Whew, y’all. I am a touch frazzled. The timing of this time of year is always tricky for us. There’s Megan’s birthday, and then we have our traditional trek to Ohio for some portion of the week around Thanksgiving. Last year I threw a lil Saturday half-marathon race into the mix just for the heck of it, but a wiser head, not to mention weaker legs, prevailed and that’s not happening in ‘09.

So instead, because there’s some karmic even strain to maintain, yesterday I got a full-on sick kid. Megan’s midnight earache for the second time in her history led to multiple vomiting episodes as well, despite no fever. Go figure.

And today? Today, when she got herself up and dressed with no alarm, when I should have and deserve and Desperately Freakin Need a full complement of kid-free hours? She has early dismissal.

Which I think means that she’ll be helping me make her class birthday cupcakes. That’s fun bonding mommy time, right, and not a heartless thing to do to the almost-birthday girl. Right? Right.

Because I’m all about the reframing, yes I am. Yesterday I sat in her couch “nest” in the living room with her for a good bit of the day and snuggled and read to her and managed to successfully ignore the one-quarter-painted walls and the clashing window treatments and the rolled-up rug to be returned to Overstock.

Because I remembered, just as I was about to stress out about all that “needed” to get done, what it is that being an at-home mom is really about. And remembered, not too slowly, to be grateful for the opportunity.

And I imagine that what needs getting done in the next couple days will get done. And a lot of stuff that doesn’t, well, won’t. Cos that’s how it works, isn’t it?

And the stuff in the middle that gnaws at me at three a.m.? Ah, heck. Who needs all that sleep anyway?

Goddag världen! En sån här dag räknar man sina välsignelser. Jag tackar Gud, den Ofattbare, för att jag inte bor i Vellinge. Det är prövning nog att vara född och levande i Sverige, detta land där jag aldrig har känt mig hemma. Främlingsfientlighet och queerfientlighet är syskon, två grenar på samma sjuka träd, de finns överallt, bara inte alltid så klart uttalat. Jag har sett det hos mina egna biologiska anhöriga på den tiden jag hade såna.

Edit: Under debattartikeln som jag länkar till, liksom under alla artiklar om flyktingmottagandet i Vellinge, väller det in vidriga, rasistiska, anonyma kommentarer. Det här har blivit som ett avlopp som svämmar över och onämnbara saker kommer fram ohämmat. Det är ett dåligt betyg åt både denna och föregående regeringars integrationspolitik. Just detta fall blev apokalypsen (ordet apokalyps betyder litteralt att riva undan en slöja [!]) som visar svennefolkets sanna ansikte, och nåt mer motbjudande är svårt att tänka sig. Och jag räknar ännu en välsignelse: att jag inte är flykting i ett EU-land.

Jag läser i gratistidningen City att planerna på ett äldreboende för homosexuella här i Stockholm nu verkar ha kommit en bit på väg och att en tänkbar fastighet har hittats. Det ska tydligen kallas Regnbågen. Det där pratades det om redan på 80-talet, då skulle det heta Gay-Sol. *rys* Jag har absolut inget att invända mot detta, bara jag själv slipper tillbringa min ålderdom där. Jag gillar inte segregation i någon form, fyfan vad tråkigt det skulle vara att bara umgås med bögar och flator. Förutom sexualiteten har vi lika lite gemensamt som vänsterhänta eller brunögda.

I övrigt är jag glad att jag började med antidepp, nu är det två veckor sen jag startade och medicinen har kickat in. Jag mår avsevärt mycket bättre och känner igen mig själv igen. Jag är övertygad om att Gud skapade mig mycket för att jag skulle få andra att skratta och känna sig glada, och som redan de gamla grekerna sa: Hellre spela apa än spela Allan!

Jag vill passa på att göra ohöljd reklam (det här är min blogg och jag reklamar hur mycket jag vill!) för nya bildalbum på hemsidan. Nu finns där fyra album med gamla vykort, lite diffust ämnessorterade. Jag har också lagt dit alla roliga kattbilder jag har, det är över 600, och några teman finns det. Sovande katter, flygande katter, katter i lådor och andra behållare. Men de flesta är osorterade. Andra nya album är målningar av Caspar David Friedrich, altartavlor av Hans Memling, Stabat Mater-målningar, och ett album med egna fotobearbetningar där jag har mixtrat med färger mot svart. Inte bara bilder är det, jag nämnde för ett tag sen Coleridges härliga långdikt om den lesbiska vampyren Christabel och nu finns den också att läsa.

Bilder: mera Ceiling Cat och Basement Horse!

Recently, I was called by one of the groups in my company to help analyze a problem of an alleged memory leak in a Java application. When I asked to get the printout of the OOME, I was told that no one had ever seen it. Mysteriously.

