<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>seanward.net &#187; opinion</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.seanward.net/tag/opinion/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.seanward.net</link>
	<description>Fun things to read, watch, and listen to, created for you by Sean Ward</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:56:56 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1</generator>
		<item>
		<title>Tron: Legacy &#8211; The Sean Ward Review</title>
		<link>http://www.seanward.net/4291-tron-legacy-the-sean-ward-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanward.net/4291-tron-legacy-the-sean-ward-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 2010 15:34:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tron]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tron: legacy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanward.net/?p=4291</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TRON: LEGACY is the kind of movie I would like to review after seeing it again, maybe even a couple more times. There are textures and nuances that are easy to overlook when you&#8217;re assessing it as popcorn escapism, and I have a couple of gripes with it that I would like to dig deeper [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><a rel="attachment wp-att-4292" href="http://www.seanward.net/4291-tron-legacy-the-sean-ward-review/tron_legacy-olivia-wilde/"><img class="size-medium wp-image-4292 aligncenter" title="tron_legacy-olivia-wilde" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/tron_legacy-olivia-wilde-600x306.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="306" /></a></p>
<p><strong><em>TRON: LEGACY</em></strong> is the kind of movie I would like to review after seeing it again, maybe even a couple more times.  There are textures and nuances that are easy to overlook when you&#8217;re assessing it as popcorn escapism, and I have a couple of gripes with it that I would like to dig deeper into to find out if I missed something.</p>
<p><em>Tron: Legacy</em> is a good movie.  Despite a few bad reviews appearing online, it delivers on all of the levels that it needs to.  It&#8217;s high-energy, loud, exciting, visually arresting, and gives you the comfortable and familiar in a new and original way.</p>
<p>But is it a great movie?  Is it a classic?</p>
<p>First and foremost, <em>Tron: Legacy</em> is visual splendor (and gets a lot of mileage out of how fun &amp; unique it is to look at).  You could literally hear the gasps in the audience at certain moments.  If you go back and take a look at the 1982 original, you have to agree that a revisit of this material was in order.  <em>Tron</em> (1982) is charming as an artifact of it&#8217;s time, but it&#8217;s hideously dated and almost hurts to look at it.  The world has finally caught up with it now and instead of sharp, jarring, and angular, the world inside the computer is graceful, elegant, and sexy.</p>
<p>And it&#8217;s not just the computer graphics that make this movie so engrossing.  3D is such a gimmick right now, but <em>Tron: Legacy</em> uses 3D to make the movie a richer experience in much the same way that The Wizard of Oz did with its use of color.  It&#8217;s not just about making something flashy, but using flash itself as a device in service of the story and the experience.</p>
<p>To say that <em>Tron: Legacy</em> gets by on ripping off plot devices and motifs you&#8217;ve seen a bunch of times before kind of misses the point.  We are talking about a product of the Hollywood event machine, after all.  But we live in a remixed &amp; mashed up world and part of the fun of <em>Tron: Legacy</em> is catching the samples, like when you&#8217;re listening to mid-90s hip hop.  You&#8217;re going to recognize <em>Star Wars, The Fifth Element, The Matrix</em>, &amp; <em>The Dark Knight</em>, but I was also picking up traces of <em>Triumph of the Will</em>, <em>Ziggy Stardust</em>, and the Busby Berkeley musicals of the 1930s.</p>
<p>Any criticism of the story, script, and acting are rendered moot for me by the fact that I was so hypnotized and enchanted by this movie that I was literally pumping my fist, stomping on the floor, and calling out in response to it.  I remember a moment when I accidentally glanced at my watch.  I had been so caught up that I could feel the illusion shatter, and I was sad that I was taken out of the movie for even that brief second.  It&#8217;s terrifically hard for me to relax enough to lose myself fully in a movie so when it happens, it&#8217;s a rare treat (I think Spider-Man 2 was the last time I caught myself talking to the screen).</p>
<p>So often these event movies treat their &#8216;story bits&#8217; like a conveyor belt to the next action sequence but when they&#8217;re done well, these kinds of epic tales are my favorite kind of entertainment .  In <em>Tron: Legacy</em> it&#8217;s all as epic and Shakespearean as you would expect, but what&#8217;s masterful is the marrying of 21st century sensibilities with those classic archetypes and themes.  Taking place within the world of tech, computers, and the Internet, this feels like they&#8217;ve made a blockbuster action movie for people living the app life (though I kind of wish that we would have got to see how Social Media is personified in Tronland).  But as an active member of that tribe, maybe I&#8217;m biased and that&#8217;s why I&#8217;m apt to forgive the movie&#8217;s flaws.</p>
<p>And <em>Tron: Legacy </em>certainly is flawed.  Most notably, as good as the computer graphics in these movies are, they&#8217;re still not up to the task of making a completely believable person.  We see Jeff Bridges both as he looks now, and as he looked in 1982 when the original <em>Tron</em> took place.  It works when we&#8217;re in the computer world because everything&#8217;s supposed to be computery but a flashback scene that takes place in 1989 just doesn&#8217;t hold up.  There are a couple of lingering questions along the lines of &#8220;wait a minute, where did they get those from?&#8221; and a whole thing I don&#8217;t get about how a driver can take her vehicle &#8220;off grid&#8221; if the world inside the computer is itself the grid.  But right now those are kind of nit-picky things that do not take away from my enjoyment of the movie.</p>
<p><em>Tron: Legacy</em> has it&#8217;s shortcomings but if a baseball player is the greatest home run champion of all time, you&#8217;re still going to want to see him in action even if he&#8217;s not so good at playing shortstop.  <em>Tron: Legacy</em> is the best 3D movie experience yet.  While flawed, it&#8217;s so fresh and groundbreaking technically that it stands out as Art in a way that other movies coming from the video games &amp; comic books scene do not.</p>
