Writing

Taking a break from the world today…

September 18, 2012 by Jeff Moriarty Leave a Comment

There are many different types of vacations. My personality tends to favor the Go Somewhere To Do And See As Much As You Can vacation. On these trips I factor in some time to actually enjoy things, but there’s still a plan in place to make sure we get to the right places at the right time and see everything we wanted to. Even that enjoyment time is in the schedule.

The type of vacation I need more often, and finally got last week, was the Disconnect And Reboot Your Brain vacation.

A disconnection vacation is more about taking a break and realigning yourself than seeing the sights. It’s tougher to do in our world of constant connectivity and working vacations, but I think that makes it even more essential.

It’s when an athlete rests that his body heals and grows stronger. It’s when an instrument takes a pause that you hear notes instead of a screech.

Disconnecting gadgets and habits

This past week I was able to get away almost entirely up to some cabins in Oak Creek Canyon outside of Sedona. We took our Prius v from the Prius Challenge to see how it would handle the rain, hills, and curves in the canyon. It held up like a champ.

I had one previously-scheduled class I had to give via wifi at a coffee shop, but other than that I stayed out of email, and off of Facebook and all those other ridiculous networks. This was easier since we were so deep in the canyon we couldn’t get cell signal even if we wanted to.

I hiked, sat on our patio, read (Cloud Atlas – loving it!), practiced sketching, drank some tasty beer, learned some new software programs for ebooks, ate some great food, wrote for my own neglected book, watched the stars, and smoked a few cigars. (some pics, if you’re interested)

Most importantly, I put some distance between myself and my daily habits, not all of which were good ones. Some of those habits I’ll pick up again, others hopefully not, but I gained a little bit more perspective for the distance.

Hooray, Hooray, we’re into May, daily posting starts today!

May 2, 2012 by Jeff Moriarty 2 Comments

I’m not sure why, but I’ve decided to write a blog post every day for the month of May. I expect it will end horribly.

In part, it’s to get me out of my writing habits. I’ve been writing more frequently lately, but I lack the diversity I used to have, and my voice is a mess. Plus there are about a billion things I’d like to talk about and never get around to posting. Declaring it out there in public will help me keep to it.

My goal is to crank out short posts on topics that cross my mind and see what sticks. If you tune in, expect a salad of silliness, crisp and fresh, with a side of bleu cheese. Then I’ll see what generates comments and go from there.

I’m open to suggestions, since, as you might have noticed, Boy Genius here decided to do this on the 2nd of May, so I’m already behind a topic.

Well, never let it be said I shy away from a challenge. And never let it be said that we’re all out of bacon, either.

Just to be safe.

Devirginized by Python: A Young Girl’s Guide To The Best Monty Python Sketches

November 11, 2011 by Jeff Moriarty 3 Comments

Last night a friend of mine, a one Samantha Leopoldi, confessed that she had never seen any Monty Python sketches.

Now, this would be a cause for concern amongst anyone, but Sam is a young lady of specific nerdish inclinations that made the revelation doubly shocking. She attends ComicCon, loves sci-fi and fantasy, and is a huge Harry Potter fan. She walks through the fields of geekery where not seeing Monty Python is as big of an abomination as asking “Darth who?”

She lamented we were making too big of a show of her education gap, but I don’t think she realizes the full and deep influence that Cleese, Chapman, Palin, Idle, Jones, and Graham had upon the world. Their impact on comedy has been (rightly) compared to the Beatles’ influence on music. A whole generation of British and American comics look to them as the Masters, and Python is credited with influencing everything from Saturday Night Live to the Simpsons and South Park.

Comedy should not be polite. It helps us stop taking ourselves so seriously.
– Jay Roach on Monty Python

Fortunately, young Miss Sam has friends, and I consulted on Twitter for the Five Best Monty Python sketches in which to instruct her. There was some understandable debate, but here is how the votes came in (and a few stray gems)

#5 – The Spanish Inquisition

I bet nooooobody expected this!

I always did fear the comfy chair.

#4 – SPAM!

This one needs no introduction. Wait… DAMMIT! Well, mucked that up, didn’t I?

Not only is this sketch the likely reason we use “spam” to describe noisy and unwanted email, but it is a sweet combination of Pythonian silliness and cultural commentary – during food shortages Spam was widely distributed an in the UK during WWII. This sketch was one of my favorites long before email even existed.

Bloody vikings…

#3 – The Lumberjack Song

One of the earliest Monty Python songs I learned as a kid, and it made me all sorts of friends and worried my mother. I included the full version of the sketch with the barbershop lead-in, as I think it helps set up the payoff…

In later performances the last line was sometimes changed to “papa”, I guess because it wasn’t weird enough as-is.

#2 – The Ministry of Silly Walks

Another commentary on British culture and government, but just so brilliantly silly it works fine entirely on its own. Also an example of the incredible physical comedic abilities of John Cleese.

I saw John Cleese perform live once, and he said silly walks are the thing people most ask him to do in person. He sounded not only right sick of it, but at 70 years old I don’t think it would be a good idea to even try.

Also, why isn’t he SIR John Cleese yet? Knight the bastard, already.

#1 – The Dead Parrot Sketch

I’m not sure this slot was ever really in contention. Dead Parrot pokes fun at poor customer service, the many names we have for dying, and is one of the most famous sketches in the history of British Television.

Ah, the poor Norwegian Blue…

Jeff’s Bonus – The Argument Clinic

I never met a meta I didn’t like, and this sketch has it all. It starts off mildly surreal, gets really surreal, then leaves all that behind and just exits reality through the loading dock.

