Ken vs. the City

Hey folks. I’m re-designing the site to make it more news-ish. I’ll be making the Zeitgeist more prominent and integrated with the rest of the blog. My goal is also to start posting some full-fledged articles related to journalism and new media.

Here’s a brief preview.

The big empty area on top will be for featured items (not sure what yet).

I’m still working on the design, so I won’t be posting much fro the next few weeks. So until the new site, here’s a music video to keep you entertained:

My friend John is one of the trumpet players.

Yesterday I spoke with artist Chevas Rolfe about art and its power to communicate across cultures.

I recorded it on Chevas’s Apple laptop because my Minidisk recorder said it had “not enough charge to record.” So nine episodes of Haven Nation so far and no two have been recorded with the exact same equipment.

I love doing interviews, especially live ones. You never know what’s going to happen, so it’s important to let the interviewee know exactly what you’ll be talking about beforehand. That way you’re both on the same page and they’re prepared if any robing questions you might ask. I usually send a list of primary questions a few days before, which is what I did for Chevas.

I decided to script the intro and outro to this episode so I could remember exactly what I wanted to say, explain a little bit about Chevas’s upcoming exhibition United Colors, and plug the Invisible Children documentary without forgetting where I was and having to record all over again. I tried to inflect naturally wherever I could, but I still think I sounds stiff in some places like an NPR radio voice. I want it to sound more casual.

Listen to the episode…
Visit the Haven Nation website…

Subscribe via RSS…
Subscribe via iTunes…

Um… yeah.

Dan Rather returned to TV in HDNet’s Dan Rather Reports, which debuted last night at 8pm. Too bad I don’t have HDTV.

Or maybe it’s a good thing. If you saw the broadcast, let me know what you thought.

Read more…

Dan’s new schedule…

I just discovered this video podcast where magician Marco Tempest does some amazing magic tricks with his cell phone camera. I am completely baffled by some of his illusions. In this video he appears to teleport from the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge to the Brooklyn shore in a matter of seconds.

You might have to watch that twice.

In another he places the cell phone camera in the trunk of a cab, closes it while still outside, and then opens the trunk from the inside and climbs out. Amazing!

See more…
Subscribe via RSS…
Subscribe via iTunes…

Here’s a brief diversion: a bunch of Get a Mac ads translated into French

I’m a firm believer in the assumption that people are “innocent until proven guilty.” I think it’s better to let a guilty man go free than to let an innocent man be condemned. I also believe that true justice is God’s alone. Maybe that’s why I always feel more compassion for the accused than I do for the victim.

There was one instance back home in Wisconsin where I was called in for jury duty. (Jury duty is probably one of the greatest tests of impartiality, logical thinking, and pure gut instinct an American can experience.) A fellow I went to high school with had been accused of sexual assault and serving alcohol to a minor. We also went to the same college, but this man was not my friend. I didn’t know him and had no contact with him whatsoever, so I could have been impartial if I wanted to. I had no idea if he was innocent or not, nor did I have a preconceived inkling towards one decision or the other.

But as I saw him sitting there next to his attorney on the bench, the only thing I could think about was the pressure he must be under and the despair he must be feeling, especially if he was innocent. So when the judge asked me if I could render an impartial decision, I said “no sir, I cannot.”

I heard later that the guy had been acquitted. And when I saw him later on at my five year high school reunion, he surprised me by walking up to me, throwing his arms around me, and giving me one of the heartiest thank-you’s I have ever received. And by his response I could tell that his days under the guillotine had been some of the darkest of his life.

My friend Brent at the e8s blog gives his thoughts on the whole Ted Haggard thing.

I’m upset that Haggard’s lack of transparency reinforces the prejudicial idea that all Christians are repressed individuals preaching a suffocating morality that goes against the free yearning of human nature.

I’m worried that the whole situation will make people more closed to the idea that Christ’s self-sacrifice liberates you by restoring your desires so they can be fulfilled in the deepest way, while moral liberalism simply enslaves you to your bodily deprivations, leaving you empty and unsatisfied.

Even without the bike, Lance is freaking fast.

This moving observational piece by correspondent Christopher Chivers in the New York Times this morning.

…“It was 7.62 millimeter,” he continued. “Armor piercing.”

He reached into his pocket and retrieved the bullet, which he had found. “The impact with the Kevlar stopped most of it,” he said. “But it tore through, hit his head, went through and came out.”…

…“His name was Lance Cpl. Colin Smith,” he said. “He said a prayer today right before we came out, too.”

“Every time before we go out, we say a prayer,” he said. “It is a prayer for serenity. It says a lot about things that do pertain to us in this kind of environment.”

The only sounds were Doc’s voice and the vehicle’s engine thrumming…

Read More…

Here’s an interview with the writer from the Mediabistro.