Archive for May, 2010
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »Looking For A Good Investment? How About The Future?
[ Comments Off ]Posted on May 6, 2010 by admin in Clean & Green
Thursday, May 6th, 2010Tired of supporting the endangered Giant Vampire Squid? Consider a more practical investment like the future of wildlife and people on the planet, by supporting Amara Conservation.
Unless you’re already tapped out from all the money you’ve been donating to save the endangered Giant Vampire Squid, I have some investment advice for you. Rather than putting your money in the mouth of the ten tentacled monster that invests your hard-earned savings and then makes money by betting against a profitable outcome, why don’t you take just a small portion of that money and invest in something positive and important, like the future of wildlife and education. I mean, even Bill Gates is thinking green these days. You don’t have to be a billionaire like Bill to make a difference though; a little can go a long way. As I’ve mentioned before, I work with a small non-profit called Amara Conservation. Amara is entering its second decade of wildlife conservation and education work in Kenya, and will be kicking off a year of special events this month, beginning with a fundraising dinner at the Earle Restaurant in Ann Arbor Michigan on May 23rd, followed by a night of music at the Savoy Club in Ypsilanti, Michigan on the 29th, featuring the bands October Babies and 16 More Miles. Can’t make it to the events or short on funds? We’re also always looking for friends on Facebook or for volunteers with a broad variety of abilities, especially creative thinkers with video editing, graphics, copywriting, or web development skills. If you want to learn more about what Amara does, visit the web site. But I’ll tell you in a few words. Amara focuses on achievable, sustainable projects that are geared towards helping Kenyans understand the intrinsic and financial value of the wildlife of Kenya, so they hopefully can end up not only protecting the imperiled wildlife of eastern Africa, but actually profit from doing so. And what’s the big deal about Kenya wildlife in particular? Well, Kenya is home to two of the most regal creatures on Earth, lions and elephants, both used as powerful symbols for millenia by cultures from ancient Egypt and Rome to later, more powerful empires, like, you know, Disney. Think about it. Without the wildlife in Kenya, Dumbo and the Lion King would be impossible. I jest of course, but it’s certainly not a laughing matter. If you keep up on these things, you know these are perilous times for african wildlife. Elephant poaching has risen seven fold since 2007 because of changes in ivory trade regulation, and Kenya’s lion population could be completely gone within 10 years if the situation is mismanaged. To me, one of the most sensible things you could do if you want to invest in your future is to support a thrifty and focused organization like Amara.
Vampire Squids Causing American Brain Death Epidemic?
[ Comments Off ]Posted on May 5, 2010 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010Will the SEC’s investigation into Goldman Sachs finally help Americans pull their heads out of their asses and right some of the wrongs with the virulently corrupt banking and insurance industries? No.
Do you know what frightens me more than any terrorist ever could? The average American these days. They’re a scary bunch. Hostile, frustrated, and often either misled or just plain ignorant. And the scariest part? I think they actually mean well. I was reminded of this the other day as I took a train to Chicago. The passengers in the seats on both sides in front of me were pretty average married couples in their seventies. They had just met on the train, and as they started talking, I was suddenly overwhelmed with a strange queasiness. I usually tend to get along really well with most people of their generation, because I’m a bit of a cultural/moral Luddite myself; I think making money through the misfortune of others is bad, I think we should help each other out when needed, I have a practical level of materialism, and an old-fashioned work ethic. So what caused the queasiness I’m referring to? Well, the utter loss of hope for humanity any rational person might feel as a result of simply listening to their conversation. They started their dialog by agreeing how terrible it was that our president isn’t a US citizen. And then lamented that he had already destroyed the economy and the American way of life with his evil socialist agenda. I knew it would be an exercise in futility, so I didn’t bother asking them why the judicial system and congress and all of Washington was letting a known illegal alien run the country. I also didn’t ask them why, if the president was a socialist, he had so many bloodthirsty capitalists working at his side to prop up the biggest capitalist fraud in history and thereby Read the rest of this entry »
Channel 101: More Media For The Attention Deficient
[ Comments Off ]Posted on May 4, 2010 by admin in Popular Media
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010One hundred channels of television and still nothing to watch? Try Channel 101.
