As everyone knows, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas… on hidden-camera surveillance footage to be unearthed and used for future (or present) blackmailing purposes. Duh.
And I’ve mentioned before that everything you put online stays online in one form or another. Forever. Right, Monica?
And I always make it a point to talk with my classes about how everything other people put online about you stays online forever. This isn’t news, and it isn’t rocket science. You’d think a smart up-and-comer would have figured that out by now.
So, pop quiz time: Who’s The Guy On The Left Honking Hillary’s Hooter?
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I’ve been buried under multiple stacks of papers from both classes (note to self: plan paper turn-in schedule more carefully next semester!), but I’m digging my way out, slowly. In the meantime, here’s something to distract entertain and inform you.
I posted earlier about a great satirical video purporting to show the “Petticoat 5,” the first computer by women, for women. That video came from the British show Look Around You, whose creators, Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz, are now at work on a new project.
Popper and Serafinowicz are reportedly in talks with Adult Swim to develop their new show. I was initially doubtful about the enterprise. I loved the video, but I had no idea how they could spin this into a regular series.
That was before I clicked through to the main page for Tarvuism. There I learned everything never knew I needed to know. And it was so easy! After reading the fun stuff on the main site, I poked around the Tarvupedia. Holy crap on a cracker! There is a ton of stuff there. And it’s fantastic. Now I really, really hope they get their show. I’m dying to see Tarvuism in action.
And here’s an added plug for my spring classes! Notice that the Tarvunty is illustrated!
Yes, this spring I’ll be teaching a seminar for senior English majors on The Illustrated Novel. If only the campus bookstore would agree to carry the Tarvunty! I’ll also be teaching a graduate seminar on 21st Century Literacies. The entire Tarvuism web site is an excellent example of the literacies we use now that we’re living in the future 21st century.
(X-posted to Digital Digressions and Literature in a Wired World)
First up, a very handy list of “5 Sayings You Can Probably Use Without Getting Fired” from Carol Richtsmeier at Bellringers.
Word of warning: Ritchie’s #1 thing might not work for you if you can’t summon your inner Southerner strongly enough to pull it off. But for those of us from the South/Southwest, she really does hit the nail on the head with that one.
And here’s something completely different: novels written on cell phones and intended to be read on cell phones. It’s all the rage in Japan, and is even reinvigorating the flagging Japanese book publishing industry.
What I want to draw your attention to is the way the form of these cell phone novels affects their content. From the WSJ article:
Many mobile novels are influenced by comic books the young writers grew up reading. That means lots of dialogue and really short paragraphs that fit nicely on a small screen. Huge empty spaces between sentences can convey that the characters are deep in thought.
Also, there seems to be a strong connection between the popularity of mobile novels and the instant, often non-judgmental feedback made possible by their technology:
Mobile-novel writers like getting instant feedback from readers. That encourages them to keep going or even to change stories to suit readers. Of course, the close interaction between reader and writer can sometimes be too much. A 27-year-old woman, who wrote a sad love story called “What the Angel Gave Me” under the pen name Chaco, became so popular two years ago that she was getting 25,000 unique online visitors a day. Chaco, who won’t disclose her real name, says she felt pressured to update her novel and respond to comments every day to keep readers happy.
Can you imagine getting 25,000 different people to read your work? And to have many of those people be so inspired by your work that they want to write to you about it?
