Lost and Found Sound

I continue to be amazed at the evocative power of audio. When I first listened to one part of the Kitchen Sisters recording, I decided to purchase the entire audio book and listen to all of it. The story about the Vietnamese manicurists seems analogous to Brandt's notion of accumulating literacies. Language and literacy embody cultural knowledge and relationships, and it is interesting to hear how these immigrants interpreted U.S. culture through popular music before coming to the states and how they adapted economically through manicuring businesses. The sound narrative captures that cultural exploration and integration.

I also want to plug the rest of the recording on the audio book. One story consists of a series of arranged phone messages that offer a character portrait of the L.A. resident who receives those messages; another story tells of the generational Mohawk tradition of ironwork, both before and after 9/11; still another story tells the history of the Memphis recording industry--Sam Phillips the white person who has often been remembered historically in merging the folk music traditions of both black and white cultures, as well as another black man whose story stands beside his but is more likely to be overlooked in folk music history. These were the innovators of their time who worked from the grassroots with small budgets. The other stories are equally compelling.

I will end with a link to a You Tube video--the medieval help desk--that comically depicts the struggle with teaching and learning new literacies and the accumulation of literacies through time. One could say that we have moved from the scroll to the codex and now back to the scroll. If you haven't seen it before, it's worth your time.