Really cool co-worker had this done for her son. In case you haven't heard of iPod My Photo then you've missed out on the cool trend of peeps jacking with everyday pictures to create a cool personalized story. In this case, the cool factor rubs off from Apple...but frankly the art work stands alone. And yes, he actually is operating a real flame thrower in the original picture.
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Has this ever happened to you?
Let me set this up. I was prepping for a meeting this week, over dinner, in a popular Brazilian steakhouse chain with a team of coworkers when the waiter accidentally spilled an entire glass of Blueberry dessert wine down my back. The effect was...how to put this...alarming.
(That's my t-shirt in the picture.)
See, just about everyone in my party ordered the wine flight which consisted of 5 different types of wine brought out to correspond with the meal. Our waiter had done a wonderful job of delivering these glasses at just the right moment throughout the meal. And not a drop was dripped. But, as he delivered the last set of drinks, I felt a cool rush start at the top of my shoulders and run down my back. I had several layers on, sweater, button down, and the t-shirt. Fortunately, the sweater was black...but my button down was lime green. The most troubling article of clothing to be affected was my leather coat which was sitting on the back of my chair.
You know I couldn't be mad though, the waiter was such a nice guy...and I could tell he felt horrible. No reason for me to get pissy, and besides they will pay for the dry-cleaning.
Are you creative?
I was having a discussion with a college professor last week and she alerted me to the fact that this present class of Freshmen (across the States) are the smartest class in recorded history based on standardized test scores. These people are incredibly bright and articulate, but according to her have a serious flaw. They need instructions. If you give them parameters, they will develop the most complete results/answers she has ever experienced out of a class of young people at comparative ages. But if you ask them to create the parameters and the outcomes, they look at you like you are a crazy person. In other words...this class is the smartest most supervised, sheltered, systemized group in recorded history.
Think about it...these kids didn't even have lawn darts. They had Teddy Ruxpin. They had Nintendo...in other words...they always had directions. Many children have grown up making games out of nothing...the majority of these youngsters didn't have that advantage/problem. What's the result of the most directed, supervised children in history. Super-smart robots?
Don't get me wrong...they are pursuing creative outlets. As a matter of fact the "@generation" - are the most plugged-in "creative context creators" ever. So, if we GIVE them a forum for creativity - they should flourish. But, will they break out of the mold and figure it out on their own? No. This generation blogs, phlogs, wiki's, creates short films and makes full use of their creative juices - BUT, WITHIN A CONSTRUCTED SYSTEM. Their desire for connection is so great it limits their ability.
If we protect our children from struggle, angst, boredom...what do we get? Well, what we don't get is artists, painters, sculptors, actors, musicians, in short....True Creatives.
What is creativity?
Pandora
My new favorite window on my desktop is Pandora. This little gem is running all the time now on my system. I even went as far as to subscribe to the service, just because I fell in love with it so fast.
What is it? It's a radio station (on the net) that plays what you like. Seriously I know you've heard all about this from a thousand other radio stations before; "You're listening to KDUD playing your music, your way, your day...all day...from the early morning light to the late, late night. KDUD plays YOUUUUR tunes."
Sorry, lapsed into my DJ days. Pandora uses a software called the Music Genome Project to decipher why you like the music you like. Then it presents you with other artists that have similar styles. Is it the bare bones beats of a Dr. Dre rap, a heavy guitar from The White Stripes, or the earthy feel of Digable Planets that attracted you to them? Pandora will dive deep into it's library and come back with some sounds that are similar from artists you might not be aware of. You can even help the process along by deciding if a particular song fits. From the site:
"Can you help me discover more music that I'll like?
Those questions often evolved into great conversations. Each friend told us their favorite artists and songs, explored the music we suggested, gave us feedback, and we in turn made new suggestions. Everybody started joking that we were now their personal DJs.
We created Pandora so that we can have that same kind of conversation with you."
Bottom line, if you like new music but don't have time to go discover it...Pandora is for you.
You can find me on the battlefield
I have found my new 'jones' and it is SOCOM U.S. Navy Seal FireTeam Bravo for the PSP. Well, to be exact - it's the online feature that's keeping me up late. Online you say...isn't the PSP a handheld? Yes, it tis, that it tis. But, with a a little wi-fi action you can enjoy fragging complete strangers, or people you work with - but more on that in a minute.
The online feature of this is pretty awesome, with the headset option being a definite bonus if they can give the gamers a patch to ensure that thing works all the time - then we'd all be gravy.
Saturday night there were over 22,000 people online playing, and on Sunday night 14,000. Which is not a WHOLE lot in terms of online play...but remember this is on handhelds - so big time room for growth. The game is a little more controlled than a MMORPG, in which everyone is on a vast battlefield...and playing as teams until a common goal is accomplished. SOCOM allows up to 16 players in some games, limits the time, but tends to pit everyone against each other in the some of the newbie rooms that I have been in.
Saturday, I got a call from a co-worker asking if I had been online in what Sony refers to as their Infrastructure mode. I hadn't, but after we figured his system out, I busted mine open and got on. Next thing we know, we are talking on cell phones - he's Chicago, about 8 hours from me...and we are trying to hunt each other down in a virtual world. More folks joined and we thought we would wax them, since we had the advantage of having constant voice contact without them knowing it...well turns out I should play more if I intend to wax anybody anytime soon.
So, if you want me...look for "andfortherecord" on SOCOM on your PSP.
