Websites: Blog This

Common get-to-know-you questions used to include, "What kind of music do you like?" or "What are your favorite movies?" They still show up time to time, but everyone knows by now it's a cliche conversation starter.

When I was a teenager and someone asked me what kind of music I liked, I remember knowing that how I answered that question inadvertently let people know who I am. They didn't really want music recommendations, they just wanted to make sure I liked the right music.

One day, mid teen-angst, I realized the trick to that question was, "Oh, I don't know, I really like everything." And then a quick, "Except country, of course." But that answer seemed kind of false in the 80's, because "everything" was hard to come by. We listened to what WPLJ and Z100 told us to listen to. Or whatever we found in our parent's music collection (Jim Morrison and Carly Simon and The Roaches). But it was a bit hard to expand beyond that.

Nowadays though, we really can say everything. In fact, nowadays, I find it really hard to say anything but everything. In the past week I've listened to a bazillion 30-second song clips by unsigned/unlabeled bands whose t-shirts I'm more familiar with than their guitar player's name. That's just the way things are now with music. We really do listen to "everything".

Now a new question I get asked is, "So what blogs do you read?" And wouldn't you know it, the answer to that also implies some sort of personality assessment. It's an interesting question, and rarely do I find two people who say the same thing. People get nervous answering it, too. I can tell by their face that they want to say something that sounds smart or hip.

So, I decided to write a little post about the blogs I frequent, for better or worse.


The Animated Life - Jeff Scher
http://scher.blogs.nytimes.com/
This is one of the NYT's bloggers. He's an animator and does marvelous work. I like how his blog isn't only a place to post the wonderful projects he creates, but that he writes about why he makes them. It gives his work context. He writes well, and briefly, and as an artist I always walk away (or, surf away) from his blog feeling like I got something out of it.


College Humor Videos
http://www.collegehumor.com/
I know, I know. I'm way too old to be reading this. OR, am I? I have a thing for short-attention span, really funny, creative, ridiculous, (emphasis on the creative), internet videos. I just think there's an art to it. I don't actually read this whole website, most of it I find stoopid. But I did set up my igoogle account to subscribe to their College Humor videos. Most of which, I am not ashamed to admit, I really get a kick out of.
Recent Examples:
The Yoga Class (funny!)
Wall Animation (stunning and beautiful)


Kimberlee's Video Blogs
http://www.crucialminutiae.com/?author=10
I like this girl. She does good blog. I've read her book, too. Her blog is called, "Therapy Thursdays" and every Thursday she posts a little video blog for her readers. They are usually therapy-centric musings, outlooks on life, things she thinks about. She has this delicate way of speaking that I can relate to, and I always listen to what she says thoughtfully.

Davey Dance Blog
http://fishel.tumblr.com/
I've already written about this guy, but I'm going to add it to the list in case you didn't hear me the first time. He's great! He dances around the world to appropriately chosen music that subtly matches the history of the place he's in. He said in an interview recently that there are many components to this project. The main, obvious experience is that the videos posted on the Internet are available for anyone to see. But the other experience happening is with the people who walk by him while he's dancing. He has headphones on, so no one hears the music. They just see him dancing. He said NYC people are the most oblivious to it. But if you watch his most recent video blog, it's really fun to watch the people watching him.


Diary of a Disillusioned Dater
http://diaryofadisillusioneddater.blogspot.com/
This is one of the funniest blog writers I have found in a while. Most "dating blogs" are written by women. Lots of them Jewish. Lots of them in NYC. I've been waiting to find a guy online who can dish it out just as well. Better even. It's not just that his stories about his dating life are honest, sincere, and slightly vulnerable. But they are written SO well. And they are SO funny. I've been reading them out loud to a woman I work with. She and I were laughing so hard I could barely get through it.

Skip to his best ones:
Going Halfsies
The Height of Stupidity
The Drive By

Jake and Amir
http://www.jakeandamir.com/
I already told you about them. They make me laugh, laugh, laugh. I think that's what I look for most in a blog. Funny is the new smart.

Video: Do It Again

Online: Music

Remember how Napster totally changed our lives once upon a time ago? Even my mom got into it. She and my sister were stealing music long before I stopped waxing poetic about online ethics. Then I lost my steam, and got on the bandwagon.

