Forget Silence!

Mail Order Brides?

2007-03-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

An article in the Washington post today begins with the quote, "Like mail-order brides, thousands of long-limbed wind turbines are coming to the empty outback of Washington and Oregon, where they are being married off, via the electrical grid, to hulking old hydroelectric dams."

What the fuck is this guy talking about?

It gets better - "These are arranged weddings for a warming world -- designed never to give birth to greenhouse gases."

Blaine Harden you crazy SOB. Has Bob Woodward read and approved this article? Does Washington State have a problem with too many men ordering brides from Russia? This is not green media, this is crap. The article has good info and facts in it if you can see past the hilarious introduction. But don't bother with the video - it is a total piece of shit.
Check it:
Here.

GE - Propaganda Machine

2007-03-02T18:38:00.000-08:00

Imagination at Work.

GE just caught my attention. I was camly watching some quality NBA basketball, trying to tune out a long series of commericials featuring Dwane Wade, when one of the most cinematic commericials I've ever seen graced the screen. A little boy captures an ocean breeze in a jar, travels thousands of miles through gorgious rolling hills and spectacular mountains in order to present the jar to his grandfather. Upon opening the jar, the ocean breeze explodes out, blowing out the candles on the birthday cake that is sitting in front of his anachronistic face. It felt like a combination of 'Everything is Illuminated and 'Harry Potter'.

GE was behind the whole thing, selling their greenness with a massive advertising budget and some seriously talented creatives. I went to the site (see the link above) and discovered a multimedia web experience with just as much artistic input and creativity as the commericial. But I think the messanging is hollow. All flash and no splash.

I do think that companies like GE are going to be critical in leading us into a greener future, but they need to give me something real, not some arty video narrated by Kevin Kline that compares their new jet engine to Japanese philosophy. It's great that it's more efficient/quieter/faster/whatever but the real issue is that it is still an engine. We need to find ways to get away from engines. Engines that still burn nothing but gas are not the solution.

So I don't buy this superslick campaign as it stands right now. The more efficient lightbulbs featured on GE's site are cool and are going in the right direction. But overall, the whole thing feels like a nice way to gloss over the fact that very little is actually changing - at least at GE. It is damaging to the movement. But damn it looks cool. Hopefully some of their ad dollars will leak over to their research department.

Remix

2007-02-28T07:44:00.001-08:00

This video features a group of fourth graders in Brooklyn, NY, who are taught by Ben Youngerman. He and I put this video together and entered it in the Seventh Generation Convenient Truths video contest. Check out all the entries here. and give us a vote!

Overall the contest seems like a smash success - there are pleanty of healthy green videos for your viewing pleasure.

Oscar the Grouch

2007-02-26T09:53:00.000-08:00

So last night was the first ever carbon-neutral Oscars ceremony. Great. One thing struck me that I thought was pretty funny:

James Taylor performed a song called "Our Town" from the Pixar movie 'Cars'. Not only was the song fucking horrible and sickly sweet, but also so was the entire construct of the situation. "Cars" is a movie that plays upon our excessive love of the automobile by making them seem like they have individual personalities and stories. That is something that happens for real in garages all around the country every day, but this movie is indoctrinating a whole new generation with the concept that cars are unequivocally awesome, fun and that using them less would be a kind of tragedy. The cars would be sad. No one likes it when Owen Wilson is sad.

Furthermore, the song "Our Town" reached even new heights in extolling and celebrating the traditional "American Way" - a way that the fight for carbon neutrality is trying to change. I'm seeing a new rendition of the "Four Freedoms" painting series - one image is of a family passing a gas can around the dinner table and another is a father and son hopping into the car to drive down their 15 foot long driveway to pick up their mail.

Anyway, the very next performance was the theme song from an Inconvenient Truth, sang passionately by Melissa Ethridge. I'm not saying this song had any less of the too sweet, mainstream movie sing-along aspects to it, but I will say that Melissa at least looked like she gave a shit. And if she and James Taylor got in a fight, I think I know who'd win. I mean James Taylor doesn't even stand up when he plays his damn guitar.

The ultimate triumph of An Inconvenient Truth and its cheesy theme song was definitely a step in the right direction. Al Gore once again came off as a class act, miles from his former wooden self. For a minute, just a hot minute, he made me believe. And that is so fucking important that I can't put it into words.

