w h o a r . c o . n z

“…An exhibition of paintings by Bob Dylan opens at the National Gallery of Denmark this week.

Around 50 previously unseen acrylic paintings, called the Brazil Series, will be available to the public in Copenhagen from Saturday until early next year.

Dylan told the gallery that his paintings fulfil the shortcomings of expression he finds in music.

He said: “If I could have expressed the same [things] in a song, I would have written a song instead.” …”

go to source/story>>>Bob Dylan paintings at Danish National Gallery - News, Art - The Independent

“…3D television has dominated the early agenda at IFA, Europe’s largest consumer electronics show …

… with Panasonic and Sony both announcing flurries of new products and initiatives.

Panasonic showed off what it claimed was the first genuine 3D consumer video camera, the HDC-SDT750.

This will allow users to shoot their own footage in 3D.

Makoto Nagura, director of Panasonic’s video camera business unit … said this would put 3D firmly into the hands of consumers.

“There is still one thing missing [today]…That is to keep your precious moments in 3D,” Nagura said.

The SDT750 will go on sale in October.

UK pricing was not available but it is expected to be priced at $1,399 (£908) in the US.

Most of Panasonic’s press conference in Berlin was devoted to 3D – one indication of how keen the electronics industry is to persuade consumers that they should embrace the new technology …

… and spend considerable sums of money upgrading their home electronics set-up.

Alongside new 3D televisons and Blu-ray players, Panasonic also announced a new service to deliver 3D movies and films directly to users’ living rooms.

This could fix one of factors that is holding back 3D – a lack of content.

Panasonic said that around 2,000 films would be available to be downloaded over a broadband connection to one of its TVs or Blu-ray players.

News, sport and music channels would also be supported…”

go to source/story>>>3D TV dominates IFA consumer electronics show | Technology | guardian.co.uk

“…The trailer for Charles Ferguson’s new documentary “Inside Job” has been making its way around the web…

… (hat tip to Nouriel Roubini’s Twitter feed).

The film has been getting serious love from critics, including winning the top award at Cannes this year.

Roger Ebert called the the film “devastating” summed it up this way in May:

“From Roosevelt until Reagan, the American economy enjoyed 40 years of stability, prosperity and growth.

Beginning with Reagan’s moves against financial regulation … that sound base has been progressively eroded.

The crucial federal error … (in administrations of both parties) … was to allow financial institutions to trade on their own behalf.

Today many large trading banks are betting against their own customers.”

“Inside Job” is due out in October. Watch the trailer:…”

go to source/story>>>‘Inside Job’ Trailer: New Documentary Investigates The Financial Crisis (VIDEO)

“…The new documentary “Psywar,” featuring CMD founder John Stauber, explores corporate and government use of propaganda and public relations to manipulate American people.

The movie explores how the U.S. government staged events to manipulate public opinion about the Iraq war …

… like the rescue of Private Jessica Lynch …

… the supposedly spontaneous mob that pulled over the larger-than-life statue of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

It also discusses the Pentagon pundit scandal … and the hidden activities of the Rendon Group … a PR firm specializing in spinning war.

The film exposes government and corporate activities to blur the lines between real news and fake news …

… as well as the development over time of public relations misinformation campaigns …

… strategic corporate campaigns to generate goodwill … and the perception of good works …

… the use of staged photo-ops …

… and other manipulative PR tools that have turned the land of the free and the home of the brave into a place where citizens are now manipulated with great efficiency …

… and on a massive scale…”

(Watch the entire film for free online..in link..)

go to source/story>>>Psywar Film Reveals The Hidden Battle for Your Mind | Center for Media and Democracy

“…I wanted this book to be different from the traditional political memoir.

Most, I have found, are rather easy to put down.

So what you will read here is not a conventional account of whom I met.

There are events and politicians who are absent … not because they don’t matter ….

…. but because they are part of a different story to the self-serving one I want to tell!

No, seriously guys, this is going to be well different.

How many other world leaders use so many exclamation marks!

And it is as a world leader that I’m writing for you about my journey.

And what a journey!

When I started in politics I was just an ordinary kind of guy.

And you know what? I’m still an ordinary kind of guy – albeit one who has become a multi-millionaire and completely destabilised the Middle East!

You know, I had a tear in my eye when I entered No10 for the first time in 1997, though it wasn’t, as the Daily Mail tried to claim, because I was choked with emotion at how far I had come since I was a young, ordinary boy standing on the terraces of St James’ Park, watching Jackie Milburn play for Newcastle.

It was because Gordon had hit me.

Ah, Gordon!

He meant well, I suppose … in his funny little emotionally inarticulate way.

I guess some of you will find it hard to believe … but I never really wanted to be a politician.

But sometimes courage is about taking the difficult decisions and when Cherie said, “God is calling you to fulfil your destiny”, I knew I had to listen.

So it was with a heavy heart that I outmanoeuvred Gordon over the leadership of the party after John’s death –

- and whatever Gordo says there was never a deal struck at Granita where he could take definitely take over after my second term.

Because I had my fingers crossed!…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>Digested read: Tony Blair A Journey | Politics | The Guardian

“…Tony Blair regrets banning fox hunting … but not invading Iraq.

He was captivated by Princess Diana … intimidated by Queen Elizabeth II.

He heaps praise on President George W. Bush … but calls his close colleague Gordon Brown a man of “zero” emotional intelligence.

He acknowledges that some find him delusional … and says he possibly drank a bit too much.

Blair’s long-awaited memoir hit bookstores Wednesday …

… and the revealing, self-justifying 700-page volume provides plenty of fodder for the former British leader’s supporters – and detractors…”

go to source/story>>>Tony Blair: Gordon Brown Has ‘Zero’ Emotional Intelligence

“…With Amazon’s recent announcement that digital e-books outsold hardcover books for the first time …

… and paperbacks destined to a similar fate in the near future …

.. we can safely say the e-book revolution is upon us.

That doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that the devices upon which we read those books — digital e-readers, tablet computers, smartphones — are anywhere near their final form.

Last December, we took a look at the most popular e-readers on the market, and, while many companies have made only incremental alterations to their lineups since then …

… a few new additions and serious price-drops among others have vastly changed the landscape.

And, oh yeah, there’s that whole iPad thing.

At first blush, the iPad seemed like it would radically alter the e-reader market.

In the months that have passed, it has sold like hot cakes, but, then again, so have E-ink e-readers.

So in putting together this revisited roundup, we found ourselves in a curious dilemma: whether to include the iPad or not.

The iPad, as you’ve undoubtedly heard, is billed by Apple as a new device category altogether (one that involves magic!).

All hype aside, we’re inclined to agree.

Unlike virtually every e-reader on the market, the iPad is, first and foremost … a multimedia device that happens to have e-reader capabilities.

And if one were to be honest in analyzing the iPad strictly on its merits as a dedicated e-reader …

… it’s woefully lacking compared to much of the competition.

The brilliant, glossy color screen is difficult to see in bright light … and can strain the eyes over long periods.

It’s also relatively heavy (about three times the weight of many e-readers) …

… and its battery life is around 10 hours … versus a couple weeks or more for most e-readers.

And, well, it costs at least twice as much as dedicated e-readers.

In short, if you’re primarily looking for an e-reader … you’d be better served elsewhere.

By the same token, if you’re looking for a full-featured multimedia experience … the iPad currently has no real competition …

… and dedicated e-readers simply don’t compare.

In light of that schism, for this piece, we tested what we think represent the cream of the ever-burgeoning dedicated e-reader crop…”

go to source/story>>>The Best e-Readers Compared: Kindle, Kobo, Nook and Reader Throw Down

“…This list of books for dog lovers is one that I’ve been compiling for a while …

… waiting for an opportune moment–the right doggone moment–to let it of the leash for all of you to enjoy…”

go to source/story>>>Best Kids Books For Dog Lovers

“…It’s not as attractive as the iPad … but Amazon’s formerly derided e-reader is cheap and, most important, efficient.

The newest version of the Kindle e-reader is out.

And guess what? “Due to strong customer demand,” says the Amazon website, “Kindle is temporarily sold out.

Order now to reserve your place in the queue… orders placed today are expected to dispatch on or before 17 September.”

This is interesting, is it not?

It’s not all that long ago, in the fevered run-up to the launch of the Apple iPad, that conventional wisdom held that the Kindle was a dead duck –

- roadkill for the iTunes/iBooks steamroller on the highway to the future.

I mean to say, the Kindle was sooo clunky: you had to press buttons just to turn the page and how 1980s is that?

With the iPad, you just swooshed your finger and – hey presto! – the page turned.

Cool.

Then there was the impact of the iPad on publishers, who saw the Apple iBook store as a way of breaking Amazon’s stranglehold on sales –

- and, more important, the pricing – of ebooks.

And so it came to pass that the Kindle was consigned to the role of brave but outdated pioneer.

Amazon might have triggered the ebook revolution … but it would be Apple that would wind up running the show.

The problem with this kind of thinking is that it is based on an elementary schoolboy mistake …

… namely the assumption that, in a networked world, it is the hardware that matters most.

According to this view, because the iPad, viewed purely as a device, was seen as incomparably superior to the Kindle …

… it followed that Apple would triumph in the ebooks market.

Let’s deal with the hardware issue first.

The iPad is indeed a much more powerful and versatile device than even the latest Kindle.

But as an e-reader, it has some major deficiencies.

First, at 730g, it’s pretty heavy, so any extended reading session requires support from a lap or table.

Second, its reflective screen makes it difficult to read in bright light.

And it’s damned expensive.

On these three factors, the new Kindle wins hands down.

At 247g, it’s much lighter …

… the screen is readable even in bright sunlight …

… and it’s much, much cheaper —

– £149 for the model which comes with Wi-Fi and free 3G connectivity.

You can begin to see why Amazon might have trouble meeting consumer demand for its new baby…”

go to source/story>>>As the reborn Kindle proves, looks don’t count for everything | Technology | Technology | The Observer

“…While its sister festival in Reading became a mudbath, bright sunshine helped the northern leg of this year’s veteran rock event in Leeds get off to an unusually civilised start.

With the infamous “urine alley” finally replaced by chemical toilets, posters of “nu folkies” Mumford & Sons provided a convenient alternative for anyone caught short by the main stage.

Urinary issues have a history at Reading and Leeds, with bags of the stuff hurled at performers — such as Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler in 1988 —

– who the crowd decide don’t rock hard enough.

Rapper Dizzee Rascal proved wise to such risks and tailored his set accordingly by rapping over Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit …

…. a wheeze first attempted on a single by Credit To The Nation in 1994.

Mr Rascal then introduced his signature hit asking “Are you ready to go Bonkers?”, a question already answered by Cribs shouter Ryan Jarman …

… who marked the occasion with a haircut seemingly achieved by placing a pudding basin on his head … and cutting round it with a saw.

It can sometimes feel that this festival favours bands who soundtrack the act of pouring lager over your head …

… perhaps the one thing beyond Arcade Fire.

On the back of their number one album, The Suburbs, Friday’s headliners delivered a consummate show with strobes, special effects, Herculean energy and all those darkly euphoric anthems, culminating in an epic Wake Up —

– everything, in fact, except much of a crowd to see it.

Wrong slot or wrong festival?

It is a reasonable assumption that at some point during the weekend you will be soaked to the skin and confronted by a drunken man in a dress.

The tents provide a means of avoiding both — and the sobering realisation that Saturday’s aged rap metal act Limp Bizkit and generic punk pop bands such as All Time Low pulled twice the audience of Arcade Fire.