<p>BONUS: Check out this vlog from an advance screening of <em>Tron: Legacy </em>in Toronto&#8230;</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="560" height="340" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jOMQK-QymVg?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="340" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jOMQK-QymVg?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.seanward.net/4291-tron-legacy-the-sean-ward-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>&#8220;How Do I Find the Scene in Toronto?&#8221;, she asked</title>
		<link>http://www.seanward.net/4183-how-do-i-find-the-scene/</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanward.net/4183-how-do-i-find-the-scene/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Dec 2010 16:06:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[advice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[comics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creative process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thoughts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[work]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanward.net/?p=4183</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I got an email a little while ago from a girl named Emma asking me what advice I could pass along to her friend about how to get his career started as an artist. I thought I would answer her here on the blog since this is the kind of question professionals get asked most [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-4184" href="http://www.seanward.net/4183-how-do-i-find-the-scene/pencil/"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4184" title="inspirational" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/pencil.jpg" alt="" width="620" height="220" /></a></p>
<p>I got an email a little while ago from a girl named Emma asking me what advice I could pass along to her friend about how to get his career started as an artist.  I thought I would answer her here on the blog since this is the kind of question professionals get asked most frequently.</p>
<p><em>Morning Sean Ward,</em></p>
<p><em> </em></p>
<p><em>Thanks for hitting me back on Twitter! The reason I wanted to connect with you is kinda weird. I am interested in becoming better acquainted with the Toronto comic book scene. I mean, I&#8217;ve lived here for 6 years, and I&#8217;ve haunted the Hairy Tarantula and Silver Snail, etc&#8230; But a buddy of mine just moved here from the Territories and wants to get into comics here&#8230; drawing them mostly&#8230;and I have no advice to give him, so I thought I should find someone who could! (also I am pretty pumped about everything you do, as I am a videographer and hip hop head&#8230; seems we have things in common!)<br />
Anywho, what advice would you give to a newby transplant about getting into comics here? Toronto is a scary move, and not knowing anyone here doesn&#8217;t help much. Whaddya say Sean? Words of wisdom from someone who knows what he is talking about? It would be much appreciated, I would take you for a coffee or beer if you&#8217;d let me! <img src='http://www.seanward.net/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /><br />
Have a good one dude!<br />
Emma</em></p>
<p>This question of how one goes about getting started in comics or in any art has been asked many times.  Those of us who have been asked it have usually heard different people answer it different ways.  But here are a couple of the recurring themes that emerge:</p>
<h1>1. The person doing the asking has a conception that there&#8217;s a specific blueprint that can be followed.</h1>
<h1>2. There is no blueprint.  Everyone&#8217;s journey is unique.</h1>
<p>Tony Robbins and guys like that tell you that success is a system that can be easily duplicated.  I&#8217;ve got a lot out of listening to them, reading books like Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, and attending workshops &amp; seminars.  I keep a Bible &amp; a Hare Krishna prayer book near my work space, making a point to flip through them often for context and insight.  But those materials do not provide the answers.  They help you be the kind of person who finds the answers.</p>
<p>And that&#8217;s what it&#8217;s all about: success is a process, not an event.  It&#8217;s about having a vision, and the continual process of doing whatever you can to try to move closer to it.</p>
<p>When I first started doing comics, with no connections in the industry or the scene, I jumped in and went crazy.  I spent a year cranking out as many issues of a series as I could, photocopying them and selling them on the street downtown. The most important thing was not how good they were, it was how many of them I could get out there and how many people I could get looking at them.  I was wildly prolific &#8211; an idea that&#8217;s become popular in the business world with the recently popular rallying cry of &#8220;ship often&#8221;</p>
<p>You&#8217;ve heard about the 10,000 hours theory, right?  That&#8217;s the idea that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to get good at something.  So Emma &#8211; the only advice there is to pass along to your friend is to start putting in those hours right away.</p>
<p>As my mother used to say: &#8220;There&#8217;s no way around &#8211; you have to go through it.&#8221;</p>
<p>So that&#8217;s for your buddy to get down to making some comics.  As for getting in with the scene, that&#8217;s what Twitter is so damn good for.  Follow these people, talk to them often, jump into the conversation, and go to anything you hear them talk about going on.</p>
<h1>Essential Toronto Comics Scene Twitter links: <a href="http://twitter.com/SilverSnailTO" target="_blank">@SilverSnailTO</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/TDotComics" target="_blank">@TDotComics</a><a href="http://twitter.com/EscapeFromRL" target="_blank"> @EscapeFromRL</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/comics212" target="_blank">@comics212</a></h1>
<p>(If you can think of anyone else who would be good for Emma to follow, let me know in the comments)</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.seanward.net/4183-how-do-i-find-the-scene/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Dress For Success</title>
		<link>http://www.seanward.net/3327-dress-for-success/</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanward.net/3327-dress-for-success/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 May 2010 01:23:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life, etc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[behind the scenes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[me]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[random]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thoughts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[work]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanward.net/?p=3327</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This was my costume for a scene I was shooting today.  Come a little closer so I can tell you the news. I showed my sister the first cut of the Iron Man spoof video I&#8217;m making for Bite TV because she loved the Iron Man costume I made, and she and I saw Iron [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-3328" title="Dress For Success" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/reporter-600x450.jpg" alt="Dress For Success" width="600" height="450" /></p>