To avoid such cases, there are some tools at our disposal:

1. Write the OOME to a file instead of the standard error. This can be accomplished by the following code snippet:

   File file = new File("err.txt");
FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(file);
PrintStream ps = new PrintStream(fos);
System.setErr(ps);

   This way, in case of system restart, the file will be there to analyze.

2. The information of the OOME can also shed some light on the origin of the problem. The following are some of the errors that the OOME expose:
   1. Java Heap Space – objects cannot be allocated in the heap space
   2. Permgen Space – permgen is where classes are loaded. This can be fixed by setting -XX:MaxPermSize to a larger size
   3. <reason><stack trace> (native method) – Native methods can be C++ methods accessed by JNI or just methods in the Java core (which is written in C++). This means that native method encountered an allocation error. If this is the case, enlarging the heap size will not help and you will have to use OS specific diagnostic tools.

   For example, in the following OOME, we can see the first case:

   Exception in thread “main” java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
   at com.comverse.cpo.App.main(App.java:30)

3. Create a heap dump, right before reaching the OOME. This can be accomplished by the following vm flag:java –XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError –cp <classpath> <class name>

   The heap dump can be viewed by many tools. I recommend mat – Eclipse memory analyzer  (Home Page) which comes as a standalone application or as an Eclipse plugin.

4. Crash before OOME –  This occurs with native code that does not check for errors returned by memory allocation functions. This is a tricky one.
   1. You can look at the dump to find clues
   2. You can look at the fatal log. To configure the fatal log, use the following flag: java -XX:ErrorFile=/var/log/java/java_error%p.log. In the this example, the error log file will be written to the directory /var/log/java and will be named java_errorpid.log.

For more information, visit:
http://java.sun.com/javase/6/webnotes/trouble/TSG-VM/html/memleaks.html
and other related information:
http://java.sun.com/javase/6/webnotes/trouble/TSG-VM/html/docinfo.html

I don’t know what you call the standardized testing conducted in schools over your way, but we here in Virginia have the Standards Of Learning.  And trust me, the SOLs are a horse that has been bludgeoned by thousands more learned and articulate than I.   So not to worry, I ain’t a-going there.

I don’t pay so much attention, but I remember that “Symbols of America” or somesuch was covered last year in kindergarten, and this year they seem to be revisiting and expanding the theme.  The Statue of Liberty, Washington Monument, bald eagle, the flag, yada yada.

And because nothing gets your hard-working public educators giddy like a good SOL tie-in — looky see, our curriculum is pertinent and meaningful and useful! — each November the first-graders get to put on a Patriotic Program.  See?  It ties in to Veteran’s Day.  Do they do this where you are?

We had ours today.  70-some first-graders in patriotic garb, with accessories, singing songs like This Land Is Your Land and Yankee Doodle and You’re a Grand Old Flag and reciting this and that is pretty dang cute no matter what you think of standardized testing.

My favorite part of the evening’s performance was the synchronized camcording team:   a row of dads lined up against the wall, each standing at precisely the same angle, elbow cocked to wield the ‘corder, wearing the identical amused/proud grin.  I left my camera at home, more’s the pity, because that would have been SUCH a great shot.

Well, maybe, just maybe, that was only my second-favorite part of the performance.  Because Megs — my soft-spoken, cautious, hyper-aware girl — had been assigned the closing salutation of the evening.

She was excited about it at first, but then nervous:  “Mom, I think the teachers should have known that I am not someone who is comfortable talking in front of a lot of people I don’t know!”

Indeed, no.

And so I wouldn’t have given you very good odds on it, but I am here as your witness:  her voice rang out in that gym loud and clear and cadenced, yes it did.  And my heart got as big as the smile on my face.

She stuck it.   Yes, she did.  And she knew she did, and that was even better.

If only they had a confidence SOL to teach to.  A believe-in-yourself SOL.  Now, wouldn’t that be a curriculum we could all get behind?

O Núcleo Regional de Benedita/Leiria do Movimento da Escola Moderna realizou ontem na ESECS a 3ª Jornada Pedagógica do MEM. Achei especialmente interessante a intervenção do prof. Américo Peças a propósito do tempo de estudo autónomo: à luz da filosofia Taoista do Yin Yang, onde os opostos só têm sentido na complementaridade, a educação é um processo de autonomia num contexto de heteronomia.  O território individual só se constrói num território comum.

Words, that is.  Because each of the following photos had at least vague intention of being a dedicated blog post.  And, as always, I cringe at the quality of the pictures, and resolve that Santa should bring me a groovy new camera this year.

