Tuesday, July 19, 2011

"No One" as a figure of speech



No one will watch video online – the quality is bad.

No one will pay 99 cents for a song—it’s free on Napster.

No one will like cell phone photos—the quality is too inferior.

No one will use Facebook in Canada. MySpace is far more interesting.

No one will donate to Artists online –there's not enough money.

No one will donate by phone—they don’t get texting to pay.

No One became the most played US radio song in 2008 and was still Top 10 for 2009. Not knowing she'd succeed, Alicia Keys spoke to us in Harlem like this.

As a kid, I wrote an essay for City Hall called Nobody. After hearing so many people say "nobody can do it" – I created a superhero robot called Nobody who could do what Nobody could do. “No One” is a series of sentiments I heard from leading-edge internet pioneers in Canada. Dreams came true for what no one could do.

Sunday, July 10, 2011


1989 caption

"Is it that desire to spontaneously initiate excitement? That we
hit the glove before play starts; that
we swing the bat before the pitch is
thrown; that we dig our feet into the
ground; or that we stare across the
horizon and grip the
bat before the
moment comes?"

~ 1st line in only baseball story i ever wrote (1989)


* * *

2011

Mr. 3000.

He conjured the fountain of youth with one swing. "The ball was in the air, disappearing into the kind of white clouds Norman Rockwell loved to paint, and Derek Jeter watched it the way a child watches a runaway balloon floating across a midsummer sky."

"Diminished" Derek Jeter caused New York City to leap higher than it's been in a long while, sending his #3000 hit to heaven. He faced the fates of history and sent everything there.

His home run for #3000 created a monument in left field. But the pressure was greater going five for five to win the game.

To reach that hallowed ground, he didn't just beat one of the game's best young stars five times (6 if you count the base he stole), he didn't accept ball four for a free pass.