The tents are also the best means of hearing new forms of music …

… with brilliant sets from Mercury-nominated operatic guitar band Wild Beasts, Los Angeles Hebrew-singing afro-beat pop band Fools Gold …

… and a transcendental, hymnal Band of Horses …

… whose songs about loss, bewilderment and confusion surely summed up many a punter’s festival trajectory…”

go to source/story>>>Leeds festival 2010 | Review | Music | The Guardian

“…Now, I’m not suggesting the men of “Mad Men” should be puritans.

Heavens, no.

And everyone is at least a small product of the environment in which they swim.

We all make mistakes … and have our dark sides … as we navigate through life.

But the naked cruelty and overwhelming insensitivity manifested by the show’s male characters sometimes takes one’s breath away.

Why is the show so stacked against women?

Why are these men so unworthy and sadistic?

Was male behavior so despicable across the board in the upper echelons of the advertising industry in the mid-1960s …

… that the writers and producers of the show couldn’t produce a single mensch …

… one man of character … one person with something akin to enlightened values?

After all, this year’s show takes place in 1965, not the stone age.

Betty Friedan wrote The Feminine Mystique in 1963.

Or more to the point: was the advertising business so sleazy, so lacking moral compass, so hungry for success …

… that almost everyone was a manipulative ogre … and it was truly a bad man’s world?

Does “Mad Men,” the show everyone thinks accurately depicts the advertising industry of the ’60s, have to be this way?

George Lois doesn’t think so.

Sometimes called the original Mad Man … Lois is an eminence grise of the creative forces that transformed advertising in the 1960s …

… and he thinks the show gets it all wrong.

Lois writes in an essay in Playboy that there was a true revolution in advertising during the period of “Mad Men,”….

… started in the 1950s by one of creative advertising’s firsts, Bill Bernbach.

It was about joining talented copywriters with visionary graphic designers, “giving birth to the first truly creative agency.”

“Power had been taken away from the account executives and the business men … and transferred to the talented people who actually made the ads.”

Lois suggests that “Mad Men” misrepresents the advertising industry by ignoring this revolution …

… which changed the world of communications forever: …

…”The mortal sin of omission makes ‘Mad Men’ a lie.”

According to Lois, the show’s creator, Matthew Weiner, disagrees, saying that “George Lois is a legend…but Sterling Cooper is not cutting edge; it’s mired in the past.”

To which Lois responds: “Huh?”

He wonders why the producers “go whole hog to depict the scum of the industry … rather than the upbeat world of cultural creativity.”

Lois, ever colorful with his copy, calls the men in “Mad Men” “phony, gray, flannel suited, male chauvinist, no talent, WASP, white shirted, racist, anti-Semitic, Republican SOBS.”

“‘Mad Men’ has given the world the perception that the scatology of the Sterling Cooper workplace was industry wide.

In their advertising, the show’s creators have the balls to proclaim that ‘Mad Men’ explores the ‘Golden Age of Advertising,’ …

… but they surely know they are shoveling shit.”…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>The 7 Worst Men of Mad Men: Do They Have to Be Such Jerks? | Media and Culture | AlterNet

“…New Zealand’s biggest city boasts one of the strongest claims to have devised the flat white as we know it …

… thanks to an explosion of espresso-drinking in the mid-80s.

No one is quite sure where it all began … but the boho DKD was generally considered the first Auckland venue …

… though Sydneysiders reckon they beat the Kiwis to it.

In one hangout, I speak to Jackson, who roasts beans in his own garage, and speaks fondly of those times.

“I was a student and I remember drinking flat whites back then,” he says.

“We used to watch subtitled films at the Civic Theatre and have coffee and cake after.”

DKD is long gone … but its legacy and that of other pioneers remains in a thriving cafe society.

Aucklanders use coffee shops as social venues … as we might pubs … for business meetings … to catch up with mates … or simply read the paper.

And they take coffee seriously, with 140 roasters in New Zealand, many based in this city.

Even if most Kiwis do not roast beans themselves … many buy them freshly ground to supply their own gleaming Italian machines.

Back in the 80s, cafe owners aped continental mores, a practice continued by Auckland’s finest city centre institution, Reslau (39 Elliott Street).

Its narrow space barely provides room for a handful of tiny tables and just one banquette.

The coffee is perfect (I am an expert now) …

… Reslau offers a rare slice of chic in Auckland’s drab central business district … an area that many locals avoid.

The city’s industrial waterfront lacks charisma – there’s a motorway running through it –

- and many of the suburbs are livelier, with quirky, original cafes…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>Caffeine hit: Auckland coffee culture | Travel | The Guardian

“…Now, the kind of journalist who makes it all about themself is of course objectionable …

… but these are objectionable circumstances … so forgive me.

My first ever gig as a festival reporter was Leeds 2002 … when Guns N’ Roses turned up two hours late … but smashed it out of the park nonetheless.

I may have mentioned that Axl was “as big as a house.”

He may just have called me out onstage in London a few days later … naming me a “pussy” … who owed him rent for “living in my ass for so long.”

It was a career high, yes, but those also feel like kinder, more innocent days.

This was when Chinese Democracy was still an illusion we could all use.

But now we’ve heard the dowdy reality … and tonight we got the worst of both worlds.

The band took the stage just a measly hour late … had their set cut marginally … but not dramatically …

… and turned in a show that was the ultimate insult to the Gunners dream … in being simply unmemorable.

True, the magic of hearing the likes of Welcome To The Jungle, It’s So Easy and November Rain live cannot be diminished.

But last night Reading was challenged to judge whether this was enough … and Reading judged “no”.

There was no charisma, no chemistry and actually …

… so little vocal that the rumour of the night was that Axl had drafted in Mickey Rourke as a body double.

Certainly, the boos negated his vocals down to nothing.

And when history is written, it shall be told that the GNR dream ended with an unedifying sit in -

- in which Axl tried to whip up a disinterested crowd into voicing outrage over the shortened set.