We had a lovely Labor Day treat staying with Kate and her family at their fab cabin in NC:

First day of school. Note the single top tooth, shifted to center. I pleaded to pull it the night before, but to no avail:

Guy-camping at a local campground, a late-summer tradition:

If you closed your eyes after looking at Megan’s outfit on this day, you could still see the color contrast on the inside of your eyelids. She got a LOT of compliments/comments, and so did I:

Sisterly silliness. This Chicco train has logged enough miles for a transcontinental crossing. Definitely one of our best toy investments ever:

Okay, that’s all she wrote took. For today, at least. Hope you enjoyed the “less is more” theme.

I am reading the book “Outliers” by Malcom Gladwell and would like to comment on one of the concepts in the book that has led me to change some of my opinions about managing and hiring. (Side note: There are a number of interesting concepts in the book and I recommend it. Like most business books, it has a bit too much “fluff” and takes a bit of an extreme view in some areas, but it is a very worthwhile read). Chapter 2 is called “The 10,000 hour rule” which states that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert. I won’t go into all the details and caveats but as a general rule, there is a lot of evidence presented in the book, from sports to computer programming, that 10,000 hours is required to really be world class at any activity. Of course, you need some natural ability and training, but even if you have these, you will not reach the top without this practice. An important point is that this is a tremendous amount of time! If you are practicing your chosen area 40 hours a week (hardly realistic since there are many times you will be doing work that is peripheral to the skills you are trying to develop), it will take you 5 years to become an expert. I would contend that less than half of your time will be spent practicing even if you really work at it and, if you do not focus and are spread too thin in your job, less than 25% of your time will be available for this practice. So somewhere between 5 and 20 years of practice will be needed to make you an expert!

So what does this have to do with an engineering management student or an engineering manager? Expectations. Let’s not worry about the specific number of hours or needing to be a world expert. The point is just that it takes significant time to become knowledgeable in an area and truly contribute to your organization. Often I see students who have taken a couple of classes on a topic and feel that a company should view them as experts (or at least very valuable) in the area. This 10,000 hour rule should help you reorient your thinking about this. And it should help you to value the time you are given by an employer to practice your area of interest; whether that is writing software, doing market research, or developing products. (Side note: The book used computer programming by Bill Gates and Bill Joy as examples of the 10,000 hour rule. If these brilliant minds need 10,000 hours, perhaps it is a very conservative estimate for the mere mortals among us! Similarly for some of our greatest sports heroes). So I simply urge you to think about every hour you are able to practice your area of interest as an important opportunity and necessary step toward becoming a valued member of an organization in that area. Contrary to holding you back, it may be allowing you to build up an expertise.

This concept really resonates with my own observations even though I did not realize it before now. In fact, it has caused me to modify a couple of management concepts I have lived by in the past. The first I will call: “Hire the smartest people, they can learn what they need to know on the job.” This is actually still true but it needs to be tempered with the idea that although they can learn what they need, the organization needs to understand how long it will take them to be an expert – someone whose judgment they can truly rely on in the area of expertise. This is one reason start-ups are generally so dogmatic about hiring someone with the right experience. They cannot afford the time for the person to gain the necessary expertise. The second area I will call “The defocus trap”. Getting spread too thin is a problem for many managers. There is too much to do and not enough time to do it. But many times these managers are already experts in their areas (the stem of the “T” in the T-Shaped Individual – http://jtglass.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/t-shaped-individuals/) and they are now managing across a wide variety of areas. But for early career individuals who are contributing in a specific functional area rather than managing across several areas and have not yet proven themselves or developed a true expertise, this spreading too thin or defocusing can be very detrimental as you are trying to prove your value and developing your expertise. Thus, focus becomes important for both the individual and the organization as it tries to develop the depth of expertise that is needed.

In summary, take the opportunity to “practice” for many, many hours as you develop your expertise. Of course, strive for new assignments and new positions but be sure you are working long enough in an area that you have logged in the time to be knowledgeable enough that you can significantly impact your organization.

So, hier mal ein paar Suchbegriffe aus Labwolfs Blog als Bayeux-Wandteppich.

Den kennt ihr wohl schon:

Auch ein Kultsuchbegriff:

Noch ein Klassiker:

Die obligatorischen Spermasuchbegriffe:

Noch was lustiges:

Ein weiterer Kult-Klassiker:

Und das letzte Blog-Drama:

October marked the beginning of homework in Megan’s 1st-grade classroom. She came home last Monday with a ziploc of cut-out words and a daily chart of tasks to accomplish. Monday: Sort words into three categories; write them out. Tues: Sort words; alphabetize; write out. Wednesday: Sort words, write 10 sentences using words. Thursday: Do a mock test to prep for Friday’s classroom test.

It’s spelling, but they are all about the patterns. Yet another well-meant though futile attempt to impose some pretense of order onto English word construct.

Megan, bless her lil rule-followin heart, was THRILLED to have homework. But along about Thursday she said, “Mom, it’s boring. I want harder words and more categories.”

