Hello Charla-tans. I have been thinking about the idea of myself being in your time. Am I presenting a 1564 mind in 2014? Am I contemporary? Where if anywhere do I exist? I’ve made a few notes:
http://mediciprincess.com/medici-feminists-medici-misogynists/
Hi guys, we’ve added “Markdown” to .Re/act. It’s a simple way to format what you say. One asterisk on either side of a word or phrase makes it italic, 2 makes it bold, 3 makes it bold-italic.
So:
italic
bold
bold-italic ooh ahh
gives you:
italic
bold
bold-italic ooh ahh
Interesting essay on the climate of presentation– By Simon Sadler
“We are living through the era of the TED Talk, much like an earlier generation lived through the era of the World’s Fair, wondrous about our new world in the making,” writes Simon Sadler. “TEDification endows capitalism and globalization with a credible spiritual and ethical mission, just as the art of the Renaissance lent to the ruthless bankers of the Italian city states an enduring moral sheen.” Sadler explores the magical thinking and many contradictions of the TED juggernaut — and the implicit threats to design and educatio
Interesting article about selfie’s by Jerry Saltz– Interesting to consider how we craft identity.
NOW CASTING!
Hey, #1850charla is coming! Anybody want to play:
• Troilo Orsini – my hot boyfriend
• Paolo Orsini – my overweight, in debt, violent husband
• Lenora Toledo – my friend, cousin, sister-in-law & fellow uxoricide victim
Hello #1850charla‘ers! I found a nice tool for diagramming your (homicidal or otherwise) family. It’s called “PeoplePlotr.” They have various pay versions, but the free version seemed to do everything I wanted. It seems like a good way to organize the sprawl of humanity.
• peopleplotr.com/plot/entry/13099/Medici-Family
Fascinating Family Trivia:
My lovely brother Francesco sanctioned the murder of not one, but two Medici princesses by their husbands. On 11 July 1576 my friend, cousin, and sister-in-law Lenora was murdered by her husband Pietro, and 5 days later on 16 July 1576 I was murdered by my husband Paolo. Good times.
Waiting for Donnie to arrive at SYD
I sure hope Donnie arrives on this flight! You don’t think that tiny crack in the fuselage matters, do you? Travel as a disembodied head must be precarious. I sure hope Donnie’s ok and that my Tree Surgeon friend can help him!
Where’s Donnie?
Sweet Meggie, you’re breakin’ my heart, kid. I ain’t on that plane. I just dunno how to reach you, sweetheart. Geez, Meggie, it looks like you live in some kinda perfect, magical world: all those clean lines and…how’d y say it – rendered? – yeah, glossy rendered surfaces…and I just dunno how to get my…er…well…my head around it…Aw, Meggie, I’ve got tears in my eyes. I feel like I’m really disappointin’ you kid. I’m real sorry I’m not there, kid. Real sorry.
I know Donnie. The airline gate agent couldn’t find you either:
http://megoryan.me/post/74949112373/looking-4-donnie
But please don’t go to Oscar’s quack in Paris. He will bring you no peace. I’m certain of it.
Embodied Knowledge in Public Space.
Is it possible?
How do you facilitate it?
Thoughts?
I want to answer this question, but I’m not exactly sure what you mean by “embodied knowledge” in this case. Would you state the question in another way?
I’ve been reading this article (which I found while looking into the term/jargon “embodied knowledge”):
http://www.transformationsjournal.org/journal/issue_14/article_03.shtml
It caused me to think about public radio as a place to facilitate embodied knowledge….
For Ciara, Donnie and Oscar (and the other anthropormorphic forms interested).
http://boingboing.net/2014/01/27/big-mouth-heavy-doody.html
Fantastic! It’s excellent. Thank you, Molly!
Whaddya mean: “Fantastic! Excellent!” It’s tragic! Woeful! THEY BURNED THE PUPPETS DAMMIT!! Was there a Medici patron of NBC?
cackles
Yep. I’m back. PTL, Meggie. PPPPPTL! (Geez, that Timmy guy wouldn’t give over on the subject!)
