Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Pownce & Microblogging

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Pownce has been compared favorably to other websites with similar functionality like Twitter, and has been called a "Twitter on steroids".[3] It has also been recommended for use over Twitter in a work setting because of its enhanced discussion-tracking capabilities."

The technology involved: (Wikipedia)

Pownce is built on a variation of the LAMP stack: Debian GNU/Linux, Apache, MySQL, and Python. The web application is made with Django, an open source web application framework, written in Python. File storage is supported by Amazon S3. The desktop application is written in Flex for Adobe's AIR platform. The icons used throughout the site are taken from the open source FamFamFam Silk and ISO series icon packs.

NPR: Report: Rove Pushing a McCain-Romney Ticket

NPR: Report: Rove Pushing a McCain-Romney Ticket

Monday, March 03, 2008

LiveNewsCameras.com - Watch Live Streaming News From the USA & World - Beta Version

LiveNewsCameras.com - Watch Live Streaming News From the USA & World - Beta Version

(Thanks to Dave Winer)

Hamburg A320 Dangerous Landing - Mahalo

Hamburg A320 Dangerous Landing - Mahalo

(Thanks to Jason Calancanis, Mahalo via Twitter for the link.

Liveblogging the Queen and Barbara Walters

The queen conveys without words.

Important Fact 1 - President Bush does not DO White Tie!

"I am just a ornament." - President George W. Bush
"No, you are a nornament." Queen

Waving.

You cannot see the ceilings of Buckingham. I scrape my head on mine.

"She's got a neat twinkle in her eye." GWB
"It's called Baraka." Barbary Walter

"She's the queen of the British monarch." - nobodaddy in crowd

(I am reminded of Goofus and Gallant". )

Oops. He DOES do white tie. His explanation though makes it clear that he doesn't fully realize that she was, is and will be. He only was. His isness could stand a clintonizing.

Online Therapy: The Next Frontier

Huffington Post

I can do that.

Exclusive First Look: WorldWide Telescope

FastCompany.TV



(thanks to robert scoble -- the scobleizer)

Friday, February 29, 2008

Organic Love Dance Deemed Most Beautiful



Pilobolus: A performance merging dance and biology (video)
Otis Cook and Jennifer Macavinta perform the organic love dance, "Symbiosis."
The music, recorded by the Kronos Quartet on Nonesuch Records, is a compilation of works: "God Music" from Black Angels by George Crumb, "Fratres" by Arvo Pärt, and "Morango ... Almost a Tango" by Thomas Oboe Lee.

The flow and tenderness of the dance defies time and gravity -- something you'll never see of hear on prime time game shows with dime store dancing. Much freedom is given the dancers by the liberating music of Crumb, Part and Lee. Many dancers never seem to understand how restricting so much of popular music really is.

I hope you enjoy this. It is worth the wait.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Business on the Web in 2013

Some ideas on the future of the web.

read more | digg story

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The End of America

Naomi Wolf

read more | digg story

Hey Jude

I Drink Your Milkshake

Saturday Night Live (SNL) on February 23, 2008. Parody of Oscar nominated films: There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men, and Juno.

read more | digg story

Adobe AIR 1.0 is out!

The Adobe® AIR™ runtime lets developers use proven web technologies to build rich Internet applications that deploy to the desktop and run across operating systems.What type of developer are you?

read more | digg story

Monday, February 25, 2008

Tift Merritt on Jay Leno tonight


Tift Merritt with Emmylou Harris

MySpace.com - TIFT MERRITT - North Carolina / NYC - www.myspace.com/tiftmerritt

Iddybud Journal: Iraq-Recession Campaign

Iddybud Journal: Iraq-Recession Campaign

Jude's excellent summation of the Iraq-Recession Campaign...

[excerpt]

"This morning, former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth Edwards joined top anti-Iraq war leaders to announce the launch of a new nationwide, multimillion dollar campaign aimed at shining a light on the cost of war in Iraq. The new Iraq/Recession Campaign was launched with a teleconference.

As economic concerns weigh heavily on the minds of Americans, opposition to President Bush's reckless war in Iraq continues to grow. The massive cost of the war in Iraq- hurtling toward one trillion dollars - has increased demand for a strategy to bring U.S. troops home. The Iraq/Recession Campaign will highlight the majority of Americans who want to see leadership on investing in critical priorities at home and establishing real security throughout the world."

Friday, February 22, 2008

Animals are our connection with Eden



I was saddened to hear that Jude Nagurney-Camwell lost Cora, her cat and companion for many years.
The cat in the picture is not Cora, but looks like her. Cora was given a good life, and a peaceful death, with caring souls all around. Even in such pain and sorrow, such tender and caring feelings are good for the soul and humanity...and felixity.
(I hope I'm using that word correctly.)

Peace
Dave

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Monday, February 18, 2008

EDHEAD ; A John Edwards Tribute video

Music by the late, great Nick Drake.

The Edwards Primary: Obama Edition

Obama Meets Edwards, Pledges Party Remake

"Obama asked for an endorsement. But he also provided the former senator and his wife with detailed arguments about why he would be a stronger Democratic candidate in November, and an outline of how he would seek to implement progressive economic reforms as president.

A key part of the discussion focused on a priority of John Edwards: writing a Democratic platform that outlines a genuine change agenda.

"The meeting with John, we just wanted to talk about how we can move the party in a direction that focuses on middle-class issues, relieving poverty, reducing the influence of special interests in Washington," Obama acknowledged Sunday night."


(from The Nation)

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Thanx for Spanx!

YouTube - Spank me with Spanx!

Here goes the next big trend...




Welcome to Spanx by Sara Blakely: Official Site - Feb 15Shop Spanx.com for the latest in slimming, comfortable bodyshapers, hosiery, intimates, and apparel. Destined to be all the rage at the Oscars. I know I'll be wearing my Spanx lobster bib! "See ya on the red carpet!" - Burns

Friday, February 15, 2008

Was Stephen Kazmierczak a videogame addict?

"Stephen Kazmierczak" games - Google Groups

Anything about Quake, Descent of Final Fantasy that resembles the killer's behavior?
Since I don't play these games I do not know. Little help...


screenshot from Descent

NIU gunman stopped taking medication

Do not stop taking your meds.


Steven Kazmierczak is shown in this photo released Feb. 15, 2008 by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Such ugliness...

Social responsibility for green business in California, Southern California, Northern California, Central California

Social responsibility for green business

Although this link is California-related, it contains many good ideas that could be adopted by other areas.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

John Edwards' Idea-rich Blog is Closing its Doors Today




John Edwards' Blog was the first and best of the presidential blogs, but now it is being put to sleep. Fellow diarists may want to gather their rosebuds while they may, for tomorrow is another day.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Darcy take the plunge - Pride and Prejudice - PBS - Sunday


Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy


I may be the only person who has not yet seen the much-vaunted "Pride and Prejudice", starring my physical and temperamental alter-ego, Colin Firth, but I have seen "Bridget Jones' Diary", which surely must count for something. "Valmont" was also mighty fine as a rending of "Les Liassons Dangeroux", although slightly off-topic.