I wrestled with myself. And finally, because she had verbalized exactly what she wanted, I sent off an email to her teacher. Who has, btw, 22 students and no aide. “At the risk of pegging myself as a helicopter parent… hope to keep her engaged… let me know what I can do… totally understand if it’s too much to ask….”

Got back a prompt reply email saying “No prob. I’d be happy to give her different words.”

Wow. Cool. To quote the girl herself, “Goodie!”

So today, Monday, she comes home with this week’s words, 24 of ‘em. They seem like they’re right about in the ballpark. She has new and improved rules to sort by. And a whole little tic-tac-toe grid of homework choices. She tells me she has to choose three tasks, and include the center (Written Pattern Word Sort).

She began sorting. It took awhile. Then she coughed and the freakin little tabs of paper went shooing across the table. Re-sort. Then she alphabetized (Task 2), and wrote them out in order. A half-hour and two tasks down.

Next she picked the option to choose two words out of each category and, using a newspaper or magazine, re-create the words using a ransom-note approach. The other options were equally daunting, including looking up and writing down definitions for 10 words, or writing 10 complete sentences using all 24 words.

A tad dismayed, I fetched the newspaper and scissors. The breadth and scope of this undertaking became immediately clear to me as teeny snippets of 8-point type began covering the table. “I’m going to cut them out and then sort them.” I stepped in. “See what letter you need and THEN cut it out. And let’s use headlines.”

Time passed. d-e-c-a-y, snip snip snip. The neighbor girl gave up waiting and went home. a-g-a-i-n, snip snip snip. Dinner harkened. a-w-a-k-e, snip snip snip. Kira complained of hunger. m-a-y-o-r, snip snip snip. Darkness fell. c-r-a-y-o-n, snip snip snip. c-h-o-c-o-l-a-t-e, snip snip snip snip snip frickin snip. Gimme those scissors: ch-oc-o-late.

A faint flush of panic welled up in me. See what I get for asking to challenge my child? Dear god, we’re talking 2 hours of homework a night. Is this some sort of sadistic teacher revenge, an attempt to ensure no one ever asks for exceptions for their child? Do I suck it up?? Do I cry uncle?? I have to cry uncle. I have to. I can’t do this to Megan OR to me.

I send an email: She’s very excited about the homework. Perhaps she could choose to do TWO tasks? And btw, we worked together on the ransom notes cos dinner was imminent and it was a new concept. Hope that’s okay. Hover hover hover, love and kisses.

And then, this evening, after the MPM arrived home and I was sharing about the day and pulled out the tic-tac-toe grid and actually read the instructions, rather than taking Megan’s word for it?

“Complete 3 activities for homework each week.”

Each WEEK.

Oh.

Well. It’s always nice to get your homework out of the way early, right? Like Monday.

We thought it would be helpful if we put all of our wedding details up online for everyone to reference.  Make sure to add the page to your RSS feeds and check back often for updates!

To read more about us, visit our ABOUT US page.

To read more about the wedding basics, including location, vendors, registry and honeymoon info, visit our WEDDING DETAILS page.

To find out more about who’s in the bridal party and their connection to the happy couple, check our BRIDAL PARTY page.

And check out Mem’s blog for more wedding and couple updates!

Denna tillägnas mina gamla ex. Nånting måste ju de också få när de så troget tittar hit! Och nu är det mer än hög tid att uppsöka sovgropen. Godnatt alla vänner, jag önskar er lugn sömn med fina drömmar på det att ni må vakna vederkvickta i morgon.

For our posting this week, we are very fortunate to have Gautham Pandiyan’s perspective on professionalism and suggestions for our MEMP students.  Gauthum and I were meeting recently about the work he is doing with a start company and we began discussing professionalism – how important it is and yet how hard it can be to explain.  He had some great comments that I wanted him to share with you so he kindly agreed to write up the following.

Guest Post by Gautham Pandiyan:

As I sat in your position a year ago as a new MEMP student during orientation, I wondered why I was hearing so much about “professionalism” and “professional conduct”. I learned soon that there were some good reasons behind it that I would like to share. Hope you are all having a good start to your year. My name is Gautham Pandiyan and officially I am a MEMP Sept. 2009 graduate but I obtained another master’s degree from Duke prior to the MEMP and I have known members of the MEMP class from 2004 onwards.  I was in danger of becoming somewhat of a Duke institution before finally graduating and leaving! Each year I have seen the MEM program grow and change in many ways. Several things have improved considerably about the program, and some other shortcomings and areas for improvement have come to light as well. The flexibility in coursework, the opportunities for engagement outside the classroom, the great faculty & staff and more, are certainly shining features of the program. I have also greatly enjoyed the energy and enthusiasm shown by the diverse student body for many different areas of interests including my pet favorite, commercialization & entrepreneurship.

