by cameron | Mar 2, 2008 | science, singularity, Uncategorized
If you haven’t read / aren’t reading Warren Ellis’ work, then you are seriously missing out on one of the most exciting things happening in media (for my money anyway). I only discovered his stuff about a year ago and I’ve become a complete fanboi. Ellis has been writing comics for about 15 years, including some mainstream titles like IRON MAN and FANTASTIC FOUR, but he’s best loved for his original titles such as TRANSMETROPOLITAN (about a Hunter S. Thompson-esque journalist in a dystopian future America), GLOBAL FREQUENCY (about a loosely-coupled team of expert terrorism fighters), and PLANETARY (about a small team of super-powered humans saving the world from the forces of evil, domestic and interstellar). His writing is edgy, political, taps into transhumanism and the singularity, and he usually works with terrific artists who create stunning imagery to flesh-out his stories. He’s got a new web comic called FREAKANGELS which looks like it’s going interesting places as well.
Anyway, this post was prompted by one of his blogs posts this morning (see below) about the Thunderbirds and I was thinking about how shows like that (and, of course, Star Trek), considered camp and silly even at the time by many, inspired a generation. And I was thinking – what are today’s shows which are likely to inspire the next generation of adults to push the boundaries of science, art and business? What shows on TV today are building a vision for a better future, one we can aspire to, strive for, work towards? Most of the shows I love today (or have loved recently), the futuristic shows, are dystopian. BSG, Firefly (RIP)… ummm… hard to think of any others right now. While they each have some cool toys and technologies, I don’t think either of them contain aspirational messages. I do, however, get a lot of aspirational futures from the books I read. Charles Stross, William Gibson, Vernor Vinge – all write about near-term futures which get me bloody excited. But not TV.
Got any suggestions?
| I loved THUNDERBIRDS. Save the world, go back to your island base, get rat-arsed, smoke a thousand cigarettes and hit on the Quality and the Asian girl. These are the lessons tv taught us back then. . I will go now, because Ariana says these notes are taking on the tone of a guy on a desert island talking to his pet coconut. |
|
|
by cameron | Feb 22, 2008 | Cuba, Uncategorized
The Herald Sun. Hardly the bastion of journalism, I know. And this editorial I link to below is a classic example of trashy media.
Just to correct some of their factual errors:
1. Castro was not a dictator by any definition.
2. Castro did not take the world ‘to the brink of nuclear war’ by defending his country with ballistic missiles. That is the right of any country. On the contrary – the United States’ attempt at an illegal invasion of Cuba took the world to the brink of nuclear war.
3. It wasn’t Castro’s actions that “condemned his people to almost Third World status”. It was the actions of the USA. Castro and Che didn’t nationalize American interests in Cuba until after the American government was trying to interfere in the government of the country (in an attempt to bring back to power their puppet Batista).
by cameron | Feb 12, 2008 | Uncategorized
I was having coffee with TPN host Nick Bruse this morning before he and his partner leave tomorrow to travel around South America for six months (anyone want to take over the Cleantech Show on TPN? Ping me). We were talking about the application of nanotechnology to building a cleaner world and I asked Nick if he’d every read K. Eric Drexler’s classic “Engines Of Creation”. He said he hadn’t and told me I should post my library up online. It got me thinking…
As I’m once again packing up my book collection into boxes, I thought it was a good time to make a database of the books I’ve got. Bronwen pointed me to this online tool called Shelfari which is pretty bloody good. You enter the title or author of the book and it searches a database and presents you with some options. You click on the “Add To My Bookshelf” button and search for the next book. You can share your collection with others and they have blog widgets, etc. Very nicely done!
When I was about 19 I met a self-made millionaire called Peter Daniels. He gave me this piece of advice: “Spend 10% of your income on your brain for the rest of your life.” Astoundingly simple but how many of us do that? Do you get that message drilled into you from the media, the government, the education system, the church? It’s one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received.
Tonight, as I peruse through my library, I have such fond memories of so many of these titles. I could probably tell you what lesson I learned from each one. Every book I’ve kept holds a special place in my library and in my life.
If you are what you read, then the below widget contains my brain. I am just starting to add them – check back over the next week to see my entire library.
http://www.shelfari.com/ws/shelf.swf
by cameron | Feb 6, 2008 | Uncategorized
Following on from my video this morning about “A War On Democracy”, here’s a good quote from a recent article by Robin Hahnel (a Professor of Economics at American University):
Only Americans who search out the alternative media discover that Hugo Chavez was elected President by a comfortable margin in 1998, survived an opposition-sponsored recall in 2004, and most recently was re-elected in December 2006 with more than 60% of the vote. International observers certified all three elections as fair and square. George Bush, on the other hand, was selected President by a partisan Supreme Court after losing the popular vote in 2000, and won re-election only because enough black voters in Ohio were disenfranchised by a partisan Republican official to keep the Buckeye State in the Republican column in 2004. Few observers believe Bush could survive a recall election today, but of course this basic element of democratic rule is not permitted by the US Constitution. Nonetheless, the only storyline ninety-nine percent of Americans hear remains: Hugo Chavez is a dictator and George Bush is the democratically elected leader of the free world.
by cameron | Feb 5, 2008 | Brisbane, Melbourne
In a move that’s bound to surprise many of you as much as it surprises me, we’re relocating the Reilly family to Brisbane in about four weeks. I know – I’ve had my fair share of fun talking smack about Queensland (and Queenslanders) over the last few years – well, in fact, the last 20 years – and it’s the last place I ever thought I’d move to. Paris? Yes. Manhattan? Yes. Florence? Easy. Brisbane? Not on your life. But there you go, the universe has a sense of humour?
Why are we moving? Well we’d been talking about it in late December because most of our family is up there (all except my sister Anita who is down here in Melbourne and who we are all going to miss heaps) and we thought it would be good for the kids to get to spend more time with their grandparents and cousins. And then, out of the blue, Belinda saw an advertisement for a job in Brisbane which was made for her. She applied for it just on a whim, and was offered it a couple of weeks later. And although both of us love Melbourne dearly, and I’m going to miss my little village lifestyle in Yarraville, it just seemed like it was meant to happen.
Obviously I’m lucky in that it won’t affect TPN at all. I can work from anywhere I have internet access. It won’t affect MODM either, as I’d already planned to launch it nationally this year and will be looking for sponsors for each of the state events. Part of the sponsorship will involve flying me to each event, so I plan to be in Melbourne at least once a month for a few days.
So… I’m looking to buy a house in Brisbane (anyone with real estate contacts please get in touch with me), and recommendations for good areas to live, schools, cafes, cocktail bars, etc. I’m going to get a safari suit, pith helmet, hammock, and that’ll be me for the next few years. I’m going to buy one of those massive freakin’ commercial fans, stick it in the back yard in front of the hammock positioned between two palm trees and beside the pool, set up a little bar with an ice maker for my mojitos, and run my global media company from there. Going to lose 20 kgs, work out, take up surfing, work on my tan.
I moved to Melbourne from Bundaberg in January 1988. My dear deceased father’s last words to me as the car left Bundy were “you’ll be back”. For once in his life, he was right.
