One good thing I have to say about Melbourne/Victoria is that we have been at the forefront of the needle exchange programme for many years.
Thursday 22 October 2009
Needle program leads to sharp drop in health bill
One good thing I have to say about Melbourne/Victoria is that we have been at the forefront of the needle exchange programme for many years.
The Big Picture - 2009 UN World Drug Report
@'Boston.com'
Freida Abtan
She is a multi-disciplinary artist and composer living in Providence, Rhode Island who has played with, and created visual shows for bands such as Nurse with Wound, and has presented her sound and visual work at festivals across Canada. Having completed Bachelor’s degrees in both Computer Science and Fine Art, she is currently completing her Master’s degree in Electroacoustic Composition at the Université de Montréal. Her first album subtle movements is available on United Dairies, it is a mesmerising journey though I must admit that I have to agree with Brainwashed unfortunately when they say that the album as a whole doesn't quite gel together due only to the fact that certain tracks could last much longer than they do as they seem to be samples from longer works (and how often do you say that?)
I would be interested in hearing more of her work and if anyone can point me in the direction of her self released CD-R's I would be really grateful.
Ras Baraka - American Poem
Season 3, Episode 2 (S03 E02)
Original Air Date: 11 April 2003
Maurice Sendak tells parents worried by Wild Things to 'go to hell'
Wednesday 21 October 2009
Not the smartest move
@'LA Times'
Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow kicks off a unique publishing experiment
I've also published two collections of short fiction reprinted from magazines, A Place So Foreign and Eight More (Four Walls Eight Windows, 2004) and Overclocked (Thunder's Mouth, 2007), both critically well received, award winning and excellent sellers. Finally, I've also done a collection of essays, Content (Tachyon, 2008), and IDW published a graphic novel collecting six of my stories adapted for comics, Cory Doctorow's Futuristic Tales of the Here and Now (2008), under these very same terms.
Free e-books work for me. I've been a full-time writer since I quit my day job as European director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (a charity that works for online civil liberties) in January 2006. Since then, I've made my living through a combination of royalties and licenses (foreign translations, film options, etc.); earnings from Boing Boing, the popular blog I co-edit and co-own; speaking fees; column writing; and the occasional grant, teaching gig or residency. Mine is the semirandom hodgepodge of income sources that characterizes most of the freelancers I know, as skills, circumstances and capacity dictates.
Still, this business of my giving away e-books is a controversial subject. I encounter plenty of healthy skepticism in my travels, and not a little bile. There's a lot of people who say I'm pulling a fast one, that I'd be making more money if I didn't do this crazy liberal copyright stuff, or that I'm the only one it'll ever work for, or that I secretly make all my money from doing stuff that isn't writing, or that it only works because I'm so successful. Of course, when I started, they said it only worked because I was so unknown.
People want proof that this works—that I'm not deluded or a con artist. But it's hard to prove. I don't have a time machine I can use to republish all my books without the free downloads and compare royalty statements. And the skeptics aren't the only people who claim I've got it wrong. There are also the True Believers. The True Believers are the people who say that I'm a fool to give 90% of the cover price of my books to the publisher and bookseller. After all, I have three or four million people a day who read my blog. I could just self-publish all my material and get it directly into the hands of my readers, and pocket the lion's share of the income.
I'm a contrarian on both of these propositions: that I'm losing money by giving away e-books, and that I'm losing money by using a publisher. I have a nice little Goldilocks gig going—not too hot, not too cold, just the right amount of DIY, independent publishing and just the right amount of professional support and administration from my publisher to sell. But I'm as curious about both propositions as anyone. While it's fun to argue about whose intuition is more correct, I think facts on the ground beat a priori assumptions every time. So I've come up with an idea to get some facts in evidence, while making some money and raising a little hell.
Tuesday 20 October 2009
The good news followed by the...
The other news is that he plans a new CD that will feature covers of 30 songs from the Motown label in 2010 and "wants the songs to sound exactly like the originals"!
Firstly WHY?
Secondly it won't sound like the originals as you ain't no Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder...I could go on (and on).
I am however prepared to say that you might be a Lionel Ritchie (but not with The Commodores!)