As a long-time Duke student, I have however noticed that the reputation of the program within Duke, and to some extent outside Duke, tends to be tarnished by the behavior of just a small number of students. While the majority of the student body conduct themselves very professionally and perform exceptionally, a small minority tends to act unprofessionally, hounds professors & recruiters and comes across as somewhat avaricious. A good friend of mine works at Duke hires a student each year to work as a Data-entry technician under her. Every year she tells me she gets flooded with resumes, phone calls and emails from  MEM students that ignore the instructions of the application process, and attempt to get hired by hounding her. As a result she has a very negative image of the MEM program. This is highly unfortunate as it might affect her future interactions with others from the program. The same is true of several Fuqua faculty and recruiters as well. It is easy to see how the action of just one person can bring considerable disrepute to the entire program and affect all of us. This is why the program administration constantly stresses professional behavior and why it behooves all of us to conduct ourselves in the most professional manner. While understandably everyone is worried about their short-term future and jobs, it will affect everyone in the long-term if this worry trumps our conduct.

While apologizing for sounding preachy if I do, I challenge you all to adopt a student code of conduct or culture that will ensure that the MEM program is represented in the best possible manner both within and outside of Duke, and I am sure you will continue to bring many accolades to it! Good luck for a great year!

Editor’s Note:  I would like to add that developing the culture that Gautham refers to can only happen if we all hold each other accountable for this culture.  There will be times when we all, perhaps inadvertently, act in ways that do not support this culture.  If we help each other develop the habits that Gautham refers to it will benefit our careers and the MEM program!

Hahahaha I haven’t been this hyped up in a lonnnnnng while. Ok ironically I’m going to auto-shutdown soon because my batt’s left with about 5% I think lulx thank goodness I cancelled tuition or I’d really die. Gonna spend the few minutes left before the auto-shutdown to type this haha it’s the rare no-nonsense ranting mood baybehhhh.

Ok firstly it’s hard to believe that a year flew by so quickly. Almost a year ago I was still a Red Camper and now, I’m an SL hehe so awesome cannot hide my excitement ㅋㅋㅋ~ SL CAMP WAS DAMN FUN hahahaha thank you so much to everyone in every committee who made this camp happen !

NINJASSSSSSS I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3
I’m not sure whether any of you will read this but oh wellx anyway I’m sorry that I kept on disappearing and appearing for marcomm meetings and I might not appear to be too enthu about stuff apart from the cheers but I’m not too good at hiding my emotions sometimes I think (slcamp/ambs-unrelated frustrations) hahaha. BUT I WILL SHOW EUU DURING RED CAMPPPPPPP!~ BEST TRIBE FOR FIRST DAY AND THE CAMP OH MY GOD WE NINJAS REALLY POWER POWER LAH SIOL ;D

Having seen how dynamic each tribe was and how enthusiastic everyone was (and I’m sure still is) as a whole, can imagine how crazy it’ll be during the RC6 itself hehehe can’t wait really can’t wait it’ll be one of the awesomest camp any participant’s ever been to.

Meanwhile all the best to RC6 committees, esp. MarComm team (which I’m in nyeahehehe) all the best all the best we can do it we can do it promo vids going to finish liao going to finish liao next Mon deadline we can do it we can do it hohoho I think I’m going crazy because of the fatigue and maybe still a lil’ traumatised by Psycho the super suspenseful movie (thanks ah Iqbal). K back to topic Ning and Violet take care take care I know you guys have many other things to do O: don’t too stressed take a chill pill take a break take a kit-kat OPEN UP OPEN UP SOME HAPPINESS, OPEN UP OPEN UP SOME HAPPINESS! *Mac’s tune* I’M LOVIN’ IT~!

WHEN I SAY WHAT CAMP YOU SAY?

liturgisk dans och tycker väl det känns sådär halvheligt:

Was ich von YouTube halte habe ich ja bereits hier beschrieben, und auch auf die immerneuen Maschups verwiesen und sie gefeiert. Nun kommt also das Nächste daher, und der zeigt in etwas mehr als drei Minuten die schönsten YouTube Momente. Cooler Zusammenschnitt, der einem sehr viele bekannte Videos und Typen ins Gedächtnis ruft. Bei der von Olaf geforderten Runde bei RTL, mit den 25 besten Virals aller Zeiten würde ich mich als Gülcan (gerne auch mit Perücke) anbieten.

100 GREATEST HITS OF YOUTUBE IN 4 MINUTES

youtube.com

Und aus den Kommentaren bei off the record noch eine etwas ältere Version, dafür aber mit eigener Musik:

we didnt start the viral (a must see)

youtube.com

The Main Event Mafia are in the ring and Kurt Angle is putting over the strength of them. He says he didn’t lose the title and blames the loss on Matt Morgan. He says he was nice about working together, but now its Angle vs Morgan at Bound For Glory. Angle says the MEM is the most dominant faction in TNA and the World Elite come to the ring.

