Top Graduation Speakers

It's graduation season and with it comes the painful ceremony.  The Graduation speaker is usually a horrible sweaty piece of the ceremony we must endure to get to the meal at the end of the ceremony.  But once in a while you get a great, inspired speaker, with a messsage the young grads mights remember.  The Daily Beast has compiled a top 30 list of the greatest graduation speakers of all time.  Here's a link to one of the members of that list, Mr. Bill Cosby.  

And here's a link to the whole story with links to many of the speakers doing their things.  It's good fun... not particularly inspiring from a video production POV, in fact it makes much better radio, but it's still good fun to listen.  Daily Beast Top 30 Graduation Speakers.

Virtual Guide: Putting an Avatar on your website

IBM is just one of many companies now offing Virtual Guide's for their website, and the guide could be you, or Barack Obama.  It's another creepy move towards personalized customization of websites using video.  But I have to wonder how helpful this customization will be.  You be the judge.  Check em out.  The package starts at $9.95 a month.  But don't look for us to add one of these vitual guides to deweymedia site any time soon.

http://www.sitepal.com/

Wilkinson Hair campaign does not sharpen my blade

Wilkonson's new Hair Off My Stuff is odd.  Perhaps it appeals to women blighted by their hairy men's fur, but for me, it evokes gross images of a hair covered world that I would rather forget?  Which Surreal artist created the fur covered plate, was it Man Ray or Gaudi?

There's even a cheeky sexist website - Hair Off My Stuff Website - where you can see 'women's tips' on how to get rid of unwanted hair on your 'stuff.'  I don't get it, seems mighty stupid to me, but we'll let you bet the judge.

A Cat Named Dewey, a media critic named Leonard and a journalist named Kuralt

The wonderful stories told by Sunday Morning, the CBS Morning news show have always appealed to my softer side.  As my birthday closes fast and I prepare to turn another year older, it's time to pull some of my favorite news stories off the shelf, and here's a great one about a cat named Dewey Readmore Books.  He was a great cat, and as the story describes, he is well known aroudn the world.

And while we're on the Sunday Morning topic, here's a tribute to one of the man who made me want to become a journalist, John Leonard.  He was a critic extraordinaire with a flair and playfullness with words that you don't find too often.  Here's to you Mr. Leonard.  We miss you.  By the way, Charles Kuralt, was another inspiration.  He's gentle soft spoken incisiveness is badly needed today.  Long live you all.

Annual Fund Video Contest:

University of North Carolina asked students to make a video for their 2009 annual fund, and here's here's one of the five compelling stories that made the cut.   UNC Annual Fund Video Contest