Fri 5 Sep 2008
Hand Crafted by Paul Burn (of many tree sculpture fames), this tree served us well in our loft dwelling, child rearing years in williamsburg brooklyn. But alas, we have long since tucked this baby into storage, and are now seeking to not ship it out west. I think It belongs in NYC.
I will be out there from 9/11-9/18 and would like to take this opportunity to get it installed somewhere (your home? your institution? your daycare? your store?)
Mon 1 Sep 2008
In 1958, Ray set a new world’s record in water skiing. He skied 1,000 miles on the Columbia River in 33 hours and 27 minutes non-stop. His method of covering this great distance over a small section of the river was to go round and round over an oval-shaped course 12 1/2 miles long. He made the entire trip on one ski.
The old record of 715 miles was set by John Musser of St. Joseph, MO in September 1957. De Fir was informed at the 725 mile mark that he had set a new world mark, but he decided to go on for the 1000 mile record without stopping. He had decided to make the record try after taking a water ski trip to Astoria and back in July. He reportedly felt so fresh after that jaunt that plans were made to assault Musser’s record.
His total intake of nourishment while on the water consisted of two quarts of soup, three
sandwiches, three pieces of chicken [two dropped in the water], one orange, one quart of
chocolate milk, and 12 stubbies of beer.
The last 250 miles were the roughest, and Ray found that both fatigue and monotony
were riding with him on the ski. Around his neck a small portable radio carried music
from station KVAN of Vancouver, WA. The disc jockey provided appropriate jive in
cooperation with the event to help break the wearisome grind which was rapidly showing
its effect on the lone skier. Twice in the last 200 miles in spite of the lively music, Ray
fell asleep on his feet. To combat this irresistible urge to doze off, he beckoned for the
other boats milling around in the water to swing in close so that he could talk to them.
The heel of his right foot was painfully tender from the constant trip hammer action of the
ski on the water. This forced him to place all of his weight on the left leg for practically
the reminder of the 200 miles.
Fri 29 Aug 2008
Thu 28 Aug 2008
** Call for applications **
HIAP (www.hiap.fi) will invite 2-4 artists from Nordic region to
stay at HIAP residency in 2009. The duration of residencies will
be 2-4 months.
Pixelache can propose artists for this programme, the final selections
will be made by HIAP board during September 2008. The deadline
for applications is ** 5 September 2008 **.
We are looking for artist(s) from Nordic countries who would be
interested in presenting their work in the next edition of Pixelache
festival, scheduled for 2-5 April 2009.
The residency includes
- Apartment/studio at HIAP in Ruoholahti, southern part of Helsinki
- A monthly grant of 1000 euros
- Travel costs covered
To apply, send an informal application (1-2 pages of text) to
address ** nordicresidency08 ((at)) pixelache.ac **.
In the application you should include
- Your full contact information
- An initial plan for work you would be doing during the residency.
This work would be presented in the context of Pixelache festival,
either as work-in-progress or as a finished piece. Instead of a piece
of work, you can also propose something else - organising a
workshop or some other events.
- Links to website / portfolio / cv (do not include your portfolio
files in the application email)
The application deadline is ** Friday 5 September **, but we would
prefer to receive the applications already earlier. The selections will
be made by HIAP board during September 2008.
If you have questions, please send an email to office ((at)) pixelache.ac.
Please spread the word!
Wed 30 Jul 2008
Wild orangutans have been spotted using naturally occurring anti-inflammatory drugs.
Four individuals have been seen rubbing a soothing balm onto their limbs, the first known examples of orangutans self medicating. Great apes have never before been seen using drugs in this way. Remarkably though, local people use the same balm, administering it in a similar way to treat aches and pains.
