Fireplug in Los Angeles - Lumiere Video

I had stopped by to check out Andreas and his new project over at Lumiere Videos. I like the idea of playing with constraints with video. But my life is going full tilt so I didn't think I'd get an opportunity to contribute.



Windows Video

QuickTime Video

Here Are The Rules:

• 60 seconds max.
• Fixed camera
• No audio
  
• No zoom
• No edit
• No effects

It just so happened that I was walking down the street in Los Angeles. Cars were coming every which way. I was thinking 101 thoughts when I almost saw it but walked past it. Something caught my attention and I knew I had my moment.

It felt right. I turned around and started my camcorder.

There is the contradictions of waste and plenty. The cement and the will of plants to break the cement. Isolation in the middle of a busy Saturday afternoon. And in a strange way, a bit of hope. I hope that I continue to learn to slow down and look at my environment.

7/22/07 - I goofed up and forgot to strip the audio the first time. Not good at the rules thing.

24 Hours For Darfur - What Do You Have To Say

I have to go to the Salt Mine but this is important. Please stop by Beth Kanter's post on BlogHer about folks creating video awareness for the people of Darfur. You can also visit http://www.24hoursfordarfur.org

You can watch some of the videos that have already been created by visiting http://www.24hoursfordarfur.org/videos.php

Dang, gotta go.

The NOmadjik Bus - On the Mobile News Network

So much good stuff is happening I can't keep track. Just got this heads up about a fantastic project from Flux Rostrum.

The goal of the project for those that can't see the video is that an old school bus will be converted into a traveling journalism media center. There will be places on the bus to hook up laptops and camcorders. There will be places to sleep and every once in a while a dance might bus out on the roof.

The bus will be converted into a veggie oil fuel vehicle and there will be a satellite cuz the next natural or un-natural event of nature that hits in the lower 48 states may disrupt the power grid as we know it.

Like all good underground media projects that are rising to the surface they need just a little cash flow. If you can put a latte's worth of cash into the tip jar it would be much appreciated. The project needs about $2,000. I'm figuring if 1,000 people like the idea and drop $2 we can get it done.

For more information about the NOmajik Bus or to make a contribution visit
http://mobilebroadcastnews.com/blog/5

Photocopy Meme - The Sex Life of An Electron

Way before the Internet, even before BBS there were photocopy memes. These gems were secretly photocopied by bored, tired or otherwise underutilized employees to share a bit of levity with their co-workers.

We didn't ask them to do this mind you. In fact 9 times out of 10 these photocopy memes got balled up in the trash or stuffed in a drawer and forgotten. So when you hear the old folks yammer on about the coarseness of the times I want to you whip this baby out and smile as you reminded them of days gone by. Maybe from a distance cuz some of our great-grands still have a mean right hook.

I'm trying to increase my prosperity level which means something has got to go. I release, for historical purposes only, in glorious Courier:

The Sex Life of An Electron

On night when he was pretty high, Micro Farad decided to try and get a cute little coil to let him discharge. He picked up Millie Amp and took her for a ride on his megacycle. They rode across the Wheatstone Bridge around the sine wave and stopped in a magnetic field b a flowing current.

Micro, attracted by Millie's characteristic curves, soon had his resistance at a minimum and his field fully excited. He laid her on the ground potential, praised her frequency, lowered her capacitance, and pulled out his high voltage probe. He inserted it into her socket, connecting them in parallel, and began to short circuit her shunt.

Fully excited, Millie said "MHO, MHO, Give me MHO!" With his tube operating at maximum peak and her coil vibrating at resonance from the flow of current, she soon reached maximum peak. The excess current flow had gotten her hot and Micro was rapidly discharged and drained of every electron.

They fluxed all night, trying various connections and sockets until his bar magnet had lost all its field strength. Afterwards, Millie tried self induction and damaged her solenoid. With his battery fully discharged, Micros was unable to excite his generator, so the ended up by reversing polarity and blowing each other's fuses.

Watt A Night!

Soiling the Sandbox - What Do I Do With My Anger

This is an example of a spammer destroying a wiki page.

This is (or was) a wiki for folks to share information about videoblogging and related matters. It was an open wiki, meaning that if you had something to share you could sign up and post your information. No gatekeepers.

I contributed on and off and wrote a section about Screencasting. I've restored it but the maggot will be back. He has also added pages about cell phone and ringtones which has nothing to do with the topic.