After such a mess, it’s perhaps not surprising that the rumour of the festival today is that the band were not paid for their performance …

… and will not be appearing on Sunday for the Leeds leg.

And so after all that … it gives me no pleasure to diss GNR online for a second time.

But rather than a boyish jibe about his girth … this was about insulting their fans and, worse, their legacy.

So c’mon Axl.

Bring it.

Do your worst.

Oh! You already did…”

go to source/story>>>Guns N’ Roses fail to ignite Reading festival 2010 | Music | guardian.co.uk

“…If you’ve ever invested even a slither of emotion in the Libs … then this show paid you back ten-fold.

If not, well, there’s always Ash.

They don’t half go on about Leeds at Leeds.

You can’t even sit in a long drop without someone shouting across the lagoon of human discharge how glad they are they’re not at Reading.

It’s the only festival in the world plagued by sibling rivalry.

In fact, Leeds is almost exactly the same as Reading … just with better weather, worse clothes and more chips.

Besides, it’s not location that’s setting the tone for today … but the return of two bands who have a permanent place at the top of a generation’s CD pile.

For the Libertines, this could be the defibrillator that brings them back from the dead.

For Arcade Fire, a headline slot provides the opportunity for them to take the next step to becoming a world-beating concern…”

go to source/story>>>The Libertines rekindle the good old days at Leeds festival 2010 | Music | guardian.co.uk

“…The rich are different than you and I.

They are in fact more special.

That is why they deserved to be bailed out by trillions of our dollars.

That is why we happily allow them government welfare … while the poor have to face homelessness.

This trash is what most people subconsciously believe.

After all, we have been programmed from youth to see the rich as deserving …

… and the rest of struggling humanity suffering because they are not deserving.

The “Rich are Special Lie” is sold to the American psyche in a variety of ways.

But recently someone decided to put it all down in a book.

So you can read it to reinforce your already conditioned psyche about the rich being better.

Steve Siebold is the author of “How the Rich People Think.”

In his book he contrasts the rich .. and their special abilities with the rest of us common losers…” (cont..)

…Middle class focuses on saving. World class focuses on earning.

Middle class believes hard work creates wealth. World class believes leverage creates wealth.

Middle class believes money is earned through labor. World class believes money is earned through thought.

Middle class worries about running out of money. World class thinks about how to make more money.

Middle class operates from a fear based consciousness. World class operates in a consciousness of abundance and freedom.

Middle class sees money through the eyes of emotion. World class sees money through the eyes of logic.

Middle class believes getting rich is outside their control. World class knows getting rich is an inside job….

Siebold is right about getting rich as an inside job.

It helps if you can have the government give you tax credits, bail out your investments, control the market for you …

… and allows you to operate in a near global monopoly.

According to Siebold, one of the things we can all do to be like the rich is to think positive.

Don’t let people tell you the truth and don’t dare believe in the truth.

You need to minimize your exposure to the fear based thinkers.

It is always best to believe in fairy tales about wealth and wealth creation.

That way it is easier for the super rich to screw you.

If people were to actually use their reasoning … and examine the system …

… the rich could no longer screw you …

… with the help of their government…”

go to source/story>>>How the Rich Want You to Think « Bodhi Thunder

“…The tone deaf Tom Mitchelson used Auto-Tune – favourite of ‘X Factor’ contestants – to spectacular effect.

I have just recorded my first single.

The thing is – and don’t put this about – I’m not much of a singer.

I was inspired by the row over the use of voice-improvement technology – otherwise known as Auto-Tune – on Simon Cowell’s talent show The X Factor.

This computer software has apparently been editing out bum notes and putting singers in tune since the series started … we are told.

Now this has come out … the producers have promised that tonight’s final edit will be without electronic enhancement.

I want to see how good this technology really is …

… and if it can turn me from a shambolic shower singer … (who has received complaints) … to a Pavarotti…”

go to source/story>>>How a machine turned me into Chris de Burgh - News, Music - The Independent

“…A wind-up shaver.

Sounds absolutely perfect for someone like me who has always shaved with an electric razor - unfortunately the safety razors used to give me a terrible skin rash - and often goes to places where there isn’t any electricity.

Of course, when you’re in civilisation you can plug the razor in and charge it, either through a power point or via your laptop.

But when you’re beyond the black stump you just wind the handle to crank up the built-in generator and charge the battery.

Just to check how well it works I ran the battery absolutely flat … and then cranked the handle for about a minute.

That produced enough power to give myself a good shave…”

go to source/story>>>Travel gadget: Hand Crank Shaver - Travel - NZ Herald News

“…A just-released teaser video of the Samsung Galaxy Tab … offers a sneak peek at what the latest iPad challenger has to offer.

According to Gizmodo, the 7-inch tablet will be unveiled September 2 at Berlin’s IFA consumer electronics show.

Engadget highlights a few of the features we can expect to see:…

… “Android 2.2 running on a 7-inch display, video calling, Swype, HD movie playback, “Flash support,” GPS navigation, an e-reader, and plenty more.”

Check out 9 tablets that are alternatives to the iPad.

See the official Samsung Galaxy Tab teaser below…”

go to source/story>>>Samsung Galaxy Tab Sneak Peek VIDEO: Watch The Official Teaser

“…”I dislike Bond.

I’m not sure that Bond is a spy.

I think that it’s a great mistake if one’s talking about espionage literature to include Bond in this category at all,” Le Carré said.

“It seems to me he’s more some kind of international gangster with, as it is said, a licence to kill…

…he’s a man entirely out of the political context.

It’s of no interest to Bond who, for instance, is president of the United States or of the Union of Soviet Republics.”…”

go to source/story>>>John Le Carré: James Bond Was A Neo-Fascist Gangster

the first issue here is that this is a programme that is trying to be something for too many people…

this weekends’ offering being a case in point…

we start off with politics….

then we veer into a ‘country calender’ episode on small-town new zealand memorial halls…

(a worthy piece in its’ own right…but w.t.f. was it doing levered into a politics/currents affairs show…?..)

more politics….

