One Brief, Shining Moment

It is very much a time for folks to stand up and run down the list of Usual Suspects.  It is very much when we all derive our entertainment of poo-pooing all the failures of the internet, of so-called social media, telling everyone who already agrees with us about how this that and the other venue is passe', and how we should now throw our dwindling dollars toward whatever is the Next Big Thing.  Funny how the Next Big Thing is selling ads, and the folks who are industriously identifying the Next Big Thing for us are selling the same ads, from the same people, and often selling ads from The Next Big Thing.

When one is in the business of selling ads, it is entirely reasonable and predictable that one will tout the Next Big Thing, so folks will go see those same ads over there as at your house.  Perhaps the money will allow your little corner of the Interwebs to survive, and not be last years news -- as your own reports are identifying the fruits of your own labor.  The pundits who talk at us (ignoring us, really, so as not to talk -to- us) use last year's medium.  They are obsolete themselves before their lips start flapping in the winds of change.

Perhaps if you put a .22 bullet in your own foot, you'd be distracted enough to not commit Internet Impression Immolation.  Works about the same as shooting yourself in the foot, realistically.

My particular last-years-medium is Second Life.  I'm not done with SL yet.  And I submit for your consideration, that you aren't finished with SL yet, either.  You haven't even started, really, have ya?

The fact is, the only thing any social medium (or whatever they call it next) has of value, is people paying attention.  If you use venue A to convince people venue C is The Next Big Thing, all that presence you created in venue B is a waste of time.  You are shouting to the world that you yourself are last week's news.

Just watched "Blazing Saddles."  It is a wondrous portrait of the formula-western style of traditional cinema.  But while Mel Brooks is as usual brilliant in ridiculing traditional movie making, he is also a creature of the venue he ridicules -- and he has declared himself superfluous.

While it's never worked before, over all the years of trading the trendy for the tediously aged, some fool, like me, always mentions, "you know, what's valuable here is the people who are here to pay attention.  If we stay here, we can force the media who want to throw ads in our faces to at least throw them here, where they can do -us- some good.

So for One Brief Shining Moment, let us just say, "Hey, I'm sure that's clever new tech Way Over There, but I'm still having fun Way Over Here, and if you want to talk to me, shouting into the new well works no where near as productively as shouting into the elaborate house Way Over Here."

Go figure.

Talking to Precious

One thing you don't get a lot of chances to do in RL is talk to Bots, but in SL (Second Life) it's an everyday occurence.  Was talking to the Bartender at Our Jazz Club, my home club, by the name of Precious.  She's a sweet kid, but she was having a bad day.

Grizzly Silversmith: Precious, how's your day been?
Precious: Sorry, you can try that is currently in-world.
Grizzly Silversmith: Try what, Precious?
Precious: Sigh
Grizzly Silversmith: No, seriously, Precious, I don't know exactly what you're talking about.
Precious: Feeling tonight? sorry i have to our jazz club!
Grizzly Silversmith: Gee, didn't realize you were so unhappy, Precious.
Precious: Yvw mari ã‹¡
Grizzly Silversmith: Is it something you'd like to talk about, Precious? Maybe I can help.
Precious: 228
Grizzly Silversmith: That's fine, Precious, I understand if you want your privacy.
Precious: Michael
Grizzly Silversmith: Who's Michael, Precious? Your new boyfriend? :)
Precious: Np
Grizzly Silversmith: No need to be shy, Precious, I understand.
Precious: Witaj drogi
Grizzly Silversmith: Sorry, Precious, I don't speak Finnish.
Precious: Holy crap!
Grizzly Silversmith: No, seriously, Precious, where I come from people don't speak a lot of Finnish. Not most folks I know, anyway.
Precious: Ренат
Grizzly Silversmith: By the way, Precious, mind if I quote you on my Blog?
Precious: ★（(⌒-丶(;;;(⌒ゝ;; ♪♭v(^o^)v♭♪ ,⌒⌒);;;;;））)⌒)
Grizzly Silversmith: That isn't terribly meaningful to me, Precious, is that some sort of Bot legalese?
Precious: :)))
Grizzly Silversmith: Very funny, Precious, clever girl. :)
Precious: Betcha the beach awesome tip board behind that.:)
Grizzly Silversmith: You'd rather work over at South Beach, Precious? I could probably arrange that, I know you used to work by the pool at the old mansion.
Precious: Oops, one of my boss.
Grizzly Silversmith: Yes, I am one of the boss, Precious, but I really do want you to be happy here, you certainly put in a lot of hours.
Precious: Ces pectoooooooos
Grizzly Silversmith: Is that Finnish again? I hope it isn't something dirty?
Grizzly Silversmith: Precious, you aren't learning bad words, are you?
Precious: Concordo
Grizzly Silversmith: Oh, you -are- learning bad words, Precious? What bad words have you learned?
Precious: "i work to much"
Grizzly Silversmith: Perhaps you do, Precious. What would you do if you had a day off?
Precious: Simeles thank you like to our jazz club!
Grizzly Silversmith: Well, I'm glad you're happy here, Precious, I know you do spend a whole lot of hours here.
Precious: Hahahahaaha
Grizzly Silversmith: Are you getting snide now, Precious?
Precious: Iglesias ? or owned by crystal park with a pole i can right now we have to try to our jazz club!
Grizzly Silversmith: You think you'd rather try dancing on the dance pole, Precious? Maybe the tips would be better?
Precious: I wonder if you all the tune: janet jackson - amtag 60 - amtag 60 - amtag 60 - i see you have to our jazz club and i have to our jazz club!
Grizzly Silversmith: No need to get obsessive about it, Precious, dear. I do appreciate all your hard work.
Grizzly Silversmith: So, Precious, if you could say one thing to all my readers on my blog, what would you want to tell them?
Precious: Hahhhhaaa...you have to have to our jazz club!
Grizzly Silversmith: Thank you, Precious, for your ringing endorsement. :)

