Over some coffee this afternoon, I contemplated what I have now coined the “Filled to All Available” or “FTAA” syndrome. Here’s what it means, basically. As humans, we tend towards and often feel more comfortable within defined boundaries. Ambiguities and uncertain limits force us to think, to apply sometimes-risky judgement calls, and in our rushed and often bureaucratic society, that can be stressful. So, we thrive in a FTAA environment; we fill up our desks, our closets, our schedules to capacity. If we get larger desks, bigger closets, or unexpected free time, somehow we find a way to fill or fritter away the excess space. At an all-you-can-eat buffet, we tend to think of “getting our money’s worth” and—you guessed it—filling up rather than lightly sampling. We eat until we are not just satisfied, but stuffed. We store junk until our apartments are bursting at the seams. We live a life that is “Filled to All Available.”
What does this actually mean? Well, for starters, it suggests that making more money, getting a bigger house, and buying bigger boxes of chocolates at Costco will not necessarily make us happier, healthier, or more productive. On the flip side, it suggests that there are key advantages to thinking and doing Less in order to simplify and de-clutter our lives.
One way to go about doing this is to increase the proportion of shared or borrowed resources in our life and decrease the amount of things “owned.” This can be electronic (renting music, a la Yahoo Music Unlimited instead of “owning” [sic] music via iTunes), small-scale physical (borrowing books instead of buying them), and large-scale physical (car-sharing instead of owning a car).
Beyond this, there are mental changes that can be made as well… primarily pushing oneself away from a college-era mentality of hoarding and scarcity. Dividing up a large chocolate bar into smaller pieces and storing or giving away the majority. Visiting only two cities (for longer) instead of five, despite having an unlimited Eurail pass. Resisting the temptation to check Deals Web sites five times a day to buy stuff we don’t need with rebates we’ll forget to file.
* * *
The lesson at the end of the day: Think not what you have the resources to get or do. Think instead of what you need. Then think again. Avoid the “Filled to All Available” syndrome by decluttering your life, minimizing excess, and regaining focus.
Easier said than done, but very, very worthwhile.
* * *
What are ways in which you’ve found your life “Filled to All Available”? What have you done to combat this?
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Monday, January 30, 2006
Shocking car cost calculations
Okay, so maybe this is a total “duh!” observation, but I’ve just come to the stark realization of how insanely expensive it is to own a car in the Bay Area.
And no, I’m not even talking about gas prices.
You see, my current 1992 car is about ready to join that great pile in the sky (or junkyard) known as Car Heaven. Let’s just say he’s seen better days. So, environmentally-concerned and smart-researcher guy that I am, I’ve been learning towards buying a Toyota Prius hybrid gas/electric car.
But ouch! Let me share some of the approximate costs with you…
Over a hypothetical 12 year life of the car:
- $25,000 (at a pretty low base level, and not taking into account interest or the net present value of money, but including taxes, fees, etc.)
- $12,000 for insurance ($1K per year)
- $ 6,000 for routine maintenance and repair ($500 per year in oil changes, etc.)———————-
That’s $43,000.
And that doesn’t include:
- Gas
- Parking
- Parking tickets
- Costs of accidents
* * *
That $43,000 works out to be about $300 per month.
Given that I’ll soon easily be able to take public transit to work, the only time I’ll need a car is when going out on the town with friends and such. Let’s say that’s an average of 10 times a month.
Clearly, that works out to $30 per trip. With ZipCar, I’d pay $7.25/hr (no mileage or gas charges). Or given the compactness of San Francisco, I could probably inexpensively grab a taxi for most of those 10 outings (or, of equal likelihood, bum a ride home with friends and just help with gas costs).
* * *
In other words, I could just ditch the car and end up saving an enormous amount of money over the long haul, not have to worry about parking tickets, getting dinged in the parking lot, having windows broken (which has happened three times to my crappy old car in my six years here in San Francisco), and so on.
Sure, the Prius is sexy. In some ways it’d be very convenient (I could drive to work without having to worry about bus schedules), and I can imagine appreciating having a car when visiting friends in Sacramento and such. But now I know the cost!
And no, I’m not even talking about gas prices.
You see, my current 1992 car is about ready to join that great pile in the sky (or junkyard) known as Car Heaven. Let’s just say he’s seen better days. So, environmentally-concerned and smart-researcher guy that I am, I’ve been learning towards buying a Toyota Prius hybrid gas/electric car.
But ouch! Let me share some of the approximate costs with you…
Over a hypothetical 12 year life of the car:
- $25,000 (at a pretty low base level, and not taking into account interest or the net present value of money, but including taxes, fees, etc.)
- $12,000 for insurance ($1K per year)
- $ 6,000 for routine maintenance and repair ($500 per year in oil changes, etc.)———————-
That’s $43,000.
And that doesn’t include:
- Gas
- Parking
- Parking tickets
- Costs of accidents
* * *
That $43,000 works out to be about $300 per month.
Given that I’ll soon easily be able to take public transit to work, the only time I’ll need a car is when going out on the town with friends and such. Let’s say that’s an average of 10 times a month.
Clearly, that works out to $30 per trip. With ZipCar, I’d pay $7.25/hr (no mileage or gas charges). Or given the compactness of San Francisco, I could probably inexpensively grab a taxi for most of those 10 outings (or, of equal likelihood, bum a ride home with friends and just help with gas costs).
