The Development Set is bright and noble
Our thoughts are deep and our vision global;
Although we move with the better classes
Our thoughts are always with the masses.

In Sheraton Hotels in scattered nations
We damn multi-national corporations;
Injustice seems easy to protest
In such seething hotbeds of social rest.

We discuss malnutrition over steaks
And plan hunger talks during coffee breaks.
Whether Asian floods or African drought,
We face each issue with open mouth.

We bring in consultants whose circumlocution
Raises difficulties for every solution —
Thus guaranteeing continued good eating
By showing the need for another meeting.

The language of the Development Set
Stretches the English alphabet;
We use swell words like ‘epigenetic’
‘Micro’, ‘macro’, and ‘logarithmetic’

It pleasures us to be esoteric —
It’s so intellectually atmospheric!
And although establishments may be unmoved,
Our vocabularies are much improved.

When the talk gets deep and you’re feeling numb,
You can keep your shame to a minimum:
To show that you, too, are intelligent
Smugly ask, “Is it really development?”

Or say, “That’s fine in practice, but don’t you see:
It doesn’t work out in theory!”
A few may find this incomprehensible,
But most will admire you as deep and sensible.

Development set homes are extremely chic,
Full of carvings, curios, and draped with batik.
Eye-level photographs subtly assure
That your host is at home with the great and the poor.

Enough of these verses — on with the mission!
Our task is as broad as the human condition!
Just pray god the biblical promise is true:
The poor ye shall always have with you.

By Ross Coggins
From Graham Hancock’s book Lords of Poverty

A warning from my godmother to my peers and I.

SALAR DE UYUNI
… into the abyss

this absolutely amazing, from-your-dreams expanse of pure whiteness seems to go on forever.
much like an incredible ocean, albeit one that you can walk on, it is devoid of any colour besides your own reflection, a few so-called islands, which tend to be overrun by a variety of giant cactae, are scattered across this chasm.

this is a very CRAZY PLACE … one who were to set up camp in the middle of it might expect to come frighteningly close to experiencing the truest definition of solitude; how to go about finding the middle is still a mystery, quite probably for the better.

for the FIRST NIGHT, staying on a small volcanic ´island,´ we experience the year´s first rain combined with harsh, loud hail (on the first day of december no less); in the morning, however, there is little proof as the ground has already been dried again to a starch by the surrounding 13 metres depth of salt around our sizeable island. My fellow adventurers and I awaken early in the morning in order to catch dusk. We were convinced that this sunrise would be worth the crude awakening-by-buzzing-alarm by the brilliant and serene twilight of the evening before, during which we nearly depleted my emergency satchel full of avocados, mangoes and pastries; we were not underwhelmed by any means, we also successfully consumed all remaining foodstuff reserves that I had quite generously provisioned.

THE ISLAND we visit is infested by stunningly enormous cactae as well as an excessively trendy paseño restobar that is allegedly popular with the NGO and expat crowds (foreigners) of La Paz. I am delighted to discover that our Crew has come equipped with a stove and their own, plentiful and impressively diverse, food supply: we PICNIC.

on the way out of the expanse, we visit a TRAIN GRAVEYARD filled with the decaying remains of English-made engine cars (several dozen). Almost every one is coated in countless ANARCHY symbols frehsly spraypainted on the the completely rusted metal that was once shimmering in high altitude sun, carrying the fruits of the previous iteration of globalization, Imperial colonialism. (please don´t mistakenly interpret this observation as IMPIRICAL reminiscing; although there obviously are two sides to the collapse of our COLONIAL past, I like to think the more worthwhile one has won out, even if it comes with its own arguably inherent costs).

when visiting the Salar de Uyuni,
be sure to GRASP YOUR SANITY very firmly.

(up NEXT: onto the mines of Potosi, which bankrolled the Spanish armada)

for the coming half year I’m quite preoccupied with a Bolivian exhange trip working at an organic farm and/or Habitat in rural canada for the first half and then living in another host family in Bolivia where I’ll be doing a similar sort of a thing.

I may or may not be reading/writing email, but you’re more than welcome to send me stuff by post and I’m sure you’ll make my day (whenever it gets to me)

Jeevs Sinclair
c/o the good folks on
Mackay Street
Ottawa, ON
K1M 2B4
(house number on facebook, or just ask)

Cheers

“The Red campaign proposes consumption as the cure to the world’s evils,” said Ben Davis, creative director at Word Pictures Ideas.

Trent Stamp, president of Charity Navigator, which rates the spending practices of 5,000 nonprofits, said he’s concerned about the campaign’s impact on the next generation. “The Red campaign can be a good start or it can be a colossal waste of money, and it all depends on whether this edgy, innovative campaign inspires young people to be better citizens or just gives them an excuse to feel good about themselves while they buy an overpriced item they don’t really need.”

“It benefits the for-profit partners much more than the charitable causes.”

from an article in AdAge.

Congratulations,

We are pleased to inform you that you successfully completed your evaluation session. You have been recommended, by your session leaders, for placement in Canada World Youth 2007-2008 programs going to Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean or Eastern Europe.

The ‘evaluation session’ was last weekend … [more to be said sometime, or just drop me a line sometime if you’re curious and I never remember to write it up]

It’s what they‘re calling a tumble log these days.