Confessions

2007-02-14T15:35:00.000-08:00

So yeah. I'm pretty much an asshole. I love to talk about green living and carbon footprints. I love reading about new developments in alternative fuel technology and quoting statistics from "An Inconvenient Truth". I even have some "green media" of my own in the works. But when it comes down to it, I'm a giant hypocrite. Thus far in 2007, all of my major freelance gigs have involved airplane travel. And I'm not talking New York to DC. I'm talking about 4 cross-country flights and a roundtripper to south Florida. So much for not owning a car and living in a small apartment - I'm still kicking out a size 12 carbon footprint. I'm talkin' Timberland size prints here.

The problem with airtravel is that it dumps pollution into the upper atmosphere - right where it can do the most damage. What really sucks is that there are certainly no hybrid 747s going to be rolling off the production line any time soon. Changing airplane design is going to take decades. Airplane travel, as much as it has taken a hit in the last 8 years, may truly be in its heyday. I think we'll look back on $159 flights from JFK to Burbank as one of the greatest deals in the history of transportation.

I read recently that airplane fumes account for about 4% of air pollution. Not particularly high, but it feels like a number that will only continue to grow as globalization increases its stranglehold on the world economy. I, for one, would be broke right now if flying were exorbitantly more expensive. I'd be eating out of a can. Or I'd be eating out of a can more often than I already do...

Anyway, leave it to treehugger to drag up some good news. Perhaps it's a bit dreamy in that "I want to make biofuels and rub them all over my body" kind of way, but maybe it is getting at a solution. Check it out here.

To Miami!

Double Mint

2006-12-07T08:41:00.000-08:00

Two great green resources:
TreeHugger - this is a great green blog (that sounds like a villain in a B comic book movie) that happens to do some video as well.
Terra: The Nature of Our World - available via The Democracy Player

The revolution will be televised. Even if mainstream broadcast media can't keep up with the green movement, fear not - Independent broadcasting is easier than ever. The Democracy player is a desktop video aggregator (a.k.a. Internet TV that works!) that hosts a variety of cool channels such as Terra and EcoGeeks. It's a great way to watch worthwhile programing that TV is not hip enough to pick up. Some industry giants like Comedy Central and the Cartoon Network have picked up on it and are pushing some content through the Democracy Player. So you can make a playlist of channels that will make you laugh and make you think. It's a wonderful combination, just ask John Stewart.

Don't Panic, It's Organic

2006-11-29T10:17:00.000-08:00

This is one of the finer eco-conscious pieces I've scene on Current - it is certainly TV worthy and you'll not waste your time watching this 15-minute short. This reminds me of a point my sister Molly made last week at Thanksgiving. She works in publishing and has been on the lookout for books about food production. I think I agree with her assertion that by putting the energy crisis in the context of food, the ideas of diversification, localism and sustainability will hit home with a wider swath of the American population. I hope that she finds a book that will expose factory farming in the way that Upton Sinclair’s "The Jungle" did with the meat packing industry at the turn of the century. While the video posted below does not "sound the alarm," it does make some great points. My main problem with it is that none of the people in it are good spokespeople for the masses, which ultimately means that this well put together documentary short will struggle to do more than preach to the choir.

Except from Alt Fuels Video Pitch

2006-11-29T10:11:00.000-08:00

I'm hoping to create some documentary-style videos on the topics covered in this brief write-up. Any specific ideas or leads would be appreciated.

It is no secret that oil has a limited future as the world’s principle energy source. Conflict in the Middle East, over taxed oil wells and humans’ reliance on plastics are all factors in creating an economy that is going to need new fuels derived from sources other than oil. As gas prices have soared past the $3 dollar mark, people all across America are realizing that it is time for us to think about how we can become less reliant on foreign oil.

Many people are already taking major steps to free themselves from the gas pump. Kits can be purchased for as few as a few hundred dollars (www.realgoods.com) that will convert vegetable oil into bio diesel. Diesel engines can be easily converted to burn this fuel, allowing their owners to be virtually self-reliant when it comes to filling up their cars. This kind of thing is taking off in some pretty hip areas, such as Silver Lake, CA, a neighborhood in northern Los Angeles (www.lovecraftbiofuels.com/). Converted engines will also run directly on used cooking oil. These ‘grease cars’ smell like French fries but allow their owners to be even more independent.

Large-scale bio diesel production is growing at an astounding rate. According to Soya Tech LLC (www.soyatech.com/), bio diesel production plants can’t keep up with the current boom of vegetable oil production. These plants were equipped to make 250 million gallons of bio diesel in 2005 and have expanded their capacities to 600 million gallons thus far in 2006. Ethanol, another burnable fuel that can be derived from plant materials, is being produced at a rate of roughly 4.5 billion gallons per year. Current data indicates that this rate is increasing 25% each year.

