text:
Talk:Granny Goose

WikiProject Food and drink Tagging
This article talk page was automatically added with WikiProject Food and drink banner as it falls under Category:Food or one of its subcategories. If you find this addition an error, Kindly undo the changes and update the inappropriate categories if needed. The bot was instructed to tagg these articles upon consenus from WikiProject Food and drink. You can find the related request for tagging here. If you have concerns, please inform on the project talk page -- TinucherianBot (talk) 15:05, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

title: Talk:Granny Goose


text:
Too Many People

"Too Many People" is a song by Paul McCartney and his wife Linda McCartney, from the 1971 album Ram. The song was issued as the B-side of the "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" single, and was also included on The 7" Singles Box in 2022.

Background
"Too Many People" contains lyrical digs at McCartney's former bandmate and songwriting partner John Lennon, as well as his wife Yoko Ono. According to Ultimate Classic Rock critic Michael Gallucci, it is "McCartney's bitchiest kissoff to his ex-bandmates." McCartney recalled in an interview with Playboy in 1984:

"I was looking at my second solo album, Ram, the other day and I remember there was one tiny little reference to John in the whole thing. He'd been doing a lot of preaching, and it got up my nose a little bit. In one song, I wrote, "Too many people preaching practices", I think is the line. I mean, that was a little dig at John and Yoko. There wasn't anything else on it that was about them. Oh, there was "You took your lucky break and broke it in two"."

The song begins with the line "piece of cake", which was later revealed to be a veiled comment at Lennon:

"Piss off, cake. Like, a piece of cake becomes piss off cake, And it's nothing, it's so harmless really, just little digs. But the first line is about "too many people preaching practices". I felt John and Yoko were telling everyone what to do. And I felt we didn't need to be told what to do. The whole tenor of the Beatles thing had been, like, to each his own. Freedom. Suddenly it was "You should do this". It was just a bit the wagging finger, and I was pissed off with it. So that one got to be a thing about them."

- Paul McCartney, Mojo, 2001

The line "You took your lucky break and broke it in two" was originally "Yoko took your lucky break and broke it in two", though McCartney revised it before recording the song. Despite this, Gallucci interprets the line as a "dig at Lennon's relationship with Yoko Ono."

Rolling Stone remarked that "Too Many People"'s "incredibly sweet melody is proof that McCartney could use his charm as a weapon when he wanted to."

The introduction to the song, as well as the bridge, alternate the tonic chord of G major with its minor subdominant chord of C minor. This allows McCartney to go from the bridge to a repetition of the introduction music as a means of moving the music back to the verses. According to Vincent Perez Benitez, this strategy "enhance[s] the coherence of the song," in a manner consistent with McCartney's earlier song "Maybe I'm Amazed." "Too Many People" incorporates guitar solos in both the middle and at the end of the song.

McCartney also recorded an instrumental version of "Too Many People" that was released on his Thrillington album. In this version a stereo phaser was used to produce a sound that music journalist Ian Peel describes as coming from a "psychedelic echo chamber."

Recording
"Too Many People" was initially recorded on 10 November 1970 in Columbia Studios in New York City. Most of the overdubbing, including adding brass instruments to the beginning of the song, occurred in January 1971. Additional overdubbing took place in March and April 1971.

Aftermath
Following the release of Ram, John Lennon pointed out several songs that he claimed were attacks at him, among them being "Too Many People".

"There were all the bits at the beginning of Ram like 'Too many people going underground'. Well that was us, Yoko Ono and me. And 'You took your lucky break', that was considering we had a lucky break to be with him."

- John Lennon

In response, Lennon wrote "How Do You Sleep?" for his album Imagine, an attack at McCartney, which featured musical contributions from George Harrison. McCartney later wrote "Dear Friend", a truce offering to Lennon, and released it on the album Wild Life with his band, Wings.

Critical reception
Rolling Stone rated "Too Many People" to be McCartney's 3rd greatest post-Beatles song, 2 slots ahead of its A-side "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" and behind only "Band on the Run" and "Maybe I'm Amazed." Billboard described "Too Many People" as "wailing sentimentality." Capital Journal critic Steve Gettinger called "Too Many People" a high point of Ram stating that it is "bright and bitter, carefully constructed" and "unmistakably Beatles." Boston Globe critic Ernie Santosuosso described it as "a loud meditation about society" with a "particularly violent guitar statement," praising the music more than the lyrics.

Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn described "Too Many People" as "a sort of musical extension of Thomas Malthus that includes some of the humorous irony of the vintage Beatles," with lines such as "Too many reaching for a piece of cake" and "Too many hungry people losing weight." Hilburn goes on to state that the song provides a lyrical surprise, which he likens to an O. Henry story, in which the lyrics turn to "a statement about the resolution of ones problems in a difficult self-centered world." Hilburn suggests that this may be a reference to McCartney's experience with the Beatles' breakup.

According to Ultimate Classic Rock critic Nick DeRiso, the song's "haughty sermonizing" towards Lennon is one of the weaknesses of the Ram album, though fellow Ultimate Classic Rock critic Gallucci rated the song as the 4th best Beatles' post-breakup fight song.

Of the instrumental version on Thrillington, Peel states that "rock 'n' roll is transformed into funky jazz with more than a hint of studio experimentation."

Personnel

 * Paul McCartney – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar
 * Linda McCartney – backing vocals
 * Hugh McCracken – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
 * Denny Seiwell – drums, percussion

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Too Many People


text:
Genre studies

Genre studies is an academic subject which studies genre theory as a branch of general critical theory in several different fields, including art, literature, linguistics, rhetoric and composition studies.

Literary genre studies is a structuralist approach to the study of genre and genre theory in literary theory, film theory, and other cultural theories. The study of a genre in this way examines the structural elements that combine in the telling of a story and finds patterns in collections of stories. When these elements (or semiotic codes) begin to carry inherent information, a genre emerges.

Linguistic genre studies can be roughly divided into two schools, Systemic Functional Linguistics or "SFL", and English for Specific Purposes or "ESP." SFL scholars believe that language structure is an integral part of a text's social context and function. SFL scholars often conduct research that focuses on genres' usefulness in pedagogy. ESP also examines the pedagogical implications of genre, focusing in particular on genre analysis as a means to help non-native English speakers to use the language and its conventions. ESP genre analysis involves identifying discourse elements such as register, formation of conceptual and genre structures, modes of thought and action that exist in a specific discourse community.

A third approach developed from scholarship in New Rhetorics, principally Carolyn R. Miller's article "Genre as Social Action" and is called rhetorical genre studies (RGS). RGS has found wide application in composition studies, whose scholars insist that the textual forms that are usually called "genres" are only traces of recurring social action. The social action itself, in other words, is the genre, not the document or text that it leaves behind.

Systemic functional linguistics
Systemic functional linguistics scholars believe that language is organized within cultures based on cultural ideologies. The "systemic" of SFL refers to the system as a whole, in which linguistic choices are made. SFL is based largely on the work of Michael Halliday, who believed that individuals make linguistic choices based on the ideologies of the systems that those individuals inhabit. For Halliday, there is a "network of meanings" within a culture, that constitutes the "social semiotic" of that culture. This "social semiotic" is encoded and maintained by the discourse system of the culture. For Halliday, contexts in which texts are produced recur, in what he calls "situation types." People raised within a specific culture become accustomed to the "situation types" that occur within that culture, and are more easily able to maneuver through the "situation types" within that culture than people who were not brought up within it.

Halliday's approach to cultural context in the formation of recurrent "situation types" influenced other scholars, such as J.R. Martin, to develop a linguistic pedagogy called the 'Sydney School'. Martin led the SFL pedagogical approach, which emphasized the role of context in text formation. Martin and his associates believed that process-based approaches to education ignored the cultural boundaries of texts, and privileged middle- and upper- class students at the expense of students from lower-class backgrounds. According to Martin and other SFL scholars, an explicit focus on genre in literature would help literacy teaching. Focusing on genre reveals the contexts that influences texts, and teaches those contexts to students, so that they can create texts that are culturally informed.

Through their genre work in schools, Martin and his associates developed a definition of genre as a "staged, goal-oriented, social process." In the Martinian genre model, genres are staged because they accomplish tasks that require multiple steps; they are goal-oriented because their users are motivated to see the completion of the stages to the end; and they are social because users address their texts to specific audiences.

