As I’ve said before, I’m not willing to commit to deciding whether I like imbedded players or hate them. Do they slow things down? Are they necessary? Do they just increase the amount of crap on the web? Do they draw the focus away from words and revert us back into a higher tech culture of boob tubers? I think one of the unintentional benefits of the web is that it has caused us revisit the written language in a way that has been on the decline since the invention of television. The proliferation of video files perhaps may be slowly erasing this... or not. I really have no idea. I'm pretty much just rambling here today, anyway.

Regardless, I am intrigued by the potential of sites like youtube, vimeo and google video. As more material becomes available, so does the quality of much of what you can find. Granted, so does the pile of worthless garbage, but isn’t that always the way it is? Most books suck, most music sucks, most television sucks, most blogs suck, most photographs suck, and so on and so on. For every interesting video file you may find, you either have to be pointed by a trusted source or wade through thousands of four year old birthday parties, teenagers flashing faux gang signs representing their suburban communities (“Springfield, Indiana represent!”), and pets (oh lord, all the animals). Hell, sometimes you get lucky and come across entire programs of cable television shows or uploaded european programs of dubious copy write legality. And sometimes, while surfing through these sites and typing in a tag like, oh, I don’t know, “baltimore” for instance, and come across a video file that is interesting and compelling to you that you would not otherwise have found.

Like this video file from the PBS series P.O.V, for instance:

This interests me because I’m a whore for anything relating to my neighborhood and I have always loved the look of the prison. I mean, who wouldn’t love the oldest continuously running and scariest looking penitentiary in the western hemisphere being in their own backyard? The sun rising over the main tower in the morning is incredible. I know the subject isn’t sunny, but it is compelling. I have to admit, part of what draws me to it isn’t the subject matter, but the aesthetic feel... of the outside shots, anyway (I never have and hopefully never will see the inside of that place). For good or for bad, it’s home; and for some reason that I don't really understand... home is a powerful notion. You’re drawn to it, regardless of its reality.

related links:
Beumont & Tocqueville preson report excerpts: Maryland State Penitentiary
P.O.V. - Omar & pete | PBS