Damn, this is funny.
Mel Gibson in “The Colonel”
Damn, this is funny.
Blog
A Saturday In The House
I get a bit rummy when I spend all day in the house. However, there are those days where it’s not to be helped. Between this blasted cold that seems to be the latest team-building exercise at work, a project due on Thursday (Visual Basic class at Edmonds Community College), and a general malaise, I’ve been sitting here watching the sun move across the sky from my couch.
Days like this leave me in a foggy mental state. At some point I always need to get outside, no matter how ucky I feel. I’ve pondered this before, but never figured out the mechanism at hand. This didn’t affect me during my years of submarine service. However, the sub was quite a bit bigger than my humble condo. Perhaps it was the manic busy-ness. Anyway, though I’ve not completed anything I wanted to, I’m about the abandon it all and get outside. Whether a drive, a small walk, or sitting in the backyard in the mud, I’m getting out.
Here I am, 2009
Like many people, I couldn’t imagine living this long. However, this is not so much a fault with my vision, rather a lack of visioning. Rarely have I lifted my gaze towards the future, towards the sun at dawn. As life has progressed, my nose has drifted lower, resting against the proverbial grindstone. One would expect a bloodied pulp proboscis by now.
Visioning, or it’s lack, has been something of a problem for me. It’s hard to plan, to develop goals without a vision. So much of my life has been lived with an immediate focus, short-term mentality. Though I’ve strived to raise my gaze, old habits compel with force. Not powerless, but easily seduced, these impulses drag me down the familiar path.
Perchance to dream, to see a future with clarity. Thus to vision, to provide direction, then goals and that fulfillment of life. Such is what I seek.
Monday Rambles From A Snowed In Sickee
I’ve been lame of late. The last piece of literature I read was Bukowski. Lately, I’ve been down with the Wall Street Journal and the Economist. Oddly, what’s really pulled me this way has been the prevalence of economics in the news. And not just these past few months, though the current state of things certainly compels me to know more. Actually, that thing within me pulling my interests is poverty; rather, thinking of ways to eliminate it. I see a need to understand the “system” in a deeper way. With that, I think it’s also good to know the system that I live in, whether I wish to rescue others or just avoid becoming a victim of my ignorance.
Be that as it may, I’m starting to get a bit twitchy. Time to read something broader. Got the latest Parabola Magazine, which should broaden my gaze enough for now.
This does bring me to one of my life’s great challenges. My range of interests are ridiculous. Trying to find some way to focus has been crazy. I’ve been working with Steven Covey’s stuff, along with some other guides, and trying to get my, uh, “stuff” together and build a more careerish career. We’ll see what that brings.
Boards
Years ago it seems, I was very active in many usenet groups. As we progressed to web based discussions, I plied my ideas there, too. Now, though, I keep my distance. Heck, I often make it a point to NOT read the threads below an article. First, the basic tenor is simply ugly. Pretty much most popular discussion is dominated by the trolls, or the blithely misinformed (especially those who delight in the ignorance, claiming it as some sort of virtue). Given the condensed nature of my time of late, dedicating any of my most precious resource seems irresponsible. I guess I've lost the love of web 2.0. Perhaps…
Via BlackBerry
Bail Outs And Other Fun
Watching the capitol hill antics this week gave me pause. First, I was simply stunned at the auto execs un-preparedness for those hearings (though they're much better this past session…with room yet for improvement). I have not heard a single question posed to them that should have been unexpected. Glad they chose to finally do some homework this past week. However, it does make me wonder if they are the right people to lead this "reformation". If they are so disconnected to have missed all the signals for a tough questioning, why should I believe that they are in any position to read the desires of the American public? And be able to bring desired cars to market? Gads, lord help us!
With all this, I've thinking about all this mess at a macro level. Is the best public investment in the companies? Or would it be better to invest the public money in a safety net? Providing solid unemployment benefits, as well as career transition assistance for the displaced seems to me to be the better investment. It would be more likely to instill confidence and recharge spending.
In addition, it would make me feel better to hear policy-makers talking about how to best serve those now unemployed. I think this will last for quite some time, and we would do well to consider the long term recovery process. These half-million new unemployed, and those who follow soon, will probably take some time to get re-absorbed into the economy. Tough times ahead, indeed.
Via BlackBerry
My Beloved Apple
There are so many things I love about the Apple and the Mac platform. However, the whole dotMac/Mobileme thing has been a resounding disappointment. Besides being sluggish, the whole interface is, well, clunky and blah. I also think iWeb, and the way it works with Mobileme sucks terribly. Why am I still using it, you might ask? Just one thing, actually: backups. Ok, that and coveting an iPhone.
Seriously, though, with the exception of the automated backups (and the integration with such programs as Quicken), all the other pieces are better done by others; much better done. Picasa and Flikr do better with photo sharing. Blogger and WordPress are much better at person websites/blogging. The Mobileme calendar is quite lame.
In many respects, I think I should simply stick with Google for most of my online needs. Picasa, Blogger, etc; though I still love my Macs. I’m sure that I’ll be swayed to check out the next offerings they have. I deeply hope they keep working.
At Night
I love clouds at night.
White bounded by dark, flattened
texture, flowing through trees.
Calm, wakefullness wanes,
embraced by peace.
Via BlackBerry
Porn and the Media
I stumbled upon this, “What the journalism industry can learn from porn”. Perhaps the post’s most compelling idea is that journalism should get on the ball and embrace the mobile platform. Porn’s already there. Journalism; not so much. Here is a huge opportunity that MSM is just sitting on. “The journalism industry is often reactive instead of proactive when it comes to new technology platforms” sums this problem well. I do understand the reluctance to invest in these channels. Incurring costs can be terrifying, especially untested ones. Yet, failure to innovate also brings a cost. Adopting the hottest technology is always quite expensive (supply and demand).
Also, “very few online news sites are providing large amounts of video content produced exclusively for the web that is not derivative of a print or broadcast story.” Journalism has the potential to greatly expand their offerings via digital content. The column inches limitations are non-existant. Thus, the web offers some incredible opportunities to flesh a story out deeper, offer different levels of content based on interest, link related articles to build a larger idea of “story”, and interact with their readers to build a story’s depth. Little of which is being executed.
However, there are some key differences that will make porn a poor model for journalism to emulate. First, the power of sex. Arousal brings a certain urgency that is beyond rational. As journalism interacts with a different part of the brain, this power to draw cash is greatly minimized.
There is, also, the issue of talent. I’m sure finding someone adept at ”performing“ adult content in a video shoot presents some challenges, but finding a talented journalist is more challenging. Somehow I doubt porn actors demand high level benefits packages! And I expect that porn has a lower labor cost (though I have little interest in exploring 10k’s to try and quantify this). And finding new ideas isn’t generally a concern of adult entertainment. For media trying to maintain a daily/weekly print edition, this gets even more stretched. Combine that with the additional costs of print, and the challenge gets greater.
Porn may offer some compelling ideas, and have charted some key new directions and technologies. I truly hope journalism doesn’t go too far in adopting the porn model, though. I would love to see the journalism industry become the cutting edge driver of technology. That would be a true delight.
HOW TO: NY ~ HURDY GURDY IS BEAUTIFUL
What’s a hurdy-gurdy you might ask? Well, Wikipedia has your answer.
The artist is Melissa the Loud, and can you read more about her here.