30 Weeks

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The Internet for the Illiterate

I just caught a segment on CNN called 'Inside the Blogs'. Apparently, this has been running since February 14th.

Here's the pitch: Take two TV 'journalists'. They sit at computer screens and read out blogger's opinions on current events. The camera pans across the computer displays as the talking heads highlight key sentences with their cursors.

Today's topics touched on, predictably, the Terri Schiavo issue and the fact that the high school shooting in Minnesota has attracted much less attention from the mainstream media than it should have, no doubt because of wall-to-wall Schiavo coverage.

There are a couple of brief points to make about all this:

1. Surely, this is further evidence that the mainstream media has given up doing its own journalism. It's obviously more convenient to just read stuff they find on the internet rather than go and investigate directly and construct a report.

2. It's cheap TV. Shipping in real-life experts to debate issues has been the mainstay of what passes for journalism in the US these days. But even that costs too much. (You have to send a car to pick them up, pay a makeup artist to ensure the glare doesn't distract the audience, provide snacks for them to nibble on while they wait to go on, etc).

These days you just need an internet connection and a 'researcher.'

3. This is the worst kind of TV. It's dull, dull, dull. It's like watching paint dry. I'm sorry but the internet really doesn't tanslate well to television. For a start, when I interact with a blog or any website, I'm sitting up, interacting with the medium. When I watch TV, even TV news, I'm leaning back, consuming; it's washing over me. One of the main reasons that 'Inside the Blogs' fails is that I'm leaning back (watching TV) yet the content presented demands that I interact with it when, of course, I can't.

This makes me think that what we have here is the internet for the illiterate. Too tired to search for yourself? Too bored to find an interesting news source online? Want to use the internet, but can't read/scan quickly enough to ever get enough content in return for your time investment? Don't fret: CNN will serve it up for you. Sit back and enjoy.

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Bow Gates

Here's another one from Saturday's tour around The Gates installation in Central Park. The viewpoint for this one was inspired by my four year old. She's just the right height to look through the portals in the side of Bow Bridge, so I thought: I wonder what she's looking at? This picture is the answer.

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Luscious Gates

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Ironing

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You know what this is for...

Please give as much as you can.

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Benches

I'm taking pictures of benches. Well, more specifically, people and things on or around benches. I quite like this one and there are more in the gallery.

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Photo Update

Here are three groups of pictures for my photography class. The idea of the first was to tell a story through a series of three to five pictures. Last week's was a self portrait and this week's exercise was simply to do something unusual with the camera. Really, you could go wild with this one and in the time available I didn't. But I was still pretty pleased with the results.

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New York Subway Photography: Just For the Record...

You are allowed to take photographs on the New York subway. True, there has been something of a hoopla following the news that the MTA was considering a ban. But as things stand, the regulations governing use of the subway (specifically section 1050.9 (c)) say:

"Photography, filming or video recording in any facility or conveyance is permitted except that ancillary equipment such as lights, reflectors or tripods may not be used." (You need NYPD-issued ID to bring in extra gear.)

So there you have it - spread the word! Thanks to Mike Epstein of Satan's Laundromat for pointing me to the exact reference.

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Earth, Air Fire and Water

Short post tonight because it's 1.10am. I just got back from MSG Annie Lennox and Sting did a fantastic gig, part of their 'Sacred Love' tour. Anyway, this week's assignment was 'Earth, Air, Fire and Water'. I cheekily renamed it "Earth", "Air", "Fire" and "Water" and took pictures of manmade equivalents of those fundamental elements. The one below is "Earth" and you can see the others in my gallery.

Comments welcome.

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