state of the union

I found Bush's reading of the marine sargeants final letter to his family very touching, but the true meaning of the letter was revealed shortly after the reading when congress stood and applauded the marine's family that was in attendance. Bush stood theresmilign and winking at his buddies in the audience. It was dispicable, it showed his complete detachment to what he had just said. The family on camera appeared sad, not happy, thought hey were guests it was hardly a reason to celebrate and you could see the honesty and loss on their faces not so on Bush's face. It's so sad, this man is so out of touch with what others are going through and why.

interface witha network

what was written about the SimpleTEXT performance... "SimpleTEXT focuses on mobile devices and the web as a bridge between networked interfaces and public space. As mobile devices become more prolific, they also become separated by increased emphasis on individual use. The SimpleTEXT project looks beyond the screen and isolated usage of mobile devices to encourage collaborative use of input devices to both drive the visuals and audio output, inform each participant of each other's interaction, and allows people to actively participate in the performance while it happens."

scenes and comments

like barbara krugers work... possibility of reacting to images and taking and mixing up text to create meaning and influence what is being viewed, through video? through a telelvision, or projected...

pass it off

cell phones connecting people near eachother. meet the people around you through texting, stay anonymous, become known.

profound statements

users... are invited to share beautiful moments, profound thoughts, song lyrics, things they love... etc. they would be prompted to share these from their cell phones.

what are you thinking?

a collective story telling mechanism... users respond/react to something and write there thoughts... the thoughts collect to form a story... cut-up story device.

me as everyone on tv...

so I was thinking on how to set up the predetermined action and drive it with text messaging, and I think I want to move into using video clips showing the action... A text messages would edit together different pieces and segments of video on the fly... along the lines of the borroughs cut up technique.

In terms of content and authorship I was thinking it would all be original footage, but I would play the main character in every piece (along with other actors where needed)... a collection of videos would be shot and the subject for the videos would be based on different genre's of television... news, drama, medical drama, cop show, animated, etc.

I hit a wall because I really don't want to create an improv piece that is held captive to the timing of texting and action on stage. So using video and non-linear editing techniques in Max I could create a real-time interactive dynamic video installation.

I'd also like to think of incorporating live cameras into the piece, thus I could put the user into the piece, or train cameras on still images that also display text messages (like the speech bubble pieces)... These could be located elsewhere in the gallery or a place more remote. perhaps the stills would act as commercials when mixed in with the videos.

the text message that triggers the piece would be used within the piece to add to the meaning. This parts a little foggy.

anyhow... I don't want the potential of an improv clunker that is hit or miss because of response times etc.

I'm working on my production schedule, so let me know if you see something in this, or if you have questions... I think there's still a lot of questioning and pieces that need to fit, but feel this direction is making sense.

the idea

My thesis will be all about dynamic video editing and camera triggering along with sound to create a dynamic narrative from a text message...

dynamic video performance

multiple sources of media comeing in throught he television, some canned video some are filmed stills and video with text input form the audience.

video content... episodes of me in different television shows... shirt off imitation of biggest loser... a weather man in the hurricane... anchor man... soft porn grinding... a sitcom... a serious drama... a private eye... war coverage... soldiering/combat... the still images are stills of real photos, a picture says a thousand words...speech bubbles on the stills... projected or cut out and framed, or dangling.

a text message is sent to a number and that triggers what is seen on a central television... the TV has instructions for sending a message into the system... each letter or word will set off a dynamic serious of edits from different segments of video pieces to the live cameras fixed on the still images with user text on it.

Your text message will be used someway to show on the screen.

fuck it's a lot of work. I went to video because the buffer for the text message to arrive that comments on the subject being viewed is too long and to slow, the action as I would like it would not be fast or responsive enough. Video incorporates the use of actors and the texting as a trigger does a dynamic edit on the spot. Max would be used to jump through inputs... amount of time an input is shown could be predetermined or it is a variable? dunno.

I need to start collecting pop culture ideas and look at filming segments, what are the segments, mindless scenes that reference a genre of tv right now, or a style and taste.

The Performance Piece

The ideal setting would be in a gallery space on an opening night, The gallery audience would be invited to gather around where the performance would take place. The main action of the piece would take place for approximately 15-20 minutes, but after that the audience may still interact with the piece, but it morphs into more of an installation.