Coal is another solution but is also likely the dirtiest. Although it is a highly polluting fossil fuel, coal is a substance that the U.S. has in spades. The good news is that it can be converted to liquid form and burned in regular combustion engines. Converting coal has some powerful advocates, including Ernie Fletcher, Governor of Kentucky, who are interested in ramping up the U.S.’s ability to liquefy coal (www.coalcandothat.com).

One other usage of coal would be to convert it into hydrogen to use in fuel cell engines. Fuel cell technology has been refined by GM but is still years away from being a practical, large-scale solution (www.gm.com/company/gmability/adv_tech/index.html). Hydrogen is the most abundant substance in the universe but it is hard to keep in an uncombined, pure form. Until we can come up with a way to cheaply and efficiently create and store pure hydrogen, widespread use of fuel cell technology will remain a dream of the future.

While there seem to be many possible solutions to the foreign oil problem, no single one has jumped out as being THE solution for the United States. In this time of uncertainty, many people are taking an interest in alternative fuels and are hungry for information about the pros and cons of each of these fuels. Most people are beginning to understand why alternative fuels are important, but have no idea how such fuels are made, who is making them and how they actually might come to benefit from their production.

63 seconds of truth

2006-10-06T17:28:00.000-07:00

Murder in the First

2006-09-23T15:18:00.000-07:00

"Who Killed the Electric Car" is a little documentary that is picking up steam this year. Sony Pictures bought it, Sundance and Tribeca selected it, RJD2 provided some music and now you can watch two versions of the trailer on my blog. Maybe you'll even fork over 8 bucks to see the whole thing. After all, the way one spends their money can actually have an impact the way the world works. Money = voting.

This film is an example of how the voting-with-dollars system failed to work. It seems that the American public was never given the chance to vote on the electric car because some large companies felt they knew better than the general public. Seems like a disruption in the way capitalism is supposed to work. Kinda reminds me of the electoral college and how Americans don't directly vote for the president. Democracy and the first-past-the-post system was overridden by an archaic political structure designed to take power out of the hands of the actual voters. Two classic examples of our great nation shooting its self squarely in the foot.

Yahoo!!!

2006-09-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

So the news was what I expected - Current TV pairs up with Yahoo to create a new web video channel. Check it out here and bookmark it for future viewing pleasure. This move is designed to create more outlets for viewer created content and to draw more people into the Current community. I'm particularly excited about this move for several reasons:
-My travel video series, America7, is going to be one of the first bits of content earmarked especially for the new Yahoo channel.
-I got interviewed and was given a big quote about Current the New York Observer's announcement that this partnership had been created.
-And finally, I've become a moderator on the Current website to help keep community standards high as the traffic to the site goes up. So I'm very excited to be all up in this business.

So what does this mean for Current TV and the internet video revolution? Well to start, this is an interesting model for similar video sites to follow: Create a great concept with independent funding that relies in part on the video creating abilities of the masses, build a decent following (Current has about 50,000 registered on their site) and then partner with a bigger fish in order to try and get into the spotlight. According to Aline Allegra, Current TV VP of Viewer Created Content, Yahoo has no control over what gets aired on the Current/Yahoo video channel. Current will not be sacrificing any of it's groundbreaking philosophical underpinnings in order to ramp up distribution. Brilliant!

Furthermore, it give people like me more ways to approach video content creation for Current. I can aim to make a short series of 2 minute videos designed for Yahoo!, or I can make slightly longer videos in hopes that they will get broadcast. So many ideas are brewing... stay tuned. The revolution WILL be televised.

Video News Roundup

2006-09-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

It been a busy month in the world of online video content. Advertisers are catching up, Apple continues to innovate and YouTube is working hard to avoid becoming the next Napster. Les Moonves, the CEO of CBS, made an appearance on the Charlie Rose show and was promptly grilled by Mr. Rose with questions about the new world of video content [Mr. Rose's show is now available for viewing and download on google video, though it'll cost you a buck]. Mr. Moonves replied with cocky, "I'm a rich motherfucker," style comments, demonstrating a knowledge of which companies were making money using internet video without really convincing me that he actually knew how to approach the new world of integration.

