Friday, January 30, 2009

julia allison

this email i wrote to julia allison is a follow-up to the post on ukulele-julia.

" dear julia,
i was at dld and also saw the panel on story-telling with you. until then i did not know who you are and what you do and i also did not find the time yet to look at your blog properly.
but i was very glad, that dld invited you, since the statments you made were very interesting, to the point and gave me food for thought.
i followed the nasty back and forth on your "question of the day" comment list this afternoon. i wanted to add my positive impressions of you and the oberservations you talked about, but did not find the time to do so until now (since i am german, finding the right words in english takes me a bit longer). since in the meantime you've taken those comments down, it does not really make sense for me to raise the topic again. (and i think you have the absolute right to take them down).
so i write my comment in this email. and if you want me to, i'm happy to copy-paste it in the comment thread.
have a great time in davos

"from a woman in the audience, aged 36

- I had never heared of Julia Allison or nonsociety before. My comment is based on what Julia said on the panel "telling stories" at DLD09.
For me it was one of the most intersting, insightfull and inspring panels of the conference and I am very glad, that Julia and the other speakers on that panel were invited to speak.
Julia is the living proof that the stereotype "short skirt equals small brain" is not true. Her observations are sharp, her conclusions are intelligent, she is independant in her opinion and the way she brings it accross is witty, charming and entertaining.

"Nonsociety is an experiment and I am using myself as a guinea pig" she says "yes, there are consequences which affect your actual life when you break down the forth wall between you and the audience. This is a new form of journalism, it's happening and it will be even more in the future. And judgemnent is a fucking scary thing. But there are consequences to everything, good ones and bad ones."

"When you interact with other people you chose a persona that you have. It's not fake, but the person you are with your boss might not be the person that you are with your boyfriend, might not be the person that you are with your parents or with your girlfriends. They are all you, but you conduct yourself differently. Well, on the internet you only get one choice.
So when I watch politicans go from private citizens to actual politicans, I see them become blander versions of themselves. They choose what pisses of the least number of people. That's why they are so boring."

Question from the audience: "You are becoming more and more popular. How are you going to use your power to help women get ahead in life?"
Her answer: "Young women don't tend to start their own businesses. I don't know why, it also did not occur to me for a long time... This is a huge issue. I tell you the shit I get - no wonder women don't put themselves out there.
The number one thing I am interested in right now is the fact that
women are told they can either be interested in fashion, in makeup, in boys. Or you can be intersted in physics, in engenering, in feminist rights. And I am interested in both. The fact that I like cute outfits doesn't mean I could not compete with any of these guys here on the panel or out there.
Young women should all be in this together, to support each other."

If you want to know more about Julia's thoughts on story telling, on manners in the internet and on commenting in blogs, you can watch the panel in full length.
I finish my comment with a quote from another panel: "Moderating user comments on your blog? Sure. If you invite people to your house to share your life with them, you also don't want them to piss on your living room carpet, do you?"-

and here are notes somebody else took including the comments julia took off her own webpage.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

young chicks / julia

yes, i am not a digital native. but julia is (even if she does not know what twitter is). because she knows how to play around with the digital media and new channels of communication that came with the internet. and she enjoys it. and she is an excellent ukulele player.
when i was a teenager, we did not have these kind of places to develop self-awareness and self-confidence and to learn how to put yourself out there and deal with criticism.
the change that came with the web is already affecting the way women find their place in society. it is a subtle but powerful change. thanks to all the young chicks out there.

two questions

where do you want to wake up?
what do you wish to happen by the end of the day?
the answers.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

matthew herbert

stored-away memories came back, just because there was an ear to listen. they were neither good nor bad, just sad. sad because they were not more than memories. i had a shitty day.
until matthew came along. witty, funny, smart, original, caring and wonderful matthew herbert with his big band and amazing singer eska mtungwazi. a sparkling, entertaining, touching concert. and the way they left the stage, narrowing it down on her voice, was just brilliant.
here's a song he did not play, which is not less beautiful. and a little bit like memories.

yes, you were dating a gay guy.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

why i love youtube

weil sich dort eine merkwürdig schöne spielart des exhibitionismus ausleben kann -wahrscheinlich ist exhibitionsmus auch das falsche wort- und mein voyeurismus nicht nur erlaubt sondern sogar erwünscht ist. i guess that's what you call communication.



Monday, January 12, 2009

physical illusions

try walking in my shoes. ich habe mich oft gefragt, ob man jemals die welt durch die augen eines anderen wird sehen können, sei es auch nur für einen tag. und wie man sich danach daran erinnern muß, damit man diese fremde erfahrung mit der eigenen wahrnehmung vergleichen kann. das scheint ein erster schritt in diese richtung zu sein.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

global warming


Ad for HSBC by Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai ad agency in India.
The agency also understood how to turn Joshua Allen Harris' street art into a clever ad.


Daito Manabe

electric stimulus to face - test3

reminds me of stelarc. i saw him talk at ars electronica in 1997 while people triggered and controlled the movements of his arm via the internet.

bonaparte - too much


you know
too much, too much, too much, too much, too much
much too much, too much, too much, too much
much too much, too much, too much, too much,
too much much

you know james joyce, I like your voice
you know baudelaire, I like your hair
you know churchill, I know kill bill
you know tolstoy, I know playboy
you know politics, I know party chicks
you know wallstreet, I just want to meet
you know common law, I ask my ma
you know sanskrit, come on and say it
you know economy, well I believe in what I see
you know sophie scholl, I love rocknroll
you know algebra, but you wear no bra
do you speak japanese?

you know
too much, too much, too much, too much, too much
much too much, too much, too much, too much
much too much, too much, too much, too much,
too much much

you know so much, so much about everything
all that I know, I know Ive got a song to sing
you know so much, so much about this and that
you know myspace, yourspace, what is the human race?
b-day, d-day, dj, casius clay
batman, spiderman, superman, tarzan
einstein, bernstein, money, money, red wine
eisenhower, beckenbauer, ddr, berliner mauer,
vietnam, guernica, stalingrad, hiroshima,
watergate, waterloo, austerlitz, dien-bien-phu
mao, ho chi minh, valium, amphetamine
you and me and one two three and who could be a refugee?

spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam,
spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam.

you know
too much, too much, too much, too much, too much
much too much, too much, too much, too much
much too much, too much, too much, too much,
too much too much

its so banana, i really just wanna wanna
its so banana, i really just wanna wanna
its so banana, i really just wanna wanna wanna
its so banana but its true

you know
too much, too much, too much, too much, too much
much too much, too much, too much, too much
much too much, too much, too much, too much,
too much - too much

Saturday, January 3, 2009

tableware

these kind of dessert plates, which i found in a little antique shop in bordeaux, were completly new to me. on the top they show a rebus, the solution is on the other side of the plate. these are by the company digoin & sarreguemines and are called assiette parlent (talking plates), assiette rebus or sometimes assiette hitsoriee and are from the 1850s.

"Bonne renommee vaut mieux que ceinture doree."

"Le capitaine Renard a fait un grand pas dans la science de diriger les ballons."

another plate is decorated with an image hidden within an image. in this case the question is: "ou est le cheval?" ("where is the horse"). i could not find it yet, but i found all the hidden images on the other plates so i am sure it is there. this plate has a stamp saying "porcelain opaque de gien" and is from around 1875.

i love the idea, that once the dinner conversation gets boring, you can just stare at your plate or the plate accross the table and solve some riddles.