Because it is open anyone, including this "entrepreneur" has decided to infest the wiki with links to pharmaceuticals and ringtones. He, she or more to the point, It is also infesting the Milwaukee School of Engineering, the Plasma, Science and Fusion Center at MIT, and the Engineering department of Brown University in their forum sections. Not hard to figure out, the links all lead back to those schools.

Well, this is pretty good company to be miserable in but damn! I'm angry because when a person does a search for screencasting this page comes to the top. I don't want them to see spam. There is no legitimacy in stealing for your profits.

I don't want some dumb dispirit person giving spammers money for a product that has to be prescribed by a doctor in the first place.

I want to say to the person "What part of bone head move don't you understand. It not what you think it is and considering the source (think far east and turn left) do you really want to risk ingesting some form of plastic or pesticide for a potential temporary rise in action?"

I have an old website that I'm going to rehabilitate and place it there, soon as I remember how to write in HTML. Here is why I am angry. Since I have started blogging/vlogging I have met some wonderful people. Pro-active people. Same kind of folks I encounter in the corporeal world.

It make me crazy to see a human turn something positive turned into something negative. It always has, it always will. My solution is do more positive stuff to counter balance the negative flow. It is a good solution but it doesn't stop me from wanting to beat the hell out of this person.

Yeah, I won't be ascending to Buddha level anytime soon.

The Truth is Glass - L.A. Convention Center

This is a video round up of my experience. I saw many things.

I have to say that I am glad that I went but it was the most un-erotic place I've ever been. Not to say that there wasn't items of interest but I think an opportunity has been missed.

This is the 11MB Windows Version

This is the 30MB QuickTime Video

The event was billed for couples, meaning women folk could attend and not get grossed out. I'd say the ratio was about 60% men and 40% women.

There were Booth Rabbits as well as Booth Bunnys. Just not enough Booth Rabbits. And there was DVD all over the joint selling for $2. I looked in the boxes. Sigh. How many times can you witness women practicing their oral exercises?

Yeah, I know fellas, I know. Never enough.

I'm still kicking myself for not getting that Sci-Fi CGI video for $10. But to be honest, I was looking at it more for analyzing the CGI techniques rather than the content.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I'm a reader so maybe it is me but there wasn't even DVD stuff I'd take a chance on for $2.

There were companies that didn't belong at the event. Teeth whitening? Realtors? Erectile Dysfunction vendors? What guy is going to walk up to an ED table at a Poontang show and say the magic words, "Can you help me?"

Ok, the caterer to Malibu Moms #4 was way cool, he should definitely come back next year. His stuff tasted very good.

There were products designed for the female persuasion but I had to walk from here to Padumpadump to find them.

Special shout out to local female friendly vendors such as Freddy and Eddy, Babeland (whose booth I couldn't find but I've been to the store) and The Pleasure Chest. These are good places to buy products and to check out the latest gadgets. They also have workshops and seminars.

But I don't think they have a silicone guy doll yet.

Who Wasn't There?

I'd think you'd want to invite condom makers like Trojan. Nope. No samples, no product information, cuz there was no Trojan or any other condom company.

I fully expected some of the safe sex organizations to be there but there were none in attendance. I covered that hall, let me tell you and there should have been a booth on safe sex practices. I know there are issues with the industry but this was an opportunity for outreach.

Lemme see, the de-sexing of the sexual. Between the warning signs (you could not touch, you could not flash skin and they would take your camera if you got caught snapping someone that did), the LAPD presence (they didn't look happy to be there and showed it) and the ever vigilant eyes of security that made sure nobody touched nothing corporeal it was as if you were looking at stuff through an invisible plexiglass door.

With the exception of the Art Show it was desaturated of energy. I don't know if that is a good thing or not. The repression continues...

Will I go next year? I don't think so. I'm too short to see over tall people's heads so I couldn't see the Zumanity performance or any of the stage shows.

As the show progressed it got more and more crowded. The more tall men packed the hall the less I was able to see. Maybe if they make changes to accommodate more single women and have more products that are easy to find.

Automatons at the L.A. Convention Center

Here is where vlogging get to be problematic. I recorded video of a silicon doll. She is not real. But she is anatomically correct except for the size 40 rack on her frame which I'm figuring is creative license by the designers or one of her selling points.

