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May 14, 2007

Lilac time; Free mp3s: Kansas; Webby Award winners

Photo: Sheila Lennon

In the dooryard fronting an old farm-house near the white-wash'd palings,
Stands the lilac-bush tall-growing with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
With many a pointed blossom rising delicate, with the perfume strong I love,
With every leaf a miracle -- and from this bush in the dooryard,
With delicate-color'd blossoms and heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
A sprig with its flower I break.
From Walt Whitman, When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd

If you're visiting southern New England, come in May when the oaks and maples are spring green, cherry, plum and apple blossoms turn neighborhoods pink, and lilacs bloom in that singular shade of pale purple named after them.

A single cluster brought indoors perfumes the house.

May is full light wind of lilac
From Canada to Narragansett Bay.
--From Amy Lowell, Lilacs

I did not know this: From Huntington, W.Va., columnist Perry Mann (The Year Winter Killed Spring), "The lilac (was) the flower that Ceres found in response to Jupiter’s request, when his romance was new, that she find for Juno the flower that had the ultimate beauty and fragrance..."

Free mp3s: Kansas, Canada Jam, Live at Mosport Park, Ontario, Canada, August 26, 1978.

Yup, Dust In The Wind is one of its 13 tracks.

Webby Award winners: There are about 481 of them, if I counted the tiny squares in the Flash index correctly. Here's a more traditional text index.

With the Best Homepage award going to Sony.com, and the People's Voice in the same category going to the New York Times, these aren't exactly a guide to the sites of the quirky cultural soulmates you know must be on the Web somewhere but can never seem to find.

Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented to David Bowie and eBay at The 11th Annual Webby Awards Gala on June 5 in Manhattan.

Webby statuettes, pictured at right, are awarded by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, founded in 1998, which describes its membership as

...an intellectually diverse organization that includes over 500 members such as musician David Bowie, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, Internet inventor and Google Chief Internet Evangelist Vinton Cerf, "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening, Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser, and fashion designer Max Azria. Members also include writers and editors from publications such as The New York Times, Wired, Forbes, Details, Fast Company, Elle, The Los Angeles Times, Vibe, and WallPaper.

Other members include Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Jerry Greenfield (Jerry of Ben & Jerry's), Sister Patricia of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Free Will Astrology's Brezsny and a whole slew of other people, most of whom you've probably never heard of. (I haven't, beyond a few celebrities, and a few usual suspects of the blogosphere.)

Posted by Sheila Lennon at 2:40 AM | Permalink

Comments

I'm not sure I understand where you get the 481 number. There are by my count 69 categories, and thus 69 award winners.

There are also "People's Voice" winners in each category, but often the People's Voice winner also wins the Webby itself. So even if you include the PV winners as "winners", there's still less than 138.

Each category also has 5 nominees and a few "Official Honorees", but they're not actually Webby Award winners.

I think comparing that to the number of Web sites out there makes the Webby Awards pretty selective.

The Web site I helped found, Wikitravel, won for Best Travel Website, in a competitive field (Travelocity, Gadling, Expedia, Lonely Planet, Fodor's, Frommers, Trip Advisor were all honorees or nominees). I don't think it's a hollow victory at all, and I'm pretty proud of the Wikitravellers who made it happen.

Posted by: Evan Prodromou on May 17, 2007 9:20 PM

I'm not sure I understand where you get the 481 number.

Evan, my lead was, "There are about 481 of them, if I counted the tiny squares in the Flash index correctly."

Congratulations on your award. I'm not demeaning it, just expressing the dismay of a casual visitor at this array of 481 image links representing the full list of nominees, each of whom "won" at least a spot on the roster.

Where to start?

Posted by: Sheila on May 17, 2007 11:09 PM