Hijacked

Santa rode a Turkey past Thanksgiving to give presents instead of candy on Halloween. Usually the holidays start early, but the 2009 holiday season is starting unusually early, and for one reason…profits.
I’ve never experienced Christmas commercials…I mean “holiday” commercials the DAY AFTER Halloween, until this year. November 1st, I saw a commercial for K-Mart advertising layaway, telling customers to buy early so you can get what you want (or rather what your bratty kids want) and spend the next two months paying for it. All of this under the guise of getting what you want early, and then spreading payments over time to be able to have your cake and eat it too.

This is part of what got us as Americans in trouble in the first place, spending beyond our means. The disingenuous ad executives for K-Mart and the rest of the commercial Robber Barons are slyly suggesting consumers to spend what little money they have sooner than ever, in order to make their millions off of the every-man.

However this commercialism isn’t blatant and outright in our faces, which makes it all the more worse, as it is subversive. This morning while ordering a coffee at Dunkin Donuts, I heard: “Here Comes Santa Claus,” on the radio and Starbucks is selling Thanksgiving blend coffee as well as Holiday (Christmas) blend coffee. Apparently one is clearly for everyone on Thanksgiving and the other is sort of for everyone as it’s secularly devoid of any religious affiliation, yet packaged in silver and red tinsel bags.

Usually Christmas ads show up on Thanksgiving Day, mixed within the images of fall food and turkeys. Ads are filled with holiday cheer and laughing families, and maybe even some snow. For the longest time, Black Friday has almost been part of Thanksgiving for Christmas-celebrating Americans. People get up before the break of dawn to stampede down to the mall to get the best deals on the latest and most coveted plastic crap, being hawked at us.

It makes me wonder, if anyone on the whole is even aware of the seasonal stress already bearing down upon us, or if they sense anything at all. My first inclination is that they do not, for pure reason alone, the commercials and ads already exist. Businesses can predict yet another poor holiday season, and have decided to combat sluggish sales, by selling early.

I can’t help but to take the moment to suggest, rather than buying the same amount of junk earlier, but buying less and more thoughtful gifts. Let us make this an opportunity to spend wisely and think first for once, rather than hear another story in the news where people are trampled to death from storming a Wal-Mart before it opens.

Read More: http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/283/black-friday-comes-early-at-big-chain-stores/

DEY TUUK UR JURBS!

KOKONOGI, Japan – A blood-orange blob the size of a small refrigerator emerged from the dark waters, its venomous tentacles trapped in a fishing net. Within minutes, hundreds more were being hauled up, a pulsating mass crowding out the catch of mackerel and sea bass.
The fishermen leaned into the nets, grunting and grumbling as they tossed the translucent jellyfish back into the bay, giants weighing up to 200 kilograms (450 pounds), marine invaders that are putting the men's livelihoods at risk...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/climate_09_jellyfish_menace

How is this not a clear enough warning sign? They even make convoluted movies about this and people think its absurd that it would never happen.

The article...which yeah can be disputed along with everything else in this world reads: "This year's jellyfish swarm is one of the worst he has seen, Hamano said. Once considered a rarity occurring every 40 years, they are now an almost annual occurrence along several thousand kilometers (miles) of Japanese coast, and far beyond Japan."

This sort of story is the result of human grime dripping off of every wall and from every corner of this planet. Is no place safe?

Don’t Piss In Your Own Hot Tub… ‘Cause You’ll Get Covered In Piss

I realize that I have a bias. As is evident in my writing of past postings, I have tried to at lease provide some sources and some factual evidence for my blog postings. Albeit they are more progressive in theme and topic, I feel that despite that, they can be appreciated for what it’s worth.

What I don’t see having two sides on is the issue of pollution. Global Climate Change, a term that was created to take the teeth out of “Global Warming”, aside the issue of improper resource management and the poor handling of our garbage problems, or the fact that there is garbage should not be deliberated upon, and simply dealt with.

This must first start on an individual scale. I believe that the Government, for the most part, and when it comes to this, should be completely sidestepped. While old men in overpriced suits deliberate first if anything should be done, then what should be done, the problem is only getting worse, where clearly there is a problem.