And people were touching her, er it, the automaton. And I don't think Leloo (that is her name) liked some of the ways she was being touched.

No this isn't clear. Let me try again.

So I'm walking around the convention center looking for straight women tools and technology for the unattached and under serviced. Now this is tricky stuff cuz I had to be mindful of navigation.

Men folk will come to a dead stop for a dancing partially clad woman. It was amazing. Not only will they come to a dead stop and snap photos but other dudes, fearful that they might be missing something good will dive into the black hole, not knowing what is on the other side.

And like entropy, a mass builds and then chaos destroys it (the dance ends) and they go their separate ways until the next dancer makes happy with the pole. As a female person you don't want to be standing in the middle of a crowd of men watching a show girl slinging hash.

Not that they will pay one whit of attention to you. I don't want to imply it was not safe. I'm just saying there was a collective rise in temperature and testosterone that needed to be respected.

So I'm cruising around the floor and I notice people are putting their camera's on a tripod and siting with a full size female doll. Non-vinyl. And from a distance without my glasses she looks, "real." Except she is not.

As I'm standing there are people walking up to a doll on the table. Some only touch her toes. A few give her leg a solid grip. A few women conducted a finger inspection of the lower area, both fore and aft. I wish to point out, they knew where to look.

The fellas, oh, my goodness. I can see first hand why some of you don't get a second chance after the first time at bat. You can't grab those 40's like you picking up a quart of motor oil. There were pinchers, slappers and clampers.

There were also massagers, (god bless 'em) smoothers and those gentlemen that took their time which is never a bad thing. Get the lay of the land and understand the territory.

I should show this to cultural anthropologists or something. Yeah, so where is the video?

I can't show it until I learn how to use the fuzz filter to block out faces. I don't have permission to show you the participants and it is not fair to them even though the event stated that by entering you give your consent to being recorded. When I get that figured out I will post it.

If you want to know more about the next evolution of non-human acquired companionship (and you have $4,900) You should go here.

Art and Eros at the L.A. Convention Center

It was a Friday afternoon. A friend was driving me home from work. I mentioned that I might go to the Convention center. He told me to take lots of photos. Probably wanted me to snag him some DVD's too.

I told him that I'm probably not going to be taking pictures of half naked women. If I did this it would be of booth rabbits and half naked men. "Then what is the point of going?" he replied.

Hmm. What was the point of going and paying cash money to see stuff of a carnal nature?


Windows Media Video Version

QuickTime Video Version

Well, to say that I checked it out. To say that it met or did not meet my preconceived notions of this kind of event and to learn something I didn't know.

I have some answers for him. Unexpected answers. For one thing, I did not expect to see a gallery of art at this exhibition. When the floor traffic got heavy or congested it was a great place to duck into for a bit of sanctuary.

That didn't last long because other folks wandered in to check out the art. It was like any gallery show. Some good, some base level and a couple of exceptional pieces. They had to be, they cost at least $4,500 and up.

The piece that I like the best was the white marble with the hips and thighs just like mine! Representation, that's what I'm talking about. Fair is fair.

In this video I wanted to show some of the art from the X-Art Gallery. There are statues and sculptures and paintings and photographs and one brief CG animation.

The images are of an explicit nature. Seriously explicit. If you have trouble with naked fruit of a human nature you aren't gonna like this. Absolutely not safe for work.

The music is from blues man Charley Jordan with a rousing rendition of "Keep It Clean." It ain't. I'm still working on the words but how he got "Yes", to rhyme with the back of my front is a puzzlement.

Evolve Ad - What You Won't See On TV

We need to see the condom advertisements on broadcast television.

This should be a no-brain common sense good business decision. I see ads for Victoria Secret with half fed women bouncing in orgiastic wonderment about a bra and panty set.

I see women getting killed, whacked, assaulted and "disappeared" on most TV crime dramas. I am constantly exposed to the needs of "men" in the pursuit of "women". Daytime television is filled with people having simulated sex especially on the soap operas.

Condoms help protect people from sexually transmitted diseases. If you are willing to sell sex to gain ratings then you should be able to sell products that help people stay safe. Simple but simple can be hard to achieve in a sexually repressive culture.

http://www.trojanevolve.com

Puppeteers in Flight - Phantom Galleries L.A.

You are walking along and you think you see something but you are pressed for time.

Or you are standing waiting for the bus and there is something out of the ordinary, a shift you can't put your finger on but it is present.