Yesterday Terry Gross interviewed Mr. Firth and had a most spirited exchanged, largely revolving around his "taking the plunge" -- which, as it turns out, was originally intended to be performed in the raw. When that idea was panned, they pondered undies, only to find out that they didn't wear any at the time. Probably an earlier Britney age, and what with Firth being a Briton and all...must be true. According to Firth, the underknickers were less than alluring, and so they opted out of that, and decided on a clad baptism of liberation.



Clad baptism of liberation

I'd love to find out where this and "Miss Austen Regrets" was filmed. "Mansfield Park" was filmed in and around the lovely Newby Hall near Ripon, Yorkshire, where, for centuries, my ancients romped.

Friday, February 08, 2008

On approaching my 100th Year on the Internets

It was nearly 100 Internet years when I made my first unbroken connection to the Internets. But people don't much talk about "internet years" any more. And, by now, most people understand our passionate exuberance about it.

An Internet year was thought by many to be roughly equivalent to a "dog year", which is, according to high scientists, approximately seven (7, VII) human years -- mainly because things were changing so fast as to perhaps even amuse Thomas Kuhn, whoever that is. Probably a decent fellow. Crooked teeth. None of my business though.

Well, the exuberance has since turned to terror, thanks to those whose jobs involve the taking of human life. Give me a pen any day!

OR that mass of tubes known as the internets.

At least a keyboard.

[Chimes twinkle in the distance.]

INTERIOR - DAY - OFFICE

The internet is streaming into my head, and back again, in a strange form of breathing, made all the more facile by the advent of blogs and social networking software (sites). In the early days of the Web, content producers and content consumers were often the same people. It was two-way, and a lot like breathing. Over time though, the consumers began to far outweigh the producers, and many people never did more than email and consume content.

With blogging, YouTube, social networking sites like Facebook and other fine and recent inventions, as I said, the breathing is coming back. At least that what my dog says.
And he's never wrong. Good Feydeaux! Down!

Now you've made me lose my thought!

Well, here's something you can read in the meantime:

I've already told ya about Charlotte Blogs, so I needn't go back into that, so let me share with you, instead, The Clog -- the brilliantly named blog over at Creative Loafing.

"The people that are for me are fearless."
- John Edwards

Alien Liesmith & Fox Apologist Attacks Female Wolf

The Raw Story | Fox host gets heated when author disses his network

A house built on a foundation of lies will fall, with the liars eating each up, since none are worthy of trust. What fun to watch!

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Charlotte Blogs

Charlotte Blogs is the blog of the radio show "Charlotte Talks: with Mike Collins" on NPR affiliate, WFAE. Commenting is mercifully easy, and Mike is one heck of a mensch. Pop in and say hello!

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

All recipes – complete resource for recipes and cooking tips

All recipes – complete resource for recipes and cooking tips: "Looking for recipes? Allrecipes has more than 40,000 free recipes—all created, tested, reviewed and approved by home cooks worldwide."

Friday, January 25, 2008

Life After Money: Greed is NOT Good

Rogue trader in £3.7bn bank fraud was already devastated by father's death when his wife left him, and so being stupid, he took it out on the world, and now deserves a spanking.

Should Edwards Ignore Martin Luther King III's Encouragement?

Democratic Underground - 8 Reasons to Choose John Edwards as the 2008 Democratic Nominee

"So, I urge you: keep going. Ignore the pundits, who think this is a horserace, not a fight for justice. My dad was a fighter. As a friend and a believer in my father’s words that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, I say to you: keep going. Keep fighting. My father would be proud." - MLKIII to JRE

Martin Luther King the Third wants John Edwards to keep fighting for justice, even if the hollow shells of Media mechanically echo the words of their undemocratic paymasters as they try and erase John from the equation. I hear they are even thinking about creating separate restrooms for John Edwards, he is that much of a pariah to them and their comfortable New York and Chicago penthouses, where they hatch vain empires, and freely spill the blood of Southern men and women, black and white.

Not all black people are poor, but all poor people are black...in the sense that all poor people have felt what it is like to be left out of the debate. And it is a lot like what John Edwards must feel, as he is being treated like a second class citizen, at best, among the largest media outlets in America.

There is nothing wrong with Hillary and Obama, other than not being Carolinians, but they are getting first class treatment and exposure by the media. They are the face of privilege, which, of course, means "private law" -- not sure if that applies, but maybe -- and although they make good promises...we see where John Edwards puts his action. At the places where most help is needed...like a good doctor or healer. New Orleans, the rural areas of America, the inner city slums, in towns abandoned by human beings who somehow actually believe they they deserve to have and make thousands and millions of times more than the least among us...who, as it turns out, is just as important as the richest of us, because Spirit nor Nature goes by money. Ah. Too bad!

Those who go by money are putting theirs behind Hillary and Obama, at least among the Democrats. Those who go by phrenology are lined up behind John Edwards, if only to admire the superior shape of his head, which, as it turns out, is brimming over with great and good ideas for creating a future that will be our friend.

So I say to John, do as Martin would have you do, and keep fighting for justice. Remain good and true, and the universe itself will come to your aid. Fight the good fight. And if you do not win, it will not be because you didn't try. You know as well as I that you don't need no stinkin' election in order to do good things. Never stopped you before.

Those who would urge John to quit are no different from those who urged Gore to quit in 2000.

Esther Dyson: If Google Is the New Microsoft, Facebook Is the New Google

Esther Dyson: If Google Is the New Microsoft, Facebook Is the New Google

During an excellent show on technology, Charlie Rose mentioned to Dyson quote, which I thought would be useful and fun for my illustrious Facebook friends, who are, after all, the best minds of my generation, and part of the reason for Facebook's astonishing rise and strength.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

He who says "both" is lying

He who says "both" is lying

PROOF: There is no "both"...

In the Democratic primary, Obama and Hillary are Goliath and John Edwards is David, Seabiscuit, the oppressed candidate, by virtue of his doing the right thing regarding financing, but even more so by virtue of his marginalization by The Corpulent Media, who always seems to get it wrong...at least when it comes to the typical American citizen.
They helped shoehorn Bush into office.
They helped shoehorn America into a tragic, horrible, and far from over war.
They are pill pushers.

Even before the war, I knew this much: We might decide when it begins, but it is the enemy who will decide when it is over. And we found this out with "Mission Accomplished". The same sad truth holds true today...unless we are in touch with the highest of truths, and can create a win-win situation whereby their win is clearly more generous than our own...for it is we who created this proverbial "goose in a bottle" to begin with.

There! It is out!

THE HEAVY UPLIFTING
Now can we finally get to the heavy uplifting? (By uplifting, I do not mean tugging.)
Can we now care for our neighbors, disregarding our own well-being? can we shut our mouths and pick up a hammer, say, and physically help rebuild New Orleans, America and the world?
This is what John Edwards is ALREADY doing. Kudos to you, sir, for picking a most excellent running mate. At this point he is ready to even be the President.

