Category Archives: off the record

sometimes there’s just no categorizing

should britney be tasered?

can the media be trusted?

Between the primal scream “Leave Britney Alone!” and the primal duh! “Don’t Tase Me, Bro!” it’s clear the water’s a lot murkier when it comes to intellectual content these days. The screaming momos starring in both these YouTube hits are obviously twin sons of different mothers.

My alma mater is the University of Florida, so it’s understandable I’m a little miffed at seeing a journalism student – senior no less! – get the lead role in what looks more and more like a setup with the sole purpose of recasting Whitey as Rodney courtesy of the campus cops. During my stay in Gainesville, they were favorably compared to the Keystone Kops, for reasons obvious and otherwise.

As a communicator, it’s troubling when so much bandwidth is consumed eyeballing these whacked out vid bits – extreme street racing, anyone? – at a time when the majority of the population readily admits to virtually ignoring newspapers and of treating reading in general as something last practiced during Victorian times.

So what’s this doing on a powersports site? If we agree there are only so many moments during the waking hours for information to be consumed and interpreted, then it follows that with content like this on the buffet it’s less likely your message gets heard. Or viewed, as the case may be.

Right now there’s increasing concern over the rise in motorcycle fatalities, and a fair amount of disagreement as to cause. Industry leaders are pretty well informed on the subject though views vary. But we’re left wondering if the actual at large biking audience has any inkling there’s a serious discussion going on. Web forums notwithstanding, the issues that intersect our lives need to be communicated in a fair, accurate and efficient manner by those involved, for those involved. If not, it’ll be the realtor turned legislator who happens to hate bikes that’ll do it for us.

internet entertainment at risk – urgent

The Federal Trade Commission, in another spasm of stupidity rivaling the wardrobe malfunction punititive punishment crackdown on wayward nippledom, decided that all that great music streaming over the internet needed to be compensated.

So they came up with a lunatic royalty scheme that will effectively shut down the most original formats since the days of fm infancy come this July 15.

I think Clear Channel’s got ’em on the payroll. Whatever. If you’ve ever listened, and enjoyed, New Orleans WWOZ, Cal State’s K-Jazz or SKY.fm via your iTunes radio channel, then check out www.savenetradio.org for details. The countdown’s getting closer.

get checked early – while you can

Yesterday’s news about the passing of industry columnist and icon John Wyckoff over the weekend means one less qualified curmugeon to poke and prod powersport’s decision makers.

Mr. Wyckoff’s message never shied from revealing the lack of emporer’s clothing, and wasn’t remiss in acknowledging enlightened management practices either.

Most importantly, though, his final message may be to serve as a stark reminder to men about the importance of prostate exams and early treatment. His family asks that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Prostate Cancer Support Association of New Mexico. You can find out more about the disease by checking the Prostate Cancer Foundation’s web site.

This cancer is treatable, but only if detected. Use the web, read the literature and discuss with your doctor or urologist. Get tested, get examined, get informed.

the best damn football game ever?

yes, it certainly was

it's great to be a Florida gator!

BCS final: University of Florida 41 — Ohio State University 14

national champs times two

2006 Division I National Men’s Basketball Champs

2006 Division I National Football Champs

2006 Southeastern Conference Champs

it really is great to be a Florida Gator! Go Gators!

just faster than, not better than

I read today of another camera store closing, up in Cambridge circa 1955. Ferranti-Dege called it quits last month, and I’ll resist the temptation to label the passing as another victim of the digital (now nearly complete) revolution.

What struck a chord was that this article caught me slap in the middle of cleaning out my collection of haven’t been used since I don’t know when roll film cameras. Both 35mm and 120 format have been dug out from an inch-deep layer of dust, originally destined for eBay (I kid myself) but more likely Hospice, where someone else will list the items on Planet Auction.

What a rush of memories. Anyone out there nostalgic for a 17mm f4.0 wide angle, or as we knew it then, fish eye? My favorite over the years was a 35mm f2.8, which eventually became an extension of my thoughts and seemed to know where the action would be coming from next.

Auto aperature was the big deal. Focus was manual. Exposure was calculated and set. F-stops and shutter speeds. Natural light or artificial. Tungsten or strobe. Shots were considered, though the guys with the Canon 8-frames a second motor drives and a 250-exposure bulk magazine didn’t suffer.

I don’t recall what got me started in photography. Maybe the Kodak Hawkeye my grandfather gave me when I was 10, but it wasn’t until college when the bug really bit. Coincidentally that’s when SLRs became the rage, quickly elbowing out rangefinders and sheet film users as 35mm expanded the photographer base well beyond the snapshot threshold.

A huge part of the magic was what happened in the darkroom. I enjoyed the mechanics of threading a roll of b&w onto a developing reel, working in the dark, feeling your way. I still have my darkroom equipment, including an eight-roll Nikor tank that could develop, what, nearly 300 images at once?

Agitate, invert, wait a minute, repeat. Pour out the developer, pour in the stop bath, then fixer, then a 20-minute wash before being hung to dry. My darkroom world was perpetual red light.

Once dry the negs were cut into strips, proofed, then stored. All very Zen. Not like today. Insert memory card. Insert fresh batteries. Shoot away. Photoshop. Post online.

The article contains several quotes that accurately relate the camaraderie of pre-digital photography to the very much individual pursuit it’s become. Today I use a do-it-all point and shoot with built in zoom, menu driven exposure compensation, lighting prefs, and perhaps my favorite extra, a not too bad video mode. I enjoy the convenience. And I miss the discipline.