All across this poor planet of ours, garbage is piling up at a faster and faster rate with each passing day. Those familiar with the movie Slumdog Millionaire, will recall a scene at the end, when people living in shanty towns, flood the trash littered “streets,” a man jumps into a pile of trash, and throws garbage over his head in a fit of joy. This may have been the most stirring part of this movie, despite the heavy-handedness of eye gouging and the poorest of the poor in India, because the people, who were filmed, actually live in trashy, garbage-infested slums. This scene wasn’t even emphasized after the whole movie was reiterating how terrible the quality of life is in some places, and yet it still left me feeling most disheartened. Behind the fiction of the story, lay the ugly truth only partially hidden, of what people in Indian slums face on a daily basis.

Movies like Baraka, Home, and An Inconvenient Truth are simply scratching the surface of this pollution beast of burden. The plight of 3rd world countries is a reality in many parts of the world, however far more surreal notion exists just off the shores of our own country.

The North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone, better known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is a collection of litter drawn to the Northern Pacific gyre. The gyre is a large-scale ocean current, circulating the water and collecting marine garbage in the north pacific. According to several websites, the size of this monster is somewhere between one and two times the size of Texas. Let me reiterate that, twice the size of Texas. That’s roughly: 537,640 square miles…of trash.



The trash comes from global regional pollution that is slowly carried along with the current and begins to amass the island that exists today. People hardly know about this disgusting tumor on the planet, and those that do, don’t really seem to care. Why does it seem that way? Because Mother Nature did humanity a solid, and collected all the trash for us to pick up, and it’s still there. Most of the work is already done for us, and as we sit idly by, Mother Nature will help us out again, and begin to decompose the plastic.

When this planetary digestion occurs, what the ocean is literally doing is destructing all the plastic, bits and flakes at a time. This plastic, which is unhealthy to begin with, and slowly, spreads it out across the ocean. It gets picked off by animals, dissolves into the ocean, and makes its slow crawl, back from whence it came.

Some organizations exist to correct this problem, but it seems to me that a great way to create jobs for an extended amount of time, as well a build international bridges, is create social works programs and hire people to collect the trash and handle it appropriately. It would seem to me that would be a great way to clean up our own mess, and to create revenue for what US President Barack Obama calls, the leader in future green living.

However, instead of making this a giant news debacle, we bury that story and cover the trials of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of September 11th. Eight years after the attacks, eight long years filled with two wars, and an occupation of Iraq that looks like it has no actual end in sight. Although this is an important issue, it seems a more pertinent thing to do, rather than invade Iraq, and then get to the trials almost 10 years later.

Not all is lost against this tidal wave of establishment; some organizations actually are carrying the flag. Project Kaisei, a Chinese and American non-profit organization is researching a cleanup process, and to what degree we have destroyed our only habitat. The project, which conducts research on AN EFFING SAILING SHIP!:

There really is no more bad-ass of a way to clean up the environment than with a ship that could either be manned with pirates or whalers. Either sailing with Blackbeard or Ahab, it’s a noble effort for people to be taking care of their home planet without the help of massive government.





“If we ruin it, that’s the end of us. The ocean and earth will survive, but we may not.” – Project Kaisei

Source:

http://www.projectkaisei.org/
http://www.greatgarbagepatch.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch

Webcomics give back

The internet is a miraculous thing. We're still discovering the multitude of ramifications from the dissemination of information over a world-wide network. It's changed the way we communicate and is currently changing whole industries all over the planet. This seems to be most prevalent in the arts (although print news might debate that point.)

Before the digital age aspiring artists had difficulty displaying their work to larger audiences. After the advent of the internet, film makers, painters, and writers can now transmit their pieces across the globe. The best (or luckiest) of these can even transition online popularity into real-world success.

I've been a fan of online comics for the better part of this decade. Their emergence impacted the print medium by offering free content to comics’ readers online. As with any kind of art, most of what appeared on the internet is schlock. Many of the comics look like they would have appeared in your high school paper.

A handful, though, are very good. Comics like Penny Arcade, Ctrl-Alt-Del, and PVP Online have such a large following that the artists are able pay their bills creating these free strips. As a result, these creators remain closely in-tune with their audiences. There is a more direct relationship between artist and fan, since the money usually doesn't go through an intermediary.

As a result of this closeness between creator and consumer, some big projects have come out of this online world. Since 2003, Penny Arcade has run a charity called Child's Play that gives toys to Children’s Hospitals all over the world. They've raised just under $5 million to date. Both Penny Arcade and Ctrl-Alt-Del have a convention for fans every year.