..and then we have an ‘arts on sunday’ piece…on an exhibition in melbourne of designer frocks…(!)

and then of course there is the silly/annoying go at a quizz show/competition…popping up at regular intervals…

i mean..do the programme makers think we don’t have the attention-span-stamina to be able to handle a full hour of politics..?

isn’t there already a surfeit of quaint-rural/frock-shows on the telly…?

do they think there are not enough issues around to fill a whole hour…?

i saw the nation as having the opportunity to be what q&a isn’t….a serious/considered examination of the issues…

..which brings us to the long-interview…

and i gotta say…why are they letting duncan garner do the corner-stone-interview…?

two reasons for that question….

one is that they have in the host…a person who has been inhaling long-interviews…five days a week…for years…

i mean..i thought that was why he had been brought onto the show…to do a political-radio-with-pictures for us…

..to echo the grillings/cross-examinations he subjects pollies to on morning report on nat-rad..

(with the extra bonus for us being able to see their lying-eyes and face-clawing lying in general…(not to mention the sweating/squirming…)

but no..today garner gave paula bennett a long kneck-rub…(and asked if she’d like any ‘extras’..)

it was such a pathetic attempt at holding her to any account/rational-explanation for her deeply-irrational railings against benificiaries…

(last week it was sole-parents….this week its’ sickness-benificiaries…)

you could see in her eyes..that bennet could hardly believe her luck…

..she had garner so much in her hand…that he ..at the roundup at the end..

..echoed/repeated her shock-statistic-du-jour….that some benificiaries cd work part-time..but aren’t…

garner got quite heated/worked-up over that one….(taking the thought of ’skiving-sickness-benificiaries’ quite personally…)

so much so you could imagine him joining bennett in a posse-of-two….(camera-crew in tow..)

..to drag one/some of these skiving-benificiaries out of their luxurious digs/lives-of-plenty…

..and into the harsh light of the camera….

which brings me back to the long-interview issue…

garner is not trained to dig..and dig….he is trained for the short ‘did you? no..?..alright!’-segments of the evening news….

he needs to be sent back to where he is most comfortable…

…the quizz/country-calendar/frock-components need to be ditched….

and then they can get paula bennett back again…

..for that long overdue hard-questioning of this irrational/agenda-driven targetting of the weakest/poorest ….

..i think sean plunkett should be up for it..

..eh…?

“…It is just about conceivable that writers can continue to amaze at an advanced age … even up until they die.

It’s much more common for one of two things to happen: …

… after a certain point, either they disappoint – because there is an obvious falling off … or because we realise we are getting fed more and more of the same –

- or they are taken for granted.

Occasionally, both can happen, in which case (Philip Roth’s, for example) we take our disappointment for granted …

… and just wait for him or her to shut up.

Milan Kundera is an extreme case … in that we take our amazement for granted.

Think back to whenever it was that you first read The Book of Laughter and Forgetting … or The Unbearable Lightness of Being …

… and remember how exciting these “novels in the form of variations” seemed in terms of conception, content and orchestration.

It wasn’t just a question of technical novelty: … the idea of fiction was recalibrated to create forms of new knowledge.

We may subsequently have become a little weary of the conventionally novelistic sections of these books –

– one remembers them in terms of randy doctors Benny Hillishly chasing nurses in their panties –

- but with Testaments Betrayed Kundera dispensed with characters, stories and situations …

… while retaining his signature technique of “meditative interrogation” to construct a book entirely of novelistic essays.

To say he became an influence … (in the way that Martin Amis is influential)… is to understate matters.

Kundera’s distinctive, pioneering software became available for download …

…and has been used by, among others, Adam Thirlwell (precociously) in Politics and Craig Raine (bit lame at his age) in Heartbreak.

The man himself, meanwhile, had switched from Czech to French (pretty amazing in itself) …

… producing three shortish novels and another stimulating essay in the form of variations … The Curtain.

The opposite of a curtain-raiser, Encounter is a curtain lowerer or encore: …

… a linked collection of pieces originally written in French … some from 20 years ago …

… modestly offering themselves as “reflections and recollections” on “old themes (existential and aesthetic) …

… and… old loves”…”

go to source/story>>>Encounter: Essays by Milan Kundera | Book review | Books | The Observer

“… Do we need another movie about a self-centered Westerner squeezing one-dimensional natives for exotic food, wisdom, and spirituality?

For the longest time, I thought the 2006 bestseller “Eat, Pray, Love” was a sequel to the 2004 bestseller about punctuation “Eats, Shoots and Leaves.”

Now I am enlightened.

One is about the search for the meaning of life.

The other is about the meaning of a comma.

I confess I never read Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestseller … except for browsing through a few pages in a copy sitting by a friend’s bedside.

I enjoyed the writing.

The story of picking yourself up after losing your way has universal appeal … even if we all can’t afford to recharge under the Tuscan sun.

It’s not Gilbert’s fault … but as someone who comes from India …

…I have an instinctive reflex reaction to books about white people discovering themselves in brown places.

I want to gag, shoot and leave.

The story is so self-involved … its movie version should’ve been called, “Watch Me Eat, Pray and Love.”

In a way I almost prefer the old colonials in their pith helmets trampling over the Empire’s far-flung outposts.

At least they were somewhat honest in their dealings.

They wanted the gold, the cotton … and laborers for their sugar plantations.

And they wanted to bring Western civilization … afternoon tea and anti-sodomy laws …

… to godforsaken places riddled with malaria and Beriberi.

The new breed is more sensitive … less overt…”

go to source/story>>>Why “Eat, Pray, Love” Makes Me Want to Gag | | AlterNet

“…Once again, Lost in Showbiz must take up its well-thumbed copy of the Book of Revelation …

… and search through the apocalypse harbingers for the words:…

… “And it shall come to pass that Jeremy Kyle shall imagine himself a serious thinker . . . ”

Jeremy, of course, has always taken himself seriously.

