BBC New York Punk Rock Documentary

Here’s an excellent BBC documentary on the origins of punk, hip hop and disco in the New York City of the 1970s. It was a hard time in the city but it held a wild energy that kept pressing up and inventing new things. What hit me about this film is how good Patti Smith really is.

New York since then, however, seems to have signed an unlimited contract with the Gap as a retail outlet. I think anyone with a streak of punkishness in them moves out to Los Angeles.

I found this via the excellent curatorial efforts of Rob Smart on Facebook.

Killing the Net: A Film by Duncan Elms

This short film by Duncan Elms explores the danger of an Internet that can be shut down quite easily by governments that want to suppress free expression or crack down on popular movements toward freedom. The recent experience of Egyptians trying to stage a revolution and spread information about it amongst themselves and to the world should be very informative. The Mubarak government was able to turn off Internet access throughout the nation. Even in the U.S., President Obama has sought the power to switch off the Internet if he declares an emergency. That effort has since been watered down, but it is clear that the U.S. government does in fact seek a method for shutting down the Internet.  The continued treatment of China, a nation that monitors every single word typed into a web site, as even remotely civilized is an embarrassment to the entire world.  Those people won’t even allow a person to think freely, much less post freely on the web.  There must be a way to maintain worldwide access to the Internet that is beyond the control of any national government, including the United States government.

NYPD Moron Gives Bicyclist Ticket for Not Riding in Bike Lane

Casey Neistat is a New York bicyclist who got a ticket from some moronic New York City police officer who felt that Casey should ride in the bike lane… no matter what. So the camera-wielding rider made a video about the whole affair and why the cop was totally wrong. But look at this drooling goober hired by New York to wear a uniform. If this is the standard of police intelligence in good old NY, then god help those poor island dwellers! A bicyclist can be killed by staying in a bike lane, as this video so clearly illustrates. You do not have to stay inside a bike lane. Bikes are legally entitled to occupy traffic lanes if the rider determines that to be the safest course.