Hello Mrs Zeldman
Congratulations to Jeffrey and Carrie who will tie the knot in June. I
was thinking of doctoring some kind of image in Photoshop, and did a search for Carrie. Just look what came back - two images only: one of Carrie, and one of Jeffrey. Altogether now, aaaaahhh!
Star Wars kid makes it to the NY Times
OK, this is copied here from NY Times because, frankly, most people can’t be bothered to register at their site. I’ll keep this up for as long as I can (ie, until someone from NY Times objects).
Here’s where you can find the original article in the NY Times (and check out the URL: /2003/05/19/technology/19DORK.html - was a techie having fun with this? Or is it a random CMS-generated URL?). Anywaym here’s what the article says:
Fame Is No Laughing Matter for the ‘Star Wars Kid’
The Internet is riveted by a video of Ghyslain, a 15-year-old boy in Quebec who filmed himself wielding a double-bladed light saber in the manner of Darth Maul, the bad guy from "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace."
In the video, Ghyslain brandishes a golf ball retriever in a series of maneuvers that are both painfully awkward and unmistakably joyful. Wearing khakis and a button-down shirt, Ghyslain, who is heavy-set, plays his character with great intensity, glaring into the camera and making sounds to accompany his moves.
Since it was released on the Web late last month as a prank by fellow high school students who discovered the clip, the video has been downloaded more than a million times. Also in circulation are several "remixes," adding special effects to make the stick glow like a light saber and setting the action to music.
Short videos of embarrassing, funny or illicit moments are common Internet fare. But this one, known as the Star Wars Kid, has traveled farther, faster and commanded more attention than any in recent memory. It seems to be serving as a Rorschach test for geek self-perception.
Many of the comments on Web sites that showcased the video are simply nasty, making fun of Ghyslain, who is not identified in the video, for being overweight or, as one comment put it, "dweeby." But others applaud the un-self-conscious display of physical enthusiasm by someone who is not captain of the football team.
Wrote one fan: "Kid, who ever you are — YOU ROCK!!!"
"I personally feel that he is like me and all of my friends," said Andy Baio, 26, a Web developer in Los Angeles. "This spread around the world partly because he’s funny and awkward to watch, but also because there’s a big part of him in a lot of us."
After Mr. Baio made the clip and one of the remixes available on his Web site, www.waxy.org, there was so much interest in the video that he posted a request for more information about its origins. Three high school students came forward to say that they had released the tape, originally recorded in a school studio last November, Mr. Baio said.
Using the information provided by the students, a French-speaking friend of Mr. Baio’s, Jish Mukerji, contacted the boy, and posted a transcript of his conversation on his Web log, www.jish.nu. Last week, Mr. Baio suggested that the Internet audience try to compensate Ghyslain for having been subjected to such global scrutiny. So far, more than 135 people have donated a total of $1,085 to buy him an iPod music player and perhaps an Amazon.com gift certificate.
Reached by telephone at his home on Saturday, Ghyslain, whose mother asked that his last name and location be withheld, said the video was part of a school project that he had directed. One night, he had been acting out some of the moves he had in mind for the actors.
As nice as it might be to get an iPod, he said, he would have preferred that the video, which he had not intended anyone to see, had remained private.
"People were laughing at me," he wrote in a follow-up e-mail message. "And it was not funny at all."
You’ve
hit the bigtime
For showing your arse, and that’s about it. That’s the cheeky Girls, folks (and if you are reading this from outside the UK, all you need to know is that they are talentless, horse-faced twin sisters hailing from Transylvania with pencil-thin figures and hotpants that are precisely one-half the size normally required to cover an arse cheek. Hence, the cheeky girls).
So, why have they hit the bigtime? Well, the Cheeky Girls have been immortalised in Flipflopflyin’s Minipops. Hurrah! Other recent additions include Sting, Christina Aguilera in her Dirrty guise and Morecambe and Wise.