In our continued search for amusing media for the attention deficient, we bring you: Channel 101. And in a convenient example of life imitating art, we’re going to do what Channel 101 does to its audience, and rather than tell you what to like, force you to go look at it and tell us what’s good. So just what is Channel 101? Well, if you live in LA, it’s a film festival with monthly screenings. But beyond that, it’s a “web channel” created by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab that lets filmmakers create short “pilots” that are then judged by the audience for a shot at getting into top rotation on the site. Kind of like real TV, except no-one’s getting paid, and the fat rich executive that calls the shots is YOU. The concept was born back in 1999 when Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab were banished from legitimate television after the FOX network opted not to make a show from their pilot Heat Vision and Jack. As their lives unraveled in 2000, Rob Schrab went on to make a series of home movies about eating poop and having sex with babies. Dan Harmon, not to be outdone, makes a movie about Chris Tallman coming back from the dead and raping him in the ass. That’s pretty much verbatim from their About Us page, for the record. The fact is these guys appear to have pals like Sarah Silverman, Jack Black, and Ben Stiller, and the concept draws some pretty decent talent, ranging from the “meta” arty 60′s mod stylised vignettes of EVERYTHING to the camp of Fagney & Gaycey. I didn’t take time to dig deeper. Why don’t YOU. And then come back and share. We get tired of doing all the heavy lifting around here. Read the rest of this entry »
Movie Reclamation Mashups – Scavenging Film To Make Music
[ Comments Off ]Posted on May 3, 2010 by admin in Music
Monday, May 3rd, 2010Editing artists like Pogo and Tasman Richardson are creating a cool new genre in which film sounds are scavenged to make music. Now we just need a name for it.
There’s definite shortage of terminology when it comes to describing one of my favorite forms of pop media, i.e.: the mashup. We’ve touched on the genre of music that for lack of a better term is called a “mashup” before, and pointed you to cool artists like Kutiman, who kind of takes it to a new level by creating very musical video collages with elaborate resampling of music tutorials and demos from YouTube. But there’s not only a definite shortage of terminology for discussing this form of expression, some would question whether or not it’s even music. Especially in the case of work by either Pogo or Tasman Richardson. Pogo has recently been getting some attention for his musical video collages, most recently Skynet Symphonic (video below) which is assembled primarily from using selected non-musical sounds from the movie Terminator 2 to make music. A purist of this genre might say Pogo “cheats” a bit by adding synth lines and pitch-controlling the samples to make things more “musical”. For something a little more “hardcore”, both in terms of using pure editing to get results, as well as the resulting musical style, you might check out Tasman Richardson’s work, like Vader Lives (clip below) which is – as Richardson puts it – a “Breakcore homage to the Dark Lord Himself”. Richardson has a body of work stretching back to 1996 which can be found in quicktime on his site or on his YouTube channel. He has also created a term for the type of media he’s creating and defined it in his Jawa Manifesto (1.2MB PDF). The only other artist I’m aware of that does this with any finesse is Robin Koerts, who has done remixes using Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction (also below). If you know of any others creating this kind of work feel free to share. Read the rest of this entry »
Is Technology Making You Crazy?
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on May 2, 2010 by admin in Technology
Sunday, May 2nd, 2010Well, I think we know the answer to that. But is it killing you too?
Because of your technology-damaged attention span, I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t read this entire piece. If you aren’t sure how your attention span rates, take the quiz; I didn’t have the patience, probably because of my technology abuse issues. As something of a techno-addict, I’ve been thinking about rehab for a while; just quitting it cold turkey and then re-introducing it slowly to see how much I can handle. Why? Because for a number of years, I’ve unscientifically asserted that many of the mental and emotional maladies that people suffer these days – fatigue, patchy memory, poor attention, anxiety – were due to the media overload most of us experience. Well, now some of the science is in. Yes, you can be addicted to technology. And yes, it is affecting not only our relationships, work, and home life, but the health of our children as well. One of the most dramatic negative impacts I personally see on an ongoing basis has to do with attention span and disruption of time and activities. So aside from the more obvious irritation caused by poor texting and cell phone etiquette, why should this be a big deal? The Wired piece Digital Overload Is Frying Our Brains includes an interview with Maggie Jackson (author of the rather dramatically-titled Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age