English for Specific Purposes
English for Specific Purposes scholarship has been around since the 1960s, but ESP scholars did not begin using genre as a pedagogical approach until the 1980s, when John Swales published Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings, in which Swales laid out the methodological approach that brought together ESP and genre analysis. Swales identified two characteristics of ESP genre analysis: its focus on academic research in English and its use of genre analysis for applied ends. ESP focuses on specific genres within spheres of activity, such as the medical profession, but it also focuses on the broader concept of communicative purposes within fields of study.

English for Specific Purposes shares some characteristics with SFL studies. Both believe that linguistic features are connected to social context and function, and both aim to help disadvantaged students grasp the system in which texts are created so that they can create similar texts, by teaching them the relationship between language and social function. Both try to accomplish their goals by teaching specific genres to underprivileged users.

However, there are also some important differences between ESP and SFL. Whereas SFL scholars focus on teaching basic genre structures to primary and secondary school students, ESP scholars are focused on teaching Professional and Academic disciplinary genres to University- and graduate-level students. ESP students tend to be more bound to discursive genre subjects, within very particular contexts. ESP focuses on micro-level genres and contexts, whereas SFL focuses on macro-level contexts.

Rhetorical genre studies
Rhetorical genre studies or RGS (a term coined by Aviva Freedman ) scholars examine genre as typified social action, as ways of acting based in recurrent social situations. This founding principle for RGS was developed in Carolyn R. Miller's essay "Genre as Social Action," which was published in 1984. In her article, Miller draws on Lloyd Bitzer's notion of exigence as "an imperfection marked by an urgency", that is a condition in the world that serves as an "external cause of discourse." Miller modifies this objective view with Kenneth Burke's notion of "motive" as internal source of human action. Drawing on Alfred Schutz's phenomenological concept of typification, she views situations and exigences as social constructions. Genres are typified ways of responding to recurring social situations. As a consequence genres are not fixed in number and cannot be organized into a taxonomy; rather they are evolving historical constructions that "change, evolve, and decay." A rhetorical approach focuses on genres not as forms but as communicative actions.

RGS scholarship has developed beyond Miller's founding definition of genre. Charles Bazerman examined the historical evolution of the experimental article in the sciences and social sciences demonstrating how the major features and variations emerged. He analyzed how the changing forms of the genre and the proliferation of its varieties carried out the activities of those sciences, formed the knowledge of various disciplines, and established criteria about how knowledge should be formulated and evaluated. He also found evidence about how genre expectations influenced the social structure and values of sciences. He then examined how practices of intertextuality and citation developed with modern scientific genres to create more collaborative relations within sciences. Carol Berkenkotter and Thomas Huckin begin with the notion that genre is knowledge foundation, and argue that genres embody communities' knowledge and ways of acting. For Berkenkotter and Huckin, genre becomes a way of navigating social activity. As such, it is dynamic, because the conditions of social activity are always in flux. Recurrence, they claim, involves variation. Berkenkotter and Huckin redefine genre as social cognition.

The notion of "uptake" is also integral to RGS scholars' understanding of genre. Anne Freadman uses uptake to describe the ways in which genres interact with each other in her articles "Uptake" and "Anyone for Tennis?". She uses the game of tennis to explain the ways genres, as typified actions, are "taken up" by writers (tennis players). Tennis players, she says, do not exchange tennis balls, they exchange shots. Each shot only has meaning within the game, its rules, and the context of the game being played. Shots are meaningful because they take place in a game. The game is meaningful because it takes place within "ceremonials." Thus, the final at Wimbledon provides a different context than a game between friends. Genres are the games that take place within ceremonials, and shots are utterances, or verbal exchanges. We cannot really understand a text without understanding the ceremonial in which it occurs. "Uptake" is the illocutionary response elicited by particular situations.

A number of different scholars have proposed terms that highlight the different ways genres may be related to each other. Amy Devitt initially proposed "genre sets" as those genres produced by an individual actor, carrying out that person's various roles, as part of the person's role set. Bazerman proposed "genre systems" to indicate the systematic unfolding of genres in an activity setting. John Swales proposed a similar term, "genre sequences." Clay Spinuzzi, with his term "genre ecologies," emphasized a more open set of genre options in a setting. Vijay Bhatia proposed "genre colonies" to note how genres move from one activity system to another to create new clusters of genres. For instance, if we were to take a courtroom as an activity system, the judge's genre set could be defined as only those genres used by the judge, while all the communications produced by all the witnesses, lawyers, and other court officers would be included within the genre system, and the regularized series of utterances from judge to lawyers to witnesses could be identified as a genre sequence. The total range of kinds of utterances in the court would form a genre ecology, and the introduction of technical discourses through, for example, the testimony of expert witnesses could indicate the colonization of genres from one domain to another. Bazerman, in a more complex example, studied the history and workings of the multiple activity systems and their associated genres that Thomas Edison needed to engage with, including journalism, finances and equity markets, patents and the courts, civic regulation, industrial laboratories, commercial marketing, corporate organization and others, in order to develop a system of lighting and centralized power. The technical innovations only became possible by gaining presence, meaning and value within the communications of each of these systems.

Another influence on rhetorical genre studies comes from M.M. Bakhtin's analysis of genre, based in literary criticism and non-structural dialogic linguistics. Bakhtin considers genre as responsive to social, situational context, laden with intertextual history and ideology. Bakhtin states, "Utterances and their types, that is, speech genres are the drive belts from the history of society to the history of language." His work strengthened the developing view of genre both as a semiotic structure and as a recurrent action analogous to the speech act or utterance. Translated into English from the Russian in 1986, Bakhtin's "Problem of Speech Genres" began to influence genre studies in the 1990's (for examples, in the work of Berkenkotter and Huckin, Devitt, Freedman, Journet, and Schryer.

Literary conventions
Conventions are usual indicators such as phrases, themes, quotations, or explanations that readers expect to find in a certain genre. They could be considered "stereotypes" of that genre. For example, Science fiction is expected to be set in the future, and have futuristic events, technological advances, and futuristic ideas. Realism is expected to contain a story about people who could pass as real, struggling through real-life situations and/or real world events, etc.

Critic Paul Alpers explains that literary conventions are like meeting places where past and present writers "come together" to determine the form a convention should take in a particular literary instance (work). In practical terms, this coming together is a matter of the present writer consulting the work of predecessors, but Alpers wants to connote the sense of active negotiation and accommodation that takes place between the writer and the genre he or she is working in (a genre defined by other people). According to Alpers, a misconception persists in modern criticism that literary convention is an "arbitrary and inflexible practice, established by widespread usage and imposed from without." Convention in this sense is the "antithesis of the personal and individual"; it is "felt to constrain the [writer]." Alpers reconceptualizes literary convention as something "constitutive and enabling." For him, generic conventions are "not fixed procedures imposed by impersonal tradition;" rather, they are the living "usages of other [writers]," "the shared practice of those who come together." Thinking of generic conventions as a practice shared by many users, allows later writers to exercise the same degree of control over convention as those who predated them. Far from constraining writers, convention provides flexibility to preserve certain aspects of a genre and transform others. Convention in this sense enables "individual expression, because the [writer] is seen as responsive to, even when challenging, his predecessors and fellows."

Genre theorist David Fishelov also deals with generic conventions—he calls them "generic rules"—in elaborating his explanatory metaphor of "literary genres as social institutions" in the book Metaphors of Genre: The Role of Analogies in Genre Theory. Fishelov, like Alpers, sees generic conventions as an inescapably "vital part of the literary communicative situation," linking present and past writers to each other, as well as to readers. Established conventions are "a challenge, or a horizon, against which the writer and his reader have to define themselves." The writer may respond to this challenge by "stretch[ing] the generic rules."

Fishelov draws his metaphor of genre as social institution from a passage in René Welleck and Austin Warren's Theory of Literature:

 * The literary kind [genre] is an 'institution'—as Church, University, or State is an institution. It exists not as an animal exists or even as a building, chapel, library, or capital, but as an institution exists. One can work through, express oneself through, existing institutions, create new ones, or get on, so far as possible, without sharing in politics or rituals; one can also join, but then reshape institutions.

