Creating a video that attracts millions of viewers and becomes a pop culture phenomenon involves an unpredictable cocktail of luck and timing. Here's some advice from NY Times article: Cashing In on Your Hit YouTube Video - NYTimes.com
Here is reprint of part that deals with youtube posting:
"GET MONEY FROM YOUTUBE ADS. If your video is on the road to viral success, YouTube, a part of Google, is eager to make money from you. It will send you an e-mail asking if you want to become a partner. If you give your permission, the site will run ads alongside your video and share more than half the revenue with you, sending you a check each month.
"Some of the people behind viral videos, like the father of the boy coming down from dental anesthesia in “David After Dentist,” have made more than $100,000 from YouTube ads. Ms. Clem has made $3,000 in three weeks and stands to make much more because Disney wants to use her video in a TV ad.
"Early on, YouTube would sign people up as partners after videos had been watched more than a million times. But it has since developed an algorithm, which it calls reference rank, to predict whether a video will go viral when it has had as few as 10,000 views.
"The most important element is whether influential Web sites post the video. When Reddit posted Mr. McEntee’s video, for instance, its views jumped from 1,000 to six million in three days. YouTube also analyzes other data, like the number of viewers, how many times a video is shared on social networking sites and the rate at which people comment on the video.
"Protect the video with a YouTube program called Content ID, which gives video owners the right to block others from using their videos or to be paid when they do. That helps to prevent people from creating copies that might be watched instead of yours. Parodies, translations or autotuned song versions, however, tend to add to the original’s traffic.
"YouTube does not offer live customer service for viral video creators. YouTube said it would be impossible to talk to millions of video creators but it has help forums for people to ask questions."
FURTHERMORE, Another NYTIMES article discusses how youtube ads generate revenue for the content provider.
Here is that link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/technology/03youtube.html
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Steve Jobs' quotes
"You can't connect the dots looking forward: you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
"You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well worn path - and that will make all the difference."
(Stanford University commencement address, June 2005)
"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to Heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it.
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition; they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
(Stanford U commencement address, June 2005)
"Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected."
"That's been one of my mantras - focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains."
(Business Week interview, May 1998)
After dropping out of college, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn what makes great typography great. "It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating. None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But 10 years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the firts computer with beautiful typography."
(Stanford University commencement address, June 2005)
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarressment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. ...Stay hungry. Stay foolish."
(Stanford University commencement address, June 2005)
Articles for further reading:
NY Times -- Steve Jobs: Designer First, CEO Second
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/steve-jobs-designer-first-c-e-o-second/
Washington Post -- Steve Jobs and the Idea of Letting Go
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/steve-jobs-and-the-idea-of-letting-go/2011/10/05/gIQAWxNqOL_story.html
NPR To The Point show on 10-6-2011
http://www.kcrw.com/news/programs/tp
Stanford U commencement address June 2005 (via NPR)
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/10/06/141120359/read-and-watch-steve-jobs-stanford-commencement-address
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Cleaning Non-Leather Equipment from The Chronicle of the Horse
The Chronicle of the Horse has 2 articles on cleaning your tack. The first posted here is relative non-leather items. The second covers cleaning leather.
Bits: Use bit wipes (flavored) for a quick wipe down after a ride. 1-2 xs a month put bits in a bucket of water with "Bit Therapy Effervscent Cleaner" (it fizzes) and leave in for 8 minutes. A polish paste like "Simichrome Polish" can be used on the rings (use bit wipes on the mouthpiece) and on your irons. Or use "Nevr-Dull", a wadding polish, on metal hardware. White Pads: use Arm & Hammer complete cleaner freshener/whitener powder. Remove the black residue at the bottom of the pad by putting Shout stain remover on the dampened pad and scrubbing with a toothbruch before washing. Suede requires suede specific cleaners that are sprayed on. Also use a brush or a "suede block" (eraser) to remove light grime with circular motions and then brush to restore the nap. Sheepskin: use Leather Thearapy Laundry Solution. Take a quart size Ziploc bag, make a little hole in it, put the leather through and secure the bag with a twist tie to protect the leather; wash the sheepskin by hand being careful not to get the leather wet. Elastic on a breastplate: let elastic portion sit in water, then give it a thorough cleaning later with Woolite. Be careful to avoid getting metal polish on the leather, and clean & condition the leather around the buckles regularly, by taking apart the tack.