Eric Young says that the statement Angle made is a joke. EY says that he saved Angle from Hernandez at No Surrender. EY says he feels like he bailed Angle out. EY says he has a singles match with Hernandez tonight and to repay the favor, Angle will help EY take Super Mex out. Booker T grabs the mic and he says that this is TNA and the MEM rules TNA. Booker T says he never liked EY or any of the World Elite. Booker T actually said something that made sense. Booker T is livid and Angle jumps in. Angle says that they do business the right way and agrees to take Super Mex out.

Street Fight: D’Angelo Dinero vs Suicide

Dinero comes out with his ribs taped up and attacks Suicide during his entrance. Suicide throws Dinero ribs first into the apron and starts to throw weapons into the ring. Suicide uses a kendo stick and hits Dinero in the back. Dinero hits Suicide with a cane and then a tambourine. Suicide hits a Van Daminator with a trash can which sends Dinero to the ring. Suicide goes for a suicide dive, and runs head first into a trash can lid. Dinero sends a trash can over Suicide and hits repeated shots with the tambourine and trash can lid. The Pope grabs a hockey stick and hits a couple times. Suicide hits a springboard leg drop to send a kendo stick into Dinero’s nether region. Suicide went for a Van Terminator, but Dinero runs up a chair and spears Suicide in mid air. Suicide hits the Suicide Solution onto the trash can to gain the victory. That was awesome.

Lauren is with Team 3D and she asks what happened to Rhino. Brother Ray is visibly upset about Devon worrying about Rhino.

Lauren is with Kevin Nash and he says it may be a tainted win, but Nash is $50,000 richer. Nash is completely into Lauren and he is now with migets and its a little weird.

Brother Devon vs Rhino

Rhino gets cut off at his entrance, but Rhino recovers to get control early. Rhino goes for a gore, but Brother Devon side steps him, sending Rhino into the guard rail. The two continue to brawl as security comes out and the match is thrown out. Brother Ray comes out to play peacemaker and yells at both of them and he says enough is enough. Brother Ray says it is over and both men shake hands. Rhino hits the gore on Brother Ray and Devon is upset.

Lauren is with Hernandez and asks him what his tag partner will be. Matt Morgan comes out and it is going to be the two big men against EY and Angle.

Jeremy Borash is with Eric Young and he says that he will find out who broke the picture.

AJ Styles makes his way to the ring to start his new title reign. He says that it has been seven long years, but he is finally the TNA heavyweight champ. He says he is dedicating the title to the fans and wants to dedicate it to Sting. Sting comes out without any music and heads towards the ring. Sting says that he is appreciative of the honor and he puts over Styles. Sting gets out of the ring and Styles asks him to hold on. Styles says he knows what he did at No Surrender and he says he had a choice to pin Angle or take out Morgan. Sting get back in the ring and he says that he didn’t give Styles anything. Sting says he earned it and Styles says Sting passed him the torch. Styles says he wants to do something for the Stinger. AJ Styles says he wants to give him the chance to wrestle in front of his friends and family at Bound For Glory. Styles says he has to beat the best to be the best and Sting is the best.

Taylor Wilde and Sarita (c) vs ODB and Tara

Tara and Sarita will start the match and they shake hands. Tara and Sarita trade pin attempts and counters. Sarita tries to float over, only to be caught by Tara. Tara goes foODB picks Wilde up and throws her into the corner as Kong comes to the apron. Tara goes to confront her. ODB looks for a tag, but no luck there as she tries to pin Sarita. Wilde hits a missle dropkick and earns a two count. ODB hits a double clothesline on Sarita for a two count . ODB goes for the TKO and Sarita tags in Wilde. Sarita and Wilde gain the victory with the Springboard dropkick/bridging German suplex. After the match, Tara tries to explain to ODB what happened.

JB is with Mick Foley and they interegate Consequences Creed and Jay Lethal. They have no idea what is going on with the breaking of the picture.

Samoa Joe (c) vs Christopher Daniels vs Homicide

Homicide points at Daniels and he doesn’t take too kindly to it. Daniels hits a huge calf kick on Homicide and Joe hits Daniels in the corner. Daniels counters the muscle buster and sends Joe out of the ring. Homicide grabs the ankles of Daniels and goes to work on the fallen angel. Daniels hits a calf kick on Homicide and runs into a snap slam from Joe for a two count. Homicide and Joe start to work together to take out Daniels. Joe hits an inverted atomic drop, Homicide hits a northern lariat and Joe hits a senton, which earns Homicide a two count. Daniels hits a blue thunder bomb on Homicide, and goes after Joe with forearms. Daniels hits a splitt legged moonsault for two and sends Joe to the outside. Homicide goes to the top rope after taking Joe out with the Tope Con Jilo. Joe hits the muscle buster on Daniels, but Homicide breaks up the count. Homicide hits a hangman neckbreaker and Joe gets up. Joe hits a half nelson suplex into the Cochina Clutch. Joe makes Homicide tap to gain the victory.

