The Big Muddy Film Festival is opening this weekend in Carbondale, and one of my images has been selected for publication on their posters. It is pretty exciting to have one of my images published. The image they selected was shot last semester during my documentary of Cobden, Illinois.

Here is the official website for the Big Muddy Film Festival. You should check it out if you get a chance.

For the past 3 years or so, Valentine’s Day has been nothing more than a normal day for me. There were no trips to the store to buy flowers, chocolates, cards, teddy bears, or other mass produced objects. I never sat around my house for hours at a time composing a brilliant story, song, poem, or design. For this reason, I never thought much about the construction of Valentine’s Day, or the meaning behind it. However, I recently met a quite extraordinary person and I presently find myself caught up in the excitement of this holiday, which prompted me to examine the creation of the holiday, and more importantly, the transformation of the holiday by our capitalistic society. The history of Valentine’s Day is somewhat shrouded in mystery, but it can be traced back to the 14th or 15th century with numerous theories involving romantic letters between lovers. Two of the most popular theories are:

• On the evening before Valentine was to be martyred for being a Christian, he passed a love note to his jailer’s daughter that read, “From your Valentine.”
• During a ban on marriages of Roman soldiers by the Emperor Claudius II, St. Valentine secretly helped arrange marriages.

Regardless of how the holiday was conceived, it is certain that it is at least 400 to 500 years old. In terms of romanticism, it seems that the earlier versions of this holiday must have been slightly more poetic and personal than the modern construction that it is today. For around $5O I can purchase a perfectly acceptable gift or gifts that is socially acceptable. However, it is highly doubtful that these gifts will have the same effect as a heartfelt letter or handpicked flowers from the nearby countryside. Which led me to my initial grievance with the current state of Valentine’s Day in America, or Western culture for that matter. According to MSNBC, consumers were expected to spend 13.7 billion dollars on Valentine’s Day alone in 2006, which is up 22% from 5 years ago. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with Valentine’s Day, in fact, I think there should be more days like Valentine’s Day, many more. However, these days should be holidays between two people, not 7 billion people. Capitalism has once again transformed a romantic story of love into a multi-billion dollar profit generating machine. So here’s to all the roses, chocolates, and teddy bears being sent around the world today, however I doubt you will receive the appropriate thank you letter from the CEO of Hallmark.

For those of you who haven’t read the latest interview with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates about Window’s Vista and comparisons that the media are making with Apple’s OS X, you should really check it out. It is pretty funny to hear Gates attempting to defend an operating system which he knows is inferior. First of all, I’ve used Windows for almost the entirety of my computing life, which is about 16 years. I was never a die hard mac fan from the beginning. I remember one of my best friends from high school whose dad owned an old power mac back in the mid 90s. I remember playing prince of arabia and some other old skool games, but other than that, I thought it was a pretty weird computer. I didn’t know how to use the interface, and for the most part, I thought it was inferior to my Windows 95 computer.

Having said that, I would like to point out several of the humorous quotes that Gates said during his interview with Newsweek. As a response to why users should upgrade to Windows Vista, Gates said…

The most effective thing would be if I could sit down with them and just take them through the new look for a couple of minutes, show them the Sidebar, show them the way the search lets you go through lots of things, including lots of photos. Set up a parental control. And then I might edit a high-definition movie and make a little DVD that’s got photos. As I went through, they’d think, “Wow, is that something I could use, would that make a difference for me?”

First of all, the sidebar is completely useless. I am currently running Vista on my desktop PC, and even with a 24” widescreen monitor, I don’t use the sidebar because it just takes up space. Apple’s Dashboard is a much better option because the widgets never take up any space on your computer screen. They simply fly out of the way when you are ready to work again. Set up parental control? Sure, I’m all for parental control, but is this really the option that is just going to put the “wow” factor in Vista, which Gates and his team has been hyping for so long? Next he is going to edit a high definition movie and “make a little DVD with photos.” Hmm….iDVD and iPhoto have been around for years now, both of which do a much better job of editing and providing novice users the opportunity to create professional quality DVDs. Windows Movie Maker is a pathetic excuse for an editing program, and the built in photo viewer and organizer in Vista is years behind iPhoto. I understand that Gates and his team are doing the best they can to develop a quality operating system, but the fact of the matter is that Apple is 2 or 3 years ahead of Microsoft in software development. You can pin the problem on Microsoft’s engineers having to constantly work on security issues, which gives them less time and resources for innovation, but I don’t understand why the consumer doesn’t realize the vast superiority of the Mac operating system and switch from the Windows platform. Gates also stated that he hadn’t seen the “Get a Mac” commercials ever. Ever? Are you serious? The get a mac ad campaign is one of the most well known commercial campaigns currently on television, and the chairman of the company which it is talking about has never seen the ads? I find that extremely hard to believe. Does all of this add up to Gates becoming more and more detached from the industry which has given him wealth and fame beyond measure? It will be interesting to see the new direction that Microsoft takes after Gates steps down next year. In my opinion, Gates should stick to what he does well, giving out enormous amounts of money for philanthropic causes. I admire Gates for what he is doing around the word, for helping underdeveloped countries struggling with AIDS and continuing to be a spokesman for philanthropy. I just don’t admire him for his vision at Microsoft. The company has become stagnant, a bumbling dreadnought of the tech industry that is unable to innovate. Luckily for consumers, there is a viable alternative that is continuing to innovate and push the limits of quality and creativity.

I realize that it has been awhile since I have updated the ole’ blog. I had a great Christmas break that was spent with family and friends. Now I’m back in chilly Carbondale, trying to stay warm amidst the freezing temperatures. I am eagerly waiting for the arrival of spring and it’s warm temperatures. I was talking to Emily last night and I found myself reminiscing about Florida. Things I miss:

• Driving to the beach in my mom’s old station wagon
• Going to Disney for the weekend, or for a night
• Playing ultimate frisbee all year round
• Getting out of school for hurricanes
• Playing basketball in a hurricane
• Talking at “the spot” with Costello
• Talking to JB and Cos underneath the pool table
• Digging a drainage ditch in Alyson’s front yard before a hurricane
• Running, biking and swimming at Savannah Crossing
• The Summer of Chillitivity
• Making Schleyzers
• Orchestrating the “Future of Social Interaction”
• Going to beach at night when I’m bored
• M80 firecrackers exploding as I take showers
• Marshmellow fights on the way to see Shane and Shane
• Sandals….all year round
• Having cow pastures at our high school
• Watching the Blue Angels on Pensacola Beach
• Having to drive 30 minutes to see your friend that lives in the same city
• Warmth….in every possible way