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Sep 25, 2005
While being given an honorary doctorate of "Humane Letters" at Rutgers University. Afterwards he clasped my hands (on his way out) and muttered a quick prayer. I was there to stage manage the event. Remarkably, I understand that tomorrow the video of the event will be available online! If you go to watch, I would also recommend watching the video of "the making of..." The Mandala Sand Painting.
Blackberry, iPod, Starbucks, Phone - Check, Check, Check, and Check!
Sep 21, 2005
[13:53] skalifowitz: it NEVER ceases to amaze how no one is able to answer more than one question in an email
[13:53] avtlbinder: yea
[13:53] avtlbinder: that is truly remarkable
[13:53] skalifowitz: no one
[13:53] avtlbinder: i would LOVE to do a study on that
[13:53] skalifowitz: hahaha
[13:53] skalifowitz: I never get more than one question answered
[13:53] skalifowitz: and I've been working on the length of my emails
[13:53] avtlbinder: and what's really amazing is that I don't think you or I noticed this occuring before last year-ish
[13:53] skalifowitz: really hard
[13:53] skalifowitz: yeah
[13:54] skalifowitz: w/the publicist
[13:54] avtlbinder: yea
[13:54] skalifowitz: its b/c everyone is on their blackberries
[13:54] avtlbinder: well she was the most absurd
[13:54] skalifowitz: and they can only read a few lines at a time
[13:54] skalifowitz: so as they're responding, they forget there are more questions
[13:54] skalifowitz: and this is compounded by the fact that b/c they're on their blackberry
[13:54] skalifowitz: listening to their iPod
[13:54] skalifowitz: drinking their Starbucks
[13:54] avtlbinder: well i've read in several books that the average person can only hold seven things in their mind at any time
[13:54] skalifowitz: and smoking a cig
[13:55] skalifowitz: and talking on the phone
[13:55] avtlbinder: so if they're doing all that crap, and trying not to wander into traffic, then there's only room for one question
[13:55] skalifowitz: they can't concentrate on shit
[13:55] avtlbinder: Of course, I'd assume they could do one question at t ime, but you're right -- they just forget there are more than one question
[13:55] skalifowitz: its amazing
[13:55] skalifowitz: I was noticing it this morning while stumbling in to work
[13:55] skalifowitz: as I was looking at all the hipsters around where Justin lives
Kurzweil, Intelligent Design, & VR
[14:57] avtlbinder: i need this:
[15:50] skalifowitz: OK, that is so damn cool!!! Getting closer to Kurzweil's vision of the future
[15:51] avtlbinder: btw, i saw some articles earlier about people using ipods at their weddings instead of hiring DJs
[15:51] skalifowitz: baha lol
[15:51] avtlbinder: the article also talked about the trend towards people using amateurs with awesome digicams
[15:51] skalifowitz: makes total sense
[15:51] skalifowitz: there's such a marginal "need"
[15:51] avtlbinder: And while I don't think the photography side is there yet, it occurred to me that it is changes like THESE that truly produce kurzweil's results
[15:51] skalifowitz: that finally it's being appropriately filled
[15:51] skalifowitz: yup
[15:51] skalifowitz: proper fitting
[15:51] avtlbinder: yea
[15:51] avtlbinder: i would never hire a dj
[15:51] skalifowitz: people think that nature is "too" perfect
[15:52] avtlbinder: a band maybe
[15:52] skalifowitz: (those who believe in intelligent design)
[15:52] avtlbinder: aka morons
[15:52] skalifowitz: the point is that nature has has billions of years to make "appropriate" use of energy
[15:52] skalifowitz: we're only a nano-second into that process (on a time scale of the universe)
The Sorry State of the Entertainment Industry
Sep 18, 2005
It blows my mind as I watch Apple tighten its grip on the music industry. They recently released the Rokr phone and the iPod Nano, while only a few short months ago, Sony released the PSP - a remarkable device that I see TONS of people on the street carrying around (actually playing as they walk). Friends of mine who have it are addicted to it.