* * *
In other words, I could just ditch the car and end up saving an enormous amount of money over the long haul, not have to worry about parking tickets, getting dinged in the parking lot, having windows broken (which has happened three times to my crappy old car in my six years here in San Francisco), and so on.
Sure, the Prius is sexy. In some ways it’d be very convenient (I could drive to work without having to worry about bus schedules), and I can imagine appreciating having a car when visiting friends in Sacramento and such. But now I know the cost!
Geeks -- the perception still hasn't quite caught up with reality
As seen by this Australian TV commercial from Super Geek and this admittedly damn funny Fear of Girls video, we learn that…
- Geeks are all guys, and not particularly attractive fellas, either
- Geeks are typically sporting taped-up glasses and completely uncool fashion
- Women AREN’T geeks (and they’re most often confusing/confused AND helpless)
While the videos above are funny (I’d be a humorless boob to suggest otherwise), in the back of my mind I do worry about the effects of the still-pervasive stereotypes on display. Specifically, I’m thinking about junior high and high school girls. After being immersed in a culture that continually reiterates that attractive girls are NOT geeks, how many of them will want to study math or science or computing? Would you want to work with guys like the ones in the videos above?
Companies like Google are certainly making a laudable effort to recruit more women engineers, but I’m wishing that there were more positive and diverse portrayals of geeks in the mass media: (intentionally) funny geeks, sexy geeks, communicative geeks, athletic geeks.
Living here in the Bay Area, I know various geeks that fit all of the above adjectives. In Silicon Valley, it’s almost chic to be a geek :-D. But I’m more concerned about girls (and, for that matter, many boys) growing up in the heartland of the U.S. or in other countries where there aren’t such role models.
We need more women engineers not to be politically correct, not so that we guys in the office can have more pleasant “scenery,” not so some HR or government bureaucrat can smugly check off another box on some form, but rather because we actually DO need the diversity of thinking and working styles and, quite frankly, the greatest pool of talented “knowledge workers” possible.
And okay, I’d like some uber-geeks to be worshipped in popular culture so I could go to Britain or Germany and be as popular as a David Beckham and such ;-)
—-
Hat tip to Alicja and John Paczkowski for the ad and parody video respectively.
- Geeks are all guys, and not particularly attractive fellas, either
- Geeks are typically sporting taped-up glasses and completely uncool fashion
- Women AREN’T geeks (and they’re most often confusing/confused AND helpless)
While the videos above are funny (I’d be a humorless boob to suggest otherwise), in the back of my mind I do worry about the effects of the still-pervasive stereotypes on display. Specifically, I’m thinking about junior high and high school girls. After being immersed in a culture that continually reiterates that attractive girls are NOT geeks, how many of them will want to study math or science or computing? Would you want to work with guys like the ones in the videos above?
Companies like Google are certainly making a laudable effort to recruit more women engineers, but I’m wishing that there were more positive and diverse portrayals of geeks in the mass media: (intentionally) funny geeks, sexy geeks, communicative geeks, athletic geeks.
Living here in the Bay Area, I know various geeks that fit all of the above adjectives. In Silicon Valley, it’s almost chic to be a geek :-D. But I’m more concerned about girls (and, for that matter, many boys) growing up in the heartland of the U.S. or in other countries where there aren’t such role models.
We need more women engineers not to be politically correct, not so that we guys in the office can have more pleasant “scenery,” not so some HR or government bureaucrat can smugly check off another box on some form, but rather because we actually DO need the diversity of thinking and working styles and, quite frankly, the greatest pool of talented “knowledge workers” possible.
And okay, I’d like some uber-geeks to be worshipped in popular culture so I could go to Britain or Germany and be as popular as a David Beckham and such ;-)
—-
Hat tip to Alicja and John Paczkowski for the ad and parody video respectively.
Wheeeee! (a spontaneous dance lift)
Anne-Marie lifts unidentified but happy dancer at the 2003 San Francisco Lindy Hop Exchange.Optimism from marketing execs: "People are living lives of desperation."
From CMO magazine comes this gem, talking about the opportunities and benefits of using “real people” (I presume this means non-professional actors?) in advertising.
- All of us consumers are desperate, lonely, pathetic souls… deriving happiness and self-worth only from airbrushed airheads shilling soap. Speak for yourself, Celente!
- Such condescending and pittying attitudes from overpaid marketing morons will endear consumers to any brand.
I can only hope that consulting firms such as Calente’s AND the advertisers that believe in such self-defeating tripe will themselves end up living lives of career desperation.
The Dove campaign for its firming cream, for example, has proved popular with consumers, but industry experts disagree on whether the ad is effective. “Using the average person won’t sell anything,” says Gerald Celente, director and founder of Trends Research Institute, a consultancy. “The purpose of advertising is to create desire beyond what the product can actually deliver. Do you want to see the floppy Big Mac that the fast food worker actually packages up and hands to you, or the perfect airbrushed billboard version? People are living lives of desperation; they don’t want to be themselves.”This comment is so sad, I’m not quite sure where to start. Indeed, there’s undeniably an element of fantasy involved in advertising; this explains Bud’s attention to buxom bikini babes breasts’ rather than beer drinking guys’ bodaciously bursting big bellies. With that said, however, I resent and reject the implication that:
- All of us consumers are desperate, lonely, pathetic souls… deriving happiness and self-worth only from airbrushed airheads shilling soap. Speak for yourself, Celente!
