A Bit of Groveling, and Then Giraffe Charades

You're far too lovely, and I've been neglecting you for far too long, dear Interblogiversinet. I could excuse myself, but - say it with me - there's no excuse for me. 

So instead of excuses, I present you the best gift I know: Eddie Izzard miming a giraffe eating leaves. Because nothing in this world makes me happier. And that's what I got to see this weekend, with two of my favorite people and a splendid bottle of Sancerre, and despite the fact that I was breaking out into full-body hives, it was wonderful.

(What you need to know in order for all of this to make sense: the only noise giraffes can make is a cough, tigers are not native to Africa, Rennie Mackintosh chairs have very high backs, and I am apparently allergic to carpet cleaning.)

Serious content, you ask? Coherent sentences? Content with a point? Where is all that, you ask?

Dear Internet, do you not know that it's summer? And it's hot? Particularly if you're airing whatever itch-making chemicals remain in the lovely home that's about to be yours, so you've got all the windows open and the air conditioning off?

Serious content in time. Meanwhile, go make mama a margarita. There's a good Internet.

Social Media Friday: Bits and Bobs

I really have to clean up my post tags. I’m not looking forward to it. Sigh.

. . .

So after over a year trying, I may finally be figuring out the point of Twitter. Sometimes, yeah, (like this morning) it’s trying to get songs stuck in people’s heads. Sharing links or catching up or being silly. But sometimes you do see the implications of the ability to share quick information broadly, instantly, wherever. Wednesday a USAir passenger claimed he had a bomb - and a passenger Twittered it. How will this change what we call breaking news? It's going to be wild to see how wide-ranging the implications will be.

. . .

As companies slowly wrap their brains (and budgets) around social media, it’s interesting to see the acknowledgment of effort. Honestly trying gets appreciated, while being disingenuous gets called out. The J&J Camp Baby debacle – scheduling a mommyblogger gathering concurrent to BlogHer, and then not making accommodations for kids – has gotten plenty of scorn, but seems to have been understood as mostly a mistake borne of ignorance and awkwardness in an honest effort. Unlike, for instance, the fake WalMart/Edelman blog, which in my opinion was worse. I think the problem is laziness - when you try to use old-media tactics, it's going to be painfully obvious. Think like people, not like companies... and go from there.

. . .

Brian Solis talks about how social media are evolving to distribute conversations. So news might start with a blog post, that gets commented on, that gets Twittered about, that gets other blogs linking to it, which get commented on… etc. Yes, obviously. The point? Well, for starters, I realize that media reports are going to be rapidly more useless. Unless and until the semantic web makes terms more cross-platform searchable. And, of course, I realize this while writing… a media report. Oooh, the irony, she is palpable.

. . .

Finally, I wonder, is it greedy to want rather desparately to see Patrick Stewart on stage yet again when I’ve already seen him in The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, The Tempest and King Lear? It is, isn't it? Hm. Well. I guess you can just call me greedy.

. . .

By the way, Maria, go read Embers.

Weekly Roundup: Monsters, Songsters, Actors, Flacks. and Tech Support

• Public relations is mostly just about being real. A breakthrough, that.
• Patrick Stewart as Macbeth? Ooooh, yes please.
  
• In Japan, March 3 is Girls' Day, or Hina-matsuri - "hina" meaning girl or princess. March 3 is my birthday, and "Sarah" means princess. (No point. I just liked that.) Also, Ronan Keating and I share a birthday. In addition to our soulmate connection, of course. (I digress.)
  
• Cookie Monster on NPR. Fabulous.
• flickrvision and twittervision. Totally addictive mashups.
• Sirens magazine. Biting, funny, true.
  
• Running iTunes off an external hard drive is not working for me. I am afraid to investigate further tonight, but it appears the library is suddenly missing all kinds of random songs... again. If I have to copy the whole thing over from the backup external... again... I shall be displeased. It takes days to sort out the duplicates. Drop me a note if you can help/commiserate.
  

Sometimes You Don't Need a Remix

I didn't know about this till it was over, but apparently something called "Rent Remixed" played in London for almost five months, ending a few weeks ago.

And from what I can tell, it wasn't nearly a short enough run.

Mark, ripping off his Abercrombie shirt at the end of "La Vie Boheme" to show his six-pack? An Angel who doesn't wear drag? A white Joanne? Mimi doing "Out Tonight" as a burlesque with backup dancers?

I know Rent just didn't work in London originally. I saw it twice there, and it was all American tourists. It's just too New York of a story to last anywhere else.

(Although - to digress for a little story - and Karen can back me up - closing night in London was unbelievably moving. Mimi stayed onstage as the lights came up, and did a sad little dance in the center spotlight, holding her hands up to catch the end of the snow falling down on her. And then, outside, the cast looked down on Shaftesbury Avenue from their dressing room windows, while the audience poured out into the street and, impromptu, sang "Seasons of Love" up to them. It still gives me chills just to think about it. Brrr.)

But to do this to the show? I won't go all melodramatic and call it blasphemy. People liked it, and it's cool that that they had a general admission offer. And I thought the movie was pretty bad, too, so clearly I'm an old grump.

But why couldn't they all just have left the original alone? Yes, it's an early-90's period piece now. What's wrong with that?