Speaking of integration, Apple's bold announcement that they'll be releasing iTV early next year means that integration is getting closer and closer to being what we all expect it to be. Unlike "web TV" boxes or even "media center PC's," this new system promises wireless streaming of computer based video to your TV. They even claim it will have HDMI connectors to yield the true HD picture quality that plasma and LCD TV's are designed for. Pretty soon, the 320 x 240 picture size we've come to accept on the web will go the way of the rotary telephone, Brittany Spears and light up sneakers. The convergence of cheap HD technologies, faster connection speeds, new computer chips that use lasers to transmitt data and the rising consumer demand for choice and control could make iTV a product whose significance is on par with the invention of color TV. This is all assuming that global warming doesn't flood every major coastal city and destroy the world economy.

The NY Times has been on point this week with two related articles worth mentioning. The Media Frenzy article from 9.17.06 discusses the NBC web video syndicate NBBC which aims to match content creators with websites in need of specific types of video. To an independent video creator, this sounds like music. However, all in all this article didn't say much more than "there's gold in them there hills". Ok great. I'm looking for work. There is also the bit about movies on the iTunes store, but this isn't so special considering that people have been downloading feature films free of charge for the past several years. I'm not sold on watching a feature film on a video ipod, but it will be interesting to see if these $15, lower-quality-than-DVD downloads catch on. There is also the question as to whether studios outside of the ABC/Disney empire will get involved.

Today's article on YouTube covers to groundbreaking story that Warner Music will now allow content creators to use their music within video pieces. Shared ad revenues and web distribution of Warner music videos theoretically makes the deal work for all parties, but whether this will really address the rampent stealing, remixing and subsequent reposting of copyrighted materials on YouTube remains to be seen. If this issue does not get cleared up, YouTube may face the kind of suits that knocked Napster from it's perch as a cultural icon. A big difference is that YouTube is making the types of deals that skirt around major suits before the lawyers have time to build a major case against them. Smart. Check out the YouTube boys on Charlie Rose:

While I find all of this very interesting, what I'm trying to figure out is how to carve out a niche in what seems to be a massive potential video market. Advertising is obviously a huge key but I'm also curious as to how to sell video content directly. Good video content is worth something as a stand alone and that is what I'm aiming for. Advertising dollars are great, but if the actual product creates some kind of a profit, than the advertising dollars become the icing on the cake. A delicious cake. Think double chocolate. This is of course what the networks are thinking and doing, but I believe that good indi producing can eventually create content worthy of this dual-profit model. Naturally, my interests are not always profitable ones, though I do think and hope that sustainable living will continue to grow into America's cultural narrative. As always, my fingers are crossed.

Magnum: Shooting the World

2006-09-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

Started in 1947, Magnum is a collective of some of the world's best and most famous photographers and photojournalists. These men and women have been around the world and back, bringing to us the images that define the times. Without a doubt you've seen images by a Magnum photographer on the covers of publications like the New York Times and Time magazine.

I got to meet a few of their photographers over the past few weeks as Magnum has been putting together a series of slideshows about 9/11 - the most photographed event in world history. Images from that infamous day are accompanied by the voices of the photographers, whose narration is taken from conversations that were recorded at Gramercy Post (where I work a few days per week). This kind of project is part of the larger inmotion series that Magnum displays on the web. Check out some of these videos - the images and commentary are fascinating and provide amazing insights into many of the more important moments in modern history.

Biodiesel Bonanza!!!

2006-09-12T08:23:00.000-07:00

Biodiesel is hotter than Beyonce. If you don't believe me, check out the two videos below and listen to an aging Steven Siegal banter on about his station wagon. While extremely informative, these two videos are WAY too long. I dare you to watch both in their entirety. Something tells me that Steven's been using a bit of his fuel source as a hair product...
If you still don't believe me about Biodiesel's level of hotness, check out this recent NY Times article. Biodiesel was a 1.6 billion dollar industry last year and it's growing faster than the iTunes catalogue. Interesting doings on that front today -- seems like there may be some new features involving video coming out... more on that can of worms later. Back to Beyonce -- that girl is fly but is she kicking out 1.6 billion each year? Not yet anyway.

Current is up to something

2006-09-08T07:37:00.000-07:00

Current TV has a new partner. They won't say who but I found out last night that it will be anounced in less than 2 weeks. I think I know who it is and I think it's big. Keep you eyes open because there will serious news in the very near future.

Gowanus - a video/photo essay [original]

2006-09-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

Here is my newest video. I took a very different approach to this piece than some of my others. Enjoy!

