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Sunday, August 29, 2004 |
A September Sun
Upon moving to the Southwest in 1994
I discovered that
Even in the desert,
There still remains a September Sun
- G.S.
8:17:43 PM 
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Comments on Clerks (Via Skadz)
It seems like the theme on Mediaburn today is "1994". - G.S.
Clerks 2. From AP via News Askew:
LOS ANGELES - Kevin Smith is making another convenience store run.
The writer-director of "Dogma," "Chasing Amy" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" told the Associated Press on Friday that he has begun work on a sequel to "Clerks," his homemade indie classic from 1994.
I'm not really sure what I think of this. I loved Clerks, love it more every time I see, just so much to digest. So many little jokes that are just funny every time you see them (37!).
First off, Kevin had sadi J&SBSB was the final movie in the Jersey Trilogy (Yes, it was a 5 movie trilogy). He felt he didn't want to use those characters again. He said he made J&SBSB as a homage to the fans of the movies and as a final chapter. (Yes, I am paraphrasing). For these characters to come back so quickly worries me.
Second, they say this is going to be set 10 years after the first movie (and since Clerks X is out any day now, it really is 10 years). It also mentions in the release something along the lines of it being a movie about getting past your 20s and growing up. The reason Clerks is so good is because its about slacker 20 somethings sitting around bullshitting about life. If this is some sort of coming of age movie, it is going to ruin that piece of it.
The last thing I don't like is Kevin said he was inspired by the making of the 10th anniversary Clerks DVD. My worry here is that he is going to re-use a lot of material.
Kevin is one of my favorite writers and directors, but I just fear that if this is done wrong it could do bad things for his career. By skadz.com (Skadz). [Geeks, Guitars and Guinness]
7:43:52 PM
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Ten Years Gone, A Look at AT&T
YOU WILL. 
Click here to watch video
I was just chatting via IM to Doc who's out in the wilderness of California somewhere camping with his son. He was connecting his Mac to the Internet over Bluetooth via his new SonyEricsson mobile phone over an AT&T Wireless cellular link. The whole thing immediately reminded me of those old AT&T commercials - I even quoted it in the chat: "Ever send a FAX from the beach? YOU WILL."
As with all long lost memories of the past, they're actually out there on the internet somewhere. After some Googling, I learned that the ads were run in and around 1993/1994 (10 years ago) but sadly, I was able to track down only one commercial and it doesn't have the beach quote. It did, however, have the image that triggered my memory: the guy talking on his wrist phone at sunset out in the mountains in front of this huge cliff. "Ever recieve a call, on your wrist? YOU WILL." If you think about the size of mobile phones back in 1994, this was a pretty good stretch. (I've said not too long ago that I think the next big step is to cellular watches... but I digress).
One of the other things that I discovered was this press release from AT&T announcing YouWill.com. In 1994, I thought? My memory is a bit fuzzy about when the Internet actually hit mainstream, so that seemed early to me. Right around the time that Yahoo and Netscape were starting, I was in the transition from journalism into computers. So even though I pretty much started working in technology as soon as I left college, I was pretty clueless about the industry up until that moment. Someone who went to college for computer science would be completely aware of the web and CERN, etc. but I only have dim memories of messing with Gopher in college and reading about the World Wide Web (or WWW) in Wired Magazine. To me, it wasn't until Microsoft announced it was "going hardcore" about the Internet in 1995 before it arrived on my radar. Sad but true.
Anyways, you can glean *a lot* about the state of mind in 1994 by looking at that press release:
NEW YORK -- AT&T's YOU WILL(sm) ad campaign, which has captured the nation's attention in magazines, and on TV and radio for the past two years, has a new home in cyberspace. It's called "youwill.com."
The YOU WILL campaign, created by N W Ayer, New York, is now appearing on the Internet, where users not only can watch and listen to the award-winning ads on their computers, but also look at AT&T products, locate nearby AT&T Phone Centers and enter a sweepstakes to win a trip and prizes.
Featuring the voice of actor Tom Selleck, the YOU WILL campaign takes a whimsical look into the near-future when information technologies now being developed at AT&T will soon enhance the way people work, live and play.
