Category Archives: Pals

Years of play

Music, Pals, Video, ,

I really like this live performance by Grimes. She sits on the floor, twists knobs, taps buttons, and moans into a mic like it was the most casual, natural thing in the world. It looks like you could sit beside her, turn the knobs a bit differently, tap other buttons and you could make a different song.

The years of play, of experimenting and trying are covered in her ease. It’s like watching a great athlete at play on her chosen field.

Central Park in infrared panorama

Please put your art on my wall

Art, Pals, ,

So I just put these eight white frames up over my dining table.

8 white frames over my dining table

 

I’ve been making art for a while to put up there – but I’d like something from you.  Everyone’s phone takes great big panorama photos. You probably go somewhere cool and take them. Can you pretty please send me some of your best panorama photos?  I’d love to print it out and put it up there.  I’ll send you back a pic of your photo up there and I’ll be really grateful!

I think I’ll start off with Chris Restrepo’s gorgeous infrared shot of Central Park

Central Park in infrared panorama

 

Make a new thing from that old thing

Music, Pals, Video, , , ,

Here’s the big argument why copyright should be off by default: the world makes more interesting things when sharing is on by default.

First up is Kutiman, who took the little demos that folks upload to youtube and turned it into a whole album, called Thru You.

PLEASE go check out the rest of that album.

The opposite side of that is fans love doing remixes and covers of the musicians they love. Then they share those covers. That is how culture is supposed to work. Sometimes the artists freak out and try to stop that sharing. Some artists say thank you. Some artists do even better and actually make a transformative work out what their fans did. I don’t know of anyone who has done this better than Gotye with Somebodies:

For more, watch Everything is a Remix.Here’s episode one.

Everything is a Remix Part 1 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

 

— Whoops! I’ve been trying to do a music video Monday thing – looks like I scheduled this post for the wrong day.

Glenn Beck and the new reality of video distribution

Incentives, Pals, User Experience, Video, , , , ,

My man Jamie Dubs did a great talk at the XOXO fest on how Glenn Beck is the unloved rockstar of the new media landscape. Jamie did the amazing VHX.TV, worked on Add-Art, started Know Your Meme, led the Internet Famo Class… He’s the Kevin Bacon of my internet, but everyone has a max Jamie number of 3.

Anyway, get your learn on:

All you need to know about the David Petraeus affair

Pals, Politics, ,

David Simon, creator of The Wire, breaks it down:

Hypocrisy will never go out of style in American journalism or American life. But sitting there and watching the rewrite and sports desk mobilize to surround the sexual wanderings of a sportscaster, I remember making a decision: Enough. This is just sex. This is nothing more than the odd, notable penis or the odd, notable vagina staggering off the marked path and rubbing against the wrong tree. This is just people.

David keeps responding in the commens, where I found this gem of a story about Churchill and the World Trade Center tragedy.

Even better is this Tumblr of David Petraeus Affair Photos.

My two cents – if you are searching for any way to react to this that isn’t based around gossip, look for the best of human emotions.
Look to bind yourselves to those in trouble, exercise your empathy and compassion.