Beyond Saddle Soap—Cleaning Non-Leather Equipment The Chronicle of the Horse
Bits: Use bit wipes (flavored) for a quick wipe down after a ride. 1-2 xs a month put bits in a bucket of water with "Bit Therapy Effervscent Cleaner" (it fizzes) and leave in for 8 minutes. A polish paste like "Simichrome Polish" can be used on the rings (use bit wipes on the mouthpiece) and on your irons. Or use "Nevr-Dull", a wadding polish, on metal hardware. White Pads: use Arm & Hammer complete cleaner freshener/whitener powder. Remove the black residue at the bottom of the pad by putting Shout stain remover on the dampened pad and scrubbing with a toothbruch before washing. Suede requires suede specific cleaners that are sprayed on. Also use a brush or a "suede block" (eraser) to remove light grime with circular motions and then brush to restore the nap. Sheepskin: use Leather Thearapy Laundry Solution. Take a quart size Ziploc bag, make a little hole in it, put the leather through and secure the bag with a twist tie to protect the leather; wash the sheepskin by hand being careful not to get the leather wet. Elastic on a breastplate: let elastic portion sit in water, then give it a thorough cleaning later with Woolite. Be careful to avoid getting metal polish on the leather, and clean & condition the leather around the buckles regularly, by taking apart the tack.
Beyond Saddle Soap—Cleaning Non-Leather Equipment The Chronicle of the Horse
Taking Care Of Your Leather Tack from The Chronicle of the Horse
Here is a link to a very good article on how to clean your leather tack.
Every time you use your saddle, leathers, etc., you should wipe it with a damp sponge covered with a cloth (e.g., car-waxing sponge), and clean it with castile soap or Effax once a week (or more often if riding in the muck).
Suggested products --
Cleaner: German Bienenwachs Lederpflege-Crème
Cleaner: Effax or
Oakwood for conditioning has a waterproofer
Conditioner: Passier Lederbalsam
In California, Horseman's One-Step is a good cleaner/conditioner in that arid climate.
For dried out leather: use a 2 inch paint brush and either Effax or tanners oil; may need 3-4 coats
Taking Care Of Your Tack Doesn't Have To Be Tough The Chronicle of the Horse
Every time you use your saddle, leathers, etc., you should wipe it with a damp sponge covered with a cloth (e.g., car-waxing sponge), and clean it with castile soap or Effax once a week (or more often if riding in the muck).
Suggested products --
Cleaner: German Bienenwachs Lederpflege-Crème
Cleaner: Effax or
Oakwood for conditioning has a waterproofer
Conditioner: Passier Lederbalsam
In California, Horseman's One-Step is a good cleaner/conditioner in that arid climate.
For dried out leather: use a 2 inch paint brush and either Effax or tanners oil; may need 3-4 coats
Taking Care Of Your Tack Doesn't Have To Be Tough The Chronicle of the Horse
For Your Eyes Only, Part II: California Design « Unframed The LACMA Blog
The link below shows a couple of very cleverly designed furniture pieces which are part of the collection of LACMA.
One piece is a mid-century desk (Kem Weber) has negative space on the "Back" side as display shelves so that it is intended to face the room rather than be placed against a wall.
An intriguing choice for a business office where clients and collaborators are met. Imagine creating a diorama indicative of your practice or simply placing objects and books that you are influenced by and which represent your thinking.
The other item is a wall-mounted display cabinet (John Kapel) with darkly stained, uniquely carved doors that mimick wood grain patterns in 3d.
When opened, it reveals glass shelves in front of a back panel lined with colorful vertically arranged amoebic felt shapes of hot pink, acid yellow, gold, olive and an orangey red. I love the curatorial staff's suggestion: "When filled with glasses and liquor bottles, it would have added a lively spirit to any cocktail party!"
For Your Eyes Only, Part II: California Design « Unframed The LACMA Blog
One piece is a mid-century desk (Kem Weber) has negative space on the "Back" side as display shelves so that it is intended to face the room rather than be placed against a wall.
An intriguing choice for a business office where clients and collaborators are met. Imagine creating a diorama indicative of your practice or simply placing objects and books that you are influenced by and which represent your thinking.
The other item is a wall-mounted display cabinet (John Kapel) with darkly stained, uniquely carved doors that mimick wood grain patterns in 3d.
When opened, it reveals glass shelves in front of a back panel lined with colorful vertically arranged amoebic felt shapes of hot pink, acid yellow, gold, olive and an orangey red. I love the curatorial staff's suggestion: "When filled with glasses and liquor bottles, it would have added a lively spirit to any cocktail party!"
For Your Eyes Only, Part II: California Design « Unframed The LACMA Blog
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Polish Brothers’ No-Budget Film Feature an iTunes Best Seller
Polish Brothers’ No-Budget Film Feature an iTunes Best Seller
Click above link for entire article. Love story shot on SLR camera using their own script, natural lighting (except for light from an iphone), promoted via Facebook and Twitter, sold on iTunes. So far netted over $200,000.
Click above link for entire article. Love story shot on SLR camera using their own script, natural lighting (except for light from an iphone), promoted via Facebook and Twitter, sold on iTunes. So far netted over $200,000.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Bauer Pottery Company of Los Angeles
Bauer Pottery Company of Los Angeles
Yesterware repairs pottery
Contact Mike & Netta at (661) 32-BAUER [22837]
or email at nyaeck@bak.rr.com
Yesterware repairs pottery
Contact Mike & Netta at (661) 32-BAUER [22837]
or email at nyaeck@bak.rr.com
Friday, August 5, 2011
Tom Curren's wife rides a boogie board (2008)
August 5, 2011 -
"My wife gets out a boogie board," Curren says with a laugh.
