Mashups are an excellent example of how the web is starting to finally make good on the promise that anyone can become a creator of content and then self publish. The two videos below are not the most well made mashups but they work for me.
Enjoy
This is what happens when you combine the Eurythmics and the White Stripes.
This is what happens when you add together the Beatles and Guns & Roses.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
The Ka of Harry Potter.
First a word of warning. This post is about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and my thoughts upon reaching the conclusion of J.K. Rowling’s wonderful series of books. Obviously there will be spoilers below and I wanted make sure that I give you, the constant reader, the due diligence of warning.
Anti-Climatic. That is the best way of summarizing the state of my mind on this beautiful Monday morning. The Deathly Hallows was a wonderful book, full of twists and turns, and providing a fitting conclusion to the world Rowling has created. However, the anti-climatic feeling I am now experiencing comes not from a failure on the part of the author but from my own sense of loss. For many years now, I have prided myself on being a very astute reader of these novels and, if I do say so myself, quite good at deducing various plot twists. I would be very embarrassed to know exactly how many hours I have devoted to either thinking or talking about the world of Harry Potter. Prior to the release, I had speculated that Snape’s loyalty stemmed from his feelings towards Lily. I knew in my heart that Harry was a Horcrux, yet also believed that he was going to survive. These predictions and theories have now come to an end.
I believe this is a large part of why I feel the way that I do. Riley is now slowly making his way through the books. There is no doubt that Sophie will one day read the novels. However, neither of them will have the years of anticipation before picking up the next installment. They will not spend hours speculating with friends about possible outcomes because they can simply read the next book. I find this sad because, at least for me, one of the greatest joys of Harry Potter has been this speculation.
Now that the series is completed I find myself comparing it to another series that I spent years waiting for its completion. Stephen King’s The Dark Tower is also 7 books. The wait between books was longer and more emotionally draining than the wait for Harry Potter. When I first picked up the Gunslinger, Stephen King warned in his introduction that he will probably die before he completes the series. I remember very clearly learning that he had been hit by a van and was in very serious condition. I experienced an immediate feeling of panic, knowing that The Dark Tower would not be completed. However, Ka had a different plan. This is where the comparison comes in. After completing The Dark Tower, I was amazed and in awe of what King had accomplished. To this day I am amazed by The Dark Tower for being “more than I could have ever dreamed” while Harry Potter seems this morning to be “what could have been”.
I don’t want to give the impression that I did not enjoy the book or, by extension, the series as a whole. It would be most unfortunate if I gave that impression. I love these books. But this Monday morning as I sit and type, a part of my life that I have enjoyed over the years is now over. I guess that I am writing this in order to come to terms with my loss. However, life is constantly changing and these books will now take on a different role. Ka is a wheel.
Anti-Climatic. That is the best way of summarizing the state of my mind on this beautiful Monday morning. The Deathly Hallows was a wonderful book, full of twists and turns, and providing a fitting conclusion to the world Rowling has created. However, the anti-climatic feeling I am now experiencing comes not from a failure on the part of the author but from my own sense of loss. For many years now, I have prided myself on being a very astute reader of these novels and, if I do say so myself, quite good at deducing various plot twists. I would be very embarrassed to know exactly how many hours I have devoted to either thinking or talking about the world of Harry Potter. Prior to the release, I had speculated that Snape’s loyalty stemmed from his feelings towards Lily. I knew in my heart that Harry was a Horcrux, yet also believed that he was going to survive. These predictions and theories have now come to an end.
I believe this is a large part of why I feel the way that I do. Riley is now slowly making his way through the books. There is no doubt that Sophie will one day read the novels. However, neither of them will have the years of anticipation before picking up the next installment. They will not spend hours speculating with friends about possible outcomes because they can simply read the next book. I find this sad because, at least for me, one of the greatest joys of Harry Potter has been this speculation.
Now that the series is completed I find myself comparing it to another series that I spent years waiting for its completion. Stephen King’s The Dark Tower is also 7 books. The wait between books was longer and more emotionally draining than the wait for Harry Potter. When I first picked up the Gunslinger, Stephen King warned in his introduction that he will probably die before he completes the series. I remember very clearly learning that he had been hit by a van and was in very serious condition. I experienced an immediate feeling of panic, knowing that The Dark Tower would not be completed. However, Ka had a different plan. This is where the comparison comes in. After completing The Dark Tower, I was amazed and in awe of what King had accomplished. To this day I am amazed by The Dark Tower for being “more than I could have ever dreamed” while Harry Potter seems this morning to be “what could have been”.
I don’t want to give the impression that I did not enjoy the book or, by extension, the series as a whole. It would be most unfortunate if I gave that impression. I love these books. But this Monday morning as I sit and type, a part of my life that I have enjoyed over the years is now over. I guess that I am writing this in order to come to terms with my loss. However, life is constantly changing and these books will now take on a different role. Ka is a wheel.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Different Shades of Life
On this Wednesday before The Festival of the Bluegrass I find myself thinking about an interview Steve Jobs with Bill Gates. In it Jobs said, and I quote, "I tend to think of things as Beatles or Bob Dylan songs." It has now been a week since I read that quote and it has stuck with me like a Creevey brother following Harry (sorry , I am most of the way through Book 4 and have come to the sad realization that I will finish them well before the deadline).
