A brief history lesson.

A very cool article from the LA Times about the beginning of the Disney Archives:

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The very first ticket to Disneyland ever sold. To Walt Disney’s older brother Roy, for only $1. This is awesome for a few reasons. Preservation is such an important part of our life. Librarian Smith was able to join a company that wasn’t holding its own history in such high regard and turned it around so they wouldn’t lose sight of where they came from. What a huge accomplishment, and especially for a company as enduring as Disney. Disney is truly one of the most established brands in this country’s history. I would argue no other company’s name has as much clout behind it. “Disney” evokes such an enduring legacy of pure entertainment infused with heart and meaning and love and goodness. True, they’ve produced their fair share of crap material in the last twenty years*, but no other brand name has as much good quality entertainment under it’s belt as Disney does. And they’ve done so well by keeping sight of their past. They’ve let their past successes inform their current endeavors. You’ve got to keep sight of where you came from to know where you’re at and where you’re headed. That’s why the Disney Archives are so important and awesome.

It’s also another reason for me to get excited about library school. I have no idea what I want to do once I’m actually there, but heading into the program is exciting because I know my core desires have to do with what the field is all about. Information, preservation, organization, communication. Lots of -tion words that are important in life. It’s cool to me that in hopefully three years, I will get a job in an institution where information is highly regarded and I will get paid to organize and communicate that information to others. Awesome.

Also, Lost was/is the most incredible television experience I’ve ever had. Hopefully more on that later.

-Jon

* Why they chose to work with Roseanne, I’ll never understand. Moo.

A thank you letter to J.J. Abrams

HOLY COW CLICK THIS AND READ.

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I have to give all credit to Adam and his friend who linked this article on Adam’s blog. I am speechless after reading this. J.J. Abrams has exactly nailed so many genius thoughts in his commentary of modern American popular culture. The Age of Immediacy, what a dead-on phrase. This is exactly why I strive to keep my iTunes library so immaculately organized and complete, and why I was so excited for The Dark Knight before it came out. This is why I don’t want to watch Lost on TV, I want to wait until the whole show is on DVD and I can enjoy it in the privacy of my own home, away from prying eyes and spoiler-happy media junkies. I admit, I am absolutely a technophile and love keeping up with the media and the newest trailers and who’s going to be in what new movie four years down the road, but there are some things which are so artful, so full of originality and excitement, that I do my very best to save every facet of the adventure so I can enjoy it the way I want. Slowly and each part in its due time. Mystery is such a valuable thing and in our culture of complete publicity and overexposure, where everybody has to know who is dating who, with a few clicks of a mouse button you can find out what your favorite celebrity’s next project is, where they shop or even what they had for breakfast, mystery is such a rare and priceless commodity.

Thank you, J.J. Abrams, for bringing mystery back into the American eye and making us love it and long for it. Please don’t ever stop making awesome things to watch.

-Jon