News Cut Category Archive: Arts

Profile of an artist

Posted at 12:31 PM on October 26, 2009 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Arts

Comment on this post

History in sand art

Posted at 12:29 PM on October 21, 2009 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Arts

Having been away for a few weeks, I'm catching up on some older "news" now, including the winner of the Ukraine's Got Talent contest.

It's a sand artist depiction of Ukraine's history.

The Guardian translates:

(Kseniya) Simonova's sand story portrays the human loss after the German invasion in 1941. The opening scene shows a couple sitting on a bench under a starry sky. Warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated to be replaced by crying faces. Then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again, but war and chaos return and a young woman becomes an old widow, before the image turns into an obelisk - the Ukrainian monument to its Unknown Soldier.

Simonova has returned to ordinary life in the Crimean seaside town of Evpatoria, where she has used her £80,000 prize to buy a modest house and set up a children's charity.

Simonova has told interviewers she is happy to stay in Evpatoria and will not be travelling abroad to cash in on her growing global fan base. Her success has taken the young woman by surprise. "I only entered because there was a child I know who needed an operation and I wanted to help," she said. "I did not mean to make the whole country cry."

Meanwhile, on the American version of the show, some over-emoting singer is harpooning some bad song.

(h/t: Patrick Collins)

Comment on this post

Billboards as art

Posted at 10:37 AM on September 29, 2009 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Arts

A few days ago, I posted something about St. Paul's continuing battle to get rid of billboards.

A link sent to me by The Current's Barb Abney today, however, reminds me that sometimes billboards can be public art:

A few years ago the Walker commissioned five artists to create billboard art, and it turned out to be nowhere near as interesting as when the professionals are unleashed.

Besides, St. Paul, today's eyesore might be tomorrow's art exhibit.

Comment on this post

Dying 'doo wop'

Posted at 12:52 PM on September 28, 2009 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Arts

The last remaining member of the Silhouettes has died. The Rev. John "Bootsie" Wilson was 69.

Wilson's death prompts a matter requiring serious popular culture research: How many groups who had hit records in the '60s have no surviving members?

Comment on this post

The blog threat

Posted at 11:15 AM on June 8, 2009 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)
Filed under: Arts

From the "Blog as Boogeyman" files:

(1) On Midmorning this morning, author Jane Hamilton suggested blogs are making it difficult for the next generation of young writers to be discovered.

"How are the gifted young voices going to rise up through the murk of the blogosphere?" she told Kerri Miller. "How will we find them? It might be harder for them to get established and make a living. There's so much to wade through and publishers might not necessarily be willing to invest in a young person who's finding their way."

However, she said "Good writing will surface and good writers will be able to carry on and we will want to read them."

(2) The New York Times uses the broad brush to lament that blogs aren't about credibility.

But seeking credibility may be a less-important strategy for the blogs at this stage. Mr. Arrington, a lawyer, is quick to point out that he has no journalism training. He is at ease, even high-minded, in explaining the decisions to print unverified rumors.

Mr. Arrington and the other bloggers see this not as rumor-mongering, but as involving the readers in the reporting process. One mission of his site, he said, is to write about the things a few people are talking about, "the scuttlebutt around Silicon Valley." His blog will often make clear that he's passing along a thinly sourced story.

For the record, it was the New York Times -- printed on dead trees -- that went out of its way in the middle of a presidential campaign to suggest the Republican nominee was having an affair while providing no attribution for the very sloppy article.

Comment on this post

One war. One image.

Posted at 8:59 AM on May 16, 2009 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Arts, War

Hugh Van Es has died. You may not recognize the name. Perhaps you recognize the picture he took:

The image -- the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War -- is also one of the most misunderstood. It's often described as the scene atop the U.S. embassy. But it actually was an apartment building that housed CIA operatives. No matter, really. It captured the drama perfectly.

A local newspaper rejiggered the wire-service-supplied obituary today to say the photo was the most famous photograph of the war. Was it?

Just off the top of my head, here are a couple of competitors in the category.

I can't pick just one.

Comment on this post

Musical virus

Posted at 12:42 PM on May 4, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Arts

If all of Minnesota were to get together and sing a song, (a) where would we do it and (b) what would we sing?

(h/t: Open Culture)

And as long as I'm on the subject of musical viral videos, try this one on for "sighs."

