You Tube's Contribution To Well-being

Submitted by tonyplant on November 30, 2006 - 22:44.

Rachel on Sisyphus' Ledge has a discussion going about Hugh Laurie in the comments of her post, Just a note. I had to echo the House, MD/Laurie support and call attention to the many excellent clips of both Fry & Laurie and House on You Tube.

You Tube lots of montages of clips from the various series of House set to music. There are some superb angsty pieces that Frank Zappa might have had in mind when he made his, “It’s like listening to Weber at 4 am on a foggy November morning” (such as 4 a.m.). However, because Rachel recently commented that she enjoyed the smiles on the pictures that I posted from a recent Happystance event, I’m going with a couple of recommendations for smiley, blithe montages: Shoop Shoop Song and Smile.

I've previously enthused about blogging as a creative outlet. I think that facilities like You Tube and affordable software are providing even more creative and entertainment opportunities for people: both as creators and consumers.

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They're Made Out Of Meat

Submitted by tonyplant on May 5, 2006 - 09:14.

The creator of the this image put-together this photo-story for The Eurythmic's Here Comes The Rain Again. Creative experiments like this were limited before digital technology was made so freely available and there were limited opportunities to distribute them. It wasn't so long ago that the programming sophistication to produce the mouse-over comments (available if you follow the link back) where she gives her interpretation of the lyrics would have made a venture like this prohibitively expensive. This photo-story wouldn't have been possible if the creator hadn't been able to search through images that others had made available on the internet from many different countries and sources (see Diversity IS A Beautiful Thing for another striking photo-mosaic that wouldn't have been possible without the contributions of artists from many different places).

I'm endlessly fascinated by the world of creative opportunities that the web and the everyday technology has made available to us. You Tube allows us to watch videos made all around the world: some, like They're Made Out Of Meat, are made by people with reputations - others are improvised by people who are building up a portfolio of shorts and animations, and still more are offered by people who see this as a creative outlet that allows them to keep on doing their day job.

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Weekend Warriors in Harlow

Submitted by tonyplant on February 11, 2006 - 14:42.

There is a fun item in the Harlow Herald about the Weekend Warriors programme. The idea is that it gives “35 to 60-year-old lapsed musicians the opportunity to rejoin a band and relieve [sic] their musical youth”.

Apparently, the idea has been imported from the US and Australia where it has proved very popular. Any money raised is to go towards providing oportunities for local young people to perform live. The Music Industry Association carries a list of Weekend Warrior programmes in other areas.

I’m fascinated by the resources and imagination that people constantly demonstrate. This sounds like the sort of creative activity that will make a considerable difference to some people's happiness levels.

Copyright 2006, Tony Plant Happystance Project

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Sunshine in Northern Ireland: Krumping in LA

Submitted by tonyplant on December 29, 2005 - 14:30.

Thanks to the release of confidential Cabinet papers under the 30 Year Act, I've been fascinated to learn of the 1975 government’s proposals to bring normality and happiness to Ulster. The proposals ranged from Morecambe and Wise performing Bring Me Sunshine on the lawns of Stormont, to the presence of Frank Sinatra and the involvement of the Women’s Institute in ‘Good Cheer’ conferences.

Some of the plans seem ghastly in their inappropriateness. The anticipated Morecambe and Wise number might have played well in front of a back projection of re-arranging seats on The Titanic. And it might have paired well with the biting pathos of a performance of Send In The Clowns.

However, socially successful movements can come from the most unlikely places. Krump dancing has grown out of clown dancing to become a phenomenon that has recently been the subject of a documentary in RIZE. RIZE is set in inner-city Los Angeles, and charts the lives of vulnerable young people. Where they live, you are either in a gang or a dance group: the latter is responsible for sprained ankles, the former for a gut-tearing mortality rate. Krumping is seen to create both art and family: it gives hope in places where it seems all hope has been extinguished by the ever-present violence and drug addiction.

I do believe that local and national government have a role to play in monitoring levels of happiness as closely as they do other economic indicators. Likewise, their policies and spending priorities can make a remarkable difference to our quality of life. But, as with krumping, authentic, sustainable movements do need to grow from communities and the energy and talent of the individuals who comprise them.

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