Now, it appears that the webcomics community is taking matters one step further. I just read this post on the comic Least I Could Do:

Never does a day pass when Lar and I don't realize how fortunate we are for the careers that we have. The fact that we are able to spend 12 hours a day doing something that we love, and that it sustains us and our families, never ceases to amaze.

I have always been vocal about my beliefs regarding a career in webcomics. It takes a great deal of work and dedication, a greater deal of luck and a myriad of other ingredients to make it work, but it CAN work. A career in this field is a viable option. Like anything else however, an education would provide a huge leg up.

Because of that, and our desire to help others break through, we have decided to create The Rayne Summers Webcomic Scholarship, at The Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont.

The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) offers a two-year course of study that centers on the creation and dissemination of comics, graphic novels and other manifestations of the visual narrative. Experienced and internationally recognized cartoonists, writers, and designers teach classes. The school is located in historic downtown village of White River Junction, Vermont, in the old Colodny Surprise Department Store.

Beginning in the fall of '10, we will be covering the full tuition for the selected applicant. The applicant who, I might add, is working towards a career in webcomics. Over the course of the next 5 years, we plan on adding 1 student per year, thus by 2015, the Scholarship will be putting 5 students through the program per year.

This scholarship will be managed by Blind Ferret, though there will be heavy involvement from others in our field, in the form of a board of Directors and a selection committee.

It seems that the webcomics community is now recruiting us to join their ranks. I was awed to read that Lar and Ryan thought to use their success in this way. I'm going to keep my eye on this one.

Birthed From The Silent Permafrost Of The Grim And Blackened Forest of Lulz. KVLT!!11!

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"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Verbal Kint, The Usual Suspects

The Usual Suspects At least in America, if not the whole of the Western world (which could be argued as being any industrilized nation, where leisurely activities consume our non work related hours) entertainment is king. From the obsession that cities have with their sports teams, celebrity gossip (Perez Hilton's A&R deal : http://popwatch.ew.com/2008/02/26/perez-hilton-re/) and the general hysteria behind famous people in America has approached epic proportions.

The line between celebrity news and actual news is blurred the line between reality and fiction. This has been going on for some time and has undermined our culture to the point where the truth becomes harder and harder to find.

Perhaps starting with the inauguration of Jesse Ventura, the Governor of Minnesota, or rather more widely known Ronald Regan, actor turned President, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, Comedian Al Franken turned Senator of Minnesota, the inundation of media stars into legitimate societal roles has slowly degraded that what was once held in high esteem.

Put it this way, we are only one Carl Weathers away from having the majority of the main cast from Predator running public policy in the United States. With those sorts of people, you could seriously get a stew going…(R.I.P Arrested Development)

Now this is not the only reason behind our culture crash, and I believe that every person has a right, whether they are famous for entertaining the masses, to do what they want in this regard, the way that it has been handled couldn’t be any messier.

Imagine a dystopian universe where we glorify celebrities as deities, only to rip them down and replace them with new ones, whom we idolize before destroying them, would certainly be some form of a hell now wouldn’t it…?

When the worlds of entertainment and serious dialogue/discussion/world changing events begin to merge, the hazy veil between the two begins to merge. Films like the Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, and The Strangers slowly aid in diminishing this line, where moviegoers and even worse, people who only hear about the movie and then talk about it 3rd party, spread rumors about what they heard and what they think they heard. This rumor spreading, with the mixture of reality and fiction, can cause a detrimental effect on the people of our society.

These movies have used handheld camera techniques, a style known as Cinéma vérité to further promote the notion that it was a real event, and to connect the viewer with the people in the scene, creating a reality to pull right off the silver screen. This style of docudrama or edutainment breaks that line between reality and fiction to create an immersive style of entertainment, that pushes the boundaries of what we as entertainment consumers consider fact and fiction…if there’s a genre called edutainment then there must be a hybrid for truths and untruths…faction?

Another example is H.G Wells’ War of the Worlds 1938 broadcast. Now part of American journalist history, the original broadcast sent people into a panic, thinking that everything from Aliens to Nazis were invading the East Coast of the US. After the event, even Adolf Hitler was cited in saying: "evidence of the decadence and corrupt condition of democracy."

Let us not get out of hand here and claim that we’re associating anything here on this blog with Nazi’s or any other form of actual fascism (despite previous posts about fascism AND aliens…it’s all about synchronicity people) but the fact that this sort of thing has happened before and through the integration of media and reality, is happening yet again, should certainly raise some alarms.