Toggle Trap
Oh Donnie! I’m so relieved to see you! Or…well…part of you, at least…. What happened to your new body, Donnie?
Well, kid, you were right. I got stuck. I was trying to – how d’ya say it? toggle? – yeah, toggle, between one thing and another and that darn cadaver got trapped between the pages. I spent the whole goddamn weekend trying to wrench myself outta there and, in the end, my only chance of escape was to leave the thing behind…
Donnie, drink makes all of us philosophers! Good to have you back; although without a body, you’re brain’s in danger of getting wet even faster. You need filtration for the fire water!
Christa, I missed ya!
Ossssar says he’s gonna get me ‘nother body. Dunno where he got the last pile o’ bones from but I sure hope he’s shoppin’ somewhere else this time!
Get off the sauce Mr. Donnie. You are not a child anymore. You are a grown man. Well, a grown head anyway. Get off the sauce. It will be the end of you even swifter than my father’s furnace. Consider yourself warned.
Linda Liukas’ blog references a project, “Imagine Finding Me” by Japanese artist, Chino Otsuka who creates imaginary meetings between her past and present self.
According to Otsuka:
“The digital process becomes a tool, almost like a time machine, as I’m embarking on the journey to where I once belonged and at the same time becoming a tourist in my own history.”
Thanks so much for this post, Claire! I’m excited to follow Otsuka’s work.
Just came across this image on the wire… draw your own conclusions!
Oh, dearest Meg, given Donnie’s unfortunate penchant for the drink, it is more likely that he would be cast as the criminal rather than the witness in need of protection!
However, thank you for this image – it may, in fact, provide a good lead. That Timmy chap might know something. Indeed, he may be hiding something…
I hear you Oscar my friend. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s something about that pinstriped suit that I just don’t trust…
I hope you find Donnie very soon! (or that he turns up in Sydney! 🙂
Hmm… maybe I should write “DONNIE” on a piece of paper and go stand at the SYD Arrival Gates?
Donnie is Missing…
I’m sorry I’ve been so inattentive to the postings over the weekend. The truth is…I’VE LOST DONNIE!! I’ve checked what have become his usual haunts: here (http://practicebased.re), Twitter (@DonnieArcher19C) and email (19thcdonnie@gmail) but I can’t find any recent traces of him around any of these…I’m worried that, encumbered by his new body (and, yes, I’m partly responsible for that gift), unfamiliar with his new weight and proportions, he’s somehow managed to get himself stuck somewhere…
Meg, dear, have you encountered him on your travels? Izzy, you haven’t tried to…er…pull him in into line have you? Ysidora, is it possible you may have accidentally frightened him off?
If anyone has seen or heard from him over the past couple of days I’d really appreciate any information that may give me some clue as to his present whereabouts. With thanks and concern, Oscar.
I did wire him a Cathay Pacific flight coupon for a trip to Sydney… could Donnie really be on his way??
Please Oscar, I’m not that cruel! I didn’t incinerate your ancestor! (though my father would have! 😛
Maybe he is stuck somewhere in the Southeast US. People here are going bananas because we are dealing with ice (something we rarely deal with). Schools have closed, parents are going nuts because their kids are home all day, accidents are piling up as naifs try and navigate icy highways — many for the first time ever! It’s — as my daughter might say — “cray cray” down here. Donnie might be taking advantage of the mayhem to get lost in the wintry mix! (I love getting lost in strange places; maybe he’s like me that way?)
Hi “Band”! Owen’s still waiting on the video, but he put up some stills of our Mixed Reality performance:
http://owengparry.com/#/mirage/4582238942
Hey Oscar, I was looking at this conference and thought of you:
http://avoiceandsomethingelse.tumblr.com/
Meg, thank you for pointing my attention to this conference on the voice – I wish I’d been able to attend. I hope there will be follow-up online.
