I was thinking the other day about how long it's been since I've seen a stage production. Given my love of musical theatre, this is most distressing to me. So, I decided that this Friday CJ Funny would come courtesy of the Great White Way.
Originally I wanted to post ""The Crime of the Century" from Ragtime, a terrific menage-a-trois-and-murder-themed song from one of my all-time favorite musicals. ("Oh! Oh!/Harry's a jealous man/Bang! Bang!/That was the end of Stan!") Alas, I could not find a video of the Broadway cast performing this number, though I did find this clip of a summer theatre group performing it so you can at least hear the song.*
Instead, I decided to post a different (but equally great) menage-a-trois-and-murder-themed song from another one of my favorite shows: ""We Both Reached for the Gun" from Chicago. A synopsis for those who (gasp!) are unfamiliar with the plot:
Chorus girl Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger, here in the 2002 movie version) has murdered her lover and hired slick, handsome defense attorney Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) to represent her. At a press conference, Billy spins an alternate (and false) version of the murder in which Roxie acted in self-defense (because, you know, she and her ex "both reached for the gun"). This number is staged as a ventriloquist act in which Billy supplies the words coming from the mouth of his "dummy," Roxie. Naturally, the gullible press corps -- powerless before Billy's substantial charm -- gleefully laps up his story.
So please enjoy the clip, but be warned: you'll be singing this song for the rest of the day. Oh yes! Oh yes! Oh yes, oh yes! Oh yes! Oh yes! Oh yes, you will!
*To get a taste of just how amazing Ragtime is, watch the Broadway cast perform the show's opening number at the 1998 Tony Awards (at which it won Best Original Score) here.
Some of you may be familiar with the Comedy Central stand-up show "Live at Gotham":
Live at Gotham features the country's hottest comedians doing fresh stand-up at the Gotham Comedy Club in New York City. Each week, a new host introduces six up-and-coming comics for an hour of original comedy from the greatest city on the planet. Headliners this season include Jim Norton, Daniel Tosh, DL Hughley and others. Watch what happens when a group of the eagerest, most emerging stars of comedy get their first break in the business.
Myself, I had never heard of this program until yesterday, when my sister informed me that a guy we used to work with back in the day, Vince Averill, is one of the "emerging stars of comedy" set to appear on tonight's episode! Holy Cow!
For today's Friday CJ Funny, please enjoy this clip from Vince's routine called "Crackhead Logic". If you like what you see, tune in to Comedy Central tonight at 10 pm to see him perform live!
WASHINGTON — A new audit concludes that rookie attorneys with Republican roots got interviewed for plum Justice Department jobs while their liberal-leaning counterparts got passed over...
Improper use of the screening program peaked in 2006, when politics and ideology disqualified what the audit called a significant number of newly graduated lawyers and summer interns seeking jobs.
The long-awaited report confirms widespread criticism last year that the once fiercely independent Justice Department was victim to political meddling by the Bush administration. The scandal led to the resignation last September of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
While I'm on the subject, check out this fascinating Daily Show interview with David Iglesias, one of the U.S. Attorneys fired by the Bush administration:
P.S. The NY Times has a similar article about this report here.
Last night I went to the rally for Barack Obama at Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit. (Check out a cool panoramic photo of the 20,000-plus capacity crowd here.) It was, without question, one of the most moving, memorable events I have ever attended in my life.
My sister and I arrived downtown just before 5:30 p.m., roughly half an hour before the doors opened. To say that the area surrounding The Joe was jam-packed doesn't adequately describe the scene. Let me offer you a frame of reference. ("You have no frame of reference here, Donny.") Thirty minutes before the doors opened (and three hours before the actual event was scheduled to begin!), the line of people wrapped completely around the arena and stretched all the way to the Renaissance Centerroughly five blocksaway. (You can see just how far that is by looking at the two shaded areas on the map here.) In other words, there were a lot of people.
