Jonestown: From Silver Lake To Suicide
 The LA Weekly has a piece out this week by Barry Isaacson about the discovery earlier this year of a number of letters sent by a Jonestown resident to her parents, who lived in LA's Silver Lake neighborhood. Phyllis and her family were dead for more than a decade by the time her elderly parents moved out of their house in Silver Lake in 1992. Architectural real estate agents had to bring the exquisite midcentury modern on Micheltorena Street back from the brink of decrepitude before selling it to my wife, Jenny, and me. Handing over the keys, they told us that, according to neighborhood folklore, the Alexanders might have left behind a concealed suitcase containing correspondence from their long-dead daughter and grandchildren. We looked but found nothing, and having been made aware of the circumstances of this family’s demise, we felt reluctant to intrude on an almost unimaginable grief. But this past February, 10 years after we started to raise a family of our own where the Alexanders had raised theirs, a handyman working on our house emerged from the basement carrying a dusty vinyl briefcase. Inside was an extensive collection of press clippings, evidence of an almost obsessive attempt by the Alexanders to make sense of their daughter’s fatal acts of bad judgment. In a separate envelope were letters written by Phyllis from San Francisco and later from Jonestown, Guyana, where she and her husband had moved with their children in 1975. There were fond letters to their grandparents from Gail and David. The most moving document in the cache was a carbon copy of a painful valediction from Dr. Alexander to Phyllis, written on an old manual typewriter on September 21, 1977. Tenderly, but with eloquent firmness, he reprimands her, perplexed and offended by her embrace of Jim Jones, the deviant cuckoo who had flown into the Alexanders’ nest and whom Phyllis and her fellow Peoples Temple members called “Dad.”
RIAA Lawsuits May Be Unconstitutional
Harvard law professor Charles Nesson is arguing, in court, that the Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999 is unconstitutional: He makes the argument that the Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999 is very much unconstitutional, in that its hefty fines for copyright infringement (misleadingly called "theft" in the title of the bill) show that the bill is effectively a criminal statute, yet for a civil crime. That's because it really focuses on punitive damages, rather than making private parties whole again. Even worse, it puts the act of enforcing the criminal statute in the hands of a private body (the RIAA) who uses it for profit motive in being able to get hefty fines.Imagine a statute which, in the name of deterrence, provides for a $750 fine for each mile-per-hour that a driver exceeds the speed limit, with the fine escalating to $150,000 per mile over the limit if the driver knew he or she was speeding. Imagine that the fines are not publicized, and most drivers do not know they exist. Imagine that enforcement of the fines is put in the hands of a private, self-interested police force, that has no political accountability, that can pursue any defendant it chooses at its own whim, that can accept or reject payoffs in exchange for not prosecuting the tickets, and that pockets for itself all payoffs and fines. Imagine that a significant percentage of these fines were never contested, regardless of whether they had merit, because the individuals being fined have limited financial resources and little idea of whether they can prevail in front of an objective judicial body. Another news story. Originally from Schneier on Security by schneier reBlogged by caleb waldorf on Nov 19, 2008, 11:33AM
Qaeda Mouthpiece: We're Blacker than Barack
Al Qaeda used to be the kings of propaganda, outmaneuvering the American media machine at every turn. Now, it's clear the terror group's information operators have stumbled, big time. The latest misstep: calling President-elect Barack Obama a "house Negro." That's right. The guys who used to kill people, just to get their death on tape, have been reduced to name-calling. "You represent the direct opposite ofhonorable black Americans like Malik al-Shabazz, or Malcolm X," Al Qaeda #2 Ayman al-Zawahiri tells Obama in a newly-released video. "You were born to a Muslim father, but youchose to stand in the ranks of the enemies of the Muslims, and pray theprayer of the Jews, although you claim to be Christian." "Malik al-Shabazz (may Allah have mercy on him) was killed,while you have climbed the rungs of the presidency to take over theleadership of the greatest criminal force in the history of mankind," Zawahiri adds. "Andin you and in Colin Powell, Rice and your likes, the words of Malcolm X(may Allah have mercy on him) concerning 'House Negroes' are confirmed." Why go after Obama? Well, "say you’re an al Qaeda supporter and have given your time, money, sons, or sympathies to the group because you believe al Qaeda is an effective counterweight to the Great Satan," Jim Arkedis notes. "You might begin to doubt America’s Great Satan-ness if the country is so bold as to elect Barack Hussein Obama as its next president." Nearly a year before he was elected president, in fact, Obama was already starting to change America's image in the world.