In certain cities in Los Angeles there are Phantom Galleries where there use to be retail stores. Until they are rented they act as silent art galleries for many of the local artists.

Click To Play

This is the Windows Media Video version.

This is the QuickTime Video version.

This is a short video of one that I encountered a while back. The artist is Farad Kohan and to see more of his work visit http://www.farzadkohan.com

For more information about the Phantom Galleries Los Angeles visit http://phantomgalleriesla.com

P.S. Thanks for the encouragement and offers of psychic chocolate. I think I did ok on the final and I kept my chocolate consumption to no more than three pieces. All I can tell you is be nice to your local librarian. They work darn hard so you don't have too.

I'm On The Outside Looking In - Day 6

It was ok for a while but I'm cut off from the Blogspot.com domain once again. Just as well. I have a final tomorrow and I need to reduce the distractions available to me. But I gotta tell you, it is hard to snuggle up to the Anglo-American Rules for Cataloging, Revision 2.

You have to use the AACR2 abbreviations for places of publication for the states. They are in the old style postal format. W. Va instead of WV for West Virginia. One down and 49 more to go.

The punctuation is a killer. For example, if I need to describe the physical dimensions of a book I have to type:

300 BB $a 100p. : $b ill. ; $c 23cm. which translates into the book has 100 pages, has illustrations and is 23cm in dimension.

The above is probably not correct. I always get one or two punctuation marks wrong.

And the difference between an authority file, authority record and authority control? You don't really want to know. I'm supposed to know and I'm not even sure what a book is anymore. Tomorrow I have to catalog a book for the final.

I'm doomed. So, I'm not that bummed about Covad, AT&T and the frigging techno glitch that is cramping my style.

Chocolate. I need chocolate.

Survival Skills - Christopher Nyerges Class at PCC

A while back I did a brief post on Christopher Nyerges and his book on Survival Skills. Just wanted to give a head's up to the Pasadena folks that he is conducting a Survival class via Pasadena City College Extension.

Flash Video Version

Windows Media Video

QuickTime Version

This is just a short clip of him explaining why he is teaching these type of classes. According to the summer catalog student will learn about:

• Edible and medicinal plants
• Making fire without matches
• Finding and purifying water
• Survival kits and home supplies
• Primitive and modern shelters

The class will be held on five Fridays starting June 22 to July 20. If you would like to register for the class boogie on over to http://www.pcclearn.org

If you would like to check out Mr. Nyerges web site http://www.christophernyerges.com

Sustainability Project - BlogHer Acts

We take a brief pause from the video upload in progress to take a nod toward a higher purpose.

If you had the power to effect a change in our world what would it be? BlogHer asked the question and I feel compelled to respond. I would want the various communities of the world to have sustainability projects so that there would be consistent employment, a livable community and a love and respect for planet Earth.

Sustainability is not a white thing or an elitist thing or even a green thing. If one community has too much and the other not enough there will be trouble. There is trouble. I would also toss in ethics but I have to keep it to one topic. Wait, I got it, ethical sustainability.

If the fuel depletion projections are accurate then there will be lack. Where there is lack there is exploitation, war and violence against women and children. The men folk don't do so well either.

So, I think this is the time where we have to look to create a community - real world in real time folks - that starts with respect for the planet and the people that are on it.

We can create food sources in our immediate areas. We can recycle and recreate our waste products. We can employ the members of our society that we have walled off. There are whole cities that have no industry to speak of except the prison industry. We have the tools and the technology. We can do better.

We must. So in the spirit of BlogHer Acts I would like to propose a focus on equal opportunity ethical sustainability projects. Go Green and all colors in-between but let's cut the crap and get to work.

What The Heck Is This About?

BlogHer is a grand gathering of women folks and some men folks who are gathered together in an electronic community of bloggers.

From the Website:

BlogHers Act will take on two things --

1. Making a difference on a single global cause

2. Identifying the top four issues that women online want the U.S. Presidential candidates to address in order to win our votes in the ‘08 Election.

Imagine the opportunity that’s in all of our hands right now.

All of us know the positive, productive, monumental ACTION of bloggers, especially women bloggers, when rallying around a problem, an issue or an event. Since we started blogging a few years back, we’ve witnessed - and been so lucky to be a part of - countless moments, big and small, when bloggers worked together to make a difference.