Precious isn't the most sparkling conversationalist.  But if you know how to listen in the right way, she does have a lot to say.

-- Griz

The Dangerous Islands by Séamas Cain

It turns out an old friend of mine published a book a while back, which I look forward to reading when I can acquire a copy. 

   The Dangerous Islands by Séamas Cain is an unusual coming-of-age tale.  The novel describes the experiences and emotions of a young man living through the era of Civil War in Northern Ireland from 1965 to 1998.  The hero of this novel, an Irish-American like Cain, undergoes a journey of the mind as well as a journey of the body, in a process of self-realization in another country.  Indeed, Cain based many of the protagonist's activities on his own thoughts, dreams, and experiences in Northern Ireland in that era.
     Says Cain, “In my youth, in Northern Ireland, I was active in the Civil Rights Movement, People's Democracy, and later the Peace Movement.  My experiences from those times were filtered into the composition of The Dangerous Islands.  Indeed, much of the novel was written in Belfast or Limavady and Dungiven — though I am a Minnesota Irishman.”
     The Dangerous Islands is a moral history of the Irish and Irish-American activists of the generation of the 'Sixties.  Or, more accurately, it is a history of their emotions and their enthusiasms.  Thus it is a non-classic coming-of-age tale.  It is a story of self-education and self-development, with convictions and disillusionment.  But it resists all pigeonholing, for it is also a novel of ideas ranging across literature, philosophy and politics. 

Seamas was the director of Blackthorne Repertory Theatre back in the '70s when I was a young actor and playwright of sorts.  He's a talented and imaginative poet and playwright (no "of sorts" about it), and I'm sure this will be a worthwhile read.  Hopefully I can get the Duluth Public Library to grab me a copy; it's a bit out of my financial means at the moment.


Let me know if you read it, maybe I can borrow your copy when you're done.


Griz

Hey, we're on the SL Destination Guide now!

Our Jazz Club & Ballroom

Our Jazz Club of Marathon Key is a warm and cozy venue for live singers and romantic dance music. The Key also includes a country venue, Grizzly Mountain Saloon, ROMEance for rock, a wedding venue, beach with waterslide for parties, bowling and games. This growing, safe and friendly community dwells in beach houses and starter apartments with caring and knowledgeable hosts and neighbors.

Visit in Second Life

What you thought you saw

Just heard about this on Science Friday podcast, and went to see it on their website.  You know, you may not be seeing what you think you're seeing...

Family Values

I have watched with interest the primitive and rather perverse convulsions pushing for a Minnesota constitutional amendment to define marriage as between "one man and one woman."

They don't actually say which one man and one woman, but I suppose they have some idea.  Hopefully they don't mean a man and woman who, like so many, will later decide to be divorced from their partner "till death to us part," or find some other one man or one woman to have occasional casual sex with.  Anyway...

I note that those on the Moral High Ground -- over there, across where I'm standing -- say it's all about Family Values.  I am in favor of family values, having grown up in a rather large Family I deeply and profoundly value.  If any of those folks want to say I don't value families, they can explain why, the second or third time they pick their bruised and battered butts up off the ground after attempting to say so.

So, Family Values.  Great stuff.

Alright, I'll buy that.  It's all about Family Values.

