Joe Mills

You are the Person of the Year

Much will probably be made about the new Time magazine since it points out that you are the person of the year. It is sort of a cop out, and it might be a little too early and presumptuous, but I love it. I hope Time is right. I hope that all this talk about the “Web 2.0″ isn’t just a fad that will die out. I hope it keeps its grass roots sensibilities. I hope that the Information Age also becomes an age of cooperation and collaboration. I hope that big corporations don’t attempt to suck all of the fun and excitement out of it by trying to make billions of dollars out of a tool that I feel should change the world for the better. I really like this paragraph from the first article about the person of the year:

But look at 2006 through a different lens and you’ll see another story, one that isn’t about conflict and great men. It’s a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It’s about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people’s network You-Tube and the online metropolis MySpace. It’s about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.

Just typing those words gives me goosebumps. And yes, I know that sounds goofy, but I like the idea of people helping people for the greater good. They aren’t trying to make a buck, they aren’t trying to sell you something, and they don’t want anything in return. They just want to be a part of something and make their voice heard. You want to step out of the shadows and be noticed…just once. This is not just something that kids do to pass the time. When will we all see this power of the web and truly come together?

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

World Domino Record

I didn’t think it would be tough to find good videos of dominoes falling on the Internet, but it did take a while to find this video. It is a world record that was set just recently. I think dominoes toppling is quite possibly one of the most fascinating things to watch. Considering all the time and planning it takes to set up just to see it all fall down is amazing to me. It is such a dynaimc and exciting movement, you can’t help to stare. Just another bit of inspiration…

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Inspiration at School

Inspiration is one of the subjects I teach at my school. I go through the process of showing them how I was inspired by what I see in the world to make my artwork. All of the students select a picture or multiple pictures from a magazine that they think look cool. Then, they have to change or transform those picture into a design or a pattern all of their own. Finally, they have to explain how they were inspired by those pictures. It is not an easy thing to do, but many of my students really get it and create some beautiful artwork from the pictures they cut out. you can say I like to inspire my students to be inspired.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Smith and Randle are Back

I haven’t made posting a priority for a while, so I thought I’d get caught on discussing the Illini. First of all, I’m glad to see we are back at “full strength”. Chester Frazier and Shaun Pruitt are nursing some injuries and Brian Randle and Jamar Smith are going to need to get back into playing full games, but everyone, with the exception of Richard Semrau, is back.

We had some tough losses against teams that we could have beaten. And in both of those games, we showed how we can be beaten. We tend to have stretches during the game where we don’t keep up the same intensity. We let Maryland back in the game just like we let UIC back in the game this past Saturday. Warren Carter, possibly our best player, has a bad case of Frank Williams-itis. Also, we need to stay out of foul trouble, which seems to be an issue every year, and keep the mistakes to a minimum. I’m not sure Weber has figured out exactly how he is going to rotate guys in and out since he has been playing short-handed. Have you seen that four guard lineup he has played a few times?

I think the ceiling for this team is a birth in the Sweet 16. I think we have a lot of strong role players on this team, but we don’t have that one guy or those two guys that the team can look toward. Maybe that is a good thing, but every championship team has NBA caliber talent. I think we have some talented and tough players, but I’m not sure if we have one or two guys that are going to step up and be that guy. The best player on the court changes every game. This team will be fun to watch and they have an upset or two in their system, but they are going to need to put it all together to make a real championship run. I’ll keep rooting for it…

Bookmark It

Hide Sites