Sakura Matsuri at Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Today was my first visit to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which also happened to be the first day of the garden’s thirtieth annual cherry blossom festival, Sakura Matsuri. The event continues tomorrow, and I encourage anyone who can to attend for J-pop music, dancing, tea ceremonies, food, cosplay, and of course the plant life.

Despite arriving pretty late to the event—around noon—and a very long admission line, entry into the garden actually was pretty fast, allowing me a chance to admire the cherry blossoms outside. And, while in line, I was able to hear scintillating conversations amongst cosplayers and anime experts concerning the advantages of Bleach over Naruto. I’m not being sarcastic—after attending the Popular Culture and American Culture Association conference a few weeks ago, I was glad to hear again conversations about animation, fantasy, and sci-fi. I even overhead a man with an afro question what anime characters he would costume as—eventually settling on Bobobo-Bo Bo-bobo.

Speaking of the cosplayers, there were many characters represented: Ichigo, Yoruichi, No-Face, Luffy, and Pikachu triplets. Thanks as well to the princess bride and the zombie princess for coming out; you were a welcomed change from the crowd of multi-colored hairstyles at the event. [Then again, the colors I saw may have resulted from the sugar-high of the green tea Daifuku that I consumed.]

But the event today was not just about the costumes, the performances, and the appreciation of Japanese culture: the cherry blossoms were an amazing sight, my photographs I think offering more than my words can.

As a warning for anyone attending tomorrow’s festivities, be prepared for a crowded environment. While a large turn-out is great for the garden, it did make for difficulty getting through all exhibits, especially at the C. V. Starr Bonsai Museum, or making a purchase at the gift shop. As well, some buildings are not as cool as are the outdoors, so be prepared to take a break and enjoy the cooler spring weather. And be patient as you walk through the narrow garden paths to get that well-angled photograph of the roses that you desired, or when standing in the lengthy lines for the restroom and the portable toilets.

But such warnings are not to discourage you from enjoying the festival. If you attend tomorrow’s event, by yourself or with family, the garden’s staff has scheduled a variety of activities and performances that address different parts of Japanese culture, giving something for everyone. Today, for example, included a workshop on voice acting and manga drawing, courtesy of Veronica Taylor (Ash in Pokemon, April O’Neil in the 2003 Ninja Turtles) and artist Misako Rocks! As a teacher, I was impressed how Taylor and Rocks! clearly described their crafts, then guided audience members in practicing their vocal range and sketching.

Then the day ended with a musical performance from the group happyfunsmile, a rather eclectic band that keeps listeners excited with songs capturing a variety of Japanese musical forms, with costumed performers that encourage audience members to join in the dances.

Overall, the first day of Sakura Matsuri, and my first day at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, was enjoyable. Now it’s time for me rest after a day of walking the perimeter of pretty much the entire garden.

Stray observations:

• After one musical performance, I swear I heard someone derisively shout, “Me love you long time.” Not cool.
• Also overhead at the garden: “Where is the thyme?” Had to fight the urge to speak some snarky response about Doc Brown.
• But Veronica Taylor had the best line, commenting on the branch that Rocks! drew in a warrior’s hair. To paraphrase: “It looks like a cherry blossom. He probably just got out of there when he saw how long the Porta-John lines were. [Audience laughter.] That was inappropriate—though realistic for this event.”
• Other cosplayers seen today: a duo as Cosmo and Wanda from Fairly Oddparents, some samurai, numerous Ash Ketchums, individuals with a sign that promised “Free Hugs,” and a man in a non-tartan kilt. At least, I think he was wearing a kilt.
• As well, during happyfunsmile’s performance, the videographer next to me had to stop and check his Tomagotchis—while said videographer was also dressed as Ash Ketchum.
• During the drawing workshop with Misako Rocks!, someone did ask her to include in her elf drawing a motorcycle. Unfortunately, no one asked for card games to be added with that motorcycle.
• Then again, I did see more cosplayers in the garden’s library playing Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s card game, so I guess that sight is close enough to card games on motorcycles.
• Taylor’s acting advice was also helpful: when practicing a script, read aloud with your teeth locked closed. This way, you will work your lip muscles to speak more clearly, hence preparing to give a more easily heard performance that projects outward. Good for me to remember when addressing a lecture hall…

Trial literary databases: Email Stony Brook University library

As you can see in my Twitter account, and based on the number of messages I have received from coworkers in the English department, I should discuss an opportunity Stony Brook University has to expand its literary databases at its library. Stony Brook students can take a look at the databases here (either by being on campus or typing in their NetID) or stop by the neighboring Humanities Building to see Professor Douglas Pfeiffer discuss two of these databases. After students check out the databases for themselves, they should email their departments and the library about whether these services would be a good addition to Stony Brook's collection of resources--and I can attest that these databases are vital to this university. When I was an undergraduate at Florida Atlantic University, ProQuest offered databases necessary to finishing my honors thesis on time, and I want to use that undergraduate experience to show how these databases would help Stony Brook undergraduate and graduate students finish their degrees that are strong and on time.

