Friday, November 5, 2010

Testing... Testing... Is this thing even on?




Microphone stands are pretty basic, they are just a stick on a stand, and little more. Ok, ok, there is also a spot to hold the microphone and there are places to adjust the height of the microphone. But the aesthetic is generally very technical and utilitarian. I'm not bashing that aesthetic, because a lone microphone on stage lit up with a soft yellow light in a dark auditorium with the tension of the audience right before a folk musician strums his first chord is an extremely beautiful moment. But sometimes there comes along a visionary artist. And that's what this picture is about:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFAlaq4GpwC4TjNMDRSOI3onlNA2GAuHRXRfH8JUkmI_6SPnoaRC4a51WM954T3FmZsgh2K2_Q2_ahv-jrKOSPTQu1buRsTbMj7UA3sYUEz8AMdfUtfoi6U9YyMbRD27CQhBOwjaj71o/s400/Korn-mic-stand-02.jpg


That microphone was the dream of h.r. giger, a visionary surrealist, whose work heavily influenced the aesthetic of the "Alien" movie series. The microphone was made for the way-past-their-hayday-band Korn.




...
That was all a red herring
... If you have read this far and are interested... then please continue!




After a little over a week of this blog's introduction to our class, there has been a flurry of posts, and what appears to be a lot of participation. However, upon closer examination, we find that the quantity of critical and thoughtful comments to be lacking. With all the posts being thrown up, I wonder how many of them are being read by fellow classmates, and thought about critically, and responded to... critically. With that, if you've got this far then I implore you to comment so that we can find out how many people are actually reading the posts. This is a sort of experiment, a test. Like in the title, I want to know that in the age of me, that there are still people who are listening, and reading, and watching, and most importantly, thinking, about what everyone else has to say. ;)

3 comments:

  1. Greetings; your Imploration has been responded to.

    I dunno, Matt, for me it's strange to talk to people over this format when I've interacted with them (and by them I mean you, and some others on here) face to face. I find I have a different tone on the Internets and I usually don't come across this well-reasoned and clear in real life. Not to mention the fact that I would never-ever-in-a-million-years jump into a conversation like this if we were sitting in the common area right now. I'd barely make eye contact in real and now? I'm already comfortably talking about myself.

    As for reasoning with the things people post, I find that it's mostly posts that serve to ooh-and-ahh (for now); not much to actually think and expand upon-look! I just formed a critical observation that might offend people! I'd never do that to any of you in person. Mostly because I can't think fast enough to argue.

    I guess you can be assured that at least one person beside you is reading over the other posts and thinking. Now tell me about the damn microphone :p

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  2. Francis, I agree with you. The nature of the blogging format allows for people to mull over their thoughts before they lay them down in a cohesive manner, which is what you were getting at I believe. As for providing critical feedback, I didn't mean to cause offense, just to observe and comment on the good and bad sides of stuff being posted.

    As for the microphone, this is what I was getting at: The regular ol' microphone is beautiful, and so is the really sculptural microphone. It's in the story that goes along with it. It's in the context.

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  3. I think this is the great part about the internet. You get people to interact with each other who normally would never do so in day to day conditions.
    Especially in these deep, engaged conversations.

    In my opinion:
    These barrage of semi-awesome, yet use-less posts is kind of... annoying.

    I am a little bias and judgmental when someone speaks without being informed and then is not willing to take criticism and understand opinions at the other end of the spectrum.

    We can learn from everyone, and every interaction is a learning experience.

    Meh. Just saying, feed me knowledge. =)

    ReplyDelete