Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Digital Aaaart

I find myself more and more going beyond an initial knee jerk apprehension toward digital distribution, and am okay with momentarily embracing. Sometimes I feel as though I would be happier in the 1800s, when literature and the stage were dominant forms of entertainment. When actors were considered tradesman, albeit still poor, but less so regarded as silly dreamers, and when the pen (and its counterpart paper) was a little mightier than it is now. We do live in different times. People enjoy the portability of their devices, gadgets, and the fact that it contains an entire library of books, music, movies, and beyond. And even though I prefer the unplugged quality of pages, I do see the benefit of an e-reader of sorts. I have a tendency of reading multiple books and magazines at once, which kills a young man's back when all carried around via messenger sack. Anyway, I'm quite proud of my book Turban Tan and okay with it being read digitally while one is sitting on the john. It's now available on iBooks! The Nook! (has been available on Kindle for awhile now). I'm just very happy that it's being read whether scrolled or paper pages turning. Although I do hope the more its scrolled the more people learn of it being available as a paperback and perhaps partake of that edition while out in the woods, camping or strolling for a technological exit/retreat.

That being said, initially my interests in the Wood Sugars podcasting was out of developing an audience for our live shows, and while that still is true, I more and more appreciate the old theatre of the mind, an upgraded pocket size (yet bigger in its own way) reemergence of the classic radio show. By the way, we have a new episode available. ITB S2E7.

The delivery of stories sure have changed from cave wall etchings to animated GIFs. And what is the higher art? Is that for us to waste our time deciding? Or shall we continue to play and create and share our stuff even if it flickers behind LEDs? And when the power grid collapses (which is not far-fetched, perhaps imminent in our lifetime) we can evolve back to way of performing and digesting the written word through means more so of the Earth and visceral.

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