(Warning: This video may make you weepy.)
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The week that was
The late, great speculative fiction writer Jay Lake used to write these wonderful story roundups on his blog that he called Link Salad. The feature was basically just a bunch of links to stories that had caught his eye during his daily/weekly Internet wanderings.
I know that many of you follow me on other social media outlets, where the sharing of stories is something that I do with gusto. But I’ve received a general complaint about these posts: Both Facebook and Twitter make it so hard to find ’em. That’s where “The Week That Was” comes in. In this feature, I’ll highlight a handful of my favorite shares from the previous week, just in case you missed them the first time around.
And here we go:
STORIES
Syria Suffers Record Death Toll – Syria’s three-year civil war has already killed more than 170,000 people, nearly a third of them civilians.
Ukraine Rebel Chief Igor Bezler Threatens To Execute Interviewer – When interviewing a rebel leader nicknamed “the Demon,” don’t be surprised when he goes on a rant that suggests shooting the messenger.
NRA Member Who Lost Sister To Gun Violence Tearfully Asks Senate To Protect Women – American women account for 84 percent of all female gun victims in the developed world, and more than a quarter of female homicide victims in the U.S. are killed by an intimate partner.
2,500 Ground Zero Workers Have Cancer – The grim toll has skyrocketed from the 1,140 cancer cases reported last year.
Homicide Victims’ Families Seek Justice, Retribution And Closure From Death Penalty – An AP reporter decided to talk to murder victims’ families about capital punishment. This is a side of the story that is rarely shared.
In Push To Protect Big Coal, Alabama Officials Say New EPA Regulations Violate God’s Will – “I hope all the citizens of Alabama will be in prayer that the right thing will be done,” Alabama Public Service Commission President Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh said, calling on Alabamians to pray for a divine intervention.
California Drought Reaches A Terrifying Milestone:
(Image by U.S. Department of Agriculture)
OBITS
Margot Adler, NPR Journalist And Pagan Activist, Died At 68 – Her book “Drawing Down the Moon” launched me on a spiritual journey when I was a teenager.
Josefa A. Platzer, Founder Of Jo’s Cafe, Died At 81 – This is the first obit that actually made hungry.
Carlo Bergonzi, Italian Tenor And WWII POW, Died At 90 – Can’t say I’m a huge fan of opera. However, Carlo had some serious pipes.
VIDEO
Hope For Paws Rescues Abused Pit Bull – These vids have the unique ability of simultaneously making me hate humanity and love people.
QUOTE
“Don’t think that if we’re all good girls, if we’re properly meek, if we don’t provoke our men, we’ll be safe. Good girls get hurt all the time. We are not the problem. I refuse to quietly accept that there is one set of rules for how men live and another set of rules for how women live. And still, at night in a dark parking lot, I will walk to my car with my keys splayed between my fingers like blades. Ain’t that some shit?” –Roxane Gay
(Photo by Mishooo. Used with permission)
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Art that involves meeting in the middle
“Stop thinking about art works as objects and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences.” –Roy Ascott
If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, The Art Assignment is a vlog that launched earlier this year. In the debut episode, hosts Sarah Urist Green and John Green introduced artists Douglas Paulson and Christopher Robbins. Then, the first assignment of the series was explained and the artists embarked on it. The first vid documents their adventures/misadventures.
Unlike other blogs, however, The Art Assignment is meant to be interactive. Which is to say, the audience is also encouraged to do the assignments. Here are the instructions for the first one:
1. Pick a friend and calculate the exact geographic midpoint between where the two of you live. You can use GeoMidpoint or other websites to calculate your midpoint, or even use a paper map.
2. Decide on a date and a time to meet there and don’t communicate until then.
3. Document your experience. You can do this however you’d like, using photos, video, text, drawings or anything else.
4. Upload your documentation and share it online using whatever social media platforms you prefer, being sure to tag it with #theartassignment so they can find it.
I see this as the perfect opportunity to not only experience art in a new way, but also to complete another one of my “firsts.” Who wants to play?
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The beautiful music of birds
Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.
Winner of the YouTube Play Guggenheim Biennial Festival.
Soundtrack available here.Reading a newspaper, I saw a picture of birds on the electric wires. I cut out the photo and decided to make a song, using the exact location of the birds as notes (no Photoshop edit). I knew it wasn’t the most original idea in the universe. I was just curious to hear what melody the birds were creating.
I sent the music to the photographer, Paulo Pinto, who I Googled on the internet. He told his editor, who told a reporter and the story ended up as an interview in the very same newspaper.
Here I've posted a short video made with the photo, the music and the score (composed by the birds).
Also check my live presentation of Birds on the Wires at TEDx São Paulo: http://www.tedxsaopaulo.com.br/jarbas-agnelli/
Music made with Logic.
Video made with After Effects.An interview about this and other works can be found here.
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So you want to write a novel…
