Category Archives: Text

Talking Environment and Culture

Instead of working on a podcast today, I was a guest on Yeast Radio live.  I highly recommend you listen regularly to Madge Weinstein’s Yeast Radio, unless you’re afraid of an opinionated, possibly insane, angry womyn with a y.  I don’t mention her program enough, perhaps because I don’t give my audience enough credit that they wouldn’t understand what is both, enlightening and just plain fun about her podcast.

 In this particular program we talk about some of my sources for audio on the internet, what is wrong with all the candidates currently seeking the nomination in the United States, and the environment or lack of discussion about the environment by the media and the candidates themselves. Of course in between all this there is constant feedback from the audience in the chat room, and plenty of Madgisms that even Madge herself cannot explain.

Civil Rights, Now

Only recently did I learn about the film Freeheld and the story of Laurel Hester, a NJ police officer with a terminal sickness, fighting so that her wife and partner could receive her pension, just like heterosexual partners do. Somehow I hadn’t heard all the details of the struggle in Ocean County, where I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the past few visits to the US, as the elected officials of that country refused to recognize a gay couple as having the same rights as heterosexual couples.

I’ve watched the trailer several times, not to mention the interview recorded with Laurel before she died in 2006. I’m moved and speechless as I watch her health deteriorate and I listen to the itensity of the demonstrators standing before the county officials demanding justice. It is beautiful and outrageous at the same time. Surreal that such a thing happens, and awe-inspiring that people with such strength exist.

Further research informs me that indeed, before her death, Ocean County finally granted her partner full benefits, just as any other couple would get. And beyond that, in December of 2006 (an event I do remember) NJ Governor John Corzine signed the bill recognizing all domestic partners as civil unions, with rights that indeed include pensions/benefits for partners. A critical eye reveals that this bill still doesn’t give 100% equality to gay couples, so despite some good steps forward, my state of birth still has some ways to go. After hearing this story, seeing the images, and without having yet seen the film, it is once again frustrating to see that it was only a couple of years ago that a state as diverse as NJ was still in the dark ages… and indeed, still today – not yet fully enlightened.

(trailer is highly recommended)

Innovative Heat

Spending all day scraping paint at my squat office leaves me with a great chance to listen to a long list of podcasts will my full attention.  One of the podcasts that was especially interesting today was the latest edition of Deutsche Welle’s Living Planet.  This is the German broadcaster’s environmental program, recorded in English.  The specific topic was a short item about the Stockholm train station, where soon they will make use of the heat generated by people, to heat an entire building.  Yes, they will use body heat to warm water that will then be piped into a new office building next door that will also have a hotel.

As I scraped paint off the walls today alongside other members of our collective, I listened to this program, and then glanced at the windows. All fogged up.  Three of us scraping paint can heat a room.  A station full of people, who pass through everyday, generates alot of heat.  What a simple but examplary idea.

While the French president runs around the middle east trying to convince nations to buy French nuclear technology, even though they have no real idea what to do with the waste in the long run.  While the Bush administration uses oxymoron terms like “clean coal” to justify the building of new coal power plants in the United States.  While big power companies continue to promise the people of India lots of energy if they will just let their rivers be dammed.  Some clever people in Sweden see a simple and ingenious way to heat buildings.  And while it may be small scale, it is an example of the kind of thinking the world needs to get inspired by.

The Shortcomings of Diary Style

It is easy to see, if you’ve been following my posts over the years, how meeting up with other podcasters, vloggers, and bloggers is a very important activity for me.  From these meetings come ideas, inspiration, constructive criticism, and more.  Madge and I talk about under-reported issues and what deserves more attention in the media.  When I’m in Berlin, Tim and I always spent hours talking about what works and does not work for a smooth and usable blog/podcast.  Over in DC, John and I always discuss audience participation and our different ideas in how to address the public.

And so this week, two people with enormous impact on how I do my work, Jay and Ryanne, are here in Amsterdam.  Just like with each conference, visit, or drink at a local café I’ve enjoyed with other vloggers, their presence has sparked all kinds of new ideas, while also reenforcing what is truly important about the work we do.

One of the big thoughts they’ve helped me consider, is how my work is presented within this site.  As part of their presentations this week, they’ve been explaining Show in A Box; their wordpress hacks to help videobloggers present their work in a way closer to their own wishes. What does that mean? For one thing, the blog structure, although convenient for many things,  over time buries our work.  If I made a good video in March of last year, or a podcast worth your time in April of 2005, you wouldnt notice any sign of it on my front page. If you searched my archives, even then it would take you quite some time to get to it.  By putting the last post at the top, blogs bury anything that happened before, even though items that were posted before are still very relevant and should be there for anyone to click and listen or view.

The answer we seek is a way to have a site, some form of blog, where people who create multimedia content can have it featured or accessible relatively easy on the page.  If my post tomorrow is about the arctic, next to that post you should see any videos, audio, or text that is related.. regardless of how long ago I produced it.

Of course there are more ideas than just this one, but this is the one – as you can see – that Ive been working on at some level.  Still far from the desired result, spending time with these two people with whom I share so much culture and so many goals has set me on the right path.  Together, it seems almost inevitable that we can solve these problems and develop even better ways to do the work that we are so committed to doing.

Redesign for 08

Hello friends. This morning Ill be working on a site redesign.  YES there will be two columns on the right and hopefully some cool new video and audio feature elements to help direct people to related podcasts and vlogs  for posts that you’re currently reading.  Sounds like alot of work.. but then.. this is a labor of love.

By all means post your thoughts on what you see so far. Spare me the “don’t change a thing”, change is constant.

Dutch Parties Shrinking

I’m fascinated by associations, groups, unions, fanclubs… well maybe not fanclubs.  But if there is a group of people dedicated to something, and they have meetings and membership cards, I’m interested in learning about them.  And it is even more compelling if they’ve been around for awhile.

Here in the Netherlands, for example, It seems there has been a tradition of people being not only supporters of a political party, but actually card carrying members.  I realize this happens in many countries, but it is not often that I hear the numbers or that someone comes forward and says “Oh Im a card carrying member of the Sloth Party.”

Today I read about how membership numbers for political parties in the Netherlands is shrinking.  A very interesting, though not at all surprising, development.   As with every passing election voters grow tired of one party and turn to another, and then grow tired of that one and turn to yet another, or they go back to the previous one maybe.  And despite all their voting efforts, these parties continue to disappoint and generally do things that people don’t agree with.. even their own party members.  So why continue to be a member of a party that never seems to represent you and they said they would.

The numbers in the Netherlands are as follows:

  • Christian Democrats (party of the prime minister) – 69.200 members
  • Labor Party  – 59.327
  • Socialist PArty – 50.238
  • Liberal PArty – 36.832
  • United Christians – 27.683
  • Green Left – 21.901
  • Animal Party (yes!) – 6972

Note that I skipped a few parties because I don’t feel like describing them, though they would be located at the bottom of the list.  Furthermore the populist-far-right Freedom Party has no membership, yet you can bet plenty of people vote for them they would just prefer not to have any evidence linking their vote back to themselves.

In the end I think the way people think of elections has changed.  Instead of wanting to be a member of a party, and going to meetings and trying to influence party policies, it starts to resemble a menu in a restaurant… you choose what looks like it would be good. And if you dont like it, you spit it out, or choose something else next time.  Unfortunately there is no equivalent, besides leaving the country, of “going to another restaurant cause this one is bad”.  Then again like so many citizens, you could go on a hunger strike.