- Such condescending and pittying attitudes from overpaid marketing morons will endear consumers to any brand.
I can only hope that consulting firms such as Calente’s AND the advertisers that believe in such self-defeating tripe will themselves end up living lives of career desperation.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Want me to click on your links? Let me see them!
Let me bravely be an old fuddy duddy and remind Webmasters of something here:
Everyone… I really believe everyone using the Web knows that blue, underlined text signifies a link.
Unfortunately, here’s what I’m seeing a lot of nowadays:
- Linked text that looks practically indistinguishable from non-linked text
The dangers of this should be obvious. If people can’t tell that they can click on a word to go somewhere they want or to learn something new or perform an action, they aren’t going to click.
- Linked text that is somehow decorated in a “clever way.”
Dotted line. Boxed. Anything other than plain blue underlined text. See danger #1, albeit perhaps with a little less uncertainty and a little more annoyance.
Then there’s the opposite problem:
- Blue (colored exactly “link” blue) text used for non-linked text or headlines.
Why is this bad? Well, you’re telling the pre-conditioned surfer “Click on me!” when clicking does absolutely nothing. This confusion then undoubtedly causes many visitors to say, well, if this blue text isn’t clickable, what is?
* * *
Am I suggesting that Webmasters must absolutely positively use only the “right” blue colored underlined text for links? No. I am, however, saying that the further your text links stray from this known appearance, the more likely you are to have at least some of your visitors confused.
And no, scheming to “keep your visitors from leaving” is not a valid Web strategy, IMHO.
P.S.—Yes, I admit I’m being at least a bit hypocritical here, since the buttons on my menu above are neither blue nor is the text underlined. No one’s perfect… ;-)
Everyone… I really believe everyone using the Web knows that blue, underlined text signifies a link.
Unfortunately, here’s what I’m seeing a lot of nowadays:
- Linked text that looks practically indistinguishable from non-linked text
The dangers of this should be obvious. If people can’t tell that they can click on a word to go somewhere they want or to learn something new or perform an action, they aren’t going to click.
- Linked text that is somehow decorated in a “clever way.”
Dotted line. Boxed. Anything other than plain blue underlined text. See danger #1, albeit perhaps with a little less uncertainty and a little more annoyance.
Then there’s the opposite problem:
- Blue (colored exactly “link” blue) text used for non-linked text or headlines.
Why is this bad? Well, you’re telling the pre-conditioned surfer “Click on me!” when clicking does absolutely nothing. This confusion then undoubtedly causes many visitors to say, well, if this blue text isn’t clickable, what is?
* * *
Am I suggesting that Webmasters must absolutely positively use only the “right” blue colored underlined text for links? No. I am, however, saying that the further your text links stray from this known appearance, the more likely you are to have at least some of your visitors confused.
And no, scheming to “keep your visitors from leaving” is not a valid Web strategy, IMHO.
P.S.—Yes, I admit I’m being at least a bit hypocritical here, since the buttons on my menu above are neither blue nor is the text underlined. No one’s perfect… ;-)
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Artful food in restaurant near Strasbourg, France
Ice cream… a wonderful pleasure that’s typically appreciated from childhood and on through adulthood. Soothing and relaxing, ice cream is even better IMHO when presented colorfully and artfully in a nice restaurant, along with good friends and a small heavy spoon.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Browser toolbar creators are missing one of the simplest, most useful options
Bookmarks. Favorites. Most of us save a list of sites we often visit or want to re-find again… either by adding them as a Bookmark in Firefox or as a Favorite in Internet Explorer or even adding the site to our online list residing on del.icio.us or Spurl, and so on.
Also, lots of us have browser toolbars by Yahoo! or Google or other folks. Unfortunately, there’s a huge disconnect here.
I visit Salon.com regularly. Same with Google News, SlickDeals, and many other sites. In Firefox, it’s very easy to assign a shortcut to access any one of my favorite sites; for instance, I can type sd into my Firefox address bar and be immediately whisked to SlickDeals.net. Even cooler, I can type gns lindy hop and instantly be brought to the search results page of Google News that shows me if there are any recent articles about Lindy Hop.
The downside? If I want to use any of these shortcuts on other computers (at a friend’s place, at work, when visiting my parents), I have to somehow copy over my Firefox preference files over via a thumbdrive or whatnot. Or, if they don’t have Firefox, I’m screwed.
This is where browser toolbars come in—or, rather, where they SHOULD come in.
In a nutshell, ALL the major toolbars should—when I’m logged in to my Passport or Google or Yahoo account or whatever—automatically let me…
1) Bookmark and assign a shortcut keyword for any site (e.g., msbc for http://microsoft.blognewschannel.com/).
Thereafter, I should then be able to type that shortcut into the toolbar search box and immediately be whisked off to that site.
2) Add a search shortcut by right-clicking on any search box of any site and choosing a shortcut keyword, just like I can do in 10 seconds on Firefox today.
For instance, I should be able to easily make amzs creative zen immediately search Amazon for any product with the words creative zen in them.
