Bloggy Howl, I have a Blog!

A sometimes serious, sometimes fun collection of my writings, readings and online activities...

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Podcast: Steve Johnston's "RAW"

Reading a piece by modern poet Steve Johnston, revamped after input from two of my favourite people:

Listen to my new rendition of Steve Johnston's "Raw"

Thursday, August 18, 2005

This is Theatre

I just learned that a director is refusing to let actors read the full script. This makes me angry.

You may have heard it said that film is a director’s medium, while theatre is an actor’s. This is never truer than in amateur theatre.

Let’s look at what an amateur actor gets out of the theatrical experience:
A few evenings of fleeting glory
No money

What she puts in:
Talent
Intelligence
Hard work
Upto six months of rehearsal – six months of her life, albeit only the evenings, gone from her life for good.

Why do actors do it?
There’s something the amateur actor is looking for, something that would make it all worthwhile. “The experience my first play - ‘Business is War’ gave me,” says amateur actor and my student, Ruchi Mohan, “is something I’ll cherish all my life. Rehearsing for more than a month for that final moment - to be on stage… not as you… but as Mrs. Daga – a character…. to cut yourself off from your world and enter hers!”

Adds Cedric, another of my students, “I saw a transformation in the cast, everyone so involved in their roles it was like a spell being cast. It was real magic, something I can’t explain in words and something which hit me deep within.”

That is what the amateur actor seeks – the joy, the energy, the magic of performance. Performing live before an audience gives the actor a high that cannot be described. It is a fix that keeps the amateur actor going on stage again and again, for no money, for little recognition and a soon forgotten mention in the local newspapers. It is what makes film actors sometimes forgo the millions they would make in the permanence of a film to go fleetingly on stage before a live audience.

The Director's Responsibility
The Director has a great responsibility in ensuring that the actor is not prevented from experiencing this thrill.

When the director uses a filmmaking approach to theatre, she treats the actors as mere elements in “her” production. Refusing to let the actor understand the context of the role and of the play itself, she uses her in her own grand design, leaving the actor nothing. No pleasure, no thrill, no glory, no money.

Not empowering the actor to experience this high has repercussions in the whole of amateur theatre. While amateur theatre is replete with those who are looking for just a one-time acting experience, there may be someone in that bunch who might go far in the acting profession but for the actions of a selfish director. Not getting the thrill they seek, they will drift away and theatre will lose a talented performer.

It might be argued that the purpose of theatre is not to make the actor feel good, but to deliver a good show to the audience.

Unfortunately, the filmmaking approach to theatre prevents precisely this “good show”. Granted, the audience may feel it is getting its money’s worth because of the elaborate sets, excellent sound and pyrotechnical lighting. But whenever people in the audience talk to me about this director’s productions, they confess to experiencing a feeling of “something missing”. They can’t articulate what is wrong, but they know something is.

Says professional British stage actor Simon Callow in his book, “Being An Actor”:
“An actor who performs in a certain way because the director told him to, is not really there at all. He’s in the past, his mind always harking back to the rehearsal room, thinking desperately: `What did he tell me to do now? Oh, god, I’m sure that’s wrong.’ And so on. The performance will never grow, the actor’s tension will block off any real expressive vibration because another, irrelevant person has clambered onto the stage between the actor and the audience: the director. The actor must own his performance, and the director must make sure that he does.”

And that is why I get angry when a director refuses to show the actor the complete script.

Friday, August 12, 2005

How to use "Read more!" links in your blog

Often, we have long posts in our blogs, which make it difficult for readers to scroll through our blog posts. Long posts may also shorten the number of posts that are displayed on the main blog page or push important titles that we want visitors to see far below the bottom of the screen.

This article will show you in a simple, step-by-step, non-techie way, how to control your blog post so that you display only a paragraph or two on the main blog page and so readers who are interested in reading more may do so by clicking a "Read more!" link.

NB: This article makes no attempt to explain WHY a certain bit of code is being inserted in the blog template or blog entry. For a more technical explanation, see Blogger.com’s "How to" article at:
How can I create expandable post summaries?

Adding a "Read more!" link in your blog involves two things:
1. Modifying your blog template to enable and display the "Read more!" link
2. Putting additional code in your blog entry (the blog you actually write) so that Blogger.com stops the display at the point you specify and displays the whole blog entry when the "Read more!" link is clicked

Adding a "Read more!" link is a longish process at the start, but the modification to the blog template remains valid until you change your template.