Really it’s just a clean place where I can toss

all sorts of interesting junk for your viewing pleasure,

updated more often 77percent even in its youth.

I think you’ll find it’s almost even worth your while,

particularly if you’re relatively bored or in need of distraction.

tracyanne campbell, originally uploaded by jenny.

I missed them, a couple weeks ago at Barrymore’s playing with the Essex Green albeit on a tuesday night, but I’ve found this very nice looking photoset of their performance in vancouver last week.
For now, you can enjoy their live session on KEXP …
[click to odeo or see below where it is embedded in the next post]

Anyways even if it might seem like ‘the blog’ has been stagnant (taboo?), the content on del.icio.us/jeeves/77 (shown in the sidebar) is always relatively fresh and tasty, also twttr (again, in the sidebar), which I’ll often update on the go from my phone, is usually interesting and always brief.

musical accompaniment ?

camera obscura live on KEXP

more of the live acoustic delight from the KEXP podcast, since camera obscura is already here (just hit play if it’s working) : Michael Franti, he’s a very interesting happy-minded and well traveled acoustic fellow, well worth checking out.
furthermore back to camera obscura they have a blog which is actually often a pretty good read. Also, while we’re still talking about music, I’m planning on opening 117 with the Blues Brothers as we did when it first ‘launched’ back in ohfive; and, for Rob, Kevin Spacey was Bobby Darin in Beyond The Sea.

incredibly cool street art stuffs ?

laser-based graffiti projection [also on youtube if quicktime isn’t your thing]. A little difficult to describe, the click is well worth it, the result is basically light-based graffiti covering a whole office building from a projector in a van, the graff is created in real time using a green-light-laser as a pointing device, it’s at least a little bit incredible. (via kottke)

a mention-worthy anecdote ?

hitchhiking with jamaican church goer. Ask for more. (more on twttr.com/jeeves or the sidebar)

happenings ?

world issues conference at carleton: an interesting exchange of words with an econ masters candidate who doesn’t believe in sustainable development (I’m exagerating his stubbornness a little) about microcredit and more.

today is ?

Shrove/Pancake Tuesday

flickr ??

I’ve still got a whole lot of material to post but I’m still backlogged all the way to Sri Lanka (early July) although I’ve fasttracked some of my work from London and New York. I’ve also remastered the negscans from some of my film stuff in The District; sometime I will scan the prints, which are much nicer feeling particularly the fibre ones. Recently, Melly and I did a two-way mutual photoshoot for our makeshift grad photos (I chose, and convinced her, to boycott the atrocious-and-extorionist Lifetouch photographers. It’s now officially a sister campaign to Fight The Ticketmaster.)

A couple weeks ago, number eleven spring street was torn down to be turned into condo building. This is a Bad Thing.
I’ve been meaning to post on this for a while now, but I’ve wanted to give it some worthwhile thought. I don’t really feel like I’m doing it much justice with all these blockquotes, but I try. Anyways it’s up now.

the wooster collective had some nice words to say on it, being their own work for the most part, they also opened an exhibit to show it off during its last days. They’ve labelled it as a time-capsule and have decided that it is not being ‘destroyed’ at all.

So after the Wooster on Spring exhibition, all of the interior walls of 11 Spring will be covered during the construction process. 11 Spring will become one of the most fascinating art time capsules in history. We love the fact that two hundred years from now, a brick might fall out to reveal an original piece creared by Lady Pink, Shepard, Swoon and 35 other incredible artists.

greg.org also offered some words. He brought up a great comparison with the Warhol piece that has since been lost in another appartment building.

It reminds me of the Warhol hidden somewhere in LeFrak City. Back in the day, Samuel LeFrak commissioned a then-still-unknown Andy Warhol to decorate the kitchen and bathroom of a model apartment in the then-new Queens apartment complex. The model was painted over, and then it was lost. Somewhere, in one of the 5,000-plus apartments, buried under nearly half a century of tenement white, is the first Warhol installation. And soon enough, the works of some of the world’s greatest street artists will be buried under some hedge fund dude’s sheetrock.

speaking of Warhol, I’m reading his journals these days and it’s incredibly interesting … well worth your while.

the nytimes wrote an article on it

In this case the art is not hanging inside the building but is splashed all over the walls outside, in spray paint, wheat paste, rubber, plastic, metal, cardboard and various other unidentifiable substances, a story-high gallery of graffiti and street art that seems to have grown almost organically (and mostly unimpeded by the authorities) over the last two decades.

“In a way the art is all going to disappear, but it’s also going to be sealed up in this incredible time capsule”

Depending on your point of view, the hulking 19th-century brick building at 11 Spring Street in NoLIta, a former stable and carriage house, was either a stunning eyesore or one of the most famous canvases and lodestars in the world for urban artists. When those of the latter view heard recently that the building had been sold and would soon be gutted and converted into condominiums, they considered it the end of an era. Bearing their cameras, they began showing up at the building over the last few weeks in a kind of mournful procession.

After buying the building several months ago, the new owner-developers, Caroline Cummings and Bill Elias, wanted to find some way to bid an appropriate farewell to its past. They admired the artwork, they said, even if there was no way it could remain on a building where buyers would soon be dropping millions of dollars on new condos.