Then I stopped. Because after a while, it started to make me feel icky. I admit, I don't really do the mp3player thing. Not into itunes at all, don't have time during the day to walk around with earplugs. But I still really, really like finding new music. And now the music industry has changed so much that it seems musicians are into sharing their music for free a little bit more than they were before. You've heard about the whole Radiohead thing, haven't you? Where they released their new album and told their fans, "pay what you think it's worth to you." Really! It was quite revolutionary. Or, even if it wasn't, it at least garnered tons of press.

But all that means is that there is a lot more free stuff out there, and I don't have to feel guilty about downloading anymore. I get a lot of new music from blogs. But recently I discovered this awesome website that will do all the searching for you, so you don't have to sort through a billion blogs yourself.

Here it is: http://elbo.ws/posts/
Type the song you want into the search box, and it will deliver results containing all blogs that have the mp3 posted, all blogs that talk about the music, and more relevant info. It's really cool and such a great resource. And they've led me to some really obscure stuff!

Also, another revolution to hit the net is this: http://muxtape.com/
The premise is that you can build your own mix tape (like we used to do with cassettes). Only 10 songs allowed I believe. And it's a FAST upload, I can tell you that. Awsomeness. Share your muxtape with your friends, or whomever, and enjoy. Keep it open in another window, and the whole playlist will just stream for you. On the homepage of muxtape.com are all the playlists you should check out today. I think the list changes. Here's my playlist: http://ihavetotellyou.muxtape.com/

Listen and enjoy.
I'll leave the link up on the right sidebar of this blog.

Funnyness: Jake and Amir

I cannot emphasize enough how enthusiastic I am about Jake and Amir. I've been wanting to write about this comedic discovery, but I guess I was too busy laughing and forwarding their videos to my sister.

J + A are two guys who work for CollegeHumor.com and are, in a plural word, comedians. They write, act, direct, edit, produce, and so on.

They started putting these little videos together called, "Jake and Amir" in which they play characters with the same names, and with everything or nothing to do at all with their own personalities. I think that's the whole point. You want to believe they are playing themselves, but it's pretty safe to say these characters are more of a conglomerate of many personality types. Particularly the insecure ones.

But I am so over analyzing this. Forgive me, it's just hard to explain their shtick to you. It speaks better for itself, on it's own terms. So I shall give you a tour.

First, you'll want to check out the Jake and Amir homepage, and watch "the best of the best". The top videos. This will give you a great sense of what we're dealing with here.
http://www.jakeandamir.com/post/2336490

If you're a vimeo fan, then subscribe to their channels, so you'll always be alerted to new stuff.
Amir: http://www.vimeo.com/Amir
Jake: http://www.vimeo.com/jakeh

Past that, just keep your eyes and ears open, because these boys are going to do very well for themselves. What makes me so happy, is this stuff just keeps coming out of them. I really liked Clark and Michael, a LOT, and it was too bad that it ended. But this new duo just keeps on producing. It's like their brains can't stop. I like people whose brains can't stop.

I showed it to a friend of mine, and he said he thought Jake had it harder than Amir, as an actor. Because Amir gets to be a lunatic and bust out with whatever comes to mind, but the Jake character has to stay composed. And, he has to stay on his toes to catch anything that Amir throws at him. Actually, I've always thought the Amir character reminds me of a girl version of Trudy Weigel on Reno 911.

What I'd really like to say is, at the end of a long day, to come home and see my little igoogle app alerting me to a newly posted Jake + Amir video, is one of the highlights of my virtual day. I freaking love their shit. They're hysterical, adorable, they make me laugh, and plus I feel inspired to do more of my own stuff.

So, if you boys google yourselves, and find this, THANKS for the laughs.

Language: Quote Unquote

I was sitting in traffic this morning. I looked out the car window and saw a large banner for this west side establishment. Nekkid girlies, basically.

But what struck me was the liberal use of quotes. "Beautiful Entertainers" and "Unforgettable" and no quotal attribution! WHO said this?? If you put something in quotes, it's either because someone said it, OR, you're being ironic.

So, was it some dude who mumbled into his beer one night, "unforgettable", after his $20 lap dance was over, and the bartender heard it, and told it to the guy who does their marketing, and the guy was like, "That's it! We'll put it on a banner!"

