From Maysville, Episode 15

'Nother episode of "From Maysville". In this episode we hang out in the studio with the awesomely unique and up and coming local band, Patchwork Soul. Great music, great fun. Check them out!

(Sorry about the audio feedback during the non-musical portions. Our board must have been fried.)

Check the blue wire

My internet connection has been going in and out all day. Old building, so I thought maybe it was something in the wires (sometimes it does this) and only paid it a mild frustration until it finally went kaput. I can only live without my connection for short bursts of time, so I'm like grrr. I'm thinking it's something in the settings so I spend an hour looking into that. Nope. Then I figure it's AT&T's fault–I hate AT&T as much as a vegetarian hates McDonalds. But before I go off on them, I pause and wonder, did I pay the bill this month? Can't call them and bitch if I have no moral high ground.

Tracie handles all that, so I call her. She says it's not due until March, but will call them anyway. I'm like cool, and do some offline work for awhile thinking it'd only be a few minutes. An hour later–'cause AT&T's customer service is like the fastest in the world–she says nope, we're all paid up, they said call tech support.

I mumble: They got me f-upped. I ain't callin' no tech support when they won't f-in' fix the f-in' wiring... All they're going to do is tell me to check the settings and I already did that... Blah, blah... Paying enough for it already... Blah, blah... AT&T sucks... AT and T... AT-AT... Star Wars... Lightsaber!... Gimme back my connection or I'll lightsaber ya mo' fo's!

Hmm, maybe it's this blue wire hanging out the back of my router? (Oops).

The funny thing is, that's my line. Whenever someone asks me why their computer isn't working (thinking I'm tech support), the first question I ask is "Is it plugged in?" I'm only half joking when I say it, because sometimes that's exactly the problem. I had a friend who works for Dell down in Lakeland, Florida. He was sent out on a support call and is paid $90 an hour, with billing set in one hour blocks whether he works a full hour or not. The call was to Orlando, one hour away ($90). Once he got there he realized they hadn't plugged it in, so he plugged it in for them ($90). Then he returned home ($90). $270 to plug the computer in. Nice.

The blue wire had come loose while wrestling with my dog near the computer earlier in the day. I plugged it back in, the internet worked, I lowered my lightsaber, and AT&T lived to see another day. I'll get them next time.

Translating disruptive innovation

A new exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art called "Design and the Elastic Mind" opens Feb. 24th. The exhibit explores how minds have adapted to the massive, often disruptive, changes occuring in science and technology in recent decades, changes that have challenged the dimensions of "time, space, matter, and individuality," and the role design plays in translating these developments into something consumable.

I like this quote from the exhibit summary:

One of design's most fundamental tasks is to stand between revolutions and life, and to help people deal with change. Designers have coped with these displacements by contributing thoughtful concepts that can provide guidance and ease as science and technology evolve... [The exhibit] focuses on designers' ability to grasp momentous changes in technology, science, and social mores, changes that will demand or reflect major adjustments in human behavior, and convert them into objects and systems that people understand and use... to translate disruptive innovation.

That's such an insightful way to put it, and it's exactly correct. The measure of a designer is their ability to translate disruptive innovation. I think I'll add that to my business card.

"Jeremy: A translator of disruptive innovation."

In case you're wondering where you'll be March 1st

The above is a graphic I did a couple of months ago for the band The Bad Words. I'm dropping it here for two reasons. The first is to remind you that it's your civic duty to go and see them at the Southgate House in Newport, KY (across the river from Cincinnati) on March 1st. They're playing the Prince Fest, proceeds of which support the Drew Campbell Memorial Fund. This is a great cause and one I feel strongly about, so do me a favor and show your support. I know a lot of you guys are up in Columbus or spread out through Northern Kentucky, but it's worth the drive. Check out those links, drop me an email if you need further details, and make sure you flash mob the Southgate House on March 1st. It's a great way to disprove your significant other's frequent assertion that you are incredibly lame.

The other reason I included the graphic is to make first mention of a new project I'm working on: hereisitbrokenhearted.com Don't ask, just stay tuned.

Words are flying out like endless rain into a paper cup

The local theater sucks and never plays anything interesting, so I had to wait for the video release of Across the Universe, a film I've been waiting for since seeing the trailer last summer. I watched it last night, and it instantly shot to the top of my list of favorites. I've always said that if they made a movie about me, I'd want it to look like a music video. I'd rather it look like this. Here's the blurb from Ebert:

Across the Universe, from director Julie Taymor, is a revolutionary rock musical that re-imagines America in the turbulent late-1960s, a time when battle lines were being drawn at home and abroad. When young dockworker Jude (Jim Sturgess) leaves Liverpool to find his estranged father in America, he is swept up by the waves of change that are re-shaping the nation. Jude falls in love with Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), a rich but sheltered American girl who joins the growing anti-war movement in New York's Greenwich Village. As the body count in Vietnam rises, political tensions at home spiral out of control and the star-crossed lovers find themselves in a psychedelic world gone mad. With a cameo by Bono, Across the Universe is "the kind of movie you watch again, like listening to a favorite album." (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times)

In case you didn't guess from the title, the movie is set (brilliantly) to the music of The Beatles. Here's one of the trailers:



And one of my favorite scenes (though just one of many):



I usually say go rent this movie. You should buy this one.

IM me if you're bored

My brother who lives in South Carolina talked me into switching to Windows Live Messenger since that's what he uses at work. I was previously a Skype guy for all my IM needs. So if anyone out there is bored and wants to chat (friends or interesting strangers), I'm on Live Messenger at jeremyparnell -at- live.com (replace the "-at-" with an "@" = hobo spam deterrent). I'll probably only run the messenger on my office computer, so if I'm "away" leave a message.