Missing Link

An Army of One (Video)

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:56:56 -0600

I’ve been thinking a bit about this topic and decided to make it the maiden voyage of the videoblogging edition of my blog. There are tons of good ideas out there, lots of brilliance happening in the higher ed space. But how much of that thought is geared towards one person or small organizations?

I think there’s a penchant to believe that everyone is hearing everything that’s out there. That if we’re producing it and if the myriad of conferences out there are talking about it, that people are going to go home even at the smallest places and be able to implement all of these awesome ideas at a high level.

Of course, it doesn’t work that way. What does that mean for the tastemaker/thought leader types out there? I don’t really know, because most people have their own schools to worry about and despite all of the collegiality that goes on, things can be competitive to the point where only so much can be truly be shared.

Who I’m really targeting is all of those firms and startups out there who might trying to ship something or fulfill a need or close a gap. Having spent the majority (gah) of my career thus far in rural areas around the country, it’s become increasing apparent that there’s a low-to-mid range institutions that most of the top firms aren’t going to waste their time with and that smaller firms outside of their regions can’t get to because they don’t often know those people are there.

I am talking with my hands. But preferred you look at my posters.

minusgluten: Beef in Tagine sauce served on yellow rice, served...

Thu, 24 May 2012 11:57:59 -0600

minusgluten:

Beef in Tagine sauce served on yellow rice, served with Moroccan Mint tea.

“It” is fife and drum, an African take on colonial English...

Wed, 23 May 2012 11:41:58 -0600

“It” is fife and drum, an African take on colonial English marching songs, and one of the oldest forms of distinctly American music, played by the slaves of Jefferson’s Monticello and still played today — by one family, once a year, at this, one of the last of the traditional farm picnics celebrating the end of the growing season. I first met Tamke earlier in the day, before the sun had gone down, when the party was still getting going. He sat beside me on a hay bale, friendly-like, and struck up a conversation. He introduced me to his father, John, who sat nearby in a wheelchair, his left leg amputated above the knee due to the ravages of Agent Orange (and who has since died). After coming home from Vietnam, Tamke Sr. became a local judge. Back in those days, he told me, it was a point of family pride to “take care of the minorities,” and he reminisced about his grandfather bringing him outside, 50 or 60 years ago, to hear the drum call the field hands to the picnic.

Blues Travelers - Adam Fisher, NY Times

heysportsblog: It’s not a game until the coaches almost come to...

Tue, 22 May 2012 08:46:18 -0600

heysportsblog:

It’s not a game until the coaches almost come to blows.

Amen! (D’Angelo’s Back)

Tue, 22 May 2012 07:26:09 -0600

Amen! (D’Angelo’s Back):

longformorg:

A profile of the singer as he returns to the stage for the first time in a dozen years.
Amy Wallace | GQ | May 2012

Sometimes you’re just in the mood for Luther.

Sun, 20 May 2012 19:50:00 -0600

Sometimes you’re just in the mood for Luther.

heysportsblog: Farewell, Kerry Wood.

Fri, 18 May 2012 17:10:47 -0600

Your browser does not support iframes.

heysportsblog:

Farewell, Kerry Wood.

The Tallest Man on Earth - 1904 A new single! Looking forward to...

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:37:39 -0600

The Tallest Man on Earth - 1904

A new single! Looking forward to another album from him.

168 5th graders, 30 minutes to speak and me with a mic. What...

Thu, 17 May 2012 20:46:00 -0600

168 5th graders, 30 minutes to speak and me with a mic. What could possibly go wrong?

seanpadilla: Death Metal Angola trailer It’s as if it were a...

Thu, 17 May 2012 10:44:02 -0600

seanpadilla:

Death Metal Angola trailer

It’s as if it were a scream. A scream in revolt.

War ravaged and potentially the richest country in Africa, Angola is the epicenter of the African hardcore music scene. Sonia Ferreira and Wilker Flores live and breath rock and roll. They run and live in the Okutiuka orphanage in Huambo, Angola and have a dream. They are going to mount the first ever national rock concert, bringing together for the first time the best and the brightest in Angolan hardcore death metal, thrash metal and melodic death-core.

THIS HATH GIVEN ME EVERLASTING LIFE

Awesome x 1000

"She was very pretty, and the most important thing — all my life — was the fact that she was very..."

Thu, 17 May 2012 08:14:00 -0600

“

She was very pretty, and the most important thing — all my life — was the fact that she was very smart. What T&A do for most men, brains do for me. I’m addicted to intelligent women, I married intelligent women.

That’s all, really, I remember. I think she was very smart, very sensitive, and funny. I also enjoy a sense of humor in women. But she was primarily very intelligent, very smart, very sensitive, and that was really unique among all the girls that I knew.

I wouldn’t say she was a raging beauty, but she had a brain that was just most charming and insightful. And I fell in love with her. What’s a 14-year-old boy to do?

”

- An interview with Thom Steinbeck (via The Hairpin)

The live music slate so far this summer...

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:40:08 -0600

The Avett Brothers, Devotchka, Fiona Apple, Jessica Lea Mayfield, The Wooden Sky, Alabama Shakes, Neil Young (if you’re into that…) so far on the summer concert agenda.