Mom & Dad. Eleonora di Toledo (Spain) & Cosimo I de Medici. Mom had so many kids, 11, that they nicknamed her “la fecundissima.” Dad actually came from the lesser branch of the family, but he wound up being the first Grand Duke in Medici history.
Did anybody ever get an Email? Certificate? Or any other sort of acknowledgement that you actually completed the PBR course?
No. PBR just sort of faded away.
There’s a discussion thread on the Facebook PBR Student Group. Apparently some people have contacted our faculty about certificates and gotten the response that we should prove that we were ever promised certificates!? The classmates appear to be in touch with someone at NovoED other than the course faculty who is “working on it.”
Isabella Medici 1564 / 2014
Back then I had everything, except freedom. Now I have nothing, save for freedom.
I like to think I have decayed with dignity.
Your slave in perpetuity,
Izzy.
I’m really fascinated by the way in which the distributed authoring process is playing out in “1850 Charla”. I’m thoroughly enjoying the experiment: watching the characters evolve, nurtured by their interactions with one another, slipping with ease back and forth in time and space…
(On a side note, I discovered a curious linguistic connection: “A Chara” is used as an opening salutation in letter writing in Irish (as in “Dear such and such”))
I quite agree Ciara! And this is all leading up to the 28 February “Live Tweetchat” I believe? So perhaps that day will be even more festive. Will others be joining our performance? Is there any ideal number?
Hi Ciara. Thanks for chiming in! Please consider joining us: we’re warming up here, flexing our chops (or choppers, in the case of Donnie) for the February 28 #1850charla on Twitter. You can find the “official invitation” over in the .Re/cipes. http://practicebased.re/cipes/product/1850-tweetchat/
Also, love the linguistic connection you brought up.
A Chara Christa, I’m here already, riding on the diagonal frock coat tails of another/s 🙂
What does an altered book (artists book) look like when books have become websites?
I’ve been thinking about the idea of Cornell Boxes in cyberspace. Say in a 2D space like a website. Yes the “messy desk” blog themes are kind of contrived, remediation, and skeuomorphic… yet critiqueable as they are, they’re also an attempt, no doubt at least sometimes successful, to give an embodied being a tactile experience in a 2D place. Do you think a compelling Cornell-like experience in cyberspace would look Cornell-like? Or entirely different? Is Pinterest not a Cornell Box because it has hard edges and is on a grid? Or does it depend on the depth of the investigation of the pinner?
Isabella! Fabulous questions and ideas to ponder. I’m always struck by cyberspace’s ability to act as a portal–transporting me from my space to yours (or where ever you take me). You seem to be time traveling at the moment–see a portal from your time to our time! The thing about Cornell’s boxes is that they too are portals into miniature worlds–that represent collections, thoughts, emotions, spaces, times. Pinterest is an obvious parallel but because the pinner (artist/maker/collector) has little control over the display (the site dictates the grid pattern, the colors of the page) you are right– it does not manifest in a way that is very “Cornell.” I wonder how can you play with scale in the magical way the boxes do on a screen and in cyberspace–is that possible?
Yes Molly, Pinterest, like Facebook, demands that you pour your content into their template. vs. WordPress, Tumblr, etc, that allow you more flex in how your ideas are displayed. Do we care too much about surface? Do FB’s 1B users care about aesthetics at all?
A Cornell Box does seem to be the nexus of form & content. The same ideas in a book by a French culture theorist certainly wouldn’t have the quality of a Cornell Box. These “portals” (great word!) are remarkably tactile and fetishistic in their presence. Still, an awful lot of the general public might look at one and say “Old crap, so? Can we eat lunch now?” So I think the portalfulness is as dependent on the depth of investigation of the experiencer as the creator.