I feel very fortunate to have seen (some of) the great stuff that was there, [more than once]: It’s an incredibly dynamic medium, being street art; while each piece on its own can be great, as a whole it is so much more and it has got a really unique impact to it. I’m sorry to see it go, but I do actually kinda dig the whole time-capsule interpretation on it.

many great photos are all over the interweb … in case you don’t do the web :
1. the flickr pool for 11 spring
2. NYCJPG
3. a bit in MAKEzine
4. the gothamist

I would definitely recommend you take the time and look through at least some of the amazing captures from 11 Spring Street, they’re very impressive. I’m still trying to dig up my old stuff from it.

in other news, I’m going to being in Montreal for a few days after christmas / before new years. drop me a line if you’d like to get together or something.

I’m really looking forward to my year off. I don’t really understand why it’s such a rarity on this side of the pond, I don’t think it should be. For those not in the know, I’m planning on spending next year working with Habitat (for Humanity), probably in S. America, but I’m not entirely certain where yet. It’s going to be completely different and quite great. I think we get more than a little too comfortable around here, not just with our luxuries but also with the unnecessary evils of our world. At least I feel like I’m getting desensitized to the Bad Things; this, I think, can be dangerous. It’ll be refreshing to get out/away of/from it all for a long while. What I’m really after is some tangible satisfaction in what I do everyday.
In the meantime, I’m working with Ottawa’s local Food Not Bombs, an organic community kitchen (via), anyone else who’s interested should let me know and I’ll be sure to wake you up every sunday morning for 11am.

I’ve been away from my home [one-seventeen] for more than too long and I’m hoping to move back in as soon as possible. I’m going to miss the old charms of that place, but the new plan does have its ups.

A Brief, albeit ironic, History of One-Seventeen Mackay
… so we bought the place as we supposedly outgrew Avon Lane, all my memories of Ottawa from my earliest years are defined by Avon Lane. Immediately after the transaction, we were posted to Cairo and never got to move in. John rather liked the place and has had some high hopes for the ancient structure (in which they’ve just uncovered, and replaced, some asbestos, not to mention some lovely nineteenth century electricals made with porcelain/etc as well as maps and news papers dated from the late 1800s). We finally move in, on our way out of the World Bank / the District, in the end of summer ‘05 and I think we were all very happy with the place … I know I was, I had my fair share of great times and countless winter barbecues. Largely due to technical issues with the structural integrity of parts of the house, but also some ambitious plans for a little bit of new, my humble abode has been a construction site for half a year now. Anyways it’s been quite a bit of effort and certainly also a learning experience for the family and I, the father and myself have done most of the planning and have actually worked with the good folk rebuilding the place for us, it’s been very rewarding (at least a little bit of the reason I got interested in Habitat for next year rather than some other NGOs), and mum’s helped a lot with the (re)packing/unpacking.

Some day, in the not too distant future, we’ll be barbecuing on the roof/deck … it’ll be great.

I’ll leave you with a link to this rather thought-provoking essay on How Art Can Be Good by Paul Graham.
And, before I forget to mention it, my copy of JPGmag arrived a couple days ago, I’m quite happy with it; I’m also catching up on the last few issues of Adbusters from over the summer, amongst other things on my reading list.

and just one more link : by FP, via kottke, The Top Ten Stories You Missed or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the News Corp.

JPGmag is a very cool (print) magazine concept, it’s grown out of what was a flickr group and is now running their own site. (free) members get to submit one photo for each theme and can vote (yeh/neh) on submissions. The really nicely printed version of the magazine comes out 6 times in a year, Issue 7 is out now. Anyone can download the magazine as a PDF (or view it in their browser as flash) free of charge. Realistically, I think JPGmag is actually very reasonably priced at $15 (US) / $21 (Canada) for a year of six awesome issues, this is not the list price ($25) but they’ve been generously distributing ten-bucks-off discounts all over the intertubes (this is one of them).
JPGmag is pretty much Threadless for photographers (not to say that we can’t also wear Threadless). speaking of Threadless, they’ve announced plans to start producing their own raw tees rather than printing on AA and fruit-of-the-loom (for us guys), rumour has it they really nice too … (another) three cheers for Threadless !

JPG is a magazine. It’s published 6 times a year by 8020 Publishing. Check out the back issues. The photos in the magazine come from you!

JPG is a website. Here any photographer can join and upload photos to their member page. You can also submit your photos to issues and themes for consideration in the magazine.

JPG is a community. JPG exists because of, and exclusively for, photographers like you. Without you, we’re nothing.

regardless of whether or not you buy a subscription, I think JPGmag is a really great thing and it’s a lot of fun to participate in for anyone into photography. besides, either way, you can always borrow my copy.

