Thursday, April 29, 2010

Gary Snyder "The Practice of the Wild" Trailer



'The Practice of the Wild' is a film profile of the poet and Pulitzer Prize winner Gary Snyder. Snyder has been a creative force in all the major cultural changes that have created the modern world. Along with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, he was a central figure of the Beat generation. He helped bring Zen Buddhism into the America scene, was an active participant in the anti-war movement and an inspiration for the quest for human potential. All along he was a founding intellect, essayist and leader of the new environmental awareness that supports legislation and preservation without losing sight of direct wild experience -- local people, animals, plants, watersheds and food sources.

This film, borrowing its name from one of Snyder's most eloquent non-fiction books, revolves around a life-long conversation between Snyder and his fellow poet and novelist Jim Harrison. These two old friends and venerated men of American letters converse while taking a wilderness trek along the central California coast in an area that has been untouched for centuries. They debate the pros and cons of everything from Google to Zen koans. The discussions are punctuated by archival materials and commentaries from Snyder friends, observers, and intimates who take us through the 'Beat' years, the years of Zen study in Japan up to the present -- where Snyder continues to be a powerful spokesperson for ecological sanity and bio-regionalism.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

New Works from Jason Nelson

Three new poems from Jason Nelson. Each inspired by the landscapes and locations of Australia. Enjoy.

Sydney’s Sibera
An interactive and infinitely zooming digital poem


Birds Still Warm from Flying

An interactive/re-creatable poetry cube


Wittenoom and the Cancerous Breeze
Digital poem created from ten sections

Thursday, April 22, 2010

A conversation with Syrian poet and essayist Adonis



Charlie Rose in conversation with Adonis Ali Ahmad Said Asbar

Ali Ahmad Said Asbar (Arabic: علي أحمد سعيد إسبر‎; transliterated: alî ahmadi sa'îdi asbar or Ali Ahmad Sa'id) born January 1930, also known by the pseudonym Adonis or Adunis (Arabic: أدونيس), is a Syrian poet and essayist who has made his career largely in Lebanon and France. He has written more than twenty books in his native Arabic.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Well Dressed Man or Time Traveller?



It’s the short description for the photograph shown at the virtual Bralorne Pioneer Museum, from British Columbia, Canada. The image can be seen specifically on this page (scroll down to the middle), among other items of the online exhibit. Did you notice anything out of place? Or perhaps, out of time?

The man with what appears to be very modern sunglasses seems to be wearing a stamped T-shirt with a nice sweater, all the while holding a portable compact camera!

Internet people reached to the obvious conclusion: it’s a time traveller caught on camera on 1940! Finally, we have proof!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Katherine Hayles on Electronic Literature



N. Katherine Hayles professor of literature at Duke University is interviewed by Stacey Cochran for Raleigh Television Network program The Artist's Craft. Directed by Marnie Cooper Priest and Michael Graziano.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

A HUMlab seminar in Second Life - "'The Human Inside Of You': Avatars and Posthumanism"

HUMlab - in what would be a first - will be streaming one of their seminars simultaneously in Second Life. See below for details.

JennaPoster



You are invited to a seminar in the HUMlab region of Second Life!

WHAT: "'The Human Inside Of You': Avatars and Posthumanism", by Jenna P-S. Ng, postdoctoral fellow at HUMlab, Umeå University

WHEN: Tuesday April 20th 2010 at 13:15 Central European Summer time (04:15 SL time; for times in other countries, see http://timeanddate.com/s/1peg)

WHERE: Lindehallen
Lindell 1, HUMlab (71, 76, 34)
slurl: http://bit.ly/bkNYbz
HUMlab,
Umeå University, Sweden

DETAILS:
In this seminar, Jenna Ng (Nicky Varnish in SL) argues how the online avatar presents a digital embodiment: a derivative of the body not extended from but enmeshed with data and code, contained in the digital while still remaining profoundly sensual. Placed in the context of posthumanism, the seminar discusses the avatar as a figure reaching beyond the dichotomies of technology and nature; its peculiar embodiment in the digital appeals instead to "the human inside of you"—the sum of our fears, the conviction of our doubts, the values which keep us quirky, imperfect and alive.

Conducted in real-time alongside the RL presentation, this seminar in SL will also be a self-reflexive exercise in studying presence and the body in simultaneous spaces. Jenna will be present as an avatar in SL and will also answer questions after the talk in real-time. The seminar will last about an hour. All are welcome!

MORE INFORMATION:
http://hulken.humlab.umu.se/humlab/node/1258
jenna.ng(at)humlab.umu.se

Feel free to pass this on to anyone who might be interested. Hope to see you in-world!!

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

SF Films in HUMlab

Thursday, April 01, 2010

Banned Again From Chatroullette?

I have been using the web based peer to peer video chat system Chatroulette for a couple of months now. Playing music, making performances and conducting actions regarding media critique and the gaze. I have been banned several times for doing this. I do not do anything obscene. In fact it is all just sound and language based.

Tonight I received this message:

"Basically, three people in last 5 minutes didn't like what you have broadcasted and that's why you've lost this game. You've been blocked for 40 minutes."


After repeatedly sending out the Situationist International slogan:

"There is nothing they won't do to raise the standard of boredom"

Here is a shot of me in action and the last reaction I met with before being thrown off the site.



It may be Chatroulette trying to ease the user load on their servers, currently approaching 7 million users (which will probably be overtaken in a day or two).