Piracy, Live at Sea
 [Image: A screen-grab of the Live Piracy Map].With all the talk of piracy at sea, it was only a matter of time before the Live Piracy Map was developed. According to its creators, the map "shows all the piracy and armed robbery incidents reported to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre during 2008." It's the geography of aquatic crime, mapping realtime adventures in buoyant larceny.  [Image: From the Live Piracy Map].This incident report corresponds to the map, above. The report describes the attempted hijacking of a chemical tanker: Two white hull boats with several persons onboard approached aggressively a chemical tanker underway with intent to board. Master raised alarm, increased speed, took evasive manoeuvres and contacted coalition forces. SSAS activated and crew mustered. The boats keep on following and at 0700 UTC, the boats aborted the attempt. These incident reports should be rewritten and assembled somewhere to form a new minor literature of the 21st-century sea; like Félix Fénéon's awesome Novels in Three Lines, each report will be a small masterpiece of plotting, set in the tidal landscapes of a feral coast. There will be heroes and antiheroes, evasions and threats.  [Image: From the Live Piracy Map].Until then, just look up your favorite maritime hijacking via the Live Piracy Map – and wait till the next incident pops up. Originally from BLDGBLOG by Geoff Manaugh reBlogged by caleb waldorf
Six foot rubber band for only $5.50!
Over on Boing Boing Gadgets, our John's spotted a six foot long rubber band for only $5.50!! Three or four of these and your Thanksgiving entertainment prep is done.  A six foot long rubber band hardly qualifies as a gadget except in the loosest interpretation of the term, but still... many uses thoughtfully present themselves, not the least of which is a Wile E. Coyote like scenario in which it is secured about a nemesis' ears, stretched taut around an anvil, then released. That's a lot of fun for $5.50.
Giant rubber band has ACME possibilities,Discuss this on Boing Boing Gadgets
  
 Originally from Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow reBlogged by caleb waldorf on Nov 17, 2008, 12:12PM
Guidelines for Cats
 Cats have rules for their lives, they just don’t want to tell you about them. James S. Huggins has compiled a list of these guidelines. For example:
The humans would have you believe that those lumps under the covers are their feet and hands. They are lying. They are actually Bed Mice, rumored to be the most delicious of all the mice in the world, though no cat has ever been able to catch one. Rumor also has it that only the most ferocious attack can stun them long enough for you to dive under the covers to get them. Maybe YOU can be the first to taste the Bed Mouse!
Link -via the Presurfer Originally from Neatorama by Miss Cellania reBlogged by caleb waldorf on Nov 18, 2008, 9:02AM
The Permission Nazis, at it again (this time they're artists)
via Deutche-Welle: Internet | 21.10.2008by Trinity Hartman
Google might reign as the unchallenged king of German search engines,but a lawsuit over the company's popular image search feature bringsinto question the rights of German artists in the Internet age.Michael Bernhard makes his living photographing celebrities andmodels for German magazines. Exclusivity pays his rent, which meansthat he doesn't want his copyrighted works turned loose on the Internet. So when his photographs kept showing up on Google Image Search,which indexes and displays pictures as small thumbnails, Bernhard wentto his attorney, Matthies van Eendenburg. "To me it seems to be pretty clear that there is no legal permissionfor this kind of usage," van Eendenburg told Deutsche Welle. "If youspread these pictures around the Internet, one of his sources of profitis endangered."
Artissima: America's Family Prison
 The 15th edition of Artissima, the international fair of contemporary art in Turin, closed yesterday. 128 galleries from 19 different countries gathered under the roof of the city's historic FIAT factory building at Lingotto.
The event is certainly not as glamorous as Frieze nor is it as vibrant, invigorating and edgy as Art Forum Berlin. Artissima nevertheless scores a few points in the 'emerging galleries and artists' category and i'm going to document some of them this week. Prometeo Gallery put up the most exciting show. but that's just my opinion and i lose any pretense to be objective the minute i see the name of Santiago Sierra on a wall. Prometeo is also representing Regina José Galindo, a Guatemalan performance artist who received the Golden Lion award at the Venice Biennale in 2005, in the category of "artists under 30", for a video (click only if you're very brave!) that depicted the surgical reconstruction of her hymen. Galindo's performances address social injustice, gender discrimination, racism and the governmental atrocities of her own country. In March 2008, she enrolled her family in a performance that protested against the U.S.' booming industry of private prisons. 
