Monthly Archives: June 2009

Booking the Future: An Article About Where Publishing is Headed

by Editor | 2 Comments

Here’s a reprint of a fascinating and well thought out CC-licensed article by Ransom Stephens on the openDemocracy Network about the future of books and publishers.  The main thrust of the article is that books will survive mainly in hardback versions, electronic on-demand publishers will take over the bulk of book publishing, this takeover will begin the day Stephen King releases a major novel through an online self-publishing outlet, major publishers will whither and eventually be outmoded, and bookstores will thrive in a healthy relationship with electronic publishing.

Booking the Future
Ransom Stephens (openDemocracy Network)

Though the role of publishing has not changed – connect readers to writers – the revolution will not be led by an established publisher. To date, no established player has prospered through, much less led, the transition to the digitally-based economy. What’s left of the recording industry is still pursuing the fascinating how-to-best-prosecute-our-customers business model. No one was better positioned to profit from the web-based economy than Sears, with its legendary catalog, but Amazon all but killed it. Even IBM barely survived the computer revolution.

For some reason, even when entrenched companies can see the iceberg they can’t turn the ship. In 2000, at the height of the “Napster Crisis,” Time-Warner/AOL’s CEO, Richard Parsons said, “It’s an assault on everything that constitutes cultural expression of our society… And the corporations won’t be the only ones hurt. Artists will have no incentive to create. Worst-case scenario: the country will end up in a sort of Cultural Dark Age.”

Have YouTube, Facebook, iTunes, Blogspot, et al reduced cultural expression? Here’s a better example. In 1977, Ken Olson, President of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) which, at the time, built the best computing hardware, said, “There is no need for any individual to have a computer in their home.” Time-Warner/AOL, Sears and IBM survived, but are swimming in the wake of Dell, Google, Amazon, etc. 

Continue reading …

Jean-Luc Godard Film

by Editor

Film director Jean-Luc Godard is making a film that appears to be called Le Socialisme.  I’m not entirely certain, but it sure looks to me from this trailer for the film like Mr. Godard is shooting with a small video camera.  I can even hear the wind hitting the microphone during shots on board the ship.  He’s always had a keen interest in shooting with small cameras, going so far at one point as to have a tiny 35 mm camera designed for one of his films in the seventies.  I like this kind of filmmaking.  This is how a filmmaker approaches a method that resembles the method of the painter or the writer.  Filmmaking, for all its technical achievements and its massive budgets and enormous popularity, lags far behind painting, photography, writing and music.  A filmmaker, in order to really be an artist, must be capable of functioning with the autonomy of the writer or the painter or the composer.  Until then, the filmmaker is simply interested in socializing, not making art.

Mr. Godard’s films are often difficult, infuriating, perplexing, gorgeous, ugly, profound, ridiculous, and experimental – but they are always, without a single exception, the expressions of an artist who owes nothing to anyone.

Iran Election Fraudulent Because of No Free Press and No Free Women

by Editor

The protests raging over the recent presidential election in Iran are an expression of distrust of the official election results that seem to declare the current and totally insane president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the overwhelming victor.  Riots are becoming extremely violent, with police beatings in the streets and clouds of black smoke rising above Tehran.  However, the arguments over whether or not the election was fraudulent are a complete waste of energy.  No election in any country that does not have a free press can ever be legitimate.  Without a free press to report on an election and possible election fraud there is no one to hold a sitting government accountable to the people.  You cannot have a democracy or an election in a country that does not allow reporters freedom to write whatever they want.  It’s impossible.  Iran’s election is fraudulent because Iran’s government is controlled entirely by Islamic clerics who have absolutely no respect for freedom of expression, freedom of information, freedom of religion, freedom of education, or freedom of women.

I define as barbaric any country anywhere on the planet that forces women to wear specific attire.  Iran is a barbaric nation with a population of extremely fearful males lacking in an essential self-confidence.  This is what drives male-dominated Islamic governments to require certain codes of conduct and dress for women.  In countries where elections are legitimate women wear shorts and makeup.  Think I’m just being glib?  Go check it out.

Iran has cut off internet services, cell phone service, and texting services in order to prevent discussion and organization of opponents to the religious government.  It has arrested journalists, shut down newspapers, and confiscated television cameras in a crackdown on activities of the international media in Iran.  These are the actions of a total dictatorship.

In fact, there is almost no hope at all for the protesters in Iran.  Even if they succeed in overturning the election, they would not be able or willing to eliminate religious control of their government.  Countries ruled by Islam are permanently and hopelessly barbaric.  It’s like a law of physics that’s completely unbreakable.