Remember the parable of the farmer who tugged at his turnip? By endorsing Obama, are you not, in fact, tugging at a turnip? And a turnip with the wallet of a Goliath?

Everyone knows that Barack Obama will be the president...some day. And most people want him to be at his very best when he is put into that role.

I have no doubt that John Edwards is as worthy a candidate as the good Senator Obama, but I do think that he edges him out in the preparedness column.

"BE PREPARED" - boy scout motto

Preparedness is not the same as entrenchment.
Preparedness is the piece de resistance of revolutionary change, because it is absolutely essential that one not only envision the vision...one must also consider the consequences of one's vision. Processing these potential unintended results, beforehand, cannot be done in months. It takes years. Frankly, I would be more comfortable, and would carry his biggest pom-poms were Obama were to prepare for another four or eight years. Like John Edwards.

HE WHO SAYS "BOTH" IS LYING

I hope, in the remaining time, you can see that, in a certain way, John Edwards is the new black. He is being oppressed by the media, whose echolalia carks "both" "both" "both" while trying to frame it as Obama versus Hillary...ONLY.

We mustn't give them that victory. And what if their blackout backfired? What if John, out of absence, became the new face everyone was hoping for, and he, being the new fashion, is again...the new black.

My point is that Democrats, way more than Republicans, pull for the underdog. It is ironic that a white man is the underdog, but it is true...and the truly enlightened position should be one where race and sex plays absolutely no role in the decision...because if it does, it is either sexist or racist at its core.

THE OVERBITE OF THE OVERDOG

The underdog is the underdog. As Sartre once said, "..."always on the side of the oppressed, never the oppressor."

Who, in this race, on both parties, is oppressed?
The answer is John Edwards, but also Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, and maybe even those early Republican losses...although I don't begrudge their particular absence.

Be a darling and cringe, with me, every time you hear the word, "both"...because it has that stench that wafted over Florida in 2000.

When you hear the word, "Both", think "Booth", and be a good Conanobrien and crash into the scene, and prevent the injustice.

2 TYPES OF GEESE

When it comes to ideas, visions, creatity and passion, John is the goose with the golden egg...not the goose in the bottle. As such, he needs to be in there, bringing out his excllent ideas and vision for the possible America.

They also squelched Bucky Fuller. And had they not, we would have already solved many of the problems that plague us today.

Is Edwards The New Bucky? I don't know.
It is up to each individual, in the quiet of their castle, the determine such things.

Vore John Edwards
He's a Seven!
And a Carolinian!

"O! To be a Carolinian!"
-Walt Whitman

(cross-posted at Daily Kos)

Connector (social) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Connector (social) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Connectors usually know people across an array of social, planes, cultural, professional, and economic circles, and make a habit of introducing people who work or live in different circles. Although connectors are rare -- only one in several thousand people might be thought of as a true connector -- they are, like mavens and salesmen, very important in the healthy function of civil society and business. Connectors are also important in trendsetting."
See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weak_ties
"In 1973, stimulated by the work of Rapoport, the American sociologist Mark Granovetter's published The Strength of the Weak Ties. This is recognized as one of the most influential sociology papers ever written."

Not entirely dissimilar to my theory of social triangularity...

935 lies that the Bush administration used to sell the Iraq War

935 lies that the Bush administration used to sell the Iraq War

Daily Kos: Lies, Damned Lies, a Searchable Database of Lies

Now those kooky Kossacks, intellectuals, thinkers and feelers are whining about a phenomenon whose number doesn't even exceed 1k. 1k! Sheesh! My computer has a trillion times more than that. Well, maybe not a trillion. Let me ask my accountant, Arty Andersen.
He's very artful, and is a veritable kenlay of integrity...

The fun never ends!
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/24/8714/41816/190/442223

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Mediocre Bush at Lowest Rating Ever, Therefore New War is At Hand

The Raw Story | Bush hits lowest approval rating yet in ABC poll

Meet George W. Bush. George goes to the Middle East to push peace, and start a new war.
Freakin' drydrunks! Hell, give the man a beer!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Nazi Gold at All-Time High. Gold Bubble to Burst.

The Raw Story | Gold prices soar to new all-time high

Say "Tata!" to Goliath Gas-Guzzlers and Global Warming


Tata!

Tata Nano - world's cheapest new car fights recession and global warming, which has recently seen a surge in warming, at the adept hand of President Bush and his wise use of extremely hot megabombs. Anyone else would be arrested, he's that close to God.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Change

Change. What is it?
Many of the candidates are talking about it; some claim to embody it, others make fun of it. The leading Democrats embrace it, while the leading Republican mocks it.

Change is a complex concept that has been studied for thousands of years. The ancient chinese though so much about change that they named their immortal classic 'the Book of Changes". To understand the Chinese people, it doesn't hurt to have a knowledge of the myriad ways in which states can change. By states, I don't mean politically bounded entities, but it could apply there too. In fact, in nearly any situation in life, it doesn't hurt to know your change options. After a time, one begins to recognize certain patterns, and better paths become clearer. One can, in time, know what the future will bring, simply by mastering these aspects of change.

Some excerpts:


In the Book of Changes a distinction is made between three kinds of change: nonchange, cyclic change, and sequent change. Non change is the background, as it were, against which change is made possible. For in regard to any change there must be some fixed point to which the change can be referred, otherwise there can be no definite order and everything is dissolved in chaotic movement. This point of reference must be established, and this always requires a choice and a decision. It makes possible a system of co-ordinates into which everything else can be fitted. Consequently at the beginning of the world, as at the beginning of thought, there is the decision, the fixing of the point of reference. Theoretically any point of reference is possible, but experience teaches that at the dawn of consciousness one stands already enclosed within definite, prepotent systems of relationships. The problem then is to choose one's point of reference so that it coincides with the point of reference for cosmic events. For only then can the world created by one's decision escape being dashed to pieces against prepotent systems of relationships with which it would otherwise come into conflict. Obviously the premise for such a decision is the belief that in the last analysis the world is a system of homogeneous relationships--that it is a cosmos, not a chaos. This belief is the foundation of Chinese philosophy, as of all philosophy. The ultimate frame of reference for all that changes is the nonchanging.

--

Another law is to be noted. Owing to changes of the sun, moon, and stars, phenomena take form in the heavens. These phenomena obey definite laws. Bound up with them, shapes come into being on earth, in accordance with identical laws. Therefore the processes on earth--blossom and fruit, growth and decay--can be calculated if we know the laws of time. If we know the laws of change, we can precalculate in regard to it, and freedom of action thereupon becomes possible. Changes are the imperceptible tendencies to divergence that, when they have reached a certain point, become visible and bring about transformations.

