christophera_

I've been doing a lot of writing about Orkut and other social networking services on my a href="http://www.lifewithalacrity.com">professional blog</a> that may be of interest to my Live Journal friends:

• Dec 16: Evaluating Social Network Services


• Dec 18: Followup to Evaluating Social Network Services


• Jan 30: Too Many Social Network Services


• Jan 31: Insecurity at Orkut


• Feb 01: Followup on Orkut


• Feb 01: Confirmed Privacy Hole at Orkut


• Feb 03: My Advice to Social Networking Services

If you need an invite to Orkut, let me know.

I have some friends that are Buddhists, or are interested in the 'enlightenment' traditions that were inspired by the Buddha.

I found this site with a Mandelbrot Fractal set that looks like the Buddha to be quite fascinating and beautiful.

Complexification: Buddhabrot

I have a friend who throws a sort of reverse Superbowl party each year. They turn on the Tivo, go for a walk together, come back and just watch the commercials. Sounds like fun, as I'm not a big Superbowl fan either, but the commercials have become a "coming out" event for many new brands, companies, and movies.

In addition to missing the Janet Jackson fiasco during the Superbowl, I missed a number of good movie trailers, but I was sent links for one that looks very interesting.

Set in the late 19th century, monster hunter Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) is summoned to a mysterious land in East Europe to vanquish evil forces. Evil forces with names like Count Dracula, the Wolf Man, and Frankenstein's Monster. Assisting him once he gets there is Anna (Kate Beckinsale), the heir of a long-running family committed to hunting down and destroying Dracula. The movie gets its start as Dr. Van Helsing is hunting down a mysterious monster called Mr. Hyde who has some sort of tie to a chemist, Dr. Jekyll.

Movie Trailer

Video: A Look Inside 'Van Helsing'

I'm a bit concerned that it may be disappointing like the movie "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" was, but as it is by the director of "The Mummy" it might actually be quite a romp. I look forward to watching it.

I've moved my professional blog http://www.lifewithalacrity/ and I changed software to TypePad while I was doing it.

My last several posting are about the new Orkut social networking service -- I notice a number of Live Journal writers there. If you are a LJ user join http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=300, if you are a Skotos user join http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=2609 , and if you are an RPGnet user join http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=5766

I will be still using LJ for my non-business appropriate posts ;-)

Yesterday I watched the amazing Seven Fingers of the Hand Circus. There were parts of it that were so beautiful and meaningful that I cried.

I decided to go because 2 of the 7 members have a history with the Bay Area "Pickle's Family Circus" which was a fabulous intimate circus that disbanded about 10 years ago. I loved the Pickles Family Circus because it was "human" -- I found Cirque de Soleil to be too cold and almost unhuman. What do I mean by this? Cirque de Soleil's acts have a tendency to try to be high art -- to divorce themselves from real people and become unemotional pure images of beauty -- even the clown acts seem a bit 'alien' to me. Every act of Pickle's, in contrast, was more human, with smiles and grunts and real emotions.

My favorite Pickle's act was a pixie-sized contortionist clown climbing all over a large barrel-chested MC. He would try to push her to the floor and she would keep climbing up on him such that he never succeeds. In spite of his size (and audience expectation) the big MC would do some acrobatic things that you didn't think a big guy like that could do. This would go on for 3-4 minutes, starting with frustration of the MC and the clowning pixie, and changing to their mutual appreciation of their differences -- the athleticism and largeness of the MC, and the flexibility and smallness of the pixie.

Seven Fingers of the Hand was everything that I hoped for, and more. When we arrived, we were led down the side of the theatre and all of a sudden I noticed that it looked like we were were all being led backstage. We curve around and all of a sudden see an entrance -- maybe 5 foot tall requiring most of us to duck. We duck through and to our surprise, we are have walked through a fridgerator, and we are on the stage!

One of the 7 players welcomes us, and another offers random people a glass of tea as we walk across the stage to our seats. The stage is set like a city loft, with a tv, some couches, a bed, a bathtub and shower, a kitchen, and of course the fridgerator we entered through. On the stage, and chatting to members of the audience are the 7 cast members, all wearing comfortable looking white shorts or athletic and white t-shirts.