Fri 25 Jul 2008
Truman Show Disorder: “Montreal psychiatrists Joel and Ian Gold are studying the Truman Show Delusion, a mental illness they’ve identified where individuals are convinced that they are the stars of imaginary reality TV shows. By the way some people act on Flickr and YouTube, I’d say that this disorder, with varying severity, may be more common than we realize. From Canada.com:
While (Joel) Gold says they could have easily called their new disorder the EDtv Delusion or the Matrix Delusion — both films that refer to an unreal existence– three of the five patients he treated at the storied mental health hospital directly likened their plight to The Truman Show, the 1998 film about Truman Burbank, an affable suburbanite who slowly becomes aware that his every movement is broadcast 24/7 to voyeuristic viewers around the world.
The five patients Dr. Gold treated were white men between the ages of 25 and 34, the majority of whom held university degrees. ‘I realized that I was and am the centre, the focus of attention by millions and millions of people,’ explained one patient, an army veteran who came from an upper-middle-class upbringing.
‘My family and everyone I knew were and are actors in a script, a charade whose entire purpose is to make me the focus of the world’s attention….’
‘The wish for fame is a form of grandiosity, and the fear of threats such as surveillance can bring about paranoia,’ said the Montreal-based (Ian) Gold, 46, who specializes in delusion.
‘New media is opening up vast social spaces that might be interacting with psychological processes.’
Truman Show Delusion (Canada.com, thanks Lyn Jeffery!)
“
(Via Boing Boing.)
Fri 25 Jul 2008
Andrew Keen:: ”
‘[…] A Luddite argument is one in which some broadly useful technology is opposed on the grounds that it will discomfit the people who benefit from the inefficiency the technology destroys. An argument is especially Luddite if the discomfort of the newly challenged professionals is presented as a general social crisis, rather than as trouble for a special interest. (“How will we know what to listen to without record store clerks!”) When the music industry suggests that the prices of music should continue to be inflated, to preserve the industry as we have known it, that is a Luddite argument, as is the suggestion that Google pay reparations to newspapers or the phone company’s opposition to VoIP undermining their ability to profit from older ways of making phone calls.
This is what makes Keen’s argument a Luddite one — he doesn’t oppose all uses of technology, just ones that destroy older ways of doing things. In his view, the internet does not need to undermine the primacy of the copy as the anchor for both filtering and profitability.
But Keen is wrong. What the internet does is move data from point A to B, but what it is for is empowerment. Using the internet without putting new capabilities into the hands of its users (who are, by definition, amateurs in most things they can now do) would be like using a mechanical loom and not lowering the cost of buying a coat — possible, but utterly beside the point.
The internet’s output is data, but its product is freedom, lots and lots of freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of association, the freedom of an unprecedented number of people to say absolutely anything they like at any time, with the reasonable expectation that those utterances will be globally available, broadly discoverable at no cost, and preserved for far longer than most utterances are, and possibly forever.
Keen is right in understanding that this massive supply-side shock to freedom will destabilize and in some cases destroy a number of older social institutions. He is wrong in believing that there is some third way — lets deploy the internet, but not use it to increase the freedom of amateurs to do as they like.
It is possible to want a society in which new technology doesn’t demolish traditional ways of doing things. It is not possible to hold this view without being a Luddite, however. That view — incumbents should wield veto-power over adoption of tools they dislike, no matter the positive effects for the citizenry — is the core of Luddism, then and now.’ From Andrew Keen: Rescuing ‘Luddite’ from the Luddites [posted by Clay Shirky on Many-to-Many]. Also see ‘The internet’s output is data, but its product is freedom’.
“
(Via networked_performance.)
Thu 24 Jul 2008
Watch this video of a car driving alongside a bunch of partially filled water bottles, tapping out the theme song to Mario Bros.
Rad.
Mon 7 Jul 2008
Thu 3 Jul 2008
Here is an interesting study about the positive benefits of caffeine on the liver, even reducing the risk of cirrhosis by up to 80% (if you drink 4 cups of coffee per day). The study was huge, following more than 125,000 people for an average of 14 years.
