Applied Culture

"It was the first time I was explicitly told that racism was unpleasant and it was a lesson served..."

Mon, 18 May 2009 11:24:28 +0200

“

It was the first time I was explicitly told that racism was unpleasant and it was a lesson served with a side order of patriot fries. Or rather, chips. Our headmaster had fought for his country, and for tolerance, all at once. That’s what I understood it meant to be truly “British”: to be polite, and civil and fair of mind. (And to occasionally wallop schoolkids with slippers, admittedly, but we’ll overlook that, OK? We’ve moved on.)

But according to the BNP, I’m wrong. Being British is actually about feeling aggressed, mistrustful, overlooked, isolated, powerless, and petrified of “losing my identity”. Britishness incorporates a propensity to look around me with jealous eyes, fuming over imaginary sums of money being doled out to child-molesting asylum-seekers by corrupt PC politicians who’ve lost touch with the common man - a common man who, coincidentally, happens to be white.

They’re wrong, obviously. None of these qualities has anything whatsoever to do with being British, but everything to do with ugly nationalist politics. And ugly nationalist politics are popular all over the world. Just like Pringles. Every country has its own tiny enclave of frightened, disenfranchised, misguided souls clinging to their national flag, claiming they’re the REAL patriots, saying everyone’s out to get them. It’s an international weakness. For the BNP to claim to be more British than the other British parties is as nonsensical as your dad suddenly claiming to have invented the beard.

”

- Charlie Brooker on the BNP and their political broadcast (via jhnbrssndn)

As I am in a rush, I cannot elaborate much, but THIS could very well be applied to The Netherlands. Or almost any other country in Europe or the American continent, really.

From photographer, Mark Menjivar, You Are What You Eat is a...

Mon, 18 May 2009 09:37:18 +0200

From photographer, Mark Menjivar, You Are What You Eat is a series of photographs looking at the interiors of refrigerators in homes across the United States. Nothing was added or taken away. Now the pressing question: on the top right shelf, is that what I think it is?! via contexts.org

Next couple of weeks...

Sun, 17 May 2009 19:21:38 +0200

…posting will be more erratic than usual. Tomorrow I am flying to Vienna until Friday night. After only a couple of days home in Amsterdam, Tuesday 26th I am flying to Berlin until the 30th.

I will, of course, post the usual out of focus tacky photos I’ve become known for, spiced up with whatever I commentary I can offer.

(Upon return, I will also probably bitch and moan at my negative numbers Tumblarity).

"Air pollution has long been a fact of life in Spanish cities, but scientists now say it is not just..."

Fri, 15 May 2009 23:28:23 +0200

“Air pollution has long been a fact of life in Spanish cities, but scientists now say it is not just smog that chokes people as they walk to work or stroll through the park. A new study has found the air in Madrid and Barcelona is also laced with at least five drugs — most prominently cocaine. The Superior Council of Scientific Investigations, a government institute, said on its Web site Thursday that in addition to cocaine, they found trace amounts of amphetamines, opiates, cannabinoids and lysergic acid — a relative of LSD — in two air-quality control stations, one in each city.”

- Spanish study shows cocaine in the air - Europe - MSNBC.com

This could explain so many things!

This was the bar at the entrance of Art Amsterdam. We cannot...

Fri, 15 May 2009 23:02:00 +0200

This was the bar at the entrance of Art Amsterdam. We cannot conduct art at the extremes?! What kind of lame statement is this? Any art that doesn’t visit and rejoice in the extremes is pretty worthless, isn’t it? It’s like Disneyland for grown ups, nothing more. Give me art at the extremes any day. Much more than the baby food that passes for most art nowadays.

braaaaaaains....

Fri, 15 May 2009 22:56:55 +0200

braaaaaaains....

Does the same principle apply to visitors of unoriginal art...

Fri, 15 May 2009 18:26:39 +0200

Does the same principle apply to visitors of unoriginal art exhibitions?

“idiots” is the name behind two Dutch artists. This...

Fri, 15 May 2009 18:06:28 +0200

“idiots” is the name behind two Dutch artists. This piece is called “corpse bride”

Detail of Mark Kramer’s “Space Around”

Fri, 15 May 2009 17:57:13 +0200

Detail of Mark Kramer’s “Space Around”

Artist powered hamster wheel.

Fri, 15 May 2009 17:36:08 +0200

Artist powered hamster wheel.

Barbara Polderman’s “Sleeping Monkeys”

Fri, 15 May 2009 16:34:39 +0200

Barbara Polderman’s “Sleeping Monkeys”

After the over the top glamour of Art Dubai, this is the...

Fri, 15 May 2009 16:02:12 +0200

After the over the top glamour of Art Dubai, this is the entrance to Art Amsterdam. Let’s see what the interior has to offer.

Eurovision 2009, Red Army Choir + t.A.T.u. (via polkovodetz) Ah...

Thu, 14 May 2009 23:30:00 +0200

Eurovision 2009, Red Army Choir + t.A.T.u. (via polkovodetz)

Ah the cold war! those were the days where the Red Army choir wouldn’t be caught dead participating in Eurovision. Or better even, whoever suggested they participate in Eurovision would have ended up dead. Times have changed. Here, the Red Army choir sings with faux lesbians t.A.T.u “They are not going to get us”. Come to think of it, they are no longer planning to nuke us. Instead they will inflict this upon us. Notice the pink tank at the end. And if you are a fan of Soviet era Space travel nostalgia, weep in silence.