Or, are they mocking themselves, and the quotes are more like a *wink wink* to passing patrons. Yeah right we're unforgettable. Surrrrrre they're beautiful.

Life: Gaming

Went to a very large education conference this week. Took in a lecture about Gaming and Education. Wrote notes really quickly in a free notebook I got from one of the zillion vendors who were there trying to sell me things I didn't need.

Here are my notes:

Kids produce today (music, videos, blogs), not because they aspire to be next great filmmaker or composer, but because media-modules are a form of CURRENCY within their social network.

My thoughts: This concept stayed with me for a long time, and I kept thinking about how interesting that is! And true. Kids want a certain # of myspace friends, a certain # of youtube appearances, a certain # of AIM buddies. None of that really has anything to do with anything resembling real friendships, or real budding acting careers. They know that. What they want is volume. In my days, our currency was stickers. We traded, hoarded, invested in the big ones, gave away the smelly ones. Until money starts to mean something to these kids, one cent is as valuable as one thousand dollars. Either way, they know they're getting fed tonight. BUT. Getting to the next level on the new Wii game, that gives them value in their social network.

Kids today, through gaming, learn on a NEED TO KNOW basis.

New term: GAMING LITERACY
This does not mean "let's play a specific game to learn our multiplication tables", but the understanding that Gaming is a MODEL FOR THINKING.

Gamers look for a visual representation of an underlying system.
They question: What do I need to know now in order to succeed later?

COLLABORATIVE GAMING: Recruit people who have certain skills, combine those skills to conquer the game. Gamers organically figure things out as they go along. Gamers know they need to communicate with one another in order to succeed. In recent studies, grad students are more likely to huddle by themselves and hide their research from others for longer periods of time. Middle school kids thrive on the collaboration, practically sitting in each other's laps sharing information in real time. That is a SHIFT in learning styles.

Gamers care little about visuals (design) and more so they look for DATA. They seek and desire DATA at all times in order to see how they are doing. When designing games, EMBED ASSESSMENT. Don't just tack it on at the end.

Gamers are now using the BODY as well as the MIND (Wii)

Instead of being the GAME PLAYERS, we should encourage kids to start being the GAME DESIGNERS. It requires them to think about content, and about something.

When designing games, don't put too much pressure on the game itself. Games are really about creating an EXPERIENCE for people. HOW are your players going to learn?

Site to check out: www.gamestarmechanic.com

In a recent study watching the way kids design games, kids produced DENSE NARRATIVES for their games, which came as a surprise to the experts. Kids with learning disabilities, who were normally hesitant about writing, were very driven and successful in this experience.

---> !!! The GIRLS were deeply invested in the physical space they would be playing in, and spend tons of time DESIGNING THE SPACE before they even began to play. The BOYS quickly filled the whole space with enemies, pressed play, and then realized they didn't have a game. So they had to go back and revise.

Look into beta: M.I.L.K.
Mobile Informal Learning Tool
Kids designing games solely for cell phones. Encourages turning any space into a gaming space.

As a game designer, kids learn to anticipate their player's moves. You have to figure out WHY someone would want to play your game.

In order to be a game designer, a kid has to:
-- have a theory
-- test it
-- get reviews
-- revise

Kids are very excited about building FOR EACH OTHER.

Travel: Where I Was...

Product: Lamp

I really want this!!

I "need" a blue lamp shade for this lone lamp stand I have, that I want to put on this little desk that would get a lot more use if it had a light on it. But then I found this lamp, and I think... no, wait, I'm certain.... it would make me a fully satisfied human being in all aspects.

It's by Lite Source, Inc.

Available now on amazon.

(Hint Hint: Someone has a birthday coming up in 8 months!)

Singer: Vandaveer

I am loving ALL things Vandaveer right now. First I found this one song, and then I found all the rest of his songs (and this all happened because I discovered the wonderful world of music blogs!) (Never listen to the same song twice again!) (Unless, of course, it's Vandaveer, and you must, must, must listen to this song (below) over and over and over.)