<p>This was my costume for a scene I was shooting today.  Come a little closer so I can tell you the news.</p>
<p>I showed my sister the first cut of the Iron Man spoof video I&#8217;m making for Bite TV because she loved the Iron Man costume I made, and she and I saw Iron Man 2 on the weekend (review forthcoming).  It was funny to put it all together: the time spent shopping, making the costume, travelling, shooting, and finally editing, and seeing that it all comes out to a minute and sixteen seconds.  That&#8217;s movie magic for you.</p>
<p>I made all of the music for the video in <em>Logic</em> and the biggest challenge was putting together a hard rock sounding rock that sounded like one of the <em>Black Sabbath </em>or <em>AC/DC</em> songs you hear in the movie.  I came up with something so dope that I wanna make a song out of it, even though it was only supposed to be a hastily assembled quickie kind of thing.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m having a lot of fun with my work right now.  The year started out really rough, but now it&#8217;s levelling out.  Bite TV is pretty much a dream job.  I said months ago that what I really want is for someone to pay me to make videos for the Internet and WHAMMO &#8211; here I am with the added bonus of writing comedy blog posts.  I&#8217;m not bashful about my desire for them to hire me full time, either.  It&#8217;s a good creative outlet, they&#8217;re major media but still under the radar enough to do exciting things, they&#8217;re small enough to be hungry, and if I was full time with them I wouldn&#8217;t have to have that part of my mind racing about securing additional work.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;ve got a website or TV channel you think my style would be well suited to, let me know because I will rock the spot.</p>
<p>ONE LAST THING: Please don&#8217;t forget to send me your suggestions for what I should spend my $100 Google Adsense gift card on!  This is the experiment: I want to spend it on words and phrases suggested by you guys, and we&#8217;ll see how we do.  <a title="Google's Got Love for Sean Ward" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VK5z_5uoD4" target="_blank">Click here to see the video I posted to my Youtube about it.</a></p>
<p>Leave your suggestions and comments below!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.seanward.net/3327-dress-for-success/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>&#8220;How Do I Get My Art Career On Track?&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://www.seanward.net/3198-how-do-i-get-my-art-career-on-track/</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanward.net/3198-how-do-i-get-my-art-career-on-track/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:18:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[adventures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[advice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creative process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[me]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rant]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanward.net/?p=3198</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is an e-mail I got over the weekend, seeking advice.  I asked Steve, the writer, if I could respond in a blog post since his question is of a kind that I get asked much more than any other: Hey Sean, I need some words of wisdom from you on how I can get [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3201" title="Sean-drawing" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Sean-drawing-390x520.jpg" alt="Sean-drawing" width="273" height="364" />This is an e-mail I got over the weekend, seeking advice.  I asked Steve, the writer, if I could respond in a blog post since his question is of a kind that I get asked much more than any other:</em></p>
<blockquote><p>Hey Sean, I need some words of wisdom from you on how I can get my own art career going and on track. I am working in an office right now &#8211; Fraud detection analyst for a Mastercard issuing bank.</p>
<p>In short, I have lost my sense of humor, and each day seems to lack a sense of purpose.</p>
<p>I have been watching as you&#8217;ve grown and progressed, and realized that we both have the same 24 hours in a day to work with.</p>
<p>I need some words of wisdom from you in this regard. I used to have a wicked sense of humour. I want it back.  I want to reclaim it.</p>
<p>-Steve</p></blockquote>
<p>Hi Steve!</p>
<p>Thanks very much for writing.  I am flattered that you would come to me with a question like this.  I thought all weekend about your question and I thought of a catchy way to explain how to find what you&#8217;re looking for.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s all about <strong>The 3V System: Values, Vision, and Vehicle. </strong></p>
<h1>Values</h1>
<p>First, you have to know what you stand for. You have to know what&#8217;s important to you, who you want to be, what you want for yourself.  Be opinionated, keep high standards, and surround yourself with people who inspire you instead of people stuck in the same rut as everyone else.  You don&#8217;t want comfort in forgetting your cares, you want to be uncomfortable enough to take action.</p>
<h1>Vision</h1>
<p>Your vision is the effect you want to have on the world.  It doesn&#8217;t have to be earth-shatteringly huge.  It could be as simple as a word of advice for the people around you.  Care passionately about what&#8217;s important to you and you&#8217;ll start spotting places where there is a bit of class, taste, or beauty missing that only you can fill in.  That&#8217;s what art is for.</p>
<h1>Vehicle</h1>
<p>Your vehicle is the form in which your vision expresses itself, and the arena in which you explore your values.  You need a vehicle because otherwise the ideas inside you collect dust and eventually disintegrate.  Whatever you feel is the best expression of your talents and your vision whether writing, drawing, speaking, or any other outlet, you need a project to get passionate about.  This will give you something to look forward to while you&#8217;re doing the things you&#8217;d rather not, and it will provide the means and opportunity to get to know yourself better so that you&#8217;re more of the real you in all areas of life.</p>
<p>The hardest part is making the time for your vehicle.  There are a million and one perfectly good excuses for why you have no time for it.  You get home from work, unwind, prepare dinner, check in with the world, relax a little bit, go to the gym if you&#8217;re on your fitness game, and next thing you know it&#8217;s time for bed again.  That&#8217;s the routine.  That&#8217;s also how the Universe finds out who is serious and who is just phoning it in.  Most people want everything to be in place, but I&#8217;ve always been a big fan of just jumping in and seeing what happens.  Besides, at this stage what have you got to lose except for some of your sleeping hours?</p>
