract newbies who can easily lose an hour playing on the square wooden board with four corner pockets. Commonly referred to as “finger billiards,” the game’s objective is simple.

Stevens tells me a player must flick a “striker” at black and white checkers, and victory is achieved when the 10 pieces, including a red one, dubbed the queen, find themselves in the pockets.

The game is a welcome distraction for some festival attendees who seek a break from the non-stop bluegrass and folk music dominating the festival. As the new players find, Carrom moves briskly and strategy plays a major role. Stevens, who is ranked 20th in the Carrom world rankings, tries to showcase the sport to anyone who wants to learn. That is why he’ll delay eating dinner for another hour just so he can hover around the nine tables and gently offer encouragement and tips to players.

“You’re flicking too hard,” he says. “Try guiding the striker.”

Stevens believes Carrom’s popularity could grow beyond the game shops into a wider market. There is no sarcasm in Stevens’ voice when he said the game would work well on ESPN next to the pool and poker programming. So Stevens is looking for an investor to fund his enthusiasm for the game to more lucrative heights. To build thousands of Carrom boards. To fund Carrom teams.

“To make $10 million, you need to invest $2 million,” he says. “And that is all I am looking for.”

And that makes demonstrations like the one here at Shakori Hills vital to growing the game. A sure draw would have been a 12-person tournament featuring some top players from the Southeast. But, alas, the cold rain stopped those plans.

“Out of the Rain”

The Duhks, (pronounced “ducks”) with their mix of gospel, roots, folk and bluegrass music, are made for Shakori Hills. Sure, their intensive instrumental skills and great vocal harmony are all over the map, but that’s a good thing.

They are also a sight to behold. Lead singer Jessica Havey is covered with tattoos and multi-percussionist Scott Senior plays like Animal from the Muppets. The group shined with an upbeat version of the Leonard Cohen tune Everybody Knows complete with a driving drum beat and the call-and-response of Death Came a Knockin’ is a highlight. But the song that drew the most cheers was the aptly named, Out of the Rain.

Module Week 10: Writing Assignment

The Wonder Stuff
Construction for the Modern Vidiot

The Wonder Stuff’s concoction of majestic guitars mixed with sneering New Wave sensibilities topped with lyrical wit should have propelled the group into the lap of pop royalty.

For nearly a decade the formula worked as the Stourbridge, England, natives became stars at home, starting with 1988’s “Eight Legged Groove Machine.” With a reputation for an invigorating live show led by singer Miles Hunt success seemed like a given.

But those plans for world domination went askew as mid-level pop hits sustained the Wonder Stuff for only so long (U.S. audiences were indifferent) before the band crumbled in 1994.

Six years later, the Wonder Stuff have returned with its resurrection gloriously captured in Construction for the Modern Vidiot, a collection culling performances from 2000 to 2002 at the Forum and the Longest Day and Fleadth festivals.

The popular choices are included as the songs flow seamlessly from the bounce of “Who Wants to Be a Disco King” to Martin Bell’s fiddle push of “Ten Trenches Deep” to a revved-up version of John Lennon’s “Gimmie Some Truth.”

The DVD also showcases the band’s maturation from a guitar-based outfit singing about cartoon boyfriends and circle squares to one reveling in the steadfast instrumental additions of mandolins and violins. Lyrically, Hunt moved from bratty lines (”I didn’t like you very much when I met you/And now I like you even less” from “Unbearable”) to mature heart stompers (”there are no words to illustrate/a marijuana trip away/confided all I had to say/only to watch it drift away” from “Storm Drain”).

All of which point out that Hunt and company operate in a separate phylum from their peers. They don’t aim to write national working-class anthems like Pulp, and the quintet doesn’t have the identity and humor issues afflicting Radiohead.

The Wonder Stuff is simply a group of cheeky buggers who forge ahead crafting pop songs, a feat few do better. And as “Construction for the Modern Vidiot” proves, the Groove Machine has returned to fine form.

Week Eight Assignment: Pitchfork Content

Write another post detailing online content you will create for your organization or publication.

Ok. So I wrote an entire blog detailing how Pitchfork posts reviews that can be overwrought and hard to understand at times. So I will aim to remedy this by writing a  review on the new DVD from the British band, The Wonder Stuff.

The Wonder Stuff have released seven albums, but no real  coverage from Pitchfork so I will write a review between 400 to 800 words that uses clear language but still offers the detailed analysis synonymous with the Web site. Writing a review will allow me to complete my class assignment and produce a work sample that I hope will entice the Pitchfork editors to hire me as a music reviewer.

Here are the other requirements:

Send a sample review of a recent album from your collection– preferably one that’s been released in the past six months, and that we don’t presently have a review of in our archive. If we decide to hire you, it’ll be your first review for the site, so we’ll need it to be written specifically for Pitchfork (it can’t have been previously published), and between 400-800 words in length.

Week Eight Assignment: Semiotic Analysis

Write a post or two that explores how semiotic analysis might help us plan our content, Web pages and sites.

As a web content editor of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, my job duties center on simply and clearly presenting information online on our various business and education programs. So it is fitting that www.ncbiotech.org and other sites I work on would benefit from semiotic analysis in the area of navigation.

The challenge is to create signals allowing the user to easily navigate through a Web site. Just as a newspaper reporter must summarize an event using clear language, the Web writer must design pages with the audience in mind to eliminate any confusion relating to the site’s navigational hierarchy. (And that means no “mystery meat” navigation.)

Web writers must also exercise cultural sensitivity in selecting and using icons and metaphors. For instance, when thinking of hyperlink colors, the Web writer should understand the color red symbolizes valor and might in Malaysia, but many African countries equate red with death. (Carroll, “Writing for Digital Media” Study Book)

Semiotics can be valuable in allowing the web editor to choose the proper colors, words and symbols to link web pages together. I have realized semiotics is about making choices—using visual (graphics and illustrations) and verbal cues (hypertexts and headlines) to guide the visitor through the site.

In his research paper, The Relevance of Semiotics to the Internet: How Web Designers use Metaphors in Web Development” Grant Sherson summarized a relevant study by Elissa D. Smilowitz :

“Web pages that use good integrated metaphors have been shown to communicate better facilitate performance and significantly reduce functional errors by those using it.”

A Web writer or designer who chooses to use commonly used icons will convey a clearer message. Looking at my Microsoft Word toolbar, I see scissors signifying “cut.” A printer icon “to print.” A sheet of paper for “new document.” Success in communicating on the World Wide Web ultimately rests in designing symbols all visitors can understand like the home, right and left arrow keys found on most browsers.

Semiotics analysis can also help to expand our vocabulary to look beyond pictorial symbols. In his web blog, web designer Mark Boulton discussed the organization of information writing as he quoted a friend:

“’Words matter’, she said. ‘Probably more than anything. You can have a bad design, but if the words are right and in the right place, the user will generally find what they need’ … the conclusion from this conversation was that words are also signs on the web. The right word in the right place – isn’t that what navigation is all about? Context.”