Comment on this post

Remembering Lawn Chair Larry

Posted at 10:40 AM on May 4, 2009 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)
Filed under: Arts

The Pixar folks are hosting a publicity event in the Twin Cities today to promote the upcoming animated movie "Up", about a curmudgeon who ties balloons to his house and goes for a ride. Promoters have tied balloons to a chair at the Metrodome and are giving people rides. The Star Tribune's James Lileks posted a picture.

I wonder, though, how many people remember Lawn Chair Larry, and whether history will treat him more kindly than reality did.

Lawn Chair Larry -- Larry Walters -- tied helium balloons to this lawn chair in 1982...

... with the idea that he'd go for a short flight, just to see what it was like. He miscalculated things, though, and ended up soaring to 16,000 feet, where the pilot of an airliner uttered -- for the first time in history -- the words, "I've just passed a guy flying in a lawn chair."

Lawn Chair Larry's plan was to shoot out the balloons with a pellet gun when it was time to descend, but he dropped the gun. He eventually landed in Long Beach. (If you've got RealPlayer, listen to the audio of conversations during the flight here.)

For the adventure, Walter received honorable mention for the 1982 Darwin Awards, and generally was ridiculed until he walked into the woods in 1993 and shot himself to death.

"Up" will probably rake in a fortune when it opens later this month. Larry wasn't so lucky. Had he just used his chair to sit and watch TV, he'd have been considered normal.

Comment on this post

If David Sedaris delivered pizza

Posted at 1:15 PM on April 17, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Arts

Finally, a YouTube parody for the public radio listener. What if David Sedaris delivered pizza?

(h/t: Open Culture)

If you'd rather have the real thing, here's a blast from the past from MPR's Nikki Tundel and Sedaris. Or try his reading in the Twin Cities from last spring.

Comment on this post

Is it art?

Posted at 10:58 AM on April 15, 2009 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Arts

If you create a symphony orchestra out of hundreds of individual videos of people playing their notes by themselves somewhere else, is it really an orchestra?

YouTube asked people -- amateurs and professionals -- to send in videos of themselves playing a piece composed by Tan Dun. Then they created a mashup of all the submissions.

There actually is an orchestra, however. The winners are appearing tonight at Carnegie Hall.

Could this method of creating art somehow bypass the regional orchestra?

Comment on this post

Breathing new life into an old song

Posted at 8:18 PM on April 14, 2009 by Bob Collins (12 Comments)
Filed under: Arts

"It was the best national anthem rendition I have ever heard. Better than the game," Russell Martin of the Los Angeles Dodgers said Monday of 16-year-old Charice's version at the team's home opener. "I get tears in my eyes when she really gets going," manager Joe Torre said.

So, of course, an immediate search of YouTube was in order to find out what the fuss is all about:

Sure, pretty good. But best ever? I reserve that for Marvin Gaye at the 1993 1983 NBA All Star Game. Hands down.

That performance caused a stir. The national anthem, some suggested, should not be sexy.

Everyone has their opinion, of course. My cubicle mate -- Chris Roberts -- says the "best ever" was Smokey Robinson at the 1986 World Series.

Comment on this post

On Bill Holm

Posted at 8:34 PM on March 8, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Arts, Icons

They had a funeral for Bill Holm out in Minneota on Sunday.

Some touching memories of Holm were printed by the Marshall Independent over the weekend (Others who knew him posted some very touching comments to the News Cut post). One struck a chord for ye olde blogger:

My experiences in knowing Bill Holm while trying to assist him in his health care were likely more valuable to me than to Bill. Although a man of his own direction, he cared dearly for his family, friends, fellow poets, writers, and musicians. I found him to be a great wordsmith in describing his rural roots, thoughts, and experiences, especially those impressions concerning the ethos of Minneota and the prairies...and Iceland. His most recent comment to me was an insightful one: "The only good thing about a recession is that people might read more..."

MPR's Mark Steil is putting his Monday morning story together as I write this. Mark's got a great eye for stories and this image he sent along of the chair Holm sat in during church service is a great one. Note the copy of the Star Tribune on it, with Holm's picture on the front of the Opinon page.

I'm looking forward to Mark's story and the tributes contained therein (When it's done, it'll be at the top of this page).

I imagine they'll be like those of his cousin, Vivian Secrist, who shared this on billholm.com.