These are the immutable laws under which, according to Chinese thought, changes are consummated. It is the purpose of the Book of Changes to demonstrate these laws by means of the laws of change operating in the respective hexagrams. Once we succeed in completely reproducing these laws, we acquire a comprehensive view of events; we can understand past and future equally well and bring this knowledge to bear in our actions.

Cyclic change, then, is recurrent change in the organic world, whereas sequent change means the progressive [nonrecurrent] change of phenomena produced by causality.

--

However, no matter what names are applied to these forces, it is certain that the world of being arises out of their change and interplay. Thus change is conceived of partly as the continuous transformation of the one force into the other and partly as a cycle of complexes of phenomena, in themselves connected, such as day and night, summer and winter. Change is not meaningless -- if it were, there could be no knowledge of it -- but subject to the universal law, tao.

The second theme fundamental to the Book of Changes is its theory of ideas. The eight trigrams are images not so much of objects as of states of change. This view is associated with the concept expressed in the teachings of Lao-tse, as also in those of Confucius, that every event in the visible world is the effect of an "image," that is, of an idea in the unseen world. Accordingly, everything that happens on earth is only a reproduction, as it were, of an event in a world beyond our sense perception, as regards its occurrence in time, it is later than the suprasensible event. The holy men and sages, who are in contact with those higher spheres, have access to these ideas through direct intuition and are therefore able to intervene decisively in events in the world. Thus man is linked with heaven, the suprasensible world of ideas, and with earth, the material world of visible things, to form with these a trinity of the primal powers.

This theory of ideas is applied in a twofold sense. The Book of Changes shows the images of events and also the unfolding of conditions in statu nascendi. Thus, in discerning with its help the seeds of things to come, we learn to foresee the future as well as to understand the past. In this way the images on which the hexagrams are based serve as patterns for timely action in the situations indicated. Not only is adaptation to the course of nature thus made possible, but in the Great Commentary (pt. II, chap. II), an interesting attempt is made to trace back the origin of all the practices and inventions of civilization to such ideas and archetypal images. Whether or not the hypothesis can be made to apply in all specific instances, the basic concept contains a truth.[16]

The third element fundamental to the Book of Changes are the judgments. The judgments clothe the images in words, as it were; they indicate whether a given action will bring good fortune or misfortune, remorse or humiliation. The judgments make it possible for a man to make a decision to desist from a course of action indicated by the situation of the moment but harmful in the long run. In this way he makes himself independent of the tyranny of events. In its judgments, and in the interpretations attached to it from the time of Confucius on the Book of Changes opens to the reader the richest treasure of Chinese wisdom; at the same time it affords him a comprehensive view of the varieties of human experience, enabling him thereby to shape his life of his own sovereign will into an organic whole and so to direct it that it comes into accord with the ultimate tao lying at the root of all that exists.

COMING SOON:
An Assessment of the Candidates as Human Beings
by Anonymoses Hyperlincoln III

--

Glenn Greenwald - Political Blogs and Opinions - Salon

Glenn Greenwald - Political Blogs and Opinions - Salon

Excerpts:
At The New Republic's blog, Jason Zengerle confesses what is and has long been too obvious to require much proof -- the media is uncontrollably in love with John McCain. And Zengerle's reason why this is so is equally unsurprising: McCain gives them unfettered access, so they love him. Everything is about them, and whichever politician flatters and charms these adolescent, coddled narcissists is the recipient of their uncritical love (that explains much, though not all, of their profound failure in covering the Bush campaigns and administration).

As but one example, consider this new daily tracking poll today from Rasumussen Reports. At least according to this poll, it is true that there has been one candidate who has been genuinely surging in the last week or two among Democratic voters nationally -- John Edwards.

But I'm not focusing on the accuracy of horse-race predictions here, but instead, on the fact that the traveling press corps endlessly imposes its own narrative on the election, thereby completely excluding from all coverage plainly credible candidates they dislike (such as Edwards) while breathlessly touting the prospects of the candidates of whom they are enamored. Their predictions (i.e., preferences and love affairs) so plainly drive their press coverage -- the candidates they love are lauded as likely winners while the ones they hate are ignored or depicted as collapsing -- which in turn influences the election in the direction they want, making their predictions become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Monday, January 07, 2008

Daily Kos: Dittoheads rebel against their master

Daily Kos: Dittoheads rebel against their master

"Ever since the Iowa Caucus the Rush Limburger show has been total chaos. Not two callers in a row that he lets speak can agree with each other and many of them are accusing the fat slob of a disc jockey of duplicity and playing mind games with listeners. Another group of callers, the real quality dittoheads, have been calling for the last week begging the drugged-up host to tell them who to vote for.. and they're rightfully getting pissed off at Limburgers wishy-washy answers and evasion of the question." - Soros at Daily kos

Saturday, January 05, 2008

ABC/Facebook Debate Highlights

7:32 John McCain says America is in a "Titanic" struggle.

Monday, December 31, 2007

"Let us vote then, you and I" - a poem

Always like to trot this thing out at vote time...


LET us vote then, you and I,
When the evening news is spreading lies
to the patients etherized upon a fable;

Let us go, through a certain half-deserted mind,
The muttering unkind
A mindless knight in one-night crack-ho tails
And cornpone restaurants with taco-shells:
Sheep that follow like a tedious dittohead
Of insidious portent
To feed you all a dose of healthy koolaid...
Oh, do not ask, "What is it?"
Let us go and drink this sh*t...

From the boom we men come aglow
Walking from Los Alamo.

The yellow blog that wipes its back upon our window pains,
The yellow news that rubs our nose in blue dress stains,
Licked its lips upon the money of the evening news,
Lingered upon the fools that stand to gain,
Let fall upon his face the pretzel that falls from skies,
Slipped by the congress, made of sullen lies,
And seeing that it was a soft September morn,
Turned around the plane, and fell to Sleep...

And indeed there will be time
For the yellow dust that billows down the street,
Wiping its ass upon the window-panes;
There will be Time, there will be War-
ner,
To prepare a place to meet the presses that you meet;
There will be time for Russ and Rush to bloviate,
And time for all the worthless ways of glands
That lift and drop a dollop on your fate;
Time for Dick and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred distortions and revisions,
Before making toast of Cheney.

In the gloom the warmen come aglow
Talking of Guantanamo

And indeed there will be time
To wonder, "Do I dare?" and, "Do I care?"
Time to turn my back and nude-descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my chair--
[They will say: "How his chair is growing thin!"]
My morning coke, my dollar mounting firmly to boy Ken,
My bolo is immodest, but inserted by a marking pen--
[They will say: "But how his arms of war are sin!"]

Do I dare
Destroy the universe?

In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minuteman will reverse.

For I have blown them all already, blown them up:--
Have known the evening, mourning, darkest noons,
I have mangled up my life with cocaine spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying thup!
Beneath the building from a farther plume.
So what should I consume?