When I was finishing my senior thesis, I had to wait weeks for interlibrary loan to deliver dissertations to read while finishing my own thesis--and sometimes libraries refused to part with their copies. But Proquest's Dissertation and Thesis A&I database allowed me to get these same theses through near-immediate (or at least much faster than interlibrary delivery) downloadable PDFs for easier reading and annotating. The database at the time put my thesis in conversation with other undergraduate and graduate scholarship, important when my advisers wanted me to write a thesis that would say something that other scholars were not discussing. Now that I am nearing completion of my dissertation, I need the Dissertation and Thesis A&I in order to compare quickly my scholarship with those of my peers--maybe to make contacts with doctoral students and PhD recipients who share my interests.

And while I am not a scholar of British literature, I can attest that Early English Books Online is mandatory for any English department that wants to have credible studies in Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, and other medieval and renaissance authors. My undergraduate Shakespeare course required that students read a certain number of texts from EEBO, which made my professor's job easier as he did not have to photocopy or scan and upload documents for students to read--in particular, centuries-old texts to which he did not have access, and which are very difficult to digitize. One week in this Shakespeare class, when we students were reading the Henriad, our professor assigned original texts from EEBO that clarified young Henry V's proclivity for fun and lust, including Stephen Grosson's "The schoole of abuse" from 1587, Thomas Hewyood's "An apology for actors" from 1612, and Joseph Swetnam's "The araignment of leuud, idle, froward, and ynconstant women" from 1615. Heck, to even enter this class, the professor required that students compare our popular edition of Hamlet to EEBO's version and notice the most glaring difference (HINT: go to EEBO and look up the "To be or not to be" soliloquy). As well, EEBO's OCR recognition--changing the text from the original print to transliterated computer text--gives enough of the words accurately for undergraduates to more easily read awkwardly written, abstruse middle English.

Most important for me with EEBO, I know some of my scholarship in nineteenth-century American literature will tie back to what this database provides; after all, if I'm writing about Hawthorne's accounts of American colonial life, I need to supplement my research not merely with what Sacvan Bercovitch or Stephen Greenblatt have written about the colonies, but looking myself at the original texts--or at least PDF reproductions of these texts.

Finally, Literature Online (LION) has been a helpful resource for searching a number of digitized journals, allowing me to finish more research on days when I cannot get to the campus library. I am also happy to see that LION brings me back to journals I used to read extensively online--EIH as one example--and now brings me journals that I need for my dissertation--Early American Literature, the Emily Dickinson Journal, and the Henry James Review. As well, the web site includes journals that I need for some articles I am publishing in popular culture; in fact, I'm glad to see two journals to which I am submitting, the Journal of American Culture and the Journal of Popular Culture, are available in LION.

So, if you are a member of Stony Brook's faculty or student body, please visit this web site and look through the databases. Email your department liaison to the library and encourage him or her to advocate for signing up for these necessary scholastic resources.

Stony Brook University: Summer Courses in Manhattan!

I'm teaching two courses this summer at Stony Brook University's Manhattan campus. If you are in the New York tri-state area, you can register online at the university database SOLAR: https://psns.cc.stonybrook.edu/psp/he90prods/?cmd=login.

This summer, I will be teaching the two American Literature survey courses: EGL 217 (Early American to the Civil War) and EGL 218 (Civil War to World War II). Stony Brook English majors and minors: you can complete two of your American survey courses in just one summer!

EGL 217: American Literature I

Early American to the Civil War

Summer Session 1: May 31 to July 8

Monday/Wednesday 1:30 PM to 4:55 PM

SOLAR course number 60500

Fulfills DEC K requirement.

The question plaguing authors in the future United States would be whether anyone would ever read an American book. This class answers the question by looking at some of the most sensationalistic texts that the emerging republic could offer—witch trials, Native American captivity, slave revolts, and

premature burials.

Authors will include John Winthrop, Anne Bradstreet, Mary Rowlandson, William Apess, and Edgar Allan Poe.

The class also includes a field trip through New York City and the sites that inspired the short stories of New York writers Washington Irving and Herman Melville.

EGL 218: American Literature II

The Civil War to World War II

Summer Session 2: July 11 to August 18

Monday/Wednesday 9:30 AM to 12:55 PM

SOLAR course number 60501

Fulfills DEC K requirement.

After a war that tore apart the nation along regional, racial, and economic lines, and with the approach of a war that will tear apart another continent, how do American authors sacrifice their romantic hopes and begin to write realistic and modern interpretations of our lives and our identities?

Authors will include Paul Laurence Dunbar, Henry James, Kate Chopin, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston.

The class also compares written and visual texts by reading the illustrations from Stephen Crane’s works and a graphic novel inspired by the works of Mark Twain.

If you have any questions, contact me at derek.mcgrath@stonybrook.edu.