This formulation ascribes agency to actors within social institutions. In the same way institutions like churches, universities, and states organize social actors to accomplish collective social purposes, literary genres organize relationships between writers and readers to accomplish communicative purposes, which change over time. Genres are not static, but rather, like social institutions, persist through the constant renovation of their conventions by individuals. Fishelov is particularly helpful in theorizing the role of the reader in alternately constraining and motivating generic change:

 * [T]he reader demands compliance with the established generic conventions so that he can integrate the new text, but at the same time he expects the writer to manipulate these established conventions so that the new text is more than a tedious repetition of the generic tradition.

Reader expectations operate as both a constraint on the writer and a "latent demand for innovation." The writer "is expected to manipulate the existing conventions and to carry them (at least) one step further…. From the writer's perspective, the generic convention is a model to follow but also a challenge to overcome." Fishelov explains that writers choose or are compelled to manipulate prevailing conventions for a variety of aesthetic and thematic reasons.

History of genre theory
Genre theory or genre studies got underway with the Ancient Greeks, who felt that particular types of people would produce only certain types of poetry. or oratory. Regarding literary theory, the Greeks also believed that certain metrical forms were suited only to certain genres. Aristotle said, "We have, then, a natural instinct for representation and for tune and rhythm—and starting with these instincts men very gradually developed them until they produced poetry out of their improvisations. Poetry then split into two kinds according to the poet's nature. For the more serious poets represented the noble deeds of noble men, while those of a less exalted nature represented the actions of inferior men, at first writing satire just as the others wrote hymns and eulogies." This is all based on Plato's mimetic principle. Exalted people will, in imitation of exaltation, write about exalted people doing exalted things, and vice versa with the "lower" types (Farrell, 383). Genre was not a black-and-white issue even for Aristotle, who recognized that though the "Iliad" is an epic it can be considered a tragedy as well, both because of its tone as well as the nobility of its characters. However, most of the Greek critics were less acutely aware—if aware at all—of the inconsistencies in this system. For these critics, there was no room for ambiguity in their literary taxonomy because these categories were thought to have innate qualities that could not be disregarded.

The Romans carried on the Greek tradition of literary criticism. The Roman critics were quite happy to continue on in the assumption that there were essential differences between the types of poetry and drama. There is much evidence in their works that Roman writers themselves saw through these ideas and understood genres and how they function on a more advanced level. However, it was the critics who left their mark on Roman literary criticism, and they were not innovators.

Regarding rhetorical genres, although a general classification of various kinds of oratory predated Aristotle, earlier writers did not provide a conceptual basis for them. Aristotle in his treatise On Rhetoric describes three kinds of rhetoric, based on the kinds of audience; deliberative rhetoric concerning decisions about the future, judicial (or forensic) rhetoric concerning decisions about the past, and ceremonial or epideictic rhetoric concerning decisions about the present. Each genre has a characteristic goal, context, and arguments. This delineation of rhetorical genres persisted into the medieval and early modern educational traditions, being codified in the work of the Roman orator Cicero, the pedagogue Quintilian, in the influential Rhetorica ad Herrenium, and elsewhere. Thus genre became a static, essentialized, and formalized notion, entrenched in later appropriations of the classic tradition in both rhetoric and poetics.

After the fall of Rome, when the scholastic system took over literary criticism and rhetoric, genre theory was still based on the essential nature of genres. This is most likely because of Christianity's affinity for Platonic concepts. This state of affairs persisted until the 18th century.

Enlightenment age
At the end of the 18th century, the theory of genre based on classical thought began to unravel beneath the intellectual chafing of the Enlightenment. The introduction of the printing press brought texts to a larger audience. Then pamphlets and broadsides began to diffuse information even farther, and a greater number of less privileged members of society became literate and began to express their views. Suddenly authors of both "high" and "low" culture were now competing for the same audience. This worked to destabilize the classical notions of genre, while still drawing attention to genre because new genres like the novel were being generated (Prince, 455).

Locke, in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690), had reduced data to its smallest part: the simple idea derived from sense. However, as the science of cognition became more precise it was shown that even this simple idea derived from sense was itself divisible. This new information prompted David Hartley to write in his Observation on Man (1749), "How far the Number of Orders may go is impossible to say. I see no Contradiction in supposing it infinite, and a great Difficulty in stopping at any particular Size. (Prince, 456)."

The possibility of an infinite number of types alarmed theologians of the time because their assumption was that rigorously applied empiricism would uncover the underlying divine nature of creation, and now it appeared that rigorously applied empiricism would only uncover an ever-growing number of types and subsequent sub-types.

In order to re-establish the divine in categorization, the new taxonomical system of aesthetics arose. This system offered first beauty, and then the sublime as the taxonomical device. The problem with Aesthetics was that it assumed the divine and thus the sublime must underlie all these categories, and thus, the ugly would become beautiful at some point. The paradox is glaring.

19th and 20th centuries
American rhetorical education in the early 19th century was dominated by Hugh Blair's belletrism, emphasizing five common forms (letters, treatises, essays, biographies and fiction), and in the later 19th century by what became known as the modes of discourse," based on eighteenth century faculty psychology and codified as narration, description, exposition, and argument (sometimes called persuasion). These formalized and context-free categories were codified in textbooks and influential in the teaching of writing through the middle of the twentieth century.

in 1925 neo-Aristotelian speech criticism inaugurated by Herbert Wichelns in 1925 revived Aristotelian rhetorical genres and codified them in the teaching of new departments of speech communication. Edwin Black identified the classification of rhetoric into forensic, deliberative, and epideictic genres as first among the "primary and identifying ideas of neo-Aristotelianism." Black's critique of neo-Aristotelianism enabled Karlyn Kohrs Cambell and Kathleen Jamieson's turn toward a situation-based, historically-developmental conception of genres.

Evolution
Ever since the late 18th century literary critics have been trying to find a theory of genre that would be more commensurate with the realities of individual texts within genres. The evolution of genre took many twists and turns through the 19th and 20th centuries. It was heavily influenced by the deconstructionist thought and the concept of relativity. In 1980, the instability engendered by these two new modes of thought came to a head in a paper written by Jacques Derrida titled, "The Law of Genre." In the article Derrida first articulates the idea that individual texts participate in rather than belong to certain genres. He does this by demonstrating that the "mark of genre" is not itself a member of a genre or type. Thus, the very characteristic that signifies genre defies classification. However, at the end of this essay, Derrida hints at what might be a more fruitful direction for genre theory. "There, that is the whole of it, it is only what 'I,' so that say, here kneeling at the edge of literature, can see. In sum, the law.  The law summoning: what 'I' can sight and what 'I' can say that I sight in this site of a recitation where I/we is." By which Derrida means that not only is taxonomy a subjective sport, but due to this very fact, the place and time the taxonomical act takes place deserves further study.

Then, in 1986, Ralph Cohen published a paper in response to Derrida's thoughts titled "History and Genre." In this article Cohen argued that "genre concepts in theory and in practice arise, change, and decline for historical reasons. And since each genre is composed of texts that accrue, the grouping is a process, not a determinate category. Genres are open categories.  Each member alters the genre by adding, contradicting, or changing constituents, especially those of members most closely related to it.  The process by which genres are established always involves the human need for distinction and interrelation.  Since the purposes of critics who establish genres vary, it is self-evident that the same texts can belong to different groupings of genres and serve different generic purposes. (Cohen, 204)"

Genre evolution in RGS
RGS scholars largely agree that while genres are indeed dynamic and constantly evolving entities, they are difficult to change. Amy Devitt describes this bind, as she considers a genre to be "both the product and the process that creates it" (580). To Devitt, genres not only respond to recurrent situations, but they construct them as well. Berkenkotter and Huckin note that "Genres...are always sites of contention between stability and change. They are inherently dynamic, constantly (if gradually) changing over time in response to the sociocognitive needs of individual users." This phenomenon makes theorizing genre evolution challenging. Carolyn R. Miller has explored the implications for genre change of the language of "evolution" and "emergence." Many RGS scholars have theorized how genres change. JoAnne Yates and Wanda Orlikowski, who introduced the importance of genre to the organizational studies and information technology fields, embedding it in structuration theory, assert that "one person cannot single-handedly effect the change of an institutionalized structure [like genre]; other relevant participants must adopt and reinforce the attempted change for it to be implemented and sustained in practice" (108). Elsewhere they argue that "the potential for genre modification is inherent in every act of communication," but that only "significant and persistent modifications of genre rules that are widely adopted result in modified genre." In other work, they examine how the structuring of genre systems can be strategically used to organize interaction and influence response timing in electronic interchange. Natasha Artemeva has made similar observations based on an eight-year ethnographic survey that followed engineering students from academia and into the workplace environment. Although Artemeva observed that two of her subjects impacted the evolution of workplace genres when a kairotic moment presented itself (164) these former student's success in changing the workplace genre also depended on three individually acquired skills: 1) "cultural capital", 2) "domain content expertise", and 3) "agency in the rhetor's ability" to not only see when a kairotic moment presented itself, but "to also seize the opportunity" (167). Thomas Helscher is not as optimistic; he writes, the "rhetorical constitution of [a] discourse community operates as a counterweight to the process of community growth and change" (30) and argues that the "transformation of the fundamental generic conventions by which communities constitutes themselves...is paradigmatic of the process of social transformation" (32).