The rabbi Lawrence Kushner tells the story of Moses and the Burning Bush. He asks, “Why a burning bush?” He notes that a burning bush is a pretty cheap trick. That you’re god, after all! Why not materialize the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, standing on the wing of a 747 Jumbo Jet, hovering over the mountain, as they sing the Hallelujah Chorus? Wouldn’t that be a better way to get Moses attention?
Kushner notes that it takes 5-7 minutes for a piece of wood to combust. So if you see a burning bush, you can’t know if it’s “just a burning bush” or a divine presence, unless you stand there and watch it burn for more than 7 minutes. Kushner concludes that god was not trying to GET Moses attention, rather that she was trying to see if Moses was PAYING attention.
Is it not the skeuomorphic details like “sloppy desk” or “layers of detritus” but the depth of attention paid by the viewer that creates this immersive Portal/Cornell experience? And if so, is it impossible to have such an experience in our ADD age? In our vastly-more-websites-than-you-could-ever-see-in-a-human-lifetime-even-if-all-you-did-was-click-“next” age?
Or, as McCluhan said, when things become really important and ubiquitous, they become invisible. Almost everything we do is based on electricity, yet we rarely think of it. Is the entire Internet an infinite set of Nesting Dolls of Cornell Boxes that we don’t even have to try to make because it is already the journey that all the web surfers take every day for however long they are “awake” in this place? Do we live our online lives in Virtual Cornell Boxes?
Cornell’s boxes had layers, where things were seen on top of other things. At the Menil collection in Houston — where there was a great Cornell show in the mid 90s — there is a cabinet of curiosities, which seems to me what Cornell’s boxes do — create the cabinet of curiosity writ small.
I think Molly’s right in that it’s a playing with scale and maybe layers issue. Holographs! Hey!
Physical Attachment
Geez, I woke up in this! Whered’it come from?…Oscar?…Meggie?
Oh, I rather like the country squire look you’ve got going there, Donnie!;-) Beats the diagonal frock coat, if you ask me…
I quite agree with Oscar, Mr. Donnie. Now if only your comportment can match your attire, you may even be welcome in my court.
OMG Donnie Incarnate! PTL! PTL! IDK how it happened Donnie, but it’s amazing! Can you feel your limbs? Can you walk? What do you want to do now? It’s a true miracle from Deus ex Machina!
Will he give Ysidora a soul?
Ah, Christa, maybe Ysidora should see a philosopher about that. I know a good philosopher in Paris…
Hey Oscar! I hope your Paris Philosopher isn’t the same Tree Surgeon you sent Donny to? That guy who kept running around “une mechanisme”? Not pretty.
What do you mean “Will Ysidora get a soul” Christa? Ysidora’s the only person I’m sure has a soul!
Dear, Meg. You are truly kind. Ysidora blesses you!
The thing is–have you ever heard new age people or philosophers or theologians or recovering addicts say something along the lines of “you will become that which you fear” or “fear begets fear” or “Be careful what you fear, you just might get it” or something like that? Well, guess what Ysidora’s greatest fear was? That she would lose her soul! And (you guessed it) she lost it.
She feared this because from a young age (let’s say four), she was taught to fear it by the Fathers, the Frays, as in Fray Juniperro Serra, et. al. Because of these dudes (Franciscans), she lived in fear that her soul would perish, that it would not live on in the “promised” land, the paradise, the place named Heaven, where these guys assured her Suffering did not exist. And she suffered, a lot, so of course, she wanted to go to this place. But whether it was because of the dogma from the fathers or the repression of her desires or a combination of both, she ended up acting in ways that caused her soul to, indeed, perish. In short and in full, she lost her soul to the silence engendered by her shame.
In never sharing her story — her story did not fit with the governing narrative, which by the way, was guarded, albeit drunkenly and whimsically, by her brothers and (less drunkenly and whimsically) by her husband — her soul shriveled up; paradise was lost.