<p>I started seeing the microscopic, incremental day-to-day changes that the workaday world was having on me and that&#8217;s why I stopped showing up to work to be an Artist with no plan, no money, and no idea how I was going to pay the rent.  My way is hard and sometimes it&#8217;s not very fun, I&#8217;m not going to lie.  But for me it&#8217;s about what&#8217;s going to make for the most interesting story to tell at the end of it all.</p>
<p>I hope his helps.  Keep me updated on how it goes!</p>
<p>-Sean</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.seanward.net/3198-how-do-i-get-my-art-career-on-track/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>7</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Life&#8217;s Instruction Manual</title>
		<link>http://www.seanward.net/3166-lifes-instruction-manual/</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanward.net/3166-lifes-instruction-manual/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:36:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life, etc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[adventures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[me]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[memories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[parties]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[party]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[random]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thoughts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[toronto]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanward.net/?p=3166</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Rockin&#8217; the party, way old school Here is a story about the time that I learned how the big kids party. When I first moved downtown, the first place that I stayed was my Auntie&#8217;s boyfriend&#8217;s room in a house he rented with a bunch of local rock &#8216;n&#8217; rollers. My Auntie&#8217;s boyfriend was never [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center; "><img style="border: 0px initial initial;" title="Sean Ward title" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/title.png" alt="" width="600" height="259" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center; "><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3167" title="Sean Ward on the microphone" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/n514079365_91497_97.jpg" alt="Sean Ward on the microphone" width="604" height="452" /><br />
<em>Rockin&#8217; the party, way old school</em></p>
<p>Here is a story about the time that I learned how the big kids party.</p>
<p>When I first moved downtown, the first place that I stayed was my Auntie&#8217;s boyfriend&#8217;s room in a house he rented with a bunch of local rock &#8216;n&#8217; rollers.  My Auntie&#8217;s boyfriend was never there since he was always at her house, so they figured why not let me use it while I get myself situated in the city.</p>
<p><img class="alignleft" title="Steve Banks" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Picture-2.png" alt="" width="355" height="246" />I didn&#8217;t know it at the time, but the roommates in that house were a bunch of the movers and shakers of Toronto&#8217;s music scene.  One of the dudes living there was Steve Banks who at the time was just a cool guy to me.  I wouldn&#8217;t find out until way later that he is a legend.</p>
<p>One night there was a band&#8217;s CD release party.  The next afternoon, everyone was sitting around the kitchen table talking about the night before.</p>
<p>Steve Banks tells the story of the end of the night when he was already more drunk than he wanted to get, but couldn&#8217;t stand to see all of the abandoned half-finished beers go to waste.  He ended up getting way smashed.</p>
<p>I got thinking about how my parents always told me as a kid that you should never finish a beer that isn&#8217;t yours because you don&#8217;t know what someone has done to it.  I didn&#8217;t know what they meant, I just thought that maybe people go around poisoning drinks for fun.</p>
<p>So I say to the group &#8220;Aren&#8217;t you not supposed to drink other people&#8217;s drinks?&#8221;, and the whole room burts with cacophonous laughter.</p>
<p>Steve, between chuckles, says &#8220;If someone put drugs in it, that&#8217;s a bonus!&#8221;</p>
<p>It was one of those moments when my whole universe did this huge 180-degree turn on me.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.seanward.net/3166-lifes-instruction-manual/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Esquire&#8217;s Sexiest Woman Alive Tournament</title>
		<link>http://www.seanward.net/3068-esquires-sexist-woman-alive-tournament/</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanward.net/3068-esquires-sexist-woman-alive-tournament/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 21 Mar 2010 23:18:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[random]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[women]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanward.net/?p=3068</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I was ogling perusing pictures of Christina Hendricks on Esquire&#8217;s website when I discovered that they were a part of a set that I had seen photos from before and posted to my Tumblr.  And then I saw that she is in Esquire&#8217;s Sexiest Woman Alive Tournament.  Seeing some of the first round pairings, I [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I was <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">ogling</span> perusing pictures of Christina Hendricks on Esquire&#8217;s website when I discovered that they were a part of a set that I had seen photos from before and posted to my <a href="http://seanward.tumblr.com" target="_blank">Tumblr</a>.  And then I saw that she is in <strong>Esquire&#8217;s Sexiest Woman Alive Tournament</strong>.  Seeing some of the first round pairings, I had to offer my commentary on select match-ups.</p>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">Beyoncé VS Avril</h1>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3069" title="Beyonce VS Avril" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/esquire1.jpg" alt="Beyonce VS Avril" width="460" height="360" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">This is the first match up on the site.  Seriously?  This ain&#8217;t even a fair fight.  I&#8217;m sure Avril is lovely, but Mrs. Jay-Z is in the elite division.  She&#8217;s a timeless icon in league with Rita Hayworth and Audrey Hepburn, and you&#8217;re putting poor little Avril up against her in the first round?  There isn&#8217;t even a discussion to be had.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">.</p>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">Carrie Underwood VS Katy Perry</h1>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3070" title="Carrie Underwood VS Katy Perry" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/esquire2.jpg" alt="Carrie Underwood VS Katy Perry" width="460" height="310" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Another one that&#8217;s not even a question.  