And I have known the ayes already, known them all--
The ayes that fix you in a formulaic phase,
And when I am formulaic, scrawling with a pen,
When I am penned and scribbling on the wall,
Then how should I begin
To spit on all the buttholes of my days and ways?
And who should I consume?

And I have known the arms already, known them all--
Arms that are daisy-cut and grossly unfair,
[Caught in the gunlight, downed without a care!]
Is it blue stains on a dress
That makes me so digress?

Arms that lie are sold at table, with talk of shock and awe.
And should I then consume?
And when should I begin?
. . . . .

Shall I say, I have gunned at dusk through narrow streets
And watched the smoke that rises from the ruins
Of lonely kids in tatters, pouring out of windows...

I am just a pair of ragged shoes
Scuttling across the floors of silent news.

. . . . .

And the afternoon, the evening, creeps so peacelessly!
Scorched by hot zingers,
Asleep ... wired ... or country singers,
Stretched on the floor, here beside you Cheney.
Should I, after koolade, coke and icees,
Have the strength to force the world to its crises?

But though I'm inept and blasted, inept and crazed,
Though I have seen many heads [grown slightly shorn] brought in upon a platter,
I am no prophet--and I'm no mad hatter;
I have seen the speeches of that city slicker,
And I have seen the eternal Bushman hold my coat, and Snicker,
And in shorts, I was DeLayed.

And would it have been worth it, after Oil,
After the kegs, the candy bar, the T,
Hugging the porcelain, a lonesome walk with you and me,
Would it have been worth while,
To have snapped at the batter with a towel,
To have squeezed the universe into a booger
To roll it toward some overstating question,
To say: "I am Nazareth, book of the dead,
Come back to sell you all, I shall smell you all"--
If one, settling a pillow by her head,
Should say: "That is not how I vote at all.
That is not it, at all."

And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,
After the fun set and the shipyards and the wrinkled sheets,
After the novel, after the hiccups, after the nose that trails along the floors--
And Kos, and Media Whores--
It is impossible to know just why I'm mean!

But as if a manic slattern slew the pervs on ladders in a screed:
Would it have been with child
If one, settling a pillow or throwing up on call,
And turning toward the window, should spew:
"That is not it at all,
That is not how I vote, at all."
. . . . .
No! I am no Abrahamlet, nor was meant to be;
Petrol attendant, bored, one that will screw
To stifle progress, start a war or two,
Advise the Dick; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to disabuse,
Lunatic, caustic, and supercilioos;
Full of false sentence, can't define "obtuse";
The Times, indeed, almost ridiculous--
I am, for you, the Fool.

I grow old ... I grow old ...
I prefer my money rolled.

Shall I kiss your left behind? Do I dare to be impeached?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and strut upon the stage.
I have heard Travolta singing, to my age.

I do not think that he will sing of me.

I have seen them hiding leeward in the caves
Bombing the dark hair of the slaves blown back
With my thoughts forever white and black.

We have lingered in the chambers of the star
By star-whores wreathed with seafoam green and crown
Till human votes awake them, and we drown.


- david k beckwith

Thursday, December 27, 2007

BENAZIR BHUTTO ASSASSINATED

hard to imagine anything good coming from this development...


Benazir Bhutto

Bhutto Killed in Suicide Attack on Election Rally (Update1)
(Bloomberg) -- Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's former prime minister, died of injuries sustained in a suicide bomb attack on an election rally in Rawalpindi.

Benazir Bhutto shot dead at suicide bombing of rally; 20 feared dead - 3 minutes ago
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto died Thursday after being shot during a suicide bomb attack on a political rally.

Benazir Bhutto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Benazirbhutto.org - The Official Website of PPP Chairperson ...
The Official Website of PPP Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.

WIC Biography - Benazir Bhutto
On December 2, 1988 Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islamic State.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Stockhausen is Dead


Stockhausen lecture circa 1972
(thanks to Kirk Ross & iLud)

Karlheinz Stockhausen (August 22, 1928 – December 5, 2007) was a German composer, rated by some as one of the most important and controversial composers of the 20th century. He is known for his ground-breaking work in electronic music, aleatoric music, the use of multiple orchestras and other innovations. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music". In other words, he is just like me. Except I have the added advantage of still being alive. So choose me! Choose me! Just not for killing.

My first exposure to Stockhausen was in the '70s, when, after a decade of traditional fare being served and played back for parents and other yawners, I got the itch to remediate my deficits and hurl myself into a pursuit of ethnomusicological studies, coupled with research into what some folks call "contemporary classical", and others, "avant-garde", musics. Specifically, Messaien, Crumb, Xenakis, Subotnick, Elliott Carter, Darius Milhaud Nixon, R. U. Reading, Orr Arendt-Chu, Dee Fibrillator, ah damn, I forgot what I was talking about. Probably the mad cow.

I am delighted to hear that Charlotte and North Carolina schools are going green,
but don't stop with the school grounds. The buses that serve the rule of social mixing, also clogs up our air and vehicular circulatory system. It is unsustainable, unless we create -- and create we should -- green buses. But this doesn't unclog the roads.

How do you envision creating an entirely green system, which INCLUDES the transportation element?

David Beckwith
Charlotte, NC

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

LiveBlogging the Republican CNN/YouTube debate

Sorry I'm late. Let me jump right in...

Ron Paul: [undiscernible]...thing is, the Republicans have really screwed things up ever since Dick Cheney and the Neo-cons have foisted this fake and illegal war on the American public, and I can tell you this much...the American public is sick of it. (Cheers, loud applause, and general commotion.)

Rudi Giuliani: May I say something?

Anderson Cooper: Go right ahead...

Rudi Giuliani: I was AT 9/11 and I say we did NOT screw things up, or PULL IT, like Mr. Paul and his conspiracy theorists are spewing out there... like so much dross, if I may be frank.

Anderson Cooper: Please, by all means, be frank...

Rudi Giuliani: Like I said, I was at 9/11, you may remember, and now that I think I bout it, I don't remember seeing YOU there.

Anderson Cooper: I was there, sir, you just didn't see me. Maybe if you would have pulled the mask off away from your eyes...

Mike Huckabee: I really must jump in here...

Rudi Giuliani: Shut up, you hick. I've just about had with your Jethro impressions.

Mike Huckabee: I'm rubber and you're glue, and whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you. [Under his breath, although still audible] Stupid asshole!.

Rudi Giulini: Who ya callin' an asshole, asshole?

Fred Thompson: I see what you are doing here. You're not fooling anybody. Chris tried to pull this shit the other day, and I draped it around his neck.

Anderson Cooper: Can we please come to order?

George Allen: Macaca

Ron Paul: By exerting downward pressure on our moral foundation, the neo-cons have converted powdered turquoise into pyramid bricks, and the only way to correct it is to remove taxation as a part of reality, and replace it with what I call "Pocket Constitutions"...

John McCain: Saying nothing, he flail his stubby little arms like a semaphor, but then suddenly blurts out the word, "WAR!".

