Something That Happened.

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Stories by Harold, in a variety of formats - including text, audio, video, and podcasts.

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Thursday, September 11, 2003

Regrets...
I've had a few.
But then again,
Too few to mention!
--"My Way",
written by Paul Anka
When I hear that song, I think of Frank Sinatra, and sometimes Elvis or Sid Vicious -- all of whom have been known to perform, in their own unique manner, that wonderful song. Wonderful because -- though I don't always enjoy hearing it, I've heard it so much -- the song is a wonderful personal anthem. That's something we all need: a personal anthem. A song that praises our individuality; a mark of devotion to oneself. After all, they say you're going to have a helluva time loving anyone else unless you've first learned to love yourself, right?

This is not to replace your love for your God, or your spouse, or your family. I'm simply saying that we all need to give ourselves a bit more self-love at this time of year. (No, not that type of self-love !) Too many of us beat up on ourselves throughout the year, and then nearly destroy ourselves at year's end. No wonder there are so many suicides during the Holidays; the messages bombarding us are to Buy Buy Buy and to Give Give Give -- but what if you have nothing to give but love? If you have a dearth of that good stuff, then you'll have a bitch of a time spreading it around to your neighbors.

So be good to yourself, whether you're Christian, Pagan, Wiccan, Athiest, Hindu, Islamic, Mormon, Podcastin, or otherwise. Don't take the pills, they won't do you or anyone else any good; you'll simply miss out on the Next Big Thing (which may turn out to be Your Next Big Thing). Just do things your own way, singing that little hymn as you do so:
For what is a man,
What has he got?
If not himself,
Then he has naught.
To say the things,
He truly feels,
And not the words,
Of one who kneels.
The record shows,
I took the blows
And did it my way!

Monday, April 30, 2007

AMPed New Music Weekly number 72 is now available for download, featuring recording artists John Holowach, Talco, Ophelia Hope, Satellite Dub, One Day Remains, Farewell Redemption, MC Karolina, and Gregg Martinez.

If you want to simply go ahead and download the MP3 right away, here you go! If you've got a podcatcher (such as iTunes), the RSS feed for AMPed New Music Weekly is http://feeds.feedburner.com/ampedmp3, or you can click this Phobos link to be taken to AMPed's podcast profile in your iTunes player.

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Friday, April 27, 2007

One thing about working from a public WiFi hotspot: You never know what (performance) you're going to get. I signed up for AT&T's WiFi service at a local Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf location yesterday and let me tell you, between the time it's takes for me to finally connect and the moment I really get going -- you know, checking my email, firing up my Instant Messenger apps, surfing the web & stuff -- by the time I'm able to get past AT&T's login screens and on to the real Internet, I'm ready for a second cup of coffee and a cigarette. (And I'm not a smoker, so that should tell you something.)



Hopefully I haven't lost you yet; I'm posting about this particular geekery today because it is what is foremost on my mind at the moment (besides my inability to be generally satisfied with life, the universe, and everything -- but that's another matter and we'll reserve it for a future post). The problem, if you haven't figured it out yet, is with AT&T's WiFi service is the login screen -- the entire login process, really. Truth be told, I use a rather old PowerBook, and my web surfing takes a bit more time using this machine than your typical recent laptop or MacBook. But still -- the length of time it takes to get through an AT&T WiFi connection is ridiculous. It shouldn't take 30 minutes to get logged in and on to a real website! In comparison, it only took 3 minutes to boot and log into an IM client, open my Gmail and open up a website using my mobile phone's Internet service! Yet truly, that's how long it took -- 30 minutes or so -- using AT&T WiFi this morning.