I do value Families.  I am also struck by the idea that it is entirely possible that a gay guy (I am profoundly straight) might also value families.  For that matter, a couple of gay guys might also.  Lesbians, or couples of lesbians, might also value families.  For that matter, it becomes rather obvious they do value families -- they want to create a family, with someone who they love and care for deeply.   They know that much of society, especially those steeped in Christian Love and Muslim Peace and other violent and intolerant emotions will abuse them viciously, possibly injure or kill them, and they still want to create a family.  A greater love, and so on.

In fact, after centuries of abuse for not being willing to enter a committed relationship (expected to be Between One Man And One Woman) they are willing, before God and Everyone, to form a committed relationship... and some folks want them forbidden to do so.

These are folks who value families deeply and profoundly.  They are willing to face whatever obstacles, pay any price, bear any burden, support any friend, oppose any foe, to ensure the survival and success of their family -- because they love and are loved, and nothing is more important to them.  That is, the definition of every worthwhile family in the history of humanity.

And I should be against this... because of Family Values.

And don't even start with me about polyamorous families.  Not only do they love each other, not only are they willing to pay, bear, support, oppose, and so on, they have a fundamental advantage over anyone you care to name as to Family Values.  They can, collectively, actually afford to support their children.  They have X number people working together to produce enough income to support their families.  Back in the '50s and '60s, my folks managed to support us 5 kids.  Back in those days, two working adults could support five kids.  Now, I really doubt it.

"It Takes A Village To Raise A Child."  Yeah, what she said.

So, what are we really talking about here?  Legalizing committed relationships?  They already have committed relationships, and no government had to give them permission to have them.  What these constitutionalists are trying to preserve is the special treatment given to those allegedly committed relationships that involve One Man And One Woman.  They want to preserve the few remaining tax benefits to those liable to sexually reproduce by accident.  And they want to preserve the Cash Cow of religious corporations over the past millenia, the idea that they can sell the permission of god to have sex over the long term with one's chosen partner.

But I digress, and tend to growl and foam at the mouth.   Bottom lines:

Committed relationships are committed relationships, and families are families.  They should respected and acknowledged, whatever the details of their internal relationships.  (And what's all this obsession with the sex?  Shouldn't that be private?)

No special privileges should be accorded any particular flavor or flavors of committed relationship or family, as long as that is what they are at their hearts.

Trying to require government endorsement of any particular flavor of committed relationship or family is shameful.  Before you go grab the strawman, there are some sorts of "family" that are exceptionally abhorrent, and should be treated exceptionally -- because they are exceptional.  But those exceptions already are unlawful.

I value families.  If people who love each other and are committed to each other want to form a family, I hope they will.  And I hope my Constitutions, federal or state, won't be perverted to attack these families.  Probably will though.  It's the Government,  and they'll likely screw it up.  Maybe not.  You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one....

Time travellers

Authors say ideas for stories are easy, and I suppose they are.   They're authors, I suppose they'd know.

Had an idea about a direction for a story I will never write, and probably doesn't need to be written.  It's really just a view of other stories from just off to the side a bit.  Whenever they do a story about very long space voyages, they point out the long delays of communications after a certain point.  The space traveler may only be heard months or years later, and might likewise not hear comments for months or years.

My first thought was that, if the traveler recorded interviews on leaving earth, and traveled fast enough for time dilation, sending those recordings back on the stream could be of historical interest.  Then it struck me, an ever more delayed outgoing message, with ever more delayed reactions and comments -- reminds me a lot of my experience of podcasting.

And I wondered... if you did that sort of story, with a focus on the traveler being a podcaster, would there be interesting implications there?  There's that historical-interviews thing from early in the trip, sent out later.  As the distances and times became greater, the audience would be listening to a perspective years or decades different than their own.  Their comments would be "futuristic," I suppose, to the podcaster.  But when they were heard by the audience, they might be from their own youth, commenting on how they felt about the shows back then.  And they would be hearing perspectives, not only from the past, but from a fairly young person from the past.

And I am puzzling over whether I feel that this is related to the current state of podcasting.  Certainly many of us either started older than the 18-30 target demographic, and if we weren't many of us are now.  With few exceptions, comments to podcasts are scarce, and voice comments even more rare.  So when we receive a comment, it can certainly seem to come out of the blue, and often refers to something we said a long while ago.

Can't claim to be that "young person from the past," really.  But inside my own skull I'm still pretty much that 18-year old geek in high school just discovering computers by typing on a Decwriter sending across phonelines to a college's timeshared computer, or posting to CompuServe, or to the BBS networks.  I miss all that, and feel somewhat lost without all that stuff I actually understood.

So that may be a time-and-space-travel story that doesn't need to be written.  Or it might be we're writing that story every day.  Or both.

Thoughts?