Two actors will start off facing separate panels of a 3 panel wall. A projector is aimed at the wall and in the middle panel are the instructions for the audience to send text messages to a phone number. The messages are then projected in a rhythmic fashion onto the walls that the actors are facing going back and forth between the actors. The audience sends in text messages and the actors each read aloud the text messages as they are diplayed in front of them. After about 5 minutes of reading the messages aloud the actors will turn towards eachother and look at eachother. The give eachother recognizing looks.

At the same time the text messages keep displaying, but nobody is reading them. The scene becomes very quiet. The actors give eachother a warm acknowledging smile. They then go back to reading the text messages. A few minutes later another actor comes out dressed in a delivery man’s jumpsuit and wheels out a television on a tv stand. He has one of the readers sign his clip board, then they flip on the television.

The live feed on the television shows a person playing a news reporter or talking head. The text messages being projected on the wall fade out and the person on the television starts reading out the messages that are coming in. The delivery man goes off and comes back with a couch. The two actors that were reading sit downi n the couch and proceed to watch the television. The audience is now watching the actors watch television. The audience is still able to send text messages in and have the person on the television read them. This scene continues for the rest of the night.

An adaptation of the ending would be that the television is wheeled out and the actors that were on stage leave and the audience is left with just the television reading the text messages.

Dating site

participants create profiles, not unlike current sites, but the pprofiles are little hompeages, not unlike friendster. The service would provide the user or aprticipant with 'business cards' they could then hand out say in a chance meeting or a situation that may otherwise wind up on craigslist's missed conenctions.

The scenario:
May be someone on a subway, 'making eyes' or perhaps you just see someone beautiful and you approach them and with very little small talk you hand them a card. The card has your website on it and the whole thing is clearly a pick up. You promptly can leave the situation and wait for any feedback. Otherwise there's not much lost.

This takes the dating websites toa new level of physical connection, you get a chance to physically see your suitor, or interst and can then take it form there... you read their profile and decide to give it a whirl or not.

Yes, the draw back is that you have to physically approach someone, but it is not small talk it's simply a 'Hi, I thnk you're cute as hell and would liek to set something up without putting oyuon the spot right now' the person receiving the card can promptly toss it, save it, and respond however they choose. But it moves beyond the pick up line, or the crappy weird small talk can I get your number kinda of discussion.

It's not a business card which leads one to a concolusion about what you do or give no more info than the physical meeting.

A user would open a profile on the dating service not unlike match.com and then they would receive cards with the url for your profile and then they can distribute at will. This would work in bars, in subways, in the streets, giving you a possible better chance to make a simple but great first impression, and an even better second impression.

DON'T FUCKING STEAL THIS IDEA OR I"LL SUE YOU!

Playing Dead

Has anyone actually played dead... is that too much to ever try. Shows like Jackass etc. play on this kinda reaction, or Blair Witch... In the sense that it's real. Someone stages their own death, only to observe from afar and then the person comes back.

God that would be aweful to do...

My Red Truck

I was sitting here thinking about how i used to drove my red toyota tacoma through the teton mountain pass in Wyoming just west out of Jackson Hole over to Victor Idaho. A cross street with a blinking red and yello light. I never really went into Victor much. The ranch I lived on was between Victor and the pass so I'd never really needed to go in. There was a gas station and a quickie mart I used on occasion. I wonder what the guy working the counter thought when he saw me. He'd probably known every person that went into that store during the day. Of course they had the daily traffic in the winter going up to Targhee for skiing. So I'm sure he'd get some tourists swinging in, but whoever worked there never knew me from anybody else, at least that's what I could imagine.

The drive up and downt he pass was a winding switchback. When driving toward Idaho the mountain would rise up on the right of the road and on the left it fell down the steeps. There was always a little snow up at the top. 10,000 ft. The climb was approximitely 4,000 ft. Most people lived at just under 6,000 ft.

I'd have time to think on the ride up. think of song lyrics and never write them down. Most of the time I'd think about my frustrations with working and what I was doing. I never knew what I was doing. That was the problem. In a way that's how I have always felt. The road up through the pass was a path I could follow it was guidance I needed, time to think. It was a routine. It allowed my mind to rest some. I was gided through the mountain 30-40 minutes each day. 30 if I floored it and felt good about not skidding off the edge.