I had the privilege of being part of Bill's family since I was born. Bill was my cousin on both my mother's and father's side of the family. We attended Sunday school together at St. Paul's Icelandic Church when I was very young but, then a move by my family separated us for many years. I still would see him on occasion with visits to Minneota and after we both reached adulthood, our lives kept us apart for many years but, in the last twenty some years we were able to connect on many occasions for family celebrations and, of course, Boxelder Days in Minneota. Even tho I didn't get to visit as often as I would have liked, when we met again, it was like we had never been apart. He encouraged my youngest daughter to continue writing her poetry and I know that meant a great deal to her. Even tho she hasn't written anything for several years, I know it left a lasting impression on her and she thought very highly of him. I will so miss his wonderful hugs as we greeted each other on those special reunions and his great presence in our family. I have several of his books signed by him personally and I will treasure them and the stories for years to come. Good bye my precious cousin. You leave a huge void in all our lives. My heart goes out to Marci and all who feel the loss. May God Bless each and everyone of you. Say hello to Mom, Neva, Julian, Robert and all who have gone before you.

MPR is planning an event to honor Holm on April 7 at the Fitz.

Comment on this post

The voice of Bill Holm

Posted at 11:27 AM on February 26, 2009 by Bob Collins (11 Comments)
Filed under: Arts

Bill Holm, whose death we learned about today, was a frequent voice on Minnesota Public Radio and has left plenty behind to listen to.

It appears the last time he was on, however, was Christmas 2007, with the Holiday Stage Session. Unfortunately these archived shows are in RealAudio.

A few months before that, he was Garrison Keillor's guest on A Prairie Home Companion.

In 2004, during an appearance at the College of St. Benedict, he read from many of his essays.

His poem, "Wedding Poem for Schele and Phil" was read on Writer's Almanac in May 2003.

The University of Washington hosts the Bill Holm Center. Several lectures are available on its Web site.

The MPR books site also has extensive links surrounding the 2000 Milkweed Editions reissue of The Heart Can be Filled Anywhere on Earth.

Update 12:07 p.m. - MPR's Marianne Combs will have a look at the life of Bill Holm tonight on All Things Considered. We're also trying to get some of the digitized audio encoded to a Flash player.

Update 12:36 p.m. -- MPR's Michael Wells has found this 1987 appearance on the old MPR Morning Show:

Update 1:13 p.m. - Garrison Keillor has released this statement:

Bill Holm was a great man and unlike most great men he really looked like one. Six-foot-eight, big frame, and a big white beard and a shock of white hair, a booming voice, so he loomed over you like a prophet and a preacher which is what he was. He was an only child, adored by his mother, and she protected him from bullies and he grew up free to follow his own bent, and become the sage of Minneota, a colleague of Whitman though born a hundred years too late, a champion of Mozart and Bach, playing his harpsichord on summer nights, telling stories about the Icelanders, and thundering about how the young have lost their way and abandoned learning and culture in favor of grease and noise.

He thundered with the best of them though he had a gentle heart. He was an English prof who really loved literature and he could buttonhole you and tell you he'd just finished reading Dickens again and how wonderful it was. He got himself into print pretty well and anyone picking up his "Windows of Brimnes" or "The Music of Failure" or "The Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere On Earth" will get the real Holm.

He hated Minnesota winters and maybe that's what killed him, flying back from beautiful Patagonia to the wind-swept tundra and thinking about having to shovel out his house in Minneota.

I'm glad he got to see Barack elected, which restored some of his faith in his countrymen. I wish I'd been there to catch him as he fell. I hope his Icelandic ancestors are waiting to welcome him to their rocky corner of heaven. I hope his piano goes to someone who will love it as much as he did. I hope that people all across Minnesota will pick up one of his books and see what the man had to say.

4:34 p.m. - David Doody's tribute.

7:15 p.m. - This video has just been posted on YouTube, from Holm's tribute to Paul Wellstone.

Comment on this post

If not a cherry...

Posted at 5:43 PM on February 23, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Arts, Surveys and trivia

The removal of the cherry from the spoon at the Walker's sculpture garden is the most covered story involving a fruit in the history of Minnesota, it would appear.

This picture is from MPR senior producer Jim Bickal. Though the spoon looks lost, it got me to thinking in my patented there-are-no-problems-only-opportunities way.

What might be a fitting food to put there instead? Cheerios to honor our unofficial state oat cereal? Porridge to accurately portray the budget situation?