The problem of genre taxonomy
The definition of genre from dictionary.com is "a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, context, technique, or the like." Such a definition seems to invite a fixed taxonomy of enduring categories; however, understanding genre attribution as a process recognizes that genre categories are mutable and evolving, and thus are only quasi-stable.

Genres, according to Daniel Chandler, create order to simplify the mass of available information. Creating categories promotes organization instead of chaos. Jane Feuer has divided ways to categorize genres into three different groups. The first is aesthetic. By using this method one can organize according to certain sets of characteristics, and so the overall work of the artist is not disparaged by generalization. The second classification method is ritual. Ritual uses its own culture to help classify. If one performs a ritual associated with a system of ritual, one can be said to be practicing as a member of that system. The common taxonomic method is ideological. This occurs most often in the marketing of texts, music, and movies. The effectiveness of this type of categorization can be measured by how well the public accepts these categories as valid.

Amy J. Devitt focuses on the rhetorical approach to genre. Scholars generally recognize the restrictions placed on works that have been classified as a certain genre. However, viewing genre as a rhetorical device gives the author and the reader more freedom and "allows for choices." Genres are not free-standing entities, but are actually intimately connected and interactive amongst themselves and the activities carried out by those among whom the genres circulate, leading to pervasive change and hybridity. Rhetorical theory of genre recognizes that genres are generated by authors, readers, publishers, and the entire array of social forces that act upon a work at every stage of its production. Consequently rhetorical genre scholars tend to focus on the processes of genre production and change rather than taxonomies of genre that are mutable and subject to the changing interests and perceptions of users within evolving social circumstances.

This recognition of the mutability and fluidity does not make the taxonomy of texts easy. Chandler points out that very few works have all the characteristics of the genre in which they participate. Also, due to the interrelatedness of genres, none of them is clearly defined at the edges, but rather fade into one another. Genre works to promote organization, but there is no absolute way to classify works, and thus genre is still problematic and its theory still evolving.

Moreover, the metagenre as a concept has been an important point to study. According to Giltrow, metagenre is "situated language about situated language". Metagenres such as institutional guidelines can be "ruling out certain kinds of expression, endorsing others", constraining and enabling. The concept of metagenre also provides a valuable way to understand the dynamics of institutional interrelations between genres. In the mental health discourse, for example, has been demonstrated the metageneric function of the American Psychiatric Association's (DSM) for standardizing and mediating the localized epistemological communicative practices of psychiatrists.

Functions and limits
Genre began as an absolute classification system in ancient Greece. Poetry, prose and performance had a specific and calculated style that related to the theme of the story. Speech patterns for comedy would not be appropriate for tragedy, and even actors were restricted to their genre under the assumption that a type of person could tell one type of story best. This classical system worked well as long as the arts were largely directed by nobility and rich patrons. A common understanding of meaning was handy in knowing what the employer expected, and the crowds understood it.

During the Enlightenment period in 18th century Europe, this system of patronage began to change. A merchant middle class began to emerge with money to spend and time to spend it. Artists could venture away from classical genres and try new ways to attract paying patrons. "Comedy" could now mean Greek metered comedy, or physical camp, or some other type of experience. Artists were also free to use their mediums to express the human condition in a way that was not possible under single patronage, or at least not profitable. Art could be used to reflect and comment on the lives of ordinary people. Genre became a dynamic tool to help the public make sense out of unpredictable art. Because art is often a response to a social state, in that people write/paint/sing/dance about what they know about, the use of genre as a tool must be able to adapt to changing meanings. In fact, as far back as ancient Greece, new art forms were emerging that called for the evolution of genre, for example the "tragicomedy."

Unfortunately, genre does have its limitations. Our world has grown so much that it is difficult to absolutely classify something. Information overlaps, and a single book can encompass elements of several genres. For example, a book might be classified as fiction, mystery, science fiction and African American literature all at once. Genre suffers from the same ills of any classification system. Humans are pattern-seeking beings; we like to create order out of the chaos of the universe. However, when we forget that our order is imposed, often arbitrarily, over a universe of unique experiences, the merit of the individual gets lost. If a system of classification, like genre, is then used to assign value judgments, we allow our preconceptions about the whole to influence our opinion of the individual. Genre is useful as long as we remember that it is a helpful tool, to be reassessed and scrutinized, and to weigh works on their unique merit as well as their place within the genre.

A simple example of the inherent meaning in an art form is that of a western movie where two men face each other on a dusty and empty road; one wears a black hat, the other white. Independent of any external meaning, there is no way to tell what the situation might mean, but due to the long development of the "western" genre, it is clear to the informed audience that they are watching a gunfight showdown between a bad guy and a good guy.

It has been suggested that genres resonate with people because of the familiarity, the shorthand communication, as well as the tendency of genres to shift with public mores and to reflect the zeitgeist. While the genre of storytelling has been relegated as lesser form of art because of the heavily borrowed nature of the conventions, admiration has grown. Proponents argue that the genius of an effective genre piece is in the variation, recombination, and evolution of the codes.

Genre studies have perhaps gained the most recognition in film theory, where the study of genre directly contrasts with auteur theory, which privileges the director's role in crafting a movie.

In social communities
There is something more about genre theory, and to that effect it is necessary to propose Kristen H. Perry's definition. Written (textual) genres are social constructions that represent specific purposes for reading and writing within different social activities, created by social groups who need them to perform certain things. They change over time, reflecting essential shifts in social function performed by that text. Genres also represent constellations of textual attributes: some attributes are necessary and other attributes are optional.

Another definition which shows the different aspects of genre theory is Miller who defines genres as "typified rhetorical actions" that respond to recurring situations and become instantiated in groups' behaviors. Genre evolves as "a form of social knowledge—a mutual construing of objects, events, interests and purposes that not only links them but makes them what they are: an objectified social need". This view sees genres not as static forms but, rather, as "forms of ways of being ... frames for social action ... environments for learning ... locations within which meaning is constructed" (Bazerman), suggesting that different communities use different means of communication to accomplish their objectives.

To try to show the importance of the context in genre an example is used about a particular part of the genre theory—speech genres; but it is important to stress that context is really important in all situations. Context plays an important role in shaping genres (Holquist, 1986). Genre theory does not conceptualize context as simply the space outside of text or the container surrounding texts, but as dynamic environments that simultaneously structure and are structured by the communicative practices of social agents. Speech genres are recognizable patterns of language-in-context (Bakhtin, 1986): speech genres include both oral and written forms of language.

Researchers have also shown that the rhetorical moves people must make within accepted genres to communicate successfully in particular contexts operate to reinforce communities' identities and to legitimate particular communication practices. Thus, the genres that communities enact help structure their members' ways of creating, interpreting, and using knowledge (Myers; Winsor, Ordering, Writing; Bazerman, Shaping, Constructing; Berkenkotter and Huckin; Smart). Genres are very important in our everyday life and we do not realize how much we use them, how much they affect us, or how much they determine the way we act and understand the others.

Rhetorical situation
A rhetorical situation is a situation that has the potential for modification by the use of discourse. Bitzer states, "it is the situation which calls discourse into existence". Thus, the situation controls what type of rhetorical response takes place. Each situation has an appropriate response in which the rhetor can either fulfill or fail to fulfill. They express the imperative nature of the situation in creating discourse, because discourse only comes into being as a response to a particular situation. Discourse varies depending upon the meaning-context that is created due to the situation, and because of this, it is "embedded in the situation".

