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Friday, January 1, 2010

Into overtime for the "Hockey" movement

The Muse and I have come to a tie, and so now we go into overtime on the last movement – called Hockey – of my Chamber Concerto for the Turning Point Ensemble. (Don't worry Jeremy and Owen – co-directors of TPE – I've had the upper hand on the Muse for most of the game and plan to make it a quick overtime.) It's been an intense time of discovery for me, about which I'll write when the music is done! Soon it's off to a New Year's Day dinner with family. Overtime begins January 2!

Happy New Year everyone!
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John Oliver makes new logo for 2010

2010 logo by John Oliver

UPDATE, January 14: This logo is now available on t-shirts, coffee mugs, beer steins, mouse pads, cutting boards, bags & other merchandise at Wordplay Designs

I woke up this morning and was thinking about living in Vancouver in the year 2010 and the politics of the Olympics. I am a great supporter of the Olympic spirit and the concept of internationalism, and international cooperation toward the goal of achieving world peace. As a creator, I am concerned that artists are properly remunerated for their creations, and so therefore, I believe in copyright as one tool to help feed artists. When the tool of copyright is used to abscond with public property or shared culture, then it becomes a problem. "Good morning" is a phrase that cannot be copyrighted, for example. No reasonable person could argue that people cannot use their imaginations to comment on living in the year 2010 in Vancouver because we happen to host the Olympic Games this year.

It is in that spirit that I hope to capture the essence of the issue in this "logo for 2010" that came to my mind this morning. This is the era of intense debate over the role of copyright, with new alternatives being presented by collectives wanting to relax the rules of copyright to acknowledge the recontextualizing activity that many would argue is a key element in any creative work, a reality that is facilitated by copying and pasting in digital media.

Though it came to my mind, it may also have occurred to others as well. If so, great! Please feel free to share the idea. I thank you in advance for referring people to my blog to see the logo, rather than copying and pasting.

;^)

Happy New Year 2010!

John Oliver
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