Smart, fast, layered, self-mocking, and bizarre, it’s Python in top form.

Something Completely Different

I could do this all day long. Just pulling these clips together makes me want to go back and watch the whole bloody series. Here’s a few others that were suggested…

Philosophy Football – Python comedy was wicked, wicked smart. There were some jokes I didn’t get until years later, and I’m sure there are things in the Flying Circus I still miss. Here, German and Greek philosophers square up in a game of football (or “soccer” to us Yanks)
Albatross – Yell this at a concert and odds are someone will call back “What flavor is it?” If not, leave.
Nudge Nudge – Nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more!

I think that should about cover the TV series, and the movies are a whole different kettle of fish. However, if I have made any egregious omissions please let me know.

Oh… and don’t forget to always look on the bright side of life…

Source : SharpenedKnife.com

Changes of Season

July 30, 2009 by Jeff Moriarty 5 Comments

In the past year I’ve gone through more career and personal changes than I have in decades, driven largely by my renewed interest in writing, yet have been unable to find time to write about them. I suppose this could be ironic, but it’s just annoying.

The most significant of these recently is that I left Intel after nine years of employment to try something new. Why would anyone be stupid enough to leave the stability of a behemoth like Intel to take a gamble in our current economy?¬† The answer is in the question.

Intel was good to me. I had my beefs with the culture at times, but they gave me incredible opportunity and tolerated all sorts of shenanigans on my part. Its open and direct culture really allows a lot of leeway for those willing to take it. I also had a great team that I genuinely enjoyed working with, and in the end it is the people at Intel I will miss the most.

In the end, I am someone who likes to try new things. Wondering if I can’t do something is a personal incentive for me to get out and try it.¬† I’ve learned an enormous amount about blogging, social media, writing, events, and a crazy salad of community topics that I’ve been itching to trying out on my own. Ignite Phoenix had grown from a quirky session in a downtown conference room to a theater sized event in downtown Tempe in less than a year. ImprovAZ has taken off strong, getting lots (perhaps too much) coverage in local media. I’m part of a non-profit Phoenix Innovation Foundation that is getting started, and working on the Phoenix chapter of the Social Media Club.

I had been planning to work on developing my own effort – Improv Media – as my source of income while I developed my community efforts, but an opportunity presented itself I could not pass up.¬† Sitewire Solutions, a Tempe based marketing company run by two old friends and colleagues from my days at MicroAge, made me an offer to come in and help them ramp up in social media. So about half my time will be going to Sitewire, and the rest will be going to Ignite Phoenix, ImprovAZ, and many of my other local projects. Yes, somehow I’m managing to make money doing what I love… and it’s kind of freaking me out.

The other thing freaking me out is my lack of writing. I need to get back on the writing horse, for my own sanity at least. I love writing, and may have an opportunity to do quite a bit of it in the near future so had better get the rust off the engine. Most of it will likely happen on Writing is Cake and my Improv Media site. This one will just be for personal random silliness, which of course you are welcome to read, but isn’t on the regular update schedule at the moment.

I want to thank all the people who have sent me emails, DMs, and comments since I left Intel. Also thanks to Pam, Havi, Naomi, and all the other people I mentioned at Improv Media. I want to give a special shout to Heath “The Heat” Buckmaster, who was not only a regular ear for writing topics while I was at Intel, but has kept after me in the comments to get the lead out on my blogs. Heath’s become a blogging, book writing, and Tweeting machine, and I genuinely appreciate all his nagging.

The future is exciting again, just like it used to be!

Social Media Stupid Metaphor Exercise (bel Grande)

December 9, 2008 by Jeff Moriarty 2 Comments

I’m prone to random ideas, and last week it struck me that just about any danged crazy thing could (or has) been used as metaphor for Social Media, Web 2.0, or whatever you want to call this stuff. I had some time waiting for a program to install, so I threw out onto Twitter for people to “send me a noun” that I would then attempt to form into some faux profundity about Social Media.

Well, leave it to Twitter. The nouns flew fast and furious, and I had to cut them off quickly or I would have been at it all day. Below is the list of people, the words they gave me, and my replies. I won’t vouch for the quality of the replies, but it was definitely fun. Sometimes the best creativity flows when you’re really under the gun.

The rutabaga is a vegetable similiar to the turnip. The Root O’ Social Media is building communities. (@JeffReidAZ)
Getting old corporations to adopt new media is like curing a giraffe of a cough. It takes a while and you’re gonna get kicked. (@TSDivaDani)
Like a noun is the crux of every good sentence, honesty is the crux of every good blog. (@c_reed (nice one!))
Travelling snake-oil salesmen used to sell from their suitcase, now they just use twitter and my InBox! (@snakecharmers)
A good blogger needs a good pair of overalls, because like a farmer at some point you’ll be covered in ****. (@maniactive)
Like parsnip cowers in the shadow of the mighty carrot, spammers will never quite measure up to the honest blogger (@smlacy)
Even the mighty blue whale knows the difference between the soggy plankton and the nourishing krill of the internet. (@memestorm)
Like the mighty aardvark, you must plunge your moist snout of curiousity into the anthill of social media! (@jeffmann)
L is for the layers of conversation social media brings to discussions, from the meaningful to the totally contrived. (@deanouellette) (ed: Not sure L was a noun, but what the heck)
Many enter the social media vestibule, but they’re not entering the main hall without purchasing a Ticket of Sincerity. (@timedalkat)
Social Media is the soup of the internet. You have to stir through lots of broth and peas to find the tasty bits of meat. (@spellwight)

I’ll definitely give it another try someday. Maybe make a whole book of these things.