Carrie Underwood is pretty in a conventional way, but she&#8217;s not sex symbol material for me.  I mean, I get that middle America has a difference of opinion on this than I do, but I&#8217;m street.  And Katy Perry&#8217;s riding that line running between cute and sexy that has done me in in real life more than once.  Katy Perry all the way.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The photo below looks so much like a girl I know IRL that if it was her Facebook profile pic, I would be asking her when she posed for it.  Katy Perry: If you also want to know if I want to smoke a bowl with you, the answer is &#8220;yes&#8221;.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3071" title="Katy Perry" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/esquire3.jpg" alt="Katy Perry" width="460" height="600" /></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>.</em></p>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">Bianna Golodryga VS Sarah Silverman</h1>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3072" title="Bianna Golodryga VS Sarah Silverman" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/esquire4.jpg" alt="Bianna Golodryga VS Sarah Silverman" width="460" height="358" /></p>
<p>I didn&#8217;t know anything about Bianna Golodryga before seeing her name here, but it&#8217;s not hard to beat Sarah Silverman.  Sarah Silverman is a sex symbol for those dudes who want a woman to wear the pants in the relationship and be treated like a piece of shit.  You&#8217;re supposed to get over that in your early 20s, but I am saddened as ever to be reminded that some of us never do.  Bianna Golodryga wins this one by disqualification.</p>
<p>.</p>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">Christina Hendricks VS January Jones</h1>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3073" title="Christina Hendricks VS January Jones" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/esquire5.jpg" alt="Christina Hendricks VS January Jones" width="460" height="317" /></p>
<p>This is the most epic match-up in the tournament.  This is Andre the Giant VS Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 3 &#8211; the greatest match you&#8217;re likely to ever see.  It&#8217;s not just that they&#8217;re two of the most gorgeous women currently on the scene, but you have the added drama of their being co-stars on <em>Mad Men</em>, one of my favorite TV shows ever.  This is the sex symbol equivalent of Pacino VS DeNiro in <em>Heat</em>.  Further complicating the issue is that their styles are so different that they don&#8217;t lend themselves to comparison.  Yikes.  Let&#8217;s do some further analysis.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3074" title="January Jones" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/esquire6.jpg" alt="January Jones" width="320" height="480" /> <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3075" title="Christina Hendricks" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/esquire7.jpg" alt="Christina Hendricks" width="500" height="435" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone" title="January Jones" src="http://nerve.com/CS/blogs/theremoteisland/2009/04/january-jones3.jpg" alt="" width="320" height="480" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone" title="Christina Hendricks" src="http://i31.tinypic.com/2dalh1s.jpg" alt="" width="460" height="625" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Christina Hendricks gets an early lead for the red hair and her rack.  January Jones sashays her way back into the game with her grace and classic beauty, tying the game with less than a minute to go.  Christina Hendricks does that coy blink thing and wins it in sudden death overtime.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">.</p>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">Heidi Montag then VS Heidi Montag now</h1>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3076" title="Heidi Montag" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/esquire8.jpg" alt="Heidi Montag" width="460" height="358" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">This one goes to Heidi Montag because she followed me on Twitter.  Or maybe it was her manager.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">.</p>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">Anne Hathaway VS Rachel McAdams</h1>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3077" title="Anne Hathaway VS Rachel McAdams" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/esquire9.jpg" alt="Anne Hathaway VS Rachel McAdams" width="462" height="250" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The Nerd &#8216;net is ablaze with discussion over who is more suited to the role of Black Cat if that character were in a Spider-Man movie, A or R.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">If this were a discussion about acting chops, Rachel McAdams would get it in an instant.  Even if it was about who I think would be cooler to invite into my party posse when we go take over <em>Shake A Tail</em>, it would come up McAdams.  And I really want to give her a pass on this one for the hometown love, but Anne Hathaway has just got the va-va-voom thing going on for me so to Ms. Hathaway it goes.  Even though I wasn&#8217;t for an instant buying the age-reversing process in <em>Get Smart</em> as an explanation for why she was playing Agent 99.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">.</p>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">Jessica Alba VS Jennifer Aniston</h1>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3078" title="Jessica Alba VS Jennifer Aniston" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/esquire10.jpg" alt="Jessica Alba VS Jennifer Aniston" width="460" height="520" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Jennifer Aniston reminds me of Mariah Carey in that she had a really natural, real-person charm when she first hit the scene, and has since morphed into a plasic diva.  Jessica Alba, on the other hand, appeared all over town in <a title="Jessica Alba" href="http://www.collider.com/uploads/imageGallery/Good_Luck_Chuck/good_luck_chuck_teaser_poster_jessica_alba.jpg" target="_blank" rel="lightbox[3068]">those tearaway Good Luck Chuck posters with the ice cream</a>.  Jessica Alba probably wouldn&#8217;t make it to late in the tournament, but her first round match is a breeze and she wins it easily.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * sponsor message</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Speaking of beauty, have you thought about <a href="http://www.soyaboutique.com/" target="_blank">natural skincare</a>?</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">.</p>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">Eva Mendes VS Sienna Miller</h1>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3079" title="Eva Mendes VS Sienna Miller" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/esquire11.jpg" alt="Eva Mendes VS Sienna Miller" width="460" height="375" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Even though Eva Mendes looks just delicious, her trouble in her first-round match-up is that I don&#8217;t go for that skinny-pretty-blonde combo often but when I do, I go for it full force.  Further, Sienna Miller gets Sean cred for playing Edie Sedgwick in Factory Girl.  As yet I have not seen Ms. Mendes dressed like a 60s party girl which is the look that makes me go &#8220;Hello!  We haven&#8217;t met&#8230;&#8221;  Sienna Miller takes it in an unexciting, low-scoring game.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Just when I was wondering where Scarlett Johansson was, I discovered that past winners are not eligible.  That means that neither are Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron, Jessica Biel, Halle Berry, or Kate Beckinsdale.</p>
