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Category: Alumni and other friends (Page 10 of 38)

Jones to Granada, Spain

Off to Granada on Monday/Tuesday for the Louis Round Wilson Knowledge Trust meetings. Jonathan Riehl sends these tips (Please add yours to the comments):

–The heart of the city is Plaza Nueva, at the foot of the hill leading up the Alhambra. Be sure to spend some time there at the outdoor cafes. The best place to get some really tasty food is, however, not outdoors. (Stick to beverages on the Plaza itself!) The street immediately *behind* the plaza (behind meaning away from the hill leading up to the Alhambra, which the plaza faces) features several restaurants that have great, cheap food. Look for the place with the huge barrels of sherry behind the bar…their assortments of tapas are hard to beat.

–When you tour the Alhambra, save some time to also walk further up the hill beyond the castle. There is only one road leading up, so you’ll see what I mean. Proceed on this road past the castle entrance and you’ll arrive (after no more than 10 minutes walking, steeply uphill) into an olive grove which abuts a small condo complex and–to your right–a phenomal overlook of the entire city; to your left the Sierra Nevada. There’s never anyone up there–could be trespassing, who knows; I’ve never run in to trouble…there is a very municipal-looking arboretum on the overlook, though come to think of it it’s always deserted…

–I’d advise you don’t bother with any tour groups going up into the Sacramonte, the “gypsy” part of town. Nowadays it’s mostly tourist traps and worse. Authentic flamenco is hard to come by, but one place I’d really recommend is the jazz club “Eshavira,” located just a few blocks from Plaza Nueva. Anyone around there will be able to direct you and it appears in some travel books. Local jazz artists and flamenco performers routinely stop in at all hours (mostly after midnight) — it’s hit or miss, but worth the shot.

–If you’re game for a formal Spanish meal (rabo de toro and such) the best place in town is the Rincon de Espana–also a few blocks from Pl. Nueva, on the street immediately behind the square housing the city municipal offices. Ask for it by name; it’s well known by the locals. No seatings before 9pm!

–There is a wonderful little wine bar also near Pl. Nueva–if you spot the car rental shot on the side of the plaza, the street leading up the hill from there leads to a small plaza where you’ll see a statue of a Moorish explorer. The wine bar is just a tad further up the hill and to the left from there. If you ask for the bar de vino, people will know where you’re headed. They have dozens of Spanish wines by the glass and, of course, tapas.

–If you continue up that street, you’ll eventually reach the Andalusian/Granada ministry of culture building, the ‘Casa de los Tiros’. The first floor of the building is a public (e.g. free) art gallery that features shows by local artists. I’ve seen some amazing exhibits there. Worth a visit.

–On the other side of town from Pl. Nueva and the Alhambra (all of a 20-30 minute walk) is the parque Garcia Lorca, a rather dull park, but Garcia Lorca’s house is worth the trip. Full of interesting relics.

The Laurel Hell – A novel in weekly installments

Warren Wilson alum Hillary Nelson has started publishing “The Laurel Hell” on her blog at the rate of one chapter per week. Do we have a blook and a Blooker cooking here?

The rain won’t come yet, not for a while, but Michael can smell it and can see it, miles away, a ragged shadow suspended from a blue thunderhead mounding so high it looks as though it reaches heaven. He thinks of a picture he once saw of a man opening a little door in the sky and sticking his head through. Michael can’t remember what was on the other side of that door.

The Ancient Way wins Horizon Interactive Award

The UNC Journalism and Mass Communication School produced The Ancient Way (hosted by ibiblio.org) was named top in their category for the Horizon Interactive Awards. Gabriel Dance, who worked with ibiblio.org, was in Galacia working on the project last summer and contributed to the project as did my collegues Rich Beckman, Pat Davidson, Alberto Cairo and Laura Ruel.

The judges said:

[G]reat use of video, photography, audio and a website. This site is more than an online magazine or news site… it is an experience. Visually it is well done. the navigation is simple and clean. The content speaks for itself.

We seem to be covering Spain pretty well. Galacia is in the Northwest of Iberia. I’ll be in the South next week in Granada. Just finished reading Washington Irving’s Alhambra and just received Ornament of the World from the conference organizers and have begun the Conquest of Granada also by Irving.

Smallwood Foundation to support Lyceum

ibiblio‘s Lyceum multi-user blogsphere got a boost from The Frances C. and William P. Smallwood Foundation of Fort Worth, Texas today. The Foundation awarded Lyceum a $25,000.00 gift through the UNC School of Information and Library Science to be used for promotion and stablization of the project. More details in an upcoming press release from the School.

To test drive Lyceum, visit the Demo site.

Thanks to Fred and especially to JJB for making Lyceum real!

Andy Ihnatko Cameo on NYTimes TV

Andy on NYTimes TV
NYTimes has started a video imbed on their newly redesigned home page. As I was checking out the funky little movie reviews, I also found Tech writer David Pogue’s Town Hall: The OS Wars. In this combo comedy/tech review, Pogue takes on questions about Apple’s Bookcamp. Suddenly there is Andy Ihnatko with a question via webcam. And not a bad question either. “Why will software folks keep on producing software for the Mac if every Mac can now run the Windows version?”
To see Andy and learn the answer visit the NYTimes FeedRoom and select Technology then David Pogue and look for Town Hall: The OS Wars. Sorry that the NYTimes makes it so difficult to get a single feed or to refer to it. Wait! Andy has a way that might get you there.

Two OSes? Why not three? and Why not the best?