WTF?!

Thu, 14 May 2009 18:33:42 +0200

In the past 24 hours no less than 5 “weight loss experts” have started following me on Twitter. They all claim to be able to make people lose weight fast. WTF is the universe trying to tell me?! I am happy the way I am. Really, I am. I DON’T BLOODY WANT TO BE THINNER.

Ain’t that peculiar, George Clinton ft. Sly Stone and El...

Thu, 14 May 2009 17:40:05 +0200

Ain’t that peculiar, George Clinton ft. Sly Stone and El Debarge.

"Tumblarity", meaningful content and echo chambers

Thu, 14 May 2009 15:41:00 +0200

Since this obscure algorithm has been put in place, it has become aparent that the best way to keep the “Tumblarity” up is to post and post, and post… and then post some more. It seems that content is pretty irrelevant, what matters is a bunch of people “liking” what you post and reblogging it, preferably ad infinitum.

What will probably happen in the future, is that all top blogs (the most popular ones) will be those manned by very young people with lots of free time in their hands. The kind that has many on line friends who can act as an echo chamber and replicate this content in other Tumblrs. However, this index, will not necessarily reflect quality.

What will happen to those Tumblrs who post maybe once a day? Those who write very elaborated posts, and provide original content? (and no, I have no delusions of that being me, I just agreggate stuff I like and hardly produce anything original, which was never, in any case, the main purpose of this blog). But I am talking about someone like typewriterblues (which I meantioned before), or even someone like this guy who’s chronicling his sabatical year in Buenos Aires (but only posts once or twice a week). Are we saying that these Tumblrs should be less popular than this one? or this one? So, let me try to understand this: Tumblr is rewarding the echo chamber effect, giving cookie points to people who use the system to replicate content endlessly? Are they creating a platform that should only be suitable to replicate memes and spread content internally?

The best argument for using Tumblr so far has been the ease of posting and the lack of “High School” mentality, effectively making Tumblr a platform which could potentially be used for content rich blogs. Send bloggers into a rat race to compete with one another in some juvenile contest to see who’s more popular, and some people might consider migrating to greener pastures. Of course one can always ignore the Tumblarity. But Tumblr developers appear to have ignored the number one hindrance in any development: the value of human ego. Because, let’s be real, who wants to be told they are worthless and less important than others on a daily basis? But that knowledge doesn’t come with any programming language. That? That is just human nature.

Day of the lentil burghers: Ghent goes veggie to lose weight and save planet | Environment | The Guardian

Thu, 14 May 2009 12:57:22 +0200

Day of the lentil burghers: Ghent goes veggie to lose weight and save planet | Environment | The Guardian:

Ghent embarks on a radical experiment today, seeking to make every Thursday a day free of meat and of the fish and shellfish for which the city is renowned.

On the eve of what is being touted as an unprecedented exercise, the biggest queue in the Flemish university town of 200,000 yesterday was for signatures – to collect a bag of wholefood goodies and sign up for “Donderdag – Veggie Dag”, turning the burghers of Ghent into pioneers in the fight against obesity, global warming, cruelty to animals and against the myth that meat-free eating amounts to a diet of soggy lettuce, a slice of tomato, and a foul-tasting bean burger.

The city council says it is the first town in Europe and probably the western world to try to make the entire place vegetarian for a day every week. Tom Balthazar, the Labour party councillor pushing the scheme, said: “There’s nothing compulsory. We just want to be a city that promotes sustainable and healthy living.”

Every restaurant in the city is to guarantee a vegetarian dish on the menu, with some going fully vegetarian every Thursday. From September, the city’s schools are to make a meat-free meal the “default” option every Thursday, although parents can insist on meat for their children. At least one hospital wants to join in.

(via typewriterblues) Maybe I am the last one to arrive to this...

Thu, 14 May 2009 11:56:14 +0200

(via typewriterblues)

Maybe I am the last one to arrive to this party, but let me just say this: I fell in love with Sunshine Monologue (a.k.a typewriterblues). He writes these poems in a typewriter, scans them and posts them on his Tumblr. There is something quite Quixotic in the task. And delightful, oldfashioned even. He is writing a book that, by the looks of it, will be quite handicrafted and unique.

Here’s a marketing challenge: Women’s underwear in...

Thu, 14 May 2009 11:45:52 +0200

Here’s a marketing challenge: Women’s underwear in Saudi Arabia. One ad creative put forward last year by Ogilvy on behalf of Danish lingerie and swimwear brand Change poked fun at the censorship laws in the region, which results in Western magazines arriving with black felt tip marks over images considered too revealing. Using taglines such as ‘censor anything but the bikini’ and ‘edit anything but the bra’, the whole body of a model was covered up with marker pens except the hands and face. via Social Media Today. Thanks to krekat for the tip!

Crafting in Color Etsy Team: Member Spotlight: Linda Boucher

Thu, 14 May 2009 11:34:53 +0200

Crafting in Color Etsy Team: Member Spotlight: Linda Boucher:

Look who was interviewed here! None other than the talented Linda Boucher. It’s a good read, sheding light into the artist’s creative process.