I'm working with a friend on a short video based on an essay I published a few years ago. It's been eye-opening in a lot of ways. I always liked this particular essay, and was gratified when an editor liked it enough to publish it, but I never gave it much thought beyond that. Then, after my friend told me about some work he was doing with short videos and urged me to consider it, I decided to give it a try. I first made what I consider a "demo" video on my own, using animoto.com. (If you haven't heard of animoto.com, you just got your money's worth out of this posting. It's an amazing online service that will let you make really good videos for only THREE DOLLARS! Check it out.) I took the animoto video to my friend and said, "How about something like this?" He watched it, then told me he thought it was a great story and said he would work with me to make a professional quality video.
Now here's the interesting thing: My friend had read this essay years ago, but it didn't excite him the way the three-minute video version of the same story did. Interesting, huh? So what do I conclude from this? Well, I suppose it would be easy to conclude that we are well into the video generation(s), where a lot of people simply prefer video to the written word. Or one could conclude that "generations" have nothing to do with it...some people are just more visual than others and would rather see images than read words. But I know my friend is also an avid reader. So here's another possibility: Maybe I did a better job of telling the story in the video than I did in the essay. For starters, I had to cut about 75 percent of the words, so I can guarantee you that I got rid of any fat. One of Kurt Vonnegut's rules for short story writing is, "Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action." I think I made Vonnegut proud. In the end, we were examining every WORD, let alone every sentence. Interestingly, I kept some words because they slowed down the action to a pace that was more appropriate for the story. Combine the tight story telling with the appropriate images and a moving piece of music by composer/performer McKenzie Stubbert (licensed for a only a few dollars on rumblefish.com), and the result is a pretty powerful video. As soon as we're done with edits, I'll post the video here along with the original essay to see what you think. Meantime, check out animoto.com. Technology is an amazing thing!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
My Southern Blog-Post
I need help. I'm sure that's true in a lot of ways, but today I'm thinking in terms of two specific things.
The first is that I need help in determining where I'm from. I know I grew up in Louisville. That's not the issue. The question is whether Louisville is a Southern city or a Midwestern city. When I was growing up there, I always thought Louisville was part of the South. Maybe a little less so than the rest of Kentucky, but still a Southern city. Then I moved to Boston when I was 15, and my Southern accent confirmed that I was definitely from the South. But later in life, as I've returned to Louisville to visit, and as the city has evolved from a blue-collar, redneck town of cigarette factories and whiskey distilleries to a regional banking and medical center, I became conscious of the fact that Louisville was trying to change its image. Today, I think there are a lot of people in Louisville who would say they are from the Midwest. So in your opinion, is Louisville part of the South or part of the Midwest?
Regardless of your answer about Louisville, my second question will probably leave little doubt as to whether or not I'm a Southern boy. For a long time now, I've been fascinated by compound nouns. Not just any compound nouns, but the redundant compound nouns that seem to be common in the South. Is there really any doubt about where somebody is from when they ask, "Can I borrow your ink-pen?" Of course, when I was younger, I didn't usually use an ink-pen. I had a lead-pencil. And I grew up across the street from a kid named Paul-David. After school, Paul-David cleaned the blackboards with a chalk-eraser. His daddy worked on car-engines. On weekends his family went to visit his grandma-mother. At night he had sleep-dreams. When he studied for a test he used his think-brain. When I think back on it all I want to shriek-scream. Anyway, I'm collecting redundant compound nouns, so if you know any, please send me an e-mail message so I can put them on my blog-post.
The first is that I need help in determining where I'm from. I know I grew up in Louisville. That's not the issue. The question is whether Louisville is a Southern city or a Midwestern city. When I was growing up there, I always thought Louisville was part of the South. Maybe a little less so than the rest of Kentucky, but still a Southern city. Then I moved to Boston when I was 15, and my Southern accent confirmed that I was definitely from the South. But later in life, as I've returned to Louisville to visit, and as the city has evolved from a blue-collar, redneck town of cigarette factories and whiskey distilleries to a regional banking and medical center, I became conscious of the fact that Louisville was trying to change its image. Today, I think there are a lot of people in Louisville who would say they are from the Midwest. So in your opinion, is Louisville part of the South or part of the Midwest?
