Madness Factor

My goodness, there sure are a lot of month-long challenges for artists out there! The comments following this RPM Challenge-related post at Slashdot mention yet another one: February Album Writing Month.

Maybe these online contests could be considered the poor artist’s retreat, say, if you’re seeking inspiration and community but can’t afford — or don’t have the educational background for — Yaddo? Even though I failed at completing NaNoWriMo twice, I admit I did enjoy the sense of community the contest created, and because of the support, I did write every day. Not enough words, mind you, but still…

When I first heard about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), I thought it was the kick in the ass I needed to finally write that novel. The first time I participated, I came within just a couple hundred words — or fewer, I can’t remember — of “winning,” or writing 50,000 words. During my second tour of duty on NaNoWriMo, I  learned about NaSoAlMo, National Solo Album Month, which challenges participants to record an album in a month, and like NaNoWriMo, occurs in November. While failing miserably at my second attempt at NaNoWriMo, I lamented that I hadn’t heard of NaSoAlMo until after I’d committed to NaNoWriMo — surely, I would have had success recording an album in a month.

Well, a post at MeFi just turned me on to the RPM Challenge, which like NaSoAlMo, encourages you to record an album in a month… Except the folks behind this challenge have chosen the shortest month of the year for you to try and accomplish the daunting task of writing and recording an entire album. I participated in neither NaNoWriMo nor NaSoAlMo last November, but maybe I’m just masochistic enough to take part in RPM Challenge.

Or maybe I’ll just come up with and participate in my own contest: NaDeMoLoChaMo — National Devise Month Long Challlenges Month.

The Apple iPhone has been the talk of the web — and beyond — since it was announced at Macworld January 9. Vermonters will just have to look on in envy as hipsters around the country get to enjoy this much-hyped — and incredibly costly — gadget, ’cause service for it won’t be available in the Green Mountain state. Read the article in the Burlington Free Press here.

I don’t normally like to help advertising agencies do their job unless I genuinely love the product they’re pushing. I have no opinion on the product being pushed in this ad — I have never used it — but I felt it warranted making an exception to my rule. Watch the spot below and you’ll see why. Pure genius.

If it’s seasonal variety I want, maybe I should just stay in Seattle — we’re getting more snow than Vermont! (Hmmm… can you say “global warming”?) Forecasters predicted a storm for yesterday morning, but the brunt of it ended up hitting yesterday afternoon. Fortunately, unlike last time, I left work before it got too bad, and I was not among the many, many motorists who were forced to abandon their cars because the ice would let them go no further. There was still plenty of ice on the roads this morning, so I worked from home today. I took a short break to romp with the pooch about mid-afternoon, and snapped the picture above.

In other tangentially related news, the Federal Way, WA school board is populated by spineless schmoes. From the article in the Seattle PI:

After a parent who supports the teaching of creationism and opposes sex education complained about [An Inconvenient Truth], the Federal Way School Board on Tuesday placed what it labeled a moratorium on showing the film. … School Board members adopted a three-point policy that says teachers who want to show the movie must ensure that a “credible, legitimate opposing view will be presented,” that they must get the OK of the principal and the superintendent, and that any teachers who have shown the film must now present an “opposing view.”

Y’know, ’cause what does science prove, anyway? Every one of those school board members should be forced to watch The Denial Machine to see where these “opposing views” are coming from — the views of “scientists” who are funded by gas and oil companies, and who haven’t published a study in a scientific journal in decades, can hardly be classified as “credible” or “legitimate.” After the screening, the school board members should grow a f*cking backbone, and tell that parent where to stick his or her complaints.

Another article in today’s PI says global warming will “cost the state millions of dollars in higher prices and remedial measures.” No mention of an “opposing view.”

The news just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?