The root of the problem with Iran is the root of the problem for almost every single government in the Middle East: religious control.  There is no possibility of the slightest freedom of expression or freedom for women in any country controlled by a religious entity.  None whatsoever.

Photo from AFP/Getty

Film: Story About 4-Inch Alien in Pakistan is Sheer Genius

by Editor | 1 Comment

Whether this video news report is real or fake, whether the story is made up or not, it is sheer genius.  It is a remarkable modern day fairy tale that expresses almost everything you need to know about our questionable human condition. While repairing an old house somewhere in Pakistan recently, some children found a tiny alien woman walking around.  These well-adjusted children immediately understood this tiny creature to be a terrible threat, so they stoned it until it fell down and remained motionless.  Then they put her in a bottle for a while and eventually threw her onto some very hot bricks.  Following this brutalization of a 4-inch female, flocks of onlookers arrived, at which point the locals decided to bury the dead alien in a hole in order to protect the community from hysteria.

Well, I don’t think the tiny aliens will be interested in returning to Pakistan, that’s for sure.  But they can certainly come to Los Angeles where they will be warmly welcomed and given tiny outfits from Giorgio Armani.

I heard about this via Xeni at BoingBoing.net.

Charles Bukowski Meets Another Poet

by Editor | 4 Comments

bukowskiThe Rumpus has a piece that Charles Bukowski wrote as a forward to a book of poems by William Wantling in 1974.  He writes about meeting the other poet for the first time and liking him.  It must have been a big thing to be liked by Bukowski because he seems to have a problem with most people.  His piece is touching and shows how sensitive Bukowski really was to the unspoken things.

He writes a bit about style and says:

Style means no shield at all.
Style means no front at all.
Style means ultimate naturalness.
Style means one man alone with billions of men about.

Is that really it?  Boy, Bukowski would have hated me to the ends of his toes because I’m always arguing my point.  The problem I have with what he’s saying there is that he made a living by writing with the biggest shield of all in front of him.  A bottle.  It’s the best shield there is.  Bullet-proof.  So he must be wrong about style.

New Film: Lunch With Bardot

by Cimaxion



My latest little film. It’s actually a cinegram. The subject is trains. Time. Memory. The present doesn’t exist. You can’t find it with measurement. You can’t even define it. The future is not there yet. You cannot see it. The only thing that really exists is the past. I say that because we can all see the past – some more clearly than others. But we can most certainly see it.

A cinegram is a short motion picture that uses images and text that are packed with meaning and suggestion. It’s my new word for things I once referred to as film poems.

Here’s the poem from inside the movie:

Lunch With Bardot

Trains run on time
With passengers asleep
Temporarily forgotten
Between observation points
Colliding lines
Of fictional transport

Author Toni Morrison Talks About Free Speech

by Editor | 1 Comment

tonimorrisonIn a time when we have a president who is actually attempting to hide photos purported to show United States military personnel allegedly raping prisoners during torture sessions in Iraq, author Toni Morrison is speaking out in support of free speech.  The two things are related because of the government’s use of fear to justify hiding the photos of brutal criminal conduct by U.S. personnel.

Over the years, Morrison, author of Beloved and Song of Solomon, has had several of her novels threatened with being banned for their content.

Here’s a sampling from an Associated Press article about the launch of the Free Speech Leadership Council which includes Toni Morrison:

Morrison said the problem was fear — fear of information, dating back to the book of Genesis and the fatal temptation of the Tree of Knowledge.

“Knowledge is bad” is the Bible’s message, Morrison said, while being interviewed by author-humorist Fran Lebowitz. “It is sinful. It will corrupt you and you will die.”

Freedom of speech and information is under far greater threat these days than most people seem to realize.  It is extremely important for well-known authors to discuss the issue openly.

The photo is from AP’s Seth Wenig.

Animation: The Legend of the Turning Stone

by Editor

This French animation was made by Mélanie Climent, Élodie Fraysse, and Émilie Frezet for Supinfocom Arles in 2006.  Some sort of puppeteer tells a story and sets it all in motion with a table-top town.  A puppet woman with a child is tempted to cross toward a mysterious stone that hides a magical secret.

I found this via a fantastic cinema site called No fat clips!!!

Hear Walt Whitman Reading His Poem ‘America’

by Editor | 1 Comment

The Walt Whitman Archive has a 36-second recording taken from an old wax cylinder of what is thought to be Whitman himself reading four lines from his poem, America.

Listen to Walt Whitman reading America

Here’s the text of the poem:

America

Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,
All, all alike endear’d, grown, ungrown, young or old,
Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,
Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,
A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,
Chair’d in the adamant of Time.