Comment on this post

Embracing winter: The art sled rally

Posted at 11:25 AM on February 8, 2009 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)
Filed under: Arts, Life

Let's face it: It's a lot easier to embrace a Minnesota winter during a thaw in February. Nonetheless, the Art Sled Rally in Minneapolis this weekend really is one of those only in Minnesota events that makes you long to be outdoors, as depicted in this video by Chuck Tomlinson, posted today on MN Stories.

Comment on this post

Great moments in spontaneity

Posted at 3:16 PM on December 11, 2008 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Arts

Much has been written here and elsewhere about this morning's final production of The Morning Show at the Fitzgerald Theater. You can read the blog downstream and also find all sorts of goodies here.

In talking with folks today, we agree that this moment was the highlight. Peter Ostroushko sang You Are My Sunshine, and a theater full of people in St. Paul, and -- I'm guessing -- hundreds of others in cars and kitchens throughout the country joined in. (Listen)

It felt very much like people were comforting themselves and others, not only against the immediate sadness of the passing of a broadcast era, but against the steady drumbeat of bad news that we're forced to endure.

The closest thing that captured the power of music as today's moment did, it seems to me, was this:

Comment on this post

The final curtain

Posted at 6:00 AM on December 11, 2008 by Bob Collins (15 Comments)
Filed under: Arts, Icons

From a news guy perspective, here's the thing about Dale and Jim Ed's (Tom's) show: The news stinks. Everyone knows the news stinks. Every morning we wake up and one of the first things we remember is times are tough and, oh yeah, the news stinks. Then you turn on the radio and someone is on stage singing "Getting to Know You," just as someone has been singing it since about 10,000 end-of-the-worlds ago. And suddenly you realize that just because the news stinks, life doesn't; it goes on and people sing and dance.

The cynics will call that denial -- that life is simply too crushing in its burden. I will deny that.

Long-time The Morning Show producer Mike Pengra signs "the wall" backstage at the Fitzgerald Theater. Performers and speakers at the Fitz sign their names to the bricks. "This is quite an honor," Mike said as he finished. "Don't worry, we'll paint over it," the theater manager joked.

Comment on this post

Protests, the arts, and the consequences of an unpopular opinion

Posted at 8:41 AM on November 13, 2008 by Bob Collins (36 Comments)
Filed under: Arts, Politics

Where is the proper line between the lawful exercise of one's political or religious beliefs, and the acceptable penalty for that exercise? Let me save some of you some reading time. I don't know.

But the aftermath of the Proposition 8 vote in California, which banned gay marriage, is providing a suitable backdrop to ask the question and discuss it... if we dare.

National Public Radio carried a story this morning on the protests in which people who donated the money to support the measure, are now being targeted.

"El Coyote takes your gay dollar to fund gay hatred," John Dennison shouted, pacing in front of the restaurant. He's outraged that one of El Coyote's owners, a devout Mormon, reportedly gave $100 to the campaign for Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban.

In Sacramento yesterday, the artistic director of the California Musical Theater resigned after it was revealed Scott Eckern donated $1,000 to the group pushing the amendment. He, too, is a Mormon. The resignation came after Marc Shaiman, the Tony Award-winning composer, said that he would not let his work be performed in the theater, according to the New York Times.

There is nothing in the Constitution that protects someone from the non-government-afflicted consequences of holding a political view, some people said in 2003. Then, however, it was the "right" staging the protest when one of the most popular musical groups at the time -- the Dixie Chicks -- made known their opposition to the war in Iraq. It cost them vital airplay on radio stations, record sales, and concert dates.

Is post-Proposition 8 that much different? Susan Egan, a Broadway actress, posted a letter on Facebook supporting the idea of boycotting Mr. Eckern's theater.

It's now a video on YouTube:

But now she's having second thoughts, the Times reported today.

"My actions have caused him harm, just as his actions caused harm to people he loved," she said. "We're all guilty."

According to the Times, she's not alone:

That sentiment was echoed by Mr. Shaiman, who said that some of the pain being felt among gay theater artists after passage of Proposition 8 has been self-inflicted.

"Our anger is against ourselves, too, that we were too compliant," he said. "It was beyond our ken that this could ever happen. But we were terribly, terribly wrong."

The constitutional questions are resolved in the courts, but the social and moral implications of holding an unpopular opinion are most often played out in the arts -- from blacklists and Pete Seeger, to the Smothers Brothers, to the Dixie Chicks, to a director of a small theater in California.