How could he not?

His job is revealing the results of DNA tests on telly.

That’s the adorable thing about babies: they’re too stupid to have even heard about release forms.

No matter that a judge famously described his programme as “human bear-baiting” …

… or that ITV has had to issue a litany of excruciating denials about how guests are treated before going on air …

… my favourite being their response to accusations that they fired up some of them with booze.

With exquisite indignance, the network chuntered: “Two of the guests were given alcohol to counteract withdrawal symptoms.”

Ah, I see. Do forgive the error.

Now, with a US version of his chatshow in the pipeline … Jeremy’s self-confidence remains undimmed.

You may care to know that the trait he most deplores in himself is “people-pleasing”.

Asked recently what the worst thing anyone had ever said to him was, he revealed: “A rent-a-yob once bellowed, ‘Oi, Kyle, you’re a cunt!’ through my car window as my then teenage daughter sat frozen beside me.”

Can you bear it?

The coarsening of public life must be a particular agony for the steward of shows such as Brother, I’ll Prove I’m the Father of Your Ex-Girlfriend’s Baby.

Indeed, perhaps it is this puritan zeal that is driving Jeremy in increasingly ambitious directions…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>Jeremy Kyle wages war on idleness | Life and style | The Guardian

“…Miroslav Tichy spent decades chronicling of the female form in his hometown of Kyjov …

… using cameras he made from cardboard tubes, rubber bands, and wooden spools …

… with lenses of Plexiglas that he polished with sandpaper, ashes, and toothpaste.

Tichy’s voyeuristic wanderings with his camera produced images that transform fragments of everyday life into something more mysterious and poetic.

The photo-montages by the Hungarian artist Foto Ada depict the anxious mood of the Industrialized West during the period of the late 1930s to World War II.

Foto Ada’s photo-montages are surreal and often humorous …

… as well as being a biting commentary on Nazi propaganda … and the onset of the Second World War…”

go to source/story>>>EXHIBITION SPOTLIGHT: Expressionism and Mystery At Its Best: Miroslav Tichy and Foto Ada at Robert Koch Gallery

“… As the evangelical Right’s influence has declined, conservatives are adhering to another religion –

– one based on the scribblings of a sociopath.

Up until a few years ago, right-wingers who needed to believe in something larger than themselves chose Jesus.

But with the evangelicals fading from the Republican coalition …

… and Obama’s social programs making the whole “compassionate conservative” thing suspect …

… it look like Jesus is out … and Ayn Rand is in.

Yes, Ayn Rand, author of big books about noble capitalists who triumph over the masses … and tomes of “philosophy” like The Virtue of Selfishness…

… in which she beat Gordon Gekko to Greed is Good … by decades.

Rand always seemed like a good fit for conservatives …

… but until recently their fandom was a love that dared not speak its name –

– either out of fear that the born-agains would be alienated by Rand’s atheism …

… or that literate people would giggle at them…”

go to source/story>>>10 Shameless Right-Wing Tributes to Ayn Rand That Should Make Any Sane Person Blush | | AlterNet

being somewhat opinionated on a regular basis…i have succumbed to the lure of twitter…

my twitter-name is vegandogs50

“…From whippet-fast commuter rides to sturdy kings of the mountain …

… Simon Usborne presents the experts’ guide to getting around on two wheels…”

go to source/story>>>The 50 best bikes - Outdoor & Activity, IndyBest - The Independent

“… We’ll get a double dose of Zach Galifianakis in not one, but two funny flicks (including a follow-up to “The Hangover”- YES!) …

… Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey and Jonah Hill all star in superhero satire …

…and the three queens of rom-com (Rachel McAdams, Katherine Heigl and Kristen Bell) will all be leading ladies this season.

Want to know more?

Check out each trailer below…”

go to source/story>>>7 Comedies Hitting Theaters This Fall: Which Will You See? (VIDEOS)

“…The superb Dexter makes a return to FX tomorrow, featuring one of the small screen’s blackest characters.

Blood splatter expert by day, serial killer by night, Dexter is about as far removed from your average television protagonist as you can get –

- and yet the show’s legions of fans tune in every week to cheer on Michael C Hall … as he stalks and slays other killers.

But Dexter isn’t alone.

He’s the poster boy for a growing cabal of TV anti-heroes.

A set of complex, morally ambiguous characters who compel us to relate to them despite their often troubled nature …

… and gaping collection of character flaws.

Dark, creative and interesting they’re an altogether more complex replacement for the clean-cut heroes of old …

…. and have been at the heart of the revival of quality programming that has transformed the idiot box into a genuine artform over the past decade.

Interestingly the modern day anti hero seems to be a predominantly male role, save for Glenn Close’s turn in Damages.

So here’s six of the TV’s top anti-heroes – from bigoted detectives to smooth talking ad-men…”

go to source/story>>>Dexter and the rise of the TV anti-hero | Television & radio | guardian.co.uk

“…From Leonardo DiCaprio, speaking in the respectable blockbuster of summer 2010 …

… we learn that no virus multiplies more explosively than an idea;…

… in which case, I’d like to know why the Centers for Disease Control allowed all those people to watch Inception.

Lax government supervision of Christopher Nolan … whose credit will hereafter be changed in my book from “writer-director” to “primary vector,”…

… has allowed a fresh strain of twisted ideational RNA to burrow into the nervous systems of tens of millions of Americans …

… when they’d already been infected with that characteristic disorder of our time … Wachowski Syndrome.

It was, of course, through the authors of The Matrix that the virus became pandemic:…

… the notion that you, hero, should feel free to use the snazziest conceivable arsenal to kill as many people as you like …

… because they’re not real.

