"Unfortunately, we're very good at making great demos," Google explains. This is still very alpha stuff. Witness the error message, which I bet will be changed when it goes into beta: "Wave is about to explode. If you don't want it to explode, click the refresh button." (paraphrasing, but you get the idea.)
Still in progress, stay tuned.
I'm crunching on a major book deadline and taking what is really the only kind of break I can get away with: the sort where I'm still seated behind the keyboard and looking at a screen. Honestly, I'd kill for a real break that involves stepping outside to breathe some fresh air. But I've so much work to do that if I swung the front door open for even a moment, I'd probably just keep on running until I reached a Catholic cathedral where I could claim right of sanctuary.
iTunes is on Shuffle Play and a few minutes ago, a Dresden Dolls track came up. Which inspired me to Google the group, which led me to a SPIN Magazine article about a joint reading/performance with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer, which contained the information that the Dresden Dolls singer used to perform in Harvard Square as a living statue. And that Gaiman once...
Wait. Amanda Palmer was a living statue in Harvard Square?
I once came across a great living statue in Harvard Square...a performer whose presence was engaging and thought-provoking. You don't suppose...?
I checked my Flickr feed for a couple of photos that I'd shot years ago (with only my second or third digital camera).
Another Google Search, this time in pursuit of a good, head-on image of Palmer.
http://www.cwob.com/yellowtext/yellowtext0801.html
(Aside: and this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we blog. I might not be able to find the title to my car without a deep search of the house, but the answer to a question like "Did I ever hear from The Bride Of Harvard Square? And when?" is always just a few keystrokes away.)
Now I'm doubly-glad that I put a couple of dollars in her pitcher. The Medici family were patrons of Michaelangelo, Galileo, Raphael, and Brunelleschi, sure, but where were THEY that day in Harvard Square? Probably off at John Harvard's Alehouse getting pranged while artists like Amanda Palmer were standing right outside, going unpatronized.
Well, don't worry, folks. On that day, Ihnatko was there to take up the slack.
Comments [8]
My BFF John has just posted his photos from the San Diego Comicon. I was all set to join him, up until about a couple of months ago. But then (I think it was on a Tuesday) a flash of purple, otherdimensional lighting arced through the room and a man who looked exactly like me appeared. He seemed to be about two months older than me, and had suffered much. From behind haunted, distracted eyes, he managed to achieve and maintain mental focus only long enough to grab my shoulders and scream at me.
"DO NOT go to Comicon just two days after spending two weeks in Asia!" he said. "You'll be crossing 15 time zones in 72 hours! You have a big chunk of a book due the following week! And you're already spending a small fortune on incidental expenses associated with China and Japan and Korea!!!"
Then he started laughing until he started to cry, and then he cried until he vomited, and then the purple lightning reappeared and took him back to wherever he came from.
I called John and cancelled. I probably would have gone ahead, but as I was cleaning the bile stains from the rug and the scorch marks from the ceiling, it occurred to me I hadn't tied up any non-refundable money in the Comicon trip and I had no speaking or coverage commitments, so pulling out would be harmless. And whoever that dude was, he had a point.
Plus, thanks to John, I can experience the show vicariously through his Flickr feed. His Comicon photoset:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66064297@N00/sets/72157621745804571/
But I want to call your attention to this one photo in particular:
She got Frank Cho (one of the top pinup artists at the show) to sign her left breast. She got Joe Linsner (another top pinup artist) to sign her right one.
On that basis...she simply HAS to have an Adam Hughes (THE top pinup artist on the planet) autograph on her somewhere.
You don't suppose...
...
...That does it.
1) I'm booking my hotel room for 2010 right now.
2) And I have exactly 12 months to become a famous pinup artist.
Comments [4]
I'm branching out my business, sensation-seekers, to include commentary, punditry, and thumbs up/thumbs down box reviews on matters of faith, spirituality, and moral guidance.
(Actually, "thumbs up/thumbs down" has been trademarked by Ebert. Suggestions for a replacement? I need something that will translate into a catchy little icon for my little capsule segments on "Access Hollywood." I'm thinking maybe "Shield of Joan of Arc/Severed head of John the Baptist" if we can resolve clearance issues with the respective families.)