When you really need a laugh …
… you can’t beat a fart joke. While searching for MC Hammer’s ‘U Can’t Touch This‘ (no, I don’t like it … there was a valid explanation), I stumbled across one of the simplest yet funniest web pages in a long time (funnier, even, than the Train Spotting Simulator). Why is it that a fart never loses its humourous appeal? I mean, if I told you a knock-knock joke every day for the rest of your life, you’d want to kill me. But a well-timed fart is guaranteed to raise a smile. Well, most of the time.
Interesting
techie developments
In Minority Report, Tom Cruise’s character is on a train looking at someone else’s newspaper as its front page changes to show that he has become a wanted man. Imagine that - newspapers that are foldable, portable and can dynamically change just like a web page does (well, as long as you hit refresh). It’ll never happen … or will it?
Super-thin screen brings e-paper a step closer is a piece in ABC in Australia that you have to take a look at, but here’s a snippet for you:
Electronic paper which promises to change the face of publishing, came closer to reality this week, as scientists in the U.S. revealed a super-thin, flexible electronic-ink display screen.
Another interesting report in Wired News today - Etch a Site as Easy as Pie. The article covers a new piece of software called Denim (don’t ask me why) which is a "website prototyping tool that magically brings alive sketches of sites without its users having to do any programming".
It sounds like a very interesting idea, so I’m gonna download it and give it a whirl. The true value of this kind of tool must surely come from using it with a tablet PC - no longer do you sketch ideas idly down on paper in a meeting for it to be lost later. With Denim, it should be possible to sketch the site and how the navigation works (all in a rough form) and to show the behaviour of hyperlinks (no more arrows pointing to other parts of the sketch on the same piece of scrappy paper).
I’d
rather chew my own arm off
You’ve heard the phrase - about waking up after a heavy night of drinking to find you’re in bed with a less than delightful-looking laydee. Rather chew your own arm off than risk waking the beast? Well, here’s a man who probably could, except that he’s already done it (OK, now transplant the words laydee with boulder and chew with cut … that OK? Right, let’s move on …)
"The US climber who cut off his own arm after being trapped under a fallen boulder has recovered enough to tell his story.
‘I did what I had to do,’ said Aron Ralston, as he recovered in Grand Junction, Colorado.
He calmly described how, being hopelessly pinned by the boulder for four days, he finally took a blunt pocket-knife to his forearm."
He’s not gonna be climbing again in a hurry, I would wager.
Indigo Squirrel Dishwasher
I just love this - Jeremey (Adactio) Keith’s Random New Media Company Generator. At the press of a button you’ll get a name, a strapline and a suitably vague logo. Go on over and create a new, funky, hip and happening name for your new nu-media business now. Now, I said ….
DJ Format’s super hit combo
My old friend Matt Ford from Chandlers Ford, also known as DJ Format, has a new track out with a fantastic accompanying video. It’s called The Hit Song and features Abdominal on the Mic. Matt even makes an appearance on the video this time (the last vid had breakdancing plushies, if you remember), and hopefully it will get an airing or two on MTV. The last one should have been massive on the basis of the video alone, but I never saw it aired on MTV!
The video was produced by Ruben Fleischer and has some extra cool animation from Two Thousand Strong - go check it out!
The scores on the doors please …
Last night I was in Asda WalMart … no wait … this is good, despite the dull start. So, while I was killing time browsing through the magazines I heard the following announcement over the PA system:
"Would Mr Blahdeblah please go to the George doors, that’s Mr Blahdeblah please go to the George doors"
I wonder if the guy making the announcement realised what he sounded like? I’m sure I was not the only person in the shop thinking of Shooting Stars at that point!
Note: George Dawes is a character played by comedian Matt Lucas off Shooting Stars, a BBC comedy in the UK while George in Asda is the name of their clothing range, for anyone who happens to be scratching their head and going "eh?" while trying to get the cultural reference here.
Have you met my friend Nick?
Beware - this man is very evil. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha haaaa!
The photo was taken at Paul’s wedding (photos are here, folks, if you’re interested). The scar is not real. The dopey look is very real.