* * *
IMHO, this request is both relatively easy to implement and capable of significantly simplifying the online lives of lots of people. I honestly believe that the first major company to add this feature to their toolbar is likely to have a significant competitive advantage (“Jump to your favorite pages in a jiffy and do fast handy searches… no matter what computer you’re on!”) *and* increased penetration (e.g., if have all my bookmarks via my Google account and I’m visiting my parents who don’t have the Google Toolbar installed on their computer, I may just go ahead and install it for them so I can easily access my bookmark shortcuts :D)
It’s not like this would require a huge overhaul for the majors, either. I know that Yahoo!, for instance, already enables people to bookmark pages from their toolbar. And what a great complement to Yahoo’s My Web 2.0 this would be, eh?!
* * *
Do you think this feature set would indeed be massively popular? Or is it instead just something a geek like myself could love? Your thoughts…?
* * *
EDITED on January 25, 2006 to add:
Whoops! It looks like I overlooked the fact that Yahoo! in fact already does exactly what I’ve outlined above! :O
Specifically, at least when signed in, you can type an exclamation mark immediately followed by a shortcut and VOILA! For instance, !ebay canon sd550 brings you directly to the search results listings page for that camera on ebay. Additional, you can create your own custom shortcuts. As a bonus, this works:
- from the regular address bar (if you’ve set Yahoo! as your default search engine)
- from the Yahoo! search box on Yahoo’s site.
- from the Yahoo! toolbar.
My only quibble? An exclamation mark is an annoying character to use to indicate a shortcut search, since it requires the use of the shift key (one extra keypress… it adds up!) *and* it’s located on different places depending on your keyboard type (internationally). I think it’d be better if folks could specify their own shortcut-indicator key.
Still, this is quite a cool offering from Yahoo!, and thanks to the little byrdie (who wishes to remain anonymous) who let me know about this over e-mail. Oh, and apologies for overlooking this feature initially! Google, MSN… you have some catching up to do here ;-).
Lastly, here are more details on the Yahoo! Open Shortcuts feature.
Also, lots of us have browser toolbars by Yahoo! or Google or other folks. Unfortunately, there’s a huge disconnect here.
I visit Salon.com regularly. Same with Google News, SlickDeals, and many other sites. In Firefox, it’s very easy to assign a shortcut to access any one of my favorite sites; for instance, I can type sd into my Firefox address bar and be immediately whisked to SlickDeals.net. Even cooler, I can type gns lindy hop and instantly be brought to the search results page of Google News that shows me if there are any recent articles about Lindy Hop.
The downside? If I want to use any of these shortcuts on other computers (at a friend’s place, at work, when visiting my parents), I have to somehow copy over my Firefox preference files over via a thumbdrive or whatnot. Or, if they don’t have Firefox, I’m screwed.
This is where browser toolbars come in—or, rather, where they SHOULD come in.
In a nutshell, ALL the major toolbars should—when I’m logged in to my Passport or Google or Yahoo account or whatever—automatically let me…
1) Bookmark and assign a shortcut keyword for any site (e.g., msbc for http://microsoft.blognewschannel.com/).
Thereafter, I should then be able to type that shortcut into the toolbar search box and immediately be whisked off to that site.
2) Add a search shortcut by right-clicking on any search box of any site and choosing a shortcut keyword, just like I can do in 10 seconds on Firefox today.
For instance, I should be able to easily make amzs creative zen immediately search Amazon for any product with the words creative zen in them.
* * *
IMHO, this request is both relatively easy to implement and capable of significantly simplifying the online lives of lots of people. I honestly believe that the first major company to add this feature to their toolbar is likely to have a significant competitive advantage (“Jump to your favorite pages in a jiffy and do fast handy searches… no matter what computer you’re on!”) *and* increased penetration (e.g., if have all my bookmarks via my Google account and I’m visiting my parents who don’t have the Google Toolbar installed on their computer, I may just go ahead and install it for them so I can easily access my bookmark shortcuts :D)
It’s not like this would require a huge overhaul for the majors, either. I know that Yahoo!, for instance, already enables people to bookmark pages from their toolbar. And what a great complement to Yahoo’s My Web 2.0 this would be, eh?!
* * *
Do you think this feature set would indeed be massively popular? Or is it instead just something a geek like myself could love? Your thoughts…?
* * *
EDITED on January 25, 2006 to add:
Whoops! It looks like I overlooked the fact that Yahoo! in fact already does exactly what I’ve outlined above! :O
Specifically, at least when signed in, you can type an exclamation mark immediately followed by a shortcut and VOILA! For instance, !ebay canon sd550 brings you directly to the search results listings page for that camera on ebay. Additional, you can create your own custom shortcuts. As a bonus, this works:
- from the regular address bar (if you’ve set Yahoo! as your default search engine)
- from the Yahoo! search box on Yahoo’s site.
- from the Yahoo! toolbar.
My only quibble? An exclamation mark is an annoying character to use to indicate a shortcut search, since it requires the use of the shift key (one extra keypress… it adds up!) *and* it’s located on different places depending on your keyboard type (internationally). I think it’d be better if folks could specify their own shortcut-indicator key.
Still, this is quite a cool offering from Yahoo!, and thanks to the little byrdie (who wishes to remain anonymous) who let me know about this over e-mail. Oh, and apologies for overlooking this feature initially! Google, MSN… you have some catching up to do here ;-).