The audience arrives over 30 minutes and the 7 players act as if we are guests of their loft, serving some of us tea, chatting, sweeping the floor, etc.

Then as everyone is seated, a fabulous DJ (who besides being able to scratch can also sing and play various instruments) is introduced, and the show begins.

It is really difficult for me to describe the show itself -- there were over a dozen "acts" but they were all integrated together in such a way as to introduce the personalities and humanness of the players. I'll instead point you to these reviews which describe it better then I can.

However, I can talk about what moved me -- first off, there was of course the beauty and athleticism of the players. In particular, there was the double 'tissu' act, a solo by the contortionist Isabele Chasse, hanging from two red silk curtain 20 feet above the stage, while the DJ played music on the theme of temptation.

Next there was the intimacy -- the Palace of Fine Arts is not a small theatre, but it felt intimate because of the way we arrived there and the way they treated us. Entering through the refrigerator door reminded me of the way you enter a Japanese tea house -- it requires to to humble yourself and bow to enter the new space.

Finally, there was a subtle theme, not at all obvious, of the 'teamness' of the 7 players. This included playfullness, creative conflict, minor jealousy, admiration, copying -- all as if the players lived in this loft together, like a cast of Friends. We were witness this artificact of their collaboration as if we were part of the collaboration.

I'm disappointed that they are leaving the Bay Area in a few days so that I can get all my friends to go, but I hope to see them the next time they return to the Bay Area and will drag all of my friends along.

Every year M and I have a Solstice celebration at our home friends. This year, conveniently, the celestial solstice fell on Sunday evening, so the real solstice happened on the same day as our celebration.

In addition to candles, a fireplace, wonderful dinner and warm conversation, we do a couple of meditations ("You must make a void, release the old year, to allow the new year to come") and simple rituals (burning "5 things I wish to release"), and when those are done we read poetry or tell a story.

These were the two poems I read last night:

The Shortest Day
by Susan Cooper

And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!


Stillness
By James Elroy Flecker

When the words rustle no more,
And the last work's done,
When the bolt lies deep in the door,
And Fire, our Sun,
Falls on the dark-laned meadows of the floor;

When from the clock's last time to the next chime
Silence beats his drum,
And Space with gaunt grey eyes and her brother Time
Wheeling and whispering come,
She with the mould of form and he with the loom of rhyme,

Then twittering out in the night my thought-birds flee,
I am emptied of all my dreams:
I only hear Earth turning, only see
Ether's long bankless streams,
And only know I should drown if you
Laid not your hand on me.

I found via Chris at BoingBoing Blog the site Once More with Hobbits - A Lord of the Rings and Buffy: the Vampire Slayer Adventure.

I'm an unabashed fan of the Buffy: the Vampire Slayer Musical Episode, and though not a rabid fan of Lord of the Rings I do find both the book and the movie to be marvelous works.

So I can't resist a site with filk-style lyrics to the Buffy Musical:

ORC: I've been having a bad bad day
Come on Gimli put that axe away
I'm asking you please no!
You've my sincere apologies
You've got the killing expertise
You'll cut through my collar like cheese
I'm begging let me go!
You have got me on my knees
You could slaughter me with ease
I really hate those fucking trees

GIMLI:
Forty-two, Master Legolas!

or

GANDALF:
I've got a theory that it's the One Ring
Seed of Sauron's power forged in the Cracks of Doom

ARAGORN:
I've got a theory that I'm the True King
Ruling Gondor from Anfalas to the Anduin

ELROND:
I've got a theory we should work this out
Because the fate of Middle Earth
Is hanging still in doubt

I did a post on my professional blog on evaluating Ryse, Tribe.Net, LinkedIn, and Friendster -- of interest to my LiveJournal friends is that I talk a little bit about how LiveJournal's "friends" feature is a lot like the others.

LiveJournal has posted a bunch of demographic stats about its user-community -- the age distribution skew is fascinating.

Original info at LiveJournal.

I have a professional weblog at Life With Alacrity, but as I was adding entries there I realized that there were times when I wanted to add something that was less "professional". Thus I've decided to keep a separate blog here. Not sure how much I'll post here yet, but I anticipate it to be more frivolous.