Tea Leaves

Via @diemkay

Straight To Video

Some things I take a bit too seriously. And some things I don't. I made the clip above a short while back so that I could test the Twitvid function on Tweetdeck. I bought the sheeps mask and tried it out. It's only worth embedding because I'm not taking myself seriously and it's consistent with the next clip.

Same shit right? Nope.


The trouble is, I have no recollection of doing the one above. I realised the next day something wasn't right as I couldn't recall getting home. Most unusual for me, so I retraced my steps. The main event was buying a couple of pairs of sunglasses from the night market. I did stop off beforehand to have a couple of local spirits called Lao Cow.

It's served in a small shot glass and often coupled with seasonal sour fruits like unripe tamarind pieces or wild berries and then dipped in chilli sugar. It's very blue collar, an acquired taste and most valuable for getting an unvarnished view of the world. I mean talking to people it's hard to normally break the ice with. I don't mean with beer Goggles on.

So as I lost my memory, I thought maybe I'd been spiked or something. But then I remembered a girl joining me who always turns up when I'm around. I roped her into a mini flurry of Lao Cow shots. Nothing that excessive, but definitely more than I've ever had before. I think six shots.

Then all mayhem apparently let loose.

I"m guessing I came home, tweeted about my glasses and then made the Twitvid above. There could easily be lots more carnage judging by the random replies to me on Twitter the next morning. I've still not checked my timeline to piece together the full story but just in case anything abrasive was said or done, I do apologise.

This post is sponsored by @pristyles who sheltered me (most graciously) from harm.

Who Let The Logs Out?

I've always liked politics though it wasn't till I turned my gaze on the United States and began to inhale a lot of political  biography that I discarded with European policy debate. The thing about American political life is that it's the only game in town. Noam Chomsky memorably pointed out in Manufacturing Content that the reason the European Press gets to say a lot more than its transatlantic other half is that they are largely irrelevant. That's the truth of it in much the same way that most E.U. politicians ignore the English Language Xinhua despite a prestigious and ostentatious recent Manhattan office lease deal.

The internet though is proving to be the most creatively fertile and outspoken media aperture ever. Here are two I came across yesterday. I'm usually suspicious of any appropriation of Rap because it gets done so badly but Robert Foster's Juice Media is exceptionally coherent, hip and engaging. 

And lest anyone accuse the internet of dumbing young peoples chances of learning then EconStories.tv is the most polished and tightly edited introduction to Keynesian Economics available anywhere.

I came across this thumb snapping content through the only news media organisation that I watch on screen. I don't have a TV by choice, and Al Jazeera are the most even handed global news service to my mind so I picked up on this via there Listening Post channel on Youtube. Incidentally one of their last shows titled Thais turn to New Media is worth a look.

Motorola

Just because Motorola slit their corporate wrists over RAZR's extended hubris there's no need to take this kind of position given it's mother nature that provides the materials to make their products. Or is this something to do with Motorola realising their rare earth supplies just got fist fucked in China and now they have to resume scrape mining in Mountain Pass, California?

T - Mobile Jumps The Shark

It's got Saatchi & Saatchi Lovemarks all over it hasn't it? I know if they asked me for my homecoming riff, I'd have responded that I get homesick as soon as I'm circling Heathrow ready for landing (I love the smell of the M4 in the morning), but then I find the chap brandishing my name on a card ready to drive me elsewhere a bit of an intrusion, so I'm not the best kind of punter to ask in this instance. 

Life is for sharing. I agree. But everything is contextual too, so shouldn't we be prudent what we share. Like venereal disease.

Here's the an earlier post on the subject.

America Fuck Yeah

Food For Thought

Some lovely soul had this in their feed and I don't recall who, which is a shame because I'd really like to connect a bit deeper with them? Is it you? Leave a comment please.

This TED talk came out in 2007 and I'm surprised I haven't seen it before. Not because I've seen all of them. But because it's the most robust case I've seen argued and presented at TED connected to this topic. You may recall that only recently I was switched on to Raj Patel and his ideas on food sovereignty, and so this is now two exemplary videos on a subject that is integral to our future unless you've bought into that monoculture vision peddled by Monsanto that the Gates Foundation is unfortunately investing in with a view to making profit out of hunger. (Zizek is so right on charity)

I heard a lovely quote earlier today. The people who want to sell you a nice smell are not interested in you. I think that's most interesting in light of the lovely touchy-feely Old Spice work which was responsive, warm, humorous and most importantly championed a seminal dialogue/real-time tone-of-voice (look at him, now look back at me) which could be tapped into later for what is now considered a text book case study for social media in marketing.

OK.... I've been interrupted and lost my train of thought so as I want to come back to paragraph above later. I'll just leave it up there as it will be useful. I hope it's not too distracting but if you find it confusing..... well just be grateful I haven't started mucking around with digital William Burroughs narrative cut up experiments. Not sold? No I don't blame you. Sorry about that.

So my point about this video is that it's so well argued I'm surprised it hasn't surfaced in my lifestream before. What it has done for me this morning is begun to coalesce further, some ideas on marketing, 21st century branding and most importantly reconciling that gap between wealth creation and consumption that nags at my amygdala like a rodent in 1984. 

I wont dip into the structural imbalance of capitalism and growth (I know I'm knee deep in Marx again) but what I will say is that this video re-enforces the point about food being pretty much the only link in the chain which can resolve the full spectrum of 21st century  impending doom.

From  diseases like type two diabetes epidemics in the USA and India, global obesity and starvation (an imbalance capitalism can't fix despite sufficient food being the hallmark of the 20th century) and say the extraordinary influence of big agra, big pharma, big retail and fast food (and yes I still see great work for McDonalds in all this which is why I love them). 

That's a tall claim but if, and if is a fucking huge word I know too well, but if we took all of those things really importantly, and actually we do but we're freaked out by the scale of our individual thoughts vis a vis planetary action. If we we're serious about nailing on the head some of the most pressing challenges of our time then what you and I next put into  our mouths, by hand or by silver cutlery, it doesn't matter. What you put in your mouth is the most influential consideration to make as a consumer ever I'd go as far as to say that once in control of that the word person is a much more powerful noun though we can settle on citizen if you wish.

Problem is, as I know all to very well from putting weight on a bit too quickly for my own liking. If self control over our own body mass is hard as hell to control. Then what chance has collective change got? Slim chance right?

I think there is a way though, and this video just nailed it a bit further for me. I hope you watch it because as I think things through I know I'm going to be asking for your input. I certainly don't have a hope in hell without it.