As I rise and stretch, I notice I’m sore. Not from tending the fields though. I have no fields. Some unseen person does all the field-tending for me. Sometimes I forget that there’s any field-tending going on at all.
Author: Patrick
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A Day in the Future
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Curation is the new search
Google has been much maligned of late, due to its increasingly spammy and gamed results. Paul Kedrosky makes a point that curation of web content will be on the rise.
The answer, of course, is that we won’t — do them all by hand, that is. Instead, the re-rise of curation is partly about crowd curation — not one people, but lots of people, whether consciously (lists, etc.) or unconsciously (tweets, etc) — and partly about hand curation (JetSetter, etc.).
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Risk Everything
A user, riskeverything, on Reddit, responded to a thread, entitled “What small decision did you make that altered the entire course of your life?” with the story of his handle. It spans three continents and involves London’s Big Ben clock tower.
I go to London and on first day I went to big ben. I want to get the standard tourist shot – me and BB (cheezy but I am an australian and it is the other side of the world!). Was about to ask this guy to take my photo and he lay down on the grass and shut his eyes.
I turned to the nearest person. It was a girl reading a paper and asked her to take my photo.
That was the easy part.
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Dan Wells – Mr. Monster
The second book of the I Am Not a Serial Killer series, Mr. Monster, begins shortly after the first. John Wayne Clever still harbors feelings of a sociopath after killing the demon, Mr. Crowley. John’s life seems to be copacetic for the moment, and improving with the growth of his relationship with Brooke as a high school girlfriend. Yet, mysterious bodies begin to appear in random, public places, and John believes a second killer is amongst the town. The last third of the book is between John and the killer with a unique twist that provides believable, psychological suspense. There, John also battles his own inner demons. The books subplots of John’s sister’s boyfriend, and Brooke tie in very well in the book’s final act.
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Disney, masters of theme park operations
Disney has theme park logistics down to a nimble operation that monitors all aspects of a park. They use a combination of weather reports, historical records, airline and hotel reservations to predict park capacity, but once the Magic Kindom opens, ride queues, cash registers at in park restaurants, foot traffic in particular areas are all monitored from a command center. From central command, more boats can be deployed if the queue reaches a certain thresh hold. Or:
Another option involves dispatching Captain Jack Sparrow or Goofy or one of their pals to the queue to entertain people as they wait. “It’s about being nimble and quickly noticing that, ‘Hey, let’s make sure there is some relief out there for those people,’ †said Phil Holmes, vice president of the Magic Kingdom, the flagship Disney World park.
And sometimes, they even throw parades.
What if Fantasyland is swamped with people but adjacent Tomorrowland has plenty of elbow room? The operations center can route a miniparade called “Move it! Shake it! Celebrate It!†into the less-populated pocket to siphon guests in that direction.
It seems like a fun way to earn more dollars.
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Joe McNally knows sugar plums
Ballerinas are all the rage at the moment. Black Swan, New York Times critic Alastair Maccaulay stating that one dancer, Jenifer Ringer, “eaten one sugar plum too many” for a recent production of the Nutcracker. And now Joe McNally, famed photographer, comes to her defense.
Joe took portraits of Jenifer with a giant, 40×80 Polaroid camera on his own dime. He knew she possessed the poise and grace to keep her composure for the length of time needed to get a decent shot.
You also could not focus the camera. You had to focus your subject. Small shuffles back and forth would place them in that tiny zone of critical sharpness. Then they had to hold that position for about 30 seconds while the interior workings of the camera got spooled up, the lights got shut, and the flash fired. Not easy to do. Especially on point.
But Joe recognizes an artist whose body is their art.
It’s been equally wonderful to watch from afar as she has fought through personal struggles, dropped out of dance for a while, and then returned to the stage as a principal dancer. She has always talked straight up about the life of a ballerina, and her struggles with her weight. Her talent and candor, I feel, make her a beacon in the dance world, which prefers to keep the pain, the anorexia, the sweat and the tears behind the curtain. Ballerinas look amazing on stage. Offstage, their bodies can be just as beat up as an NFL offensive lineman.
