Sunday, November 13, 2011

Worlds collide! No, really.

I mainly use Twitter as a news reader, ok, well also as a time waster, but only SOMETIMES.
I stumbled across a really neat feed that tweets the events of World War II in real time. The flow in as if the events were occurring today, as current news stories. The dates and times correspond, and they include pics, quotes and links.
I'm only a little bit of a history buff, but I really liked the idea and presentation of this.
Check out : @realtimeWWII on Twitter. You'll join the other 101,315 followers in this unique use of modern technology.

Q

#CMC11

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Sleepiness doesn't stop creativity - #CMC11

..but insane schedules sometimes push things way way off course.

Ugh.

I find that over the last year or so, I've been enjoying podcasts and news / spoken word stations on my iPod far more than I listen to music. One silly time waster of a podcast that I listen to regularly is the horribly-titled "Professor Blastoff".

The show is hosted by three friends who are comedians, and the premise they started with is they found a small hatch in the basement under one of their houses, opened it, and found a large abandoned lab. Poking around, they found a radio with which they began communicating with this "Professor" who seems to be floating around in another dimension.

Here's the little blurb from their website :


Professor R.L. Blastoff initally created a weekly radio show in the early 1940′s, shortly after he had begun preliminary work on a prototype time machine. His research over the course of his distinguished career in fields such as applied physics, molecular biology, and chemical engineering earned him numerous prestigious awards – including two nobel prizes. Sadly, before his radio show reached the air, his time machine reached completion and he was transported not only to a different time – but a completely different dimension. Since then, he has been helplessly trying to navigate his way home. Until he returns, his radio show is guest-hosted by three people who mistakenly wandered into his office.

Yeah.

So this sounds absolutely terrible. Believe me, I know. I knew and enjoyed two-thirds of the cast prior to them starting the podcast, and despite the hokey premise I decided to check it out.

The bizarre setup is a way to lead into the three hosts to discuss their interests in science, theology and anything that grabs them. It is silly, but enjoyable to pass the time and they often have guests to lend a hand in explaining some of the tougher topics.

The most recent one featured the comedian and sketch actor Paul F. Tompkins and was about creativity, and I thought I'd share it in case anyone is interested. It is definitely fluff, and not a deep, thought-provoking show, but it's silly and enjoyable and there are definitely some topics that spark SOME thoughts. The hosts keep it clean, but there is some (very occasional - in fact I can only recall a few instances over the 28 episodes) language, so the kids MAY need to be out of earshot, but it's never vulgar or inappropriate.

Here's a link to the latest show on creativity : http://www.earwolf.com/episode/creativity/

Here's a link to the show's website : http://www.professorblastoff.com/

Hopefully it'll make someone smile or laugh!

Q

#CMC11

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Coffee maker! Drip! Drip! Drip! #CMC11

A few quickies this morning. I've had them sitting but forgot to add them...

I LOVE this thing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXbBA1DRE84&feature=player_embedded

The Inkling is so, so sweet.


And I just thought this was pretty neat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaRcWB3jwMo


More soon!

Q

#CMC11

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Am I way off base here?

I found the following article online while poking around, looking to spark a little something' somethin'. I understand the ideas behind this, and I like the basic message involved, but this just seems so, dry? I don't think I have the words for it, and can't quite explain it.
It seems as if someone is trying to really motivate you, and pump you up, but is speaking in the saddest, droopiest monotone and expecting it to help.
Like I said, I like the main message but it is sorely lacking emotion.
Sometimes you need to see the way NOT to do things to really make you appreciate the good stuff.
Kudos to all of you who are pushing, stretching, reaching and creating.
Students, presenters, faculty, curious onlookers.
Everyone.
Q.

According to cognitive psychologist Robert J. Sternberg, creativity can be broadly defined as "...the process of producing something that is both original and worthwhile." Creativity is all about finding new ways of solving problems and approaching situations. This isn't a skill restricted to artists, musicians or writers; it is a useful skill for people from all walks of life. If you've ever wanted to boost your creativity, these tips can help.

1. Commit Yourself to Developing Your Creativity

The first step is to fully devote yourself to developing your creative abilities. Do not put off your efforts. Set goals, enlist the help of others and put time aside each day to develop your skills.

2. Become an Expert

One of the best ways to develop creativity is to become an expert in that area. By having a rich understanding of the topic, you will be better able to think of novel or innovative solutions to problems.

3. Reward Your Curiosity

©iStockPhoto/David H. Lewis
One common roadblock to developing creativity is the sense that curiosity is an indulgence. Rather than reprimanding yourself, reward yourself when you are curious about something. Give yourself the opportunity to explore new topics.

