I’ve often said that deep within my soul lives a middle-aged woman who likes to throw parties. That line sums me up pretty well. I think said woman looks like an amalgam of the following two women:
Not just any photo of Meryl Streep or Margaret Atwood (who’s on Twitter – how fucking awesome is that?!!) – these particular pictures. Their poses/actions are applicable, too.
That’s all.
Two Weeks – Grizzly Bear from Gabe Askew on Vimeo.
This is a fan-made video for the song “Two Weeks” by a band named Grizzly Bear. I know nothing of this band, but I downloaded the whole album based on this song (very indie folk, which means that I quite like it, but have to be in the mood to wanna listen to it).
The above video, though? FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC. Also super interesting is this interview with Gabe Askew, who made the video. The reason it looks so damned good is because this Gabe guy has been doing animation forever and knows his shit. And works for a huge animation company that let him use their render farm. So it’s basically impossible to dream of making something as good (I say this as someone who has never toyed with animation). Oh well. It’s discoveries like this video that make me realize that YouTube and Web 2.0 are ultimately good developments in our popular culture. At times it may seem like Twitter/Facebook/stupid blogs like this one are ruining everything. But there are gems here and there. This, my friends, is a gem.
Throughout high school and a little bit into my first year of college, I kept a pretty regular blog over on Xanga, as did many of my close high school friends.
It’s beyond weird to look back at them and see what I thought were the big issues back then, what everyone else thought were their big issues, etc.
But as I looked over some past entries today, I started to wonder why we blog in the first place. I keep an extensive personal journal on the computer and have amassed nearly 600 pages chock full of tiny text and it’s great that I’ve been as diligent as I have because I can wonder what was going on five years ago and find an entry and read what I was thinking at the time. It’s pretty cool.
But what of this public blogging business? For the Xanga era, it was before any of us had a Facebook (back when Facebook was only for college students) or Myspace (hell, before Twitter even existed) and it was a nice way to get thoughts down on “paper” and get feedback from your friends. Looking back, it’s a time capsule, yes, but it was more of an of-the-moment thing that doesn’t really have all that much meaning.
The purpose of this blog is evolving as I waver between levels of commitment to updating. For the most part, it’s essentially a more informal version of What Ben Watches, a place where if I want to write a two-sentence review of a movie, I can and if I want to talk about music or books I can. It’s just a broader outlet.
Reading through some of my old Xanga, though, I started to wonder about five years from now and if I’ll look back on A Good Talk or Pancakes and think it was a waste of time or if it was useful. Who knows, of course, but for me, I think these sorts of personal blogs are a double-edged sword. They ostensibly keep us in touch with each other more, but at what cost? Twitter, I fear, is the most double-edged of them all. Every time I tweet or get a tweet from friends/family, it makes me feel more connected and up-to-date.
Is this a good thing, though? I’m curious to see what Web 3.0 is gonna look like, because it feels like the Web 2.0 thing is over the hump of relevance and is gonna start petering off soon. We all had our Myspaces, and at least in my social circle, we’ve ditched them. Facebook used to rule all, but I find myself using it less and less and finding it less and less useful, and I’m sure Twitter will run its course in no time and we’ll all stop using those, too.
And then what will we be left with? Massive archives of entries and responses on some server in some remote storage facility. I’m sure this is an overly pessimistic view of Web 2.0, but I feel like I’m getting to a point where I just want to throw everything out of my online routine and cease being so damned tied to my computer, y’know? Easier said than done.
I’m sure this was meandering at best, but… well, I’m curious what everyone thinks about this. Is Web 2.0 a permanent fixture in our lives or simply a step in an evolution of communication?
It was basically everything the Star Wars prequels could’ve ever dreamed of being. And it was damn good. Full review soon on WBW, but… just wow. A whole lot to really really like (and every cast member was like… super hot omgz).
Man, how behind schedule am I??!!! Shit, man. Three books in four months? That is shit pace, y’all. I never said I was gonna be great at this. I’m reading a 250 page children’s book next. It has REALLY big type. And I powered through a 900-page book. I’ll count that as an accomplishment as someone who until finishing that book would have to answer Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix if asked what the longest book they’d ever read was.