But it wasn't just the massive number of people present that made the event so memorable -- it was the astonishing demographic diversity of the crowd. Passing us as we stood in line were Black parents, grandparents, and children, white married couples, young Muslim women in hijab, a 50-ish Black woman in traditional African dress, an extended Asian family, a young Indian man, several groups of Black teenagers, pairs of white college students, a lesbian couple, and, I'm nearly certain, a partridge in a pear tree. We saw a young woman toting a baby in an infant carrier standing near an elderly couple too frail to walk unassisted. Honestly, the group was so eclectic that if you didn't know beforehand what event we were all attending it is unlikely you could have guessed based solely on the crowd composition.
Once inside the arena the atmosphere was electric, to use a rather tired (but apt) expression. There was an almost palpable energy inside -- it was clear that everyone understood that we were participating in an historic event. In fact, the woman in front of us in line (with whom my sister and I became friendly throughout the course of the evening -- we even sat together inside) acknowledged as much with her three children, making sure they understood the significance of seeing the first (half-) Black presidential nominee in U.S. history.
After introductions by Pistons captain Chauncey Billups, Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, and surprise guest Al Gore (!), Senator Obama finally rose to speak...and the place absolutely erupted. The crowd last night was just as frenzied and the applause just as thunderous as at any concert I have ever been to. People were chanting, waving signs, whistling, yelling, cheering, jumping, clapping -- all for a politician. A politician! Not for Bono, or Dave Matthews, or Chris Rock -- a politician!! It was almost surreal.
I'll wrap up here by sharing a few photos and a video I took...and by noting that, between last night's rally and seeing President Carter speak in Atlanta last November, it's been a good year for attending public speaking engagements! --- Somewhere close to the beginning of the line extending out (left to right) from the Joe Louis Arena concourse, down the stairs of the parking structure on the right, and winding back past the police cruiser:
Walking east along the riverfront toward the RenCen (that's Canada in the distance!), and still not to the end of the line:
Senator Obama thanks the crowd and begins his remarks (the crowd is chanting "Yes We Can"):
This video from the June 10th episode of the Daily Show had me laughing so hard I was crying. Turns out even the war on terror is hysterical when it involves subversive muppets. Folks who have (or who spend time with) Elmo-obsessed young children should particularly enjoy this clip...
Generally I cannot abide Jay Leno -- I find his brand of sophomoric, homophobic "humor" utterly intolerable.* (See here fore more info.) And yet, I couldn't help but smile at this clip that's been making its way around the interwebs of Chris Osgood and Nicklas Lidstrom's cameo appearance on The Tonight Show last night:
Pretty smooth, eh? Obviously the guy who asked the original question was a plant** to set up the bit, but I think the Wings fans in the crowd were legit and that Leno's inviting them onstage was spontaneous. And yay for Ozzy and Nick -- two of the classiest guys in professional sports. (Although, if they really wanted to bring sexyback, they would've had Yzerman up there with them. I'm just sayin'.)
P.S. A few years ago Bryan and I saw Lidstrom at the Panera in Novi. He was two people behind us in line, and I swear we were the only ones in the whole place who recognized him. I was so curious as to whether he was going to use a pseudonym when the cashier asked him for a name to go with his order, but nope -- he just said, "Nick". (Although it's not like I was expecting him to say, "Assistant Captain Nicklas Lidstrom, #5, Conn Symthe and Norris Trophy Winner".) Of course we didn't approach him -- the guy just wanted to eat in peace, after all -- but it was pretty cool nonetheless. This brings to about ten the number of Detroit sports stars Bryan and I have seen out and about at various establishments: Steve Yzerman and Chris Chelios at Starbucks (on separate occasions), Justin Verlander Nate Robertson and Sean Casey at a bar in Plymouth, Joey Kocur at a Bay Harbor restaurant, Alan Trammel outside the Westin hotel in Chicago, etc. etc.
*Note the offhand "no making out" comment in the clip. That's exactly what I mean. Ugh.