<h1 style="text-align: center;"><a title="Esquire's Sexiest Woman Alive" href="http://www.esquire.com/women/the-sexiest-woman-alive/bracket-tournament/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">See the full tournament here</span></span></a></h1>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">What do you think?  Would you have made the same picks?</h1>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.seanward.net/3068-esquires-sexist-woman-alive-tournament/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Lady Gaga Telephone Redefines Music Videos</title>
		<link>http://www.seanward.net/2982-lady-gaga-telephone-redefines-music-videos/</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanward.net/2982-lady-gaga-telephone-redefines-music-videos/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:07:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Finds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[beyonce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[casie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lady gaga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[raymi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[YouTube]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanward.net/?p=2982</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Lady Gaga Telephone video with Beyoncé is the bomb.  I love this whole thing. I&#8217;m a visual guy, so the way I come to love songs is often by loving the video so hard.  This video doesn&#8217;t make me swoon over Lady Gaga or any of the other fine women in it (if I&#8217;m [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="620" height="375" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GQ95z6ywcBY&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="620" height="375" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GQ95z6ywcBY&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p>The Lady Gaga <em>Telephone</em> video with Beyoncé is the bomb.  I love this whole thing.  I&#8217;m a visual guy, so the way I come to love songs is often by loving the video so hard.  This video doesn&#8217;t make me swoon over Lady Gaga or any of the other fine women in it (if I&#8217;m going to swoon over someone, it&#8217;s going to be Beyoncé).  I melt at the artistry of the video.</p>
<p>The buzz in the air is that Lady Gaga videos are amazing.  I remember when Bad Romance came out, all of the talk was about how great the video is, how brave Gaga is, but I watched it and went &#8220;huh???&#8221; It was definitely one of those moments when I feel out of touch with my fellow man. But after seeing Telephone, I went and watched all the rest of Gaga&#8217;s videos to get the full scoop. They were cool, but they didn&#8217;t blow me away like <em>Telephone</em> did.</p>
<p>After seeing this video for the first time, I just wanted to know more about the director, Jonas Åkerlund.  <a title="Jonas Åkerlund" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Åkerlund" target="_blank">I looked him up </a>and found out that he had directed a whole bunch of videos I&#8217;ve seen a bunch of times, and even a feature film that I passed over at the video rental shop on lots of visits.  His previous work was stellar, but nothing like this.  This video is a milestone.</p>
<p>The <em>Telephone</em> video just hints at the possibilities that the Internet opens up for big budget music videos.  All of the product placement shows how you can make it economically viable to do a whole series of these so why not a six part thing, one episode a week, that tells the whole story of the song in detail?  Wouldn&#8217;t you want to watch Gaga and Beyoncé go on an even bigger adventure together?</p>
<p>This is exactly the kind of music video I would make. The highly graphical quality, the comic book special effects, the mini-movie, the mini-movies within the mini-movie, the over-the-top cartoonishness of it all.</p>
<p><img src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Picture-11.png" alt="Lady Gaga Telephone video" /></p>
<p><img src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Picture-21.png" alt="Lady Gaga Telephone video" /></p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2986" title="Lady Gaga Telephone video" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Picture-3.png" alt="Lady Gaga Telephone video" /></p>
<p><img src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Picture-41.png" alt="Lady Gaga Telephone video" /></p>
<p><img src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Picture-51.png" alt="Lady Gaga Telephone video" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center; "><strong>Bands &#8211; let me do your video!</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left; ">Did you catch the <em>Telephone</em> video when it first came out?  What did you think?</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.seanward.net/2982-lady-gaga-telephone-redefines-music-videos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Monday Meditation &#8211; My Personal Social Media Program</title>
		<link>http://www.seanward.net/2785-my-personal-social-media-program/</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanward.net/2785-my-personal-social-media-program/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:50:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disqus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[me]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social networking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tweetdeck]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[twitter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[YouTube]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanward.net/?p=2785</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today, Social Media is the buzz word. Businesses are just starting to wake up to the fundamental changes affecting how we communicate, but some of us (Blog Stars represent) have been into it for years. My approach has been to get into a tool, learn as much as I can about it, and build something [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2786" title="Mario on the Internet" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/mario.jpg" alt="Mario on the Internet" width="599" height="453" /></p>