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True Grit (2010)
True Grit, as remade by the Coen Brothers, is ok. It’s less hokey than the original with John Wayne, but plods along with a series of events strung together. Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn works well as he fully embraces the character, and Hailee Steinfeld plays the spunky Mattie Ross with conviction.
I think the issue is that the movie is made to be a serious western but the incongruity of a 14 year old girl marching a one-eyed, drunken federal marshal is anything but serious. Further, the snake pit scene still feels tacked on for the sole purpose to completely redeem the Cogburn character.
The visuals and cinematography are well done and evoke a western feel.
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My songs of 2010
Below is the track listing for my 2010 songs. By no means is it exhaustive, but I focused on the songs and albums I listened to. I also left out quite a bit of music I did listen to, notably Arcade Fire, Band of Horses and Sufjan. The ordering is only a track listing and not a ranking. Also, each track is linked to an accompanying video, preferably a live version. Without further ado:
- King Charles – The Brightest Lights: This guy hails from England, and phenomenal only begins to describe how cool he is. He performs this live, acapella but repeats the verse, changing certain lines as he goes.
- The National – Terrible Love: The National write songs that you may not like on the first listen. They start slow, contain cryptic lyrics and musically, a lot goes on. After the third listen, you’re singing along. Give this song a minute to build, and then wait as it soars.
- Broken Social Scene – Meet Me In the Basement: A bouncy, jangly instrumental, perhaps the perfect waltz for an indie rock ice cream man (or woman).
- OK Go – This Too Shall Pass: They’ve come far. Far from dancing on treadmills. I’m sure they’re wiser, too. A fun song about letting go–not too many of those.
- Doug Burr – I Got This Fever / O Ye Devastator: Doug Burr’s a local guy from Denton. This is a more upbeat track, folky, catchy answering some grand questions.
- The Morning Benders – Excuses: It sounds a bit like late-era Beach Boys with the symphonic arrangement, melody swirling and progressing beat.
- Beach House – Norway: This song pulses, warming a cold, winter night.
- Girl Talk – Triple Double: Sure, that’s some Phoenix you hear at the start, but by the end, listen for Willow Smith. Girl Talk makes songs from other songs for an instant summer party mix.
- Sleigh Bells – Rill Rill: Treats (Sleigh Bells’ debut) was my summer album, and in defiant protest to Katy Perry, this was my summer song. The sugary vocals and thumping percussion make for a good drive on a summer night with the windows down.
- Yeasayer – I Remember: In love, it’s the beginning and end you remember the most. Vividly.
- Vampire Weekend – Horchata: Horchata is made differently, depending on where you are.
- The Head and the Heart – Sounds Like Hallelujah: This Pacific Northwest band deserves to be heard with their blend of folk, rock and pop.
- Bruno Mars – Count On Me: The Glee kids did this as a sugary confection, but the original keeps the punch.
- Mumford & Sons – The Cave: Knowing Mumford & Sons is like knowing a revival, a celebration of the soul with banjos and rockin’ sing alongs. See them live if you can.
- Janelle Monáe – Cold War: R&B, jazz and rock get fused together into a space opera.
- King Charles – We didn’t start the fire: Sorry for the crappy quality, but it’s the best I could find. Now, imagine if Billy Joel did update his 80s anthem.
- The National – Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks: This song, performed unplugged at the Dallas show in October, had a sold out crowd standing, singing and crying.
- Titus Andronicus – A More Perfect Union: It begins with a passage from an Abe Lincoln speech and turns into something else entirely. The vocals are raw and defiant, but I think the song’s guitar noodling is epic as it climaxes to a bar room sing along.
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My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West
Kanye’s got the beats, the rhymes the ego and the vision to pull off an album like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy full of so many themes. From the self introspection (Monster, Lost in the World), to class (Power, Runaway), to misogyny (So Appalled, Hell of a Life) to politics (Who Will Survive in America).
Musically, there’s an ebb and flow. Dark Fantasy, led by Nicki Minaj in a British accent, starts the album off gently. Power, throttles forcefully, followed by the spacey All of the Lights. Runaway serves as an epic track, nine minutes long, and Lost in the World combines the indie sensibilities of Bon Iver. Who Will Survive in America closes the album in a scathing indictment of political doubt.