Filed under: Claire file | Tags: cnn, Fox News, Hillary Clinton, news, politics, texas primaries
I finally made it over to the one library on campus that’s equipped with the necessary technology to convert VHS to digital, which begs the question: Why are people, especially those over at CNN headquarters, still using VHS anyway? I don’t even have a VHS player, so today was the first day I actually got to watch these clips, and they brought back some fond memories of those few very eventful weeks of the Texas primaries. And I am glad to say that the Texan’s very controversial endorsement of Hillary Clinton got voters (especially young voters) that much more involved in the election. This was a record breaking year for voter turnout in Texas, and in March it was looking like the results in Texas could make or break either candidate. Hillary got my vote this spring, and I knew I was setting myself up for strong criticism by endorsing her in a paper that serves an Obama-crazed community. But I hope I showed a few young voters that it is, in fact, OK to like Clinton, and I think it was the best service to democracy to provide the less popular and much less accepted viewpoint. I’ll be happy to vote for Obama in the upcoming general election (very happy, actually), but I was even happier to make the “uncool” choice in March and get people upset, involved and off their butts and to the poles! A tear for Hillary … however, wasn’t her endurance and dedication inspiring?
and then, here is the other CNN clip that had already made its way into Internet land…
Filed under: Life, art, music, etc. | Tags: austin, b-boy city, b-boys, breakdancing, documentaries, inside the circle, romeo navarro, ruta maya, texas
The breakdancing documentary “Inside the Circle” was a 2007 SXSW movie fest hit, but I just saw it for the first time two weeks ago at Alamo Drafthouse’s music Monday screening. The film, which chronicles the lives of several Texas b-boys over four years of ups and downs in breakdancing competitions, was the most engaging and moving documentary I’ve seen in a long while. Coming from the documentary geek that I am, that says a lot.
I’ve been catching the B-Boy City competitions, organized by Austin b-boy icon Romeo Navarro, for a few years now, so the magic in this documentary was no surprise to me. In my years as a barista at Ruta Maya on South Congress, I saw the Austin b-boy troupe practice and compete on several occasions, and their skill is even more impressive in person. Some of the documentary, actually, was filmed at Ruta Maya, capturing images of the particularly Austinacious coffee shop before the porch-dwelling regulars took it upon themselves to spend weeks painting the outside concrete columns with detailed Native American-style artwork. I’ve met Navarro and served many a Red Bull to these hardworking breakdancers on several occasions, and having experienced their sincere and dedicated attitudes firsthand made watching “Inside the Circle” even a more heartfelt experience.
Simply put, I had mixed feelings about this film, and what a pleasing mixture it was. I felt hip-hop love and Austin pride (not only were there scenes from my beloved Ruta Maya, but toward the beginning of the film there’s a quick close-up of a Daily Texan newspaper stand). I wanted to cry and dance at the same time. I was amazed and intrigued by the skill and dedication of Omar, Josh and the other b-boys chronicled in the film, and I was delighted by their ability to stay in good humor during even the most stressful times. Most of all, however, I was utterly inspired by these boys’ ability to stick together, achieve their dreams, and inspire so many others despite each of their very arduous life circumstances.
Omar explains in the film that the “circle” is not about “friends dancing in a circle.” What happens in the circle are called “battles,” but they are battles that both unite and create conflict, and that conflict gives rise to respect and self-purpose. And as Romeo notes, the circle must always be complete.
Filed under: Claire file | Tags: chronicle of higher education, cnn, editor and publisher, gawker, journalism, news, romanesko, student journalists, tvnewer, university newspapers, uwire, UWire 100
The folks at UWire just passed along some links to well-known media entities that have featured the UWire 100 in the first day since the release:
Filed under: Claire file | Tags: E&P, Editor & Publisher, journalism, The University of Texas at Austin, UWire 100
So, this is the actual link to the UWire 100. I just realized that I kind of broke the embargo by putting that on my blog before today. Oopsie. Sorry. Nobody reads this, so it’s OK.
The list is also featured on the Editor & Publisher Magazine Web site, and there will be some journalists featured in the June issue of E&P.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003806037
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003805764
Stephen Veres wrote in an e-mail to the winners today:
“The students hail from 66 different schools, ranging from small liberal arts colleges such as Cabrini, Loras and Hamilton to large state universities. Among the schools represented by multiple members of the UWIRE 100 are the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (five), Penn State University (four), the University of Iowa (four), the University of Florida (three), Syracuse University (three), Indiana University (three) and the University of Texas-Austin (three). Fifty-nine of the students were graduating seniors and three were freshmen.
“It was a very tough decision – one that took almost a month to figure out. We were impressed by quality of the pool of candidates, and it was inspiring hearing the wonderful things about all of you.”
Filed under: Life, art, music, etc. | Tags: harpbot, Jesse Harlin, modern art, robotics, symbiotic media, university of oklahoma
Well, I don’t really know if this type of media fits into any particular category, but symbiotic media is what they call it at the University of Oklahoma art school, where my brother is getting a master’s in the field. It’s pretty impressive.