so, get off your arse and pick out one of your best shots for the next issue’s first theme, which I’m really looking forward to : the Streets (not the artist), you’ve got 51 days left … and don’t forget to properly waste some time going through submissions for this issue (themes: tourist, intimate, embrace-the-blur), you’ve got until friday to give your take on the submissions and spread the word. you might as well start with mine …

more importantly, I saw Tie Me Up Tie Me Down (¡Átame!) at the Bytowne thursday night, again with morgan and dhebi, and it was a great film. I think the graphic-ness of it was over hyped (or perhaps I was numbed desensitized by Shortbus) and probably scared a lot of people away from what was really a feel-good kidnapping movie, it’s calculated clichés were really great fun and I think they actually do a good job of subtley showing Almodovar’s genius. very easily a thumbs up

in other news, I’ve been catching up on my extended essay work this extended weekend which is really good. In going through my countless (but now counted) interviews, it’s really interesting how I’m remembering each everyone (without the help of my photographs), but everyday I can’t remember when I promise to go out with someone until I’m already late. I suppose some things really stick with you. Even the borrowers I spoke with in Bangladesh, more than a couple years ago now, I can remember them very clearly. I think some things are just harder to forget. I’ve been doing some research into my gap year and I’m getting quite excited about it. I’m probably going to join a habitat project, most of the other NGOs I’ve seen seem more like hotels for karmawhores than actual charity work. Also, most of the other programmes aren’t really long-term and hence very immersive, I want to go somewhere, elsewhere, for long enough to justify buying a one-way ticket. Obviously I’ll be coming home again, and going to university, but I think it’d be nice to get out of this surreal world I’ve been living in for too long.

I’m pretty disgusted to hear that there have been more than a few violent crimes across the united states related to the recently released gaming consoles.

o yea and Al Jazeera International has been turned down by all major US cable and satelite.

also rather interesting, a great read, courtesy of The Guardian

This week environment minister Ben Bradshaw urged shoppers to teach supermarkets a lesson by dumping wasteful packaging at the cash till. It’s not often a member of the government recommends direct action. What would the big chains make of it? We sent three writers to find out …

Hello everyone who was photographed by Christina on the night of the Anniversary Party at La Petite Mort Gallery. [that’s us]
This is to formally invite you to see the photographs exhibited at the gallery on November 24th, Friday evening from 7-10pm.
The prints will be available for sale. Tunes by Big Mac Daddy. Be there!

My statement? I like to take pictures. I don’t like to consider myself an artist because it makes me feel funny. I take pictures because it’s something I love to do. There is a moment when shooting where everything else in the world doesn’t matter… so it must be love.
This Halloween party was exciting but also very challenging. All of the people…all of the poses…over a span of 4 hours. I am not used to shooting with an audience of 30 people but it turned out to be quite fun. I’m pretty sure that I stepped on everybody’s toes in that crowded basement. xoxo

Thanks,
Guy Berube / director / www.lapetitemortgallery.com
(not me)

it’s on upcoming.org, I’ll see you there

• The U.S. vs. John Lennon : Artist. Humanitarian. National Threat.
  

  It’s a pretty interesting looking documentary on John Lennon and the efforts of the FBI & Co. to suppress him during his humanitarian publicity days. btw, unfortunately, the John Sinclair mentioned having served a 10-year sentance for handing two joints to undercover narcs is not my father John Sinclair. (right, lawrence?) either way, it looks like a pretty well put together piece and, well, it made the (my) list, didn’t it ? so try to see it if you can and if it sounds like your thing.

• Shortbus : Be Warned of graphic sex throughout
  

  A really impressive film. It’s about people and interpersonal relationships, but it uses sexuality as a medium and it does it beautifully albeit graphically. This film is not pornographic (to start with, orgasms and the like are not faked, unless intentionally so), but, as the bytowne warns, there is graphic sex throughout.

• The Science of Sleep : Dare To Dream
  

  This is not a documentary on sleeping or REM or anything scientific, methinks. By the director of Eternal Sunshine, for this one I’ll just offer an excerpt from the bytowne’s teaser : No doubt highly personal and yet as effervescent as sparkling water, this fanciful dive into the imaginative world of an insecure young man, and his haphazard attempts to establish a connection with a female neighbor, has all the visual excitement of the director’s previous work … Bernal is charming and unafraid to appear immature, while Gainsbourg allows her shell of indifference to evaporate in favor of a certain innocence and curiosity. Chabat provides sterling comic relief. — Todd McCarthy

• Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down : “All About Almodóvar” Series
  

  there’s a post on this one later on (after I saw it)

I’ve failed to mention Borat mostly because I failed to see it last weekend, you needn’t worry I’m not boycotting it or anything, I just wasted too much time watching deleted scenes from it on youtube to get around to getting tickets early enough and the plans fell through and well yea … until next weekend : In related news, rumour has it the joke/not-joke scene with the (professional) humour teacher was filmed in the econ room back at WIS. When I say that it’s a rumour, it’s actually a confirmed rumour, more of a fact, a rather funny fact.

Stranger Than Fiction (with Will Ferrell) sounds like it could be great, I’d like to see that too.

thanks guys
keep it chilly

anyone needing any explanation (this is not to be unnexpected) can read either this article on stylus titled Top Ten Things About “Rasputin” By Boney M or the song’s songfacts page.

from the piece on stylus:

1. It’s a disco song. About Rasputin. And that’s it.
2. And now, some balalaikas
3. How you like bass?
4. Yes, it’s the double disco handclaps
5. “But to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear”
6. It’s a little thing I like to call ‘vocal interplay’
7. “And he really came”
8. Once more for the ra-ra’s
9. “Hi, I’m Ed Winchester”
10. “Oh, those Russians…”

… maybe I took it a little too far, but I was curious and some people pushed me further and well here it is.