Regina José Galindo, America's Family Prison, 2008. Portable jail cell, trailer. Installation external view
Resampled Space
 [Image: Photo by Filip Dujardin, courtesy of the artist].Belgian photographer Filip Dujardin makes images of unexpected buildings – that is, he "combines photographs of parts of buildings into new, fictional, architectonic structures," Mark Magazine explains. The resulting projects look like old factory sites in the American rust belt – Mark describes them as "informal and often dilapidated structures with unspecified functions" – or, in some cases, new projects by LOT-EK, Simon Ungers, or OMA.  [Image: Photo by Filip Dujardin, courtesy of the artist].From Mark Magazine: Every montage, says Dujardin, is one project. It begins with an idea for a specific image. Often he starts off by building a model of the form he is trying to achieve – at first in cardboard, but he has recently discovered SketchUp. He then goes on a photo safari, often just around the corner, to find suitable buildings "with a lot of the same things," so that they can be cut and pasted and serve as building material. In fact most of the fictional structures are buildings in Ghent, just resampled There seem to be multiple sub-themes, and even sub-projects, within the larger effort. There are surreal detached structures, for instance, like the image that opens this post, standing free amidst a recognizable but anonymous landscape. In some of these we see that even geological forms become subject to resampling.  [Image: Photo by Filip Dujardin, courtesy of the artist].But then there are also what could be called a back series – that is, the backs of incredible buildings whose facades you can barely imagine. These are groves of architecture, weird islands of form, like the city as seen from a rail line: sheds and retaining walls, stained by rain, their bricks chipped away behind piles of rubbish, their corrugated steel repeating ever onward in infinite ridges.     [Images: Photos by Filip Dujardin, courtesy of the artist].Then there are Dujardin's relatively well-known images of impossible structures, buildings made from ambitious cantilevers and strained central masts. They form vertical braidworks of halls and corridors woven through the sky above otherwise empty parks and dead fields.    [Images: Photos by Filip Dujardin, courtesy of the artist].As Dujardin comments to Mark Magazine, "Perhaps the works come out of frustration. That I actually want to play at being an architect, instead of only recording the buildings of others." You can read more about the photographer on his website.  [Image: Photo by Filip Dujardin, courtesy of the artist].(Related: Fictional ruins from fictional worlds). Originally from BLDGBLOG by noreply@blogger.com (Geoff Manaugh) reBlogged by caleb waldorf on Nov 8, 2008, 5:27AM
A month of Heretics, and a minute of speed metal
The first installment of John Hogan’s HERETICS featured Roman Catholic missionaries singing about star-crossed love and mermaid vomit, the Pope in a paper hat with a backup band, and something that can only be described as a hair-rat. And it was amazing! Join us this coming Sunday at 6pm to find out what happens next in this musical mini-series. If you missed the first episode, don’t worry, we’ll catch you up with updates and pictures here, soon: http://machineproject.com/2008/10/16/heretics ALSO! Machine Project is looking for the ultimate black/speed/grind/doom metal guitarist. Must be able to play riffs along the lines of Cradle of Filth, Gorgoroth, Children of Bodom, Celtic Frost, Slayer, Napalm Death. Must be able to play beyond fast. Must be able to sound insane. Must have own guitar and amp. The chosen guitarist will perform 1 minute of speed metal, every hour on the hour from noon to 8pm (8 performances/8 minutes total), beneath a remotely located replica of a gothic arch during Machine Project’s show at LACMA on November 15th. Pays $100 for the day. Email us a sample at machine@machineproject.com. Video footage is preferred, but we’ll also take a picture and mp3. Auditions are on Saturday at Machine Project at the following times: Saturday, November 8th
12pm - 1pm
7pm-8pm Machine Project
1200-D North Alvarado Street
Los Angeles, CA 90026 Long hair encouraged, wizardry is mandatory. Please call or email with any questions — machine@machineproject.com, 213.483.8761 
Originally from machine project by markallen reBlogged by caleb waldorf on Nov 7, 2008, 5:14PM
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