I've gotten up to improvise eight times in as many days over the past week. I watched a guy eat something called a 'Chili Size.' I'm writing a great new show. I watched Memento Rifftrax. (and....16 Blocks, but it didn't make me cry.) Sunday, I took part in a 60 person guerilla music video for the UCB, got to break sugarglass botttles on heads and collect imaginary money. I wore contacts a couple days this week. Old, expired, dried out but then rejuvenated contacts. I managed to get a curiously shaped tan on the backs of my hands, thanks to long sleeved shirts. I took the time out of a 37 hour streak of consciousness for an hour's worth of nap. I had a slurpee or two, shot the first tech demos and teaser material for that cool new show. The train is coming!
Ooh, look at me, embedding videos all over the internets like [EDIT FROM FUTURE ROB: No, original Rob was right. If I had been hosting this video myself it would still be viewable. Embedding is relying on others to maintain their corner of the internet.]
This is the first video for the internets from the exciting new group Mode7, which is [EDIT FROM FUTURE ROB: No, this Rob was naive. Nobody else was interested in an ongoing partnership. This is the last video from Mode 7.]
And why not? After all, the internets are all around us.
I didn't read this NYTimes piece titled "The Luckiest Girl," but I did read this other blog by a film editor which was ABOUT it.
The overt idea is that big problems are manageable in small steps, but the unspoken footnote is 'for the first few people to try it.' There's a curve that winds through 'difficult and/or groundbreaking' into the territory covered by these articles, and back out into 'generally unhelpful, but very approachable by the masses.'
For instance - the first person to decide to send a goat to a family in another land probably had some genuine trouble in the sheer logistics of it. Then, there's the school kids in the article, they managed to do it and have a substantial impact. So what if we took their example and EVERYONE started buying goats for the impoverished? Then nobody has anyone to whom they might sell goat milk. It's just inflation.
(corollary - the willfully unhelpful side of generosity)
This week, Z-Rob is publishing diary entries of his trip to a Gargoyles (RIP 1994-1996) Con! It's exactly what you think of when you hear that someone has a blog! (Which is of course, 'awesome.')
Part of what I like best is that you know Z-Rob tells it like it is, so when I read:
"...so I went downstairs, unpacked some essentials, took another minute to laugh at the ludicrous prices of the snacks available in the room..."
I believe it one hundred percent. I suspect each item was laughed at individually, hence the time required. And everyone knows PS2's are super quiet when they play DVDs, but that's how you can tell it's a truthful, subjective narration. If you're a Z-fan, this is one week you can NOT afford to miss!