According to Bitzer, rhetorical situations come into existence, at which point, they can either mature and be resolved, or mature and persist. Bitzer describes rhetorical situations as containing three components: exigence, audience, and constraints. He highlights six characteristics needed from a rhetorical situation that are necessary to creating discourse. A situation calls a rhetor to create discourse, it invites a response to fit the situation, the response meets the necessary requirements of the situation, the exigence which creates the discourse is located in reality, rhetorical situations exhibit simple or complex structures, rhetorical situations after coming into creation either decline or persist. Bitzer's main argument is the concept that rhetoric is used to "effect valuable changes in reality" (Bitzer 14).

In 1984, Carolyn R. Miller claimed that "situations are social constructs that are the result, not of 'perception, but of 'definition'". In other words, we essentially define as social recognitions. Although Bitzer never considers genre, Miller believes genres are created through social construction of perceived recurrence. Miller holds that, rhetorically, genre should be "centered not on the substance or the form of discourse but on the action it is used to accomplish". Since her view focuses on action, it cannot ignore that humans depend on the "context of the situation" as well as "motives" that drive them to action. Essentially, "we create recurrence," or similar responses, through our "construal" of types. Miller defines "types" as "recognition of relevant similarities". The way to bring about a new "type", is to allow for past routines to evolve into new routines, thereby maintaining a cycle that is always open for change.

Antecedent genres
Written in 1975, Kathleen Hall Jamieson's "Antecedent Genre as Rhetorical Constraint" declares that discourse is determined by the Rhetorical Situation, as well as antecedent genres. Antecedent genres are genres of the past that are used as a basis to shape and form current rhetorical responses. When placed in an unprecedented situation, a rhetor can draw on antecedent genres of similar situations in order to guide their response. However, caution should be taken when drawing on antecedent genres because sometimes antecedent genres are capable of imposing powerful constraints. The intent of antecedent genres are to guide the rhetor toward a response consistent with situational demands, and if the situational demands are not the same as when the antecedent genre was created, the response to the situation might be inappropriate.

Through three examples of discourse, the papal encyclical, the early State of the Union Address, and congressional replies, she demonstrates how traces of antecedent genres can be found within each. These examples clarify how a rhetor will tend to draw from past experiences that are similar to the present situation in order to guide them how to act or respond when they are placed in an unprecedented situation. Jamieson explains, by use of these three examples, that choices of antecedent genre may not always be appropriate to the present situation. She discusses how antecedent genres place powerful constraints on the rhetor and may cause them to become "bound by the manacles of the antecedent genre". These "manacles," she says, may range in level of difficulty to escape. Jamieson urges one to be careful when drawing on the past to respond to the present, because of the consequences that may follow ones choice of antecedent genre. She reiterates the intended outcome through her statement of "choice of an appropriate antecedent genre guides the rhetor toward a response consonant with situational demands".

Reciprocity of genre
People often recognize genre based on the characteristics that the situation offers. Amy Devitt states this when she says, "A genre is named because of its formal markers" (Devitt 10). However she also says, "the formal markers can be defined because a genre has been named" (Devitt 10). When we label something as a certain genre, we also flag these same characteristics as contributing to what we already believe the genre to be. These two quotes show how reciprocity functions within genre. Devitt displays the reciprocal nature of genre and situation according to the individual by using an example of a grocery store list. A question posed by this example is, is something a grocery list because it lists groceries or is it a grocery list because one person says it is a grocery list and we thus recognize all the items on the list as groceries? Though each possible answer to this raised question contradict one another, they are both correct. Similarly, individuals recognize the characteristics of the recurring rhetorical situations in the same way as they see them as affirmation of what they already know about the preexisting genre. The rhetorical attributes of the genre act as both objects which define and are defined by genre. In other words, genre and rhetorical situations are reciprocals of one another. Devitt focused on activity system of genre and that the participants' situation, contexts and text are all mutually created "no one aspect fully determines the other." (Devitt)

Tyranny of genre
The phrase "tyranny of genre" comes from genre theorist Richard Coe, who wrote that "the 'tyranny of genre' is normally taken to signify how generic structures constrain individual creativity" (Coe 188). If genre functions as a taxonomic classification system, it could constrain individual creativity, since "the presence of many of the conventional features of a genre will allow a strong genre identification; the presence of fewer features, or the presence of features of other genres, will result in a weak or ambiguous genre identification" (Schauber 403).

Genres can act as constraints on readers as well. Literary historian Hans Robert Jauss describes genres as creating a "horizon of expectation" under which readers will interpret texts based on how much they correspond to the features of the genre they recognize from works they have previously read. The classification-system concept results in a polarization of responses to texts that do not fit neatly into a genre or exhibit features of multiple genres: "The status of genres as discursive institutions does create constraints that may make a text that combines or mixes genres appear to be a cultural monstrosity. Such a text may be attacked or even made a scapegoat by some as well as be defended by others" (LaCapra 220).

Under the more modern understanding of the concept of genre as "social action" à la Miller, a more situational approach to genre is enabled. This situational approach frees genre from the classification system, genre's "tyranny of genre". Relying on the importance of the rhetorical situation in the concept of genre results in an exponential expansion of genre study, which benefits literary analysis. One literature professor writes, "The use of the contemporary, revised genre idea [as social action] is a breath of fresh air, and it has opened important doors in language and literature pedagogy" (Bleich 130). Instead of a codified classification as the pragmatic application of genre, the new genre idea insists that "human agents not only have the creative capacities to reproduce past action, such as action embedded in genres, but also can respond to changes in their environment, and in turn change that environment, to produce under-determined and possibly unprecedented action, such as by modifying genres" (Killoran 72).

Stabilization, homogenization and fixity
Never is there total stabilization in a recognized genre, nor are there instances that indicate a complete lack of homogenization. However, because of the relative similarities between the terms "stabilization" and "homogenization", the amount of stabilization or homogenization a certain genre maintains is based on opinion. Necessary discourse is, obviously, always needed and is thus considered perfectly stabilized. In rhetorical situation or antecedent genres, that which is unprecedented mostly leads to stable and predictable responses. Outside the natural setting of a given form of discourse, one may respond inappropriately due to an unrecognized alternate. The unrecognized alternate is created by the lack of homogenization or differing expectations in the presented rhetorical situation.

Fixity is uncontrolled by a given situation and is deliberately utilized by the affected before the rhetorical situation occurs. Fixity almost always directly effects stabilization, and has little to no bearing on homogenization. The choice of discourse will provide a certain value of fixity, depending on the specific choice. If a situation calls for more mediated responses, the fixity of the situation is more prevalent, and therefore is attributed with a stable demand of expectations. Stability nor fixity can be directly affected by the subject at hand. The only option is affecting homogenization which in turn, can positively or negatively affect stability. Directly choosing a fixed arena within genre inversely alters the homogenization of said chooser constituting as a new genre accompanied with modified genre subsets and a newly desired urgency. The same ideological theory can be applied to how one serves different purposes, creating either separate genres or modernized micro-genres. (Fairclough)

Genre ecology and activity theory
Activity theory is not grounded in any one area of field of research, but instead draws from several disciplines including psychology, behaviorism, and socio-cultural studies. Although activity theory originated in the social sciences, it is currently applied most frequently to social-scientific, organizational, and writing studies. Modeled as a triangle, activity theory considers how multiple factors (subject, object, mediating artifacts, rules, and division of labor) existing in an activity system (environment) interact to achieve an outcome. Central to activity theory is the concept of mediation. Human activities are driven by a need to achieve a certain outcome or goal. Typically this activity is mediated by artifacts which include tools, language, signs, and cultural norms. In "Textual Objects" Cheryl Geisler explains that texts are traditionally identified as meditational means to complete a task, though she offers that texts might also be identified as the motive in discourse communities in which text is valued as the outcome as opposed to the means of an outcome. Geisler notes that texts produced for meditational means are typically more private/personalized, whereas texts identified as objects are often written with a public motive. She does not argue, however, that texts should exist exclusively as one or the other, but rather she suggests that texts can function as both.