Mitt Romney: (Holding back snickers and a milky way) Would you please hold my coat and snicker?

John Mccain: A-or-ta

Duncan Hunter: Kill! Kill! Kill!

Tom Tancredo: Those damn immigrants...

Anderson Cooper: And that is all the time we have for round one. When we return, we will hear from actual Youtube viewers.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Whew! Well, you get the idea. Surely there is something better on...

Monday, November 19, 2007

That Sucking Sound: The Clinton Years

When one thinks of the Clinton Years, one often recalls that honorificabilitudinatibus sound of sucking, filling the dark closets of the Oval Orifice. And, of course, the devil with the blue dress.

But one also thinks of ears. Big ears. Far too big for a diatom like H. Ross. Perot. [drumroll please. cue the sucking sound.] But you know what they say: Big ears, big... well let me just explain it this way: "hross" is the Old English spelling of "horse" (at least to the extent that they had any orthography).

Perhaps it was this preternatural disproportionality that disengendered many voters to HRoss, thus allowing the greasy shoehorn of fate to repopulate the White House without a Perot to brag about his Johnson, or a Bush to brag about barb. It was Clinton's turn, Jerry Brown be damned.

But the well-endowed Hross also left a legacy involving a sucking sound...when he bespoke of the jobs being sucked out of America (USA) were NAFTA to become law of the lamb. Did I say lamb? I meant sheep.

Meanwhile, the pigs are getting fatter still, and the dogs of war are all barked out. Jeez this is starting to sound like a Pink Floyd album.

Album, you say?

The moral of the story, if there is one, might resemble this: You can lead a Hross to falter, but you can't blame it on Walter.

"But that makes no sense!", you say.

Welcome to America. And for God's sake don't boo the queen.

(This important message has been brought to you by...ADC: the American Digression Corporation, where sport trumps knowledge.)

This is not a time to replay old tapes or albums.
We need a clear break from the sickeningly nefarious 20th century.

We can start anew, and distance ourselves from all that, by supporting 21st century politicians, artists, writers, bloggers, social networking leisure-cats, and everyone named David.
Or, we can re-open old wounds.

Don't re-open old wounds.
Release the Healer Monsters.

Edwards and Obama.
Healer Monsters.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Green Yorkshire


The images are from satellite pics over Yorkshire, England. Most are in and around Beckwithshaw, and some have family history.
Music composed and performed by David Beckwith.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Bush Critic, Harry Taylor, is running for Congress



Developing...

in the meantime...see below for more information.

Central Park Dancing Sticks


Central Park Bridge, originally uploaded by anonymoses.

Imagine my amazement when, while trundling through Central Park, I stumbled into this...

Monday, November 05, 2007

Harry Taylor, the man who dared to tell the president what America thinks, is running for Congress


Harry Taylor of Charlotte, NC

Bush critic to run for Congress

"I have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened, by my leadership in Washington, including the presidency," Harry Taylor proceeded to tell the president. "And I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself." - Charlotte observer

From John Edwards Blog

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Friday, November 02, 2007

Facebook Friends on YouTube

- Jimmy Wales - founded Wikipedia in 2001. Since 2006, he has been Chair Emeritus of the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikipedia reference.

- John Perry Barlow - Founder of EFF, Lyracist for Grateful Dead, Internet Pioneer, and Harvard Professor. Wikipedia reference.

- Chris Bowers - Chris Bowers is a blogger for OpenLeft, and was until July 2007 a front-page blogger for MyDD. His focus is polling and analysis of the political blogosphere. He tends towards data-driven analysis, such as his partisan index, a ranking of how far each state in the United States leans towards a political party. Wikipedia reference.

- Stowe Boyd - an internationally recognized authority on business strategy and information technology, particularly regarding real-time, collaborative, process, and content management technologies.

- David Brock - Author, former conservative, founder of Media Matters. Wikipedia reference.

- Jason Calacanis - Jason McCabe Calacanis is CEO and co-founder of Weblogs Inc., a network of widely read blogs including Engadget – ranked # 1 by Technorati . Wikipedia reference.

- David Sifry - an American software entrepreneur and blogosphere icon known most recently for founding Technorati, a leading blog search engine. Wikipedia reference.

- Elisa Camahort - Co-founder of BlogHer. BlogHer may refer to a group blog and online community, or to an annual blogging conference for women. Three of the 2005 conference organizers, Elisa Camahort, Jory des Jardins, and Lisa Stone, began a company, Blogher LLC, which in 2006 also began a blog ad network. In 2007, BlogHers Act, a political blogging network by and for women, was started by the company. Wikipedia reference.

- Deepak Chopra - Wikipedia reference.

- Juan Cole - is an American professor of modern Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan. As a commentator on Middle Eastern affairs, he has appeared in print and on television, and testified before the United States Senate. He has published several peer-reviewed books on the modern Middle East and is a translator of both Arabic and Persian. Since 2002, he has written a weblog, Informed Comment. Wikipedia reference.

- Korva Coleman - In her work as an NPR newscaster, Korva Coleman is responsible for writing, producing, and delivering national newscasts for NPR's newsmagazines All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition. She is also a substitute host for Talk of the Nation, Weekend All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition Sunday. Wikipedia reference.

- Ed Cone - "Ed Cone writes one of the most useful weblogs by a journalist." If not the blogfather of NC...certainly one of them. He, along with Sue Polinsky are responsible for blogger conferences in North Carolina.

- Robert Greenwald - an American film director, producer and political activist recently noted for his documentaries critical of Fox News and of the Bush Administration, as well as numerous award-winning television movies from the 1980s and 1990s. Wikipedia reference.

- Jane Hamsher - an American film producer, author, and liberal blogger. She produced the major motion picture Natural Born Killers and founded the popular progressive blog Firedoglake. She has also contributed to The Huffington Post. Wikipedia reference.

- Joichi Ito - the chairman of the board of Creative Commons and the chairman of Six Apart Japan. He is on the board of Technorati, Digital Garage, WITNESS, Pia Corporation, Socialtext and iCommons. He is the founder and CEO of the venture capital firm Neoteny Co., Ltd. In October of 2004, he was named to the board of ICANN. In August of 2005, he joined the board of the Mozilla Foundation. He served on the board of the Open Source Initiative. He was a founding board member of Ex'pression College for Digital Arts as well as the Zero One Art and Technology Network. Wikipedia reference.

- Josh Joplin - Josh Joplin Group was an American Georgia-based pop music band led by singer-songwriter Josh Joplin. Joplin, a self-proclaimed "dork" who nonetheless dropped out of school in tenth grade to become a folk singer like his hero Phil Ochs, brought the group its trademark combination of introspective lyrics, catchy melodies, and lead vocals that, to many, sound identical to those of R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe (to the point that one Joplin song, "Happy at Last," begins, "I sound like Michael Stipe and I dream like Carl Jung"). Wikipedia reference.

