So still trying with the videos...

Hey guys.  Im still trying to figure out how to embed videos into my enthusiast blog.  I tried copying and pasting the embed code from youtube onto a new post, but still no luck.  I figured out a new way to do it though.  Its actually not new but its a creative alternative.
  I decided to take still shots from the live rock performances that I was posting.  So for example, I wanted to show Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon" from 1976.  I was having that same trouble embedding the video into my blog, so I inserted a still image from the performance.  After I did this, I added a link underneath the picture.  I thought that this idea was better than simply posting the link.  It looked  alot like this...

Stevie Nicks Cal Jam: 1978

So what do you all think?  I think that if I'm having trouble actually embedding the video into my blog, then this is the better alternative.  It gives the readers an idea of what they will be watching as well as the link.  If anyone else is having trouble, I suggest doing this.   But if you're reading this and know how to embedd a video....could you please tell me?  It would make things easier and faster.

Thanks!

JDSkills

I want to add videos to my blog...having trouble though.

  In my Enthusiast Blog, I want to be able to show my readers videos without having to make them leave the blog.  Does anyone out there know how to get a video in the blog?  Is it anything similar to adding an image?  I can always just add a link, but I think aesthetically it will make the blog look much better...don't you?  If anyone knows, let me know!  If not....I guess I can just work with the old fashioned way and use a link to youtube.

Draft of "About Me"

Hey everyone.  For any of you who are music fans, I know that you will enjoy my blog.  I for one am a huge fan of music and seem to always be listening to it whenever I get the chance.  I can listen to any type of music and find something good in it, but my favorite tends to lean towards the older generation of music.  I decided to do my enthusiast blog on my all time favorite band, Fleetwood Mac.
  Luckily, my first concert wasn't with a teeny-bopper band like Hanson, or Backstreet Boys. It was with a classic rock band that proves to still be just as talented today as they were over thirty years ago.  When you are watching them perform, you aren't just witnessing great music, but a legend as well.  Since that time, I have realized that this band has a fascinating history that deserves to be told to our present generation.
  Something that I have realized with music of our generation, is that there doesn't seem to be a history behind the band or singer.  They all seem to just luck out and become famous by the time they are  16 years old.  Want to know how old the youngest member of Fleetwood Mac was?  Stevie Nicks at age 27.  In todays music industry, they would be considered "washed up".  With Fleetwood Mac there is not only great music, but a broad history of break-ups and stories that need to be told in order to gain a full appreciation for this band.  When you listen to their songs, its as though you are taking a peek into their diaries.  These musicians are writing their own lyrics and sadly, that is a rare quality that we find in todays music industry.
  You all may wonder, "Why would I want to listen to a girl ramble on about her favorite band?"  I am here to tell you that when you read my blog you are not only getting speculations of what happened but the truth.  The truth is in the lyrics of the songs and I am here to analyze them.  I have books and resources on the band to back up these speculations. I will take you to youtube links of "live performances" that are uncomparable to todays musicians.  We as the public will never know the truth of what really happened backstage, but won't it is always fun to speculate.
  Something that always intruiged me about this band is the fact that through thier breakups and heartache, they remained a band and were still able to tour with one another.  Sure they went their seperate ways, but they always seemed to regain the energy to tour as a band and still do to this day. 
  Come and join me and go "back in time" to a generation when the music was real and the stories behind the songs were even more raw.  With Fleetwood Mac, you aren't only getting great music, but intruigng stories that inspired the music.  As a fan for over five years, I will hopefully help you become fans of this epic band.

Ethos in my Blog

    Upon first realizing what I am deciding to write about for my Enthusiast Blog, you might think "Why am I just going to listen to this girl talk about her favorite band?"  My favorite band is Fleetwood Mac and I'm here to tell you that ever since I have seen this band perform live in 2003, I have been hooked.  I first started listening to Fleetwood Mac when I was in the car with my parents at a young age.  I learned "the soap opera" behind the music from my own parents.  They lived through that generation.  The story behind this classic rock band is so fascinating that I feel it needs to be told.    The background behind the music is something that needs to be learned in order to take the appreciation to a new level.  I feel cheated out of the music that is on the radio right now.  The radio today consists of actors rather than real musicians.  I feel as though it is important for a musician to write from the heart and that is what makes a good song.  When listening to this music, you aren't only listening to great tunes, but you are listening to the members own personal diary, or at least its just about as good as reading someones diary.  I'm so honored that I can say that my first concert experience was with a band that genuinely plays great music.  Unlike many bands of our generation, they actually write their own songs.  So my credibility is in the fact that through my fandom I am knowledged. I will bring you to sites and quotes from autobiographical books that back up my theories on the band.  Take my word. After being a fan of this band for over six years I can say I am credible to give you the information on the band.

Influences from other Blogs...

  I admit it.  I have never blogged before in my life and have only followed one blogger- I followed the obvious Perez Hilton.  He is awesome because he is so consistent with everything that is happening out there in Hollywood.  We all love to poke fun at celbrities and he is great at doing it.  He says what we are all thinking.  He is great at keeping up with the hot topics. 
 