For some genre theorists, such as Clay Spinuzzi, genres are tools-in-use, and as such can be seen as mediating objects within the world. This view of genre as a tool-in-use is exemplified in the school of genre theory that studies genres' relationships to activity systems. In his article "Textual Grounding: How People Turn Texts into Tools," Jason Swarts asserts that users utilize texts as tools when they recognize the text's specific value in a rhetorical situation or environment. User's then "ground" texts, altering the texts structure for personal use, to make them usable under very specific conditions. The user takes the text from a "formalized representation of information" to a personal tool. Swarts argues that the meaning of a text is established by uptake of the users, though this varies depending on the user and the user's goal. Similarly, in Tracing Genres Through Organizations: A Sociocultural Approach to Information Design, Clay Spinuzzi asserts that the use of certain tools in certain situations can help users to act purposefully in that activity. Within this tradition of genre studies, "Genres are not discrete artifacts, but traditions of producing, using, and interpreting artifacts, traditions that make their way into the artifact as a form-shaping ideology." The study of genres as mediating artifacts within activity systems is closely related to Activity Theory, in which the interactions of different spheres of activity are examined. Activity theory, according to David Russell, "traces cognition and behavior, including writing, to social interaction." Activity theorists examine the ways that the work done in one sphere of activity could potentially change the work done in another. For example, Russell examines how people use writing to mediate their activities, and how changes in one activity can lead to changes in another activity. Russell points out that "the activity system of cell biology research is not confined to universities. It also extends into boundary activity systems of drug companies, government medical research facilities, and so on." Subtle changes in the use of writing in one activity can effect changes in the use of writing in related systems. If the government sets down new pharmaceutical documentation laws, then the teaching of how to document the distribution of pharmaceuticals will change, not just in pharmacies, but also in hospitals and nursing classrooms. Activity systems are always in flux, because subtle changes in one level of the system result in subtle changes in other levels of the system. Activity systems are still relatively stable, despite their constant flux. The changes within them are often subtle, and large scale changes usually occur over long periods of time.

Genre ecology describes the dense connections between genres within the activities that they mediate. Multiple genres mediate a single activity; no genre exists in isolation. In "The Ecology of Genre" Anis Bawarshi argues that genres are "rhetorical ecosystems" in which participants actively enact and, consequently, reenact social practices, relations, and identities. Participants use genre to interpret and perform social motives which sustain rhetorical ecosystems that produce social contexts, practices, and identities. For Spinuzzi, and other genre theorists studying the social aspects of genre (like Carolyn R. Miller, Amy Devitt, and Kathleen Jamieson, among others), genre is more than a category or artifact; genre is a way of interacting with the world. In the study of genre ecologies, genre is seen as a way people can accomplish activities. Like activity systems, genre ecologies are not entirely stable, because activities change, causing the genres mediating them to change, as well. Take, for example the digitization of the workplace. Before computers, the workspace was largely mediated by genres such as the paper memo,or the company newsletter. After digitization, paper memos and paper newsletters began to disappear. Memos and newsletters did not disappear; instead, their distribution method changed. Now, memos and newsletters are disseminated electronically in emails. The genres of the memo and newsletter still exists, but they have changed, slightly, to reflect the changes in the activity system that they mediate.

Secondary speech genres
Analyzing the interaction between multiple, competing voices and registers in literary works, Mikhail Bakhtin argued that complex, secondary speech genres are constituted by simple, primary speech genres. Bakhtin defined complex, secondary speech genres as "novels, dramas, all kinds of scientific research, major genres of commentary, and so forth [that] arise in more complex and comparatively highly developed and organized cultural communication" (62). While Bakhtin focused on the historical emergence of the novel in much of his work, in "The Problem of Speech Genres" he claimed that his theory applied to all literary genres, including "profoundly individual lyrical work[s]" (61) such as the pastoral elegy. Complex, secondary speech genres form when they "absorb and digest various primary (simple) genres that have taken form in unmediated speech communion" (62). Primary speech genres are "short rejoinders of daily dialogue," "everyday narration," "brief standard military command" (60), "verbal signals in industry" (63), "letters, diaries, minutes, and so forth" (98), notable for their referentiality to and function within the pragmatic communicative contexts of "extraverbal reality (situation)" (83). When primary speech genres are absorbed by secondary ones, according to Bakhtin, they are "altered and assume a special character," losing "their immediate relation to actual reality and to the real utterances of others" (62). This process of absorption and digestion of primary speech genres by secondary ones leads to a "more or less distinct dialogization of secondary genres, the weakening of their monological composition" (66). It is unclear, however, how this distinction between primary and secondary genres would apply in such quotidian comments as "I don't trust Joe's opinion, he has such a strange way of looking at things" or "Mary forwarded that recipe from the vegan website, so you need to be into that stuff to try it." While Bakhtinian dialogization may weaken the monological composition of secondary speech genres, it does not preclude a dominant theme, ideology, or cultural meaning from arising out of interplay of the "various transformed primary genres" (98) that make up a secondary work (although, Bakhtin admitted, this dominant ideology is difficult to isolate in complex works, and is, to a certain extent, left open to the interpretation of individual readers). In Bakhtin's view, primary genres undergo a more or less thorough process of contestation and resolution within the secondary work they constitute and "enter into actual reality only via the [work] as a whole, that is, as a literary-artistic event and not as everyday life" (62). "As a rule, these secondary genres of complex cultural communication play out various forms of primary speech communication" (Bakhtin 98). Even as a work permits and enacts dialogization between characters, conventional forms, and semantic content, it resolves or "finalizes" that content into a "wholeness" of utterance, which is intelligible to readers, and therefore "guarantee[s] the possibility of response (or of responsive understanding)" (76). Through the finalization of disparate conventional and thematic strands, a work achieves the fullness of what Bakhtin called its "specific authorial intent," Milton's "speech plan" or "speech will" for his work, and readies itself for responsive understanding (reception, interpretation) on the part of readers (77). Despite its internal dialogization, the work delivers itself to readers as a semantically exhaustive whole, and in this way uses its internal drama to respond ideologically to its genre: "other works connected with it in the overall processes of speech communication in [its] particular cultural sphere" (75). These include "works of predecessors on whom the author relies," "other works of the same school," and "works of opposing schools with which the author is contending" (75). In this way the work forms a crucial "link the chain of speech communion" of its genre (76).

title: Genre studies


text:
AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR

The AN/ASQ-228 Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared (ATFLIR) is a multi-sensor, electro-optical targeting pod incorporating thermographic camera, low-light television camera, target laser rangefinder/laser designator, and laser spot tracker developed and manufactured by Raytheon. It is used to provide navigation and targeting for military aircraft in adverse weather and using precision-guided munitions such as laser-guided bombs. It is intended to replace the earlier AN/AAS-38 Nite Hawk pod in US Navy service.

ATFLIR is 72 in (183 cm) long, weighs 420 lb (191 kg), and has a slant range of 40 mi (64.3 km), said to be useful at altitude of up to 50,000 ft (15,240 m). It has fewer parts than many previous systems, which is intended to improve serviceability (although early examples, in service with VFA-115 'Eagles' in 2003 experienced problems). Crews indicate that it offers much greater target resolution and image accuracy than previous systems.

ATFLIR presently is used only by the US Navy on the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the earlier F/A-18C/D and with Marine Corps F/A-18Cs when deployed onboard aircraft carriers. It is normally carried on one of the fuselage hardpoints otherwise used for AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles. 410 pods were delivered to the U.S. Navy. Pods have also been delivered to Switzerland and Australia, and six pods will be delivered to Malaysia.

The US Navy (USN) is considering options to either improve or replace ATFLIR because of current hardware readiness state and sustainment costs.

title: AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR


text:
Talk:Mike Portnoy

I agree. Lock his page
it says he died on december 27th in france. i know that fans who are angry did this. i'll just delete the part of his supposed death.