- Carl Kasell - A native of Goldsboro, North Carolina, Kasell was a student of drama in high school, where one of his mentors was Andy Griffith, then a high school drama instructor. Although Griffith urged Kasell to pursue a career in theatre, Kasell took to radio at an early age as well. During his time at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he helped launch local radio station WUNC with fellow student Charles Kuralt.
He worked as an announcer and DJ at a radio station in Goldsboro before moving to the Washington, DC area in 1965. He advanced to the position of news director at WAVA in Arlington, Virginia before joining National Public Radio's staff as a news announcer in 1975. He has been the news announcer for NPR's Morning Edition since its inception in 1979.
In 1998, Kasell was finally able to join the phenomenon of radio game shows which attracted him to the genre in his youth when NPR launched its weekly news quiz, Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, with Kasell as official judge and scorekeeper. The prize that Wait Wait... offers to its listener contestants is a recording of Kasell's voice for their personal telephone answering machines.
He is a member of the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame. In 1999, Kasell shared in the George Foster Peabody Award given to Morning Edition. Wikipedia reference.

- Guy Kawasaki - one of the original Apple employees responsible for marketing of the Macintosh in 1984, is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist. He is noted for bringing the concept of evangelism to the high-tech business. Wikipedia reference.

- Jon Lebkowsky - a consultant, author and activist who was cofounder of FringeWare, Inc. Lebkowsky also has a history of activism, and was a co-founder of EFF-Austin, an organization formed to be a chapter of the national Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Lebkowsky joined the WELL in 1990, and became a host or co-host of several forums on the conferencing system, including forums devoted to Factsheet Five, where he had a brief stint as book review editor, and Mondo 2000, where he wrote several articles and formed friendships with editors RU Sirius and Jude Milhon. Through the WELL, he also became associated with Howard Rheingold and Whole Earth Review, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and boing boing, where he was Associate Editor. He had early associations with staff at Wired Magazine and was conducted a regular, weekly series of chats called Electronic Frontiers Forum at HotWired. He was a subdomain editor for the Millennium Whole Earth Catalog and, in 1996, he joined Rheingold's Electric Minds. Wikipedia reference.

- PZ Myers - an American biology professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris and a science blogger via his blog, Pharyngula. He is currently an associate professor of biology at Morris, works in the field of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo). Wikipedia reference.

- Yoko Ono Lennon - Wikipedia reference.

- Greg Palast - a New York Times-bestselling author and a journalist for the British Broadcasting Corporation as well as the British newspaper The Observer. His work frequently focuses on corporate malfeasance but has also been known to work with labor unions and consumer advocacy groups. Notably, he has claimed to have uncovered evidence that Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, and Florida Elections Unit Chief Clay Roberts, along with the ChoicePoint corporation, rigged the ballots during the US Presidential Election of 2000 and again in 2004 when, he argued, the problems and machinations from 2000 continued, and that challenger John Kerry actually would have won if not for disproportional "spoilage" of Democratic votes. He is considered to have begun reporting for the BBC/Observer due to media bias/reporting restrictions in the US. Wikipedia reference.

- Eli Pariser
- Jay Rosen
- Peter Sagal
- Doc Searls
- David Sirota
- Steven Stucky
- Leif Utne
- Paul Waldman
- Jim Wallis
- Woodrow Williams
- Saskia Wilson-Brown
- Joe Trippi
- Bill Tancer
- Helen Mirren
- Juliet Binoche
- Amanda Marcotte
- John Malkovich
- RG Littlejohn
- Lawrence Lessig
- Jon Stewart
- Steve Gillmor
- Jim Gaffigan
- Tina Fey
- Howard Dean
- Peter Daou
- Wes Clark
In progress...

Facebook: More Popular Than Porn

It's all about relationships...

EXCERPTS from TIME Magazine:
"Currently, for web users over the age of 25, Adult Entertainment still ranks high in popularity, coming in second, after search engines. Not so for 18- to 24-year-olds, for whom social networks rank first, followed by search engines, then web-based e-mail — with porn sites lagging behind in fourth. If you chart the rate of visits to social-networking sites against those to adult sites over the last two years, there appears to be a strong negative correlation (i.e., visits to social networks go up as visits to adult sites go down). "

It seems that social-networking sites have not only usurped porn in popularity, but they've also gobbled up time Gen Y-ers used to spend on traditional e-mail and IM. When you can reach all of your friends through Facebook or MySpace, there's little reason to spend time in your old-school inbox. So, if social networking is becoming e-mail 2.0, then perhaps Microsoft's recent $240 million dollar payout for such a small stake in Facebook isn't that ridiculous.

The reality is that Facebook isn't just for kids. Last week — and this was a highlight — my dad, who just turned 75, added me as a friend on Facebook."

Friday, October 26, 2007

Fun Links

TubeMogul - TubeMogul is a free service that provides a single point for deploying uploads to the top video sharing sites, and powerful analytics on who, what, and how videos are being viewed.

blip.tv (beta)
blip.tv is the world's leading videoblogging and podcasting service.

CrapTV
Less crap, more CrapTV!

Welcome to Spot Runner
Spot Runner creates high-quality, affordable television advertising for the local business. Spot Runner offers a total solution for television. "We're revolutionizing TV advertising. Find out how you can put your business on television."

Metacafe – Best Videos & Funny Movies
Metacafe - Get the best internet videos - Funny videos, Amazing clips, Rare movies.

Current TV
Current is a global television network that gives you the opportunity to create and influence what airs on TV. The Al Gore Network.

Lulu.com - Self Publishing - Free
Looking for self publishing resources? Lulu.com lets you publish and sell and print on demand books, e-books, online music, images, custom calendars and ...

Twitter: What are you doing?
Social networking and microblogging service utilising instant messaging, SMS or a web interface.

Bob Young - The connection between Ibiblio, Open Source, Lulu, and the number 42

Bob Young, founder of Lulu.com, Lulu.tv, and Red Hat is coming to speak at UNC. Join us in the Sonja Haynes Stone Center at UNC-Chapel Hill, Tuesday, October 30th from 3:30-5:00pm.

memeorandum
Techmeme
BlogHer

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

BushWorld o' Fascism: Bushworldofascism vs Islamofascism

With BushWorld and the Pastors of Genocide pushing the term "Islamofascism" in a ploy to piss people off enough that we will agree to the neo-con vision of Armageddon, but which might well actually turn out to be Amerigeddon, one wonders:

What the heck is Fascism anyway?

A number of A+ list bloggers including Juan Cole, Will Bunch, Bora Zivkovic and Jude Nagurney-Camwell have written eloquently on the matter, as elaborated by this post by Jude.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

"Saint" Tancredo's Wall Spares Mexicans the Fiery Katrina

Tom Tancredo is being hailed as a saint for his visionary mercy when he created the wall that spared the lives of millions of Mexicans from the fiery Katrina that is engulfing much of their northern neighbor.

What kind of blogger are you?


"What Kind of Blogger Are You?"/>

ConvergeSouth Film Festival is now available online!