but seriously speaking I wouldn’t recommend anyone not already aware of or infected by the song involve themselves unnecessarily

also, since I’m naturally backlogged on news, the cat empire (oct6) was very awesome and a great night, I’m sorry to anyone who wasn’t there for their second encore. and don’t forget, guys, to keep up the fight against ticketmaster!

there’s a little bit of new stuff gradually trickling onto flickr, I’m working on it … hope you like some of it, your comments and feedback are always appreciated.

morgan, dehbi and I saw shortbus thursday night at the bytowne, I was really impressed with it. even if you were to ignore the very tastefully done not-fake-unless-intentionally-so real sex throughout the film (not something I would condone or recommend), it’s got a very good feel to it. It’s also very much about new york city itself and it’s got a certain timeless nature to its feel which dhebi pointed out in saying that it doesn’t really feel like it has a beginning or end, although it does a good job concluding itself at the same time .. it’s definitely tough to describe this film, but I’d highly recommend seeing it unless you’re upset by sexuality. In fact, now that I think about it, it’s ending is very beautiful.

It’s showing at the bytowne until sunday (tomorrow)

[23:46] Olly“: how much did the tickets come down to by the way?
[23:47] ‘jeevs,: just $17.50 per head
[23:47] Olly“: ok cool
[23:47] Olly“: keep the change : )
[23:47] ‘jeevs,: lol
[23:48] ‘jeevs,: it was a great excuse to go to barrymore’s afterschool (ben came along too)
[23:48] ‘jeevs,: and I’m pretty sure it save me whatever ludicrous fees ticketmaster would have charged me
[23:48] Olly“: yeah i’d think so
[23:49] ‘jeevs,: yea ticketmaster is the devil
[23:50] ‘jeevs,:

they would have asked four bucks per ticket convenience charge + another couple dollars just so that I could have the pleasure of printing them out

[23:51] Olly“: so you could waste your own ink too
[23:51] Olly“: hehe
[23:51] ‘jeevs,: lol
[23:51] Olly“: and kill more trees!
[23:52] ‘jeevs,: yea so that’s like $14 more in fees just to ticketmaster
[23:52] ‘jeevs,: y’know the people behind ticketmaster …
[23:53] ‘jeevs,:

one day they woke up and said y’know what if I got a five bucks for every single person who went to any concert in N.America that’s not in someone’s basement … I’d be filthy rich

[23:53] Olly“: well it works out
[23:54] ‘jeevs,: lol
[23:54] Olly“: its a good business
[23:54] ‘jeevs,: no it’s a monopoly
[23:54] ‘jeevs,: a sickening grotesque vat of crap
[23:54] ‘jeevs,: evil crap none the less
[23:55] Olly“: dont they say that the lady that does voice message on phones gets a penny every time its played? she’s got a good salary too
[23:55] ‘jeevs,: no she’s just annoying I think, so people made up a reason to hate her
[23:55] Olly“: well that too
[23:56] Olly“: the thing is though if there is no business like yours and you create it and since you’re unique you’re a monopoly, its not really your fault is it? And its clever what they do. its convenient for some.
[23:56] ‘jeevs,: that’s not the case though
[23:56] ‘jeevs,: there are some ticketmaster competitors
[23:56] ‘jeevs,: and they’re probably better at what they do
[23:56] ‘jeevs,: but it’s cyclic
[23:57] ‘jeevs,: everyone sells through ticketmaster because everyone buys through ticketmaster
[23:57] ‘jeevs,: it’s so set in stone , that it’s going to take some big boulder to get dropped on it before it gets replaced
[23:58] Olly“: why dont you buy ticketmaster and fix it up for them ? : P
[23:59] ‘jeevs,: no.
[23:59] ‘jeevs,: I will destroy them
[23:59] ‘jeevs,:

I will start (have started) a ticketmaster boycott

[23:59] ‘jeevs,: and hopefully they won’t notice until it’s too late
[00:00] ‘jeevs,: and then they’ll wander where all their slavelings went
[00:00] ‘jeevs,: wonder
[00:00] ‘jeevs,: and it’ll be too late
[00:00] Olly“: sounds like a plan
[00:00] ‘jeevs,: sounds like a paradigm shift !
[00:00] ‘jeevs,: the revolution starts now
[00:01] Olly“: we will be remembered, in, history! as those who took down ticketmaster!
[00:01] ‘jeevs,: or yesterday, rather, when I chose to skip the convenience charge and the print-out-your-own-ticket, and actually walked to my bar&venue to buy my tickets with my beer
[00:04] Olly“: you should make a facebook group. spread the revolution
I will now proceed to pretend that I didn’t hear you say that Olga, and I will pretend to be too cool to use facebook to start a revolution, but then I will likely conform to the masses (my only weapon against the ticket master) and then leverage them through their own facebook to achieve my goals

let the revolution begin,
may ticket buying never be the same again
I woke up one day and said I will keep my five dollar bill, thank you very much mr ticket master, and I will walk the extra half dozen blocks to my venue … and, even more importantly, I will save others the pains of ticket-buying with ticketmaster by buying more tickets than I need and then reselling them at the price that is already printed on the ticket and maybe a beer or some other payment-in-kind.

more importantly though, a bunch of us are going to the cat empire at barrymore’s on the oct6. it’s going to be very cool. if you don’t know them, they’re a jazzy-reggae aussie band and they’re a whole lot of fun even on their album, better still live. we also saw the Edukators (a german socialist film) at the bytowne last wednesday, it was very clever and pretty nicely done : well worth your while if you get the chance.