ID writes: With Bootcamp, all my dreams have come true; I can run a crappy OS and a great OS on the same computer. But wait, with dual boot Linux/Win setups you could do that for years. And your great OS was even greater — well, it didn’t have the best interface but you really wanted command line anyway didn’t you?
The folks at OnMac.net have a wiki how-to for a Triple Boot via Bootcamp. Yes now you can have a crappy OS, a great OS with a great interface that’s not quite optomized for Intel yet, and the most wonderful OS with an interface that is getting better every day I swear.

Bright to be in Black

Goth is good for you. (Unless you read the BBC version of the New Scientist story). Compare the headlines: NS reads Goth subculture may protect vulnerable children whilst BBC says fearfully Goths ‘more likely to self-harm’. From Boing Boing.
Kristina alerts us to another Goth Success thread based on a German dissertation reported in The Independent as Don’t mock goths: future’s bright for the men and women in black (Note that this is in the Enjoyment Section, but is Marilyn Mason really too mainstream for Goths?) and The Guardian as I have seen the future – and it’s goth (includes the funny 10 telltale signs that your boss is a Goth).

Talking Japanese (Blooker)

J-WAVE Morning Logo
Just off the phone with Jon Kabira of J-WAVE‘s morning show in Tokyo about the Blooker, blogs and publishing. It was more than a bit odd to hear the Japanese translation and recap each time I paused. I should have learned from my experiences giving talks in Siberia and in Taiwan that very short answers with long pauses help the translator, but on the phone without physical cues that’s harder to pull off. I hope the listeners weren’t too distracted on their drives into work by my unusual, for them, accent.
There was a lot of fascination about the newness of the blook and of the Blooker. Listening I could hear how the very words, blook and Blooker, are difficult for non-English speakers even if they are extremely clear talking radio professionals.
There was enthusiasm for Julie and Julia and the story told there beyond the cooking and for the interactive nature of blogs and blooks. As near as I can tell, this part was of great interest.
I wish I could speak/understand Japanese; Jon was one of the better interviewers I’ve worked with (in part because of the good advance work by Kanae Hasegawa).

Documenting the American South wins Lincoln Award

Documenting the American South (hosted at ibiblio.org) was just named winner of the 2006 Electronic Lincoln Prize from Gettysburg College.

The $10,000 award is given for significant contribution in new media to scholarship about Abraham Lincoln, the American Civil War soldier, or a subject relating to the Civil War era.

“The winner of the Electronic Lincoln Prize proves that the historian’s work can be immensely improved if scholars move fully into the 21st Century,” said Gettysburg College Fluhrer Professor of Civil War Studies Gabor Boritt, who serves as chair of the Electronic Lincoln Prize.

Gettysburg College press release.

Madison County Project to be screened tomorrow

Donna singing - Madison County Project

Rob Roberts writes to let us know of a screening of the film he made with Martha King:

What: Madison County Project: Documenting the Sound, a documentary short about ballad singing and filmmaking in Madison County, NC
When: Wednesday April 12th at 4:00 pm
Where: Murphey Hall, room 104 on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus
More: Madison County Project examines the tradition of unaccompanied ballad singing in Madison County, North Carolina and how the works of documentary filmmakers, photographers, and academics have influenced that tradition. The story unfolds through the historical works of John Cohen, Rob Amberg, and Harvey Wang as well as the voices of today’s ballad singers such as Sheila Kay Adams, Donna Ray Norton, Denise Norton O’Sullivan, and DeeDee Norton Buckner. Filmed in North Carolina, Madison County Project has been selected for multiple regional festivals and academic conferences as well as winning the Audience Choice Award at the 2005 Asheville Film Festival.

Note: Madison County Project is also featured on the ibiblio-hosted Folkstreams.net and blogged at http://www.madisoncountyproject.org/ (also ibiblio-hosted).

Sally at Concert; Karen at Ohio; Fred at a different Ohio

Sally writes about the Roger Hannay Memorial Concert (I was there too, but she has a fine write up).
Karen keeps us up to date on the Ohio University Blogging Ethic Conference where she and Martin Kuhn were presenters.
Fred reports in via AIM from The International Digital Media and Arts Association and Miami University’s Center for Interactive Media Studies sponsored “< CODE > HumanSystems/DigitalBodies” Conference in Miami, Ohio.

Universal Digital Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

Just turned in answers for an email interview with Christian Hall of .Net (UK). Most were about the Blooker, but there were also a few about blogging in general. One question got me thinking (see below). What if every bit of Free Software carried the Universal Declaration of Human Rights within it? There are versions in over 300 languages so it could be truly viral in a good sense, discovered and read worldwide.

+4: How can blogger’s rights be improved?

i wish there were a way for technology to somehow embed the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights in every piece of software produced. even more
so i wish that every country might live by the principles therein.

http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/index.htm

Roger Hannay Memorial Concert – Sunday

Sally writes to remind us of our neighbor, Roger Hannay’s memorial concert tomorrow:

As announced in the Chapel Hill News on Wednesday,

“A concert celebrating the life of Roger Hannay will be presented at 2 p.m. April 9 in Hill Hall. Hannay, a composer and professor at UNC, died in January at age 75.

“The concert will be a retrospective of his compositions from 1947 to 2005. Admission will be free, and a reception will follow the concert.”

Janet’s daughter Dawn has worked hard to make this concert a reality. I’m sure it will be wonderful, and I hope to see some of you there.

Season of Peeps

Pink Peeps of WikipediaAs Easter approaches, I am reminded that we are in High Season for Peeps.

Dr. Fun has done a great job on Peeps humor over the years.

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