"For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be...."

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:12:44 -0600

“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.”

- F. Scott Fitzgerald (via pretens)

How will you know if you’ve found me at last?‘Cause...

Sun, 13 May 2012 23:38:00 -0600

How will you know if you’ve found me at last?
‘Cause I’ll be the one, be the one, be the one
With my heart in my lap
I’m so tired
I’m so tired
And I wish I was the moon tonight

On the cusp of so many things that I’ve actually wanted, I look things now and realize more...

Sun, 13 May 2012 16:47:00 -0600

On the cusp of so many things that I’ve actually wanted, I look things now and realize more than ever the value of patience. For too long, I was sort of context to bide my time with whatever was around. I wanted what was there because it was better than having nothing. But the past few years have been an interesting test in not having what you want when you want it. Or getting it at all.

I think I finally get it. It’s hard to conceptualize that I kept dipping into the well of immediate results so often, but…I think where I am now spells it all out more loudly than any situation in the past. There is a reason for waiting for what you want. Even if it seems impossible. But more than just hoping for it, there’s actually doing what it takes to get it.

I’ve always been inclined to work towards what I want, but not every situation lends itself well to that. It’s not always about what you want, but when the timing is right.

For once, rather than come up with all of these mental reasons for why it won’t work, why it’s not going to happen, why it might be wrong and so forth…I’m going to try to drive myself further towards the stuff I actually want. It’s a process like anything, but…days go by and I realize how wrong this current life is, but if I don’t do anything to fix it, whose fault is it really?

Owning a gold mine is great, but only if you decide to use it for what it’s worth. Otherwise, it’s no better than collecting dust.

"If someone suggested the idea of public libraries now, they’d be considered insane. If you said you..."

Sun, 13 May 2012 12:08:10 -0600

“If someone suggested the idea of public libraries now, they’d be considered insane. If you said you were going to take a little bit of money from every taxpayer, buy a whole load of books and music and games, stick them on a shelf and tell everyone, ‘These are yours to borrow and all you’ve got to do is bring them back,’ they’d be laughed out of government.”

- Peter Collins, The Secret Life of Libraries

I think this all of the time that I’m glad we got all of these things bequeathed to us before someone decided they shouldn’t exist.

Michael Kiwanuka - Bones I guess I would leave this world...

Sun, 13 May 2012 09:08:00 -0600

Michael Kiwanuka - Bones

I guess I would leave this world alone
cause without you I’m just bones.

I hoped his album would sound this good. So so good.

"At what point does the experience of a person who picked up rap late get considered credible enough..."

Sat, 12 May 2012 12:01:20 -0600

“

At what point does the experience of a person who picked up rap late get considered credible enough for them to weigh in on their experience?

But for so many of these fans it turns into this contest of “I’m more rap than you.” Ok, congratulations here’s your merit badge. Now can we consider the topic at hand? Or write a substantive rebuttal about the legacy of nerds in rap to provide even more exegesis for those newbies who will inevitably be attracted to dive in thanks to an article like this?

”

- Reflecting on acceptance, geekdom & a love of hip-hop (via artisntreal)

My humble attempt at trying to unpack people’s criticisms of a not-so-bad article (except badly misconstrued) about geeks taking mainstream takeover of hip-hop. The thing that drives me nuts — and part of why I don’t even touch it — about rap criticism is these people who feel this reflexive need to overcorrect the rap narrative, as if hip-hop remains this hallowed cultural burial ground that’s nearly above reproach.

It’s fine to disagree, I just think their criticism completely missed the point.

"Texting and e-mail and posting let us present the self we want to be. This means we can edit. And if..."

Fri, 11 May 2012 12:21:34 -0600

“

Texting and e-mail and posting let us present the self we want to be. This means we can edit. And if we wish to, we can delete. Or retouch: the voice, the flesh, the face, the body. Not too much, not too little — just right.

Human relationships are rich; they’re messy and demanding. We have learned the habit of cleaning them up with technology. And the move from conversation to connection is part of this. But it’s a process in which we shortchange ourselves. Worse, it seems that over time we stop caring, we forget that there is a difference.

We are tempted to think that our little “sips” of online connection add up to a big gulp of real conversation. But they don’t. E-mail, Twitter, Facebook, all of these have their places — in politics, commerce, romance and friendship. But no matter how valuable, they do not substitute for conversation.

”

- The Flight From Conversation (via NYT)

"Paige, who plays second base at Mesa Prep, had to sit out two previous games against Our Lady of..."

Fri, 11 May 2012 08:52:00 -0600

“Paige, who plays second base at Mesa Prep, had to sit out two previous games against Our Lady of Sorrows out of respect for its beliefs. But having her miss the championship was not an option for Mesa Prep.”

- So rather than face a girl baseball player, due to their ‘beliefs’ this school forfeits the title game of their stupid charter school baseball association. The fact they even have a separate league is a joke to begin with, but then you have this silliness. I feel bad for the kid, I doubt it was a decision made by the team itself by rather by adults.

In their two previous games, you read correct…she sat those games out in deference to the other team.

Here’s the story.

(via heysportsblog)