Will someone please explain to me why Sony didn't follow Apple's highly successful model? Why didn't they launch a music downloading service where you download the music to the PSP, and have the device serve as a video game device, dvd player AND an MP3 player. In case you've been living in a hole somewhere in the woods, you would have noticed that every film being released on DVD (by Sony) mentions in their commercials "available on DVD & PSP on 'x' date." Actually - someone did try to explain this... I read it here the day after writing this blog.
I can't wait for the record labels to implode... the movie studios are next. I just read an article about Blockbuster (formerly part of Viacom) "considering" VOD... here's all I have to say:
While the headline is rather uplifting, the article is rather upsetting. The worst is this line:
"Blockbuster has about a dozen technicians who work part-time on development of online video."
That's all they are committing the future of their business? WTF?
The U.S. is officially a Theocracy
Sep 16, 2005
With GWB's designation of today as a "National Day of Prayer" - we have come several steps closer to becoming the theocracy his followers want this nation to be (and the theocracy that the blind-faith followers of the Republican Party are too impaired to admit to being a part of).
From USA Today 9/17/05: "'In the life of our nation, we have seen that wondrous things are possible when we act with God's grace,' Bush said in his weekly radio address."
I'm slightly comforted by a judge ruling that forcing kids in public schools to recite the pledge, with the words "under God" is unconstitutional... I'm proud to say that from the first few days of 7th grade I (along w/several other students) refused to recite the pledge & haven't done so since. Yet another example of why it's good to question everything, and follow your gut.
Sep 15, 2005
I have only recently begun to fully grasp the extent to which GWB missed an opportunity that comes as often as a flood in a desert.
Encouraging the maturation of the "world culture" towards a global society with fully respected international organizations who's members work in concert, with established agreements, procedures, & visions - no matter how idealistic they may seem today - should be a top priority for every government, especially for the US government, today's single world power.
My insistence of this goal for US governments has various roots - the strongest being the impossibility for the US to maintain its Superpower position indefinitely. Should the transition away from Superpower status take any shape other than towards internationalism, the US will likely suffer greatly as the transfer of power occurs. The US will not go down without a fight & it will be in that fight that small cuts will become gaping wounds.
Sep 11, 2005
This statement is as true today as it was in 1933. Too bad our fearless leader doesn't read.
"It also follows that the continued policy of aloofness would not only injure all mankind, but harm the United States as well."
A. Einstein ca. 1933
From "Out of My Later Years" a collection of essays by Albert Einstein.
Kurt Vonnegut on Art in Public Schools
Interviewer: You are an artist, I mean you have incorporated drawings in your own books; How important has art been to your work?
Kurt Vonnegut: Well its a perfectly agreeable innocent thing to do and it's a way of being human.
What I hate about public school systems that cut out the arts because they're not a way to make a living - it is such a human thing to do and it is the experience of becoming - if you make something that wasn't in the universe before.
And that feels so good to human beings and to cheat kids out of that- is criminal. Everybody should be painting now, or drawing, or whatever, just as they should be singing & taking walks, or falling in love, or whatever - it's so human, and not to teach kids how to do this is to cheat them, terribly.
---
I wrote this transcript after being really moved by this particular segment in a pretty good interview done on NPR. You can listen to the entire interview here.
---
My own minor observation... I find the question posed by the interviewer to be a rather poor choice of words. The question seems to suppose that Vonnegut's drawings used in his books are art, but that the books themselves aren't art.
It Reminds me of a comment which often drove my friend Bruno crazy in college. He was a photo major, but he also loved to draw. When people would stop by our dorm room (which doubled as a large art studio) and see his drawings, they'd say, "oh, so you also do art, how nice." Presupposing that photography isn't art.