This isn't my typical experience with public WiFi. Using T-Mobile's WiFi at Starbuck's, it usually takes me no longer than 20 minutes to get up and running. (I jest; it usually takes about 5 to 10 minutes -- but a great deal of that time is spent booting up my old PowerBook, a 3-boot/step process I will spare you the details of.) T-Mobile's login process feels like a Porsche in comparison to the 1972 Volkswagen Beetle of AT&T's login screens. It seems that T-Mobile simply has a lighter interface; perhaps it's using a great deal less AJAX-inspired communication between its servers than AT&T. (Okay, if I haven't lost you yet, now I've really lost you.) It is my (Not So) Humble Opinion that AT&T WiFi would serve its customers well by putting its login screen(s) on a diet, leaning up the size of its data transmissions (or something). That way I can get to the information I want, as quickly as possible, without having to check my watch my daily dose of video podcasts using my phone.

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Wednesday, April 25, 2007





No, that's not me - that's Chris Pirillo, delivering a sweet message to his wife and partner, Ponzi. Caught this video on his website - if you enjoyed Chris, maybe you'll catch him broadcasting live at live.pirillo.com.

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Monday, April 23, 2007

There's an Internet TV series called Alive In Baghdad; the following episode was recently presented (including the text that follows).




Diseases and sicknesses of all kinds are gaining ground in Iraq. Activists, doctors, and the media are quick to discuss the potential ramifications of Depleted Uranium, which many argue is still highly radioactive after use. There are many other diseases, some commonplace, such as dysentery and typhoid which were virtually unheard of in Iraq before the Gulf War in 1991, but under the sanctions and instability of the current war, have greatly increased.

The prevalence of these and other diseases is rarely discussed in the press or at antiwar rallies. The collapse of Iraq's infrastructure, as well as the exodus of doctors from the country, has further exacerbated Iraq's medical difficulties. This after instability caused by the invasion prevented many children from obtaining their regular cancer treatments, necessary to retard further growth of the cancer.

Alive in Baghdad has produced several shows examining these difficulties. Although primarily focused on the potential impact of depleted uranium, particularly in children, we have also interviewed a doctor, medical students,and a father whose daughter has a strange and unexplained illness.

We plan to continue looking at these stories and other issues under-represented in the press. Please consider making a donation to continue our work, and feel free to suggest story ideas or submit any questions this or other shows may raise. There are some valuable resources for researching issues of a medical nature in Iraq. We suggest you check these outlets for more information:

IRIN, the UN's "humanitarian news and analysis" service

The Lancet

British Medical Journal

BBC News' Middle East reporting

For general in-depth reporting on Iraq please check out the insightful Institute for War and Peace Reporting's Iraq Crisis Report.

Articles cited in this week's show:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1510710,00.html
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70920
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6479997.stm

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Friday, April 20, 2007

There's this place I've been visiting off and on these past several years, the Un-Urban Coffeehouse in West L.A. (on Pico & Urban). I stopped in yesterday, and like many afternoons, found the place quiet, the atomosphere lending itself to anyone wishing to read or write or work in peace. I purchased a double latte and two muffins -- I don't usually purchase much else besides a straight cup of coffee when I visit my local Starbucks, but I like to go for the gusto when I'm visiting the independent houses -- and asked the barista how business was. Her reply: "Not so great -- at least, not in the daytime." She went on to tell me the space's rent had just gone up several hundred dollars, a sharp increase for this small business. (She also noted that some of the neighboring businesses had recently shut down, probably due to the either the elevating rent and/or lack of interest. For example, a once-popular record store across the street had just closed.)



I've been thinking for some time now that the UnUrban would be a great place to begin a coworking arrangement of some sort. The place is cozy, dressed like a funky home. You know: Mismatched furniture, colorful walls, bookcases, chinese lamps, rotating ceiling lamps, table lamps of various sizes and shapes, a small stage with an old piano and speakers mounted on the ceiling...There's even a few rows of movie or playhouse seats, perfect for screenings or presentations.



And, of course, good coffee and treats, and free wireless Internet access.