The weather always took your mind off problems and stress. When storms moved in they were real. You had to pay attention to what was going on. Many time the ride over the pass was just in blizzard conditions. I'd throw the tacoma into 4 wheel drive formt he get go and just press up through the pass. seeing my headlights framing the falling snow. It was hypnotizing. I'd flip through radio stations and see what was playing, if it was contry or jam bands it was pretty tolerable. I'd have my cd player in the car. In large snowstorms you'd just drive and not ahv a clue about what was playing. The snow outside dampened the noise inside, the hum of the truck in your mind the wiper blades scraping back and forth, you hoped the snow wouldn't pile up to much to clog the wipers. Are there good wipers out there?

short roof film fest amongst friends

This summer we should have a rooftop short film fest at my place... friends and acquaintances put together teams to make a 3 min film, but over a longer period of time, everyone can submit whatever they like, it just has to be under 3 mins and we show them on the roof.

performance piece

couple talks into a wall with text messaging being sent to it... they stop look at eachother and acknowledge eachother (like when new yorkers occasionally do when it's late night on a dark street and two people pass eachother). Then they go back to reading the texting coming to the wall from the audience inputting it. Then a tv rolls out with a woman or man reading right into the screen (teleprompter) the couple reading stop and then sit down into a couch that's been rolled out and then a lamp a coffee table and perhaps a bookshelve roll out to create the model room and the tv woman still reading the text messages. The whoel thing is done live.

The abbreviated text messaging represents the abbreviated information we are receiveing through television, a pictrue says a thousand words, how fast does it take you to read a thousand words and comprehend it. Pictures are powerful and abbreviate 1,000 words into 1 pic. when will a "something" say a thousand pictures... what will that be and who will control it... or perhaps that's what nuclear weapons are?

I want the couple to end up in a beautiful ethan allen furniture set to show what I see, this is my take on things and when I visit friends and others. This is the model to follow if you want comfort around the television.

The Battle of Algiers

a must see during this war on iraq episode of history, it ain't original and there's precedent for failure. This movie plays like our current war.

surgery

nothing for 5 weeks

Nobody makes it like this anymore!

top gun

porn stars

Porn stars are men that had sex changes because they couldn't make it as pro wrestlers.

Reading and reading

I've just been reading about the adminsitration so much lately it's all so overwhelming and so much the material you have to fill in the blanks. Liek the quesitons that if it's as bad as everyone says it is, why aren't we doing anything? Or what's being done to stop it vs. hide it and then watch it get introduced it into our culture. Like Clinton and Lewinski... those were th eogod old days (i know it's been said before). But our society talking about Clinton "Not having sexual relations with that woman" is so benign compared to the acute behavior of the Bush administration.

Craiglist film.

couples talking to eachother about their fetishes and how they meet eachother but said outloud to an audience as if it was what they could say outloud in a public space for somebody to hear and react to? I mean are there people that fulfill their fantasies? Who's in the casual encounters, I want to bring those people to life with video of people walking down the street and around town... a sign of the times coming together, the way we are all wondering about the next guy. The internet has introduced us to hundreds of new characters in our life. The internet is like that secret invisible buddy you didn't want to let go of as a child. Of course child molesters could play on that one. hmmm can't say I was molested as a child. If only when I was younger could I look on the internet and see what the future holds... These abbreviated form of communication. Is the written word our religion? Is it? We pray to it... it's what we read, it was the shapes and the meanings of the symbols that when put together we'd worship. We'd worship into war and into conquest. And what's happeneing now, we read less. Or do we. we read at hyperspeed and can't process the amount of crap we put out and the amount that comes back in.

magic eight ball

send out a text message and get a message in return... you can send it out and then shake the phone and it will come back to you.

I need to set up an automated feedback/callback system that a user would get a text message back from, perhaps in the form of advice or like a fortune cookie type of statement.

Text ninja

Iw ant to build an interactive performance where the actor (me?) is stadning in from of a wall. The audience which would ocnsist of passers by would send a text message to me and I would deflect it to the wall. Of course I will be given a trigger to let me know when the message is about to be displayed and thus can give a karate deflection and send the message off to the left or right. This could be built in MAX, having max take in the message and then trigger some kind of sign for only the actor knows (a light flash, a vibration, ?) and wihtin 2 seconds the actor knows the message will be displayed, thus able to choreograph a karate kick fending off the text message. I will need to build a buffer for the messages and then go through a list. It woul dbe greta to set them up to shoot out at random times so that if there are a lot of messages it doesn't appear to just be on a regular interval.