Some of you may have seen the recent video of more than a dozen (white) Philadelphia police officers using extreme, and most likely excessive, force against three (Black) shooting suspects:
This situation is being described by many as an instance of police brutality. To help understand why, here is some important contextual information:
The grim event took place in the Huntington Park section of one of the United States' biggest cities (by population). Recently, in the close-by Port Richmond part of town, 12-year law enforcement veteran Sergeant Stephen Liczbinski, 39 years of age, was gunned down, making him the third Philly law enforcement member killed while on duty in the last two years...
According to police officers on the scene, the three men are all suspects in a drug-dealing ring and possibly in the killing of the police officer and they were observed firing guns from their car, shots which resulted in the injury of at least three citizens on a street corner. There was a fourth suspect but he ran away from the scene on foot, according to observers.
The video shows as many as 15 officers, all of them white, rushing the vehicle of the three black suspects, yanking them from the car, and kicking and beating them after they were prone....
The news of sanctions against seven more officers came just hours after police captured Eric DeShawn Floyd, 33, the last of three men suspected in Saturday's slaying of Police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski - and shortly before the beginning of last evening's viewing for the 12-year police veteran in Northeast Philadelphia....
Among other developments yesterday, D. Scott Perrine, the attorney for Dawayne Dyches, one of the three men beaten and arrested Monday night, said police had pursued Dyches because they believed he was Floyd....
Police have said the three men - Dyches, 24, of the 2000 block of North Marshall Street in North Philadelphia; Brian Hall, 23, of the 1900 block of North Marshall Street; and Pete Hopkins, 19, of the 2000 block of East Firth Street in Kensington - were arrested after they drove from Fourth and Annsbury Streets, the scene of the shooting in North Philadelphia's Feltonville section, shortly after 10 p.m. Monday.
Police say a fourth man had arrived with the three suspects and fled on foot after firing into a crowd. Police said that 15 spent 9mm casings had been found at the scene, but that no weapon had been recovered from the vehicle, which was stopped about two miles away in the 3700 block of North Second Street.
At that point, the video shows officers charging to the suspects' vehicle with guns drawn. In the next minute, the officers pull the three from the car, beating them after they have been forced to the street. The beatings take up about one minute of the video.
So, Philadelphia officers' emotions were understandably running high after the tragic death of Sgt. Liczbinski, and the three men shown being beaten in the video -- who allegedly had fired shots from their moving vehicle, injuring several people -- were believed to be connected to Sgt. Liczbinski's slaying. Add to this the racial implications of yetanother instance of white police officers using extreme force against Black suspects, and it is easy to see why this situation has garnered so much media attention.
Not being a policing or use of force expert, I'm curious to hear from Scoob, Cranks, or the NY Kid -- have you been following this case? What are criminologists who study use of force saying about this incident?
I know that Passover does not start until tomorrow, but I needed an excuse to post the following video as a Friday [Completely Unrelated to] CJ Funny. For your viewing pleasure, here is a great old SNL sketch in which host Jerry Seinfeld shows up as a belligerent, rude Elijah the Prophet at a family's Passover seder. Enjoy!
To help everyone celebrate TGIF and ease into the weekend, I thought I'd share this video of The Colbert Report's new segment about the criminal justice system: "Nailed 'Em". Enjoy, punks!
P.S. Welcome to our new contributor, Jaydee Toobee! (Say it out loud.) Looking forward to your first post!
We are all familiar with the revolving door that has been firmly installed in most prison systems. The recidivism statistics, though important, blur some of the good news that can come from prison.
Below is a great story about prisoner reentry in the STL - specifically, the great work done by Federal Probation of the Eastern District of Missouri. Great people - doing good things - with fantastic results. http://www.ksdk.com/news/cover_story/cover_article.aspx?storyid=140872
The USDA recalls 143 million pounds of meat from a California slaughterhouse where some of the cows were crippled. Much of the beef went to schools, and a good bit of it has likely already been eaten.
Hearing this story reminded me of a post by Chris Uggen - see video below.
This video and NPR story raise a few issues - 1) Inmates get better food then our school children. I think this is another example of how mass imprisonment continues to leech from other institutions (like schools).