If you wish to print or save this article for your reference, a printer-friendly PDF version may be downloaded from:
readmore.pdf

(The above file is hosted on a free server, so if it doesn't work, I may have exceeded the download limit. You'll have to try after 24 hours... sorry)

Ready? Then Here we go:


1. To modify your Blog Template to handle "Read more!"

First, sign in to your Blogger account.

Select "Change Settings" in your Blogger dashboard. This will take you to the Settings page.

Below the word "Settings" you will see several hyperlinked items in a line, like a menu.

Click the "Archiving" link.

Make sure "Enable Post Pages" is set to "Yes".

Click the "Template" tab (the tab is in the same line as the word "Settings").

Click anywhere in the editing window and hit Ctrl+A (keeping Ctrl pressed, hit A) and then Ctrl+C to copy all the code that’s in your template.

Click anywhere in the highlighted text to remove the highlighting (otherwise the next key you hit will replace the whole shebang).

Open a new Word (or any other word processing software) document or Text file.

Hit Ctrl+V to paste the code.

Save the file (this is a backup in case you make a mistake in the template. If your blog does not display correctly, go back to "Change Settings" in the Dashboard and replace all the code in the template there with the code you’ve copied into your backup file).

Go back to your Blogger template.

Look for the html tag, </style>

Just ABOVE it, copy and paste the following code:
<MainOrArchivePage>
span.fullpost {display:none;}
</MainOrArchivePage>

<ItemPage>
span.fullpost {display:inline;}
</ItemPage>

Then look for the <$BlogItemBody> tag.

BELOW it, copy and paste:
<MainOrArchivePage><br />
<a href="<$BlogItemPermalinkURL$>">Read more!</a>
</MainOrArchivePage>

Click "Save Template Changes" (it’s usually an orange button at the bottom left corner of the window).

The Blog Template is now prepared to handle posts that use the "Read more!" option.

The next thing is to prepare your blog entry itself, so that blogger.com stops the display at the point you specify and displays the whole blog entry when the "Read more!" link is clicked. You will have to do this for every new post that you want treated in this fashion.

2. Preparing your Blog Entry

2.1 To prepare a new blog entry to handle "Read more!"

Go to your new blog entry (hit "New Post" in the Blogger Dashboard) and type / paste your blog entry in "Compose" view. (This is usually the default view. The word "Compose" should appear without any hyperlinking on the top right-hand corner of your blog editing window – just above the stuff you’re typing).

Format your blog entry to your satisfaction, then place the cursor at the point where you want to stop the display on your main blog page.

TIP: Choose a point at which the reader just can’t wait to see what happens next… the middle of a sentence can be a good point to stop the display.

Copy and paste the following code there:
<span class="fullpost">

At the very end of your blog entry, copy and paste the following code:
</span>

Save your blog entry.

2.2 To modify an existing blog entry to handle "Read more!"

Click the name of your blog in the Blogger dashboard, then click the "Edit" button for the post you wish to modify. Wait for the editing window of the post to appear.

Place the cursor at the point where you want to stop the display on your main blog page.

TIP: Choose a point at which the reader just can’t wait to see what happens next… the middle of a sentence can be a good point to stop the display.

Copy and paste the following code there:
<span class="fullpost">

At the very end of your blog entry, copy and paste the following code:
</span>

Save your blog entry.

That’s all there is to it.

NB: The “Read more!” link shows even for posts that you have not treated in the manner explained in 2.1 and 2.2. This is because the link is in the template. There’s a great way to solve this problem; WRITE MORE!

Have fun with your blog,

Deepak

Copyright © Deepak Morris, 2005
The above article maybe freely copied and distributed, provided the information given below is included in the copy:
Deepak Morris: A non-techie partisan in a techno world. Empowering better communication.
website : http://www.freewebs.com/deepakmorris
blog : http://www.dm01.blogspot.com
Disclaimer: I have no idea if this works for blogs that are not hosted by Blogger.com

Monday, August 01, 2005

Speed up your surfing with Bookmarks

Do you visit the same sites often? Do you, for example, log into your web-based email account, visit online forums / networks, visit blogs, etc. on a daily basis?

If so, and you aren’t already using bookmarks to manage your online activities, this article will tell you how to speed up your surfing by using and managing bookmarks. If you’re already using bookmarks, the article has useful tips on exporting your bookmarks and saving them on a website. This comes in handy when you’re away from your computer – on a vacation, say – and still want to visit the sites you surf regularly.

