therozblog.com - Roz Allen’s own tidy little space on the interweb.

IMG00459.jpg, originally uploaded by therozblog.

As per my favourite online couple’s request.. here’s my new doo in all its sunshiny glory. See you this weekend at Fan Expo guys!!

Hey everybody it’s Lori the Intern here and I’m super excited to post my first story on therozblog.

I asked Roz if I could intern with her this year because I have always had a passion for online writing. Since I was a kid I’ve always kept a diary, then the internet came about and I brought my love for writing into that. Advanced Social Journalism was also my favorite class and one of the only we had this year where I felt I could really be creative - interning with Roz just felt like a good fit!

My first task was to cover the panel that was arranged for our last class. Leave it up to Roz to set up a panel of guest speakers who are as forthcoming regarding the changing world of media as she is! And what a great opportunity it was, being introduced to some big names in the online world. Dale Mugford of matthewgood.org, Billy Reid of Very Tasteful and Tessa Sproule of the CBC. Each of our guests certainly brought a different aspect to the table regarding blogging and the future of online journalism. It was refreshing to see just how passionate each of them were for their work.

Dale Mugford- off the top, is an interesting character due to his connection to Canadian icon Matthew Good. His focus was around blogging and his involvement in the web design of Matthew Good’s own political website. His thoughts and feelings towards the past, present and future of online journalism were exciting to listen to. It is evident that writing online is a trend that is continually picking up - this is our future.

On to the man who “likes songs about things, drawings about things, and videos that usually combine both of those things”. Billy Reid’s comedic laid back personality beamed throughout his presentation. What a down to earth guy - and what a great opportunity it was to listen to him speak. Hearing about his very tasteful website was great because we have watched a few of his videos in our classes. It was uplifting to hear how he got started, how self-taught he is, and how successful he is now.

Last but not least was a woman by the name of Tessa Sproule. This completed our class with a more professional look at the online world. Tessa expanded on how she got to where she is today as the executive in charge of digital programming for entertainment at the CBC - perfect to hear, especially at this time of the year when we are all thinking about graduating and what we’re going to do with our lives.

Its obvious where our news consumption methods are heading and this is where it is at. For three people who are on very different paths in life - their views are very much the same in this area. Which was great to hear because I had a terrifying suspicion that this whole online, blogging thing was just for nerds - phew what a relief!

Now there’s a headline I’m sure you never thought you’d see on therozblog. Just came across a story on Salon.com’s fabulous “Broadsheet“ about Los Angeles based Iranian artist Makan Emadi.

He mentions in the article: “I find it, in a way, humorous and paradoxical — the idea of bringing together two extremely opposite ways of treating women that is, at the same time, sexist. To me this follows the tradition of feminist art. I’m creating a pastiche of two completely opposite yet very similar ways of controlling women.”

Provocative? Absolutely. Feminist? I’m not so sure.

Technorati Tags: Salon.com, Broadsheet, Makan Emadi, feminist, art

Finally made my way back to Will Ferrell’s brainchild website, ‘Funny or Die’.. and found this great short film. ‘High Five Montage’ from Almost Twins.

Happy Friday!

Technorati Tags: Will Ferrell

A few months ago, I was asked to write a spec green for ‘The Hour.’. yes, the one with George Stroumboulopoulos. It centered around Matthew Good - his latest album, Hospital Music and the painful way in which it came to fruition.

Eager to suss out any and all backstory on Music, I made my first research stop his site - www.matthewgood.org.

If you haven’t been to Matt’s site, go. Quickly. Now. It’s one of the best examples of high level blogging to come out of Canada. I swear.

Matt and his congregation of columnists rant and riff on topics ranging from pop culture (Paul Anka’s cover version of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’) to human rights, without breaking a sweat. And while one peek at the comments shows you they may be preaching a bit to the converted, the writing is solid and stylish. The community is strong. This is what a great blog is supposed to look like.

As I scoured Matt’s site, I became more and more enamoured with it. I was impressed by the intelligent design, and the fact that Matt is reaching out to his readership in such a forward-thinking way.

“OMG, he’s got a Flickr account. Must make him a contact. Wow, he’s on Digg too! Heading over to check it out. And wonder of all wonders, he’s even on del.icio.us!”

It was right about this time that I stumbled upon his ‘Lifestream‘ feature. A compendium, if you will, of all of Matt’s recent activity on the web. Flickr posts, Diggs and new bookmarks were all displayed in chronological order. Easily clickable and wonderfully grocery-list like in its simplicity.

“Now here’s a lad,” I thought, “who has taken ‘Web 2.0′ to a whole other level.”

Being the geek that I am, I fell unabashedly in love with the Lifestream. I decided I must have one of my very own.

And, in keeping with the user-friendly nature of the site - after a quick email, I had one of my very own. Custom created and installed by matthewgood.org columnist and webmaster - Dale Mugford.

So head on over and check out my ’stream, wont’cha? I may never be a rockstar, but with the help of matthewgood.org, I just got one step closer. Thanks guys.

Technorati Tags: The Hour, George Stroumboulopoulos, Matthew Good, Hospital Music, www.matthewgood.org., blogging, Canada, Flickr, Digg, del.icio.us, Lifestream