Cyberspatialniche
Bryan & Patrick\’s Thoughts, Online Since 1999Fallwell’s End
Posted on May 15, 2007
I do not write this post to celebrate his death as others have. I am saddened for his family, both in their personal grief and in the inevitable glut of media they must now face. Jerry Falwell was not a man that I agreed with, obviously. In his own misguided way, he probably did more harm than good in both the recognition of normality in gays and lesbians and in the vast misunderstanding of Christianity.
The latter bothers me more than the former, because though I can understand his not accepting homosexuality, I cannot understand why the media in the country have latched on to his fringe and outright hate-filled beliefs as an accurate representation of the modern ministry of Jesus. I take that back, I can understand it, I just abhor it. And once again, the media will spin its tales, relating one caricature of a Christian with the rest of us, oversimplifying, distorting, and dishonoring the truth.
The only hope now is that Jerry, at least, knows the truth.
Prehistoric Brocolli Trees, Food Photoshop, and Tony’sTube
Posted on April 19, 2007
I’ve been slowly working through a gorgeous Nova episode about the first flowers, a fascinating documentary about this area in China from which most of our popular flowers originated. Its pretty much scene-after-scene of flower porn, all rendered in brilliant 1080i. Then, today I saw this awesome recreation of a prehistoric tree. Something about it reminds me of the Mars I pictured in C.S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet, those towering trunks with alien fronds jutting out in the crown.
This self-described Pulitzer-caliber site begins to catalog the promise and the reality of food advertising. With all the Photoshopping that goes on these days, is it any surprise that your fast food orders don’t come out looking quite like their head shots? This, of course, from the guy that actively believes in the reality of the dessert tray. Oh, those dashed dreams and waxy bites!
Finally, thanks to MountainCabin for this great find of a site devoted to Broadway videos. Though I’m not the biggest fan of Broadway, I know many of my friends for which this will provide countless hours of tubey goodness. And they said “the internet is [only good] for porn!”
This Day in History
Posted on April 18, 2007taken from the New York Times On This Day
- Paul Revere started his ride to warn of the coming British soldiers back in 1775.
- San Francisco got rocked by the devastating 1906 earthquake.
- The League of Nations closed its doors back this day in 1946.
- Albert Einstein kicked off in 1955.
- Tom Cruise demonstrated his not-being-gayness to the world with the birth of Suri in 2006.
- and Patrick and I had our first date 10 years on this day in 1997.
Solidarity
Posted on April 15, 2007
The kind-of anonymity afforded to us by the internet, that ability to be whoever you want, say whatever you like, is liberating. It brings out the parts of us that could never have been expressed except, perhaps, in the deep recesses of our beings. For some, this freedom transforms their otherwise boring, real-life existence into one that’s transcendent, eventually bleeding over from online into reality and helping them truly realize an actualized life. For others, though, it unlocks their own inner asshatness.
I have an online friend who I’ve corresponded with online over the last year. This friend, I think, embodied the former of the two people described above. His blog touched the lives of many, and that was made even more apparent by the incredible response to a recent, severe illness. His absence from my daily web-crawl was palpable, and his subsequent return relieving. In spite of everything else going wrong, one part, at least, was right with the world.
Unfortunately, the latter of the two types described above also exist. It seems inevitable that all good things have their inverse partner. Evil is probably the oldest thing in creation, so it really shouldn’t surprise anyone to see it appear and thrive online. The funny this is, this person is probably quite normal to all outward appearances. I doubt that anyone would believe them to be anything other than a normal person, probably even quite pleasant. Only online, bathing in liberating anonymity, can this evil really manifest itself.
My friend is now offline, driven off by an evil person. His life that he shared through his blog is now closed to the world, all because of a griefer. Though it would appear evil has triumphed, so long as we make a testament to this story, the victory is, in fact, only temporary. My friend will recover, pick up the pieces, and one day rise again. For those of us left, it will be a long wait indeed.
Gardening & Blood
Posted on March 11, 2007
This title and image sum up my weekend so far. I spent mid-Saturday starting back to tending my garden. I’ve let it go for far too long as grass runners and weeds start to overtake my nicely mulched tree bases and other beds. Nothing a little personal attention can’t undo, naturally.
Then, this afternoon, I saw 300 with Marc, his cousin, Erik, and Dave down at the AMC theater in Downtown Disney. I really enjoy Frank Miller’s work, so it was a visual and visceral delight to see Zack Snyder’s recreation.
Now, as my day fades away, I’m watching a timely special on the history behind the Battle of Thermopylae. Cable does, on occasion, prove its utility.
THE PROFESSOR Action Figure
Posted on March 08, 2007
For our first project, some of my digital media students made this site promoting an action figure…of me. You can see the site live here.
Patrick and His Quilt at MOMA
Posted on March 03, 2007
As previously mentioned, we went today to see the Gee’s Bend exhibit at the Orlando Metropolitan Museum of Art. Patrick’s quilt is displayed all this month in a side exhibit for local quilters. Be sure to check it out!
Gee’s Bend
Posted on February 28, 2007
As many of you know, when Patrick isn’t waist deep in bleeding all over his students’ tragic essays, he and his aunt Nancy spend countless hours designing, cutting, sewing, and piecing together quilts. Recently, their quilts were entered into the Cabin Fever Quilt Fair.
Though they did not win any competitions, Patrick’s quilts were noticed by members of Gee’s Bend, a quilting guild of African American women from rural Alabama known for their historic and innovative quilt designs. One in particular, Come Fly with Me (pictured to the right) was selected by Cabin Fever and Gee’s Bend to be featured as part of the Gee’s Bend exhibition at the Orlando Museum of Art during the month of March.
If you can’t make it out to the exhibit, you can also check out Patrick’s quilts on flickr here and here. You can also occasionally catch him helping out or teaching quilting at Cornerstone Quilt Shop.
Please join me in celebrating Patrick’s creativity and dedication to this traditional and quintessentially American craft.
The More Things Change…
Posted on January 31, 2007Unagii’s back is bothering him again, though the symptoms are less severe than previous episodes. After getting an encouraging report from the vet on Monday, though, I’m slightly more relaxed than I was the week before. Unagii’s back condition coincided with some rather tedious and soul-suckingly-awful development at work, so you can imagine the fantastic mood I’ve been inhabiting as of late, never mind all of this talk of “troop surges” and Iran.
Here are some things, however, that have helped allow me to smile.
John Hodgman |
Patrick’s Quilting |
Keith Olbermann |
Leo Laporte |
Podcasts |
Stephen Colbert |
Enough media nonsense for now. Tomorrow all will be better. Puppies will smile and babies will wag their tales. All will be right in the world. That is all (for now).
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