Hernandez and Matt Morgan vs Eric Young and Kurt Angle

I will be honest. I smell a squash match in the works.

Angle and Hernandez start off the match with Angle jumping out of the ring. Angle locks in a headlock and Hernandez throws him off. Angle looks completely shocked. Angle kicks Hernandez, but he is thrown off to the side. Hernandez throws him across the ring and EY comes in. Hernandez hits a backdrop on EY and a sit out powerbomb on Angle. Hernandes hits the corner splash and tags in Morgan. Morgan hits the Carbon Footprint after Angle pulled EY in the way, allowing Morgan to pick up the victory. After the match, Angle kills Kiyoshi and Bashir as the Brits come out. The Brits allow Angle to pass as Steiner and Booker T come out.

JB and Mick Foley are now interogating the Motor City Machine Guns. Chris Sabin says that they were doing commentary. Mick Foley and JB mock their entrance music and they ask who they think it was. Alex Shelley says Mick Foley should check the surveilance camera.

Kevin Nash is with Daffney and he thinks Daffney is hot.  She elbows him in the jewels and throws some stiff forearms. Dr. Stevie comes in and tazes the jewels so he can get his money.

Bobby Lashley vs Jethro Holiday

Lashley hits a quick spear and throws some nasty right hands. Lashley hits a back drop on Holiday and throws some more right hands. Lashley hits a huge back breaker and follows it up with a full nelson slam. Lashley locks in an inverted Guillotine choke to gain the victory.

Lauren is with Abyss and he says everything seems ok now. Abyss says it would mean the world to him for Foley and Abyss to earn the tag titles.

Scott Steiner and Booker T (c) vs Abyss and Mick Foley

Abyss gives the bat to Mick Foley and hands the video tape to Taz and Tenay. Both men hug as Abyss and Booker T start the match. Booker T kicks Abyss, but Abyss hits a scoop slam. Booker T pokes the eyes as both Steiner and Booker throw right hands. Abyss hits a shoulder block and tags in Foley. Foley and Abyss both hit elbow drops for a two count. Abyss is back in and Booker kicks him from behind.  Steiner hits the Steiner Liner and hits a clubbing blow to the back of Abyss’ head. Abyss hits a double clothesline and Foley is in now. Foley hits a double underhook DDT on Abyss and Booker T hits the axe kick to gain the three count.

Foley breaks the tape over Abyss’ head and says it was Abyss who broke the picture. Foley punches and kicks him down to the ground, blaming him for everything. JB comes down and says that Foley doesn’t need to beat down Abyss. Foley grabs the barbed wire bat and hits Abyss in the stomach and the back. Abyss takes another shot to the head, followed by another bat shot to the head. Abyss is dripping blood and yelling “why?” as the episode comes to an end.

Aufgrund selbst auferlegter Offline-Zeit dauerte es drei Tage, bis ich die Fährte der wiederholt getwitterten Phrase ‘Und alle so yeaahh‘ aufnahm und stieß auf folgendes Ereignis, das Spiegel Online mit dem leider dort immer häufiger geübten Gestus des Web-Bashers mit dem Etikett “Flashmob-Terror” belegte:

Die deutsche Kanzlerin Angela Merkel hielt am Freitag, den 18. September um 19 Uhr eine Wahlkampfrede am Hamburger Gänsemarkt – weil jemand das entsprechende Plakat mit der Notiz Und Alle so: “Yeaahh” versehen hatte, weil jemand (anderes?) es fotografiert und auf Flickr gestellt hatte, weil viele das witzig fanden, weil es auf Nerdcore gepostet wurde und weil Spreeblick gleich zweimal (1, 2) drüber bloggte… in Folge dieser und möglicherweise noch weiterer Mikro-Ereignisse fanden sich an jenem Freitag um sieben am Abend viele Menschen mit ‘Yeaahh’-Plakaten am Gänsemarkt ein, um jede Äußerung der Kanzlerin mit einem solchen zu bedenken.