I believe the owner would be willing to make some type of arrangement to allow us to cowork here. This is simply a guess, of course, but I know they've already got some type of arrangement with other groups. For example, they have a 12-Step group come in early every mornings, 7 days of the week. The book bands and art openings on the weekends. So the afternoons: Since business is slow after noon (until the evenings, when they have a long-running Open Mic every night), perhaps we could arrange something for the midday coworking sessions. I believe this place would be a great place to work, or collaborate: Yesterday I was looking for a nice, peaceful, un-Starbuck-like place to settle in the afernoon, and I found just what I was looking for in UnUrban's "living room" environment. There's both dark and light areas in the space, so you can even take a nap or relax in quiet in one room while others hang in the daylight of the other room, where there's lots of open air. I'm not saying it's always quiet -- certainly, the evenings pick up -- but it's usually a calm location during the day, perfectly suitable for getting some work done.



Unfortunately, I fear this place won't be around too much longer if the owner doesn't generate some type of extra income. With some of us looking for a space to hang (and work), the Un-Urban could be just the place for a perfect partnership. So I invite you to open your favorite search engine to dig up a few articles about the place - or better yet, to swing by the coffeehouse sometime, have a cup of Joe or latte, and simply check out the environment. That way you'll get a better feel for the place. The Un-Urban Coffee is just
down the street from (and east of) Santa Monica College, north of Ocean Park, across the street from a Trader Joe's market. The address is 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica (though some may consider it West L.A.), CA, 90045. Phone number: (310) 315-0056



Here's one article about the Un-Urban, just to prove I'm not making this stuff up:



http://www.thelamusicscene.com/clubs/unurban/index.php3




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Thursday, April 12, 2007

This video grabbed ahold of me this morning.

I want to share it with you:








I'm Autistic! on Vimeo

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Eraserhead, Almost



Day 07 of Videoblogging Week 2007.

David Lynch's Eraserhead

is briefly discussed

mentioned, really

in a conversation

of little import.







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Friday, April 06, 2007

Thursday, April 05, 2007

My Fifth Day contribution to Videoblogging Week 2007.



(Thanks, Hipcast!)



Does a (Moving) Picture Say a Thousand Words, or Nothing At All?



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Wednesday, April 04, 2007

So we've reached Day 04 of the web video experiment they call Videoblogging Week 2007, and here's my post for the day, another Vlippin' video:











The service is new, and the embedded player needs work (in my opinion), but you'll find my contribution by clicking the start button and either:




a) waiting for my video to show up



or



b) clicking the next button until I show up



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Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Monday, April 02, 2007

Response to Response to the YouTube Video Titled Three Years?



This is my response to another YouTuber's response to the video titled Three Years?, in which an invitation is posed for a three-year commitment to a concrete goal. This is also my second video for Videoblogging Week 2007.








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The Silent Vlogger



Hi, my name is Harold, and I make silent films. I'm also a vlogger, or videoblogger ("video" + "blogger"). A vlog is alot like a blog, except you use video instead of text.



Here's an example of the kind of vlog post you'd find on my vlog. It's my first video for Videoblogging Week 2007.








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Businesses in Huntsville, Alabama

*

I once posted, in this space (this right column), the following:

If I had friends they would be listed here

That particular bit o' text, that silly and idiotic phrase, was repeated a dozen or two dozen or so times and was intended to be temporary. I had been working on a project -- a new layout for this blog -- and had intended for that text to be placeholder content. That is, the text was supposed to temporarily replace the content that had previously occupied this column (which was a list of links to friends -- that is, other blogs and web sites I linked to). I didn't know what content I was going to place into that (this) space, so I placed a bunch of duplicate phrases here as a placeholder so that I would remember to fill in this space again later.

At the same time, I thought I was being cute with the heading:

NEW & IMPROVED FRIENDS!

The fact remains: I still don't know what content to put here, in this column. Links again? Pictures? Video? Audio? Ads? Oh, hell no! It hasn't come to me yet, but I'm sure it will eventually, and when it does it'll come quick and (as usual) with consequences.