2008 interview includes talking about his music and then current surfing
Feature interview with Tom Curren – DailyStoke.com DailyStoke
2008 interview includes talking about his music and then current surfing
Feature interview with Tom Curren – DailyStoke.com DailyStoke
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Murdoch Hacks World (allegedly)
Trying to keep up with this ongoing story, I've gleaned and excised information from The Guardian, The New York Times and/or The Huffington Post to make a timeline of the events associated with the allegations surrounding Rupert Murdoch's News Inc. holdings involvement with illegal hacking for stories and profit. This has not been fact checked and is only a starting place for getting a handle on this story:
Murdoch’s holdings that are involved:
News Corp.
News International
The Sun
The Sunday Times
News of the World (UK tabloid)
Dow Jones
Wall Street Journal
(Metropolitan Police) ;-]
(Prime Minister Cameron) >:0
Additional Murdoch holdings:
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Network
New York Post
20th c Fox
the Star (tabloid)
The Weekly Standard
Fox News Channel
DirecTV
Intermix Media
MySpace.com
KTTV - Channel 11 Los Angeles
2002
Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator working for News of the World (NoW), hacked the cell of missing 13 yo Milly Dowler and deleted messages after listening to them. Without knowledge of content of all the messages & thinking Milly must have deleted her messages, the family is given false hope that she is still alive. The girl’s remains are found 6 months later.
Rebekah Brooks (then Rebekah Wade) is Editor of NoW at that time.
Rebekah Brooks becomes editor of The Sun
Andrew Coulson becomes editor of NoW
Rebekah tells a lower court of the British Parliament that NoW paid bribes to police officers for information. News International (the parent company) stated this is not common practice.
2005
NoW publishes a story about Prince Williams knee injury
Glenn Mulcaire along with Clive Goodman, the NoW royal-family editor, are arrested for phone hacking.
2007
Mulcaire and Goodman both serve a few months in jail.
2009
The Guardian reports that NoW journalists had hacked the voicemails of several celebrities and politicians - with the knowledge of senior staff - and that News International had paid $1.6 million to settle the cases that would have unearthed further cases of hacking by the paper. Scotland Yard stated that it was not reopening the matter.
Rebekah Brooks is named CEO of News International
She marries Charlie Brooks (a horse trainer)
The Culture, Media and Sports Committee of the House of Commons issues a report stating that it is inconceivable that NoW managers did not know about the large scale phone-hacking at the tabloid.
The NY Times publishes a report based on information from numerous former reporters and editors of NoW that Andrew Coulson knew about the phone-hacking and often discussed it during his tenure at NoW. The Times articles is critical of Scotland Yard’s handling of the phone-hacking investigation. (Sean Hoare is a source for NY Times.)
January 26, 2011
Scotland Yard opens a new investigation of the phone-hacking by NoW citing new evidence.
April 2011
NoW acknowledges its role in hacking from 2004-2006.
NoW apologizes and sets up a compensation system for unidentified victims.
Who’s Who in the U.K. phone hacking scandal:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2084083,00.html
July 4, 2011
The Guardian reports the hacking and erasing of messages by NoW from the cell of Milly Dowler, the deceased girl. (This begins the current public Murdoch scandal.)
July 5, 2011
It is reported that the list of NoW hacking targets included victims of the July 7, 2005 terrorist attack in London.
July 8, 2011
Andrew Coulson is arrested.
Clive Goodman is arrested for bribing police officers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/18/news-of-the-world-sean-hoare
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/12/world/europe/12hacking.html?scp=6&sq=sean%20hoare&st=cse
July 13, 2011
Rupert Murdoch withdraws his bid for the takeover of British Sky Broadcasting (TV) which had been considered a fait accompli. News Corp. retains its 39% interest.
July 14, 2011
Rebekah Brooks and James Murdoch agree to testify at a parliamentary hearing beginning July 19.
Neil Wallis, former executive editor of NoW, is arrested
The Guardian reports that Sean Hoare was interviewed by the police “under caution”; meaning he was being treated as a suspect.
Les Hinton, former CEO of News International, resigns as chairman of Dow Jones and as chairman of The Wall Street Journal.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Sean Hoare, the Sun and NoW reporter who blew the whistle and started this current investigation, is found dead at his home. He had not been seen for a couple of days.
(Apparently, when he did not show up for work, the police were called to go to his house.)
Monday, July 18, 2011
John Yates resigns as Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner. In 2009, he had made the decision not to reopen the phone-hacking investigation of that period. It is said that he reviewed only a small amount of evidence before coming to his conclusion.
While Rupert Murdoch is responding to questioning in which he denies any knowledge of or responsibility for any phone hacking by his staff, a strange man comes up to him and shoves a pie plate full of shaving cream into his face. Murdoch's wife Wendi jumps up from her seat immediately behind Rupert and aggressively grabs ahold of and throws a punch at the assailant smearing him with the shaving cream as well.
Cameron separating himself from Coulson.