1. First, the basics

1.1 What is a bookmark?

Bookmark is Netscape / Mozilla’s term for a shortcut link to a website. Internet Explorer calls them “Favorites”. When you bookmark a site, your browser places a link to it under the “Bookmark” or “Favorites” menu at the top. For the sake of brevity, we shall be using the term “bookmark” to mean bookmark or favorite site throughout this article.

1.2 Bookmarking a site:

Bookmarking a site is the essence of simplicity. When you visit a site that you’ll be visiting regularly, simply press Ctrl+D (Hit the D key while keeping Ctrl pressed). Depending on your browser, this will add a link to the bookmarks straightaway or ask you to confirm that you’d like to add the site.

1.3 Using bookmarks:

Bookmarks offer a quick way to visit sites. Once you bookmark a site, you don’t have to type the URL (address) of the site when you wish to visit it.
When you want to visit a site you’ve bookmarked, click the Bookmark or Favorites menu item. You will get a drop down list of all your bookmarks or your browser will open a new pane / frame with the list of sites. Some browsers add bookmarks on their own, so don’t be surprised if you see links to sites you never bookmarked. Clicking on any of the bookmarks will take you directly to the site.

1.3.1 TIP:

If you’re using Mozilla, right-click on the bookmark to get a context-sensitive menu that allows you to open the link in a new window or new tab. You can thus continue to work in the current window while the bookmarked site opens in the new window / tab.

2. Managing Bookmarks

If you bookmark a large number of sites, your list of bookmarks can get pretty unwieldy. You may need to manage or organise your bookmarks so that you can find them quickly.
Internet Explorer has an “Organize” button that opens a window with various options, such as “Create New Folder”, “Move to Folder”, etc. Mozilla / Netscape have a “Manage Bookmarks” link that similarly opens a window to manage your bookmarks.

2.1 What you can do to manage your Bookmarks

  1. You can create folders that will contain similar bookmarks. This is useful when you have several sites of the same type in your bookmarks list. For example, you may create a MAIL folder and store links to Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, etc. there. You may create a NETWORKS folder to store links to online networks like Ryze, LinkedIn, Ecademy, etc. You may create a FORUMS folder to store links to discussion groups you frequent.
  2. You can create separators, lines between bookmarks, so that you can see at a glance the groups of bookmarks. This is useful when you have too few bookmarks to store in folders, but too many to allow you to find the desired bookmark quickly.
  3. You can move bookmarks up or down in the list or into folders. You’ll need to do this in order to keep bookmarks to similar sites together. To move a bookmark, simply click-drag it to where you want it, up or down in the list.
  4. You can change the properties of the bookmark, such as its name or description.

3. Export your Bookmarks

Both, IE and Mozilla allow you to export your bookmarks to an html file that you can store on your hard disk, floppy disk or CD. This provides a back up in case you lose your bookmarks (if you have to re-format your hard disk because of a virus, for example). You can import the bookmarks from the file at any time.

3.1 To Export your Bookmarks from Internet Explorer

Go to File-->Import and Export
This will start the Import and Export Wizard, which will guide you through the steps to export your bookmarks. Make sure you save the file to a drive other than C: so that it will remain available to you in case you have to re-format your C drive.

3.2 To Export your Bookmarks from Mozilla

Open the Bookmarks Manager window by selecting Bookmarks-->Manage Bookmarks.
Click File-->Export in the Bookmarks Manager window (NOT the main browser window).
Navigate to the Drive / Folder where you want to store the file and click “Save”. It is good practice to save the file on a drive other than C: so it remains available to you in case you have to re-format your C Drive.

4. Store your Bookmarks on the Web

There may be times when you’re away from your computer, but still need to access your bookmarks. There are many free sites on the net that allow you to store your bookmarks so they are available to you no matter where you are.

If you google “Free Bookmark Managers” (with the quotes) you will get links to dozens of web-based Bookmark Managers that allow you to store your bookmarks on their servers. You may need to create an account with them to use the service.

To upload your bookmarks to your account you may first need to export them to a file (explained in “3. Export your Bookmarks” above). You may then upload the file to your account by following the directions given on the site.

So what are you waiting for? Start bookmarking sites now and enjoy hassle-free surfing.

Copyright © Deepak Morris, 2005