This little thought has been beating around in the back of my brain now for over a week. I know both of their catalogs better than most, so maybe this is why I am spending too much time thinking about some throw away comment from a guy that I will never meet, but for some reason it has a ring of truth to me. Yes, the Beatles and Bob Dylan are different in a basic almost primal way, I just can't put my finger on what that way is.
This little thought has been beating around in the back of my brain now for over a week. I know both of their catalogs better than most, so maybe this is why I am spending too much time thinking about some throw away comment from a guy that I will never meet, but for some reason it has a ring of truth to me. Yes, the Beatles and Bob Dylan are different in a basic almost primal way, I just can't put my finger on what that way is.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Awesome
I know that Anna has already posted this on her blog but I don't care. I am posting it on mine too because it is just so Awesome. It resides above my computer terminal at work and is the only personal item I have in the office. No pictures of my children, just this gentle reminder to both my co-workers and myself that we pale in comparison to this picture.
Monday, June 4, 2007
June 4, 1989
June 4, 1989 was a pivotal date in the development of my civic conscience even though I did not realize the significance until many years later. The Tiananmen Square Massacre was broadcast live from China and I remember clearly how my 11 year old mind was captivated by the images. Scores of unarmed students standing up against the Chinese military, the chaos that only the shedding of innocent blood can spawn and of course, that image of the unidentified young man blocking the path of a column of tanks. I imagine that I am not alone in remembering this tragedy but I want to share with you why it impacted me.
I was raised in a fairly political family composed almost entirely of yellow dog Democrats (yes, I am including you in this assessment Robert, even if it is reluctantly) but they are not particularly radical. The idea of non-violence and civil disobedience were foreign concepts to my 11 year old self. Watching the news coverage of the massacre introduced me to an entirely new thought. You see, the commentators on the major networks were outraged that the Chinese military would use such overt display of violence in quelling non-violent protestors. To me, it was this outrage that was intriguing and new. Unlike many out there it was not the drastic contrast to America and the freedoms that we enjoy that was remarkable to me, but the fact that others thought what the military was doing was awful.
I want to pause here and state that I wasn’t some kind of child monster. Looking back, I believe my developing understanding of a complicated world around me was overly influenced by the simplistic notion only a 11 year old boy can hold that “might makes right”. I had never given any real thought to freedoms and rights. They were simply words that were used by Americans as a part of our jingoistic dogma. On June 4, 1989 I was introduced to the concept that just because someone is the most powerful doesn’t necessarily make them right.
This is important. I began to see that what happened in Tiananmen Square was wrong not because of some concept of liberty but because it was simply wrong. Let me try and explain it a little more clearly, I came to understand that there was right and wrong in the world and because of this we need civil liberties to protect the distinction between right and wrong. This is a very different thought path from believing that we have civil liberties and that if someone violates these liberties it is wrong.
Many years later, I was blessed to attend Bethel College and was introduced to Mennonites. It was this wonderful religious denomination that introduced me formally to the concepts of non-violence, social justice and civil disobedience. I can say now that it was the Mennonite church that allowed me to look at organized religion as something more than a despicable and insidious organization but was something that actually tried to make the world a better place. This was a revolutionary concept for a boy from Kentucky whose primary interactions with religion was hypocritical Baptist and pompous Presbyterian churches.
So in short, on this 18th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, I want to thank everyone out there that have had a hand in helping shape my life and my current view of the world. Sitting here at 29 I am amazed how different the world seems compared to my 11 year old self.
Thank you.
I was raised in a fairly political family composed almost entirely of yellow dog Democrats (yes, I am including you in this assessment Robert, even if it is reluctantly) but they are not particularly radical. The idea of non-violence and civil disobedience were foreign concepts to my 11 year old self. Watching the news coverage of the massacre introduced me to an entirely new thought. You see, the commentators on the major networks were outraged that the Chinese military would use such overt display of violence in quelling non-violent protestors. To me, it was this outrage that was intriguing and new. Unlike many out there it was not the drastic contrast to America and the freedoms that we enjoy that was remarkable to me, but the fact that others thought what the military was doing was awful.
I want to pause here and state that I wasn’t some kind of child monster. Looking back, I believe my developing understanding of a complicated world around me was overly influenced by the simplistic notion only a 11 year old boy can hold that “might makes right”. I had never given any real thought to freedoms and rights. They were simply words that were used by Americans as a part of our jingoistic dogma. On June 4, 1989 I was introduced to the concept that just because someone is the most powerful doesn’t necessarily make them right.
This is important. I began to see that what happened in Tiananmen Square was wrong not because of some concept of liberty but because it was simply wrong. Let me try and explain it a little more clearly, I came to understand that there was right and wrong in the world and because of this we need civil liberties to protect the distinction between right and wrong. This is a very different thought path from believing that we have civil liberties and that if someone violates these liberties it is wrong.
Many years later, I was blessed to attend Bethel College and was introduced to Mennonites. It was this wonderful religious denomination that introduced me formally to the concepts of non-violence, social justice and civil disobedience. I can say now that it was the Mennonite church that allowed me to look at organized religion as something more than a despicable and insidious organization but was something that actually tried to make the world a better place. This was a revolutionary concept for a boy from Kentucky whose primary interactions with religion was hypocritical Baptist and pompous Presbyterian churches.
So in short, on this 18th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, I want to thank everyone out there that have had a hand in helping shape my life and my current view of the world. Sitting here at 29 I am amazed how different the world seems compared to my 11 year old self.
Thank you.
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