The Farm

2006-09-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

So I'm hoping that we're getting to the point where sustainable living is not associated with San Fran hippies from the 1970's. The problem is, some of the biggest advocates and strongest voices for sustainable lifestyles come out of this kind of long haired, somewhat smelly world. Seriously - so much of America is instantly turned off by someone who might have smoked a joint or two back in the day and it can be hard for strait laced people to listen to the well reasoned views of someone who looks like a liberal extremist.

Until a new generation steps up to the plate to advocate the kinds of lifestyle changes that we all may be forced into making anyway, we must turn to people like Albert Bates to guide the way. Check out this great piece of video about his eco training center in Tennessee.

I love this guy - so smart and articulate. I hate it that his appearance might damage his credibility in the eyes of many Americans.

IFC Media Lab - kinda cool, kinda annoying

2006-08-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

A former collegue of mine who works on testing and developing websites told me about the IFC Media Lab. People upload their super short films (less than 7 minutes), write a blurb about it, answer some questions and then watch as their fellow film snobs give out ratings on a 1-10 scale. The averaged score of even the highest rated films tops out at about 4.5. IFC claims the best films get aired on TV, "uncut".
There are three reasons for this low scoring trend:
1) Most of the films are extremely dissapointing. Maybe I'm a snob but most of these pieces are trying too hard and/or don't make any fucking sense. Most are poorly done and contrived. Maybe I'm not a snob (I didn't go the film school) and just don't know what "good" film is.
2) People who watch these pieces usually are the kinds of people who make films, want to make films, or just went to film school. So the average viewer tends to know when a video sucks. Even if they subconsciously think the piece is good, the viewer can avoid bruising their ego by giving out scores no higher than 5 out of 10. After all, they could have made a better film.
3) You can see how much someone spent on the film. $8000 for a 2 minute piece that sucked?!? God I wish I could burn money like that. I could heat my house burning money like that. And by "house" I mean "apartment that I share with two friends".

So while this post has had a negative slant to it, I was honestly very impressed by a few of the pieces I saw on the Media Lab. One animated/narrative/music video piece that I loved is called "Don't Fuck with Love". Seems about right. I also thought that the documentary "How to Bury a Dead Guy" was a great idea though poorly executed. I wish I could paste them into this posting but alas, IFC is far to good for that kind of sharing. You'll have to make do with the links.

Sony checks into the game

2006-08-23T06:48:00.000-07:00

Today's news in the NYTimes that Sony Entertainment just bought video-share bit player Grouper.com for 65 million is more evidence that we're in a new world of online content generation. While some companies are making some use of the concept of "crowd sourcing," a topic Wired Magazine explored in depth in their June 06 issue, other companies are based completely on it. Grouper was started with a little over 5 million, and its recent sale is another example of people getting in on a collectivist internet concept early and then cashing in big when when someone else actually makes the idea work. Grouper is completely overshadowed by YouTube but was still deemed to be a worthy "gamble" by a media giant needing to stay current.

I checked out Grouper.com for over an hour. It is hard to use, the search feature seemed to be broken, it is slow and 99% of the videos are stupid and terrible. This is a C-minus website at best. The only video I found that even appoached being post-worthy was the 'World's Longest Slam Dunk' - see it below. The best part is the faces of the people watching - it's as if they are witnessing an execution or something.

So I replaced the video with a picture because it was autoplaying everytime this page loaded. That violates the #1 rule of internet video, yet another sign that grouper.com is terrible.

What the hell is Nublu?

2006-08-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

Nublu is a bar/louge located at Avenue C and East 3rd Street. This highly understated venue is operated in conjunction with Nublu Records - a label that is home to up-and-comers such as Kudu. And yes dear readers, they do have videos - I'm sorry to report that this link only takes you to the main page, where you must click Nublu Records and then 'video' to see some content. I know - it's exhasting...

Anyway, these folks are cool. I know this because they've decided to throw an event on September 3rd in one of my favorite neighborhoods where everyone is cool in some way. Gowanas continues to kick ass, as is evident by this sweet picture I found somewhere on the world wide web.
Thanks to Wills for the heads up!

New Current Posting - Vote Now!!! [original]

2006-08-21T21:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a more finished version of the water taxi video. Give it the greenlight and help me get it on TV!