Comment on this post

Harvesting memories

Posted at 10:16 AM on November 12, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Arts, Regional history

Posting will be a tad light this afternoon. I'm heading to a neat event at the Winnetka Learning Center Auditorium in New Hope for an event that screams News Cut. The Silvertones Harmonic Group -- a 22-person group I'm told -- is honoring several of its WWII members.from 1:30-3p.m. I'll try to have an audio slideshow up later today. 7940 55th Ave. N if you'd like to stop by and forget about politics for awhile.

Comment on this post

The outdoors amendment

Posted at 7:05 AM on November 10, 2008 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Arts, Politics

It's not unusual that voters sometimes go to the polls and don't know fully what they're voting on. A letter to the editor in this morning's Star Tribune reveals that there's still some confusion over the sales tax increase for cultural and outdoors programs in Minnesota.

"With solid passage of the 'MPR Tax,' one wonders if there will be fewer pledge drives in the future," Jay Kurtz of Rochester wrote.

MPR is not a recipient of the tax proceeds from the sales tax increase that is intended to fund outdoors and cultural programs.

The arts/outdoors amendment got very little debate, of course, because it was overshadowed by the races for president, Senate, and Congress. Local humorist James Lileks suggests we should decide what arts is before deciding who gets the cash, joking (I think) that one receipient might be "a performance artist who stands in the park swinging his arms for 168 hours to raise awareness about International Awareness Raising Day."

In any case, as Marianne Combs and Euan Kerr pointed out last week, it will be months before the organizations see a dime.

The general consensus is that about half of the money set aside for the arts will go to the Minnesota State Arts Board. The arts board funnels money to regional arts councils across the state, who then fund arts organizations in their region. The other half is expected to go to arts education as well as the preservation of historic and cultural sites, but nothing has been determined. This past year both Theatre de la Jeune Lune and the Minnesota Center for Photography closed, citing financial troubles. (Sen. Dick Cohen) Cohen said he hopes the money will offer stability to cherished Minnesota arts organizations that might otherwise be forced to shut their doors.

Today, Gov. Pawlenty will travel the state, announcing a jobs and economic development initiative for the 2009 Legislature. With the state running a huge budget deficit, it may add more pressure to the session, when legislators check under every couch cushion for loose change. The sales tax increase is meant to supplement state budget support for the outdoors and the arts. However, the temptation may be great for lawmakers to say to both constituencies, "you've got yours."

Comment on this post

Live-blogging: The music of politics

Posted at 9:21 AM on September 15, 2008 by Bob Collins (14 Comments)
Filed under: Arts

I've been a disgruntled music fan ever since Mercedes Benz used Janis Joplin's Mercedes Benz in an advertisement. It was just.... wrong.

Today on Midmorning (starting at 10 a.m.), Kerri Miller and the Current's Steve Seel, along with Eric Danton of the Hartford Courant, are going to talk about the music of politics. Barack Obama has appropriated Bruce Springsteen in this campaign (several of his songs on his latest album seemed intended to be lifted for the campaign). The Clintons, of course, made Fleetwood Mac totally unlistenable forever. Has Lee Greenwood recorded a hit since he recorded "Proud to be an American"? Has he had to?

Back in 1992, Ross Perot used Patsy Cline's "Crazy."

I'll be living blogging today's hour. I'm guess some of you will have good suggestions for possible campaign songs (I'm guessing most of them will be in jest), and great analysis. So don't let me down.

10:05 a.m. - Just kicking around songs in the studio before airtime. Romney used Presley's A Little Less Conversation and Kennedy used "High Hopes." Kerri opens show with "Don't Stop." If the Three Stooges were still alive, Fleetwood Mac would replace Niagra Falls.

10:08 a.m. - Kerri's question: What songs should the campaigns use to "rev people up"? I was just recalling the Democratic convention in Chicago in 1996. The Democrats brought in the cast of Rent to provide music. I never did figure out why.

10:11 a.m. - Question: Does music really make a difference? It's aimed at swing voters, Seel suggests. "How can you pick a song that appeals to one group of people and leave another group scratching their heads about the choice?"

10:13 a.m. - Do the words have to mean anything? Danton says "no, but they shouldn't detract." Uses Born in the USA as an example. The words are an indictment of the economy in Reagan's economy.

