So what's so cool about an outline?

It hierarchically structures information. In an outline I can create a heading and under that heading I can put a world of information. And then I can collapse the heading and all the information under it is tucked away for safe keeping. The heading is all I need to remind myself that I have more information waiting for me. If I need to get to the information, I can just pop open the heading and there it is....[transcendental petroglyphs]

This is one that I've had problems with for a long time. I've never consciously used outliners much. At the same time I create things that functionally ARE outlines all the time, only now am I really getting into dropping stuff into outlines.

To his listed reasons, I'll add another: Interoperability. (My God that was in the spellchecker in Mac OS X :))

Someone who has stuff in an outline can give me their stuff, and I can reorganize it so it makes sense to me a lot more easily. Dunno, whether it's right, but it's how I've been using it, which makes it right for me.
10:33:34 PM     Discuss: []


Final Thought

At what point should I make the longer weblog entries into stories with radio? Hmm.... Great just what I needed, editorial decision making. :)
9:55:01 PM     Discuss: []


Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money...

Ok, I can't resist. A Warren Zevon Story;
J and I were on our way to see the last performance of Oingo Boingo in Boston. We were walking by the Charles River, over by the hatch, and some free concert series thing is going on, and who do I hear them announcing but Warren Zevon?

Ok, so I figure we can stop for a couple of songs and still make Boingo. Warrens up on the stage, belting out songs, and I notice the clouds.

"Ok, we can still make Boingo, it'll start raining, and we're outta when Warren splits."

It starts raining...and raining. What's Warren doing? I'll tell you; he's standing on an open-air stage, in pouring rain, going full throttle, playing his guitar, singing at the sky.

This is not some guy in a start up band. Gotta figure he's pretty well off, he's well known, tons of records, it's a free concert, why the fuck is he standing up there still going? His back-up guys have all pulled back and are under the back stage overhang.

That's a fucking musician.

And that's why I missed Oingo Boingo's last show. It was worth it.
9:52:30 PM     Discuss: []


"Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?

Song for today/this week is by The Ramones. I just retitled one of my earlier posts about Internet Radio in honor of that song, as I had meant to when I wrote it.

This song is replacing the song "The Envoy" by Warren Zevon, which is just one of a the damndest songs I've ever heard. I mean, how on earth do you decide to write a song about envoys? I mean, "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" even makes more sense. Horrifyingly, it's an awesome song.
9:36:44 PM     Discuss: []


What's not to get?

Apparently there's some to-do about a cartoon that Ted Rall wrote about the "Widows of 9-11." Answering it is a Salon article. What the person writing this is missing is that the News Media is not here to console you.

They're not there to report the news anymore either. They are colour commentary. Their job is to ask "So, what were you thinking as you heard your husband plow into the ground just before his cell-phone broke?" because they have a subtext that they're certainly not going to say;

"If I can make you cry, without it looking like I made you cry, I get viewers, and maybe a Pulitzer."

"Tell me, sweetheart, what were you thinking when you saw the man cut off your daddy's head?"

"What?" said Brenda, startled.

"It's the basic 'Atrocity 101' question, the one that they don't teach you in journalism school. All of our questions, no matter how delicately phrased boil down to that. We're looking for that ineffable moment when the first tear glistens. That's gold, and you'd better learn to mine it."

"I don't think that's true." replied Brenda.

"Then you'll never be a great reporter."

-John Varley Steel Beach
8:30:25 PM     Discuss: []