It's funny how often what people are exposed to as children remains with them throughout life. In most American schools, "art class" means you're going to play with paint, and maybe study paintings. Writing, another form of art, is tought in "English class", while music & song , yet other forms of art, are tought in "band / chorus / music class(es)." All the while, the idea that these are all art forms are lost on the kids - most of whom are pushed by their teachers, parents, and society (in general), to treat these courses as chores - a task on a check list that must be completed with all of the other requirements in order to move on to the next list - with the ultimate goal: finding a trade.
It really urks me when I go to museums (anywhere around the world) and can easily pick out the American families. They're usually the ones with the least appreciation for what they're looking at, and I frequently get the impression that their being in the museum is just one more thing to check off the list, one more thing to talk about with their friends back home - often using it as a gauge of how wonderful they are as parents, exposing their kids to "culture." The parents are often uncomfortable explaining to their children what is beautiful about an image of a naked man or woman, as our puritan society seeks to brandish any images of sexuality. While at the same time when the children show excitement about a particular piece, they are hurried along, not allowed to simply enjoy the stimulation caused by another human being's vision. Why? "Because we paid to come into this museum; we're going to get our money's worth - and see every damn thing they got in here - and still make it to our dinner reservations on time!"
My highschool, which had good funding for arts programs, never understood the concept of embracing all forms of art under one general umbrella. Photography and cinema (OK, T.V.) were administered by the technology department - a department who's courses were reserved for students who otherwise would have dropped out, but were given "vocational skills" such as car repair. I for one was strongly advised not to take photography, or TV while in high school because I was an "honors student" and wasn't supposed to waste my time there. I'm glad that my intuition (which often got/gets me in trouble) even at a young age, told me to question everything - especially when listening to authority figures.
And the brainwashing begins... From a young age our future is being trained to take adversarial positions, as opposed to approach "perceived" conflict with a conciliatory tone
Sep 6, 2005
Not too long ago I blogged about how the entertainment industry doesn't seem to like technology, and has chosen to pick a fight with their own customers. This is something that I've been talking about for a while now.
Well, finally things are turning around. Starz now offers what, on the face, seems like a good service: http://starz.real.com/partners/starz/starz.html
Two drawbacks off the bat:
1. Only works with a PC, no Mac's... yet.
2. Only works w/RealPlayer.
I haven't tried it yet, but here's an account from a good friend:
Quoting (friend):
> Ok, now I know cable is screwed. I signed up, within 10 minutes I was
> watching a full quality movie. They have a so-so selection, but I'm sure it
> will expand. I will likely subscribe to this, it's faster and more
> convenient than downloading off bittorrent! =)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Steven Kalifowitz [mailto:steve@kalifowitz.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2005 8:55 PM
> Subject: Holy Crap!
>
> http://starz.real.com/partners/starz/starz.html
>
It's the local official's fault for the late Fed. response...
Sep 5, 2005
It's remarkable how many Bush lovers have had the balls to say that it's the fault of local officials that the situation in N.O. got as bad as it did. Here's my take on it:
What's so sick about claiming that local officials are to blame is that in effect, the feds are saying either:
1. The feds weren't keeping track of the storm, and as such, because the local officials didn't ask for help, how were the feds supposed to know help was needed?
or
2. The feds knew what was going on with the storm, but because of beurocracy, didn't want to step on the toes of local authorities, so they sat back, didn't get prepared, and waited for local authorities to call up before they moved into action.
Either case is unacceptable. A good bus-boy in a restaurant is always watching the waiter and the customers, and is there with a napkin or whatever else he/she knows will be required - 2 seconds before the waiter, or the customer asks for it. The same should be expected from the Feds, who have more money, resources, and power than any organization in the world to predict, plan, and mobilize.
If one wants to split hairs over who's responsibility it was to pick up the phone first - FEMA should have been on the phone w/local officials - making sure that the locals understood the magnitude of the hurricane, and that they were evacuating properly, at the ready to cover the bases locals weren't/couldn't cover.
May Zarathustra help us when the next wide-spread terrorist attack hits... I know Dumbya won't.
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