October 02, 2003

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coz CZJ says so, posted by dj to Fluffy, anti/capitalism, cartoons, cinema, l.a., porn, public space, punk, quotes, sex, the arts, wisdom, words

September 05, 2003

commons-blog: Losing the Washington Commons

From one end of the Mall to the other, billboards and huge television monitors stream across the green lawn, promoting Vanilla Pepsi all in celebration of the first NFL game of the season. It seems particularly disgusting to me that the Mall, our nation's commons, is stripped of its value even for one day.

America, Brought To You by . . . (washingtonpost.com)

The event was deemed so auspicious that George W. Bush took yet more time off from fighting the war on terrorism to appear, via videotape, at the end of the concert and just before the game, in the manner of a TV huckster. He tried to make some connection between football and "the spirit that guides the brave men and women" of the military, much as the concert had done.

He also said pro football "celebrates the values that make our country so strong." Like what, violence and greed?

Then, in intense close-up, the leader of the Free World asked the trademarked rhetorical question, "Are you ready for some football?"

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Losing the Washington Commons, posted by adam to public space

July 13, 2003

"All my friends say I ought to put up a fence and charge people $2 a head, but that's not my way," Balestra said. "I'm enjoying this. People lying down in my wheat field, and wrapping their heads in foil."
SF Gate: Mystery crop circles keep packing 'em in / New Age believers descend en masse on Solano wheat field, via peace dividend.
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'people lying down in my wheat field', posted by adam to public space

May 26, 2003

I grabbed the latest issue of Adbusters without even looking at it because, well, Adbusters. Finding the live without dead time CD (features Allen Ginsberg, Negativland, Ani DiFranco, Saul Williams... and if you're not listening yet I've got nothing left) mixed by DJ Spooky that subliminal kid, [more...]
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i need a pepsi, posted by adam to download, music, peace, propaganda, public space, radio, wisdom

April 27, 2003

The top result of a google image search on 'p2p art':

p2p art image search
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p2p art, posted by adam to digital rights, download, headlines, music, privacy, propaganda, public space, radio, surveillance, technology, television, the arts

April 06, 2003

Steve Himmer of OnePotMeal on why marching is important:

The alternative to a march, after all, is an individual speaking on behalf of the collective, supposedly representing 'us'. If our entire complaint is that we cannot be represented by any individual voice, that approach is made impossible and dangerous. This is why I'm not a particularly enthusiastic fan of Michael Moore, for example: though I usually do agree with him, I vehemently object to his adoption of the tactics of the right as he claims to speak for 'all of us who didn't vote for Bush' and 'all Americans who oppose the war'. We may or may not agree with Moore or anyone else, but he's only ever speaking for himself.

And that's why we have to march, and chant, and sing, and scream, and act up and act out: because, to paraphrase a very wise mob of actors, 'we are all individuals; we must all speak for ourselves'. When we allow our voices to be subsumed or represented--either through voting exclusive of all other forms of protest (I am not, mind, advocating a foolish refusal to vote--voting is essential, but it is not the only tool at our disposal), we are allowing our voices and ourselves to be reduced to commodities, number traceable and trackable on charts and graphs and polls. When we march with individualized messages making up a larger, univocal whole, we are vitally--and with vitality--resisting that same commodification.

The idealism in that, the belief that peace is possible and that voices collective and individual do matter isn't the be-all end-all of tactics. But it's still important.

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right on, posted by lia to activism, freedom, peace, public space

March 13, 2003

I've never been arrested. What the police saw was a black man with a mask and duct tape and their interpretation was fear. It was meant to be metaphorical.
Two performance artists fell prey to D.C.'s hyperactive security last week.
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so misunderstood, posted by nedlog to d.c., freedom, prison, public space, social justice, the arts, u.s.a.

March 10, 2003

The Pitch (Kansas City), May 23, 2002: Guards tell Krishna devotees to keep off the Plaza's private parts.
They must have said go to jail a hundred times. They said we couldn't be on their private property. They told us that all the fountains, all the benches, all the courtyards and all the trash cans belong to Highwoods.

I said, Well, everything does belong to God, Swami continues. Then a female officer told me, Not here. Here, Highwoods is God.

Despite the threat of jail time, the Hare Krishnas have no plans to stop their twice-weekly chants on the Plaza. Swami still holds out some hope that the security officer who declared that "Highwoods is God" will one day be less caught up in the temporary identity of being a security guard.
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Hare Harassment, posted by adam to Living, freedom, god/atheism, public space