We’ve spent a couple days now at carleton (working on our extended essays) and they’ve involved some valuable working and a lot of relaxing not to mention cider-drinking at mike’s place. I think we (my bunch and I, relative to the rest of the IB kids there) did a near-decent job balancing the two, most of everyone else was probably one polar extreme or the other. probably the best example of this was yesterday after hours with nick and dave in room 411 (the room that we’ve laid claim to) we had great music playing (specifically, strangegeometry by clientele and all the cat empire stuff we had) and we were all working on the more interesting parts of our e/e; occasionally, someone would mention something interesting and we’d all talk for a bit but at the same time we were pretty productive and very chilled out .. it actually made me think of the scenes in american splendor where harvey and crumb are just laying on a couple of sofas at harvey’s place listening to rare jazz records and reading comics.

we also had a pretty great time last friday night in the rain and later dining at zak’s, that was a true summer night.

i’ve been playing a lot with twttr.com it’s pretty cool you can find me on it at twttr.com/jeeves. I might talk about it sometime but for the meanwhile I’m sure you can figure it out.

also this year’s wikib is stu.dicio.us and it’s very nicely done, you’re welcome to add me, I’m jeeves. they’re working on a notes importer which will make it easy to make good on all the stuff we digitized for wikib last year.

one last thing : we actually used (and needed to use) billmonk. I always thought it was a very useful and cleverly done web-app (it’s all about social money and splitting bills /etc) so I can officially vouch for it now, having used it at a restaurant in real social context. what took us (nick, dave and I) a ridiculoulsy long time to figure out, it did in seconds .. definitely a useful sms-capable web-based social application, give it a try if you feel the need ever

i’m slowly working to catch up on my flickr photostream in small batches so keep your eyes on it

united airlines and air canada cancelled my flight this morning, I’m booked out a little later (on a different flight from my brother, when we were originally in the same row) around 2pm. It’s definitely a drag, but either way let it be known, I’ll be in town sometime soon cheers guys

btw, I know 77percent has been kind of dead/dormant lately .. you should check out the flickr photostream if you’re not already. I /will/ make an effort to work on 77percent but I don’t want to make a shallow promise.

so i’ve got a lot i’ve been meaning to talk about (and you just thought i was getting boring), well if you’re really impatient/curious or just more bored now than you will be in the future, you can jump the queue and check out some of the stuff i’ve got planned for 77percent.this is really just a place i throw things that sound interesting at, with the hope that i’ll one day take some action on it. if you see something that interests you that you might want to do yourself, definitely get in touch with me and i’d be more than happy to publish/credit you here on 77percent. also if you’ve got other stuff on your mind, that’s interesting, and you want to write about it on 77percent, be sure to let me know and we’ll set something up

i’ve actually really been missing honest tea and i’m thinking of starting up a bit of an experiment in distributing the stuff here in ottawa, i’m talking with seth&barry and it’s good lookin’

besides sri lanka, i’m also in london for the last week of july (with m’sarah), so if anyone wants to get together around then/there let me know and i’ll make sure we get together. i really hope i can drop by dc sometime during august and spend some time catching up.

also if you haven’t in a while, you might check out my stuff on flickr i’ve actually been getting some positive feedback (indrectly ;-) from some pretty cool people, also i’m looking forward to lots of interesting stuff from sri lanka (i hope), i’m also investigating (with lawrence) some underwater photography from diving/etc but i don’t know if it’ll be worth it, I have to say it could end up being like my green-nature macro photography (I got very bored with it, very quickly. sure it was fun at first, but I quickly learned/realized/concluded how generic it was (at least the stuff I was producing) and how it was equivalent almost to some stock photography in terms of quality-of-communication, this kind of stuff is not rare and is rarely noticeably unique, rather it looks like it belongs on a postcard. not the cool kind 96postal either)

what to do ?
carry [flaunt] your trusty towel around with you all day long.

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitch hiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you - daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

also in case you missed it the go! team .. pretty hard to describe very very upbeat and divery, quite enjoyable. from great britain. first seenheard here.

in other news, my awesome collection of past papers are up on http://box.net/ username ibpapers password fighttothedeath
DISCLAIMER
no one in any way affiliated with the IBO is authorised to use the above login.

please remember this a user-supported effort, please feel free to help yourself to everything, but if you can give back by uploading your own past papers or anything you think is useful for ib students, nothing too off topic. if you want to host your files for your friends on box.net you’re invited to, but there’s no reasont to use ibpapers for that, just sign up for your own account and they’ll let you.

a fascinating first person account
by/for greenpeace

an interesting bit on decrepit anchored chinese fishing boats.

