Category Archives: Media & Entertainment

Public-access Television

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“From about 1920 to 1945, radio developed into the first electronic mass medium, monopolizing “the airwaves” and defining, along with newspapers, magazines, and motion pictures, an entire generation of mass culture. About 1945 the appearance of television began to transform radio’s content and role.” (Britannica.com)

Someone would be considered special (cool?) if they even knew someone who had been “on television.” Today anyone with a mobile device can share video (live or recorded) with the world. Everyone is “on TV” or in a “movie.” But back around 1970 we had something called Public-access Television.

“Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels.” (Wikipedia)

Not long after cable TV came to the little town where I grew up, a local church invested in some recording equipment and began producing local programming.

I was a “radio announcer” (that was the job title back then) so I made a few –very embarrassing— appearances on Time for Talk.

Joshua Smith miniatures

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“Working at 1:20 scale, artist Joshua Smith builds in-depth works that capture the layered existences of urban environments in cities such as Hong Kong, Sydney, and Los Angeles. His miniature buildings showcase the details and detritus left by the diverse population of each city, bringing in elements of the city’s workers, inhabitants, and street artists.” (more»)


History Report

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From a brilliant essay in The New Yorker by Simon Rich:

“They met in College, which is a place people used to go to after high school to drink alcohol. […] Instead of matching with someone through a dating app and sending a series of nude photos to each other before eventually meeting up for sex, you would meet them in person, before doing anything else. This meant that when my Great-Grandparents went out for the first time, they had no idea what each other looked like naked.”

A note about the link above. Many (most) of my favorite magazines –New York Magazine, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker– are behind paywalls. So I finally gave in and subscribed to Apple News which gives me access to 300 publications for $13 a month. If you are a subscriber the link above will take you to the essay. If not? There’s no free ride. Sorry.

Talking books with ChatGPT

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I prompted ChatGPT to make a list of the ten best crime fiction writers of the last fifteen years. She (I opted for the female voice called ‘Sky’) left off a few of my favorites and we discussed them. At the 5:38 mark of this 6 minute chat, she makes reference to my interest in classic vehicles, communications and blogging. Topics which came up in earlier conversations. I still have goose bumps.

Age of Social Media Ending

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That’s the title of an article in The Atlantic back in 2022. It’s behind a paywall so I’ll share a few of my favorite excerpts (and a few thoughts). The piece is a year old so some of this might less (or more) relevant.

The reporter traces an evolution/devolution of “social networks” to “social media.”

Instead of facilitating the modest use of existing connections—largely for offline life (to organize a birthday party, say)—social software turned those connections into a latent broadcast channel. All at once, billions of people saw themselves as celebrities, pundits, and tastemakers.

Blogs (and bloglike services, such as Tumblr) [hosted] “musings” seen by few and engaged by fewer. In 2008, the Dutch media theorist Geert Lovink published a book about blogs and social networks whose title summarized their average reach: Zero Comments.

I was blogging long before social networks or media. And I read lots of blogs. I recall being…mystified?… by the idea of social media.

“social media,” a name so familiar that it has ceased to bear meaning. But two decades ago, that term didn’t exist. […] “…social networking became social media around 2009, between the introduction of the smartphone and the launch of Instagram. Instead of connection—forging latent ties to people and organizations we would mostly ignore—social media offered platforms through which people could publish content as widely as possible, well beyond their networks of immediate contacts. Social media turned you, me, and everyone into broadcasters (if aspirational ones).” […] The network, which had previously been used to establish and maintain relationships, becomes reinterpreted as a channel through which to broadcast.

As a one-time broadcaster (radio) I understand the appeal of reaching an audience.

Social media showed that everyone has the potential to reach a massive audience at low cost and high gain—and that potential gave many people the impression that they deserve such an audience.

I loved blogging. Still do. But damned few people ever read this blog. And I got even fewer comments. Disabled that feature years ago. “The rush of likes and shares felt so good because the age of zero comments felt so lonely.”

Drone view of corn harvest

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My buddy George has been flying drones —and using them to record video— pretty much since drones have been available for the consumer market. He has become quite proficient.

The video below –the work of Jack Dodson, a friend and client– is a fascinating look at the corn harvest (from combine to truck) on the Steck farm in the Missouri River Bottom near Jefferson City. The video was captured with the DJI Mavic 3 Pro Cine.