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June 24, 2009
'It's distracting. It's meaningless, it's not real. It's in the air somewhere' — Ray Bradbury on the Internet
He was quoted thus in Jennifer Steinhauer's June 20, 2009 New York Times front page story.
June 24, 2009 at 12:01 PM | Permalink
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Good old Ray Bradbury. And good old internet.
Lately, I've really been feeling like I want to stick my head in the oven, and sometimes, there's just no comfort that can compare to the comfort of hanging around in the past -- everything all done for you, everything all categorized and critiqued and water-under-the-bridged and safely tied up with a big old dusty bow. How else could I sit right here in my own house and see all kinds of amazing old shit?
Like, just look at this -- this old gal, Loie Fuller, was all the rage in Paris at the end of the 19th century with her "serpentine" dance where she held up the hem of this huge, long dress, and twirled and swirled around so it made this really neat rippling effect, like so:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIrnFrDXjlk
Then this guy, a music-hall performer of the same era, named Little Tich, comes along and does this hysterical imitation of her dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfZ9dQ9Umqs
And these guys, Wilson and Keppel, did this great silly "sand dance" thing in the 1930's that cracks me up every time even if I watch it twelve times in a row:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftYSMk4BLto
Go internet!
Posted by: Flautist | Jun 26, 2009 5:24:28 PM
Sorry, but Douglas Adams put it better:
"1) everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal;
2) anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it;
3) anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really."
http://www.douglasadams.com/dna/19990901-00-a.html
With all due respect, Mr Bradbury's resistance to the internet seems to boil down to "it's new, and I don't like it". As someone who is interested in libraries, and access to the media contained within, you would think that the Internet would be an interesting place. A place where books are not burned, where in fact, they live forever. Sure, there is still a place for libraries, and there always will be. But to dismiss the internet as distracting and meaningless? This, from someone who, among many novels and short stories, also wrote movies and tv shows.
You know, that meaningless, distracting, airborne media.
Don't even get me started on how meaningless and distracting playing cards are.
Or dice games.
Or movable type.
Dancing.
Posted by: Rocketboy | Jun 24, 2009 9:19:42 PM
A library is one of the few places outside/inside of nature that has a "spirit". Don't fret, children will "feel" this if we as adults introduce them to this wonderful experience!
Posted by: Joe Peach | Jun 24, 2009 6:05:56 PM
That's why I've taken to referring to my Internet friends as my 'imaginary friends in the computer'.
Posted by: Mary Sue | Jun 24, 2009 12:50:56 PM