The Refugee AllStars from Sierra Leone

2006-08-18T14:18:00.000-07:00

From 2002 to 2005, Zack Niles and Banker White filmed, recorded and befriended a group of musicians who had fled Freetown, Sierra Leone to seek refuge in Guinea. They had left behind a country overtaken by a group of rebels engaged in what came to be called, "Operation: Destroy Every Living Thing". Sierra Leone's infamous diamond trade was at the heart of this turmoil which in the end displaced half of the country's 4.5 million people. It also ended up bringing together the 8+ musicians that came to be called the Refugee AllStars.

The album and the documentary film that Niles and White introduced to an international audience in 2005/06 tell the timeless story of how music can be a uniting and healing force even under the most adverse conditions. Check out RefugeeAllStars.org to watch the trailer and get a taste of what this project was all about.

Fight Big Media!!!

2006-08-18T12:37:00.000-07:00

If a single media company controls all of the major media outlets in a given area, how can you be sure that the information that you are receiving has not been utterly compromised by the interests of that company? You cannot. While the internet provides fertile ground for independent media, we cannot let media giants to do even more damage to America's media landscape.

There is currently antitrust legislation that prevents extreme media consolidation. However, in the words of ThePetitionSite, "If current protections were lifted, ONE media company could potentially own the major daily newspaper, at least EIGHT radio stations and THREE or more television stations in the same town". Let's not let big media companies bully the FCC into removing laws that exist to protect the integrity of local media. Click here to sign the petition.

Progress in Texas

2006-08-18T07:16:00.000-07:00

Austin, Texas is viewed by many as an oasis in the mist of a vast cultural desert. It's a massive college town and plays host to one of the more important music festivals of the day - South By SouthWest. They are even starting a film component to all this and are also hosting conferences and trade shows.

They've got a healthy amount of web video content to check out, including a piece by Neil Young that makes use of footage from 'An Inconvenient Truth'. Neil has been hip to sustainable living for a long time - check out his activist tune 'Vampire Blues' from the album On the Beach. By clicking on the film section, you'll find more videos including several about how to make worthwhile web video content. Internet video, sustainable living, musical communities - 16 posts in and I've finally brought it all together. Thanks Neil!

Anyway, I started this posting with the intention of hyping up the "Sustainable Shoppers Ball," a series of events in Austin centered on the sale of goods that promote sustainable living. Like any good event throwers, they've got music and art to keep people entertained. They offer a variety of ways to learn about why their views on sustainable living are important. While this event is still in its infancy, it is yet another example of how "green" is moving past being cool and slowly working its way into the mainstream.

While I don't have the funds for a trip to Austin, I think it is a worthwhile excursion for anyone who does. It already makes the claim that it is the "live music capital of the world" (though I'm sure many other great cities would have something to say about this) and if events like the Sustainable Shoppers Ball keep rolling, it could start calling its self the "green capital of the world". Pretty odd title for a city in the middle of Texas but I love the idea.

NYC's Underground Rhythm

2006-08-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

Check out these two awesome video pods about a guy who goes by the name 'ShakerLeg'. You may have seen him in the Bedford L stop if you've passed through Williamsburg, Brooklyn during the last few years. The man has got serious rhythm and these pieces give an intimate perspective on the life and times of a successful street musician. If you doubted that such a thing existed, watch and learn.

Titans in Love: Google and Viacom

2006-08-07T19:23:00.000-07:00

Advertising is big money. Just ask google, a company that has become one of the biggest and most powerful advertising companies on the planet. This trick is that most people don't even realize that ads are how they make all their boatloads of cash. Sneaky.

Viacom is company that plays the advertising game from some interesting angles as well - billboards and pop culture TV. So what happens when these two titans get together to try and find more ways to exploit the world's next great video content distibution channel? We'll see. Maybe it's more like they'll $ee...

This news is big. Read about it here. And here.

To see the kind of content that we're now going to have greater access to (although it will now be accompanied by commercials), check out some rap videos at hiphopgame.com.

Robot Music

2006-08-02T20:14:00.000-07:00

Opening this week in Gowanus (3rd Ave between 9th & 10th), Brooklyn, is the headquarters of a very unique New York City musical group. LEMUR (League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots) is the brain child of the multi-talented Eric Singer and will now have permanent performance, gallery and teaching space at what is being called 'LEMURplex'. This group is in it's 6th year of existence and they are starting to spread some serious roots in this hip little corner of Brooklyn.

The music is difficult to describe. The short story is that this group of musicians/engineers/artists build robots that will play music that has been composed and programmed into a computer. The most basic way to look at each of these robots is to view each of them as technologically updated, customized and visually interesting player pianos. Each robot has a one-of-a-kind look and sound and can be used to make some amazing and haunting music. I particularly like this one piece called "Emergency Bot TV Theme" by Joshua Fried.