Lastly, here are more details on the Yahoo! Open Shortcuts feature.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Dying fan, tasty solution
Yesterday, one of the two fans (I couldn’t tell which) in my high-end PC started making very unpleasant sounds. It’s like with cars… hard to describe, but you know trouble when you hear it.
I got on all fours, shoved the computer out of the under-desk cabinet, and investigated. Hmm… both fans were still seemingly rotating at full speed. I could feel the warm air still being pushed through. Opened up the case to see if the plastic that attaches the chip fan had gotten loose. Nope. Checked for generally dangling cables. Nope, everything still attached just fine.
I was momentarily baffled and frustrated… until I finally stumbled upon a deliciously useful idea.
I thought to myself… self… what well-regarded substance is lubricating and tasty?
HEY, this is a family blog, get your mind out of the gutter!
The answer, of course, is olive oil! So I went to the kitchen, got out my Mr. Misto oil mister, and walked back to my room where my computer lay open, vulnerable, and—embarrassingly—not recently backed up. Oh dear.
But I bravely sprayed anyway. A little bit here, a little bit there. I got a craving for focaccia, but that’s not important right now.
The end result? My computer is now lubricated and happy. Maybe not quite as lubricated and happy as this computer, but still… he’s seemingly content and once again pretty quiet. Whew!
(and yes, I’ll be backing up soon, not only to avoid some potential nasty data loss, but to avoid being a total hypocrite after writing this blog entry about backup tips!)
I got on all fours, shoved the computer out of the under-desk cabinet, and investigated. Hmm… both fans were still seemingly rotating at full speed. I could feel the warm air still being pushed through. Opened up the case to see if the plastic that attaches the chip fan had gotten loose. Nope. Checked for generally dangling cables. Nope, everything still attached just fine.
I was momentarily baffled and frustrated… until I finally stumbled upon a deliciously useful idea.
I thought to myself… self… what well-regarded substance is lubricating and tasty?
HEY, this is a family blog, get your mind out of the gutter!
The answer, of course, is olive oil! So I went to the kitchen, got out my Mr. Misto oil mister, and walked back to my room where my computer lay open, vulnerable, and—embarrassingly—not recently backed up. Oh dear.
But I bravely sprayed anyway. A little bit here, a little bit there. I got a craving for focaccia, but that’s not important right now.
The end result? My computer is now lubricated and happy. Maybe not quite as lubricated and happy as this computer, but still… he’s seemingly content and once again pretty quiet. Whew!
(and yes, I’ll be backing up soon, not only to avoid some potential nasty data loss, but to avoid being a total hypocrite after writing this blog entry about backup tips!)
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Completely gratuitous photo of hot zombie babes with suckers
Why? Why not!
And here's your challenge: offer captions or other comments that are clever, witty, and not gross or disrespectful, please :-). Thanks!
And here's your challenge: offer captions or other comments that are clever, witty, and not gross or disrespectful, please :-). Thanks!
Hydraulic shoes for dancers and other women
Leave it up to my fellow dancer friends to think up something that’s equally entertaining and potentially useful.
To my non-Lindy-Hop reader friends… one thing you should know: In general, it’s a major faux pas to wear high heels when swing dancing. The follow’s balance tends to be off, the guys are afraid of getting stabbed when doing charlestons, and so on. In fact, a running joke is that you can identify (and avoid) the total newbies by seeing which women are wearing high heels. Same thing for blues dancing and blues dancers.
But this creates a bit of a conflict. Often times blues dancers are avid tango’ers… and occasionally, there are hybrid events which combine the worlds of blues and tango dancing. In tango, it’s apparently quite customary, even desireable for the follows to be decked out in high heels.
So what to do, other than trudging a very large purse or backpack along with you for a second pair of shoes, not to mention having to miss out on a song just to change shoes?
Well, this is where one of my fellow dancers’ brilliance comes into play. Embarrassingly, I can’t remember the specific person to suggest this over 2am Thai food post-dancing (it all tends to become a blur, you know), but I have to give props to the fella who came up with the idea of hydraulic shoes.
A woman is blues dancing… in nice, comfortable flats. Then she pushes a button (perhaps even via a discreet remote-control switch on her belt or whatnot), and ffffffvoom! Her shoes immediately transform into high-heels for an impromptu bit of tango’ing.
Hmm… uh oh… Creepy Guy(tm) is approaching her after the song ends and she has to make a quick getaway. pfffffffsssss! Instant flats again… enabling her to deftly escape her social-graces-challenged pursuer!
* * *
Of course, given the high percentage of my fellow dancers who are geeks (and thus unsurprisingly the analytical sort), we then debated how this might work practically. Specifically… where and how would the heels retract? Hmm.
To my non-Lindy-Hop reader friends… one thing you should know: In general, it’s a major faux pas to wear high heels when swing dancing. The follow’s balance tends to be off, the guys are afraid of getting stabbed when doing charlestons, and so on. In fact, a running joke is that you can identify (and avoid) the total newbies by seeing which women are wearing high heels. Same thing for blues dancing and blues dancers.
But this creates a bit of a conflict. Often times blues dancers are avid tango’ers… and occasionally, there are hybrid events which combine the worlds of blues and tango dancing. In tango, it’s apparently quite customary, even desireable for the follows to be decked out in high heels.