4. Realize that Creativity is Sometimes Its Own Reward

While rewarding yourself is important, it is also important to develop intrinsic motivation. Sometimes, the true reward of creativity is the process itself, not the product.

5. Be Willing to Take Risks

Photo courtesy Marja Flick-Buijs
When it comes to building your creative skills, you need to be willing to take risks in order to advance your abilities. While your efforts may not lead to success every time, you will still be boosting your creative talents and building skills that will serve you well in the future.

6. Build Your Confidence

Insecurity in your abilities can suppress creativity, which is why it is important to build confidence. Make note of the progress you have made, commend your efforts and always be on the lookout for ways to reward your creativity.

7. Make Time for Creativity

Photo courtesy Luis Alves
You won't be able to develop your creative talents if you don't make time for them. Schedule some time each week to concentrate on some type of creative project.

8. Overcome Negative Attitudes that Block Creativity

According to a 2006 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, positive moods can increase your ability to think creatively. According to Dr. Adam Anderson, senior author of the study, "If you are doing something that requires you be creative or be in a think tank, you want to be in a place with good mood." Focus on eliminating negative thoughts or self-criticisms that may impair your ability to develop strong creative skills.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Quickie - Blog title explained.

Our wonderful guide, mentor and CMC11 facilitator asked a fair question yesterday.






"What the heck does the title of your blog mean?"



It's a silly hockey slang term about a short snapper, half-slapshot where the puck is shot high into the net. It rarely fails to make me laugh, and one of the current players on the team I grew up loving has adopted it and has even worked it into a charity.

Here's a bit of an article from this spring in the National Post.....


Armstrong, who has also done work with the rival Rogers Sportsnet, is trying to turn one of the lines he used on the panel into a charitable endeavour. The 28-year-old caused a bit of a stir online when he described a play as being “half-clapper, top-cheddar.”

The definition?

“Aw, it’s a beauty hockey saying,” he said, explaining it is when a player pulls the stick back halfway, before releasing a shot that beats the goaltender high.

The saying has spurred a T-shirt (available at www.sportschirps.com), with $5 from each sale going to Camp Trillium, a getaway providing recreational activities for children with cancer.

“It’s kind of stupid to say, but I’ve always enjoyed kind of being in front of the camera,” Armstrong said. “Maybe that’s just my personality, but I kind of like it, and I’ve always had a good time with interviews and had some fun stuff with that.”



There's a little creativity, right? An athlete who is out a bit due to an injury, starts to do short bits of on-camera interviews and helps out a good cause.


Back in a bit...




Sunday, October 16, 2011

Bubble...bubble...stir #cmc11

My daughter is one of the pickiest eaters on the planet. It has been eleven plus years of turning her nose up at nearly everything that shows up on a plate. It took her nine years to eat pizza, and she still won't eat a hot dog. What kid doesn't eat hot dogs???

I began cooking with her at a very young age, and it helps to show her the she can be empowered and creative as she learns. It took her ages to realize that all red sauce isn't super spicy, and if she made it herself, she can control the outcome.

We spent this morning making a big pot of sauce before she went shopping with my wife and her Mimi. It has been simmering all day, making the house smell heavenly as I bang out some more homework on this grey October day.

I hope she hangs onto her curiosity about cooking, and stays leery of alcohol. As I asked her to add a splash of Malbec to the sauce, she hesitated, thinking the wine isn't for kids.

I like that.

Keep that up, so you don't drink your face off at a party as a teenager.

I love you, Cenzi, and thank you for cooking with me this morning.



Here's what we did :



Heat a few splashes of olive oil, along with some salt and pepper in a large (!) sauce pot.

Finely chop two vidalia onions and toss them in, stirring and reducing them halfway.

Mince a full bulb of garlic, and stir it into the onion.

Continue the reduction over medium-high heat.

Add a 28 oz can of each : crushed tomatoes, stewed (& drained) tomatoes, tomato puree.

Stir 'em up.

Add to taste : fresh basil, oregano, crushed red pepper (not too much - it leeches out easily) a sprinkle of paprika, a cup or so of good red wine (Do NOT skimp), fresh black pepper, thyme, a healthy palmful of sea salt, and a teaspoonful of granulated sugar.

Heat to full rumbling boil, stirring constantly, then reduce heat to a minimum, stirring frequently for 30 minutes, then reduce to a simmer.

Allow it to simmer and blend for a minimum of three hours, longer if possible.

Tweak and add spices to taste as it changes and melds.

I also cheated and bought some meatballs from the butcher. Just brown them over medium-high heat with some olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder, ensuring they're cooked through, then drop them gently into the sauce.