I love films. Well, many of them. And I loved most of the ones I saw during the ConvergeSouth Film Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina this weekend.
As I was watching, instead of having AFV pop to mind, I had flashes of Bunuel, Rouch, Dziga Vertov, Man Ray, Woman Rhea, Richter, Melies, Lumiere, Cocteau, Cockfinger, Eisenstein, and some of the pioneers of avant-garde cinema whack me across the glasses in Potemkian montage sequences, as my mind tumbled down the steps of ontological approval like a perambulator adrift on the gravity of pregnant steps of Odessa.

(working, working...)

ConvergeSouth: Post-Production

A blogger conference, like a movie, has 3 stages: Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production. We are now in the Post-Production phase...and are seeking the help of those who may not have participated so fully in the other two phases.

Gathering, organizing and archiving photos, words, videos, music and such would be very useful...both for ConvergeSouth '07, as well as for future Converges.

If you were in attendance, and felt like you wish you could have contributed more...this is one way to do it. Another way is to volunteer for ConvergeSouth '08.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Rainbloggers Break North Carolina Drought! ConvergeSouth, Fifth Estate, Credited.

nfConvergeSouth was THIS BIG!
(photo of Ruby Sinreich by Iddybud)

WE ARE THE ONES WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR...


(dans progress)



A
funny thing happened this weekend, beginning on Friday. While the stock market was going to shit, hominids were gathering in North Carolina to break the drought that was long plaguing the state. The impact was instantaneous and widespread.

Rain soaked the area represented by these holy blogger/rainpersons, and earth and heaven were once again speaking.

Here are some of the things unearthed by said rainbloggers...






THE GATHERING OF THE FIFTH ESTATE
As the blognoscenti of The Fifth Estate gathered, I realized that it was going to be impossible to spend quality time with everyone, but I am glad that I did get some quality time with some quality folk, in particular, David Hoggard, Jay Ovittore, Dr. Sue, Michael Habib, Bora Zivkovic, David Jordan, Scott and Barbara Nelles, Stew Pittman, Billy the Wordjones, Dan Conover, Lex Alexander, Fec Stench, Brandon Gross, Saskia Wilson-Brown, Robert Reddick, and a few others. Some, like Ben Hwang and Ed Cone were always on the move, and thus hard to trap into a long discussion on what's next.

THE FUTURE:
CHARLOTTE FESTIVAL OF THE FIFTH ESTATE

I am pondering a notion from the mind of Joe Killian, who wondered why these events could not happen twice a year...


UNCC college of Computers and Informatics Campus

Charlotte is typically very lovely in April and May, which is roughly six months from now. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte has a new campus dedicated to Information Technology, which auspiciousoly lies at the north side of Charlotte, very close to I-85, from whence most people from the Triad and Triangle would be coming. Seems like such an event might serve both institutions well.




University Place, Charlotte

Nearby is University Place, where people can stay, and party...and also NODA, charlotte's vibrant art district, which has venues for music, film, art, and good food. Again, this would serve both institutions well...


Charlotte Arts District (NODA)

Flight from other cities around the world are available, media coverage from the Charlotte Observer, sponsorship from Bank of America, Wachovia, BMW, and other deep pockets might be available...and Lord knows the city is always looking to promote the image of it being a state-of-the-art, world-class city. As I said also to Saskia and Brandon of Current TV and San Francisco...Charlotte's god in chief, Hugh McColl, loved San Francisco, and wanted to bring the best of that city to Charlotte. Among the projects he is involved with is the Echo Foundation, founded by Elie Wiesel and, i believe, headquartered in Charlotte.

Charlotte also has telemedicine, and is making great headway in holistic medicine...with Stewart Brand's recent involvement in the creation of a new holistic, hospital, replete with Feng Shui gardens, waterfalls, and much else besides. Surely an interesting topic for discussion... Perhaps health can be at the center of discussion, but maybe also other aspects of life for which the city is known, like investments, banking, business, sports...and these other quotidian, yet necessary, arenas.

Besides...the mayor is on Facebook.



Rainbloggers Break North Carolina Drought! ConvergeSouth Credited.

World Anthology of ConvergeSouth Reviews:

Current.com comes to Greensboro - Jude (Iddybud) Nagurney-Camwell has some great pictures of folks at ConvergeSouth, including our guests from San Francisco and CurrentTV, Saskia Wilson-Brown and Brandon Gross, as well as CrapTV's Jason McHugh.


ConvergeSouth: The Buzz That Was - Lenslinger, who writes: "When a shirtless Al Gore first twisted the internets out of molten lava, experts worried it would turn the people of the Earth into agoraphobic laptop addicts. Perhaps they had a point. Still, when used correctly, the series of tubes that is the web can actually bring people face to face - and I‘m not talking about those skeevy dating websites, either. I‘m talking ConvergeSouth. " Wondrous words, my friend!
ConvergeSouth Film Festival stuff
Late breaking news
ConvergeSouth 2008 - Volunteer and the job is yours - Sue Polinsky
Too fast from Greensboro to Milwaukee [A Blog Around The Clock] - Bora Zivkovic
Converging 2007 - Joe Killian
Converged - Ed Cone






ConvergeSouth - all good (except for…) - David Hoggard, "The Man with the Meat", wonders if some of the class leaders did not get the memo about the audience being smarter than you are. Elsewisely put, "zen mind, beginner's mind". Lively discussion!

A Morning’s Worth Of ConvergeSouth 2007 - CMF

2007 ConvergeSouth Coverage - updates by Billy Blog Jones

Twitter updates for 2007-10-20 - Amber Rhea

ConvergeSouth Saturday, Part 2 - Stephanie (NC Inkslinger)

ConvergeSouth - Joe Guarino

Thoughts on ConvergeSouth - Sam Harrelson

Just got back from ConvergeSouth - Angelico (Blue NC)

ConvergeSouth: Day Two Social Networking - Sir Leonard Witt

Saturday morning at ConvergeSouth - Anton Zuiker (with a link to Storyblogging session, which I regrettably missed.)

ConvergeSouth 2007 - Michael Kimsal






Social networks at ConvergeSouth - Ruby Sinreich

ConvergeSouth photos - Radical Georgia Moderate

ConvergeSouth 2007 Day 2 - Guillaume le Blogpoetistan (no lackbeard) keeping track of ConvergeSouthiana while reminding us of the importance of his majoral candidacy and his future mayoralty. May he bring peace and macrobiotic food to Blogsboro.

Don’t Question Us! - The Conservative Alternative

Tidbits from ConvergeSouth - Erik Huey

ConvergeSouth Liveblog III - Mama's Bloggin

Hello world! - David Jordan Jr. (currently inchoate)

ConvergeSouth first looks - Ben (the Wizard) Hwang

Attytood's Southern strategy - Will Bunch (who had graced us from Philadelphia)

BCR at ConvergeSouth today - Bull City Rising (Durham)

dan who?