LOCK THIS PAGE
This page is being vandalized by disapproving fans, who are angry he is leaving Dream Theater. Please lock it. 24.144.148.37 (talk) 05:28, 9 September 2010 (UTC)

Agree. Start with the inro claiming that A7X is a Nu Metal band, which it is not. Also, theres not proof that he left to join A7X so remove that whole bullshit--74.88.164.181 (talk) 08:27, 9 September 2010 (UTC)

Untitled
The link at 'with Neal Morse' -> 'Question mark' is wrong, it should be en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%3F_(Neal_Morse_album) Sbgirl54 (talk) 23:02, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

Maybe add something about his trademark phrase? Like the one hidden in "In the name of god"?71.164.27.252 (talk) 01:23, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

If it says he's a fan of otehr bands and such, why not mention the Tenacious D shirt he wears in Live in Budokan?-TheChrisParker (talk) 23:04, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

Should something be put on here about his personality? He's the most carefree and free-spirited dream theater member, and in a non-negative connotation, immature. It's clearly seen in his stage performances and his manner of dress, as well as his dialogue. Thoughts? 203.144.160.246 17:11, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
 * It will be original research unless it has some valid citations Anger22 17:43, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
 * and his tremendous ego, that is mentioned at the beginning of the article, and I don't see a citation nowhere. Should it be removed? --Lashiec (talk) 14:53, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

Is he Jewish?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.228.251.46 (talk • contribs) 08:29, January 21, 2006

Born as such, but not really a practicing member of the Jewish faith, I believe. A small query about a couple of things in the kit section: I believe the Transatlantic kit was only used on the second TA album (he used the LTE kit on SMPTe and the US tour: you can hear the timbalitos on SMPTe and Live in America, and you can see the kit on the cover of LiA), and the kit used in OSI was *based* on the right side of the Siamese, not the right side of the Siamese itself. Might also be worth listing the 'Mini-Monster' used on the South American tour last year and the stripped down setup Mike has used on the new OSI - just a kick drum, single timbalito, a rack tom, snare and cymbals I think. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.84.106.248 (talk • contribs) 21:01, February 2, 2006

May I ask why the Anthony Mendez deal of 2003 isn't mentioned in here? For those who don't know, in 2003 a man by the name of Anthony Mendez fooled many people and went around saying he was Mike Portnoy. I don't have time to add it myself, though. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.250.55.74 (talk • contribs) 01:00, June 28, 2006

 * "Portnoy" in Russian means "taylor" (0:        --CopperKettle 02:30, 20 September 2006 (UTC)
 * I'd translate it to "port + adjective suffix" ("portian", "porter", etc.) as a native speaker of Russian. --84.249.253.201 00:17, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

the article first says that he won 21 awards, and then later says that he won 20 awards. Which is it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shapirog (talk • contribs) 20:39, October 1, 2006

 * 22 --Λeternus 14:43, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

Picture
This article could use a picture of Mike, images of the different drumkits would be nice as well.--E tac 09:17, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Hello can YOU put a mike photo? coz i only have photos of his drumkits...(i am a drummerLoL)ah...and about "mike is immature" i dont think so...i should say he is the liveliest of dream theater members and a fun showman but not immature... I didnt know portnoy was taylor

This was left in. I removed it and haven't added to request due to my inability to use Wikipedia. I don't know if it's fair use either. ''(Someone please put this(http://www.tama.com/artists/featured/images/header_mike-portnoy2.jpg) image of the albino monster to the right of here. Ican't figure out how to do it) ''

I don´t understand why it is not mentioned that he had a serious alcohol Problem and that he is suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder. I think that this important. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.206.196.55 (talk) 19:10, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Equipment
Willy1234x1 09:23, 6 July 2007 (UTC)I guess I just noticed this but his equipments states two different kits as the "newest" and currently used. Shouldn't this be fixed? I can but I'm not too good at phrasing.

Hall Of Fame
I see that it is stated several places that Mike was the youngest drummer to be inducted into the Modern Drummer hall of fame - which is not true! Neil Peart was 31 when he was inducted in 1983 - and the MP original newspost was edited to acknowledge this error. http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=512558 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.108.36.175 (talk) 18:55, August 26, 2007 (UTC)

Alcoholism
There's a new interview up on Mike's site (http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1769224) where he talks some more about his alcoholism, including the last day he took a drink, the number of AA meetings he attends, and a little about the AA suite. Might be worth working into the article. Habfan29 18:53, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

There used to be a bunch of stuff on his alcoholism (see http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mike_Portnoy&diff=203071210&oldid=203070918), which was mysteriously deleted without a comment. I can understand if Portnoy wants some privacy regarding the subject, but I haven't heard him mention anything about that. Perhaps we should bring this section back? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.14.228.89 (talk) 09:21, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

It's clear from this recent interview (http://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/mike_portnoy_of_dream_theater/) that Mike wants people to know about his struggles with alcoholism so that he can encourage others to get help. He clearly states that he suffers from alcoholism.Ndugu (talk) 14:35, 12 August 2010 (UTC)

Archiving talk page
I really think it would be helpful if someone familiar with this article would archive comments that havee been resolved! Most are from 2007! Last thing anyone wants to do is to answer a question from over two years ago. I am unable to archive anything on this computer, not even mentioning that I'm computer-ignorant on such things. Could someone do this please?--Leahtwosaints (talk) 06:47, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

A7X Section Disproportionate
Am I the only one who thinks that this article has an oddly large section about his work with Avenged Sevenfold? There's more about that here than his work with Dream Theater. 142.177.224.216 (talk) 19:56, 1 July 2010 (UTC) Agreed ! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.134.102.142 (talk) 13:56, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Dream Theater Stripped From article
Most of the dream theater references were stripped from the article with the first paragraph changing references from Dream Theater to Avenged Sevenfold, even though those statements were completely false; seeing as how most of them refer to Dream Theater band members. I changed the first paragraph back to "Dream Theater".

Awards Section modification
I moved Mike's Modern Drummer award section from the Dream Theater page to the Mike Portnoy wikipedia page since Mike is no longer in Dream Theater and I removed the original Modern Drummer paragraph. Ssjgoku75x (talk) 12:41, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

Intricate Detail
The massive and totally unrefernced section on his various drum kits seems to cross the line into excessive intricate detail. I think this section should be removed. Ridernyc (talk) 22:00, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

Is Lars Ulrich an Influence or Not?
Somebody on Reddit pointed to this Wikipedia page joking aboutthe idea that Portnoy cited Lars Ulrich as an influence two hours ago.

http://www.reddit.com/r/MetalMemes/comments/ykbv9/til_mike_portnoy_cites_lars_ulrich_as_an/

Eight hours ago, Lars Ulrich was inexplicably removed. According to the source, it's real. I undid the edit. Kire1975 (talk) 06:47, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

A few changes needed: Photo, discography, awards
Main photo of Mike Portnoy is, I think, 7 years old. The article could use a more recent one. Or the editors can keep that one and include photos of him with various bands (current, former and dormant) viz. Dream Theater, The Winery Dogs, Transatlantic, Flying Colors, Neal Morse, Liquid Tension Experiment. Also like someone mentioned, in the Drum Kits and Percussive Equipment is very generous with text; a few images could help. This section also seems to have been not edited since 2009.

Discography: The Winery Dogs DVD (Unleashed in Japan) and the new Flying Colors album (Second Nature) aren't mentioned.

Awards: Portnoy won his 13th Modern Drummer Magazine Reader Polls "Best Progressive Drummer" award and two others (MVP, Recorded Performance) in 2014

There is also no mention of Progressive Nation at Sea (one of Mike's remarkable achievements). I suppose we could have a separate section for all the Progressive Nation events (2008, 2009 and 2014)

Can someone also include a tattoo section? Not on the top of the list of "things to be changed" though.

PS - I'm not a Wiki editor. Just thought I could give suggestions to improve this article. Thanks!

115.242.246.193 (talk) 05:54, 24 August 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 2 one external links on Mike Portnoy. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20091016060102/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com:80/news/Mike-Portnoy-Named-in-Top-50-Drummers-of-All-Time-20590.aspx to http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/news/Mike-Portnoy-Named-in-Top-50-Drummers-of-All-Time-20590.aspx
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20100617024725/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com:80/news/Machine-Head-Mike-Portnoy-Win-Metal-Hammer-Golden-Gods-Awards-21556.aspx to http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/news/Machine-Head-Mike-Portnoy-Win-Metal-Hammer-Golden-Gods-Awards-21556.aspx

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers. —cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 03:17, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

...Shouldn't there be a section on his twenty years with Dream Theater, aka the most significant part of his life by far and the reason he has an article?
Just because he was in Dream Theater for 20 years doesn't mean he wouldn't have an article if he wasn't in Dream Theater. He's done work and contributed to many many other bands, but we can all agree DT was his biggest contribution. 69.201.166.50 (talk) 16:17, 17 January 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 external links on Mike Portnoy. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20130905225216/http://www.progrockmag.com/news/prog-awards-2013-the-winners/ to http://www.progrockmag.com/news/prog-awards-2013-the-winners/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110320073552/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=95266 to http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=95266
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20091016060102/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/news/Mike-Portnoy-Named-in-Top-50-Drummers-of-All-Time-20590.aspx to http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/news/Mike-Portnoy-Named-in-Top-50-Drummers-of-All-Time-20590.aspx

