K-State prof Michael Wesch: World Wide Wonder

Catching up on fancy East Coast reading: The November 23 issue of the New York Times Magazine, “The Screens Issue,” was really cool. It was a theme issue dedicated to how people watch stuff: “On our HDTVs, Smart Phones, Laptops, Imax Screens, Computer Monitors, Nanos, Kindles, Bus Shelters, PDAs and Airplane Seat Backs.”

Extra cool: “Moments that Mattered,” in which a dozen notable creative types wrote short essays on something they’d seen on a screen this year that moved them. It was an intriguing glimpse into our collective consciousness that explained the thrill of Grand Theft Auto, or the unlikely heroism of Kenley in Project Runway, or WTF was going on during that lingering shot, during the Republican National Convention, of Piper Palin licking her hand to wet down her baby brother’s hair.

Double extra cool: Within the “Moments that Mattered” package, David Byrne’s mini essay was about Kansas State University anthropology professor Michael Wesch, and his amazing piece of work called “An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube.”