Regardless of your answer about Louisville, my second question will probably leave little doubt as to whether or not I'm a Southern boy. For a long time now, I've been fascinated by compound nouns. Not just any compound nouns, but the redundant compound nouns that seem to be common in the South. Is there really any doubt about where somebody is from when they ask, "Can I borrow your ink-pen?" Of course, when I was younger, I didn't usually use an ink-pen. I had a lead-pencil. And I grew up across the street from a kid named Paul-David. After school, Paul-David cleaned the blackboards with a chalk-eraser. His daddy worked on car-engines. On weekends his family went to visit his grandma-mother. At night he had sleep-dreams. When he studied for a test he used his think-brain. When I think back on it all I want to shriek-scream. Anyway, I'm collecting redundant compound nouns, so if you know any, please send me an e-mail message so I can put them on my blog-post.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Maybe It's Safe to Come Out Now, Again
Years ago, I wrote an op-ed piece for the Cleveland Plain Dealer titled, “Maybe It’s Safe to Come Out Now.” I wrote it at the end of 12 years of rule by “The Great Communicator” and “Bush the Lesser,” and on the eve of the inauguration of a Democratic president. I’d have to dig up a copy to see exactly how the op-ed piece went, but the title pretty well sums it up: Like a groundhog checking for its shadow, I poked my head out in 1992 and determined that maybe it was safe to come out.
The feeling today is much the same…magnified by the persona of a new president who brings with him more hope than even the last super-bright, super-hopeful Democratic president…further heightened by the stark contrast to the dim bulbs of the departing administration of “Bush the Least” (better stay close to home, fellas; there are people out there in the world chompin' to try you as war criminals)…but then tempered dramatically by the swirling, toxic vat of global economic woes, global religious conflicts, global warming (why do we not collectively respond with uncontrollable pants pooping when scientists tell us that 25% of the world’s plant and animal species could be extinct by 2050?), peak oil, Israeli/Palestinian tensions, Indian/Pakistani tensions, U.S./Iraqi tensions, U.S./Afghani tensions, U.S./Iranian tensions, U.S./Venezuelan tensions (don’t those U.S. folks get along with anybody?), Russian/Ukrainian tensions, Russian/Georgian tensions, Chinese/Rest-of-the-World tensions, (thank God for the Russians and Chinese; they always make us look good: “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!”), etc., etc.
Net-net: All said and done, I’m feeling somewhat more hopeful than yesterday. Enough so to put away that DVD of “Groundhog Day” that I’ve been watching over and over for the last eight years and emerge into the bright, hopeful new world that we now live in. First order of business: Get 80% off a new digital camera at the Circuit City going-out-of-business sale and take some pictures of all those plants and animals that are about to go extinct.
Congratulations, Barack. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
The feeling today is much the same…magnified by the persona of a new president who brings with him more hope than even the last super-bright, super-hopeful Democratic president…further heightened by the stark contrast to the dim bulbs of the departing administration of “Bush the Least” (better stay close to home, fellas; there are people out there in the world chompin' to try you as war criminals)…but then tempered dramatically by the swirling, toxic vat of global economic woes, global religious conflicts, global warming (why do we not collectively respond with uncontrollable pants pooping when scientists tell us that 25% of the world’s plant and animal species could be extinct by 2050?), peak oil, Israeli/Palestinian tensions, Indian/Pakistani tensions, U.S./Iraqi tensions, U.S./Afghani tensions, U.S./Iranian tensions, U.S./Venezuelan tensions (don’t those U.S. folks get along with anybody?), Russian/Ukrainian tensions, Russian/Georgian tensions, Chinese/Rest-of-the-World tensions, (thank God for the Russians and Chinese; they always make us look good: “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!”), etc., etc.
Net-net: All said and done, I’m feeling somewhat more hopeful than yesterday. Enough so to put away that DVD of “Groundhog Day” that I’ve been watching over and over for the last eight years and emerge into the bright, hopeful new world that we now live in. First order of business: Get 80% off a new digital camera at the Circuit City going-out-of-business sale and take some pictures of all those plants and animals that are about to go extinct.
Congratulations, Barack. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Facebook Loses Face
A few weeks ago, after hearing about the wonders of Facebook from my girlfriend and my daughter, I decided to give it a try. It was an amusing (if not information-overloading) way to pass the time, and I did, in fact, connect with some people I hadn't seen or heard from in quite a while. I also found it gratifying that my daughter accepted me as one of her "friends" on Facebook, as did my niece and nephew -- both of whom had declined an invitation from their mother (my sister) to become her "friend." I also got my somewhat skeptical mother ("Isn't Facebook for young people?") to join, and simultaneously advised/threatened my niece and nephew to accept their grandmother's invitation to be her friend if she invited them to do so.
Anyway, all was well in the Facebook world -- until last week when my Facebook "friends" received a notice that I had changed my email address to lyndel_james6@verizonmail.com. Some friends thought it was me just goofing around. It wasn't. It was an unauthorized change to my account. As a result, I have been locked out of my Facebook account for about a week, while somebody named "Lyndel James6" presumably has control of it. I contacted Facebook to let them know of the apparent snafu. (BTW, Facebook doesn't do customer service over the phone. You have to write to them via email and wait for them to respond.) It's been three emails from me and a week now, and Facebook still hasn't responded. The whole matter was somewhat frustrating and annoying, but not terribly urgent. Friends (real friends in the real world) were monitoring my Facebook page and communications for me, and not much was happening. Until today.