2) Class and nutrition - public schools offer food services for children of lesser means. For our school, this means that many of the children who are bussed in from Big City are getting food services for breakfast and lunch. I think these programs are fantastic and provide an important service to young children; however, the inadequacy of the food provided to these children is troubling. For a nice discussion of urbanism, class, race, and food - see this book.
3) On a personal note, I really like having the ease of having the big boy eat at school once and awhile. For example, last week I left the brown bag lunch on the counter while getting the kids ready for school. Guess what, big boy - the dogs ate your lunch so you can buy today. He was thrilled. It is hard to be perfect mommy all the time, and watching these videos and reports really makes me concerned. Any brown bag suggestions, friends?
There are a couple of things that prompted me to write this post. First, of course, are my own recent experiences with being a job candidate (which I will reference only in the most general of terms, as to do otherwise would be unseemly and unprofessional). Second, I have a very dear friend who is finishing up her Ph.D. and who is on the market for the first time, and she and I have commiserated on more than one occasion about how frustrating (and, at times, bewildering) the academic hiring process can be. Finally, as we recently discussed on this very blog, many people are unfamiliar with what it is, precisely, that criminologists do. I'd argue that the same is true of the academic job search: unless you've been through it, it is hard to fully appreciate just how unique a beast it is.
After thinking it over for some time, I decided that there are several key ways in which the academic job search differs from other types of hiring processes. They are as follows:
1. "The Hiring Season"
The first defining feature of the academic job search is that, with a few exceptions, candidates are interviewed and tenure track positions are filled during one hiring season (roughly from October to March or so), after which job opportunities tend to dry up until the following year's hiring season begins. Of course, there are important exceptions, as I noted: unexpected departmental funding or faculty departures may initiate a search during the spring or summer months, for example, especially if a January start date is possible. Research, data analyst, or other non-tenure track positions also may be filled throughout the year. But, generally speaking, tenure track positions typically are filled during the fall-to-spring hiring season, which means that a candidate who does not receive (or accept) an offer during that time likely will have to wait until the following year to apply for a new batch of positions. It's not as simple as just waiting a few months to see if more jobs become available, as in other types of job searches.
2. "At The Mercy of the Market"
Clearly, it is true in all types of job searches in all types of fields that candidates are at the mercy of the market -- if there are few jobs available, then few people will be hired. But this is especially true, I think, in the academic job search. For example, I am often asked, "Where do you want to work?" or "What area do you want to relocate to?" This is such a difficult question to answer. I usually end up saying, "It depends" -- and it really does. I mean, it may be possible to identify the type of university or the type of department one wishes to work at (e.g., a large, Research-I school or small teaching college; a department with an x/x teaching load, etc.), but that only goes as far as the jobs that are available given one's research focus. So, let's say that I study circus-related crimes, and my dissertation examines intra-acrobat violence. It's all well and good that I know the type of department I'd like to work in, but the only thing that really matters is which departments are advertising positions for circus-crime scholars. Same goes for geographic region: if I desperately want to work in the southwest because it's home for me and I love the heat -- it's not, and I don't -- that matters little if no universities in that region are hiring for a circus-crime position.
Obviously the circus thing is an absurd example, but there's an element of truth to it. Whereas criminologists who study generalist (or "bread and butter") issues may have a broader array of job options from which to choose, scholars with narrower or niche research interests likely do not, hence the whole "it depends" thing.
3. "Incommunicado"
I don't want to over-generalize here, but I think it is safe to say that in few other hiring markets is it commonplace to wait five or six months after submitting one's application to receive any word from the prospective employer. This one really baffles relatives and friends who inquire about my job search:
"So, have you heard back from Ben & Jerry's University yet?" "Nope, not yet." "Wait, didn't you apply in, like, October?" "Uh huh." "But it's April." "I know." "So when are going to hear something?" "I don't know." "Well, can't you call them and ask?" "No." "What?! Why not?" "Because you just don't. You don't call unless you have an offer from somewhere else." "That's so weird." "I know."
