Thing 40: Mashup the Web

The first Flickr Mashup toy that I played with was depictr which is "A toy that analyses song lyrics and poetry to create a mosaic of appropriate photos." I plugged in some lines from "The Lady of Shalot" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson:

There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay. She has heard a whisper say, A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot. She knows not what the curse may be, And so she weaveth steadily, And little other care hath she, The Lady of Shalott.

"The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes:

The wind was a torrent of darkness upon the gusty trees, The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, The road was a ribbon of moonlight looping the purple moor, And the highwayman came riding-- Riding--riding-- The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn door.

and

Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard, He tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred, He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there But the landlord's black-eyed daughter-- Bess, the landlord's daughter-- Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

and okay, even some lyrics from Duran Duran's "The Chauffer":

And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind
The front of your dress - all shadowy lined
And the droning engine throbs in time
With your beating heart
Way down the lane away, living for another day
The aphids swarm up in the drifting haze
Swim seagull in the sky towards that hollow western isle
My envied lady holds you fast in her gaze

The results were mixed. It was fun to see what would up, but they were pretty much a far cry from the moods of the words. The only one I liked was for "The Highwayman", the second verse I tried, but again, I couldn't figure out how to post it here. Still, it was useful to get you thinking about how you would illustrate the verses. It would be a good creative exercise for teens.

Similarly, Flickrscape allows you to enter a favorite word and then gives you a slide show to go with it. I had good results with "chandelier", "buttercup" and "toadstool", but less so with "acquiesce." If I could figure out how to post the show to this blog, I would really like it.

Flickr's Dog Friendly Hotels was a bust. It took me to a hotel search that had nothing to do with dogs. :(
More to come!