Murdoch’s holdings that are involved:
News Corp.
News International
The Sun
The Sunday Times
News of the World (UK tabloid)
Dow Jones
Wall Street Journal
(Metropolitan Police) ;-]
(Prime Minister Cameron) >:0
Additional Murdoch holdings:
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Network
New York Post
20th c Fox
the Star (tabloid)
The Weekly Standard
Fox News Channel
DirecTV
Intermix Media
MySpace.com
KTTV - Channel 11 Los Angeles
2000
Rebekah Brooks, then editor of NoW, gives a phone to the mother of 8yo Sarah Payne, a little girl who was abducted (7/1/2000) and then murdered by a pedophile. On 7/28/2011, The Guardian revealed that
NoW had hacked into this mother’s phone, probably the very phone NoW had given to her.
Rebekah Brooks, then editor of NoW, gives a phone to the mother of 8yo Sarah Payne, a little girl who was abducted (7/1/2000) and then murdered by a pedophile. On 7/28/2011, The Guardian revealed that
NoW had hacked into this mother’s phone, probably the very phone NoW had given to her.
2002
Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator working for News of the World (NoW), hacked the cell of missing 13 yo Milly Dowler and deleted messages after listening to them. Without knowledge of content of all the messages & thinking Milly must have deleted her messages, the family is given false hope that she is still alive. The girl’s remains are found 6 months later.
Rebekah Brooks (then Rebekah Wade) is Editor of NoW at that time.
- Andrew Coulson is Rebekah’s deputy.
Rebekah Brooks becomes editor of The Sun
Andrew Coulson becomes editor of NoW
Rebekah tells a lower court of the British Parliament that NoW paid bribes to police officers for information. News International (the parent company) stated this is not common practice.
2005
NoW publishes a story about Prince Williams knee injury
- The information was obtained by hacking the Prince’s cell phone.
Glenn Mulcaire along with Clive Goodman, the NoW royal-family editor, are arrested for phone hacking.
2007
Mulcaire and Goodman both serve a few months in jail.
Andrew Coulson resigns as editor of NoW taking responsibility for the phone-hacking, but denying any knowledge.
Andrew Coulson is hired as communications director by the Conservative Party and its leader, David Cameron.
James Murdoch (Rupert’s son) become Chief Executive of News Corp.’s European and Asian operations.
2009
The Guardian reports that NoW journalists had hacked the voicemails of several celebrities and politicians - with the knowledge of senior staff - and that News International had paid $1.6 million to settle the cases that would have unearthed further cases of hacking by the paper. Scotland Yard stated that it was not reopening the matter.
Rebekah Brooks is named CEO of News International
She marries Charlie Brooks (a horse trainer)
- Wedding guests include: Prime Minister Gordon Brown (Labour) and (his successor as Prime Minister) David Cameron (Tory)
The Culture, Media and Sports Committee of the House of Commons issues a report stating that it is inconceivable that NoW managers did not know about the large scale phone-hacking at the tabloid.
David Cameron becomes Prime Minister.
- Cameron hires Andrew Coulson as his media chief.
The NY Times publishes a report based on information from numerous former reporters and editors of NoW that Andrew Coulson knew about the phone-hacking and often discussed it during his tenure at NoW. The Times articles is critical of Scotland Yard’s handling of the phone-hacking investigation. (Sean Hoare is a source for NY Times.)
January 21, 2011
Andrew Coulson resigns as communication’s chief for Prime Minister David Cameron.January 26, 2011
Scotland Yard opens a new investigation of the phone-hacking by NoW citing new evidence.
April 2011
NoW acknowledges its role in hacking from 2004-2006.
NoW apologizes and sets up a compensation system for unidentified victims.
NoW senior editor Ian Edmondson, chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck and senior journalist James Weatherup are fired and then arrested on phone-hacking charges.
June 23, 2011
At the end of a long trial, a man is convicted of the murder of Milly Dowler the 13 yo girl who was killed in 2002.Terenia Taras, a freelance journalist, is arrested and then released without being charged after 7 hours. She is the ex-girlfriend of former News of the World assistant editor Greg Miskiw and she contributed to a few articles over a 6 year period.
Who’s Who in the U.K. phone hacking scandal:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2084083,00.html
July 4, 2011
The Guardian reports the hacking and erasing of messages by NoW from the cell of Milly Dowler, the deceased girl. (This begins the current public Murdoch scandal.)
The Guardian references that Sean Hoare had told the NY Times that Andrew Coulson encouraged him to hack the phone messages of the 13yo girl in 2002.
July 5, 2011
It is reported that the list of NoW hacking targets included victims of the July 7, 2005 terrorist attack in London.
The BBC reports that News International turned over evidence that Andrew Coulson signed off on bribing police for information.
July 6, 2011
The Daily Telegraph reports that NoW hacked the phones of families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. July 7, 2011
James Murdoch, chairman of News International, announces that News of the World will cease publication with its July 10th edition.July 8, 2011
Andrew Coulson is arrested.
