Media Recomendations to the Nations

It is all here people. A swag of sounds and words and images that may make you think things that you had not thought before. It amazing really, that with simple books and websites and the like that one can actually change the way the world looks. By reading a book suddenly the work situation you are in can change. The boss is no longer a good natured old millionaire, but rather he has become a oppressive piece in a large machine that is keeping you in your place and profits where they have been for a very long time (elsewhere). Suddenly getting drunk and picking up a sexual partner for the evening each Friday is no longer enough to quell the stormy waters within your being. The money that is offered as compensation for your time, health and labor is not enough. Your thirst for more, for greater ideas, to explain the ideas that you are already burdened with. More reading and study brings greater and greater understanding of the thought of the ages. You begin to have your own thoughts, ones that are not from books or websites. It feels like a great conglomeration of ideas and images has joined together in your mind. You begin to express these ideas whenever you have the opportunity. Instead of chasing sex on Friday night in the pub, you now sit in a dim corner with a few others who have read and thought. You discuss the great ideas that you have all been exposed to. Each attempts to outdo the others in how these ideas can be brought about in the form and function of everyday life. Some propose more thinking, some propose no thinking but doing, some propose neither thinking nor doing but being. Some propose violence and some propose non-violence. You sweep up these ideas and take them home with you, granting them the consideration and care you once extended to those human beings closest to you. The money is still important but you now dwell in an effervescent cloud of thought. Images shift and change as you consider the options of interpretation. History is now a vast tapestry of forces and ideologies. Identity has become a complex ongoing series of agreements between influences both blatant and taciturn. You no longer read the same newspaper you grew up with, but you read ten different ones plus blogs, websites, email lists, and independent news sites. You scour the shifting the sands of opinion and perspective with a micro-tuned sense of subjectivity. You have emerged from the sea of your own ignorance and you are there!

Each morning as I go to work I repeat to myself, "Things could be worse".

Everyday The Same Dream
Radical games against the dictatorship of entertainment from Molleindustria. Molleindustria aims to reappropriate video games as a popular form of mass communication. Our objective is to investigate the persuasive potentials of the medium by subverting mainstream video gaming clichè (and possibly have fun in the process).

Dualtrack: VA - Electroacoustic Music History Volumes 1-24 (2009)
Link t a themed section of a fine Mp3 blog that includes parts one and two of an expansive 62 CD set put together by a Portuguese college student using his university's archival material. The original Portuguese title for the collection is História da Música Eletroacústica.

William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin, The Third Mind (PDF)
The Third Mind is a book by Beat Generation novelist William S. Burroughs and artist/poet/novelist Brion Gysin. First published in a French-language edition in 1977, it was first published in English in 1978.

The Third Mind is a combination literary essay and writing collection showcasing a form of writing popularized by Burroughs and Gysin in the 1960s called "cut-ups". Cut-ups involves taking (usually) unrelated texts, literally cutting the pages up, and then combining and rearranging the pieces to form new narratives and often-surreal images. This form of writing can also be adapted for filmmaking, as demonstrated by Burroughs and director Antony Balch in their early 1960s short film, The Cut-Ups.

The book contains numerous short fiction pieces demonstrating or related to the cut up method. Also included is poetry by Gysin and an interview with Burroughs. Some chapters had previously been published in various literary journals between 1960 and 1973.

Brion Gysin & William S. Burroughs Ports of Entry: A Conversation (1986) [PDF]
At the Beat Hotel Burroughs discovered "a port of entry" into Gysin's canvases: "I don't think I had ever seen painting until I saw the painting of Brion Gysin." The two would cultivate a long-term friendship that revolved around a mutual interest in artworks and cut-up techniques. Scenes were slid together with little care for narrative.

Lev Manovich The Language of New Media (Entire text as PDF)
Anyone who wants to think clearly about the cultural implications of the digital mutation should read Lev Manovich’s new book, The Language of New Media. This book offers the most rigorous definition to date of new digital media; it places its object of attention within the most suggestive and broad ranging media history since Marshall McLuhan." / William Wagner, English Department, UCSB, in Telepolis, 2002.

Conference Recordings - 26C3 Public Wiki
The 26th Chaos Communication Congress (26C3) is the annual four-day conference organized by the Chaos Computer Club (CCC). It takes place from December 27th to December 30th 2009 at the bcc Berliner Congress Center in Berlin, Germany.

The Congress offers lectures and workshops on a multitude of topics and attracts a diverse audience of thousands of hackers, scientists, artists, and utopians from all around the world. The 26C3s slogan is "Here Be Dragons".

For 26 years, the congress is organized by the community and appreciates all kind of participation. You are encouraged to contribute by volunteering, setting up and attending hands-on events or presenting your own projects to fellow hackers.

BBC World Service - About Us - Philosophy in the Streets: May 68 Paris
Paris was the city where some of the most improbable post-war upheavals began. A mass movement in the streets and a huge general strike brought France to a halt for more than a month. People took to the pavements shouting about the nature of society and began to formulate what they thought the world might be like. The events of May 1968 shook the very foundations of French society and became a key turning point in the history of ideas. A world of possibilities In this programme Nick Fraser uncovers the intellectual revolution that spread from Paris throughout the world.

With original interviews and archive from key thinkers, 'Philosophy in the Streets' takes the May revolts not as a political failure but an intellectual success. They had a huge social impact, that saw the replacement of conservatism to a more liberal society. A powerful new generation of philosophers like Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Guy Debord and others made the intellectual world tremble.
Their ideas shaped one of the most iconic and enigmatic outbursts of political and intellectual energy of the 20th century.
Listen to Nick as he finds out why philosophy succeeded where politics failed.

Free eBooks: Great Books on Your PC, iPhone & Kindle | Open Culture
Free eBooks: Great Books on Your PC, iPhone, Kindle & Beyond GET A FREE AUDIO BOOK FROM AUDIBLE.COM! This collection features free e-books, mostly classics, that you can read on your computer, smart phone, or Kindle. It includes great works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. To learn how to download these ebooks to your computer/mobile device, please visit our eBook Primer.

Internet Archive: Free Download: Gamelan Mitra Kusuma Live at Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia on 2007-12-14
Gamelan Mitra Kusuma led by I Nyoman Suadin; special guest instructors Ni Ketut Suryatini and I Made Kartawan Musicians Nyoman Suadin, I Made Kartawan, Ni Ketut Suryatini, I Gusti Putu Sudarta, Jill Brandenburg, May May Chiang, Roger Fox, Layne Garrett, Jennifer Henry, Eka Himawan, Michael Kiel, Linda McKnight, Junko Nakamura, John MacDonald, Andrew Clay McGraw, Maria Paoletti, Karl Seamon, Dana Smith, Jon Singer, Beth Varden, Amber Wagner, Talia Weiner, Jacob Howley, John F. Jeffey, Muryanto, Wayan Sukayade, Endang Saptorini,

All the best to all for 2010....