went to Hannaford today and the Got milk-shake it up folk were there. There musta been 10 or 20 of em. Loitering about with no one to give milk to. I went up thinking I like milk and I like to have my picture taken. They also had this big ol Rolling Stone cover to stand in front of. So they said grab some milk. They had chocolate, strawberry, and a few other colors. No milk flavored milk though. I mentioned this and one very nice lady said well the vanilla is almost like milk only with a vanilla flavor.


OK... thanks I'll pass.

I did notice that the folk on their van only had white milk mustaches. Maybe they were all vanilla.

Created a new voice over demo last night. That was kinda fun but next time I think I'll use more than one track for background and voice.

Working on being an actor in Portland and Southern Maine. The public premier of Sidesitters is July 11. That should be fun and at 5 bux a ticket what a bargain.

Do blogs require insightful thought. Probably not. Do they require that you sit down and type for a few minutes each day? Well yes. Prove that you're alive. Blog.

Every time I go to Philip Greenspun's site I come away better. I should probably go there more often.

I was listening to something about influencers the other day. OK maybe months. It seems that there are only like 10 percent of people providing content as simple as this and therefore providing some influence. That's a little scary what's really scary is that not all of it is benign. But then that's why it's called influence.

TCAHF

What is Art

I was listening to NPR the other day and they were doing a piece on the Matthew Barney Installation, The Cremaster Cycle, at the Guggenheim in New York. They got comments from the people looking at the show. One lady said something like, "I like it just don't make me call it art. It's just a conglomeration of popular culture."

Excuse me? What is art if not a reflection of the artist's culture?

Artists don't appear out of a vacuum. They get their ideas from their lives. That they warp it a bit is what makes it interesting. Art is art because the artist says it is art.

The consumer's job is to decide what the art does or does not do for her. If she wants she can even pass judgement on it and call it good or bad art. Or better yet buy it! or not.

June Mesda NETpm

Went to the June NETpm at the Old Port Technology Center last night. A good time. Really got to thank Mesda and The Inferface Group for putting these things on. Find out about more events, user groups and an upcoming Central NETpm in Bangor at the Mesda events page.

Anyway, it was kinda misty and rainy so the outside porch at OPTC wasn't immediately utilized and the Interface offices were a tad crowded. As it turns out, both nature and a crowded room abhore a vaccuum. People soon drifted out onto the porch and equilibrium was achieved. Mark Ford showed up. He's not quite ready to annouce his summer plans but coolness will come from him very soon. Chatted with Dan Corwin. He's my goto java guy. I was talking with him about the palm-handspring merger. Chris Russell was there. I'm looking forward to his new software demo at the Mesda Maine Webmasters User Group on June 16. Zoe made an appearance. Always nice to see her. I'm working with her on her website. Be sure to preview her blog.

The Ratings

The Food 4.0 Pretty tasty. While it was limited to quesadilles, chicken fingers and some sort of open faced melt, the food did not run out and was quite yummy.

The Drinks 4.5 What can you say about a party right next door to a Brew Pub. Sebago Brewing Company supplied the beer, OPTC ale, which also did not run out. These guys do know how to do it right.

The Venue 4.1 OK so here's the thing, I really like the parties OPTC throws. I like the porch, I like the people, I like the food and drink. But I have to compare it to their annual Celebration of Business and Technology when they close off the street and have a little trade show along with the celebration and tons of people show up. So a 4.1 a good time highly recomended.

Afters at the Clown

The NETpm finished up at 7 and The Clown picked up from there with an outstanding art opening and wine tasting. This place is a triple threat, art gallery, wine celler and amazing antiques.

I must say my tastes tend to run to beer and abstract expressionism, plug for my art page here. So when I wandered into the gallery and saw some very nice cityscapes it was OK but I was a little disapointed. Further exploration presented me with some truly pleasent pieces by Philip Carlos Paratore. The juxtaposition of sharp angles around flowing colorscapes around a single horizontal line was stunning. Around the corner were some pieces that did with paint what I have been doing with cracks..

The wine was a tad dry for my taste but the last red was robust, a little fruity with a hint of smoke that was quite pleasing.

Worth the trouble of finding parking in Portland. Check it out when you're intown.