Clive Goodman is arrested for bribing police officers.
July 10, 2011
Rupert Murdoch arrives in London to take charge of the scandal stating that Rebekah Brooks is his top priority.July 11, 2011
Gordon Brown (former Prime Minister) makes accusations that The Sun and The Sunday Times illegally obtained his personal financial records and the medical records of his 4yo son who is dealing with a serious illness. (Sometime during this week) Sean Hoare, former reporter at The Sun and NoW, told NY Times who reported on the 11th about the use of police technology by the News Desk at NoW to hack cell phones; e.g., used pinging of signal to determine location of phone. Stated police were bribed. Sean shows up at interview with The Guardian with broken nose and injured foot that he states he received in an accident on July 4 at a children’s party.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/18/news-of-the-world-sean-hoare
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/12/world/europe/12hacking.html?scp=6&sq=sean%20hoare&st=cse
July 13, 2011
Rupert Murdoch withdraws his bid for the takeover of British Sky Broadcasting (TV) which had been considered a fait accompli. News Corp. retains its 39% interest.
July 14, 2011
Rebekah Brooks and James Murdoch agree to testify at a parliamentary hearing beginning July 19.
The FBI investigates allegations that NoW hacked phone records of victims of 9/11.
Neil Wallis, former executive editor of NoW, is arrested
The Guardian reports that Sean Hoare was interviewed by the police “under caution”; meaning he was being treated as a suspect.
Also, Paul McMullan (former NoW staffer) who told The Guardian that hacking was prevalent was told by detectives that they wanted to interview him.
July 15, 2011
Rebekah Brooks resigns as CEO of News InternationalLes Hinton, former CEO of News International, resigns as chairman of Dow Jones and as chairman of The Wall Street Journal.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Sean Hoare, the Sun and NoW reporter who blew the whistle and started this current investigation, is found dead at his home. He had not been seen for a couple of days.
(Apparently, when he did not show up for work, the police were called to go to his house.)
- It was reported that the police arrived and found the body in the morning around 10:30 am. The body was removed. A couple later arrived after noon which it is assumed were family members of Sean. The police left the house and did not return until many hours later, around 9pm, at which time they had a detective team conduct their forensics(?). It was implied that the police were not acting in a manner that showed intent to discover who the murderer is and the news medium was reporting that this may have even been a suicide as Sean had heartily partaken of alcohol and possibly drugs in earlier years and may have gone through rehab. Some defended him that he worked in obtaining stories from the R&R crowd and that was part of the scene - rather than that he was someone who struggled with deep depression.
Rebekah Brooks is arrested.
- The police discover that she had thrown her laptop, cell phone and papers in the trash near her home.
NY Times publishes an article that states over the years, News Corporation has paid out about $655 million to make embarrassing charges of corporate espionage and anticompetitive behavior go away.
Monday, July 18, 2011
John Yates resigns as Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner. In 2009, he had made the decision not to reopen the phone-hacking investigation of that period. It is said that he reviewed only a small amount of evidence before coming to his conclusion.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Investigative hearing begins before parliament.While Rupert Murdoch is responding to questioning in which he denies any knowledge of or responsibility for any phone hacking by his staff, a strange man comes up to him and shoves a pie plate full of shaving cream into his face. Murdoch's wife Wendi jumps up from her seat immediately behind Rupert and aggressively grabs ahold of and throws a punch at the assailant smearing him with the shaving cream as well.
- Stories follow about Mrs. Murdoch: Wendi grew up in China where she was befriended by a visiting American couple who helped her obtain a student visa and move to California where she worked in their home and studied at Cal State Northridge. The wife suspected the husband of having an affair with Wendi and demanded that she move out. The husband soon followed her, divorced his wife and married Wendi. They lived together for only 4-5 months as Wendi was then found to be having an affair with a man closer to her own age, but remained married for 2 years 7 months which allowed Wendi to obtain her green card. She then obtained her MBA from Yale and landed a job at Fox TV and then moved to Star TV (part of News Corp.) in Hong Kong. There she met Rupert Murdoch in 1997 when she was 29 and he 66. They married in 1999 and had 3 daughters. She has fought for her daughters to receive stock shares of News Corp. that would be equal to that of Rupert’s other children upon his death. Rupert's other children and family members continue to battle with Wendi Murdoch to lessen the assets to be given to the children she had with Rupert.
Paul Stephenson states that, in addition to Neil Wallis, 10 other former News International employees currently work in Scotland Yard’s media relations office out of a total staff of 45.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
News Corp. announces it will no longer pay legal fees for Glenn Mulcaire, former private investigator for NoW.
Cameron separating himself from Coulson.
July 21 ff
Hearings continue
Thursday, July 28, 2011
The Guardian reports that NoW had hacked into the phone of the mother of an abducted 8 yo girl (Sarah Payne) who was murdered by a pedophile in 2000.
- Due to the murder, News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks launches a crusade for a sex offender's law in Britain known as "Sarah's Law." Brooks repeatedly mentioned the campaign in her testimony to Parliament, calling it an example of the good that the News of the World had done.