Today started with a phone call from my niece in Pennsylvania. Her voicemail went something like this: "Hi, Uncle Mike. Wanted to let you know that I got an email about you today that said you had died in London. I figured out it was bogus because I knew you weren't in London, but then when I closed the email, my computer kind of went crazy, so I think there was a virus attached to the bogus email. Just wanted to let you know!" A short while later, I got an email from my daughter telling me that she and several other people on Facebook had received a message from me (aka Lyndel James6) saying that I was stranded in London and needed money (because I was "in deep shit after Christmas").
As you might guess, both messages were bogus (the one about needing money a little less so than the one about being dead, but bogus nonetheless), and I have spent most of the day today writing to family and friends to let them know that I'm not dead and that I don't need money -- but if they do feel inclined to send money, please send it to the real Mike O'Mary and not to my friend, Lyndel.
All of this serves to remind me that while virtual communities like Facebook are, for the most part, good clean fun, there's still something to be said for old-fashioned face-to-face communication. Lyndel isn't fooling anybody as it is. He'd have an even more difficult time showing up at the homes of my family and friends and trying to pass himself off as me.
On the other hand, maybe some of them would welcome the change...
Anyway, all was well in the Facebook world -- until last week when my Facebook "friends" received a notice that I had changed my email address to lyndel_james6@verizonmail.com. Some friends thought it was me just goofing around. It wasn't. It was an unauthorized change to my account. As a result, I have been locked out of my Facebook account for about a week, while somebody named "Lyndel James6" presumably has control of it. I contacted Facebook to let them know of the apparent snafu. (BTW, Facebook doesn't do customer service over the phone. You have to write to them via email and wait for them to respond.) It's been three emails from me and a week now, and Facebook still hasn't responded. The whole matter was somewhat frustrating and annoying, but not terribly urgent. Friends (real friends in the real world) were monitoring my Facebook page and communications for me, and not much was happening. Until today.
Today started with a phone call from my niece in Pennsylvania. Her voicemail went something like this: "Hi, Uncle Mike. Wanted to let you know that I got an email about you today that said you had died in London. I figured out it was bogus because I knew you weren't in London, but then when I closed the email, my computer kind of went crazy, so I think there was a virus attached to the bogus email. Just wanted to let you know!" A short while later, I got an email from my daughter telling me that she and several other people on Facebook had received a message from me (aka Lyndel James6) saying that I was stranded in London and needed money (because I was "in deep shit after Christmas").
As you might guess, both messages were bogus (the one about needing money a little less so than the one about being dead, but bogus nonetheless), and I have spent most of the day today writing to family and friends to let them know that I'm not dead and that I don't need money -- but if they do feel inclined to send money, please send it to the real Mike O'Mary and not to my friend, Lyndel.
All of this serves to remind me that while virtual communities like Facebook are, for the most part, good clean fun, there's still something to be said for old-fashioned face-to-face communication. Lyndel isn't fooling anybody as it is. He'd have an even more difficult time showing up at the homes of my family and friends and trying to pass himself off as me.
On the other hand, maybe some of them would welcome the change...
Saturday, January 17, 2009
First Blog
After a long hiatus, I am writing again. It has helped to have the support of friends like John Rember and Michael McMillan, and also to have the out-of-the-blue support of Stephen Parrish, who contacted me one day to introduce himself and ask if he could publish some of my writing on his blog. I was flattered...and encouraged...and ultimately motivated to start writing again.
In the days and weeks to come, I plan to write about writing (and not writing), to share some of the stories and essays I write, to point toward the good writing of others, and to maybe also share some videos based on my stories and essays. I am particularly excited about the videos. My friend, Michael McMillan, and I have been talking a lot lately about how to communicate with people at a time when the book publishing industry "model" is essentially broken. There has to be a better way. Blogging is one way. Producing and sharing short videos is another. The video is a gift to readers and viewers. If they like it, the hope is that they will be interested in receiving and seeing more videos and other works by the author. I hope you'll be one of those people. I'll do my best to tell you some good stories.
In the days and weeks to come, I plan to write about writing (and not writing), to share some of the stories and essays I write, to point toward the good writing of others, and to maybe also share some videos based on my stories and essays. I am particularly excited about the videos. My friend, Michael McMillan, and I have been talking a lot lately about how to communicate with people at a time when the book publishing industry "model" is essentially broken. There has to be a better way. Blogging is one way. Producing and sharing short videos is another. The video is a gift to readers and viewers. If they like it, the hope is that they will be interested in receiving and seeing more videos and other works by the author. I hope you'll be one of those people. I'll do my best to tell you some good stories.
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