Think Globally...Act Locally

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Five Card Story: Think Globally...Act Locally!

Until each and everyone of us is willing to take responsibility for the world around us, we will continue to witness the extinction of the entire planet, one species at a time.

Creating a story from random images in Flickr is an interesting exercise.  It took me a few tries to get one that actually made sense.  This particular set of images is somewhat depressing, but I had to use the image of the horse because it was so compelling.  The picture of the plastic dinosaur is almost comical but it allows me to insert the concept of extinction into the story.  And it is comical to think that because of our own stupid actions, we are destroying the planet.  A good way to get the creative juices flowing.  Try one for yourself using this link....http://5card.cogdogblog.com//play.php?suit=5card

a Five Card Flickr story created by Cathleen Nardi

Until each and everyone of us is willing...

flickr photo by bionicteaching

to take responsibility

flickr photo by bionicteaching

we will continue to witness the extinction

flickr photo by keepps


of the entire planet,

flickr photo by Serenae

one species at a time.

flickr photo by Serenae

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Chrysalis

In Week 2 of DS106 Bootcamp, Gardner Campbell encourages us to become architects of our own digital lives.

I spent the week "breaking ground."  I worked on a new image for my blog, I looked for new blogs to follow, I assembled the arsenal of digital tools that I will need to erect this "CyberInfrastructure."  I am not looking for a digital face lift, I am looking to add a digital voice to my digital identity. 

That's where I got stuck.  I wanted to reflect on the past week and all I could do was assemble the words of others. I tried weaving them together in a narrative, but it didn't sound right.  And then, I found this remix from Tom Woodward and I realized that this is exactly the piece that I was missing in 
the digital literacy puzzle: remix, redesign and reinterpret what I have learned 
so that it has meaning for me.

So, here is my attempt to recreate what I learned this week.  Week 3, bring it on!

I selected this image of the alphabet by Norwegian photographer Kjell Sandved, because of the concept of the emergent chrysalis.  My friend, Cheryl Arnett had one set up in her classroom this month for the beginning of the school year.  Her young students were fascinated when the butterfly emerged from its cocoon.  I imagine my digital voice emerging in this way.

"Technology amplifies the recursive practices of narrating, curating & sharing.  You need to learn how to control feedback."

Digital lessons learned:

Embed, Embed, Embed

Link to a Certain Time in a YouTube Video

Creating Animated GIFs with MPEG Streamclip and GIMP

Adding Labels to Blogger

Adding a Twitter Feed to Blogger

Post from Blogger Direct to Google+

Every Refrigerator Tells a Story

tdc#609:  Fridges are Cool! Make an image that shows how hip a refrigerator can be

Ok, I'm not sure if it is cool, but I thought the transparent image of the front door and the inside of the fridge was pretty neat, IMHO.  It also gives me a chance to practice with layers.

If you look closely, you can see the pictures that my granddaughter Sophie drew for me.  The picture on the left is of the spider that lives outside the dining room window.  When she asked me what I should draw, I said, why don't you draw Charlotte?

As I get more adept with the software, I realize that I could make both pictures the same size so that they overlay directly over the picture.  I was going to try and do this, but I realize that I haven't written my weekly summary, so there's always next time!

The Hills Are Alive...with Animated Gifs

Make an animated gif from your favorite/least favorite movie capturing the essence of a key scene. (Make sure the movement is minimal but essential).

I didn't really want to do this exercise until my Frainger Ary Aranguiz told us she was hooked and posted 3 in a row.  Another DS106er asked why all the fuss about animated GIFs.  It was Alan Levine's response and Jim Groom's detailed instructions that won me over.

"Why is there such a focus on GIF animation? Do they really hold that much potential as a tool for communication or art form? Should I spend my time trying to learn this? I can, probably, get the tech...but Why?"

"But when you go through a mindful process-- identifying a subtle piece of the world to isolate, or a moment/character in a film, it gets interesting. I am curious how people develop a sense for what might make a good GIF (I have some ideas). But for a film clip, it is this great reductionist process to extract a few seconds form a larger work, focus it down to a short video clip, then import into Photoshop/GIMP, and reduce it even more to a number of frames, and reduce it even ore to emphasize the moment, or reduce the file size..And when you get to the point of being able to isolate movement to just a small portion of a frame rather than just flipping them like cards.. well you have arrive IMHO to an artful process."

I selected the classic Sound of Music for my project.  I saw the film when I was about 7 years old. I try to watch it at least once every year.  I know every song, and I always cry.  I even saw the picture when I was in Salzberg, Austria at a guesthouse.  Their idea of afternoon tea was to offer wine and cheese and play the Sound of Music.

When I reread the instructions, (Make sure movement is minimal but essential -- and Jim Grooms recommendation to not exceed 10 frames), I simply could not clip her midway through the line.  The result is 19 frames and you get the ALIVE.

For me, this particular scene says it all.  In fact, what she is really saying is "Yeah.  I completed my first animated GIF!"

Imagine Whirled Peas

TDC #605:  Can you find calm in chaos or the opposite, take a photo.

I came up with this idea right after the Senate committee approved the resolution authorizing U.S. strike on Syria.  I am also the primary caregiver for my 98 year old mother-in-law who has dementia.  Often times she gets frustrated and angry with me.  In order to maintain my sense of humor, this is how I imagine her brain.  The Buddha is holding kyanite, a crystal that has a calming effect.

I borrowed the background image from yowzers.com.  I hope that is ok for a newbie.  Perhaps I can learn how to whirl peas through #ds106.

The concept was easy, the execution was more difficult.  I do not have Adobe Photoshop, so I downloaded ArtWeaver, which is very similar.  I managed to learn a little more about layering, which I can see is a must have for #ds106.

In the immortal words of John Lennon...

(Note:  I also learned how to embed a video in Blogger!)

What Does Your Key Chain Say About You?

Who would have thought your key chain could tell a story....

Participating in DS106 in GMT-10 is a bit daunting.  Even though I am an early riser, by the time I look at the Daily Creates, there are already several posted.  Not wanting to influence my ideas, I wait until I have finished uploading my image/video, and then enjoy watching the others.  Not this time.

I must say that I never thought about the story my key chain tells, but a story it does tell.

My analytic brain immediately thought video and so I decided to use Vimeo to assemble it, as it has the ability to add both sound (narration and sfx) as well as still images.  I shot each element of the key chain and then recorded narration for each segment.  Editing in Vimeo is easy, unless you add a still picture (or maybe there is a length limitation).  Not sure which, but I finally gave up on my last "closing" slide, and posted the video, as I had already exceeded the recommended 20 minutes.   Of course, I  forgot to put tdc603 in the title so it won't appear in the feed.  Did I mention that the images were poor?

Later in the day, I had the opportunity to view other videos -- and realized that I took a very simple task and made it exceedingly complex.  Damn.  I could have just used my phone (better camera) and told the story. Duh! So, what did I do?  I did the whole thing over in 5 minutes (not including upload time).  The result is below.  

On the plus side, I now feel like a pro with the Vimeo video editor.  Still unable to load directly from my phone to YouTube, but that is another story.....

Elegant in its Simplicity

This orchid sits in my kitchen window.  I removed the background using Clipping Magic.  Nature, for me, is the most elegant that any 21st Century gadget will ever be.