- The murdered girl’s mother grew so close to the paper, and to Brooks, that she wrote a column for its final issue, paying tribute to its campaign stating: "The NOTW team supported me through some of the darkest, most difficult times of my life and became my trusted friends. One example of their support was to give me a phone to help me stay in touch with my family, friends and support network, which turned out to be an absolute lifeline."
- As it is believed that the phone that was hacked was given to the mother by Brooks, her claims of being in the dark as to criminal hacking activities at the paper is again being called into question.
- Scotland Yard has reportedly discovered that Glen Mulcaire’s notes have referrred to this matter. Brooks released a statement that the cell phone was provided by NoW, not by Brooks personally and implied that Mulcaire acted on his own.
Glenn Mulaire, former PI for NoW, releases a statement through his attorneys that he "acted on the instructions of others." This contradicts the claim by top News Corp. and News International officials that Mulcaire and Clive Goodman, the royal reporter also jailed for phone hacking in 2007, were rogue elements within the News of the World who acted alone. Mulcaire also said he was "effectively employed" by the News of the World from 2002 to 2007.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
NY Times states that Piers Morgan (who recently took over Larry King's CNN talk show) was the editor of British tabloid The Mirror from 1995 to 2004. Mirror is owned by Trinity Mirror group and is a competitor of Murdoch's talboids. Morgan denies knowledge of any hacking at The Mirror during his tenor; however, he resigned after faked photographs were published with an article containing accusations that British troops beat Iraqi detainees after the 2003 invasion. Now there is speculation that Morgan knew that The Mirror had hacked voicemail of messages left by Paul McCartney on Heather Mills' phone in 2001.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
abate the dystopian future
Stated on The Daily Show by Jon Stewart on 6/29/11, "So you are both saying that no matter which party gains the upper hand in 2011, it leads to a dystopian America governed by apes?"
Shouldn't we be valuing ideas? an educated populace? Why aren't we using technology to better our lifestyle? to allow us to work less? Who are we competing against? Why are we competing? Don't we have enough resources, man-power and knowledge to live comfortably in the US? Why aren't we making decisions as a community instead of as greedy misers?
I would like to see the government make changes so that individuals are better able to receive small business loans to open mom and pop businesses. So we have neighborhoods filled with cafes, clothing stores, bookstores, music stores, art galleries, produce markets, butcher shops, fish markets, hardware stores, hand-made furniture shops, shoe stores, millinery shops, fabric stores, tailors, seamstresses, pet stores, horse stables, skateboard shops, board shapers, print makers, stationery stores. All those shops that used to exist made up a community and gave us variety. Now we have monotony and a bad economy in a sea of oppressive sameness. Why was more money given to the big corporations that were culpable in the raiding of our economy? Let them fold and give individuals the ability to contribute to the economic health and stability of our society. I don't want to be a cog in a wheel. Do you?
Wikipedia defines dystopia as "is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Dystopian societies feature different kinds of repressive social control systems, various forms of active and passive coercion. Ideas and works about dystopian societies often explore the concept of humans abusing technology and humans individually and collectively coping, or not being able to properly cope with technology that has progressed far more rapidly than humanity has been able to evolve. Dystopian societies are often imagined as police states, with unlimited power over the citizens."
Shouldn't we be valuing ideas? an educated populace? Why aren't we using technology to better our lifestyle? to allow us to work less? Who are we competing against? Why are we competing? Don't we have enough resources, man-power and knowledge to live comfortably in the US? Why aren't we making decisions as a community instead of as greedy misers?
I would like to see the government make changes so that individuals are better able to receive small business loans to open mom and pop businesses. So we have neighborhoods filled with cafes, clothing stores, bookstores, music stores, art galleries, produce markets, butcher shops, fish markets, hardware stores, hand-made furniture shops, shoe stores, millinery shops, fabric stores, tailors, seamstresses, pet stores, horse stables, skateboard shops, board shapers, print makers, stationery stores. All those shops that used to exist made up a community and gave us variety. Now we have monotony and a bad economy in a sea of oppressive sameness. Why was more money given to the big corporations that were culpable in the raiding of our economy? Let them fold and give individuals the ability to contribute to the economic health and stability of our society. I don't want to be a cog in a wheel. Do you?
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Bob Geldorf
Saw Bob Geldorf on a recorded show of Craig Kilborn where they had a discussion and on David Letterman where he played a song from his latest album. His hair on Letterman looked blond and was not a good choice, but on Kilborn his hair appeared to be grey/platinum and looked terrific. While his music is not my thing, I liked hearing him talk as he was involved with the punk movement and transitioned to involvement in making the world a better place for people who have less power. He and Craig discussed the lack of a movement to voice anger with the current state of affairs - as punk had spoken up when the airwaves were held by the likes of the Bee Gees, Olivia Newton John, and Tony Orlando.