<p>Today, Social Media is the buzz word.  Businesses are just starting to wake up to the fundamental changes affecting how we communicate, but some of us (Blog Stars represent) have been into it for years.</p>
<p>My approach has been to get into a tool, learn as much as I can about it, and build something with it.  Now the tools can talk to each other, and it&#8217;s more about what you can build with a unique combination of the tools than what you can do with any one of them.</p>
<p>Here are the social media tools that are part of my daily routine, and how I use them.  I hope that you will leave a comment and let me know about your social media matrix.  I am super passionate about this stuff, and I absolutely love comparing notes with other people about it.</p>
<p>My social media tools of choice are <strong><a title="Wordpress" href="http://wordpress.org" target="_blank">WordPress</a></strong>, <strong><a title="Disqus comments system" href="http://disqus.com" target="_blank">Disqus</a></strong>, <strong><a title="Facebook" href="http://facebook.com" target="_blank">Facebook</a></strong>, <strong><a title="Twitter" href="http://twitter.com" target="_blank">Twitter</a></strong>, and <strong><a title="Youtube" href="http://youtube.com" target="_blank">Youtube</a></strong>.</p>
<h1>WORDPRESS</h1>
<p>This doesn&#8217;t actually count as a social media tool but I included it here because it&#8217;s important to have a destination, an online home soil that you&#8217;re bringing people to back to.  Social Media sites are where you meet people and let them know what you&#8217;re about, but your home soil is where you call the shots and they&#8217;re your guests.</p>
<p>My home soil is this website, and <a title="Sean Ward's Super Party - the funkiest, flashiest, and flyest comics on the web" href="http://seanwardsuperparty.com" target="_blank">my Super Party site</a>.  It&#8217;s my focus, even though it&#8217;s not where I spend the most time in the day.</p>
<h1>DISQUS</h1>
<p>I have installed the <em>Disqus </em>comments system on my blog because it&#8217;s the bomb.  I can keep track of all of my comments across the whole internet (increasingly valuable as Disqus becomes a standard), and I can pump my comments out to <em>Twitter</em> or <em>Facebook</em>.  And because you can login using your <em>Facebook</em> or <em>Twitter</em> account, it encourages way more interaction than <em>WordPress</em>&#8216; default comments system.</p>
<h1>FACEBOOK</h1>
<p><em>Facebook</em> is the greatest relationship management tool mankind has yet produced.  Last year I noticed a lot of people talking smack about it but recently it looks like people have started giving it props again.</p>
<p><em>Facebook</em> is where everyone is so to dismiss it is a pretty silly mistake.  I would much rather people interact with my content on my own site than on the Facebook post announcing it, but you&#8217;ve got to go to where the people are and meet them on their terms before you can get them to join your world.  This won&#8217;t matter soon because eventually there will be a service that sticks comments wherever the content is, regardless of what site they posted the comment on.</p>
<p><em>Facebook</em>, the wall, and who has commented (how often and to what) is an absolutely vital part of how I decide what&#8217;s working, what to pursue, and what to do more of.  It&#8217;s my main way of keeping track of people and it really screws with me when I need to interact with someone who is not on it.</p>
<h1>TWITTER</h1>
<p>It&#8217;s funny how misunderstood <em>Twitter</em> is, even after all the hype surrounding it last year.  It&#8217;s at the point where it&#8217;s a classic gag, the thing about how non-users say &#8220;Why would I want to know what someone had for lunch?&#8221;</p>
<p><em>Twitter</em> is like a party going on in a big house.  The people you follow are in the same room as you.  You join conversations, you overhear stuff that piques your interest, you meet new people, and you gravitate to people you share interests with.</p>
<p>I love <em>Twitter</em> because it&#8217;s like hanging out with a bunch of people who love social media and the Internet as much as me.  I work alone but when I leave <a title="Tweetdeck" href="http://tweetdeck.com" target="_blank">Tweetdeck</a> running, with pop-up notifications of tweets by people on my personal VIP list, it&#8217;s like I&#8217;m sharing an office with dozens of people who are a lot of fun to be around.</p>
<h1>YOUTUBE</h1>
<p>Even though I&#8217;ve been on<em> Youtube </em>since the first year, I was kind of indecisive about what I want to do with it until quite recently.  Additionally, I was kind of shy about putting up new stuff on it for a while (for reasons that might one day make another article) and it&#8217;s only this year that I&#8217;ve started to really go for it.  There are other sites where your video might look a little nicer, and I recommend those sites to clients if the priority is a lovely visual presentation.  But for engagement, community, and sheer numbers, <em>Youtube </em>is the place to be.  I&#8217;m meeting new people on there all the time, and I&#8217;m really looking forward to the day that I&#8217;m in the partner program.  I keep a Flip Video camera in my pocket wherever I go these days, collecting material that doubles as daily vlog material and screen tests for my next few movies.  How long can I keep it up for, uploading a vlog every day???  Click the <a href="http://seanward.net/video">Video</a> tab above to see my daily vlog.</p>
<h1>HOW IT ALL FITS TOGETHER</h1>
<p>Here&#8217;s a typical day in my social media life: First thing I look at is my email.  Then I open Tweetdeck, check my @ replies, scan my &#8220;Don&#8217;t Wanna Miss&#8221; list, and reply to whatever is interesting.  Then I&#8217;ll leave Tweetdeck open while I&#8217;m putting up that day&#8217;s blog post.  I&#8217;ll send the link to that post out to Twitter and post it on Facebook, and then get down to whatever that day&#8217;s business is while my daily vlog uploads to Youtube.  Facebook emails me when there&#8217;s activity on my wall, and I check my feed whenever I pop over there.  Sometimes I have to turn Tweetdeck and my Gmail notifier off if I get behind or really need to focus, but mostly I love hearing from everyone throughout the day.</p>
<p>I love social media, the new ways we communicate, and how customizable it&#8217;s getting with very fine control over what updates get sent to which sites.  It&#8217;s all very exciting stuff, and the landscape changes constantly.  The important thing is not which sites you use, that you&#8217;re a part of it in whatever way suits your level of interest.</p>
<p>What social media sites do you like best?</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.seanward.net/2785-my-personal-social-media-program/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>12</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Monday Meditation &#8211; Live on the Internet</title>