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Mywaves Customer Experience - Pixelodeon 2007

I feel funny writing this. I just purchased a talk/text messaging cell phone this weekend. I don't like cell phones. I've made a total of one call. I really don't like them when people attempt to dial as they drive as I am crossing the street with a solid green light.

I do like that N93 cell phone that Rupert uses for Twittervlog, however Americans currently cannot buy that cell phone. That is more video camera envy more than anything having to do with cell phones.

Windows Media Video

QuickTime Video

But I'm taking one step at a time. Attending Susan's session has opened my mind to some of the possibilities of positive usage. In this next video Susan Cashen talks about the customer side of the experience of using Mywaves.com.

One of the things I like about it is the "private channels" where the user can control the privacy level of the content. I can sense that a few folks are gonna get busted because they didn't take the time to read the freaking instructions on partitioning their inflammatory content.

Susan From MyWaves - Pixelodeon 2007

Video content is no longer confined to a room or a box. Mobile phone video is a growing opportunity for viewers and content providers to have another platform for viewing videos.

Susan Cashen from Mywaves.com gave a presentation about the company that she works for and some of the advantages of hooking up with Mywaves.com. One of the advantages is that it is a free, non-carrier dependent service.

Windows Media Video

QuickTime Video

In this segment, Susan introduces the participants on the viewership of mobile phone content, what they like to look at and how they spend their money.

If you want more info check out the main site at http://www.mywaves.com/site/tour.html

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L.A. Bloggers Still Locked Out By AT & T Day 3

Very frustrating. Google knows we have a problem. Earthlink is coming to consciousness and confirms there is a problem. Covad? Problem? AT&T? What problem and what is a blog?

Speculation is that some body or entity locked out the .blogspot.com domain for the Los Angeles area. Folks can't even get into support.blogspot.com or status.blogspot.com

Grrrr. Just a reminder that any L.A. blogspot.com blogger can't see their own pages or visit any other blospot.com sites. I can upload content. I can receive comments.

I can't visit my own blog. I can't respond back via comments or check out your blogs. This is the best that I can do:

• Dwacon - Heck Yeah, Fast butter in the city and Larry Daily rocked!
• Rob - thanks, glad it was useful stuff
• Velvet Brick - It's killing me that I haven't gotten an answer to you. I needed to e-mail you to ask questions on who is your video web host and the format that you are recording. But I can't get to your site to get your contact information.

Ski-Ter and Corey at Pixelodeon 2007

I have more good stuff from the session that Corey Tyler and Ski-Ter gave at Pixelodeon 2007.

In this video Ski-Ter is talking about the positive support that Veoh has given them, about how they want to move to the next level and the skills that Can We Do That.Net has helped them develop.

This is the Windows Media Video

This is the QuickTime Video

They also stressed the positive aspects of networking and cooperative effort with each other and other vloggers and video producers.


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Corey and Ski-Ter at Pixelodeon

I know a lot of folks who wanted to go to the event would like the opportunity to view the various screenings. Hey, there were screenings I couldn't make and I was there!

The good news is that screenings are being prep for on-line viewing. Soon as more of us recover we'll put the word out on where you can view the collection.

This is the Windows Media Video

This is the QuickTime Video

There were many Do It Yourself sessions at Pixelodeon in addition to the screenings. These guys almost made me miss my own session. Corey Tyler and Ski-Ter of http://canwedothat.net gave an excellent talk about taking control of your career, putting your production out there and walking your talk.

They should know. All of them are professional actors. Even if you have no desire to be on the commercial side of the video business you need to know what these young men are saying.

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On the Outside Looking In...

Hiya folks. I have a bunch of stuff to upload. Unfortunately AT&T the Los Angeles branch is having problems. I can't access my own or any other BlogSpot pages. Other L.A. based bloggers are having the same problems.

We can get comments, we can see profiles. We just can't see our own blogs!

Hopefully this will be fixed soon. In the meantime I am learning how to upload video blindfolded.

The Memory Slides - Pixelodeon 2007

These are images in my head. These are my touch points that have occurred and I don't know what to do with them.

This is the Windows Media Video

This is the QuickTime Video

If you didn't get to go http://pixelodeonfest.com they might not mean anything to you. If you know some of the people or places they will have a touch point inside of you. If not, here are some snaps to music.

These are some of my touch points that I have stories to tell at another time.


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