Gutenberg Bible Coming Online From Cambridge University

by Editor

The Gutenberg Bible from approximately 1455 was the first book printed in Europe with moveable metal type.  The BBC reports that Cambridge University is preparing to make a scan of this book available online.  Scholars from around the world will soon have access to one of the first printed books in history.  The university will also release the first printed edition of Homer’s works.

While this is good news, one does have to wonder what’s taken so long.

Animation: The Terrible Thing From Alpha-9!

by Editor

Cartoon Brew TV is showing this student animation called The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9!  It was directed by Jake Armstrong as his thesis for the School of Visual Arts.  It’s got a very free drawing style and combines a great sci-fi sensibility with gentle humor. If you head over to Cartoon Brew, they’ve got a full interview with the director with lots of information about the making of the film.

TheAuteurs.com Offers International Cinema Online

by Editor

laventuraThe Auteurs (www.theauteurs.com) is a site for art film lovers.  Their mission is to offer a huge selection of international art films by the world’s best directors for simple online viewing.  Last night I watched an Italian film from 1960 called L’Avventura, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni.  The image quality was excellent and the sound was also very clear.  It was one of the best experiences with watching a film online that I’ve ever had.  The image in this post is a reduced screenshot taken while I watched.  The film itself is one of the great examples of Italian cinema and is one you will never forget.  Apparently, The Auteurs has partnered with The Criterion Collection to bring many of the best films online.  Each month The Criterion Collection selects three or four films to run on the site for free viewing in a sort of revolving festival of great cinema.  This is an important connection for The Auteurs because Criterion is probably the very best thing that ever happened to DVDs.  Their efforts at finding the very best sources for their films set them far apart from any other DVD producer.  If you are serious about international cinema on DVD, you always look for what Criterion has to offer.

The site, which is still in beta, has about 120 films available at this point.  Most of these cost $5 for a 7-day viewing period.  There are also articles, film reviews, and member forums for discussing films and writing your own reviews.  The monthly curated festivals look like a really good idea and seem to be offering a few free films each month.

But the key to success with a film site like this is volume.  They must secure the rights to show many more films very quickly.  Nothing makes people lose interest in a film site faster than a limited selection.  For now, there are many films listed on the site which are not actually available which is somewhat disappointing.  The site is trying to give visitors an idea of the kind of films they will offer, but it is a distraction that is unnecessary.  Hopefully, the site will use its relationship with Criterion to drastically increase its library which shows great promise.  The idea for a site that culls the best of international cinema is an excellent and overdue one.  Now it remains to be seen if TheAuteurs.com can keep the attention of film lovers.

Jean-Luc Godard Talks About Critics, Bardot and TV

by Editor | 1 Comment

Jean-Luc Godard is one of the only film directors in the history of cinema to make films as if the camera were a pen.  For some reason, when a writer writes about their own experiences they are called a genius.  When a film director does it they are often called self-indulgent.  Godard has made some of the greatest examples of personal cinema.  His ability to consistently fool producers and studios into believing him and supporting his artistic dreams and whims is a rare talent.  This is a man who is known to have presented film studios and even government censors with entirely fake screenplays that had absolutely nothing to do with the film he was about to make.  This is the true genius of the French New Wave in the 1950s and 60s.  He went farther and deeper into the language of film than any of the other directors famous for New Wave works.

20-Year Anniversary of China’s Public Massacre

by Editor

Twenty years ago, on June 4, 1989, the Chinese government ordered its military to kill the unarmed peaceful student protesters for democracy gathered in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The army then shot the students and ran them over with tanks. In its murderous effort to suppress any form of free expression or protest, the Chinese government and its military murdered the people in Tiananmen Square while the entire world watched. China is now preventing any sort of commemoration or discussion of those events or the twenty-year anniversary by almost completely shutting down internet access to any material that could possibly mention the murder of Chinese people in Tiananmen Square.

You can see the police with umbrellas blocking the view of the BBC news cameraman in the embedded video. The entire square is closed to the press on this important day in Chinese history. The government does not want anyone in China to know anything about or understand what happened in 1989.

It is an honor to have a web site banned in China. Candlelight Stories receives a large number of visits from China and is actually used in English classes there. However, Candlelight Stories urges the citizens of China to wake up in the morning and completely overthrow and eliminate their oppressive government. It would be enlightening to see the government officials of China dragged by Chinese citizens into the middle of Tiananmen Square where the world could serve as witness to the end of this horrendous period in Chinese history.  Why any company or country does any business at all with the brutal despots ruling China is a complete and pitiful mystery to any rational thinker.  And people who site see in China would have probably been perfectly comfortable touring concentration camps in 1944.

Now, China, press the red button and ban me.