This catharsis in music follows cycles - In the 60s it was Bobby Vinton and Frank Sinatra replaced by Rock & Roll; In the 80s, corporate backed hair bands caused the backlash of Seattle grunge rock found in Nirvana. Independent music as alternative to money driven corporate machine music.
I looked up a twitter account for Bob Geldorf and found "Bob Geld" as his supposed official site. Although he has no tweets, he follows Zoe Keating who is a cellist I was unaware of. Zoe has a good website etc for promotion of her solo cello work and youtube has a video where she played at the club "La Boule Noire" in Paris. Her music is a bit too repetitive but is in the vein of new classical music.
This catharsis in music follows cycles - In the 60s it was Bobby Vinton and Frank Sinatra replaced by Rock & Roll; In the 80s, corporate backed hair bands caused the backlash of Seattle grunge rock found in Nirvana. Independent music as alternative to money driven corporate machine music.
I looked up a twitter account for Bob Geldorf and found "Bob Geld" as his supposed official site. Although he has no tweets, he follows Zoe Keating who is a cellist I was unaware of. Zoe has a good website etc for promotion of her solo cello work and youtube has a video where she played at the club "La Boule Noire" in Paris. Her music is a bit too repetitive but is in the vein of new classical music.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Alternative Art Spaces
I have been watching an earlier released video on alternative art spaces in Los Angeles on the Hammer Museum website. Here is a link to part 1 (part 2 consisted mostly of questions from the audience and was not interesting): http://hammer.ucla.edu/watchlisten/watchlisten/show_id/260267/show_type/video?browse=none&category=0&search=art space
Yoshua Okon is involved with SOMA in Mexico City which is like an open non-certified art school with artist residencies where the artist teaches and hangs out without making work and pays 1/2 their own cost - so like an inexpensive art vacation where you get to meet artists of Mexico in a mellow environment. He said that most artists in Mexico do not get MFAs and many are not formally trained - which in my mind harkens back to pre-US-GI bill which gave members of most classes (men) the chance to study in Universities on grants - so many more people were able to study art formally, so today it is taken for granted that an artist needs to go to art school and get an MFA to be certified officially. Mr. Okon is very heart-felt in his desire to express the need for community and communication in the artist community. A lovely idea. I can feel the quiet of the location, the wind in the trees, the birds singing outside while sunlight streams in through the windows and I sit in the studio in the morning working on a small collage or a simple musical composition waiting for lunchtime to bring visitors to the courtyard where I can hang out drinking an iced coffee and discussing civilized living and uncivilized oppressions. A wonderfully romantic situation.
Daniel Joseph Martinez was involved with Deep River, an unaffiliated art space without nonprofit status that was personally funded by him and his friends in the 90s(?). Mr. Martinez extolled the virtues of running an art space that did use money or outside imposed requirements as qualifiers for the work that was shown inside the space. The art exhibited or performances presented were presented based on the space providers definition of art work. So the work was chosen on art parameters and not on meeting family friendly or city building requirements; rather, simply to explore ideas about art. He now teaches as UC Irvine. Mr. Martinez spoke about the LA alternative artworld prior to the 90s when money became the driving force. He has a good sense of history and contextualizing the driving force behind art exhibitions in LA over the past few decades. He would make a great dinner companion to discuss what has been going on in the art world since the 70s and where we take our work within this context.
Mark Allen runs Machine Project on Sunset in Echo Park which looks like it has grown out of the idea of having a community center but with really interesting workshops and events. This space is great model for what should be going on in all of those empty but terrific community spaces in parks throughout cities. They hold events that attract 20-somethings, kids, parents, all-ages. The work is always playful and intelligent. I don't want to even describe the work because it would lessen its specialness; you just have to watch his portion on the video.
Julie Deamer of Outpost was interesting in her description of San Francisco art vs. Los Angeles art as she described LA art as being more pragmatic and slick whereas SF art is more homemade and not meant to be precious. She brought in artists from New Zealand and other countries to make art here that was responsive to their reaction to this culture and having that new set of eyes is interesting.
Lauri Firstenberg runs LAXArt in Culver City and the work there seems very pedestrian compared to the other art spaces as it deals with didactic text that spouts platitudes and presents itself as so much better than the people who live around the space. It is way too academically influenced and feels like a balloon that has puffed itself up - with slickness and self-importance - so you can't wait for next week when air seeps out and it is only a wad of used rubber. But Ms. Firstenberg seems very nice and earnest; she just needs to take a trip elsewhere and get her hands in the dirt and shake her head free of the schoolhouse babbelling.
Yoshua Okon is involved with SOMA in Mexico City which is like an open non-certified art school with artist residencies where the artist teaches and hangs out without making work and pays 1/2 their own cost - so like an inexpensive art vacation where you get to meet artists of Mexico in a mellow environment. He said that most artists in Mexico do not get MFAs and many are not formally trained - which in my mind harkens back to pre-US-GI bill which gave members of most classes (men) the chance to study in Universities on grants - so many more people were able to study art formally, so today it is taken for granted that an artist needs to go to art school and get an MFA to be certified officially. Mr. Okon is very heart-felt in his desire to express the need for community and communication in the artist community. A lovely idea. I can feel the quiet of the location, the wind in the trees, the birds singing outside while sunlight streams in through the windows and I sit in the studio in the morning working on a small collage or a simple musical composition waiting for lunchtime to bring visitors to the courtyard where I can hang out drinking an iced coffee and discussing civilized living and uncivilized oppressions. A wonderfully romantic situation.