@'HuffPo'
The Taliban's Heroin Ploy
Forty years ago, the Vietnam War was partly undermined by heroin addiction among U.S. troops. Surely mindful of that, the Taliban and al Qaeda are now using Afghanistan’s bountiful heroin supplies as a tactical weapon. An internal U.S. intelligence report has concluded that the two groups are targeting American troops in an effort to undermine their effectiveness, while raising cash to pay for new recruits and weaponry, a U.S. intelligence official tells The Daily Beast.
It’s a logical tactic. The drug is plentiful, cheap—less than $1 for a day’s supply—and potent. And while Army officials publicly dismiss talk of any surging drug problem, some privately express concern about the possibility of increased drug use among bored and susceptible young soldiers.
In The North EP
To celebrate the label relaunch, Dust Science has a new EP of established and new artists who are based in the label's hometown of Sheffield (UK). The "In The North EP" seeks to re-establish Sheffield's reputation as the touchstone of high quality electronic musical innovation.
Tracklisting:
A1. The Black Dog - Tesco (Dark House)
A2. Carl Taylor - Walk On By
B1. Grievous Angel - Show Love v1
B2. The Bass Soldier - You Still Live With Your Mum
This release is now available as a free download until 4th of November 2009, then released commerically on the 5th
Download
HERE
What really happened at Gitmo! (With the help of M16)
Updates
The Obama administration, The Most Transparent Ever, condemns the British court decision to reveal what was done to Mohamed:
Meanwhile, US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said: "We are not pleased", adding that Washington kept such information confidential "to protect our own citizens".
@'Salon'
WARNING
NSFW pic of a sliced penis
HERE
Monday 19 October 2009
Sunday 18 October 2009
Anne Frank: the only existing film images
Jah Wobble on the PIL reunion
“So I got my people to talk to his people and very early on it was like, no, no, no, no. This is not good. Bad business. Not set up properly. Too rushed , for whatever reason. Not right, yeah?”
Saturday 17 October 2009
Moderat - Rusty Nails
Moderat is a collaboration between
Modeselektor and Apparat and this is from their first album together.
Blackwater used 'child prostitutes in Iraq'
According to a report by MSNBC and based on alleged sworn declarations by two Blackwater employees in federal court, the firm used child prostitutes at its compound in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.
The declarations added Iraqi minors got involve in sexual acts with Blackwater members in exchange for one dollar and Erik Prince, the firm's owner, "failed to stop the ongoing use of prostitutes, including child prostitutes, by his men."
Based on other statements, the firm was involved in another sex scandal; "Prince's North Carolina operations had an ongoing wife-swapping and sex ring, which was participated in by many of Mr. Prince's top executives."
The two employees also alleged that Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe," The Nation reported.
Prince also allegedly forced health professional to endorse the redeployment of those Blackwater members who had been mental problems, such as excessive drinking and drug abuse.
Other charges against the firm include arms smuggling, money laundering and tax evasion.
The criminal activities of the firm first came under scrutiny after a group of the firm's members who were tasked to guard US diplomats in Iraq opened fire on civilians in Baghdad on September 2007, killing 17 people.
According to federal contract data obtained by The Nation, the Obama administration has recently extended a contract with Blackwater for more than $20 million for "security services" in Iraq.
@'PressTV'
Oh - Oh!!! (Be afraid, be very afraid...)
The Lips version of Dark Side is a collaboration with the band Stardeath and White Dwarfs (which includes Wayne Coyne's nephew Dennis Coyne as a member), and features guest spots from Henry Rollins and Peaches. It will most probably be an iTunes-only release.
The announcement was made last night during a Q&A session with fans at a MySpace show last night at L.A.'s Nike/Ricardo Montalbán Theater. (Check out photos from the gig after the jump and in the photobook here.)
Other tidbits revealed: While Embryonic was the final album of the Flaming Lips' current contract with Warner Bros., they plan on sticking with the label for future releases.
Also, the video for "Watching the Planets" features a nude Wayne Coyne (as well as a bunch of nude bikers). The internet's not ready.
@'Pitchfork'
London 2012 Olympic pictograms
What do you think?
You can look at previous designs here.
To my (untrained) eye, they are relatively interesting especially the colour version, though those two colours chosen are NOT colours that I associate with London. Two shades of grey would've been much more appropriate!
They are not I feel, as good as Otl Aicher's designs for Munich in 1972 (which is THE benchmark) or indeed the Miró influenced ones for Barcelona 1992.