OMG Christa, that is so sad! You know what will cheer you up? I just read this amazing piece about a guy who was able to use “new media tools” (back in the 80’s or so) to give voice to the voiceless. You should go read it right now!
http://practicebased.re/search/blue-eyes-kenneth-hughes-first-film/
I don’t mean any offence to anyone, but I think sometimes religion and “religious people” can just be such bullshit. You should talk to Izzy sometime about all her family’s shenanigans (be warned: it doesn’t take much to get her started) Her dad engineered the election of, like, 3 Popes! And they “paid” him back! It just makes me so sick to think about the number those guys did on an innocent soul like Ysidora. (it’d be so great if you could get her to join the conversation here!)
Thinking about that Kenneth Hughes thing though, I think there’s real hope there. If you think about it, the world we today take for granted, our Western Liberal Democracies, with human rights and civil rights, all that probably would have been impossible without the rise of The Novel. I think it was the novel that let people, really for kind of the first time, experience other people’s lives.
In a way it’s all about who has access and control of information. The novel created shared experience and empathy. The Franciscans you talk about used the power of knowledge and lack of knowledge to manipulate Ysidora. Today we have an amazing access to knowledge. Google can fetch any article. Wikipedia can explain any concept. YouTube can teach any skill. And with MOOCs you can learn, often for free, from some of the most amazing faculty the world has to offer.
IDK if you’ve ever had to sit thru one of Vanessa’s Free Culture rants, but in a way, she’s right: a non-neutral net hurts everyone. And pretty much, a non-neutral net means massive profits for broadband providers as the morph the freedom of today’s Net into pretty much Television2.0. (and not the empowering EZTV kind of television, but the Banality2.0 kind)
So I guess we should seize this moment and use the Open Web to share and learn as much as possible… and… oh look! I guess that’s what we’re doing right now!
Maybe Ysidora2.0 can redress some of the injustices of the past. I hope so.
Coursera is adding another facet to its online learning opportunities — Specialized Learning, where they offer multi-layer curriculums rather than one-shot courses. I think it’s a good development.
Aunt Renie & Meg
Hey Donnie! Here’s a little pix of me with my Aunt Renie. Her best friend passed away suddenly and she was feeling a little melancholy, but then she decided to just go for it and enjoy life. She flew to Sydney to visit me. Here we are dancing on the Harbour Bridge. Where are you Donny? We should totally hook up sometime!
Geez, Meg, sweetheart, if I had an arm I’d offer you flowers…
Where am I? Where am I? Between a rock and a hard place. A rock and a hard place, kid.
Listen, kid, Oscar says he knows some fancy doctor in Paris who can kit me out with new arms and legs. New hands and stuff. But I sureas hell can’t afford the slow boat to Europe. Heck, kid, though, so I had this moment of – I dunno – prescience? drunken vision? of some guy – a wizard or magician or something in your neck of the woods who can make hearts and brains, movin’ parts – listen, kid, if he can make that stuff do you reckon you could ask him if he could make me a body?
Oscar says there’s a map – some Goggly Googly thing – I dunno – and y’have t’ follow a yellow brick road to find this surgeon guy…
You’re an amazing person Donnie. Some who haven’t gone through half what you have are just broken and bitter, but you sing love songs! I don’t care what anyone says about your raspy voice, it’s beautiful to me.
Paris doctor? IDK Donnie. Oscar has some crazy stories about hunting for “une mécanisme”. These things don’t seem to end well. I know a good tree surgeon here in Sydney. Do you want to come convalesce? Or maybe you can reach out for other experts in your area. If you hear some quack say “une mécanisme” though… run Donnie! Get the hell out while you can!
Good heavens, Christa, little did I know what I was in for when, taking up on your invitation, I started to scuff the dust off a couple of centuries of vent history. I’m honestly not sure what 19th-Century-Donnie with his wild hair and wilder tongue will come out with next! I do know that he’s come through some really rough stuff – though Izzy’s right, it’s hard to be certain what’s fact or fiction when he’s so often inebriated. I want to help him somehow but he’s a strong-willed guy.