  I am securing my Enthusist Blog topic and am telling everyone that I am doing my Blog on Fleetwood Mac.  Im talking about everything like albums, relationship issues/rumors (no pun intended) current tours, solo tours from the band, the history , styles etc....everything. love it

LATCH

In class we  talked about the LATCH theory-which is how we gather info and data.  It was neat to look at what seems like a jumble of words and put it together to make a generalization about a topic.  The world is full of data and info and it is a matter of how we look at things that creates a generalized assumption on a topic.
  For example, my group did the Location category and we measured the distance that we traveled and rated it from nearest to farthest.  I believe they were Florida, California, Cabo and then Italy.  From that a person could look at it and think many things based on their experiences.  One person could look at  it and think, "Two people traveled west"  where another could think "One person left the country to travel".  It was an interesting way at looking at different people and what a person can process from different kinds of data.
  The LATCH theory also demonstrates that depending on where you have been, may effect your opinions on certain topics.  As writers, this is crucial information that we should be required to know.  Every human being is different and because of that, we all have different experiences and views on certain subjects.  For example, one blogs "vibe" may be praising celebrities and all the good entertainment that they add to our world, whereas another blog may completely tear apart celebrities and think that they simply are a bad influence on our world.  That blogger who loves celebrities may be from a small town in Idaho (generalizing sorry!)  They may not personally know how celebrities may act off screen and simply love them for their character onscreen.  The other blogger who hates celebrities may be living right outside of LA and can't stand the media and celebrities, for they have to see and hear about them everyday. They know how celbrities behave off camera for they have personally witnessed or been exposed to it themselves.   It is important as readers and writers, to understand how different people may think based on their enviorment.  If we keep and open mind on certain situations, they we may learn a lot more than when think.

My Enthusiast Blog!

I'm so excited about it... Its a blog on my favorite band "Fleetwood Mac"  Its going to cover thoughts on albums, band members, speculations etc.  It's a blog that is everything Fleetwood Mac.  Hope there are other Mac fans out there who can enjoy it!

http://jdskills-adayinthelife.blogspot.com/

Blogs as Clubhouses

  In Stefanics short blog entry, he or she writes of how as human beings, we all have a passion.  Sometimes this passion can manifest itself into an obsession.  The tricky part about having these feelings is that sometimes we can not find anyone who can relate to our passion.  Ever see a movie that was so good, you needed to tell the next person you saw?  What happends?  You tell them and the passion for "the best movie ever" never seems to translate as strongly as you hoped.  Blogging allows an individual to express thier feelings on a subject and gain interest of thier readers.  Since blogging is open to the public, it gives the blogger a better chance of reaching out to another individual out there who can relate to thier passion (or obsession).  It allows one to express thier passion, knowing that there is someone out there who also cares.

Rebecca Blood: Weblogs

  It was interesting reading about how weblogs evolved over time.  Blogs were first started by those who had a knowledge in computer technology.  They knew the technology "lingo" and were able to start thier own websites easiliy. Weblogs were more structured and less casual when they first began. Websites such as this one (blogger) started  up in July 1999 with Pitas and it allowed us everyday "normal" people to be able to start our own websites without having a background in computer technology.
  Blood also writes of the blogger tone-which is ussually short and sarcastic.  A skillful editor in blogging knows how to convey a message in one or two sentences and if it be longer, they would make a seperate entry in essay form.  By doing this, it allowed the audience to be able to read thier blogs with ease.  the blog is more of like a journal rather than an article in "The New York Times."  By having the blog be this way, it made the blog more interesting to read.  I mean, don't we always feel that temptation to peek into someones journal?  I know I do...
  Blogger is simply an easier form of writing.  Anyone can do it and it doesn't require you to add links and commentary to your blog.  Blogger is a more laid back and relaxed blogsite whereas the others  (such as Metafilter) required one to be knowlegeable in the activity of blogging.  Rebecca Blood writes of how we need to have weblogs in our society because they allow us to look into the minds of an individual and look at things in a different  and more natural way.
  In conclusion, weblogs allow the blogger to step back and reflect on thier thoughts.  By doing this, they are not only learning about themselves, but they are teaching others to do the same.  By expressing what they feel about a certain issue, they are allowing another person (whoever is reading thier blog) to be able to reflect on thier own opinions of an issue.  Our writing enviorment is always changing, and while we still have newspapers, books and magazines, it seems to be that blogging is the new way to go in order to express an issue.

...andddd to continue with what I was saying, I thought it would always be neat to go back in time.  I would let the readers "live in my imagination" so to speak.  Like what would happen if I could take a time machine back in time to 1976 and witness the making of the classic Rumours album by Fleetwood Mac?  I bet you I would see a lottttt of turmoil and interesting drama that is for sure.  I could do this with lots of musicians from that time.  Funnn!

I've been thinking about what I can use for my Enthusiast Blog.  I love anything to do with music but especially classic rock.  Ive always wanted to go back and time and live during the 70's and 80's. It was a time when music was huge but without the excess media spotlight. I thought it would be a cool idea to blog about different bands from that time (Ex:  Fleetwood Mac, Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne etc),

Hey guys!  It's my first time blogging so I hope I'm doing it right... TEST 123 test haha