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 13:46, 11 June 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 external links on Mike Portnoy. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110930231135/http://www.tama.com/md2011 to http://www.tama.com/md2011
 * Added tag to http://legacy.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=2707
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090131020234/http://backstagemusician.com/mikeportnoy.htm to http://www.backstagemusician.com/mikeportnoy.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20060516143517/http://www.drummersdigest.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=87&Itemid=28 to http://www.drummersdigest.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=87&Itemid=28
 * Added tag to http://www.drummersdigest.com/live/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=356&Itemid=1

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 06:14, 11 December 2017 (UTC)

External links modified (January 2018)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 external links on Mike Portnoy. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110928084521/http://www.avengedsevenfold.com/news/mike-portnoy-will-be-drumming-a7x to http://www.avengedsevenfold.com/news/mike-portnoy-will-be-drumming-a7x
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20111025050429/http://www.drummagazine.com/drummies/post/awards-2011/ to http://www.drummagazine.com/drummies/post/awards-2011/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20131129073106/http://adrenalinemob.com/about/ to http://adrenalinemob.com/about/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 14:43, 30 January 2018 (UTC)

Max Portnoy's New Band Added
--Tenebris078 (talk) 08:59, 1 November 2021 (UTC)Tenebris078

title: Talk:Mike Portnoy


text:
User talk:M00dimus

Hello, "M00dimus" and welcome to Wikipedia. A few tips for you:

. -- Infrogmation 21:55, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Peruse Welcome, newcomers and associated pages, such as
 * How to edit a page
 * How to write a great article
 * Naming conventions
 * Manual of Style
 * You can experiment in the Sandbox.
 * Sign talk page entries with ~, which is automatically converted to a name and date.
 * If you have any questions, see Help, or you can a question at the Help desk.
 * I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian.

Image Tagging Image:Bullsnake.jpg
Thanks for uploading Image:Bullsnake.jpg. I notice the 'image' page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is therefore unclear. If you have not created this media yourself then you need to argue that we have the right to use the media on Wikipedia (see copyright tagging below). If you have not created the media yourself then you should also specify where you found it, i.e., in most cases link to the website where you got it, and the terms of use for content from that page.

If the media also doesn't have a copyright tag then you must also add one. If you created/took the picture, audio, or video then you can use GFDL to release it under the GFDL. If you believe the media qualifies as fair use, please read fair use, and then use a tag such as or one of the other tags listed at Image copyright tags. See Image copyright tags for the full list of copyright tags that you can use.

If you have uploaded other media, please check that you have specified their source and copyright tagged them, too. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any unsourced and untagged images will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. Longhair 14:49, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

Non-free use disputed for Image:OGE Energy Logo.png
Thanks for uploading Image:OGE Energy Logo.png. However, there is a concern that the rationale you have provided for using this image under "fair use" may be invalid. Please read carefully the instructions at Non-free content and then go to the image description page and clarify why you think the image qualifies. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If it is determined that the image does not qualify under fair use, it will be deleted within a couple of days according to our Criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 05:10, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Speedy deletion of Maltego software
A tag has been placed on Maltego software requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under section A7 of the criteria for speedy deletion, because the article appears to be about a company or corporation, but it does not indicate how or why the subject is notable: that is, why an article about that subject should be included in an encyclopedia. Under the criteria for speedy deletion, articles that do not indicate the subject's importance or significance may be deleted at any time. Please see the guidelines for what is generally accepted as notable, as well as our subject-specific notability guideline for companies and corporations.

If you think that this notice was placed here in error, you may contest the deletion by adding  to the top of the page that has been nominated for deletion (just below the existing speedy deletion or "db" tag), coupled with adding a note on the talk page explaining your position, but be aware that once tagged for speedy deletion, if the article meets the criterion it may be deleted without delay. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag yourself, but don't hesitate to add information to the article that would would render it more in conformance with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. Lastly, please note that if the article does get deleted, you can contact one of these admins to request that a copy be emailed to you. Toddst1 (talk) 13:38, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

Chris Fussell (Author) moved to draftspace
An article you recently created, Chris Fussell (Author), does not have enough sources and citations as written to remain published. It needs more citations from reliable, independent sources. (?) Information that can't be referenced should be removed (verifiability is of central importance on Wikipedia). I've moved your draft to draftspace (with a prefix of " " before the article title) where you can incubate the article with minimal disruption. When you feel the article meets Wikipedia's general notability guideline and thus is ready for mainspace, please click on the "Submit your draft for review!" button at the top of the page.  CASSIOPEIA(talk) 12:50, 2 October 2018 (UTC)

AfC notification: Draft:Chris Fussell (Author) has a new comment
 I've left a comment on your Articles for Creation submission, which can be viewed at Draft:Chris Fussell (Author). Thanks!  CASSIOPEIA(talk) 12:50, 2 October 2018 (UTC)

Nomination of Chris Fussell (disambiguation) for deletion
A discussion is taking place as to whether the article Chris Fussell (disambiguation) is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Articles for deletion/Chris Fussell (disambiguation) until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article.  Willsome 4 29  (say hey or see my edits!) 15:07, 2 November 2018 (UTC)

Your submission at Articles for creation: Chris Fussell (author) (January 28)
 Your recent article submission to Articles for Creation has been reviewed! Unfortunately, it has not been accepted at this time. The reason left by AngusWOOF was:

The comment the reviewer left was:

Please check the submission for any additional comments left by the reviewer. You are encouraged to edit the submission to address the issues raised and resubmit when they have been resolved.

 * If you would like to continue working on the submission, go to Draft:Chris Fussell (author) and click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the window.
 * If you now believe the draft cannot meet Wikipedia's standards or do not wish to progress it further, you may request deletion. Please go to Draft:Chris Fussell (author), click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the window, add "db-self" at the top of the draft text and click the blue "publish changes" button to save this edit.
 * If you need any assistance, you can ask for help at the [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:WikiProject_Articles_for_creation/Help_desk&action=edit&section=new&nosummary=1&preload=Template:Afc_decline/HD_preload&preloadparams%5B%5D=Draft:Chris_Fussell_(author) Articles for creation help desk] or on the [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:AngusWOOF&action=edit&section=new&nosummary=1&preload=Template:Afc_decline/HD_preload&preloadparams%5B%5D=Draft:Chris_Fussell_(author) reviewer's talk page].
 * You can also use Wikipedia's real-time chat help from experienced editors.

AngusWOOF ( bark  •  sniff ) 22:02, 28 January 2019 (UTC)

Nomination of East Central Electric Cooperative for deletion
A discussion is taking place as to whether the article East Central Electric Cooperative is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Articles for deletion/East Central Electric Cooperative until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article until the discussion has finished.  VickKiang  (talk)  01:22, 25 November 2022 (UTC)

Proposed deletion of Western Farmers Electric Cooperative

The article Western Farmers Electric Cooperative has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern: "Not enough notability, none of the sources provide independent coverage of the company in depth per WP:CORPDEPTH. Google sources showed that the company existed, but I didn't find any in-depth coverage."

While all constructive contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, pages may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the page to address the issues raised. Removing will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. ✠ SunDawn ✠    (contact)   02:12, 25 November 2022 (UTC)

Western Farmers Electric Cooperative moved to draftspace
An article you recently created, Western Farmers Electric Cooperative, is not suitable as written to remain published. It needs more in-depth coverage about the subject itself, with citations from reliable, independent sources in order to show it meets WP:GNG. It should have at least three. And please remember that interviews, as primary sources, do not count towards GNG. (?) Information that can't be referenced should be removed (verifiability is of central importance on Wikipedia). I've moved your draft to draftspace (with a prefix of " " before the article title) where you can incubate the article with minimal disruption. When you feel the article meets Wikipedia's general notability guideline and thus is ready for mainspace, please click on the "Submit your draft for review!" button at the top of the page. Onel 5969  TT me 11:03, 8 December 2022 (UTC)

Concern regarding Draft:Western Farmers Electric Cooperative
Hello, M00dimus. This is a bot-delivered message letting you know that Draft:Western Farmers Electric Cooperative, a page you created, has not been edited in at least 5 months. Drafts that have not been edited for six months may be deleted, so if you wish to retain the page, please edit it again or request that it be moved to your userspace.

If the page has already been deleted, you can request it be undeleted so you can continue working on it.

Thank you for your submission to Wikipedia. FireflyBot (talk) 12:01, 10 May 2023 (UTC)

title: User talk:M00dimus


text: Category:Mass media in Ireland

title: Category:Mass media in Ireland