Before we go too far aggrandizing America’s contributions to global culture, let’s remember we also gave the world Joanie Loves Chachie and David Hasselhof. I’m afraid the Internet, Klingon translations of Shakespeare, Chia Pets nor even Snuggies can balance that equation.
Author: Carl Setzer
A blogger blogging from just north of Seattle.
Monday
Tomorrow is neigh,
Monday lurks beyond the dark,
At dawn it shall pounce.
Ok, enough on tech. Time to return to some poetry for awhile.
May your next week be glorious and satisfying.
The Kindle Fire, Tablets and Reading’s Future
Watched the Amazon press conference today. Well, more apt, I watched the CNet life coverage. The CNet crew are awfully fun. Most importantly, I came away longing for a new Kindle Fire. I don’t need or really want the HD features, and $150 is a comfortable price point for me.
But them I wonder: is the main attraction price point? Trying to cheap-out has always backfired on me. Well, perhaps price is what makes the Kindle attractive. I still like the Nexus. And, really, the iPad. If I was rolling in dough, I’d have one of each! I guess cash is a significant consideration.
So i should really start by considering my wants & needs. Primarily comes Google integration. Mostly email & calendar, but I’m pretty invested in Google stuff; so the more the better. But I’m also an Apple guy. Thus I have music, some video, and several apps from iTunes/iOS. However, not too much. Much of that came free, and/or with Android versions. I also need a solid web browser and Evernote. With those tools in place, I’m able to work with a device. Would I have all that with a Kindle Fire? The only piece I’m not sure about is the web browser. Would I be able to access key sites I use for work? I think I can check out Kindles at Staples, etc. Easy enough question to answer.
Beyond all that, I have a major concern with the whole ereader thing: my corner bookshop. Ereaders have their various ecosystems, and many are available on multiple platforms. However, there’s no place in that world for the local bookseller. Is this shop doomed? Or is there someplace for the printed page? And does resisting ereaders help prevent, or even slow this coming change?
So, I’m sure to make the tablet leap soon. Exactly which device isn’t exactly clear. Several good choices now, a few more coming (iPad mini next week? I’m disappointed there’s no low-cost Windows tablet right now). I guess I will see shortly.
Dream’s Soundtrack
Woke to an unfamiliar song playing in my mind. Such events make me wonder. So, was this piece created by my mind, or is this some random thing, absorbed into my memory bank?
Consider all the songs I’ve been exposed: radio, movies, tv, myriad languages, styles and types. Music presented overtly & covertly, hidden in the current moment’s background. I hold that my brain absorbed all of this, deep with in some analog archive.
Dreams often come laden with meaning. Some dreams, though, come laden with absurdity. Perhaps that means something. Perhaps my Mind’s haunted by Lewis Carroll. Perhaps.
Musical Zeitgeist
Listen for music’s zeitgeist. Harmonics: voices intersecting, creating sounds not uttered, rather vibrations overlapping, the whole greater than the sum of the parts.
Music offers us so very much, should we choose to listen. We may learn the value of each voice, whether frantically busy or quietly adding structure, all critical to the audio portrait of a piece. Each pitch and tone crucial to the landscape. Silencing one changes the whole.
We must learn to value voices equally. This summarizes the commandment to love.
Namaste!
Before Dawn’s Touch
Night embraces me
Lingering this early morn.
Sunlight rises soon.
After Dawn
Sunlight greets the morn
Shadows play in dew soaked grass
Bird’s call, anointing.
Summer Morning
Grey skies greet the morn.
Solemn moment this summer.
Tranquil blessedness.
More War Footage
Souls freed by horror.
More bodies dead then alive.
Chaos, war, madness.