Absolute Favorite Song Of The Day, And Then Some:
"However Many Takes It Takes" by Vandaveer

Listen here

Lyrics:

We're swimming in the deep end
I find out where your faith begins
You're waiting for an answer that's acceptable

The current sweeps you out to sea
And it keeps you guessing helplessly
You're praying for a savior who's exceptional
Someone who'll lift you from your knees
And save you, and hand you the keys
And offer you the kingdom of your dreams

But nothing's ever as it seems
You find yourself further down stream
Alone, save for the echoes of your screams
Ah, honey, fairy tales are prone to tease

Well candles burn you warm and safe
You lock your door and control your space
And curtains drawn, you think that you're impenetrable
But demons they don't live outside
They burrow deep where they can hide
Inside a safe, you will still feel vulnerable
You draw a bath and pour some wine
You drink yourself into another time
Where you feel truly free
The water's rising overhead
And you wake to find yourself in bed
You're gasping, for a breath that's hard to breathe
Ahh, honey, dreams are rarely what they seem

Oh, how, ever, many takes, it takes

Well, step outside into the sun
Let it dry your eyes and run around
Feel the warmth underneath your skin
The clouds will soon move in again
You can't expect to always win
You got to, take it as it comes

The marching bands and beating drums
Play familiar songs for the alum
We all got scars, but we don't like to show them
Sometimes it's better to be strong
We all got to be moving on
You got to walk a million miles
Ahh, honey, go walk them with a smile.

Oh, how, ever, many takes, it takes.

Video: Valentine's Day Video

Quote: Really?

"The latest research shows that we're surprisingly bad at predicting what will make us happy."

Website: Davey Dance

now this. THIS. is brilliant.


Davey Dance-BLOG. A project started while traveling Europe during Spring 2007. Armed only with an ipod and a Canon PowerShot, Davey picks a location and a pop song. Then Davey records an improvised dance.

Keep in mind, he's listening to the music on his ipod as he dances. So everyone walking around him doesn't hear a thing. Lucky he's a good dancer!!

The best ones are here:

Germany
New York City @ Christmas (my favorite)
The subway
Brooklyn Bridge
Florence
Pisa

And this was his first one (using Tom Waits at the Vatican)

Video: The Rainbow Chasers

The Rainbow Chasers from Erin Wallace on Vimeo.

Song: I Feel It All, by Feist

Is this going to be Feist's thing?

As in, will her music videos consistantly involve her dancing around like a 6-year old in front of highly complex choreography (by people, fireballs, or otherwise) all orchestrated to fit into one single take?

If it is, that's so very cool by me. I'm just a little bummed because that was MY plan for rock stardom. [pause. glance into the camera with a shrug.] Well, you know what they say. If you have an idea and you don't grab on it, it's someone else's for the taking.

PLAY: Video for Feist's new song, "I Feel It All".

And I forgive her.

Art: Private

Art: Hands

News: Dr. Phil

Typo! Typo in the New York Times!! And I found it!

Should it have been: Do you like your therapist?
Or, should it have been: Do you lie to your therapist?
Is the word like spelled wrong, or is the word to inserted by mistake?

Good questions. But I'm sorry, our time is up for today.

Book: Blue Pills: A Positive Love Story

This book was beautiful.

I've been looking for a good opportunity to foray into the graphic novel genre. I didn't want to choose something "just because" it had pictures. And in the past, graphic novels haven't really done it for me. They should. Know me, and you'd know they should. But they just haven't.

Maybe it's because, and I'm just pontificating here, the story lines are somewhat unemotional. Correct me if I'm wrong, but tons of these (let's abbreviate here) G.N.'s are written by men, with these hard-to-grasp, somewhat unemotional concepts. They're more like adventures. Or something. It's like, it takes so long to get to the meat of the story, and there's always so much in-between stuff happening. And it makes it hard for me to concentrate. And sometimes, I'm not sure what I should be concentrating on. The story? The pictures? It's not the type of book I really know how to read. Because the thing is, I really like words, and I really like pictures. Separately. But together? It's like listening to an amazing singer singing with an amazing guitarist, at the same time, each at the same volume. It's hard to know what to focus on. Well, anyway. That's been my experience. Mostly, I haven't liked the stories.

But I was in the neighborhood bookstore, waiting for something to grab me. This book was misplaced, left out on a shelf, not quite fitting in with anything else. It should have been with the Valentine's Day book display up front, but I guess people don't really consider AIDS stories a romantic gesture.