The idea would be I can see the messages coming and block them form hitting me.

tangible reality

in this media sensationalized world we are searching more and more for tangible ideas thoughts and events. The intagible and ambiguous war on terror, like the cold war, is created by the 2 sides that battle with tangible images and words on our TV's and in our press. The war on terror was never defined from the outset it is simply created as we move along. Yes fear is what keeps us locked into the notion of invented reality since we hide aways from all the "dangers" lurking. we are high atop in our small tower seperated from our own actions and from the actions that are being made against us and what they really mean or really look like.

quote

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be... kurt vonnegut

Destroy all humans!
Eat a Joe's
Like a Virgin
My baby does the hanky panky
Surf's up, baby!
Get out.
You have no idea.
I'm stoked.
Pray for Waves
Fuck yeah I'm in.
Gimme some of that / dat.
yeah Baby
Bush sucks!
Que sera sera
Dude, where's my ...
Put your hands in the air and give me all your money
Wherever you go, there you are.
Take my hand
is this all there is?
can i help?
no more
pour quois?
funny how money changes situations
clap your hands
make some noise
explain yourself
what is it dear?
see no evil
i'll try to be nicer if you try to be smarter.
do you ever think before you speak?
holler!
britte is the hottest notzold.
i'll have a big salad.
our pets heads are falling off!
two in the pink, one in the stink.
get out!
your mom's chest hair.
fresh!
Hey long lost friend
Where u been hiding?
George Bush sucks
Save Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
My boss drives me crazy
Work is a four letter word today
My brain just imploded
Can't wait to go skiing in CO next week!
Happy new year!
Thanks for the distraction
You suck
Me likey
U likey?
we only have this moment
now
hoy es un dia especial
youre such a wierdo
did you know that
do i have to keep telling you that
wheres the love
kooshy kooshy
village go to sleep
well i was gonna write that but its too obvious
not that i havent already been obvious
whats wrong with being obvious
is this enough
why are you so wierd
alright already
I can't live without you
I was wrong
I adore you
what the fuck?
amazing
look up
i am love.
you are God.
words are thoughts first.
everything is an illusion.
ask and you shall receive
love is the answer.
Poop is coming out of my butt
George Bush is a puppet for a fascist regime
God is a concept by which we measure our pain
Love is all you need
In the end the love you take is equal to the love you make
We are stardust - billion year old carbon
Fight for your right to party
Don't need nothin but a good time
My girl wants to party all the time
Jimmy's got a little bit of bitch in him
Free your mind and your ass will follow
happy new years
merry christmas
I'm getting married!
talk soon
ha ha!
baby, it's cold outside
resolve to change
resolve to stay the same
it's only a day
you're the greatest!
end as you wish you had begun
life is simple
beware of the Singapore Grip!
excuse me?
that's interesting.
stand up straight
keep your eyes on the prize
bend over backwards
chocolate now
peckerheads!
yankees suck
bite me
holla
just breathe
you make me hungry
peace out
xoxox
this shit's bananas
smooches
i love you
i want you
i need you
Don't hate the playa, hate the game
Hail to the Redskins
Talk to me, Goose
Nobody backs baby into a corner
The short bus
You can take the girl out of the honky tonk, but you can't take the
honkytonk out of the girl
Paul is dead sexy;-)
meet me right now
i want to fuck you
eat more cheese!
Go Buckeyes!
What the *!* is a Buckeye?
Depression is a disease, not a mood or a state of mind.
Pizza is my weakness.
Dogs rule.
Jon Stewart for president.
One word: Brooklyn
Stephen Vincent Hoffman, I miss you.
In my Father's house, there are many rooms. I go and prepare a place for you. -- The Bible
"If I knew where it was, I would take you there. ... There's much more than this!" -- Pearl Jam
The Suitor, By Jane Kenyon
We lie back to back. Curtains
lift and fall,
like the chest of someone sleeping.
Wind moves the leaves of the box elder;
they show their light undersides,
turning all at once
like a school of fish.
Suddenly I understand that I am happy.
For months this feeling
has been coming closer, stopping
for short visits, like a timid suitor.
i'll cut you!
dosas!
doses!
p-t-e-r-a-n-o-d-o-n spells pteranodon!
my hat, it has three corners!
no one can save us, but kim, the waitress!
yes indeedy, i'm your sweetie!
midtown sucks!
hot cross buns!
bend over boyfriend!
praisin' heaven, raisin' hell!
i didn't read the instructions the first time!
boo-yah!
BFD
happy happy joy joy
happy new year
Run, it's the po-po!
I'm not the dad!
Would ya please pass the jelly?
Overreaction is my forte.
Black folks ain't exactly swellin' up with pride on account a you flippin'
flapjacks.
If I can't dance I don't want to be part of your revolution.
It's a funny thing how everything looks the same in the mist; have you noticed it, Pooh?
Well goodbye and thank you for happening to pass me.
Don't be an asshole or you won't have any friends.
I don't believe in anything; I just notice things sometimes.
Commence the boogie.
Every five years or so I look back at my life and I have a good laugh.
It is what it is.
Shake it like a Polaroid picture.
your mom went to college
i heart ashleys' mom
i am a chair
unicorn power
do me
oops your eyeball is bleeding hahaha
god i'm so pretty
hi ugly
i hate your feet
gawd why do you suck
bleah
vomitrocious
dogs.
arf arf arf
do me
me llama. baaaaaaaaa.
hooohoooohoo hahahahahaha!
hey mamma wanna git freeeeaaaky??!
i'm looking at your boobs
rolodexs are so cool
swindle me. yea swindle me good. just like that yea.
Slut
twilight on a frozen lake; north wind about to break
take back the weed; i can get off on u
feel like makin love
don't hang yerself with a celibate rope
love stinks
and here are some taken from my last few days:
wanna get wings?
paul is the dorkiest ever
movie tonight?
where r u?
u know where da key is
traffic sux