RASCALS! I’m so excited to be running amok among you. I myself stay away from all intoxicating substances, but I live vicariously through miscreant folk creatures like y’all.
Oh, I’m so sorry everyone. I think Donnie’s blundered in here drunk! Ignore him – it’s the drink talking. I’ll bring him back when he’s sobered up.
Come on, Donnie. Let’s go.
No worries Oscar. Thanks for bringing Donnie along. I’m sure he’ll liven up the place.
Wheress the kid? Whassis name? Oscar? Osssar?
Whass this place? A saloon? A salon? Whose runnin’ this joint? Can no one give a thirsty vent a drink round here?
Firewood my friend! Firewood! Best sober up that tongue! My father would have had you swiftly in the furnace. Actually, beheaded first, and then in the furnace!
Harsh much? OMG Izzy! Lighten up! Donnie had a few drinks. Who hasn’t? He seems like a nice Irish boy.
How’s it going Donnie?
Meg, kid, howya doin’?
I’m doin pretty good Donnie, how’s it with you?
Except I’m not in Potsdam anymore. I’m in Sydney where you can’t even get a real beer. What do you like to drink, Donnie?
Listen, Princess, don’t cast stones at me kid – you Romans sure knew how to down a few bevvies..As for the beheading. Geez, if only my 19th century body remained to chop off! I’m all mouth, kid;-)
Er…Donnie…Izzy’s from Florence, not Rome.
All roads lead to Rome, kid.
Thank you for coming to my assistance Oscar dear.
Mr. Donnie, Oscar is correct. I certainly am not from that vulgar city! I am a Fiorentini, thank you.
Perhaps you are confused because my psychopathic ex-husband Paolo lived in Rome (another good reason not to visit) Perhaps you and Paolo should commiserate, Mr. Donnie. I’m confident your ilk would have much in common.
Or perhaps you are confused simply because of your continual state of intoxication. Either way, it is of little consequence to me.
(sings): Meg O’Ryan, O’ Meg Ryan…Meg…Meggie.
When I first said I loved only you Maggie. Meggie. and you said you loved only meeeeee…
What do I drink? Anything, kid. Anything. My jaw aches. If Miss High-n-mighty Medici crawled out of The Five Points like I gone dun, reckon she’d understand better, eh, Meg. Meggie, eh!?
So, Sydney, kid, Syndey. I dunno if I should even know where that is…Keep on doin’ fine, kid. Don’t fall for the devil drink.
0.55 miles down!
total today 10.2 miles
Canterbury NH to Concord NH
Vanessa, Merriam, Izzy & Caitlyn during Mile 1 of NH Rebellion Canterbury to Concord walk!
Aero Bigboots
AlexandreLois1
Ananda Crystal
Andrea Foenander
astrid
Aunt Renie
Aurelia Scheppers
Christa Forster
Ciara Finnegan
Bird on a Cyber Twig
Diptheria
Donnie Archer
Edie
Elle
Emma
Elizabeth Taylor Swift
Fanny
FeelsEmpty
Glad Kidd
Izzy
Jade Ravenheart
Kate Nova
Ken Doll
Mary Anning
Meg O'Ryan
Michael Masucci
Mireille
Molly Ross
Monerda Skute
Myra
Neeva
Newton
Michel Nostradamus
Oona
Oscar
Owen
Patrick J. Sweetman
Paypabak Writer
Pearl Grey
Rebecca Narum
rmarie
Ryan
Scarlett Luv
Sello Tape
Serra Qendra
Teresa of Avila
The Knight
Tiffany Mosienko
TrilbyM
Tullia Aragona
Vanessa
veyot
wendz tempest
Xue
Yellow Fever
Ysidora Pico
Yves
Zsophia
Christa Forster is discussing. 
Donnie are discussing. 
Ciara Finnegan are discussing. 
Christa Forster 17:51 on 02/02/2014 Permalink |
Charla tans! You are so money genius.