Recent films Paranormal Activity, and The Fourth Kind , are the next iteration of this style of film, and this corrosion of that thin border separating the worlds of fiction and fact. Paranormal Activity, at first comes across as a sincere home video of an otherworldly home invasion, yet audiences witness hand held footage to evoke that voyeuristic quality that they are along for the ride with the characters in the movie. As real as this may seem, the people on screen are still getting paid lots of money; the money that we have shelled out to make it seem as real as possible.

Where the problem exists is with movies like The Fourth Kind , where it is purported to be a factual interpretation of actual events that transpired in the remote town of Nome, Alaska. While some of the story is based in truth, the movie suggests the strange circumstances revolve around alien abduction, and leaves a lot up for question.

Nome is situated on a flat, sparse piece of Alaskan territory, not nestled in forests and mountains along a Fjord, as the movie was filmed in Eastern Europe. The majority of citizens in the town are not Caucasian but Native American. Trivial facts indeed, but upon further investigation, the main character in the movie Dr. Abigail Tyler, (Milla Jovovich) doesn’t even appear to exist. Additionally the actual disappearances, investigated by the Anchorage Daily News found no supporting evidence of abduction.

The film open with an “honest” (and quite plain looking) introduction by Jovovich saying that the audience is about to witness a mixture of actual footage from the events and Hollywood storytelling. And yes readers the story is quite captivating, if you are willing to go along for the ride, the set and setting are convincing. However one must ask oneself if Ms. Jovovich and Elias Koteas (yes Casey Jones from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…) are involved in the 4th Kind to selflessly promote the mystery of missing persons in Alaska?

The handheld, seemingly real scenes of otherworldly visitors, albeit spooky, come off slightly ridiculous outside the darkened theatre. Without ruining some of the more disturbing scenes in the movie, Mr. Bigglesworth wonders if Alaskan police would willingly disclose police footage of a crime scene to Hollywood, of unexplained phenomena.

To cover up the fact that these people are now difficult to find (if they exist at all), or that the FBI has visited Nome many times in the past handful of years, is the fact that the names of people have been changed to protect them.

The issue that matters here most is the notion that The Fourth Kind uses fictional Hollywood footage and most certainly fabricated “actual” footage, claiming that it is documented unedited evidence from Nome fades the line between genuine and fraudulent completely.

We now have a movie that has its feet completely entrenched in the world of movies and magic, and the world we all live in. Here at the Collective, we all can enjoy the mysteries of the universe, and will even entertain a conspiracy theory based in some fact. But when it starts to erode away at people’s sense of reality for profit and ratings, the danger becomes incredibly clear.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(radio)http://www.examiner.com/x-22738-New-Haven-Movie-Examiner~y2009m9d5-The-real-story-behind-The-Fourth-Kindhttp://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/11/06/fourth.kind.real/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/nov/09/the-fourth-kind-sleep-paralysis

More, More, More

This week I went to CVS to buy a new container of body wash. Even before hiking the AT I would get overwhelmed by the choices available for such products. With dozens of different varieties, each promising a different kind of clean, I have difficulty deciding which best suits my needs.

This week was no different. I found myself staring blankly at the shelves full of colorful tubes and tubs, more like a paint-supply shop than a soap store. I'd just about given up when my eyes fell on a row of simply labeled soaps with modest names like Tranquil and Energizing. I could find no parent company on the label, no overt advertisement for the corporation creating the soap. They simply produced the product, named it, and put it on the shelf.

Moreover, each plastic bottle claimed to be 'Enriched with a Natural Extract.' They didn't feel the need to use multiple extracts, as the one they picked would suffice for the rest. I found the singularity of this so amusing because we have entered into a time where 'more' is always considered to be 'better.'

Take, for example, energy drinks. When Red Bull first hit the market, it was a slender can containing only twelve ounces of whatever poison they sell us. As time went on, Monster and Rockstar "improved" on the paradigm by creating giant cans of 20 or more ounces.

Then the energy shots hit the market. 5 Hour Energy came in a tiny shot container because that's all we needed. The product already contains 7000% of my day’s supply of Vitamin B-12, why would I want or need more? Nevertheless, double shots soon became the norm at gas stations and convenience stores.

Is 'more' always better? What happened to 'enough?' Why is a bottle purporting to contain only one natural extract laughable? I want to simplify. I’d like to rediscover ‘enough’ and live peacefully with it. Would anyone else like to come along?