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
Im ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run aint got nowhere to go

10:15 a.m. Seel: Clinton used American Girl. "A gross mistake because it's a song about suicide."

t was kind of cold that night
She stood alone on her balcony
She could the cars roll by
Out on 441
Like waves crashin in the beach
And for one desperate moment there
He crept back in her memory
God its so painful
Something thats so close
And still so far out of reach

10:17 - Caller Sarah questions the use of Barracuda at the RNC in St. Paul after Palin's speech. When she thinks of McCain, she thinks of "18 and life."

Tequila in his heartbeat, his veins burned gasoline. It kept his motor running but it never kept him clean. They say he loved adventure, rickys the wild one. He married trouble and had a courtship with a gun. Bang bang shoot em up, the party never ends. You cant think of dying when the bottles your best friend

10:19 - Talking about using the song in venues and licensing fees and whether artists can refuse to allow campaigns to use songs. Danton says if there's music as background, that's covered by ASCAP/BMI licensing. But if campaigns use it in a more prominent say, the artist can refuse. Two different royalties are involved, he says.

10:22 Caller Taylor: Says he was one of the audio engineers at the RNC in St. Paul. He worked 5 weeks ahead of time preparing thngs. He was in charge of live music. The inside scoop: They hadn't made any choices to have any music at all but the pressure was so great from the Democrats so the jazz band that played all four days was only scheduled for one. They caught the band at the airport to come back and provide some music. The only other piece was the "Raisin' McCain" song by John Rich. He says the engineers wrote a song that will be available on whatsyourproblem.com. It's called "The Change." The URL doesn't work right now.

10:28 a.m. - Here's Eric Danton's blog. Top story: Britney Spears to release new album.

10:31 a.m. - I'm recalling the reaction on Twitter after Obama's speech. He played country music. Country music is practically owned by the Republican Party. Rolling Stone has a note about the choice; it didn't bother Brooks & Dunn, apparently. They were big Bush backers.

10:44 a.m. - Perhaps we can learn more about the candidates by the music they like. Here are the comparisons.

10:46 a.m. - Caller talks about how songs have become commodities. I wonder whether songwriters are writing songs specifically so they can be used in commercials.

10:49 a.m. - "What does Marvin Gaye say to you," Miller asks Seel.(It's on Obama's list of favorites). "A cry for unity," he says, after pointing out that the list of favorite music by politicians is probably not really their favorite music, but another pitch for a demographic. But if that's true, would you really name ABBA as your favorite?

10:53 a.m. Commenter asks if McCain know that Dancing Queen is about gay men? I'm not sure it is, the lyrics focus on a 17 year old girl, looking for a "king."

10:54 a.m. -- I'm surprised nobody has mentioned probably the longest-lasting campaign song in history, next to, perhaps Happy Days are Here Again.: Proud to be an American by Lee Greenwood.

Comment on this post

Off to camp

Posted at 9:48 AM on July 12, 2008 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Arts, Media, Tech

It's a beautiful day in St. Paul, so we're spending it indoors.

PublicRadio Camp is in session. MPR and MinneBar/MinneDemo pulled together the best-and-the-brightest from the online world, just to try an experiment on changing the way information is used.

High falutin' stuff, to be sure. And, like any experiment, it may succeed, it may fail, but ultimately something will come of it that may impact how you process information. The results may pop up on some of the more innovative Web sites.

The larger group has broken down into groups of various interests and they've been given a CD full of data -- audio of an unedited interview with a band on The Current, for example. Each group is kicking around ideas in such areas as user-generated content, political information, maps, using timelines, media sharing, laying content out in a different way, etc.

There are some Twitter feeds among the group members and I'll try to find a link to them.

In the meantime, stop back from time to time and see what they've come up with.

Updates

This group -- Jon Gordon and Julia Schrenkler of MPR are shown -- is noodling on user-generated content. Bruno Bornstein points out an important element of this. Media companies who want to do user-generated content, are going to have to "share the secret sauce," and give the audience -- you -- access to servers and content that traditionally companies have guarded. But when you think of it, what could be more public than that?

I was just with this group diagramming how a radio story is produced. Now we're talking about worldwide editing, and trying to figure out the challenge of meeting standards, without beating the creativity out of the author.

Note to self: Check with this group later.

