Comments on: flash me, John coltrane!

flash me, John coltrane!

taz — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 05:43:30 -0800

Great, intelligent use of Flash for johncoltrane.com.

By: taz

taz — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 05:45:36 -0800

plus, you can listen to "Greensleeves" while you are kicking me for saying that anything is "great" or "intelligent".

By: Shane

Shane — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 05:51:33 -0800

plus, you can listen to "Greensleeves" while you are kicking me for saying that anything is "great" or "intelligent". You've noticed that, eh? It's even worse sometimes when you use "great" or "intelligent" in conjunction with "Flash" on MetaFilter. Nice site!

By: Slithy_Tove

Slithy_Tove — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 06:12:20 -0800

For once, I agree. And I'm not a developer with a chip on his shoulder, just Joe Public Interweb-thingy user. I usually hate Flash sites for the usual reasons, but this site is good. One eensy interface complaint: the colored 'buttons' down the right of the main screen aren't really buttons, just decoration, and don't do anything. It took me a moment to figure out I had put the cursor over the text to get the menu. Unnecessary, too: the 'buttons' immediately draw attention because of their color, why not just make them part of the menu? Nice music, too.

By: RustyBrooks

RustyBrooks — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 06:18:35 -0800

I'm a developer with a chip on his shoulder. I think the site is OK for what it is, though. My biggest beef with flash is that it completely removes consistency from interface design. I write more desktop apps than web sites (websites typically screw with consistency from the get-go anyway). I understand the desire for aesthetic design but I also like being able to tell what is going to happen when I click here or move my mouse there. For some kinds of sites, like this one, it's OK. It's not an office app that I need to master to get work done, it's just an amusement to pass some time. A little flash thing I found once long ago that is interesting is this animation of Giant Steps. It's sort of a mini music theory llesson. Lots of people are pretty obsessed with that song.

By: cmicali

cmicali — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 06:30:42 -0800

amazing site thanks

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 06:59:24 -0800

Nicely done. Very tasteful and subdued. The music choices are a great touch. Slithy: I had the EXACT same problem/complaint. Glad to know it wasn't just me. Sure it only takes a moment, but at this stage of the game, web interfaces should be completely intuitive to people who spend as much time online as us, I would think. Even a moment is too long. Both of us clicked the colored squares, that means something to an interface designer. Adding "some action" to clicking the colored squares would really be something I would suggest.

By: jjj606

jjj606 — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 07:18:32 -0800

Here is another Giant Steps animation as architecture.

By: gimonca

gimonca — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 07:21:15 -0800

Navigation in Flash is never intelligent.

By: lotsofno

lotsofno — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 07:38:15 -0800

repost methinks. still a great link. i remember almost two years ago i think, working at a desk in a bookstore, listening to greensleeves stream off this site while i wandered around the rest of the internet.

By: Shane

Shane — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 08:02:56 -0800

Yeh, it was of course a toss-up whether Flash or Coltrane would be discussed in the ensuing thread...

By: erisfree

erisfree — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 08:18:48 -0800

i'm another one who clicked the colored squares. then saw that nothing happened, wrote it off as broken and closed the window.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 08:31:36 -0800

This is great, triple post or not -- I hadn't seen it (and surely that's what matters). Thanks, taz!

By: taz

taz — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 09:34:34 -0800

Oh! You know what? I'm stupid. I searched this on MetaFilter when I first came across it, and saw that it had been posted... but later remembered it as not having been posted. Oh well. Surely the site can't be the same as it was in 2001, and part of my reason for posting this was really just that the Flash doesn't suck. I love the content, but it's the first site that comes up in a search for John Coltrane, so not really a hidden gem in terms of a site about the musician.

By: GeekAnimator

GeekAnimator — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 09:45:51 -0800

Navigation in Flash is never intelligent. Whew! Glad we settled THAT debate. Next!

By: bobo123

bobo123 — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 10:06:24 -0800

Hmm, like it's ok use of flash. But it doesn't support back/forward buttons, that's just sloppy.

By: gwint

gwint — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 11:05:56 -0800

jjj606: That animation is fantastic! Thanks for the link.

By: Satapher

Satapher — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 11:43:48 -0800

Yeh, it was of course a toss-up whether Flash or Coltrane would be discussed in the ensuing thread... And since you're all a bunch of hosers.... =)

By: Satapher

Satapher — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 11:54:56 -0800

Coltrane would attend Ornette Coleman's shows so he could whisk him away into the late night hours soaking in as much information and understanding as he could of Coleman's elusive and unpublished harmolodic theories. (All we know are bits and pieces given to us by Coleman in interviews, as well as from his bandmates. Coleman insists that an entire book has been written concerning such theories. I imagine he is waiting for death before publishing--that way they retain their mystery and unique translation per person. (James Blood Ulmer's album Captain Black has a Harmolodic Guitar Chart)) One day Coltrane declared "I've got it!" and sent Coleman a check-- sparking the second half of Coltrane's career. and Ascension is heavy, maaan.