Cannot WAIT until dinner!

#cmc11

Thursday, October 6, 2011

TSMITW podcast isn't over yet!

How great is this?

I mean, honestly...






#CMC11


"The Smartest Man In The World" - Sept 23rd podcast

Today's live session at noon EST was a little dicey. The presentation Tom Mackey had was very interesting but due to some technical glitches, the class wasn't able to interact or easily pose questions. I sent several direct messages to the moderators, but it seemed I wasn't sending anything. Twitter was offered as a method of interaction and posing questions, but it seemed only a few made it through, and none of mine made the cut.

"Transliteracy & Metaliteracy : Emerging Frameworks for Social Media"

I found the focus on the seven pillars of information literacy was particularly intriguing. I hadn't heard it mentioned prior to today and particularly enjoyed the explanation of them not being in a linear fashion.




Visual literacy!




That's it for the moment. My brain hurts and I need to re-type a paper for another (much less interesting, however necessary) class.

#CMC11

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

No music title - No artist. I only hear the distant traffic and the wind.

I had planned my schedule around the September 29th live session, thinking it was at noon as usual. I logged in, noticing that I was alone. Ugh. I missed the announcement that the time was moved up and like walking into the empty lecture hall hours after the class was over, I logged off, defeated.

However, I made use of the recorded session and was able to enjoy Siemens presentation. I was struck by the feeling that though I was observing the recorded event, and even if live, everyone was scattered far and wide, we were indeed connected. Paying attention, reading, thinking.

Mr. Siemens said "we socialize to make sense of information", and I think the live sessions show that to be true. I know I started as a baffled MOOC newbie, (still somewhat, but improving) but attend and interact to make sense of the information!

I'm writing a big note, and putting a reminder in my iPhone (thank you, and rest in peace Steve Jobs) so I'll be on time for class tomorrow. I'd rather be connected live instead of a tape-delay.

#CMC11

PS - The Encarta graphic perfectly captured the change in how we access information. I remember it came with the Windows 95 computer I purchased so long ago. I can't imagine being limited to a few discs worth of information now, knowing how readily available everything is online today.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Paul Langlois - "Fix This Head"

Thank you, Starbucks drive-thru!












#cmc11

Matthew Sweet - "Girlfriend"


I'm not sure I'm connected.

Or CREATIVE.

I wanted to add a photo I took while in Iceland. I know my wife added everything when we were transferring things to the new Mac, but I can't seem to grab pics from the photos on her profile area.

So, defeated, I went & pulled the one I had posted on Facebook.



Here's the pic, in all of it's low-res, highly compressed muddiness.

We spent the day at Gullfoss and the southwestern corner of Iceland. Walking back to the car, with my wife in the foreground and the glaciers in the far background. Of course, they'd be far easier to see with the photo I WANTED to post.

I'll get better at this.

#cmc11


The Jayhawks - "Hollywood Town Hall"

I'm confused.

The other day in our online live session, I stated that cooking shouldn't be confined or completely DEFINED by the recipe in front of you. I like recipes as a loose guide, and end up using my cooking knowledge from my past and my own CREATIVITY. I don't like the idea of copying word-for-word, scooping up and counting grains of rice, drops of vinegar and shakes of spices.

I went on to say that cooking is an art. I thoroughly feel that, but it contradicts my feelings of CREATIVITY.

I feel that one who is truly creative cannot copy the work of another. That being said, I don't plan on figuring out on my own how to cook a twenty-five dollar cut of meat. I'll use my experience, but if if I were just starting out, I'd look it up as not to reinvent the wheel, OR ruin my dinner.

Can CREATIVITY build on what others have done so many times before us?

I have a chateaubriand in a light marinade as we speak, waiting for dinner. I made a marinade from memory and without measuring. I let the meat warm on the platter, laid slight cross slices into it, and let it soak a while. I plan on heating the grill, and cooking it by sight, smell and touch to determine when it is done.

Am I CREATIVE?

I'm not sure I am.

If I were, wouldn't I take the meat, put it into the blender, wear it on my head for a while, sprinkle it with M&M's then microwave it? Because that is different?

I'm confused.

And hungry.

Not for the M&M recipe though.

#cmc11

City and Colour - "Little Hell"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/22/brain-scan-movie-scenes_n_976580.html

I won't lie. This fascinates me, and absolutely terrifies me.

I'm not sure if it is the Fincher-esque, watercolor-left-in-the-rain, muddy visuals that spring from the brain or the fact that one day, everybody could actually SEE my strange dreams.

