Author! Author!

Somewhere, deep in some subterranean cavern, lit by hundreds of scented candles, sits a mysterious scribe. He/She spends his/her waking hours composing a multitude of pithy commentaries and cute sayings which, once unleashed on the world above, take on a life of their own, and multiply exponentially. We each become beneficiary and victim of their viral presence, as our email inboxes become infested with content which we are hard pressed to embrace or condemn: we appreciate the sentiments contained in the content, but resent the endless intrusion of unsolicited wisdom...$100 reward to whoever can accurately identify the elusive author of all these bon mots, an example of which is appended below:

King Arthur and the Witch

Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighboring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur's youth and ideals. So, the monarch offered him his freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question. Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer and, if after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death.

The question?....What do women really want? Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. But, since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch's proposition to have an answer by year's end.

He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everyone: the princess, the priests, the wise men and even the court jester. He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer.

Many people advised him to consult the old witch, for only she would have the answer.

But the price would be high; as the witch was famous throughout the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.

The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no choice but to talk to the witch. She agreed to answer the question, but he would have to agree to her price first.

The old witch wanted to marry Sir Lancelot, the most noble of the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur's closest friend!

Young Arthur was horrified She was hunchbacked and hideous, had only one tooth, smelled like sewerage, made obscene noises, etc! He had never encountered such a repugnant creature in all his life.

He refused to force his friend to marry her and endure such a terrible burden, but Lancelot, learning of the proposal, spoke with Arthur.

He said nothing was too big of a sacrifice compared to Arthur's life and the preservation of the Round Table.

Hence, a wedding was proclaimed and the witch answered Arthur's question thus:

What a woman really wants, she answered....is to be in charge of her own life.

Everyone in the kingdom instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth and that Arthur's life would be spared.

And so it was, the neighboring monarch granted Arthur his freedom and Lancelot and the witch had a wonderful wedding.

The honeymoon hour approached and Lancelot, steeling himself for a horrific experience, entered the bedroom. But, what a sight awaited him. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen, lay before him on the bed. The astounded Lancelot asked what had happened

The beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her when she appeared as a witch, she would henceforth, be her horrible deformed self only half the time and the beautiful maiden the other half.

Which would he prefer? Beautiful during the day....or night?

Lancelot pondered the predicament. During the day, a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, but at night, in the privacy of his castle, an old witch? Or, would he prefer having a hideous witch during the day, but by night, a beautiful woman for him to enjoy wondrous, intimate moments?

What would YOU do?

What Lancelot chose is below. BUT....make YOUR choice before you scroll down below. OKAY?

Noble Lancelot, knowing the answer the witch gave Arthur to his question, said that he would allow HER to make the choice herself.

Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time because he had respected her enough to let her be in charge of her own life.

Now....what is the moral to this story?

The moral is.....

If you don't let a woman have her own way....

Things are going to get ugly.

The beginning of the end

I've just purchased one of those voice recognition software applications, and am now using it to write this entry. A person's mouth tends to move faster than their fingers, which-in this case-could prove most useful, or fatal. The poet e.e. Cummings was renowned for his stream of consciousness creativity. It remains to be seen whether this and future entries are deemed pearls of wisdom, or verbal diarrhea ...

There was a time when teenagers used to write one another love letters ... by hand ... with a pen. Young men and women struggled to emulate Gustave Flaubert, as they vainly tried to find "Le Mot Juste", in the effort to to impress the object of their affection, however misplaced. Now a quick IM, or poorly spelled email, seems to suffice. Command of the English language is no longer a prerequisite of interpersonal communication. The ability to use words to express feeling, intent, or any other mental or emotional state seems obsolete. We now have smiling faces for that: the ubiquitous Smileys.

If we haven't done so already, we're about to experience the answer to a question which we will regret not having asked earlier - the question being "What happens when a whole generation is absolved of any responsibility to develop creative writing skills?"

When was the last time you received a handwritten letter from a friend or family member? Are you able to name four shows on television that are undeniably well written? … Have you written a poem lately?

People used to write essays, poetry, and keep journals. They didn't seek publication, merely a private and codified venue for their expressions. You might, and not too inaccurately, claim that Blogs are today's journals and essays. However, this is only half of the battle won. It is one thing to express a desire to write down one's feelings and thoughts; to record one's observations and opinions. It is quite another to have them read.

If you are one of the millions who currently keep an online web log, I would like to ask what balance of your time is spent reading other people's Blogs; when was the last time you read a quality piece of literature? I'm not speaking of the latest issue of Vanity Fair, but a bona fide novel with well structured characters.

I'm just as pitiful an example of this entropic trend as the next person. So let's all take a few moments to wear sackcloth and ashes, beat our chests, and loudly proclaim “Mea culpa ”.

Now, I'm off to read a book.

Spineless no more!

