Manitoulin Island-Radio.Net

Webster's

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Web Pages Created By
Creative! Web Solutions
{aka ~ Joe V. Perticaro}

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists
in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the
unreasonable man. ~ George Bernard Shaw

Simply put, you are about to read a few Carefully Chosen Words

from one of Shaw's Unreasonable Men!!

When Shelley [the Co-Founder!!] read the statement
above, she laughed and said, 'Self-proclaimed'!

Whereupon, I asked, incredulously (!!), 'Don't you agree?'

To which Shelley responded, with a chuckle, 'Oh, yeah!!'

I took this to mean Agreement and, furthermore, as a

Compliment!! .... Hmmm!?

Some of the evidence for my qualifying as an 'unreasonable man' is right before your
eyes. Many websites "created" today are something akin to 'painting-by-the -numbers'.
The Internet, in my view, suffers from an epidemic of what might be called "template-
driven" Web Sites. The so-called "Web Master" [actually, there is not much
'mastery' demonstrated by most] 'creates' his/her site by downloading an appropriate 'template/layout,' and then proceeds to fill-in the 'spaces/placeholders' [text
boxes and object/image boxes] with his/her 'own' stuff .. text, images, and so on. The
result of this is an increase in 'sameness', or a decrease in web-authoring as a Creative
Process and Outcome.

Anyway, even a fleeting-run-through of this Web Site will, no doubt, impress the
viewer with the fact that it 'looks-like-no-other'! As you can guess, this is due to the
simple fact that I start with a blank 'canvas' and Create from there - 'From-Scratch'!!

                                        Spirit, At South Baymouth ~ Framed, Manitoulin Island
                                                          © 2002-6 by SLaF & JVP, Cricket Hill ~The Digital Darkroom,
                                                                                   Original Digital PhotoArt, All Rights Reserved

A case in point is the history of my 'creation' of PhotoArt [derived from Shelley's
Superb Digital Photographs, of course!!!]. For a period of 3 months, I downloaded and
used a number of imaging plugins/filters, the expressed purpose of which was the
'conversion' of photographs into "art" [oil or watercolor paintings, pencil or chalk
sketches, and such]. None of these 'add-ons' gave me either the control or the results I
wanted. As well, I studied a number of tutorials aimed at taking me from 'photographs
to art' using the features of particular software. Again, none of these resulted in
acceptable images.

In the end, I painstakingly 'created' my own sequence of tasks [using features from
upwards of six graphics programs]. The results of these processes[30-45 minutes of
effort per photograph, in the beginning of my learnings] can be seen throughout this
Web Site.

Below is a Link to an Actual Example of the Possible Results, in a Side-By-Side
Illustration ~ {I actually did some Digital 'Hand-Painting' of the Original
Photograph to get some of the 'Art-Effects' seen!! }

Frankly, web authoring is sometimes a 'tedious' endeavor; but this is outweighed
by the pleasure derived from both the learning processes and the visible results!!

S.S. Norisle (1946-74) ~ Manitowaning, Manitoulin Island

Another piece of evidence here is the fact that this Web Site is and will remain a
Non-Commercial/Non-Profit 'enterprise'. In a world which is becoming ever-
increasingly 'Commerce-Happy', this position is certainly [if nothing else] Counter-
Cultural. The question I am usually asked is - 'Okay, so what's in it for you?' And,
being a 'Good New Yorker' [with us it's strictly a birthright .. you know, Genetic!! ..
or maybe it's 'Just' Congenital?!??], I 'answer a question with a question' .. asking
back - "Did ya ever hear of doing some thing ... 'Just Because'??"

Suffice it to say, this Web Site, and the "Radio Station Idea" from which it derives, is
Distinctly a Labor-of - 'Just Because' ... Love?!!

For those of you who are careful readers and thoughtful about what has been read, a
connection between the first piece of evidence and the second 'will likely jump from the
page!' Much of the felt-rush in our lives today is, in my view, the implicit Worshipping
of the Commercial Adage/Mantra that "Time is Money," and so, we hurry even [or
maybe especially] when we can literally Afford-Not-To = Do Not Have To!!???