But really, this is a love story. A total package love story. It's about a young man, who meets a young woman, and they're both pretty awesome people. And she has a kid. And she is divorced. And she is HIV positive. And so is her little boy.

So, what's a man to do?

This is their love story (and a true story!) and it's just beautiful, and mesmerizing, and sensitive, and vulnerable. Yes, the story is vulnerable. Always on the verge of falling into tears, or self-defeating, or missing out on it's own chance for happiness.

But it doesn't. And that's not giving anything away. The book is called A Positive Love Story, which of course, is really what caught my eye. How can something so sad be so utterly uplifting?

Also, I found it warmly inspiring, artistically.



[The author is Frederik Peeters, and is considered one of Europe's up and coming illustrators. Blue Pills was previously published in Europe, where it won the Premios La Carcel de Papel in Spain and the Polish Jury Prize at Angouleme. It has sold over 20,000 copies in its original French edition, and now Houghton Mifflin is publishing it in the United States. -- source]

Art: Words

Video: Leo's Song

Leo's Song from impactist on Vimeo.

Art: Flower

“A person asked a rabbi why the truth was written on our hearts, he said so that when our heart breaks, the truth can fall in … since there is no more fertile a place than inside a broken heart.”

Art: Colors

"A ship in the harbor is safe.

But that is not what ships were made for."

Art: Colors

"Sometimes I wish a million things were different.

But then I wish those million things, weren't things I wished for."

Art: Pattern

Art: Connected

Art: Doodle

A doodle is usually something you draw without thinking or planning. It just sort of happens. People always say, "I don't know what to draw," but no one really says, "I don't know what to doodle." There's a routine to it, for most of us. Maybe you always draw boxes. Maybe it's eyes. Maybe its letters of the alphabet. Mostly the doodle happens when you're thinking about other things, or talking on the phone, or waiting for a file to download. Your hand reaches for a pen and paper and the next thing you know, images start to appear. And sometimes you look down and exclaim, "Oh my goodness, what did I just draw?"

Favorite things

LETTERS: Cable company

Dear 877-blahblahblah-something something something Optimum cable,

I know you're probably just psyched I spelled your name right (and P.S. I didn't). Optimum? Optimal? Optic fcking nerves blowing up in my head? STOP THAT COMMERCIAL RIGHT NOW.

Lucky for me I know how to write a proper business letter, so that I can scribe this one to you now and make it effective.

At the risk of humiliating myself and my forefathers (and mothers), you need to know something irregardless. When your commercial comes on the air, I TURN THE TV OFF. Yeah, I don't even "mute" it and divert my attention otherwise. I don't raise the volume on the new hot song playing on my computer. I don't change the channel to see what Rachael Ray wants me to cook in 5 minutes or less. NO. I have to turn it off. I'm in the middle of watching a pointless youtube flick, and I literally stand up, walk allllllll the way across the room, and shut the TV off, just so I do not have to listen to your commercial for the a thousand billionth time. And yes, that's a real number.

I don't want to hear all that crap about how TV is bad for me, blahblahblah. I know it is. Why else would I watch it? But if I'm going to be properly inundated with product endorsements and propaganda that I pretend to believe I think I agree with, then at LEAST make it a good commercial! Your song (or jingle or whatever) is worse than a Mariah Carey ballad at Christmas. It's worse than some 6 year old kid who wants to be famous and belts it out for guest judge Sharon Osbourne. Your commercial is so bad it makes my cat bark. Your commercial is so bad it makes me think Vanna White is my hero.

Ever read a book called The Tipping Point? Yes? No? Yes? The point, my FRIEND(z), is not to make your audience tip over in their chair because they think they are going to go insane if they hear your commercial one more time during a Tyra B. rerun. Girl, I am trying to learn how to strike it fierce, and you are ruining my runway walk practice time.

So. In conclusion. Stop airing that commercial. So that I can return to being the passive, complacent television watching viewer that I've always been.

Gracias.
And good night.

Language: portmanteau

portmanteau

a word that fuses two or more words or word parts to give a combined or loaded meaning.

examples:

• spork
• guesstimate
• wikipedia
• ginormous

News: RIP = Rodent In Peace

Check it:
http://mysesame.blogspot.com/