For instance, have you ever renewed your drivers license at an ATM? Have you ever studied with a classmate thousands of miles away? Have you ever installed a phone on your wrist? "You will," say the ads, as they dramatize what technology can do for you. The various capabilities in the YOU WILL campaign are based on actual technologies under development by AT&T.
The new AT&T Internet site was created by Adam Curry, formerly of MTV, now an independent producer and head of OnRamp, Inc., a New York-based agency.
Internet "surfers" can access the youwill.com site directly through the Internet's most user-friendly multimedia resource, the World Wide Web (http://youwill.com/), via the popular Metaverse site (http://metaverse.com/) and through several well-known "What's New" lists, including:
* Stanford University's Yahoo Net Lists: Commercial Contests (http://akebono.stanford.edu/yahoo/Economy/Business/Corporations/Contests)
* Commercial Services on the Net (http://tns-www.lcs.mit.edu/commerce/whatsnew.html)
* Yellow Pages of Internet Commercial Sites (http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/DataSources/bySubject/Yellow/Overview.html)
* Global On-Line Directory (http://www.cityscape.co.uk/cgi-bin/srch2html?type=Any&Field=Business&Location=Any)
Site designed by Adam Curry? Nice. I love how they quote "surfers"... those crazy kids. Checking that original Yahoo! link and akebono is still up and running, which is sort of fun. (And links to Yahoo's history page which is also amusing). I guess it's "only" 10 years later, so I shouldn't be that surprised. But damn, that's a long time, really.
So okay, I want to find a complete list of the You Will stories! I've Googled this evening but haven't found much. Anyone got a resource? More videos? I'd love to see how far we've gotten. The video above starts with "Ever check out of the supermarket, a whole cart at a time?" We're not there yet, but with RFID tags taking over stores like Wal-Mart, we're getting pretty close. Teleconferencing may not be common, but it's definitely done. And though I haven't answered my wrist, I've answered phones while driving along on my Bluetooth headset which I have to say is pretty futuristic. I wonder if the guys who were doing the You Will ads were thinking 5, 10 or 20 years out? Are we ahead of their predictions or behind?
I know at the time I was expecting this stuff to happen the next year. Damn... we should be riding around in flying cars by now. ;-) But seriously, I'd love to see a new set of those ads, no? We're on the cutting edge of some really cool advancements... "Ever hold every word ever written in the palm of your hand? YOU WILL." That sort of thing...
-Russ
By russellbeattie.com. [Russell Beattie Notebook]
9:55:52 AM
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In North Carolina, News & Record Article on Weblogs
The News & Record puts the blog conference above the fold, B-1 -- the top local story of the day. Thanks very much.
Matt Williams covered the event, and he does a good job of summarizing the political portion of the program -- he apologized in advance for the limited scope and scale, but that's a reality when you are dealing with a quick turnaround in a Sunday newspaper.
N&R: "Pioneers in the burgeoning Weblog field met Saturday in Greensboro to discuss how the medium that contributed to Dean's emergence can have the same effect locally. With Weblogs, politicians, candidates and residents alike can challenge the typically one-way stream of information in a community and remake the media landscape, they said."
My only quibble is that he said the crowd was "about 50", I count 58 on this roster of people who actually showed up, which sounds more like "about 60" to me. [EdCone.com]
9:22:32 AM
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Dylan Goes to Bat
'The Bob Dylan Show' debuted August 6th in Cooperstown, New York, home of baseball's Hall of Fame. As part of the national pastime theme, Dylan will perform at 21 minor league baseball parks around the country and will be joined by Willie Nelson and the country swing band, Hot Club of Cowtown.
"What we aim to do with this tour," Dylan said, "is to hit the ball out of the park, touch all the bases and get home safely."
Dylan Tour Dates:
8/28 Sat Des Moines, IA Sec Taylor Stadium
8/29 Sun Sioux City, IA Lewis & Clark Park CANCELLED
8/29 Sun Rochester, MN Mayo Field
8/31 Tue Lincoln, NE Haymarket Park
9/1 Wed Wichita, KS Lawrence -Dumont Stadium
9/3 Fri Oklahoma City, OK SBC Bricktown Ballpark
9/4 Sat Kansas City, KS Community America Ballpark
Schedule via the News Section of http://www.AcousticStorm.com
8:57:15 AM
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© Copyright 2009 Gary Santoro.
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