“These fishing ships are loaded, supplied and collected form at sea,
without any dock-time for maintenance (or for their crews to desert).”

a print from dc probably in august
had a lot of fun shooting every morning and printing in the afternoons those days were fun.

the flowerman was a cool shot (also this shot’s gotten some attention from some cool photographer folk on flickr)
i’m going to work on scanning some more of my old prints sometime

hosted by google video

enjoy …
also available in (much) higher quality via torrent (you’ll first need utorrent to download this link)

and
a copy of the transcript
after the jump

Here with a special edition of the Colbert report, Stephen Colbert. Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Before I begin, I’ve been asked to make an announcement. Whoever parked 14 black bullet proof S.U.V.’S out front, could you please move them. They are blocking in 14 other black bulletproof S.U.V.’S and they need to get out. Wow, wow, what an honor. The White House Correspondents’ Dinner. To just sit here, at the same table with my hero, George W. Bush, to be this close to the man. I feel like I’m dreaming. Somebody pinch me. You know what, I’m a pretty sound sleeper, that may not be enough. Somebody shoot me in the face. Is he really not here tonight? The one guy who could have helped. By the way, before I get started, if anybody needs anything at their tables, speak slowly and clearly on into your table numbers and somebody from the N.S.A. will be right over with a cocktail. Mcsmith , ladies and gentlemen of the press corps, Mr. President and first lady, my name is Stephen Colbert and it’s my privilege tonight to celebrate our president. He’s not so different, he and I. We get it. We’re not brainbacks on the nerd patrol. We’re not members of the fact niece that. We go straight from the gut, right sir? That’s where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. I know some of you are going to say I did look it up, and that’s not true. That’s but you looked it up in a book. Next time look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that’s how our nervous system works. Every night on my show, the Colbert report, I speak straight from the gut, ok? I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument. I call it the no fact zone. Fox News, I own the copyright on that term. I’m a simple man with a simple mind, with a simple set of beliefs that I live by. Number one, I believe in America. I believe it exists. My gut tells me I live there. I feel that it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and I strongly believe it has 50 states. And I cannot wait to see how “the Washington Post” spins that one tomorrow. I believe in democracy. I believe democracy is our greatest export. At least until China figures out a way to stamp it out in plastic for three cents a unit. In fact, ambassador, welcome, your great country makes our happy meals possible. I said it’s a celebration. I believe the government that governs best is the government that governs least. And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq. I believe in pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. I believe it is possible — I saw this guy do it once in Cirque du Soleil. It was magical. And though I am a committed Christian, I believe that everyone has the right to their own religion, be it Hindu, Jewish or Muslim. I believe our infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe it’s yogurt. But I refuse to believe it’s not butter. Most of all I believe in this president. Now, I know there’s some polls out there saying this man has a 32% approval rating. But guys like us, we don’t pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in “reality.” And reality has a well-known liberal bias. So, Mr. President, pay no attention to the people that say the glass is half full. 32% means the glass — it’s important to set up your jokes properly, sir. Sir pay no attention to the people who say the glass is half empty, because 32% means it’s 2/3 empty. There’s still some liquid in that glass is my point, but I wouldn’t drink it. The last third is usually backwash. Folks, my point is that I don’t believe this is a low point in this presidency. I believe it is just a lull, before a comeback. I mean, it’s like the movie “Rocky.” The president is Rocky and Apollo Creed is everything else in the world. It’s the 10th round. He’s bloodied, his corner man, Mick, who in this case would be the Vice President, and he’s yelling cut me, dick, cut me, and every time he falls she say stay down! Does he stay down? No. Like Rocky he gets back up and in the end he — actually loses in the first movie. Ok. It doesn’t matter. The point is the heart-warming story of a man who was repeatedly punched in the face. So don’t pay attention to the approval ratings that say 68% of Americans disapprove of the job this man is doing. I ask you this, does that not also logically mean that 68% approve of the job he’s not doing? Think about it. I havent. I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world. Now, there may be an energy crisis. This president has a very forward-thinking energy policy. Why do you think he’s down on the ranch cutting that brush all the time? He’s trying to create an alternative energy source. By 2008 we will have a mesquite powered car. And I just like the guy. He’s a good joe. Obviously loves his wife, calls her his better half. And polls show America agrees. She’s a true lady and a wonderful woman. But I just have one beef, ma’am. I’m sorry, but this reading initiative. I’ve never been a fan of books. I don’t trust them. They’re all fact, no heart. I mean, they’re elitist telling us what is or isn’t true, what did or didn’t happen. What’s Britannica to tell me the Panama Canal was built in 1914. If I want to say it was built in 1941, that’s my right as an American. I’m with the president, let history decide what did or did not happen. The greatest thing about this man is he’s steady. You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday, that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday. Events can change, this man’s beliefs never will. And as excited as I am to be here with the president, I am appalled to be surrounded by the liberal media that is destroying America, with the exception of Fox News. Fox News gives you both sides of every story, the President’s side and the Vice President’s side. But the rest of you, what are you thinking, reporting on N.S.A. wiretapping or secret prisons in Eastern Europe? Those things are secret for a very important reason, they’re superdepressing. And if that’s your goal, well, misery accomplished. Over the last five years you people were so good over tax cuts, W.M.D. intelligence, the affect of global warming. We Americans didn’t want to know, and you had the courtesy not to try to find out. Those were good times, as far as we knew. But, listen, let’s review the rules. Here’s how it works. The President makes decisions, he’s the decider. The Press Secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know, fiction. Because really, what incentive do these people have to answer your questions, after all? I mean, nothing satisfies you. Everybody asks for personnel changes. So the White House has personnel changes. Then you write they’re just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. First of all, that is a terrible metaphor. This administration is not sinking. This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg. Now, it’s not all bad guys out there. Some heroes, Buckley, Kim Schieffer. By the way, Mr. President, thank you for agreeing to be to my show. I was just as shocked as everyone here is I promise you. How is Tuesday for you? I’ve got Frank Rich, but we can bump him. And I mean bump him. I know a guy. Say the word. See who we’ve got here tonight. General Mowsly, Air Force Chief of Staff. General Peter Pace. They still support Rumsfeld. You guys aren’t retired yet, right? Right, they still support Rumsfeld. Look, by the way, I’ve got a theory about how to handle these retired generals causing all this trouble, don’t let them retire. C’mon, we’ve got a stop loss program, let’s use it on these guys. If you’re strong enough to go on one of those pundit shows, you can stand on a bank of computers and order men into battle. C’mon. Jesse Jackson is here. I had him on the show. Very interesting and challenging interview. You can ask him anything, but he’s going to say what he wants at the pace that he wants. It’s like boxing a glacier. Enjoy that metaphor, because your grandchildren will have no idea what a glacier is. Justice Scalia’s here. May I be the first to say welcome, sir. You look fantastic. How are you? John McCain is here. John McCain John McCain. What a maverick. Somebody find out what fork he used on his salad, because I guarantee you wasn’t a salad fork. He could have used a spoon. There’s no predicting him. So wonderful to see you coming back into the republican fold. I have a summerhouse in South Carolina, look me up when you go to speak at Bob Jones University. So glad you’ve seen the light. Mayor Nagin is here from New Orleans, the chocolate city. Yeah, give it up. Mayor Nagin, I would like to welcome you to Washington, D.C., The chocolate city with a marshmallow center. And a graham cracker crust of corruption. It’s a mallomar is what I’m describing, a seasonal cookie. Joe Wilson is here, the most famous husband since Desi Arnez. And of course he brought along his lovely wife Valerie Plame. Oh, my god! Oh, what have I said. I am sorry, Mr. President, I meant to say he brought along his lovely wife, Joe Wilsons wife. Pat Fitzgerald is not here tonight? Dodged a bullet. And we can’t forget man of the hour, new Press Secretary, Tony Snow. Secret service name, Snow Job. What a hero, took the second toughest job in government, next to, of course, the ambassador to Iraq. Got some big shoes to fill, Tony. Scott McClellan could say nothing like nobody else. McClellan, eager to retire. Really felt like he needed to spend more time with Andrew Card’s children. Mr. President, I wish you hadn’t made the decision too quickly, sir. I was vying for the job. I think I would have made a fabulous press secretary. I have nothing but contempt for these people. I know how to handle these clowns. In fact, sir, I brought along an audition tape and with your indulgence, I’d like to at least give it a shot. So, ladies and gentlemen, my press conference.