My work requires that I read 2-3 magazines a day, on average. This leaves me with neither the time nor inclination to read for pleasure, a reality that frustrates and saddens me.

I grew up with books: when I was very young, my parents built a clever little cubby hole beneath my bed, and filled it with books. authors such as Charles Dickens, Enid Blyton, Franklin W. Dixon, William Shakespeare, René Goscinny, Albert Uderzo, Georges Remi, and Maurice de Bévère all kept one another - and myself - company for the years of my youth. Between the ages of 9 and 14, I was reading about a book a day, so voracious was my appetite for stories.

Imagine, therefore, my sense of literary atrophy - given that I have not read a complete novel in over 2 years, and only 5 in the past 4 years!! I have over 30 newspaper and magazine subscriptions, not one of them frivolous, but nothing I have read in the longest time has - in even the most relaxed of interpretations - approximated a novel.

nov·el
n.
A fictional prose narrative of considerable length, typically having a plot that is unfolded by the actions, speech, and thoughts of the characters.

So it is that today, or rather the fulcrum point between today and yesterday, that period when nothing seems changed but yet we exchange our past for our future, and effect the transaction in the present, when PM becomes AM once more, during the 4 hours that surrounded the midnight hour….I read a novel, and awakened in myself a joy long buried.

It matters not what I read, but THAT I read. I switched off the stultifying will o’ the wisp flickers of the television, and stretched out upon my living room couch, my dog lying curled at my feet, my wife comfortably sleeping in bed…

"I have friends, whose society is extremely agreeable to me; they are of all ages, and of every country. They have distinguished themselves both in the cabinet and in the field, and obtained high honors for their knowledge of the sciences. It is easy to gain access to them, for they are always at my service, and I admit them to my company, and dismiss them from it, whenever I please. They are never troublesome, but immediately answer every question I ask them. Some relate to me the events of the past ages, while others reveal to me the secrets of nature. Some teach me how to live, and other how to die. Some, by their vivacity, drive away my cares and exhilarate my spirits, while others give fortitude to my mind, and teach me the important lesson how to restrain my desires, and to depend wholly on myself. They open to me, in short, the various avenues of all the arts and sciences, and upon their information I safely rely in all emergencies. In return for all these services, they only ask me to accommodate them with a convenient chamber in some corner of my humble habitation, where they may repose in peace: for these friends are more delighted by the tranquility of retirement, than by the tumults of society”.

Petrarch

Still ticking...

Here's the latest installment in my series of suggested sites, culled from the URLs nominated for EMMA awards a few years ago (see my entries of January 7th and 9th):

On of my favorites is the CBC site - 120 Seconds
It’s a great example of how the Internet can partner with TV to create community and dialogue. They have a couple of other worthwhile sites at New Music Canada and Just Concerts.

Another interesting and worthwhile take on using internet for community and dialogue was the “Talking To…” project of 2000, which is now archived here.

For a British angle on world news nuggets, check out http://www.ananova.com

The accents are laughable, and the acting is – at best- mediocre – but the concept continues to be compelling at http://www.mvmax.com/

A brilliant use of sound and malleable design in this British firm’s site

GlaxoSmithKilne runs this informative site for asthma and allergy sufferers.

Another interesting site sponsored by a pharmaceutical company (Schering AG) is http://www.femalelife.com/ (if you’re in USA, select international version)

If you want a few more interesting kid-oriented sites, check these out:

http://www.tvokids.com/

http://www.gridclub.com/

I'll post my last list sometime in the next week or so.

More EMMA Sites

So, follow-up number one to my posting of Friday, January 7th. Here are a few more sites I found in my old EMMA judging list, at which it may be worth taking a peek...:

http://www.tinyplanets.com/
The web site for the British educational television series. Free games, educational activities, streaming videos of episodes, media downloads, e-books, and much much more.

http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/house/
For 200 years, a two-and-a-half story house stood at 16 Elm Street in the center of Ipswich, Massachusetts, 30 miles north of Boston.
The house was built in the 1760s. During the construction, a section of an older house built around 1710 was joined to the rear of the house to create more space. A two-story addition and one-story sheds were added in the 1800s.
When the house was built, it was a fashionable home for a fairly well-to-do family. A little more than century later, a busy industrial district had grown up around the house, and it was divided into apartments, mainly for workers at the town's hosiery mill. Several families moved in and out in the first half of the 20th century.
By the end of 1961, the house stood empty.
This site is the online companion piece to the Smithsonian research project, telling the stories of five families who lived in this house over 200 years and made history in their kitchens and parlors, through everyday choices and personal acts of courage and sacrifice.

http://www.mobilekids.net
The WHO (World Health Organization) released a study in 2004, showing that traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for children in Europe. The threat is worldwide.
DaimlerChrysler sponsored this site, without any branding.
MobileKids.net was developed with experts in child safety, child psychology, and other specialties, to sharpen children's awareness of the issue. "Because traffic situations can vary worldwide, MobileKids does not list traffic rules and regulations but rather makes children aware that they need to stay aware in all traffic situations. MobileKids takes internationally relevant traffic safety topics and brings them across through information, motivation, and training. Children should learn to react safely in all sorts of traffic situations".
The virtual city "Mokitown" and the Internet site of the acclaimed 3D animated TV series, "The Nimbols" can be reached directly from this portal.