LEMURplex is currently offering a range of courses, many revolving around the Max/MSP/Jitter programming environments. This unique musical community is an exciting addition to an neighborhood that has been steadily filling up with artists of all types for the last several years.

Bush's Landmark Conservation Event [!?!]

2006-07-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

Last month, Bush announced a new national monument in a remote part of Hawaii. This string of islands, atolls, reefs and shoals is home to more than 7000 species and has been referred to as a 'biological jewel'. Protecting this 1,200 mile long area from fishing and major tourism is the most significant thing Bush has done for the environment in his presidency and is something he will certainly try to hang his hat on. With his standard, every man's delivery, he told reporters, "this is a big deal."

Bush saw a documentary that French filmmaker Jean-Michel Cousteau made about this area and was inspired to get the region protected. The right story telling at the right place and time can be a pretty powerful thing and this example is one that I think is very inspiring. However, I can't help but feel that is just another case in which Bush is doing some major PR work. After all, this new protection will prevent a total of 8 fishing boats from entering the region and keep away the very small number of visitors who actually have the resources to go to such a remote destination. That being said, this is now the biggest marine reserve in the country.

Check PBS's site for an excellent video featuring excepts from the documentary and interviews with Cousteau himself:
Here

[Images used in this post were taken from www.news.bbc.co.uk.]

Water Taxi Music [Original]

2006-07-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

This is the story of a guy who started an excellent summer party series on the banks of the East River in Long Island City, Queens. The Manhattan skyline looms in the background as people from all walks of life get together to have a great time.

Help! This video is not done! This weekend I'm planning on attending the party at the water taxi beach and I need friends to come along and take photos. I'm going to use these photos to make an excellent montage to close the video segment (there is extra black at the end with music for this purpose). Come join me!

Across America in 7 Days: Episode 1 -- Upstate NY [Original]

2006-07-26T19:07:00.000-07:00

This is episode 1 of a short series detailing a cross-country road trip from NYC to LA. We brought several cameras with us and captured all points of interest as we crossed. This is set to the original music of my uncle, Chip Wilson, a New Orleans based guitarist who we spent an evening with on the first night of the trip. The music was recorded in a cabin at Elk Lake in the Adirondack wilderness. If you like this video, please click through to current.tv and vote for it. By giving it your 'greenlight', the video may gain enough support to be shown on television. Thanks!

Goldilocks - BP Global Warming Video

2006-07-26T12:29:00.000-07:00

LiveScience is a website put out by the Imaginova Corporation. It is a bit like a web version of the Discovery Channel -- they collect and produce a variety of science related content, including videos. The link below will take you to a video sponsored by BP, an energy company that is trying it's best to be green (or to at least seem that way). I hope they are putting money towards green research and not just green PR. In any case, this video is a nice explaination of the greenhouse effect. Check it out.
http://www.livescience.com/php/video/player.php?video_id=GoldilocksGreen

The Canary is Dead - #1 on current.tv

2006-07-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

This is an amazing and very scary piece. It is right up the alley of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. Based on user voting, it is currently rated as the number 1 video uploaded to the Current TV website.

The Future of NASA

2006-07-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

The New York Times picked up on a story that has the employees of NASA shaking their heads. The Bush administration has changed the wording of NASA's mission statement so that the focus of the organization is on space exploration and not the protection and understanding of our home planet.

To me, this is similar to what has historically gone on with the war on drugs. It is better PR for the government to focus on large and attention grabbing events, such as large drug busts or moon landings, then to address deep and complicated problems.

Check out the Times article:
Here

Tail Wag

2006-07-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

Chris Anderson, Wired magazine editor and author of recently released book 'The Long Tail,' joins Al Gore and Malcom Gladwell in the in the club of guys who look at large amounts of somewhat obvious yet scary data and then make it all seem interesting and relevant to the masses. Beyond this macro level comparison, Gore is linked to Anderson because his new company, Current TV, is responding to the media landscape that Anderson is so complellingly profiling in his new book. Anderson is also linked to Gladwell in a more direct way, calling the author of 'Blink' and the 'Tipping Point,' his "favorite writer."

While you may or may not love this popular brand of quasi-intellectualism, Anderson's website/blog - http://www.thelongtail.com is worth a look. His statistics are jawdropping and paint a picture that every major media company would love to ignore yet can't. We're living in a new world and by my writing this and by you reading this, we're building it up. And I love it. Long live the long tail!