According to the school’s Website (http://symbioticmedia.ou.edu/mission.html), which my brother made, symbiotic media is “an inter-disciplinary program where artists, engineers, scientists and scholars gather to investigate the dynamic interplay of humans, biology and technologies. Celebrating the creativity and problem-solving skills that link our fields, SMP explores cognitive, emotional and social consequences of electronic media.” I’m proud to say that Jesse has been very instrumental in giving this new genre of art an identity, and I’d like to share a few of his works below.
The following is a harpbot, which Jesse built. It’s a instrument and also a sculpture, something I imagine is supposed to look kind of like an insect. It has eight motors that are placed above eight strings with corresponding visual feedback LED’s. Hanging in front of the Harpbot are two glowing eyes, that immediately turn off when touched or jostled, sending signals to the motors and strings. Each eye possess a dual axis accelerometer (whatever that is), and the Harpot is tuned to a Japanese pentatonic scale.
Jesse also presented his “Nonspecific Modern Art Generator” at an opening in February, and it was by far the biggest hit. Quite frankly, his concept of being able to interactively produce art — with each piece being unique from the rest — is a slap in the face to institutionalized notion of what art is. In his years of composing, Jesse explains on the Symbiotic Media site, he became fascinated by the commonplace that “multiple musicians, without any sense of direct collaboration would emualte the stylistic tendencies of each other.”
He continues: “As a musician I thought the formalist approach to music was a perfect example of how style fascinated me. I am referring to the works of Modern composers, such as Berg, Schoenberg, and Webern. This was interesting because the style was not only consistent among the composers but highly codified. How stange they all spontaneously agreed ‘yes, this is the true way to make music.’”
Jesse related this same idea to modern art, a style that dates back many years and can be seen in so many capacities, from paintings on the walls of dentists’ offices to shower curtains you can by at Target. Which begs the question, says Jesse: “What if a computer could generate all the stylistic aspects of this genre? What then, would be the importance of having style?”
I don’t know why he doesn’t have these on YouTube so I and others can geek out and put them on their blogs, but do check out the two videos at the bottom on the page, one made about the art show and featuring Jesse, and the other a demonstrative clip: http://symbioticmedia.ou.edu/modern_art.html
Did I mention that Jesse can make a pretty sweet movie? The following is written, shot, composed and narrated by Jesse. I am not sure what this was for, but I dig it:
He did this one, too:
And this is pretty neat, too. Maybe my favorite…. Except, Jesse, I am not really a fan of your horror movie font:
And this is so terrible, but so lovely… mainly because it stars my dad’s dog Ditto. I am not quite sure who the little perpetrator is… But hearing my stepmother and brother crack up laughing in the background makes me miss home…
Filed under: Claire file
I came across this when looking around at this UWire stuff.
http://www.uwire.com/Article.aspx?id=874524
Filed under: Claire file
Words can’t explain how much I appreciate these kind words:
http://74.54.71.198/UWIRE100/claireharlin.html
On the UWire 100 page, also check out the profiles of Adrienne Lee and Patrick Caldwell. Daily Texan represent!
http://74.54.71.198/UWIRE100/uwire100_names.html
Filed under: Life, art, music, etc.
That’s what I call a poem or literary work that makes little sense or is ambiguous, but is beautiful nonetheless. It’s a nice term I’ve used to describe flowery columns that I love reading but lack organization or don’t serve much of a purpose… or maybe poetry that has a wonderful ring but is incomprehensible… (even to those artsy types who say they totally get it and it’s so deep, dude)
My morning today started early and is being spent actually hanging out at home, unlike the Monday mornings I am used to: at school, at the office or catching up on sleep. I’ve actually cleaned my place up and am enjoying it as more than just a place to sleep, shower and make espresso in between all the work and running around. I am sitting here listening to Fat Possum Records’ “Not the Same Old Blues Crap 3″ (which is awesome awesome awesome) and watching Cricket and Lina run around in the backyard, and even a word bouquet couldn’t explain how good this is for me. It’s like I am having some sort of free time honeymoon phase, and I love it.
Best thing of all is that I’ve slowed my roll enough that I’m noticing so many things I was too busy to notice before, such as that stack of CDs I got during SXSW and a newfound interest in giving them a listen, a street that gets me to my house a lot quicker, and the coffee shop that’s only a block away and has great toddy coffee.
I was most delighted, however, when I noticed something right in my kitchen that I had seen a million times but never really noticed: There’s a beautiful word bouquet on my fridge written with word magnets, and I have no idea who wrote it. It’s been there a while. My fridge is covered in both English and Spanish word magnets, and I never mess with them really. But right in the middle of the fridge at eye level are these words placed neatly together, and I am amazed and disappointed in myself for not appreciating them until now:
have you been sexy before
like heaven
your eyes
just want out of it
your dreams believe in God
somewhere
Filed under: Life, art, music, etc. | Tags: eyes of texas, university of texas
I never took the time to learn UT’s song, “The Eyes of Texas.” Not that I wasn’t “bleeding burnt orange” or anything. But I checked out the lyrics Friday printed on the back of my graduation program, and I was a bit startled.
The Eyes of Texas are upon you
All the live long day
The Eyes of Texas are upon you
You cannot get away.
Do not think you can escape them
At night or early in the morn
The eyes of Texas are upon you
Til Gabriel blows his horn.
