As a poor person, I take full advantage of the Cincinnati Library’s impressive collection of books, magazines, films, and recordings. Recently, I had the pleasure of being introduced to the sheer nightmarish brilliance of Madame Tutli-Putli, a seventeen minute stop-animation film.
The video is from a collection called Animation Express and is a 2-DVD collection of 26 animated shorts from National Film Board of Canada, released in 2009. I picked it up at the Bridgetown Branch, though the library has a new (and easier) circulation management policy where one can return pretty much any DVD/video/CD to any branch. The cover looked Wallace and Gromit-y so home it went with me.
And for the Dewey Decimal inclined: DVD 791.4375 A598 2010
I saw this video, where a Seattle Police Officer cold cocks a 17 year old girl, and at first thought, “Yowza, he’s gonna burn…”
But then, I watched it again.
Some questions that came to mind: Are these girls resisting? Aren’t they, in fact, assaulting the officer (albeit ineffectually)? How can that chick take a punch like that? and who’s in the right–the officer attempting to restrain the girls (who, b/t/w are being cited for jaywalking of all things), or the girls, who clearly have very little respect for this guy, and probably think being cited for this type of offense is a joke/racially motivated.
This of course leads into the obvious last question–Would I even be seeing this video if the perps were males? Or white?
From my perspective, I’m pretty sure this is a result of two guilty parties: a cop who is in essence picking a fight with these girls–because, c’mon, jaywalking?–and two young women who behave poorly. It’s straight out of Cops.
Cultural prediction: In my crystal ball I see public outcry, racial tensions tweaked to an even closer breaking point as human rights officials call foul, and news media organizations going ape shit.
What I’m left with is a feeling of emptiness and frustration, twinged with relief that it didn’t happen in Cincinnati. And I kind of feel horrible about that…
If you know me at all, you know that I’m an unabashed Devo fan and have been consistently since the age of 4 or 5. Like most people, the thing that got me hooked was the odd draw of the energy dome. Later, when I was 15 or so and beginning to explore the music beyond their hits, so to speak, I got wrapped up in the whole de-evolution concept and–let’s be fair here–what Devo is really about.
While I haven’t heard their newest offering (save for the Cat Listening Party), I plan to buy it and so should you–solely based on this listening party concept and the buildup advertising campaign that they put together. Watch:
Now, clearly what they’re doing here is a send-up of what we know to be as the corporatized, day-in-day-out America that they predicted way back when. Essentially, with these ads, they’re saying “Hey, we were right. Will you please believe us now? Can we take you on this ride? No? Okay, then…” It’s quite a deft way to continue the central concept of Devo that existed at the beginning: humanity is devolving to a point where we’re fairly close to a dangerous precipice. If we don’t think, we’re gonna fall, and it’s gonna be ugly.
And thus the cat listening party. We’re all fucking idiots, so the only way that we can be spoken to is via computer. Via a cat swiping at a feather on a stick. The soundtrack? Only the ALBUM OF THE GOD DAMNED YEAR.
Okay, so, there’s this company called British Petroleum (BP to those in the know) who is very large, very rich, and responsible for one major oil spill that has affected many miles of ocean, and many peoples’ lives.
With their record of environmental disaster, how exactly can one rationalize buying gas from them? Well, ask the Pentagon. According to a June 9th article in The Nation by columnist Jeremy Scahill, “BP holds more than $2 billion in annual US defense contracts and continues to be the premiere provider of fuel to the world’s largest consumer of oil and gas: the Pentagon. BP is responsible for the worst environmental crime in US history.”
But you’re not the Pentagon, and because you’re not a governmental agency, I can say this: stop buying BP gas, you assholes!
Don’t give me the line that it’s the closest or the cheapest, because both of those excuses are lame and lazy. Demand more of yourself and those companies that you buy from.
Sending a message to BP through Ye Olde Wallet is an excellent way to make your voice heard. It’s called a boycott. Maybe you’ve heard of them: the 1955 Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott; the negation of British rule in the soon-to-be United States of America began as a boycott (“no taxation without representation,” anyone?); Jimmy Carter’s 1980 boycott of the Summer Olympics in Moscow; and Israel has been boycotted by many film-makers, performers, musicians, and academics for the country’s failure to “… abide by UN resolutions, International Humanitarian law, and the Fourth Geneva Convention”.
[For a host of other damnable companies you probably shouldn't be buying from, there's an extensive list on "The Ethical Consumer", and yes, this includes many of our beloved P&G products.]
Please, if you’ve mourned any of the images of the oil spills perpetrated by BP over the last months, or the Exxon Valdez in 1989, stop buying BP gas (and Exxon-Mobile–they supply UDF; Amoco, Arco, and Castrol are all subsidiaries of British Petroleum, but for a massive list, check it out here).
My mother always said video games would rot my brain. I think it’s taken a much heavier toll on my wallet. And after this week’s E3 convention in LA, I’m salivating at the chance to spend even more
Looks a lot like a Wii controller. Only more...ehhh...vibratorish?
All three console makers had a lot of great stuff this week, but I really think Nintendo put on the best show. Sony spent a lot of time showing off its new “Move” controller, which is the Wii all over again, only for another $100 on top of the console’s already steep price tag. Microsoft is pushing its controller-less “Kinect” system , but we still don’t know how much it’ll cost.
I guess it just looks like the two companies who made fun of Nintendo’s motion control premise five years ago are now trying to catch up. Your mom already bought a Wii because it’s simple, it works, and it’s the cheapest of the three consoles. Sony and Microsoft are now expecting ma to spend a lot more this Fall to get similar experiences on their systems.
Plus, Microsoft really left a sour taste in my mouth by revealing a new XBox 360 that has all of the features it should have given us six years ago. It’s really sad that Microsoft is just now getting around to including built-in wifi. But I guess we should be used to this from Microsoft by now (see: history of Windows Vista/Windows 7).
At least Nintendo had some good surprises, including a new Goldeneye and the return of Kid Icarus on the upcoming 3DS handheld. Speaking of the3DS, it’s getting great reviews from the lucky few who have seen it first hand. 3D gaming without those headache-inducing glasses? I’m there.
Still, no matter what console you own it looks like some great games are coming your way. No giant enemy crabs on which to inflict massive damage, but still, there will be no shortage of ways to avoid doing something productive with your time or, you know, talking to actual people.