8 Minutes of Heaven (in 15 seconds) [Original]

2006-06-30T14:18:00.000-07:00


This is 8 minutes of glory in one of the world's most amazing places. Too bad it only lasts 15 seconds.

Zion [Original]

2006-06-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

ZiÂ·on P Pronunciation Key (zn) also SiÂ·on (sn)
n.
The historic land of Israel as a symbol of the Jewish people.
The Jewish people; Israel.
A place or religious community regarded as sacredly devoted to God.
An idealized, harmonious community; utopia.

Zion National Park is an American place. It is startlingly gorgeous, grand, one-of-a-kind and also over run with tourists and cars. It is as if we must mark our territory with asphalt instead of urine. We were so inspired, awed and threatened by such a display of natural beauty that we felt we had to make it our own. Now any one can hop a bus and caravan into and through the carved out valleys that are sheltered on either side by jagged, striped monoliths. All in the comfort of air conditioning and snack food.

I admit, I drove through it too. And took a hike. But being in that place made me wish I'd worked a little hard to get there. To see such amazingly rugged beauty so easily made me realize how easily we fall into taking for granted these kinds of places. Looking down from a cliff onto the snake-like curves of the road below also made me realize our smallness. We put a damn road right through one of the biggest mountains in the park (not to mention the one that looks the most like a church) but it means nothing. Big deal. The mountain still wins and its rock will stand longer than the asphalt of our silly roads.

Now if there were oil or gold in those hill, maybe those rocks wouldn't last. We'd be up to our destructive tricks. I just hope they don't lay down any more tar -- just more trails. More of us need to make use of our legs and work a little bit harder for doses of eco-tourism. Next time, I'll bring a tent.

A place with a name that means, "An idealized, harmonious community; utopia", in my book would be free of roads through mountains. But I guess this is why 'utopia' implies 'cannot exist'.

[Photos taken by Justina Mintz, justina@justinamintz.com]

The Open Microphone Trailer [Original]

2006-06-29T22:22:00.000-07:00


This is the just the start -- much more to come.

Open Mic Documentary

2006-06-27T16:06:00.000-07:00

Incoming [see trailer]

Open Mic Documentary: NYC

Target Length: 15-30 minutes

Goals: local screenings (Makor, Bar Bes, Brass Monkey Bar), documentary shorts festivals (i.e. Manhattan Short Film Festival, Brooklyn Underground Film Festival, and Docfest: The New York City International Documentary Festival), web release (Current TV, UTube).

General Overview:

From Live At the Apollo to American Idol to MTV’s Made, America is infatuated with the up and coming, unknown artist who takes the stage and captures the audience. As moving and inspiring as this experience can be, it is exceedingly rare in a true open mic performance setting. Equally as likely is a performance that has elements of extreme embarrassment, nervousness and fear. Open mic performances are just as likely to make one laugh and cover their eyes as they are to make one nod their head to the beat and cheer in support.

Our film will capture the underlying culture of open-mic nights. We’ll interview audience members and participants to get a sense of what draws them to open mics. We’ll find diamonds in the rough, and we’ll show performances that are less about talent, and more about humor or about community. Our style will be to understand each performance as a window into the hodgepodge culture of open-mic performance in New York City.

We are also seeking several performers to interview in greater depth. We’d like to capture them playing during practice sessions, on their ways to open mics and gigs and after a few of their performances. We want to find out what kind of musical community they are involved with and how they got there. This will ideally provide greater insight into why these aspiring artists are attempting to spread their art and why they are using the open mic scene to try and achieve their goals.

Mic Check

2006-06-27T15:21:00.000-07:00

What is to come?
As I collect and refine my skills in the fields of audio production, documentary film making and journalism, I want to find ways to apply them. I want to tell stories, collect stories and share stories that need to be heard by anyone who will listen. As I learn, my focus will sharpen and there will be a stronger thread to my work. Currently I draw from those issues that resonate with the ideas in my mind and heart. Perhaps the biggest is the desire for the human race to find sustainability on this planet. Another one is the creation of music and musical communities. A third is developement of a new media stucture in this country and the world that is free from the corruption of corporate/governmental ties.

Sustainable Lifestyles / Musical Communities / New Media

I'm looking for stories to tell. I want to develope them using this blog (among other things) and then turn them into podcasts, documentaries and articles. I want to share these creations through this blog and raise awareness of issues and events that I know are important.

-Adam S Barton