So what to do, other than trudging a very large purse or backpack along with you for a second pair of shoes, not to mention having to miss out on a song just to change shoes?
Well, this is where one of my fellow dancers’ brilliance comes into play. Embarrassingly, I can’t remember the specific person to suggest this over 2am Thai food post-dancing (it all tends to become a blur, you know), but I have to give props to the fella who came up with the idea of hydraulic shoes.
A woman is blues dancing… in nice, comfortable flats. Then she pushes a button (perhaps even via a discreet remote-control switch on her belt or whatnot), and ffffffvoom! Her shoes immediately transform into high-heels for an impromptu bit of tango’ing.
Hmm… uh oh… Creepy Guy(tm) is approaching her after the song ends and she has to make a quick getaway. pfffffffsssss! Instant flats again… enabling her to deftly escape her social-graces-challenged pursuer!
* * *
Of course, given the high percentage of my fellow dancers who are geeks (and thus unsurprisingly the analytical sort), we then debated how this might work practically. Specifically… where and how would the heels retract? Hmm.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Pondering the emotional wallop of strings and music in general
I’m a member of some of those all-you-can-eat, er, all-you-can-listen-to online music services and I’m constantly amazed at the fun and beautiful music I stumble across. Once, on a goofy whim, I did a search for the string “Chicken” and found a shockingly cool selection of funk, pop, and jazz songs. More recently, I did a search on “waltz” since I’ve grown increasingly enamored with this music and dance form.
One of the beautiful songs that cropped up was First Impressions, featured on the album “Appalachia Waltz” with cellist virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma. You can hear a sample by clicking on the player below and can enjoy other serene and joyful songs and learn more about the album on this Amazon.com page.
This simply-structured and sensitively-performed song packed an emotional punch for me, just as so many other songs have done in the past. And this got me to thinking: What is it about the instrumentation and orchestration of songs that moves me… and moves so many millions of others? I’m not even taking into account lyrics here, which involve a whole different (albeit related) issue. Just the sounds.
In particular, there’s something about strings, in my humble opinion. From soap operas to scary slasher movies, they set a tone… causing us to relax, to reminisce, to regret, or—in the case of Halloween Part 13 and such—to feel uneasy, on edge.
What causes this? Is it purely associative? (e.g., that we’ve grown to mentally link the sound of strings with certain corresponding actions and emotions) Or is it specifically acoustic… something in the timbre of stringed instruments that heightens and shapes our emotional involvement?
* * *
Sometimes I feel guilty for responding the way that I do. Particularly, if you’ll forgive my bluntness, when I’m forced to watch chick flicks and hear the crescendoing strings, I want to reach for my metaphorical barf bag. I am annoyed by the cliched themes, musically and otherwise, and know that I’m being subjected to a rather transparent effort to manipulate my emotions.
But in many other circumstances—even when I suspect that the music is designed specifically and bluntly to shape my feelings—I cannot help but be moved. Sarah McLachlan’s When She Loved Me from the “Toy Story 2” movie is a classic example.
I don’t know how much of an effect the story setting and lyrics had (probably not insubstantial), but I literally teared up. And yes, there are those strings again!
* * *
I wonder if any studies have been done about the emotional effects of specific musical instruments and arrangements… perhaps even by culture or other demographic.
Your thoughts?
UPDATE on January 14, 2006:
The power of BLADAM is simply astounding. Clearly in response to this entry featuring a music clip from Yo Yo Ma, the musician has now been named a U.N. Peace Ambassador!
UPDATE on April 5, 2009:
Embedded additional song (“When She Loved Me”) via Lala. Updated other embedded song due to technical glitches; now serving “First Impressions” via Grooveshark.
One of the beautiful songs that cropped up was First Impressions, featured on the album “Appalachia Waltz” with cellist virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma. You can hear a sample by clicking on the player below and can enjoy other serene and joyful songs and learn more about the album on this Amazon.com page.
This simply-structured and sensitively-performed song packed an emotional punch for me, just as so many other songs have done in the past. And this got me to thinking: What is it about the instrumentation and orchestration of songs that moves me… and moves so many millions of others? I’m not even taking into account lyrics here, which involve a whole different (albeit related) issue. Just the sounds.
In particular, there’s something about strings, in my humble opinion. From soap operas to scary slasher movies, they set a tone… causing us to relax, to reminisce, to regret, or—in the case of Halloween Part 13 and such—to feel uneasy, on edge.
What causes this? Is it purely associative? (e.g., that we’ve grown to mentally link the sound of strings with certain corresponding actions and emotions) Or is it specifically acoustic… something in the timbre of stringed instruments that heightens and shapes our emotional involvement?
* * *
Sometimes I feel guilty for responding the way that I do. Particularly, if you’ll forgive my bluntness, when I’m forced to watch chick flicks and hear the crescendoing strings, I want to reach for my metaphorical barf bag. I am annoyed by the cliched themes, musically and otherwise, and know that I’m being subjected to a rather transparent effort to manipulate my emotions.
But in many other circumstances—even when I suspect that the music is designed specifically and bluntly to shape my feelings—I cannot help but be moved. Sarah McLachlan’s When She Loved Me from the “Toy Story 2” movie is a classic example.