happy new year
leaving here tears me in two
We ARE PENN STATE
PENN STATE RULES!!!
All we want is PEACE
Peace on Earth
I"m there for YOU
Let's all join hands

bitches aint shit but hos and tricks
the early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese
she's hot
he's hot
we're hot
they're hot
i'm hot
you're hot
hot diggity dog diggity
let's get jiggy with it
what's the dealiyo, yo?
more bills
yes, this thesis is commercial, so fuck you (is that too long?)
i can't stop eating
i grow old, i shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled
this is the dawning of the age of...people who carry water
hubba hubba
rock on
i'm not gonna be your dog
that's a fine thing to say
you're weak
i will crush you with my thumb
go with god
godspeed, you pagan.
love is a many splendid thing.
splenda is a sugar substitute.
my bologna has a first name. it's meathead.
Thank god.
my babies grow up and grow up
we're all going sane in a crazy world
still feeling just outside the inside joke
the questions we ask today will be answered...?
where have all the flowers gone
well i'm not going to wear a hairnet!
die in a fire
you have no soul
my life hates me
yes, i'll marry you if you ever ask
why are we all so cynical?
q: maybe you're one of the elect... a: maybe in my next life
Do 2 peeps what U want 4 U.
Don't D8 Str8 boyz when UR Gay.
Luv U take = Luv U make.
I like U 4 U, not 4 UR $.
No1 beats U.
Get Back 2 Ba6.
Take the B8 B4 itz 2 L8...
That's Gr8!
R U Bad or B9?
C-Ya,
JR
if there's life on mars, I'll kill it
stealing ideas is also an idea
360° sucks
nothing better than product placement in the fridge
chicken tonight?
too small for this world
camouflage is everything
that's how I roll
meeting women broke my wallet
honey, I'll be late, I'm on the phone
my new gold tooth doesn't fit
bass rulz
yo mama
that is SO cute
funky butt lovin
if i ruled the world
suckas
eat my shorts
happy new year
infuriatingpoopieheadfartblossom!
All your base are belong to us
007 373 5963
Up, up, down, down, left, rt, lt, rt, b, a, b, a, start
Every rose has it's thorn
I'm looking at the man in the mirror
The rabbi ate my typewriter
I'm rick james bitch
Please pass the peas.
Never say never.
That's the bomb diggity yo!
U r teh suxx0r
Don't touch that.
What's in the bag?
The universe is real big.
Don't have a cow man!
One day at a time
Fake it to you make it
Easy does it
First things first
Live and let live
Courage to change
Beyond the struggle is freedom
Been there done that
Live simply so other may simply live
your place or mine?
Live in the present
The home of the brave
Calgon take me away
Only the good die young
Hang on to the good times
dingle-berry
Jesus is Lord
Penny for you poop
Pretty cool dude
Glass bong factory
Lets go to White Castle
Ping Pong Rules!
That bitch is poison
Up yours bitch
Bitch, I Love you!
I want to Plow your Furrow
How about a date
Dingle-dangle-Dingle
Jingle-Jangle-Jingle
Remember the Titty
How about some more bacon
More bacon please
It cold outside
Paul is a friend to Jesus
Thanks for the mammies
My mom is better than your mom
Pats rule
Pats will three peat
Paul eats turds
Etc.
Good morning!
i'm sleepy
my throat hurts
happy new year!
everbody hates george bush
barak obama for president!
I need some coffee
thank god the weekend's here!
What's for lunch?
where are my car keys?
I feel bloated.
Too much thai food gives me indigestion
I'm getting old.
Hare Rama Hare Krishna
It's cold out.
Life is like a box of chocolate covered strawberries
I love forest gump
i love chocolate covered strawberries
Eid mubarak.
how do i work the coffee maker?
poopy poopy!
where's the pooper scooper?
Paul is funny.
Enza!
Adios
later gator

that was fun!