Klingt das kindisch? Ja, schon – ich erinnere mich an eine köstliche Deutschstunde, in der wir, die damalige Klasse G9 der Gesamtschule Schenklengsfeld, jede Äußerung unserer Deutschlehrerin (die wir übrigens sehr mochten) mit Applaus quittierten. Eine bewusste Fehlleistung: Szenen-Applaus im Schulunterricht hat die Komik einer Genreverschiebung, und sowohl wir als auch die Lehrerin hatten Lachtränen in den Augen. Angela Merkel bewahrte den Ernst im Angesicht des “pubertären Störens” (Spiegel Online) – liegt hier also politischer Protest 2.0 vor oder ist da ‘nur’ eine Spaß-Guerilla am Werk?

Die Frage drängt sich auf, von der Beantwortung der Frage ist jedoch abzuraten – das Format der Wahlkampfveranstaltung ist in den meisten Fällen selbst ein solches Ärgernis (Phrasendrescherei, unhaltbare Versprechungen, inhaltlich gewagte Simplifizierung zum Zweck der Agitation, … ), dass es verdient mit einer bewussten Fehlleistung beantwortet zu werden. Die Deutung als Protest 2.0 verpflichtet andererseits zu Versprechungen, die wohl kaum gehalten werden können – jedenfalls nicht, solange die Vorstellung von Protest noch immer vom Ideal des Straßenkampfes dominiert wird.

Schon wieder muss ich auf Evgeny Morozov verweisen, der Slacktivism wie folgt definiert:

Slacktivism” is the ideal type of activism for a lazy generation: why bother with sit-ins and the risk of arrest, police brutality, or torture if one can be as loud campaigning in the virtual space?

Das stellt umgekehrt die Frage, ob einem politisches Bewusstsein erst dann attestiert werden darf, wenn man “police brutality” herausgefordert hat. Ist es nicht smarter, eine solche Provokation (und deren lähmende Konsequenzen) zu vermeiden und statt dessen am intendierten Signifikationsprozess herumzudrehen, das zu betreiben, was Johannes Grenzfurthner in seinem Paraflows-Talk “The medium is the mess-up: guerrilla communications” diskutiert hat? Zum Beispiel in dem man das Genre der Parteigängerveranstaltung hackt, unisono jubelt und dies mit den gleichlautenden Schildern (‘yeaahh!’) der gekauften Wahlkampfunterstützer optisch untermalt (siehe auch den Eintrag ‘Jubelperser‘ auf Wikipedia).

Es liegt hier ein Generationskonflikt vor, wobei nicht das biologische Alter, sondern die bevorzugte Form der Mediennutzung und das Verständnis politischer Ästhetik den Ausschlag gibt. Daher bitte auch noch lesen: Ingrid Brodnigs Artikel Rebelliert halt selbst, ihr alten Säcke!.

P.S. Irgendjemand hat beim zweiten Abend mit Moot während der Paraflows die Frage gestellt, ob es auch deutschsprachige Mems gäbe – es klang als neigte die Person zu glauben, dass das ein Privileg der englischen Sprache wäre. Eigentlich ist es einfach: Wo Menschen kommunizieren (d.h. wo Botschaften manipuliert werden können und Polysemie im Rezeptionsprozess waltet) da können auch Mems entstehen. Künstliche Intelligenz kann keine Mems hervorbringen – ob jemand ‘typisch deutsche Meme’ als solche anzuerkennen bereit ist, ist eine andere, den oder die UrteilendeN betreffende Frage. Hier ist das Video vom ersten Vortrag moots im Raum D bei den Paraflows:

Gepostet mit Vodpod, auf ustream hier zu finden.

Resume Als Memenproduzent freue ich mich natürlich, wenn potente Akteure diese Meme aufgreifen und verbreiten.

1. Meme

Ein Mem ist eine Gedankeneinheit, die sich durch soziologisch-dynamische Prozesse vervielfältigt (reproduziert) und auf diesem Weg ihre Existenz (als Replikator) sichert. (aus: Wikipedia)

2. Spannagels hervorragender Vortrag

Christian Spannagel hat einen Vortrag über den Einsatz von Web2.0-Tools wie Wikis, Blogs und Twitter im Rahmen eines Kongresses der GAL (Gesellschaft für angewandte Linguistik) gehalten und aufgezeichnet. Der Vortrag ist deshalb excellent, weil er einen umfassenden Überblick über diese Thematik liefert, die entsprechenden Begriffe einführt und gleichzeitig konkrete und überzeugende Beispiele dafür liefert. Ein MUSS für jeden Lehrer oder Dozenten, der sich schnell über den aktuellen Stand informieren will.

3. Ein paar Meme aus meinem Reflexionsfeld

Klar, dass es mich sehr freut, dass Spannagel ein paar Meme aus meiner eigenen Produktionswerkstatt in seinen Ausführungen integriert hat. Das wird weiter tradiert, und läuft, und läuft und läuft… Wie Meme es eben tun…

Fazit Es ist immer ein Glücksfall, wenn eigene Meme von kraftvollen Akteuren aufgegriffen und verbreitet werden.