Those human-shaped objects are just shades of an illusory world to which you owe not the slightest responsibility.

In The Matrix, this dreamland was controlled by monsters from outer space … from whom Earth had to be liberated.

In Inception, it is not quite controlled by corporate spies, and the liberation (for DiCaprio)…

… requires the snapping of tentacles that are emotional … rather than ickily extraterrestrial.

And yet, in either case, the activity within the fantasy realm is exclusively a matter of bang! bang! kaboom!

What is the point of having an imagination, I ask you, if the only thing that can be imagined is mayhem …

… perpetrated without regard for even the appearance of human life?

All that cleverness in Inception, with its four parallel lines of narrative that proceed at different but interlocking speeds—

- like a counterpoint in The Art of Fugue! Like the Carter Double Concerto!

No, actually.

Like Hans Zimmer’s deeply mediocre score … whose leaden motoric thunks betray the sameness of all the Nolan dreamlands.

On every level of Inception … they infect us with the identical idea:….

… “Shoot … and never mind what happens to the target.”

Our brains seethe with poison worms.

Who will cure us?..” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>Pursuit of Happiness | The Nation

“…Drug companies were accused today of conning the public by hyping up patented medicines with little new to offer while downplaying their side-effects.

An estimated 85% of new drugs offer few if any new benefits while having the potential to cause serious harm due to toxicity or misuse, a study has concluded.

The author of the research delivered a damning attack on “Big Pharma” at a meeting of sociology experts in the US.

Professor Donald Light described the pharmaceutical industry as a “market for lemons” -

- one in which the seller knows much more than the buyer about the product … and takes advantage of this fact.

“Sometimes drug companies hide or downplay information about serious side-effects of new drugs and overstate the drugs’ benefits,” said Prof Light…

… a professor of comparative health policy at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey, US…”

go to source/story>>>85% of new drugs ‘offer few benefits’ - Health News, Health & Families - The Independent

“…Bad news for BlackBerry fans (and, I suppose, BlackBerry’s parent company, RIM): …

… Sales of the company’s newest, best, and most optimistic phone are so lousy …

… that RIM has been forced to slash the price only a week after launch.

RIM may have the biggest smartphone market share in North America, but the Canadian company hasn’t had a bonafide hit in some time–

– and that becomes a real problem when you consider the legions of huge-selling competitors …

… including the iPhone 4, HTC Evo 4G, HTC Droid Incredible, and Motorola Droid X.

The new BlackBerry Torch, the first phone to run RIM’s “revamped” BlackBerry OS 6, was supposed to be that device that revitalized the company…

… but it just didn’t happen.

Reviews were middling at best … often noting that while the Torch may be the best BlackBerry ever …

… it failed to correct many of BlackBerry OS’s old flaws …

… as well as failing to adapt to the needs of a modern smartphone consumer.

I myself noted that BlackBerry’s total lack of ambition is killing any positive feelings the company may have earned in the past.

But it’s still very surprising that only a week after launch … the price of the Torch has been cut on Amazon and many other online retailers…”

go to source/story>>BlackBerry Panics, Cuts Price of the Torch, Its Supposed Savior | Fast Company

“…In his book, The Manchurian President: Barack Obama’s Ties to Communists, Socialists and Other Anti-American Extremists, Klein —

– who has distinguished himself as a shameless promoter of false and baseless conspiracy theories about Obama and his administration —

– used false claims, discredited conspiracy theories, birther arguments, deceptive editing, and guilt by association …

…to further the book’s stated goal of tying Obama to “an Anti-American fringe nexus.”…”

go to source/story>>>Obama Is A ‘Communist,’ ‘Socialist’ And ‘Anti-American Extremist,’ New Book By Aaron Klein Claims

“… what makes Eat, Pray, Love a spiritual blasphemy is the progression of veal, pork, rabbits, turkeys, lambs, sausages, sardines, octopuses, oxtails and newborns’ intestines that adorn Gilbert’s spiritual plate.

Gilbert knows all about Yoga, mantras, Brahmans, Buddhism, Hinduism, Zen, the Hopi Indians and Apollonius of Tyana;…

… she’s down with St. Theresa, St. Francis, the Kabbalah and Sufism.

But she was absent the day they taught Ahimsa — the doctrine of refraining from causing pain, injury or violence to any living thing.

The doctrine that guides most spiritual leaders — and spiritual paths.

It’s not like Gilbert didn’t think about it. A friend told her eating meat amounted to “eating the fear of the animal at the moment of its death.”

Slaughter terror is what causes “PSE pork” (Pale, Soft, and Exudative) and “red bird” chickens who are literally boiled alive.

It’s just that she decided it was so much gobbledygook–like wearing “orange colored panties, to rebalance my sexual charkas.”

Besides, says Gilbert after leaving the meat-free ashram in India and digging into some pork …

… “I could never be a vegetarian … not with food like this in the world,”…

… throwing out compassion and self-denial — the basis of spiritual observance — in one fell swoop…”

go to source/story>>>Eat, Pray Author So Spiritual She Eats Veal « SpeakEasy

“… ‘Apple abhors a vacuum, and is in thrall to the fundamental imperative of the capital system that even perfection be shown to be capable of improvement’

I recently staged a mildly satisfying act of personal revolt.

My contract with Orange having lapsed, it proposed to upgrade my mobile, gratis, to either a BlackBerry or an iPhone.

The choice was a no-brainer.

The BlackBerry is far less pricey … and about a squillion times less adaptable than the iPhone.

Its cramped keypad, forcing one’s thumbs to tiptoe across its tiny, buttony keys (to start with, at least, one feels rather like a blind man confronted with Braille) …

… proves absolutely no match for the iPhone’s sleek touch-sensitive screen …

… over which all one has to do is wave one’s index finger like a conjuror’s wand.

