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Haiti and Jamie

Two things on my mind this evening, which is basically toast from my new and improved job responsibilities at the fishtank. While it might mean more income, it also means I’m tired and grumpy at the end of the night. Not that I didn’t find time to practice frisbee with le Big Jim, who’s in town from Paris, as well as another friend from New Jersey.

First off, concerning a place in the world I worry about and follow closely; Haiti. For those not keeping score at home, there is still a coup d’ etat in power, which took power with the help of unknown American security forces who kidnapped or smuggled (depending on who you ask) president Aristide into exile. Now the illegitimate government is charging the former prime minister with some big crimes. No shock there; take power by force, accuse your enemies of murder. Case closed. Maybe the only ones I like in all this are the Brazilian peacekeepers.

Second, more personal and promotional. Mr. Known Universe himself – Jamie, has published his novel. Not only that, as a frequent flyer between Brooklyn and Amsterdam, word on the street is he’s coming back to our fair city this summer. Jamie is a good human, a good writer, not to mention a dam good photograph maker. Online ordering is, of course, available.

To the BBC

Having grown up in New Jersey, we obviously didn’t have the BBC in my house. We didn’t even have cable for that matter, which may not sound like a big deal to you, but in a suburban high school, “what you got” can determine where you classify on the foodchain. I of course was made fun of and pitied for my lack of cable. The guys used to talk about how the cable company had a big map of the state and there was a big red circle around my house and my family was the focus of all their sales efforts.

But I did have public radio, and you can bet I made use of it. During the day, Pacifica’s wonderfully crazy WBAI, the station where so many different groups could have their voice; from native americans, to convicts, to former characters from TV’s The Munsters. Everynight, French radio on WNYE New York, followed by the BBC. Each of them offerred me news stories from all over the world, not to mention reports from local activists, who didn’t just talk about issues, many were directly involved in a cause they believed in. Hell, that’s the beauty of Alternative Grassroots Radio.

All this as a round about way to tell you about the one day BBC strike yesterday. It isn’t so much that they had a strike, but the way they talk about it on the air. I happenned to have BBC World on the night before, and the anchor actually reports that the station is going on a one day walk out, and goes on to interview another BBC employee about the issues. Do you see what is unique here? The BBC actually talks about internal disputes ON THE AIR! It’s a simple and beautiful thing… a dash of transparency in a realm that rarely sees it. When the hell do you see Fox or NBC or whatever other crappy network reporting about their own company’s internal disputes? Never. It’s not allowed. You CAN NOT make such reports.

So I just thought — that’s what I call a media corporation with a commitment to the public. Or at least a hint of honesty for a change. Speaking of honesty, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and god knows what else, the Blog Maverick embodies how corporate bigshots SHOULD blog. Honestly, openly, and with a curiously creative spirit.

PS – I still listen to all those stations, even here in Europe. Thanks internetS.

AudioCommunique#36 – Being a Man

AudioCommunique #36(mp3)

26min+, 64kbps, 12Mb+

* Editors Note: Still not sure why or how I messed it up, but Nicole Simon’s voice is different then what you hear. Go listen to UsefulSounds and you’ll see! Maybe I can pretend I disguised her voice because Im a dangerous podcaster and Im keeping my sources top-secret.

This show looks at the concept of “being a man” in today’s society, and all the bullshit that goes into it.Show notes

Cutter

Laura Bush strikes me as a psychopath. Or a sociopath. One of those words for people who are secretly crazy and probably cut themselves in private. I’m not making fun of her for that, I actually hope she gets help for that problem. But listening to her speak (by mistake on television) in Israel, you can hear that she has no clue what is happenning in the world and she’s just on the borderline of snapping and killing everyone. – I’m scared.

My podcast feast isn’t finished. So for tonight I leave you with Sushi that I made.

Chef is Back

Well it’s hard to blog tonight friends. I blame the parties… the goodbye shindigs, housewarming soirees… tis the season in Amsterdam. In a city of transients, people always seem to be in transit. Wait, maybe transient isn’t the word.

Still tonight was a classic, as Toronto’s Finest Chef-in-exile is officially back and warming a new house. And it’s one of them classic 1700’s Amsterdam shop-houses, with stain glass windows facing the street. The man is a culinary genious and a social scholar to boot. I especially enjoyed his home-made-mango ice cream. As we soaked in the typical Amsterdam party ingredients and got into this big conversation about the lack of female-comedic actresses since the eighties.

Somebody said Whoopy Goldberg but she’s not that funny. Someone else said Sandra Bullock but she’s not funny either. Strange isn’t it?… you can rattle off a long list of male comedic actors… but few-to-none females. All this because I said Star Wars didn’t go into enough detail about the women jedi’s… they have been totally under-represented. And that doesn’t seem very jedi to ignore the ladies.

In the end, the great conclusion of the unsober evening, was that Canada has made the greatest cultural contributions the world has ever known. Plus they did give us Rush.

For more on Canadians and Star Wars, visit your local library. Or read this celebrity Accordianist.

Movie With a Message

You know you live in an odd world when a film can be produced which has a message that reminds people of the corruption and manilupation that their government(s) are capable of in the name of defending “democracy and freedom.” It is/will become one of the most seen and beloved films in the history of films, yet nothing will change within those countries. The people will go nuts for the characters, the special effects, every little detail except one enormous one — the message, the warning. I’m sitting here thinking about it and it’s just so ironic.

Obviously I saw the annoyingly over-talked about film of the year. Proudly, thanks to my friends round the world with whom I share files, I downloaded that shit. Plus I don’t want the producers to get one dime from me.

I just can’t get over it. The message is right there. and everyone’s watching the film…. and somehow NOTHING will change. Life truely doesn’t imitate art.

My favorite spin on this thing comes from this nerd at heart.