This is the flaw of having your News Cutter telling you about this stuff. I'm decidedly not tech savvy. But these folks (above) are considering the power of metadata. They're talking about geocoding, for example. One of the notes on their board says "violent agreement." We'll check back.

update 10:45 Twitterers here (Tweeters?) include Andy Beger, the brains behind apps such as Select A Candidate (@thrym), @juliaschrenkler; Phil Wilson (@philson)

10:54 a.m. - This group has selected Neuvo Radio as its idea. I have nothing against radio, of course. I've been in it in one fashion or another for 35 or so years, but I long ago stopped thinking it was going to carve out a significant new role in the American media landscape. As one of this group's goals is "keeping/making the medium relevant," I'll keep an open mind.

But I bet what they come up with makes some use of online. We'll see. It's worth noting this group has -- at least for now -- the most members.

11:09 a.m. - The folks who were working on data have apparently merged with the "visualization group.

By the way, how would I feel with I were an old-school newsroom editor/executive? Not too good. We -- the societal "we" -- are just now beginning to recognize that "news" and "content" is becoming much more collaborative. "The people" have the tools and, for the most part, the knowledge. Traditional news media has said "we'll tell you what the news is when we've finished it." But those days are ending and it's alternately frightening and exciting to go through this change.

Take this blog, for example. And take last night's weather posts. It's run by a media company, of course, but it had no problem directing you to other media that had information (like that Willmar photo). That wouldn't have happened 5, 10 years ago; media companies were interested only in the content that they developed themselves. Now expand this a bit, and add non-traditional media sources. Voila!

Can standards of integrity and traditional journalistic values survive this? Of course. How? I don't know.

By the way, if you're looking for the model of today's event. You can read about it on the Minnov8 site.

11:27 a.m. -- Did I mention what a gorgeous day it is in Minnesota?

11:38 a.m. - One question I've been thinking about. How do you accomplish opening up this era of a more collaborative media environment, and not have it be more Twin Cities dominant. Outstate Minnesota -- possibly by choice -- is disconnected from this process as it exists now. Is it that outstate Minnesota isn't interested? Is it that the infrastructure doesn't exist. I think there are tons of stories outside of the Twin Cities and this process is perfect to get to them.

11:47 a.m. The "data" group has broken off from the "visualization" group again. I still don't know exactly where they're headed, but from the looks of things, it's going to be interesting.

I was just remarking to Phil Wilson (remaincomm) that this is the group that makes me think that if I'd paid more attention in school, I could've made something of myself. The gentleman in the black is Ivan Stegic, known on Twitter as @ten7. It takes 5 -- maybe 6 -- seconds of talking to him before you realize he's a genius.

12:26 p.m. We're wrapping up with a "science fair." The various groups are telling us what they came up with.

The "Fun with Data" group -- Says MPR needs an API (application programming interface). All of MPR's content and data could become available to all who desire it. The API would have a location, timerange and a keyword. People could use the API to develop applications surrounding MPR content.

"I think there's a lot of cool applications," Ivan said. "You could generate a cloud of words that describe content and the size of the words vary depending on their importance. You could draw a rectangle on a map and then see what all the words are for an area on a map that are important to that community. The API would reveal all of the relevant information. They could be articles or Twitter feeds. As you move a rectangle around on the map, the words would change."

Jon Gordon wonders whether MPR produces enough "localish" content to create geographic specific content. But with collaborative content, users could contribute to this. I
Bob notes: This is really an example of media companies are going to have to think in a new way -- that their content is part a whole, and not the whole.

User generated content - MPR is a "well-oiled journalism machine," so the idea is to give people tools to create content in general and, possibly, for MPR. The group went over the current process by which content is created, and analyzed where the collaborative point is. One big idea was creative copyediting. Also putting the editorial process into the hands of people, whether or not they contribute it to MPR. A key part of this is a how-to guide somewhere on the MPR site regarding how to write, produce, interview, edit etc. "It's franchising an idea," Julia Schrenkler said.

"There are a lot of things to think about in considering a story," Renee Schaefer said. What form does a story take? Is it better online? Different on the radio?

Part of this isn't really difficult. What if, for example, we simply told you -- the audience -- what stories we were working on and then asked for help. In some ways we do that now, but the editorial process happens behind closed doors.

Jason DeRusha is, perhaps, the media member doing this on a small scale now with his Good Question, segment.

