Insulting Music explores insult in and around music and demonstrates that insult is a key dimension of Western musical experience and practice. There is insult in the music we hear, how we express our musical preferences, as well as our reactions to settings and sites of music and music making. More than that, when music and insult overlap, the effects can both promote social justice or undermine it, foster connection or break it apart. The coming together of music and insult shapes our sense of self and view of other people, underlining and constructing difference, often in terms of race and gender. In the last decade, music's power dynamics have become an increasingly important concern for music scholars, critics, and fans. Studying musicians such as Frank Zappa, Nickleback, Taylor Swift, and the Insane Clown Posse, and musical phenomena such as musician jokes, the use of music to torture people, and the playing of music in restaurants, this book shows the various and contradictory ways insults are used to negotiate those existing dynamics in and around music.

This book is the first to address in a serious way the impact and meaning of the music of “Weird Al” Yankovic. Though everyone knows his name, Yankovic is often dismissed as a novelty. His music builds on a rich American tradition of parody song, with many levels of signification—humorous, insulting, political, often at the same time. His songs, including his original compositions, make us laugh but also have a point of view, be it on society, popular culture, food, or words themselves. Very few other artists have created music so dense in meaning and for so long, and it’s high time we recognize Yankovic’s cloyingly humorous appeal. Through original interviews with the man himself, Lily Hirsch addresses Yankovic’s relationship to past parody song as well as his unique approach to the art form. Focusing mainly on his fourteen studio albums, the book explores his music based on themes like insult, politics, race, and word abuse. It also discusses his reputation as one of the music industry’s good guys. In today’s age of incivility (political and otherwise), his nice-guy persona stands out and has helped win him fiercely loyal fans who’ve found in his music a certain acceptance and affirmation. This book is for those fans but also invites music enthusiasts of all stripes to consider and reconsider Yankovic’s music.

Genetic studies of the epilepsies are essential for clinical diagnosis, family counselling and as a critical route to understanding the basic biology of epilepsies at a molecular level. The focal epilepsies have been traditionally regarded as predominantly acquired disorders. This perception has now changed and there has been an explosion of interest in inherited forms of focal epilepsy that are emerging as being surprisingly common. This book describes the clinical features of the enlarging group of familial focal epilepsies and highlights recent molecular biological knowledge in understanding these disorders.

Idiopathic generalized epilepsies are characterized by strong genetic factors and multiple clinical phenotypes; animal models of untreated epilepsies are relevant to some of the clinical syndromes found in humans. This volume is the first to confront human clinical, animal (experimental) as well as basic and applied genetic data. Main section headings: Current approaches; Familial neonatal and infantile convulsions; Absence seizures and absence epilepsy; Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and related syndromes; Photo sensitivity; Pathophysiology of convulsive seizures; and, Fundamental and therapeutic aspects.

Die traditionelle Starke der im investitionsgOterproduzierenden Sektor angesiedelten Unternehmen Deutschlands und der europaischen Nachbarlander ist, besonders fle- xible fertigungstechnische Losungen zu entwickeln und anzubieten. Die okonomische Realisierung mittlerer und kleiner Lose -bis hin zum Unikat -ist in Zukunft durch ad- aquate menschliche EinfluBnahme und Technikanwendung (C-Techniken) weiter zu perfektionieren. Ober den InvestitionsgOtersektor hinaus laBt sich in produktionstechnischen Berei- chen ein Trend ausmachen, der gegenOber der Massen- und Serienfertigung durch ein hohes MaB an Individualitat bezOglich der Produkte und der Produktrealisierung gekennzeichnet ist, d.h., der Kunde setzt die Rahmenbedingungen dafOr, was produ- ziert wird. In einem hohen MaB vollzieht sich damit eine Wandlung yom anbieter-zum kundenorientierten Markt. Daraus kann sich fOr die im gemeinsamen Wettbewerb befindlichen Unternehmen ei- ne Herausforderung aber auch eine Oberforderung ergeben. Unternehmen, die nur geringe Problemlosungskompetenz in der Unikatfertigung aufweisen, beispielsweise beim Bau von komplexen flexiblen Fertigungsanlagen, konnen diesen Schwachpunkt durch die au Berst sichere Position im Bereich ihrer Standardprodukte kompensieren. Es besteht daher ein hochgradiger Handlungsbedarf, den "kundenorientierten" Pro- duktionsablauf we it rationeller als bisher zu gestalten. Ein problemorientierter branchenObergreifender Erfahrungsaustausch und die Ent- wicklung spE;!zifischer Systeme so lite den Anspruch fordern, einen moglichst hohen Grad in der kundenorientierten Produktrealisierung zu erreichen.