              Leaves On Grass, Manitoulin Island
   © 2002-6 by SLaF, Cricket Hill ~The Digital Darkroom,
         Original Digital Photography, All Rights Reserved

Web Logs are a good example of the above: rather than create a blog-layout 'from-
scratch', the vast majority of bloggers use blogging services - with their template-driven
layouts. The predictable result is Sameness!! So much for taking-one's-time to create 'a
personal space for personal expression'.

Another, admittedly more extreme, example, are so-called Greeting Cards, which often
are 'Stock' Images attached to 'Stock' Sentiments .. ah, the personal touch!!??? I can
remember numerous people saying, with incredulity in their voices, that the Handmade
Cards [paper and all] that Shelley [you know, the 'digital photographer'!!] had
Lovingly Created [from scratch!!] had nothing written in/on them. The implication
being, why would/how can I buy this. Scary ..very Scary!!, the prospect of actually
writing something from one's heart/head!!!??

   Grasshopper ~ Handpainted Mask, Manitoulin Island
© 2002-6 by SLaF & JVP, Cricket Hill ~The Digital Darkroom,
                   Original Digital PhotoArt, All Rights Reserved

When my daughter, Lisa, was young [5/6 years old - she is now past the mid-point of
her thirty's], she was pretty social and attended all sorts of birthday parties. On one
occasion [early-on], we [she & I] discovered that we had no gift wrapping paper. So,
we decided that she would Handpaint a Grocery Bag [in the days when they were
Paper!]. The process was lots of Fun, and the outcome was even more Fun! For the
longest time afterwards, Lisa, and most of her friends, made the Handpainted Grocery
Bag gift wrap the thing to do!!

An interesting [I think!] aside here is that Shelley [the 'digital photographer'!]
has used/recycled paper bags for the 'creating' of envelops [her own template] for her
Handmade greeting cards for well over 5 years now! Further to this Shelley [the very
same' digital photographer'!!] has also used her envelop template as the basis for the
creation of her own design of knit-woven [a process which she perfected herself] Hand
Bags; which are created using the material from discarded/recycled clothing -
especially denim/jeans!

                                  Island Recycling, Manitoulin Island
                              © 2002-6 by SLaF, Cricket Hill ~The Digital Darkroom,
                                   Original Digital Photography, All Rights Reserved

Our "Culture" [among other things] tells us that we must Hurry [check-out your
driving speed compared to the posted Speed "Limit" lately], that we Must take the
Shorter Route [failed shortcuts to fame and fortune abound in the media], that we
Need to Rely on Experts and their Opinions and Advice [the plethora of contradictory
and sometimes downright unhealthy Diets are a good example here], and that Store
Bought is Better than Home/Handmade [the mass-produced, nutrient-free cardboard
that passes for bread illustrates this quite well, I reckon].

Oh yah .. And, we are also increasingly told [especially when we are young(-er)] that
we are Only as Good as .. How we Look , Where we Live, What we Drive, and so on,
and so forth ...

I say, Long-Live Spontaneity, and Variations of From-Scratch, and Taking-One's-
Time, and Walking Wisely & Lightly, and Doing Things Just Because we Want
and Love To, and so on, and so forth!!!

Well, I have probably done [implicitly & explicitly] what I set-out-to-do here, so
I'll close ....

Bye for Now ....

Mississagi Strait, Manitoulin Island
© 2002-6 by SLaF, Cricket Hill ~The Digital Darkroom,
Original Digital Photography, All Rights Reserved

By the way, if this Page [you know .. the content]
gives you some kind of reaction [visceral or otherwise], why not say so?!!!

Write ...!!
To our Sheguiandah Address, or
Email wc@manitoulinisland-radio.net

As my Family [practically to a person] often said ...
Don't Be Shy!!!!

The thing we miss today is argument. We miss debate.
We miss the whole idea of people going back and forth. ~ Louis Studs Terkel

Little Treat

{For Those Of You Who Like To Be Challenged}

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