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Sunday, January 22, 2006

Proof of concept - embedded video

As many visitors to this blog may have already figured out, I don't spend lots of time playing with toys. I've always tried to keep this blog focused on words and images, and I haven't invested a whole lot of time with geeky doodads. Sure, they may look cool on the surface, but I've always feared that they would detract from the experience of quietly enjoying the flow of a web log.

Maybe I'm wrong: I invite your thoughts on this in the comments below.

But I've noticed an increasing tendency among friends and colleagues to share video-based content. Since I'm an ardent fan of the comedy sketch - an art form if ever there was one - I thought I'd try to share some funnies from my past here as well.

This first one comes from the early days of Saturday Night Live. Bill Murray. Hercules. Laraine Newman. Hackneyed script. Badly done hair. Even worse synchronization. Classic. Say no more.

Here it is:

Your turn: Did this work for you? Should I dig up more? How do you share video content on your own web log?

23 comments:

  1. heehee... That was pretty funny. I guess we all get middled-aged, even Hercules! I'm thinking that Bill Murray must have been guest-hosting, because I think the girl was played by Nora Dunn, and she came along later in the shows run.

    Anyway, to answer your question. I don't find the video content on your blog distraction... But it does sound to me like having video might be going away from what YOU want your blog to be. And I think that is the most important question: What do YOU want it to be...

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  2. oh, and Michele sent me today. :-)

    And I've just blogrolled you because for some reason I never got around to it before. :-)

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  3. Thanks, Lisa. I don't think I ever thought of the blog in those terms: I never really identified precisely what I wanted this thing to be.

    Instead, I have viewed it as an evolving journal. Sort of like my life: I don't know quite what it'll be at any given point, but I'm always going to try to improve it.

    But you've got me thinking. I must go mull some more. Thanks!

    And stay tuned.

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  4. I was in Athens just a year ago... your video was fun, but I must say I enjoy your own pics a lot more. Just my personal point of view. Michele sent me this time.

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  5. It took forever to load with dialup, but it's also a skit I remember well from the old days. Phil Hartman as the announcer. Sigh.

    I like video clips, but with dialup (and no hope of getting DSL or cable anytime soon) I tend to skip anything but short clips.

    Via Michele

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  6. pretty funny.. I was just thinking the other day about the "money momentum" sketch that was on one of the original kids in the hall shows on HBO. "Post it and they will come"

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  7. I don't find the embedded video as much of a distraction as I do Herceles with his big belly! ha ha
    I've debated with myself over the same kind of questions, but ultimately come to the same answer. It's your blog...
    do what suits you!

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  8. I'm with Lisa on that one Carmi - I come over here for your words and your photographs but then I don't particularly like video, or even audio content...

    That is why my blog is devoid of anything like that, even memes I find distracting...

    but as Lisa said, what do you want YOUR blog to be? Do you want it to reflect your tastes as they are or as experimentation for new media for your skills?

    Whatever it is, I will be here to read it,

    Minerva

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  9. I don't generally put a lot of video on my WYTB.com site, unless it's a funny. I do have two other blogs where I post a lot of my own videos...personal interest. A blog is what you make it. If it is a blog about you and you want video, then put video on it. No laws in blogdome! :)

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  10. I forgot to say Michele sent me!

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  11. Heh, was it meant to sound like bad '70s porn? *grin*

    Here from Michele's

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  12. Video is cool....

    As long as nothing auto-starts, it's all good. Auto-start is evil!

    Michele says Howdy!

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  13. I think video is another way to keep people interested and coming back. I don't think it distracts from the blog, IMHO.

    I use video to show people what I do at work and occasionally post something funny or of interest.

    Keep it up!

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  14. Michelle send me interesting you used youtube.... I came across that site a few days back and I felt it necessary to share a few so I posted a couple on my blog. I too used to fear the images and video post ...I try to keep it to a minimum. If i really think my readers will like it then I put it up...

    I have never come across your site before good stuff... im linking you...

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  15. I dont put video on my site cause a lot of people still have dialup and dont really mess with it that much.
    But I do and Im a big fan of comedy....great skit loved it michele says hi

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  16. Well, it was interesting. I don't remember that sketch. At first I thought it was the one about what was actually in the ladies' room. It was pretty good, not great. But fun to remember Bill Murray looking like that.

    I can't figure out how to do anything but write, so I'm the wrong person to ask about video on my blog. There is none.

    Michele sent me, but, as you know, I'm a regular!

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  17. Here from Michele's! Okay, honestly, I didn't view the video, mainly cause it seemed a bit too old for me lol. But with that being said, I do tend to view some videos here and there on blogs, and I even have one on my own sidebar (but that is because I feel it has an important message). I actually do appreciate fancy bells and whistles in blogs if they are actually of interest to the reader (i.e. no one cares what the weather is like where you are, really.) - but with that being said, nothing beats a well-written, intelligent blog, bells and whistles or not! And I definitely think yours qualifies as an intelligent blog. So don't feel you have to stick media on your blog to get noticed - your blog can obviously stand on its own two feet :)

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  18. like has been said, all in what you want carmi. works for me! i do like the fact that yours didn't autostart. i currentyl have one that does and i find it highly annoying but i don't know how to make it not autoplay.

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  19. Hello, Michele sent me!

    I don't know about all the do-dads on blogs. Even with DSL, some pages take for-EVER to dl. Gets on my nerves a little. So, my blog the only eye candy a reader will get is the pics of my little darlings...

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  20. That was funny, Carmi, and I do love SNL (particularly the old ones). But I would probably rather read your words than see these clips. If you had them infrequently, I would enjoy them.

    Michele sent me tonight.

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  21. wait I have to decide what my blog wants to bee..
    but I don't know what I want to be......
    oh lord

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  22. I've not done much with video on my blog. I tried it once but the service irritates me - it posts nicely to a blog but those "email your friends you've added more to your 'album'" messages never get delivered to my friends no matter what I do. I'm to impatient with that sort of thing so I stopped bothering to use the service.

    That said, I think anything that illustrates a point is worth using in one's blog. I much prefer someone's own photos, words and videos...but sometimes sharing an outside image or series of images illustrates a point.

    To each his/her own.

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  23. I'm not sure why this comment from Jeff got munched by the Google moderating engine, so I'm posting it on his behalf:

    This will be right up everyone's alley... Its a great way to pass some time at work when no one is looking

    http://www.googlesightseeing.com/

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Please note that Written Inc. has been set up so that all comments must first be moderated before they go live on the blog. I apologize for the inconvenience, but this is to ensure bots and trolls don't muck up the works. If you have any difficulty leaving a comment here as a result, please feel free to email it to carmilevy AT gmail DOT com. Thank you for your understanding.