I'm in no way CREATIVE enough, but someone needs to get a hold of more of the recorded dream video, and set it to an ethereal soundtrack. Or edit it to make a short film.

Just not mine, please. NO ONE wants to see me naked, running the halls of my high school, late to class.

#cmc11

Rain on the windows, coffee (THANK YOU!) brewing in the kitchen.

Alright. I've completely goofed in my past attempts to load the RSS feed and I've been more than frustrated. I'm in the midst of swapping everything from my I-didn't-think-it-was-that-old laptop and external hard drives to the new Mac. Mostly seamless, but a few things have fallen through the cracks.

I'll also tack on a few posts that weren't apparently uploaded to Blogger.

And get that coffee.

I need it.

Q

#cmc11

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Lavay Smith - "Now Or Never" #cmc11

OK.

So I've suppose it isn't as clear as putting in my contacts, but maybe just an improved prescription?

This is starting to make a little more sense now. The MOOC world seemed to be populated with the masses who understand it's complexities and have it wired.

And me.

Not getting it.

After a live session / lecture / discussion, it seems a lot clearer now. I was waiting to see what I need to post, look for, read etc but now I'm putting myself out there and seeing what (and HOW) I can learn about CREATIVITY.

I think that is the basis of creativity anyway. If (insert your most influential artist here) waited to be spoon-fed the framework and guidelines to "be creative" they'd undoubtedly never become the artist they needed to be.

I remember hearing a story about one of those silly art school commercials several years ago. I can't for the life of me remember the name, but occasionally you'll see the adds on television asking you to "send for your free art test!" Call the 800 number and they'll ship you a packet of information about their program. The printed material they showed has a panel with a cartoonish turtle character and another with a stern looking pirate, each next to an empty panel where the hopeful artist tries to impress the school. The actor / artist in the commercial is shown dutifully filling in the empty boxes with a perfect, note-for-note rendition of the silly turtle and the pirate.

The story I heard had the "Hopeful Artist" played by the understudy "Fearless Wiseass With a Load of Talent and a Left-Of-Center Sense of Humour". He called and requested the information, and upon receipt, set out to draw what he saw on the art test. I believe he felt constrained by the small boxes on the pamphlet and used another piece of paper to send back for critique.

It must have been too dark in the room he was working in, as the final product didn't look a lot like the cute turtle or the pirate as they appeared in the school's pamphlet. The two characters were present in his piece, but now they were how HE wanted to show them.

I remember several inappropriate and immoral (illegal?) acts and images depicted in his work, and even though he did it as a goof, it was technically well done.

He shipped it off and didn't think much of it until he received a mailed reply months later. Inside was a cold form letter wishing him well, but saying he should keep working at it and they couldn't accept him at that time. No worries, as he sent it as a joke and currently had a career in the creative field of his choice.

Not long after the letter arrived, he received a phone call from an unfamiliar number. The caller was an employee from the art school who asked if he really was the one who created the piece that was sent in. Confirming that it was, the employee went on to say he was in charge of reviewing the majority of the entries that come in and his definitely stood out. It was against the company's code of ethics for him to directly contact anyone, as it was more of a cash grab to sell their courses, how-to books and art materials but he wanted to speak directly to the artist of this masterpiece.

This guy had to sort through envelope after envelope of mediocre entries, things that looked pretty good, and the occasional perfect copy of each little turtle and pirate drawing. Seeing this bizarre, crass but perfectly executed drawing stood out, and made him belly laugh to the point of needing to chat with the creator. He was assured that it was only sent in as a joke, and was relieved to see the sender was an artist by trade as his 'learning' would have been a waste of time for both parties.

This story really has two points :

1) To show real creativity, never simply copy what you see. It will never be genuine or stand out.

2) Though I cannot remember all of the facts and details pertaining to the above reminiscence, I think that shows my own creativity to be able to string it all together and have it make sense.
2a) Plus, I believe I'd be in trouble if I typed and described everything that was shown in the drawing he sent in.
2b) Or maybe my mind pixelated and fuzzed-out all of the naughty parts as self-preservation.

That's all for now. I smell brownies in the oven and it is extremely distracting.

#cmc11

Monday, September 5, 2011

Still Steinski...

Quick addidtion :

Added hashtag to Twitter and Facebook.

#cmc11

Steinsky - "What Does It All Mean?" 1983-2006 Retrospective

Setting up a blog while trying to anticipate the demands and challenges of two new courses, but I'll use this exclusively for my reflections and notes for CMC11 - Creativity & Multicultural Communication. The course opens officially on 9/12, but was available for preview this morning. I'm going into this feeling fresh and completely open-minded, excited to learn and only mildly nervous.

Let's go.

#cmc11