Flying below the radar

Just watched Martin Scorsese's latest biopic, "The Aviator", and was duly impressed. It's the sort of film that bears a marked resemblance to its subject, Howard Hughes: eccentric, colorful, ambitious, and slightly off-kilter.

Leonardo Di Caprio gives an excellent performance, there's no denying this, but his core trait as an actor - namely a certain flatness of delivery and razor sharp precision - tends to render the character passionless, even at his highest moments of intense struggle, internal or otherwise. Some will claim that the wrong actor was cast, but I would posit that no actor would be able to fully capture and convey the essence of a man whom nobody seemed to fully grasp. Just as Oliver Stone's "Alexander" came up short, so does this representation of another great visionary in history. Why? Because what we as artists create can only be the sum total of our own visions. Perhaps, sad though it may be, even the great Mr. Scorsese cannot match a Mr. Hughes, just as Mr. Stone was unable to achieve full comprehension of Alexander. If you're looking for a biopic directed by someone who has managed to match his/her subject's level of greatness, I suggest you see Taylor Hackford's "Ray".

That said, Cate Blanchett did achieve a remarkable understanding of the essence of Katherine Hepburn, in a performance that was as bold in its caricature, as it was searing in its intimacy.

Production Design, by Dante Ferretti, was exquisite. Editing was - as usual - brilliant (the ever-present Thelma Schoonmaker contributing her considerable skills to yet another Scorsese pic).

This was a grand effort which, like the "Hercules" plane featured at the end, did fly. What was not shown in this film was that the plane, nicknamed the "Spruce Goose", managed to fly for just over a minute, at an altitude of only 70 feet. It never flew again. Scorsese's picture flies, and impressively, but it too fails to soar, as a whole.

EMMAs redux

Back in 2001, I had the arduous pleasure of sitting on the jury for the International EMMA awards, taking place that year in Hamburg, Germany. Over the course of the Judging Week, the jury explored hundreds of entries, and focused in on a few very impressive interactive products.

While web geeks will find it relatively easy to find out who eventually won the various categories at that year's awards, I thought it might be interesting to revisit some of the more intriguing "also-rans", in order to see what the intervening 3 years have wrought:

http://www.britart.com/

Britart is a site promoting emerging and established contemporary British artists in a user-friendly and viable manner.
The site's motto is "Buying original art need not be an intimidating experience, we're here to make it as simple as possible."

http://www.rosieandjim.tv

The website is based on the characters from the popular television programme Rosie and Jim, created by Ragdoll Ltd. The award-winning company is also the creator of TOTS TV, Brum and Teletubbies. Consequently, adults might find themselves creeped out by the repetitive nature of the site's character interactions, but young kids will love this space where they can come to see their favourite characters. They can play games, use their imagination to create images and songs on screen, and lots more, whilst enjoying a safe and secure online environment.

http://www.childrensatlas.com

A worthy effort that doesn't seem to have been updated since 2001. With web tech having developed the way it has in the past 3 years, I can think of many ways to improve the UI on this site.


I'll post some more sites later...

French, and saunters.

Saw "A very long engagement" the other night. Beautifully shot, and magical in much the same way as "Amelie" was, this is nevertheless a very different film - even though Audrey Tatou is also the lead here. The critics have all been saying it's the same, but I couldn't disagree more: "Amelie" was a personal vignette, with which many of us could relate, on one level or another, as we watched from behind the safety of our emotional kitchen curtains. "AVLE", although equally personal in its storytelling, paints on a canvas far more expansive in its nature, and whereas "Amelie" was timeless, this story is timely, given what is going on in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.

The personal story, weaving its way in and out of the battlefields, reminds one more of "The English Patient" than of "A Bridge Too Far", but just as HBO's "A Band of Brothers" managed to construct individually poignant personalities in the muddy midst of carnage, so this tale sows the seeds of a delicate yet persistent romance amidst the blood and guts of the Somme.

The film is a little operatic in its visuals at times, but then it is French, after all. I do wish the sepia tone wasn't used with such blatant aplomb, and that the grand gestures weren't so damnably rigid, but I still found myself admiring this piece of cinematic art, and was pleasantly surprised by the balance offered at the end, between Hollywood happy denouement, and Gallic depression.

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Welcome to the woods....

So the new year begins, and I wonder what your resolution is...?