Added to which, I had been an Apple Mac enthusiast for virtually a quarter of a century …

… ever since I swapped my very first computer, an Amstrad, for what I thought of as the Amstradivarius of the sexy little Mac SE30 …

… and had repeatedly lauded its original interface … to any-one prepared to listen to me … as one of the great designs of the 20th century.

Yet in the end I chose the BlackBerry.

Why so?

One motivation, I cannot tell a lie, was sheer contrariness.

When, back in the Eighties, I bought the exorbitantly expensive SE30, my acquaintances regarded it as a reckless, even foolhardy, purchase to have made.

Pure and pristine its interface might be … I had paid more for less.

I would have endless compatibility issues with PCs – which, in truth, I did have in the early years …

… but the problem was, after all, one shared by my correspondents.

Few email servers were equipped to handle Apple products – also true, but I found one that was, and have been its customer ever since.

And games manufacturers, I was warned, barely bothered targeting Mac users …

… a fact about which, as a writer, someone for whom a computer was primarily a professional tool …

… (hard now to recall that it was once also quaintly called a word processor) …

… I couldn’t have cared less.

On the contrary, I positively relished the ostracism.

To me it felt as though I’d been inducted into a Masonry … a secret society …

… an occult fraternity of embattled like-minded initiates…”

go to source/story>>>Apple: A love affair turned sour - Features, Gadgets & Tech - The Independent

“… .The Public Services Association complained to H-P after three of six model HP2140 and HP2133 netbooks it bought in November 2008 and early last year failed after only 14 to 17 months’ use.

H-P business development manager Gill Brown responded to the complaint by saying that the computers were “essentially low-end models …

… and as such the lifespan is only estimated to be 15-24 months” …

… recommending the union buy a three-year warranty in future…”

go to source/story>>>Hewlett-Packard responds to reliability issue | Stuff.co.nz

“…Melbourne, Australia, is a temperate city of sunshine and palm trees … with a climate not unlike that of Southern California or the Mediterranean.

But the denizens of writer-director David Michôd’s grim, deterministic crime drama “Animal Kingdom” … are the people who live in its shadows.

This isn’t a film likely to have you hopping with joy about the future of humanity as you leave the theater; …

… as the title suggests, Michôd depicts a realm of ruthless predation and survival.

But it’s a distinctive, ominous and hypnotic work of cinema.

“Animal Kingdom” opens with someone overdosing on heroin in a crappy apartment in front of an obnoxious game show …

… and ends with someone else getting shot through the head in the kind of bedroom where someone has left a naked mattress tipped on its side.

This is criminal-class dinginess on an operatic scale …

… such that when 17-year-old Josh (newcomer James Frecheville) visits his girlfriend’s modest, middle-class home …

… it seems like a paradisiacal level of luxury and order…”

go to source/story>>>“Animal Kingdom”: Granny’s evil crime empire - Animal Kingdom - Salon.com

“…When R.E.M sneaked up in the early 80s with their debut album Murmur … few could have anticipated what the band meant - and would become.

Just as Talking Heads had become the banner-waver for emotionally distant New York art-rock a few years previously …

… R.E.M were the band which announced college rock radio could be as influential as mainstream stations.

And that “alternative rock” in the age of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Bowie’s Let’s Dance and stadium fillers like ZZ Top, Bruce Springsteen and Tina Turner was a genre in itself.

Murmur in ‘83 came with an appropriate title: few could clearly decipher Michael Stipe’s words in many songs …

… but his weary delivery was seductive … especially against the gentle jangle of Peter Buck’s guitar.

Critics would reference the Byrds on songs like Sitting Still and Shaking Through …

… but for R.E.M’s audience that late 60s band was either ancient history or unfamiliar. R.E.M - out of Athens, Georgia - existed in a world of their own.

In a music environment cluttered with synth-rock - Duran Duran, the Thompson Twins - R.E.M’s stripped back, frill-free guitar sound was distinctive …

… and even now Murmur, with its tired ballads (the sleepy Perfect Circle) and pure pop (We Walk) sounds timeless …

… never part of the world into which it had arrived…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>I like their old stuff - R.E.M. reissued - Entertainment - NZ Herald News

“…As the U.S. economy emerges from recession, a new crop of start-ups is blooming.

From microblogging to location-based services to green auto technology, social gaming, genetic testing, e-commerce and digital music …

… a new generation of start-ups is poised to lead the technology world into the next decade.

It’s not surprising.

Recessions breed innovation.

The creative destruction wrought by economic downturns … creates the conditions for new ideas to flourish and new firms to hatch..”

go to source/story>>>The Next Tech Titan? The 10 Hottest Technology Startups of 2010 - DailyFinance

“…Some videogames promise to teach us new skills, get us fit … or make us more emotionally intelligent.

Can a videogame teach you to be a better person?

Given that many centre around shooting people in the face, that might seem ridiculous.

But games have been used for centuries to teach skills:…

… it is theorised that chess was developed as a training tool for Persian army officers.

There are two ways that a game can improve you in your out-of-game life.

The first, and hardest, is training you in a skill that is genuinely useful.

Chess teaches strategic thinking and forward-planning against an opponent.

The other is to motivate better behaviour – parents who award gold stars to encourage their children to tidy up are using a simple token-collecting mechanism.

Motivating games are becoming common.

In the whimsical Chore Wars, flatmates get experience points for washing up or vacuuming … and then use them to have adventures online.

But games which teach real skills can be dull:…

… Wii Fit is fun enough but only if you compare it to other forms of exercise –

- and anyway, it’s not as good for you as the gym.

The Typing of the Dead – a comic typing-training game in which you kill zombies by typing words as fast as possible – was an honourable exception.

Channel 4’s new game for teenagers – SuperMe – is a bold attempt to combine both formats.

It awards points for watching short, engaging videos about emotional skills such as resilience …

… and it also contains mini-games loosely related to concepts such as “flow” and “connection”…”

go to source/story>>>The player: Can games be good for you? | Technology | The Guardian