First up, a Moral Hypothetical for you to ponder on this Monday:
Let's say that you are an internationally beloved technology columnist and regarded as Something Of An Expert on tech matters. Moreover, you have written a best-selling iPhone book, with a third edition on its way.
You have shown up for a Monday appointment at 3 PM. However, you were expected at 2. The person you were scheduled to meet with takes out his iPhone to double-check his calendar, as do you.
Do you:
1) Sense that it's no big deal to either one of you; shrug it off as a "these things happen" sort of thing and commence with the meeting;
2) Admit that you might have entered it into your iPhone incorrectly;
3) Say "Well, it's easy to sometimes set the wrong time when you create a new appointment; sometimes when you flick the Hour wheel with your finger its 'momentum' carries you over to the next digit."
The implication of course being: "Like HELL it was me. I'm an internationally beloved technology columnist and regarded as Something Of An Expert! Moreover..."
Answer printed below. Turn your screen upside down and hold the Magic Answer Spyglass up to the shaded purple text. Magic Answer Spyglass can be found in the current newsstand issue of "Family Circle"; replacements may be obtained for a nominal handling fee care of this newspaper.
Comments [12]
Like the Queen's barge rolling down the Thames or a customer service representative returning to her post at the DMV after a coffee break, I continue to make slow and stately progress through my MacMania 9 photos. Just to give you an idea of the scale of the project: this latest Flickr set takes us as far as checking into my hotel in Beijing.
Sorry.
More photos coming. They're more interesting, too. But then, they'd sort of have to be, wouldn't they?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyi/sets/72157621694871045/
Comments [0]
Easing my way back into the American way of life with a diner breakfast that has the word "cake" right in it. Do other cultures start off their day with what is essentially a dessert item?
Sent from my iPhone
Comments [10]
I probably should just announce it right here: I'm the reason why your digital cameras aren't working. I know and I'm sorry. You click the shutter, the camera locks up, and then unfreezes after about half a second.
My fault. No more pictures can be taken by anyone until roughly the end of the month. Apparently I took them all, during my two weeks in Asia.
At least it seems that way. Everything I shot is in my Aperture library. Why anybody would ever want to know just how many shots they took is beyond me. I took so many pictures that I'm a bit embarrassed to actually divulge the number. By the time I finish editing I'll probably have winnowed them down to about a hundred keepers.
Okay, well, I'll put it this way: if I were shooting with my old 35mm SLR, the photo bit of MacMania 9 would have cost me over a thousand dollars in film and processing. But be fair: I was bracketing almost every shot. And "the customers only see what the chef sends out of the kitchen." By the time I'm done, maybe a hundred shots will make it onto Flickr.
In the meantime, I've posted an album of the Holstein Family's travels. Head on over to my Flickr feed and check it out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyi/sets/72157621758649544/
Comments [2]
Whew. 13 hours flying nonstop from Beijing to New York is enough to make you think "Wow...what an age of miracles we live in! Halfway across the planet, taking a shortcut over the North Pole, and arrive the same day with half the day left!"
Which is to say: yes, obviously I'm loopy after the experience. As a general rule, if I'm going to be sitting in a seat for 13 hours straight it had better be for an Indiana Jones film marathon. Maybe the "Thin Man" series, if I get to pick the films.
Anyway. There was an unwanted "Amazing Race" aspect to my departure from Asia. Email from a very deal friend commanded my attention; desire to attach a couple of way cool photos to the email took me back into Aperture, where I went into a Photo Editing trance for a little while...etc. I finished packing and left my room with plenty of time to spare. And then on the elevator to the lobby I remembered: International Check-In. Charmless men in polyester wanting to see all kinds of papers and tickets and things.
Oh, crumbs.