		<link>http://www.seanward.net/2612-inside-the-artists-mind-live-on-the-internet/</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanward.net/2612-inside-the-artists-mind-live-on-the-internet/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:50:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[random]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thoughts]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanward.net/?p=2612</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is something new that people can say: I live on the internet. For most people, the internet is still a tool. But for some of us, the internet is a place and it&#8217;s where more and more of us are choosing to spend our time. Every so often it becomes an issue with someone, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2613" title="Internet" src="http://www.seanward.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Internet.jpg" alt="Internet" width="620" height="325" /></p>
<p>This is something new that people can say: I live on the internet.  For most people, the internet is still a tool.  But for some of us, the internet is a place and it&#8217;s where more and more of us are choosing to spend our time.  Every so often it becomes an issue with someone, whether they think I spend too much time online or just think it&#8217;s funny that I&#8221;m as active as I am.  Those people enjoy the blog posts, see the comics, and interact on Facebook, but they don&#8217;t understand what it takes to keep up that level of activity in so many areas.</p>
<p>During any given day, I am likely to be working on a drawing in my lap with my computer open in front of me.  I&#8217;ve got several browser windows open, with my attention split in a bunch of directions: Facebook, my website admin panels, My iGoogle homepage (to keep tabs on my email, RSS subscriptions, and calendar) and Tweetdeck with a constant eye on what&#8217;s going on via the pop-up notifications of tweets from those on my &#8220;Don&#8217;t Wanna Miss&#8221; list.</p>
<p>And the funny thing is, I don&#8217;t feel like I&#8217;m a slave to my computer or to the internet any more than someone is a slave to their shoes by wearing them to walk down the street.  It&#8217;s just how I do things.  I turn my Gmail Notifier off frequently so that I can concentrate on one thing, and I have no problem blocking everything out when I&#8217;m writing a blog post, working on Super Party, or writing an important letter.  I take frequent breaks (maybe not frequent enough.  I&#8217;ll give you that!) to get up and eat or stretch.</p>
<p>The the world is changing, and the very nature of how we interact has been altered forever.  Personally, I couldn&#8217;t be more excited to be here to take part in it.</p>
<p>How entrenched is the Internet in your life?  How big a part of your day is it?  Let me know in the comments!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.seanward.net/2612-inside-the-artists-mind-live-on-the-internet/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Nowhere Boy Trailer</title>
		<link>http://www.seanward.net/2364-nowhere-boy-trailer/</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanward.net/2364-nowhere-boy-trailer/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:07:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Finds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[beatles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[movies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[trailer]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanward.net/?p=2364</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Check out the trailer for the upcoming movie NOWHERE BOY, about John Lennon&#8217;s life as a teenager in Liverpool&#8230; If you&#8217;re coming to this site, I&#8217;ll take it as a given that you know how important the Beatles are to me. When I heard that this movie was getting made, I didn&#8217;t really think much. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb52/The_Playlist/more/john-lennon-nowhere-boy-1.jpg"></p>
<p>Check out the trailer for the upcoming movie NOWHERE BOY, about John Lennon&#8217;s life as a teenager in Liverpool&#8230;</p>
<p><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y6Km9L1Sqd0&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y6Km9L1Sqd0&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object></p>
<p>If you&#8217;re coming to this site, I&#8217;ll take it as a given that you know how important the Beatles are to me.  When I heard that this movie was getting made, I didn&#8217;t really think much.  I was just doing the &#8216;wait and see&#8217; thing.  Now that the trailer is up, I have to say I am very excited.  </p>
<p>Much of the blogging about the movie seems to focus on the actors&#8217; physical resemblance to their real life counterparts.  Aaron Johnson and Thomas Sangster look nothing like John Lennon and Paul McCartney, but I actually think this is smart.  It means that the movie is not being made by a Beatle fan who wants to give us a two-hour wank fest, and the performances are not going to be about mimicry or doing an impression.  I think that it will end up having made the movie way easier to get absorbed into than if the leads had been look-alikes.</p>
<p>Judging only from the two minutes of the above trailer, I think this looks awesome.  If you&#8217;re going to make a Beatles movie, you&#8217;ve got a choice to make as far as who it&#8217;s for.  You&#8217;ve either got to make it for the generation who grew up listening to the Beatles, or you&#8217;ve got to make it for the younger generation who are the age that the Beatles where when these events took place.  One of the things that excites me most about being a Beatles fan is how us younger fans continue to extract new layers of meaning from their art and their story, and reinvent and redefine their image.  It looks like Sam Taylor Wood has made the John Lennon movie I would have made.  Not a biopic, but a portrait of the artist living the great message of believing in yourself and following your dreams against all odds.  </p>
<p>And most exciting of all is that if this movie is well received, it might just open the floodgates of a whole slew of Beatles movies over the next decade, telling their whole story in great detail.  </p>
<p><em>EDIT: Did you catch that at the end?<br />
John: &#8220;I&#8217;m off to Hamburg.&#8221;<br />
Mimi: &#8220;And is this with the new group?  Oh, what are they called again?&#8221;<br />
John: &#8220;Do you care?&#8221;<br />
Mimi: &#8220;They all sound the same to me.&#8221;</em></p>
<p>It sure is a great time to be a Beatles fan!  But then again, when is it not?</p>
<p>What do you think of the trailer?  Are you looking forward to seeing the movie?</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.seanward.net/2364-nowhere-boy-trailer/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>7</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