If people were to contribute content to MPR -- or anyone else -- how do they get paid? Do they get paid? Maybe it's a different way of being a Public Radio member.

Where this process can make a difference, is the ability of the public to produce follow-up stories. Presently, we put out a story and then move on to another, but there's usually a wealth of information that comes back to us as a result of a story that should find its way almost immediately into another story.

Visualization group - If you're a regular blog reader, you've probably seen these applications (I think the NY Times does this) where a group of keywords get larger and smaller based on their importance. This group considered an idea where what people are talking about would make itself apparent online.

WCCO is doing something like this outside of its building in Minneapolis, with a series of projected words and such that change as the "tone" of the news changes.

This was demonstrated with something called "wordle."

So one of the people here created a version of this with colors. He took various MPR RSS feeds and found the words that occurred most often and assigned importance via colors.

These would change from minute to minute and hour to hour. Someone remarked this is the new version of the old "weather ball."

Here's an example of this sort of visualization:

code_swarm - Eclipse (short ver.) from Michael Ogawa on Vimeo.

This is called "code_swarm" that represents a collaborative software project, showing people involved and changes made.

Neuvo Radio group - Keeping radio relevant. The group says it morphed into opening up radio and production and distribution mechanisms to users to create their own content and disseminate that content.

Jon Gordon had a "radio coffee shop" idea where people could go not only to have coffee, but also to use computers and other equipment to create radio, which would then be broadcast. This is an easier process now with the advent of high-definition radio.

Phil Wilson outlined ideas for radio to become a more integrated member of the community. "What was interesting was we started talking about that could happen, and Jon and I joked about taking the 'dying medium of radio' and the 'dying industry of libraries' and putting them together."

Wilson says as they talked, they realize all of this comes down to more user involvement. Is the future of radio as a social media? "It has to be more controlled by the audience," he said.

Another idea was an audioi stream of some fashion from a place like MPR that people could download as raw information, and use it to create their own stories.

An example: the MPR series on University Avenue. It would've been even more relevant to people on University Avenue, one presenter said, if part of it were written by a resident. So why not make elements available to initiate that follow-up story. That's not to say the original wasn't relevant -- it was, to a wider audience.

Here's an interesting idea outlined by Wilson: Getting radio away from being enslaved by the clock. "Does Future Tense really need to be on at the same time every day? What if it moved around from day to day?"

It was a fascinating four or five hours and, ideally, will result in more noodling on the changing media around us. Perhaps we can start in the comments section below.

Update 2:54 p.m. At Julia Schrenkler's suggestion, I ran News Cut through wordle:

That would make a great coffee mug.

Not to throw water on things but on the way home today I remembered hearing a conversation in the newsroom this week. One person was asking another person what's the point of having text-messaging on a cellphone.

Comment on this post

Darkness on the edge of the E Street Band

Posted at 10:33 AM on April 19, 2008 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Arts, Icons

"Danny sends his best," Hall of Fame rocker Bruce Springsteen said at the beginning of his concert in St. Paul last month, "and he hopes to be back with us later in the tour."

But you had the feeling it was a comment borne more of hope than reality.

And, mostly, it was. On Thursday, Danny Federici, 58, who goes as far back with Springsteen as a non-blood relative can, died of skin cancer.

Says the Times:

Mr. Federici and Mr. Lopez started their own band and invited Mr. Springsteen to become a member. "This skinny guy with long hair and a ratty T-shirt was an incredible guitar player and a good singer, so we asked him to join," Mr. Federici once said.

One of the most compelling tributes to Federici, was written by local blogger Mitch Berg, on his blog "Shot in the Dark."

I'm no music expert, to be sure, so I am fascinated by the reminder of the extent to which a note soars above a word.

Chris Phillips, editor of the North Carolina-based Backstreets, a Springsteen fanzine, said Federici added to the mystique of the band.

"I've been listening to the live version of "You're Missing,' " Phillips said, "and it's a fine example of Max (Weinberg) hits the snare and Bruce points it over to Danny. And it's not that anything jawbreakingly technical is going on, but those notes Danny plays say as much or more than the lyrics. Sometimes he would bring that Jersey Shore sunshine part of the song, or maybe even some circus tones, but his music also was haunting at times, bringing in a whole different color to a song.

A video of Federici's last appearance with Springsteen -- four days after the St. Paul concert -- is on the Springsteen Web site.

Comment on this post