i’ve always thought together-ness was way more fulfilling than having something witty to talk about.

closest we’ve ever gotten was .49% under the mulroney gov’t _{we’re down since then}
, i honestly don’t know if there’s good reason for me to mention that it was under mulroney that this was accomplished, i hate to say it but i know relatively little about him or his policies, i don’t know (and i don’t want to suggest) that he’s done good or is good, just that’s when it happened

it’s well worth noting that most of the nordic countries and (world leader) holland have surpassed the one percentage point
also worth noting the states gave away .34% of their GDP as foreign aid in 2003

this is a really great windows backup solution

mozy.com
this referral link will give BOTH YOU AND ME an extra 256mb (from the initial, free gigabyte)
that’s right it’s in your best interest to sign up using this link or to mention mozy@77percent.com at your sign up
mozy.com

see the flickr set of potential prints
please leave comments on the photos you like the most if you think any of them are print-worthy ..

thanks for your input,
g’day

walking the long way back
from the busy bazaar,
we see rows of rickshaws.
men, both young and old
sweating in the heavy humidity
from their labours: of cycling for
someone else
sitting in a carriage.

each is hoping for a customer
,(ideally someone skinny),
amoungst fierce competition.
:
each is hoping to make enough today
in order to afford dinner tonight.

we hop in

a rickshaw
with a grin, we greet
the young man in front;
he reluctantly responds,
hiya boss-man, where to ?
careful to subordinate himself in his limited english.

we roll by

a diplomat in an imported benz
with a black license plate
fat and sweating, he
loudly urges his driver to hurry through the hectic traffic.
the shouting
muted by thick glass windows
(keeping conditioned air inside).

we roll by

a franchised KFC,
young locals flowing in and out,
laughing in the heat and frolicking despite it.
inside they serve halal chicken meat:
fried and breaded.
their menu modified.
to cater to local tastes and culture.
long way back

we roll by

a mess of communal shanty shelters
the desolate home to
many too many
families.

the roar of an engine is heard.
soon,
an enormous black chevy yukon kicking up dust,
(proudly made in the united states),
an american flag is waving at the end of the bonnet.
in the front seats are two locals:
dressed in black suits and matching sunglasses.
they smirk in unison as they honk at a rickshaw.

we watch

~the rickshaw continue its slow course,
the suits look frightened all of a sudden.
he hits the gas and swerves well away from the harmless rickshaw,
(there is no Improvised Explosive Device).
expecting an explosion, they continue to accelerate,

blowing the light blue plastic covering
from atop the shanty structure,
the home to many too many.

the password is rickshaw.
please leave comments and feel free to make changes.