And then the hotel waved off a Perfectly Available Taxi because it wasn't specifically the one I had arranged. Ten minute delay, and lots of American-style shouting; I'm proud to say that I left the "You Godless stinking Commies!!!" round safe in the chamber. Still, I promised that I was fully prepared to stage a historical reenactment of the showdown between the man with the shopping bags and the tanks at Tienanmen Square the next time an empty cab came even close to the front door.
Then, the bloody traffic! Well, this is why you plan to arrive way sooner than you need to. It really wasn't so terribly close after all but I made it in at "Final Boarding Call, Please" just fifteen minutes before the door closed.
All's well that ends well. I'm in JFK waiting for my flight home to Boston. I'm seated in a restaurant and have ordered a chicken club sandwich.
Things I realized I've missed, almost the moment I set foot in JFK:
1) Chicken club sandwiches. And the basic concept of walking into a restaurant, knowing instinctively what will be on the menu, and then scanning said menu and ordering exactly the thing you want.
2) Black, hispanic, Indian, etc. faces. The ship was all white and Asian. Even the Western tourists I spotted at various destinations were all white. There's something very American about a crowd scene with (shall we say) High Dynamic Range of tonal values. And something very comforting. The wide range of skin colors means that (oddly enough) everybody blends right in. Whereas in Beijing I suspect I could have stood on any busy corner of any park with my hat upside down at my feet, posed like a dude in the Sears catalogue, and quickly collected about a thousand Yuan from locals.
"Fantastic entertainment!" they'd enthuse as they drop a ten-spot in the hat. "I don't know," I'd respond."Maybe the bathrooms are over there, on the other side of the pavilion?" I never learned much Mandarin, you see.
3) Being able to understand announcements. Even on the ship, most announcements were in Mandarin (I'm guessing. It could have been Mandarin Pig Latin).
4) Being able to spend money without doing any math. And instinctively knowing the buying power of a unit of local currency. I tended to fall back on the Coke Index. How much did a Coke cost in Japan? (100 yen) China? (usually 3 Yuan) Korea? (Umm...) But a moment ago, the waitress handed me my check. Fifteen dollars for a (very good, actually) club sandwich made with fresh, grilled chicken.
I know that this is about five bucks more than this sandwich would normally cost. I know that you're supposed to tip your server. I know that 15% is the barest minimum, 20% is the customary level, and leaving her this Twenty marks me as a customer of taste and breeding.
5) On the subject of Coke: I missed drinking familiar liquids from familiar bottles. There was no shortage of Coke wherever I went (another thing for which the world needs to send us all a collective "Thank You" note for correcting a few wanting elements of their local cultures) and the differences in labels is interesting at first. The "wave device" is intact but how do you approximate that classic flowing script in a pictogram language?
6) The Presumption Of Internet. My first two hours back in the US and I've plugged my MiFi into my netbook and am simply using the 'net. The iPhone and the international data plan was a collective lifesaver, in far too many situations to count. But between the phone and hotel broadband and shipboard Internet kiosks and Internet cafes on shore, accessing the 'net was never routine.
A simile which is vulgar but sadly appropriate: I'm using to behaving like an unhousebroken dog, able to piddle anywhere and everywhere without really giving it a thought. For the past 12 days, I've been not merely a human, but a human with OCD and germphobic issues. I know I'll have to go sometime in the next 36 hours but is there really any chance whatsoever that I'll find a facility meeting my specific requirements in that span of time?
7) A climate suitable for non-amphibians. 75 degrees here in New York City! If there were any days in Asia that were under 90, I was probably still passed out from heat exhaustion from the day before and couldn't enjoy it. Beautiful weather, nothing to complain about. But for the past twelve days I've basically had to have "inside clothes" and "outside clothes." Otherwise, I would have blown through all of my laundry in about four days.
I am not going to miss carrying heavy bags all over the place. I will not miss having to have my passport handy at all times. I will not miss lots and lots of slips of official paper that have to be filled out and then presented and stamped.
Eh?
Oh.
That.
I will also not miss having disembodied voices running my life. My flight is being called and so I must pack and leave.
Soon I will be home. Where the voices that compel me to do awful things emanate reassuringly from the clutch of woodchucks just outside my office window.
Comments [8]
Comments [12]