poof

poof
Originally uploaded by raccuia.

The Tale of Two Economies

It is interesting to read/watch mainstream news these days. It seems there is some strange myopic syndrome wherein those who run mainstream news outlets are unable to see the economic situation outside their own luxury. When it hurts the middle class to gas up or, now, by weekly groceries, the story is pretty big. The housing market has been in meltdown and banking, now, is suffering similar fate. Yet the stories we get are more often than not concentrated on the suffering in the financial markets.

This isn't anything new. A couple of articles online, however, hint at the scope of the damage and the seriousness of this:

• Marketwatch has a commentary on how, with all the bailouts, America is becoming a 'socialist' state. The argument here is that the free market abuses have, ironically, brought about the conservatives' nightmare - social programs. The problem I find with this article is that it fails to mention that those really benefiting from the social programs are the banks and the lenders who are the very people who got us into the mess in the first place. This is all done at the taxpayer expense, right? Is the problem really being solved?

• I love this rant about the notion that shareholders must see a profit. Writer Daniel Davies yanks back the curtain on a crappy system that doesn't work and has serious ramifications for workers.

• Finally, Dan Schechter lays it all out and tells us that instead of praise for rescue of capitalism we should be rethinking and rebuilding a post-capital society.

Not so cuil

There has been a lot of press in the last 24 hours about Cuil, a new search engine created by former Google employees.

While I welcome any challenge to the Google empire, I tried Cuil this morning and was really very disappointed. It claims to search gajillions of pages but couldn't find the breadth or depth that, erm, Google does. For one search, it also list 2000 or so results but couldn't display them all and only gave me two pages of results.

I hope Cuil's creators rectify these problems so that they can live up to the hype they've received.

IF - Canned

IF - Canned
Originally uploaded by raccuia.

Friday Lovin': Gnarls Barkley

Technofetish Rant Part II

RANT: In an era when we are facing so many problems, it seems ridiculous to me the press that the new iPhone is getting. Give me a break. God did not open the heavens and put that piece of telephony/computing tech on earth to change our civilization for the better. But you'd never know that from what you read/see/hear. Yes, it is an interesting device but every friggin' day it seems there is an interesting new piece of technology introduced. It's all fetish. The new iPhone is a product that a company is selling for profit. Get over it. Buy it if you must but, please, look at the bigger picture and be creative. Demand more from those who will profit from it. What is the point of having a phone with seamless internet connectivity if the internet itself is threatened by corporate control?

The War Prayer

Tuesday Lovin': The Flower

On Record

Ok. It's 9pm on Sunday. Reading the economic news is definitely not for those with heart conditions. It seems that we are in for some very stormy weather. I can't help but to think (from looking at the Asian Markets tonight) that we are in for something serious tomorrow.

As with all things Bush administration, it never ceases to amaze me just how awful it can get.

Illustration Friday: Leap

Leap

Is it change, vision, or winnability?

This weekend I caucused like crazy. I was really surprised by the Obama momentum and I feel, now, as though I was a part of something special. But at the time, I sort of made a fool of myself (as usual). In figuring out how to divvy up our delegates we had to talk about why we supported our candidate. I was the last to speak and, by then, everybody had, for the most part, dissected each candidate. But I spoke as passionately as possible. When I had finished there was silence and everyone was looking at me as though I had a miniature kangaroo dancing on my head. Needless to say, I am surprised that they didn't discount my vote altogether. I wish I had Lawrence Lessig's argument with me. Take a look...

Layer's of Gondry

Leave it to a French person to put the final nail in the coffin of Postmodern irony. Michel Gondry is a very innovative film director (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep) who often has his characters enter magical mental spaces that are filled with fantastic but low budget-like imagery. This imagery is a subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) comment on filmmaking itself and the glossy imagery of Hollywood in particular. It is a complex dialog that ultimately reaffirms the connections between the cinematic image and the mental representation. What is fun and new is Gondry's pseudo-DIY aesthetic.

It makes sense, then, that Gondry is the director for the film "Be Kind, Rewind" starring Jack Black as a magnetized friend of Mos Def, a video store clerk. The two have to recreate the films Jack has accidentally erased. Here is the trailer for the film (pay attention closely):



Ok, here's where Gondry pulls a po-mo twist: he has created his own trailer for the film in the same manner of the characters in the film. This is 3rd order simulacra when you consider he is referencing work in the trailer that was referencing the original film. What we are left with is a crazy, barely referential pastiche of symbols that is, for the most part, impossible to make sense of:

She voted for the war

Originally uploaded by seanbonner.
I find this fascinating because it says a lot in a very simple way. There is an assumption here, however, on the part of the creator that we'd know who "she" is. Not to analyze this to death but the fact that it has done the rounds online tells me that another assumption was that it would have a larger audience and that it would essentially be preaching to the choir. Regardless the simple both in form and content make it a sharp, direct piece.

Eustace Goes Travelling

My illustration of Eustace Tilley, the iconic dandy from The New Yorker magazine, found its way onto the great urban travel blog Gridskipper today.

UPDATE: My Eustace was selected by The New Yorker. See it here.

An audio commentary about Eustace Tilley and the contest that mentions my entry is available here.

3 Cultures, 2 Projects, 1 Idea

Two Rivers is a documentary film about reconciliation efforts by European Americans and Native Peoples in Twisp, Washington. I was attracted to the story not only because it was local but also I was interested in seeing the outcome. It didn't disappoint. View the trailer and, if possible, find and see the film.

Another project about the meeting of cultures and the importance of hearing stories about the lives of others is White City Stories. The films on the site tell about life in the hills of Southern Peru. It is a fascinating journey.

Both projects are worth your attention.

Found the video below while looking for the Two Rivers film site. Beautiful.