Daniel Joseph Martinez was involved with Deep River, an unaffiliated art space without nonprofit status that was personally funded by him and his friends in the 90s(?). Mr. Martinez extolled the virtues of running an art space that did use money or outside imposed requirements as qualifiers for the work that was shown inside the space. The art exhibited or performances presented were presented based on the space providers definition of art work. So the work was chosen on art parameters and not on meeting family friendly or city building requirements; rather, simply to explore ideas about art. He now teaches as UC Irvine. Mr. Martinez spoke about the LA alternative artworld prior to the 90s when money became the driving force. He has a good sense of history and contextualizing the driving force behind art exhibitions in LA over the past few decades. He would make a great dinner companion to discuss what has been going on in the art world since the 70s and where we take our work within this context.
Mark Allen runs Machine Project on Sunset in Echo Park which looks like it has grown out of the idea of having a community center but with really interesting workshops and events. This space is great model for what should be going on in all of those empty but terrific community spaces in parks throughout cities. They hold events that attract 20-somethings, kids, parents, all-ages. The work is always playful and intelligent. I don't want to even describe the work because it would lessen its specialness; you just have to watch his portion on the video.
Julie Deamer of Outpost was interesting in her description of San Francisco art vs. Los Angeles art as she described LA art as being more pragmatic and slick whereas SF art is more homemade and not meant to be precious. She brought in artists from New Zealand and other countries to make art here that was responsive to their reaction to this culture and having that new set of eyes is interesting.
Lauri Firstenberg runs LAXArt in Culver City and the work there seems very pedestrian compared to the other art spaces as it deals with didactic text that spouts platitudes and presents itself as so much better than the people who live around the space. It is way too academically influenced and feels like a balloon that has puffed itself up - with slickness and self-importance - so you can't wait for next week when air seeps out and it is only a wad of used rubber. But Ms. Firstenberg seems very nice and earnest; she just needs to take a trip elsewhere and get her hands in the dirt and shake her head free of the schoolhouse babbelling.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Blueprint for a Better Nation.
Take a few moments and imagine what you think would be a good way for us to live together.
We have the knowledge and ability to feed everyone in North America with healthy farming of the land including the encouragement of small personal vegetable gardens.
We have the knowledge and ability to provide plenty of clean water to North America by respecting the natural methods of filtering and stopping our pollution.
We have the knowledge and ability to provide inexpensive single family homes with yard space for individuals using ideas taken from the case study houses and using materials straight out of the hardware stores and lumber stores to make inexpensive, well-insulated, attractive and livable homes right now that can be built on vacant lots.
We can educate everyone who wants to learn by employing out of work middle aged and senior individuals to teach what they know in community colleges, in extension courses and in store fronts.
We can continue our quest for knowledge by attending classes throughout our lifetimes so that 20 somethings are not the only students that are expected to be seen in a classroom.
When we are able to change our profession and improve our happiness by pursuing our interests when we so desire, our society will be healthier and will grow and prosper.
There are grossly unfair tax advantages given to the wealthiest individuals and that the working class suffers an unduly disproportionate burden of taxation.
Estate taxes can be increased so that the maximum amount that may remain untaxed upon death is one million dollars per person and any amount over that can be taxed at 45%. The use of the bypass trust provision currently available to a surviving spouse can be continued.
We can direct our society to reward work based on merit instead of on lineage and fraternity.
We have the knowledge and ability to feed everyone in North America with healthy farming of the land including the encouragement of small personal vegetable gardens.
We have the knowledge and ability to provide plenty of clean water to North America by respecting the natural methods of filtering and stopping our pollution.
We have the knowledge and ability to provide inexpensive single family homes with yard space for individuals using ideas taken from the case study houses and using materials straight out of the hardware stores and lumber stores to make inexpensive, well-insulated, attractive and livable homes right now that can be built on vacant lots.
We can educate everyone who wants to learn by employing out of work middle aged and senior individuals to teach what they know in community colleges, in extension courses and in store fronts.
We can continue our quest for knowledge by attending classes throughout our lifetimes so that 20 somethings are not the only students that are expected to be seen in a classroom.
When we are able to change our profession and improve our happiness by pursuing our interests when we so desire, our society will be healthier and will grow and prosper.
There are grossly unfair tax advantages given to the wealthiest individuals and that the working class suffers an unduly disproportionate burden of taxation.
Estate taxes can be increased so that the maximum amount that may remain untaxed upon death is one million dollars per person and any amount over that can be taxed at 45%. The use of the bypass trust provision currently available to a surviving spouse can be continued.
We can direct our society to reward work based on merit instead of on lineage and fraternity.
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