I don’t know how much of an effect the story setting and lyrics had (probably not insubstantial), but I literally teared up. And yes, there are those strings again!
* * *
I wonder if any studies have been done about the emotional effects of specific musical instruments and arrangements… perhaps even by culture or other demographic.
Your thoughts?
UPDATE on January 14, 2006:
The power of BLADAM is simply astounding. Clearly in response to this entry featuring a music clip from Yo Yo Ma, the musician has now been named a U.N. Peace Ambassador!
UPDATE on April 5, 2009:
Embedded additional song (“When She Loved Me”) via Lala. Updated other embedded song due to technical glitches; now serving “First Impressions” via Grooveshark.
Well-reviewed movie "Waterborne" now available free on Google Video
I haven’t had a chance to watch more than the first few minutes of this film, but Waterborne has been generally well-reviewed… and you can watch it for free either below or directly on Google’s site through January 15, 2006.
Rather than spoil even part of the plot, I’ll instead invite you to begin watching it now without preconceptions, with a note that it’s a serious film focusing on characters rather than explosive action.
Beyond this particular film, what fascinates and excites me about Google’s video offering—despite generally wide critical raspberries—is that it can serve as a fabulous equalizer. The key problems with getting great independent and foreign films seen by larger audiences aren’t just associated with marketing and word of mouth, but rather distribution. Just as Google AdWords (and, before it, GoTo.com) presented a revolutionary way for Mom’n'Pop outfits to reasonably compete with BigCos, Google Video will provide market access to low(er) budget films… in this case, literally FREE distribution. And then when some random Joe in Manhattan gets genuinely excited about a particular quality (or just frickin’ hilarious :D) production, he can indirectly cause that film to gain enormous market awareness by simply posting about it on his LiveJournal and linking to the Google Video, causing a chain reaction (remember the numa numa video?:-) And hey, can anyone even find the original anymore?! But I digress!)
* * *
But how will this actually make money for the film producers?
- Pay-per-download
For instance, while Waterborne is free to stream and watch online for a week, it’s then $4 to download. With this film, thanks to the openness of its producers, purchasers will actually OWN their copy and have the practical and legal options of burning it to DVD, watching it on their iPod, etc. This can be a win-win situation; whereas early adopters and those with more time than money can make sure to watch it for free, others will help fund the film by purchasing unfettered downloads. Alas, not all content producers are so wise and thoughtful towards consumers; the bulk of groups charging for video on Google Video now are placing some DRM (Digital Rights Management) restrictions on their files, so they’ll self-destruct after 24 hours or be uncopyable to a portable video player, etc. Hopefully they’ll eventually see the light, however.
- Related sales
T-shirts. Actual DVDs in jewelboxes. Sequels. Toys or other similar merchandise. Soundtracks via Napster or Magnatune or Amazon.com.
- Long-term career growth
Unknown artists can perhaps become bigger household names, garnering big studio money later on.
Other ideas? Your thoughts…?
* * *
Hat tip to Inside Google for reporting this and other interesting Google video tidbits.
Rather than spoil even part of the plot, I’ll instead invite you to begin watching it now without preconceptions, with a note that it’s a serious film focusing on characters rather than explosive action.
Beyond this particular film, what fascinates and excites me about Google’s video offering—despite generally wide critical raspberries—is that it can serve as a fabulous equalizer. The key problems with getting great independent and foreign films seen by larger audiences aren’t just associated with marketing and word of mouth, but rather distribution. Just as Google AdWords (and, before it, GoTo.com) presented a revolutionary way for Mom’n'Pop outfits to reasonably compete with BigCos, Google Video will provide market access to low(er) budget films… in this case, literally FREE distribution. And then when some random Joe in Manhattan gets genuinely excited about a particular quality (or just frickin’ hilarious :D) production, he can indirectly cause that film to gain enormous market awareness by simply posting about it on his LiveJournal and linking to the Google Video, causing a chain reaction (remember the numa numa video?:-) And hey, can anyone even find the original anymore?! But I digress!)
* * *
But how will this actually make money for the film producers?
- Pay-per-download
For instance, while Waterborne is free to stream and watch online for a week, it’s then $4 to download. With this film, thanks to the openness of its producers, purchasers will actually OWN their copy and have the practical and legal options of burning it to DVD, watching it on their iPod, etc. This can be a win-win situation; whereas early adopters and those with more time than money can make sure to watch it for free, others will help fund the film by purchasing unfettered downloads. Alas, not all content producers are so wise and thoughtful towards consumers; the bulk of groups charging for video on Google Video now are placing some DRM (Digital Rights Management) restrictions on their files, so they’ll self-destruct after 24 hours or be uncopyable to a portable video player, etc. Hopefully they’ll eventually see the light, however.
- Related sales
T-shirts. Actual DVDs in jewelboxes. Sequels. Toys or other similar merchandise. Soundtracks via Napster or Magnatune or Amazon.com.
- Long-term career growth
Unknown artists can perhaps become bigger household names, garnering big studio money later on.
Other ideas? Your thoughts…?
