Having come across the excellent web site Ballardian (see my last entry), I’ve been reading some of the entries on it. I came across this one, which attempts to discuss the Vogue Italia photo shoot by Steven Meisel that "posits supermodels as new-age terrorists". I freely confess that I find the photo shoot highly disturbing. Even more disturbing to me are the comments posted by LiveJournal users who find the photos "awesome" or "sexy". Mind you, Meisel is hardly the first to do something like this. I recall that one of the early issues of Rails – a free magazine given away by the Dutch railway company (it may even have been the first issue) – contained a fashion photo shoot that had crime scenes as its theme. Seeing "murder victims" modelling fashion struck me as being intrinsically wrong. Meisel’s effort arouses the same feelings of disgust in me.
Year: 2006
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Thy Will Be Done
Kingdom Come is the latest novel by the great J. G. Ballard. It’s yet another of his dystopian visions of our society, very much following in the footsteps of Cocaine Nights, Super-Cannes and Millennium People. Actually, much of his later writing strikes me as either skirting dystopia or plunging headlong into it and splashing about gleefully. By contrast, some of his early writing is positively elegaic; the short story The Garden of Time, for example. Written in 1963, and read by me in the same year, it’s a story that has stuck with me ever since. It’s worth tracking down – it was described by Brian Aldiss as ‘a wonderful fantasy, the most magical of metaphors’, and by Anthony Burgess as ‘one of the most beautiful stories of the world canon of short fiction’. It can be found in Ballard’s first collection of short stories, originally titled The Fourth-Dimensional Nightmare, but reissued under Ballard’s preferred title of The Voices of Time.Now, thanks to a tip in BLDBLOG, I’ve found a long and interesting interview with the man himself. It’s worth reading. -
There’s A Moral Somewhere…
I suppose the saving grace of this is that apparently Matt McAllister did this in the name of a good cause as well as breaking a Guiness [sic] World Record. Although frankly, I think the Japanese video on how to fold a T-Shirt in order to minimise your global warming footprint is probably the more useful to know about. -
One Down, Two To Go…
Life imitates artlessness… I read the extracts from the Downing Street memo on how Blair should bow out with a dizzy sense of losing my grip on reality. Quote:The retirement blueprint aims to promote the "triumph of Blairism" and allow the PM to quit on a wave of euphoria after 10 years in office. The secret strategy – drawn up by a small group of loyalists – is well under way. Mr Blair’s "farewell tour" includes plans to appear on Blue Peter, Songs of Praise and Chris Evans’ radio show.Now it appears that it wasn’t a figment of a crazed imagination. Some people actually think this way. Here’s one I made earlier. One down, two to go. Somehow, "euphoria" isn’t quite the word I’m searching for to describe my feelings about this. "Nausea" is probably closer. -
Fish In A Barrel
With such an obvious target, it’s hard to miss. However, this lampoon is perhaps more subtle than most. And I did enjoy the video, which was perhaps not so subtle…(hat tip to Pharyngula) -
How Long Do You Want To Live?
I mentioned the TEDTalks yesterday. Here’s an example of a speaker who may be a would-be emperor, or perhaps he has really hit on something: Aubrey DeGrey. What do you think? The related links on that page have more information, and it would seem that the jury’s still out on the validity of DeGrey’s claims. -
Not A Good Sign
This photo dates from the 1980s. I took it on my first visit to Houston. I don’t think that the company exists any more. Looking at the subliminal message that the sign sends about the company’s engineering prowess, I can’t say that I’m overly surprised.
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More TED Talks
I see that the TED web site has more TEDTalks up online as videos. See and hear some interesting people expound their ideas. People such as Richard Dawkins, David Deutsch and Dan Dennett. There are also those who seem to me to fall more into the class of fashionable gurus, but, hey, here’s your chance to make your own mind up about whether they are simply would-be emperors clothed in fabrics woven out of hot air. -
The Atheism Tapes
Dr. Jonathan Miller did a series of programmes on atheism for the BBC a couple of years back. What I hadn’t realised until today is that the material of conversations he had with philosophers and atheists that had ended up on the cutting room floor for the original programmes was subsequently issued as The Atheism Tapes. These can be found in Google Video.I’ve just watched the conversation with Richard Dawkins, and am now about to listen to Daniel Dennett. Good stuff. -
On A Stick?
There are clearly places on the planet where the notion of civilised food simply hasn’t set foot. -
Interview With Vikram Seth
Vikram Seth, along with others, recently signed an open letter directed to the Government of India and the Delhi High Court, asking it to repeal Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. This section prohibits sexual relations between men as well as other “unnatural” acts.In the light of that action, Outlook India has an interview with Seth asking him about how it feels to be bisexual and living in a country where his sexual orientation is proscribed by the law. While there are some rather cliche-ridden questions, Seth answers well, and at length.(hat tip to Sepia Mutiny for the background on Section 377 and the link to the interview in Outlook India) -
Water Illusion
If you’ve ever fancied walking on water, just like Jesus is reputed to have done, then get thee to Bridge, before it closes at the end of this month. Pruned has the details. -
Marjane Satrapi
I’d not heard of her before, but this interview with Marjane Satrapi has piqued my interest. Her book Persepolis looks like another for the "want" list.(hat tip to Not Saussure for the link) -
Heading For The Abyss
"Even if Homo sapiens survives, civilisation may not". The cheery words of James Martin, who is worried that his prediction could occur as early as this century. His new book (out today) sounds like one that I should put on my "want" list, misanthrope that I am. -
Glenn Gould Hereafter
So I sat down in front of the telly, and, being a science-minded sort of chap, thought I would give BBC2’s new programme Battle of the Geeks a go. Dear lord, was that ever a mistake.Within sixty seconds, it came across as the bastard offspring of Top Gear mated with Rough Science. While I have a soft spot for the latter, I utterly, utterly, loathe the former. Battle of the Geeks is another perfect illustration of how to dumb down science to the lowest possible common denominator and remove every vestige of what is worthwhile. A detestable programme, I thought, as I lunged for the remote control.However, every cloud has a silver lining. Frantically pressing buttons on the remote brought me into the warm embrace of BBC Four. And there was Glenn Gould Hereafter, a simply magnificent programme about Glenn Gould. I knew the name, of course, and I will have heard his recordings. But now, seeing this biographical film makes me want to start really listening to his work.If you get a chance to see Hereafter, do so. You won’t be disappointed. The final moments reminded me of Ken Russell’s early work of film biographies of famous composers for the BBC’s Monitor and Omnibus programmes, back in the 1960s, and I do mean that as a compliment. -
Sloppy Thinking
Ophelia, over at ButterfliesAndWheels, quite rightly skewers some extraordinarily sloppy thinking by The Guardian. Journalism is going to pot. -
To Hell In A Handbasket
Stories like this fill me with a deep depression about the incapability of the human species to improve its lot before it cuts its collective throat. -
Oo-Er
At some point today, the page hit counter for my blog went over the 100,000 total as measured from when the blog began. Notwithstanding that a large proportion is probably down to me checking my deathless prose, or the totally disinterested checking by spambots, I feel that a milestone has been reached. Here’s to the next 100,000… -
Bank Charges
Like death and taxes, bank charges are inescapable. Some banks, e.g. the British bank of Abbey National, seem to want to make it as difficult as possible to find out what they charge you for their so-called services. NeOnbubble has the tale of woe.
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