bri1032-luminaries

10:32 PM

A Parade of Luminaries
Visits the Bridge

NO! STOP! Don't let THEM in here!

words by Louis Brill
photo by Donna Compton

The Bridge of the 9th Annual Digital Be-In is the media command center for documenting the Be-In, as it were, preserving it for prosperity, both historically and globally as it is transmitted worldwide via the Internet. Certainly it is a sight to behold with computers everywhere (at one desk sit 5 in a row). TV cameras are aimed off the edge of the second floor deck of the Bridge, and stacks of tiny TV monitors are studied by people wearing headsets and murmuring into tiny microphones. Technicians swirl about coupling and uncoupling cables , throwing switches and constantly reaiming their TV cameras.

On the computer screens, it is the dance of data bytes and bits as pictures and images flowed back and forth and gradually transform into finished web pages to be placed on the net. There are blank screens and screens with any number of pictures being enhanced with color or shape, all being readied to walk the walk for the web.

Being on the Bridge is a study in controlled chaos with people running about, equipment moved back and forth, accidentally pulled cables, power outages and computer crashes. It is all very crazy, but the ship sails on, and hardly anyone on the Net notice any 'disturbances' in the web.

Amidst the technical craziness are the curious who know about the Bridge and wish they could see the digital command center and the gear which funnels the data stem to stern and upstream to the net. There are, however, several security checks keeping most people away. You either have to have a proper laminate or a good story to get onto the Bridge. Unless of course your last name is Brown (Willie or Jerry, please), then you are welcomed with open arms.

For Mayor Willie Brown, it might as well be the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise, although the only thing being beamed anywhere are the web pages to the net. Willie takes it all in stride as he walks from the computer control center to video center. He steps here and there, very curious, asking a few questions of the computer operators. He is delighted and fascinated with the beehive of activity and its astounding link to the world via its netcast output.

Jerry Brown, former Governor of California, is also escorted onto the Bridge. A second-year veteran of the Digital Be-In, Jerry is computer savvy enough to appreciate the media activity, and its advances since the year before. On the high side of things Jerry had a moment to see two simultaneous light shows, a 60s 'wet show' with colored liquids projected on the opposite wall and a 90s blendo of computer graphics, multimedia and lasers. After a moment of studying both, Jerry decided that the wet show with its organic shapes and naturalistic morphing was a better esthetic that its contemporary high-tech counterpart.

Jerry was also interested in seeing what the Digital be-In Netcast was all about and as soon as he saw it, being the self promoter he was, immediately opted to go to his "WE THE PEOPLE" web site and show it off, much to the amusement of Matt, the young webmaster seated there. "Hey," he asked Jerry as he leaned across and typed in his URL, "if you need any help with your website, here's my card."

The Bridge was also visited by a Russian TV news team for a program approximately translated as "American Stories." The program reports on American culture and reaches about 40 million viewers in Russia. As they walked around the Bridge, the producer was at a loss to figure out what the story was. However the day was saved by the program host who saw the story in a hot second and was able to put together a report for the home country viewing fans.

Soledad O'Brien of MSNBC's "The Site" program on the internet walked through, too. "Hey, where's my crew," she exclaimed when she realized how many different new technologies were being tested all at once, here, "we otta be filming this!"

So, the Digital Be-In will be seen in Russia, and America too . . . spreading far and wide tonight and in the future, carrying any number of messages, that in the end all sing the same song : "Be Inspired, Be Free and Just Do It."