* * *
Hat tip to Inside Google for reporting this and other interesting Google video tidbits.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Badger badger badger (snake?)
 | Anyone have any idea what this animal is? I saw him in a park in St. Louis, Missouri, and I’ve been wondering ever since. And since his home sort of complements my new blog colors, I figured it was high time to feature him here. :-D |
Two resource recommendations for getting a thoughtful, unbiased understanding of the world around us
Like many of you, I read a lot of news and opinion pieces on the Internet and am therefore bombarded by a mixture of dry and rabid facts and opinions. It can be exausting and frustrating!
That’s why I’m particularly pleased to have found these two useful resources:
The Week Magazine
The Week expertly summarizes information and opinions from leading newspapers and journals around the world into a 30-40 page concise and fascinating overview. From political news to information about current scientific issues to aggregated theatre and art reviews, this magazine offers a superb opportunity to become familiar with key global debates and concerns.
While you can read many of the articles online, I do recommend that you subscribe to the paper edition. If you have airline frequent flyer miles, you’ll find that you can get this magazine for just a few hundred milepoints a year—a significant savings over the equivalent monetary subscription charges. Search for [{your airline} miles magazines].
FactCheck.org
This outstanding FactCheck.org Web site—maintained by the Annenberg School of Communication—and its accompanying e-mail newsletter do a fabulous job delving into the truth of political campaign ads. Beyond just calling specific claims flatly “true” or “false”, FactCheck evaluates the claims in context and leans neither to the right nor left. Campaign claims by Democrats, Republicans, and Liberatarians are all scrutinized dispassionately and thoroughly. It’s a wonderful antidote to the frothing right-wing and left-wing blogs out there which’ll seemingly twist anything to fit their particular agenda.
* * *
Know of any other unbiased and thoughtful resources for understanding world events, politics, and the arts? I’d love to hear from you!
That’s why I’m particularly pleased to have found these two useful resources:
The Week Magazine
The Week expertly summarizes information and opinions from leading newspapers and journals around the world into a 30-40 page concise and fascinating overview. From political news to information about current scientific issues to aggregated theatre and art reviews, this magazine offers a superb opportunity to become familiar with key global debates and concerns.
While you can read many of the articles online, I do recommend that you subscribe to the paper edition. If you have airline frequent flyer miles, you’ll find that you can get this magazine for just a few hundred milepoints a year—a significant savings over the equivalent monetary subscription charges. Search for [{your airline} miles magazines].
FactCheck.org
This outstanding FactCheck.org Web site—maintained by the Annenberg School of Communication—and its accompanying e-mail newsletter do a fabulous job delving into the truth of political campaign ads. Beyond just calling specific claims flatly “true” or “false”, FactCheck evaluates the claims in context and leans neither to the right nor left. Campaign claims by Democrats, Republicans, and Liberatarians are all scrutinized dispassionately and thoroughly. It’s a wonderful antidote to the frothing right-wing and left-wing blogs out there which’ll seemingly twist anything to fit their particular agenda.
* * *
Know of any other unbiased and thoughtful resources for understanding world events, politics, and the arts? I’d love to hear from you!
Monday, January 9, 2006
FINALLY - Bladam 2.0! :)
I finally took the plunge. After blabbing about moving my blog over to Expression Engine software over a year ago, I’ve finally done it.
So what does it mean to you? Here’s the skinny on the major new stuff:
More info about the changes
Still, though, I’m admittedly pleased with how things have worked out so far, and I would indeed highly recommend Expression Engine to others based upon my experiences.
* * *
I still have a *TON* to do as part of the transition, but at least now I have the basics all set up :-)
I do appreciate your support, your feedback, and your patience, and am always delighted to hear from you. Like the airlines say… I know you have a choice of pages on the Net to read, and I’m honored you’re reading mine :-).
Take care, and best of the New Year to you and yours!
(Now I’m finally off to bed. It’s 6:21am here, and it’s high time I caught some zzzz’s! Hopefully nothing goes too haywire in the meantime… eek!)
So what does it mean to you? Here’s the skinny on the major new stuff:
- Comments post almost instantaneously. And even non-members can opt to get e-mail-notified when someone posts a new comment in an entry they’ve replied to.
- No more three-column circus. Everything’s less cluttered and manically colored now.
- Lots of miscellaneous goodies for “regulars” (see details)
More info about the changes
- I’ve de-emphasized large date headers and eschewed a side-calendar; the focus is on my writing content, not the arbitrary dates I post things.
- Search and other navigation options have also been moved out of the main fold. Most folks just visit my blog front page and individual entries they find via search :-).
- I chose Expression Engine over Movable Type because I felt that customizing and managing BLADAM would be much easier for me with the former. MT’s a great program, but I wanted to try something new.
- EE also offers better blog-spam protection out of the box than MT, IMHO, and certainly more flexible and cool membership options.
Still, though, I’m admittedly pleased with how things have worked out so far, and I would indeed highly recommend Expression Engine to others based upon my experiences.
* * *
I still have a *TON* to do as part of the transition, but at least now I have the basics all set up :-)
I do appreciate your support, your feedback, and your patience, and am always delighted to hear from you. Like the airlines say… I know you have a choice of pages on the Net to read, and I’m honored you’re reading mine :-).
Take care, and best of the New Year to you and yours!
(Now I’m finally off to bed. It’s 6:21am here, and it’s high time I caught some zzzz’s! Hopefully nothing goes too haywire in the meantime… eek!)
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