public texting

what if projectors showing text messages were set up in different neighborhoods... they could send messages to eachother. and they would be displayed... an article I read in the Dec 26 & Jan 2 new Yorker... spoke of a swarthmore journalism group 'War News Radio' that picked up an Iraqi phone book and strted calling numbers in it for interviews. They've spoken with some 25 iraqis... they interview them thus breaking through the filters of Media sources like TIME, CNN, FOX etc. What if a projection was scheduled that allowed Iraqis to text message to a phone number here and the message would be displayed... what would they say in 160 chracters or less to the American Public? How could I set this up? Perhaps it could go both ways..? americans could send messages to iraqis, this would probably not be the best thing. There could also be a web component, people could text from the web as well as from their phone. All the messages could be archived online... they'd ahve to be in english, or would there be a translater??

The whole system could be screwed with since the system is open... i wonder if that could be filtered and redirected dependingo nt he number it comes from?? it could be displayed on it's own as a way of pointing out people messing with the system...

Test

Not so great tonight... the flow of the theater pieces is up and down, like a wave... the pieces can't be long. It's all too improv at the moment... It needs to be seeded with more scripted action and movement... it's hard to do this without a live audience... since the audience need to respond to what they are watching, but texting is a little time consuming and takes attention away from the action. Things could work if there was action then comment comes in from audience texting... ugh, am I losing interest. The whole piece may become a lot shorter and simpler than I originally thought.

LAME

Ever feel lame and disgusted with yourself...

I juts spent the past 2 days sleeping all afternoon. I have things I need to take care of yet I just selpt all afternoon. It makes me depressed. I feel as though I used to be a much more interesting and engaged person than who I am now. It's like I have no attention span or desire to do anything. I don't know why. I used to be active, interested, motivated. I don't feel that now, I feel stress and anxiety to be all those things. I'm not old and yet I feel like I'm retired. this doesn't make me happy and more than anything it makes me feel depressed. I don't know what I'm doing in ever sense of the word. It's incredibly frustrating. I feel dumb and unable to learn or focus on anything.

Staged performance

actros on stage watching a projection from a live video feed looking like the evening news... using the text messaging for the lines...

Free will

Is that what we're looking for? The freedom of expression to imitate what we see on television, or to express ourselves in reaction to what we see on television and in advertising. Is defacing advertising simply playing into the advertisers hands? Or is defacing and responding to how the advertisers buy and use our public space the way to wage war against the invented promises they use to get us to buy their products. Or how do you fight the terms terrorism and other 'new' words in our vocabulary. Is it true what Beaudrillard says that there's nothing to do since everything is a product of the time and simply plays into the invented realities that we see... that we are just going through the motions and the movement is predetermined no matter what that movement is... is it game theory in play. What is the next move, or what is the move that someone makes (the opponent) that swithces up the routines... Is that what 9/11 was, are we now just playign out the moves following that wake up move... was the next move by the current administration to placate us and try and put us back to sleep or to fire us up and funnel us into a new 'routine' that follows this war on terror? Uber patriotism was the card played.

It's funny, I think about when I use to play war in the back yard. I was fascinated to play at being a soldier. It was what men did. It was petrifying and empowering at the same time... I liken it to when I was also a child of shaving alongside my dad, but I would use a toothbrush. My favorite genre to play was world war II. I can't quite explain why that war. Maybe because the topography of pennsylvania best matched that of the WWII Europe I saw in the movies and the picture books I had. So my friend Josh Wilson and I would run around the yard with sticks for guns in our hands, routing the German infantry and taking out enemy tanks. The vocabulary we knew was that of the time. I find it interesting to think of what kids are shouting at eachother in today's backyard's. Words like 'insurgents' and 'terrorists' and searching 'Spiderholes' and protecting the house from 'Dirty bombs' and 'IED's.' Strategically dropping 'Smart bombs' would ensure fewer casualties... I think that would have comforted me as a child. Even if the 'smart bomb' idea is still more of a promise that a practice of sifting out the targets from the innocents.

happy new year