The other unusual thing is that not hearing back from a university for several months after you have applied does not necessarily indicate that you are out of the running, so to speak. Bureaucratic snags, search committee SNAFUs, and other unpredictable circumstances sometimes cause long delays between application deadlines and the commencement of candidate interviews. You just never know.
4. "Things Over Which You Have No Control (Or, How Does Anyone Ever Get Hired?!)"
Finally, I have learned from my own experiences as a search committee member and as a candidate, and from the experiences of friends and colleagues who have participated in the academic job search both as candidates and faculty members, that there are many, many forces driving the hiring process over which candidates have zero control. Of course, this is true in other fields as well, and I do not mean to suggest that academics have sole claim to idiosyncratic job searches. But, I think one important distinction is that in academia, a faculty of a dozen or so people often select which candidate will receive the job offer, rather than one or a few people as in corporate hirings. Really, with all of the diverse perspectives, expectations, assumptions, and impressions in any given faculty, it's a wonder that any consensus is ever reached! And there are so many factors beyond a candidate's control that can influence the offer decision: the type and number of a department's teaching needs, the academic pedigree or reputation of a candidate's dissertation chair or major professor, the content of a candidate's letters of recommendation, the opinions of various faculty members about what is "most needed" or who is "most qualified" -- the list goes on and on. As a candidate, you can only have ownership of your credentials, experience, preparation, and the manner in which you represent yourself during the interview -- the rest is out of your hands.
So, what do you think? Are my observations correct, or do you have a different view of things? Anyone care to share (without discussing specifics, of course) their experiences with the academic job search, either as a candidate or a faculty member?
P.S. While I was searching the web for images of Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" to use above, I came across this sweet site where I created the following video -- enjoy!
Welcome back. I didn't get any nominations for great articles for 2007, and I am looking for suggestions as I update my syllabi. I also plan on playing a bit more music in my classes as that seemed to work last semester (I only tried it twice).
Here is the video from one of my favorite songs of 2007. I know it is a cheesy representation of the struggles of young black males in the inner city, and that most mainstream rap music is marketed to people like me. That said, I hear a lot of similar sentiments in the song to those raised by offenders in our jail interviews*.
For those looking for a more scholarly representation of the code of the street, look to this video of germantown avenue the inspiration and context of Anderson's work.
*I have an article coming out on this topic and I will share results soon.
"Don't tase me, bro" - shouted by a Florida college student as officers removed him from a speech by Sen. John Kerry - tops this year's list of most memorable quotes, compiled by the editor of the Yale Book of Quotations.
Because the number one most memorable quote of 2007 stems from an incident involving (questionably appropriate) police use of force, I thought it was worth mentioning here. Says Professor Fred Shapiro of Yale Law School, who compiles the annual list of memorable quotes: "It's not Shakespeare, but there is a kind of folk eloquence in that. It wouldn't be a quote if he didn't say 'bro'...That had just the right rhythm to make it memorable."
You can read the full article here and see the list of the top ten most memorable quotes here.
My pick for quote of the year doesn't make the list, though a variant of it does. "I don't recall," uttered ad infinitum by former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his role in the U.S. Attorney firings, comes in at a solid #5. However, I prefer this somewhat more serpentine, substantially more absurd, and infinitely more humorous version of Mr. Gonzales' mantra: "I don't recall remembering." Priceless!
I don't want this to become a political blog, but I had to share this video*. It teams Mike Huckabee with Chuck Norris. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I like this creativity in marketing.
Who would you want to have in your kick ass campaign video? I am all about Shannon Doherty as Heather Duke from Heathers. I so need to learn to accessorize. *thanks to this blog for the link. She also mourns to recent break from the Daily Show. We are going into withdrawl, but have been able to sustain ourselves with the new Colbert book.
The General Blog of Crime is a crime blog maintained by criminologists who are grad school friends. The views expressed in this blog are our own and not those of the academic institutions at which we are respectively employed. Seriously.
