sundance

A better way to channel our outrage: “It Gets Better”

A great article in the NYTimes this past weekend about cyberbullying — and in particular cyberbullying over sexual orientation — included this line which really made us stop and think: “the punishment must fit the crime, not the sense of outrage over it.” It’s wise and it’s true, but we’d forgotten that — and it doesn’t answer the question, what do you do with all the outrage you feel? The outraged part of us feels that Tyler Clementi’s college roommate — who secretly filmed Clementi hooking up with another guy then posted it online, leading to Clementi’s suicide — deserves to go to jail for a long, long time. Same goes for the assholes who bullied 13-year-old Seth Walsh about his sexual orientation — Walsh hanged himself from a tree in his backyard last month and died after more than a week on life support. And countless other gay teen suicides across the country — often as a direct result of peer bullying.

1987 Star Trek casting recommendation memo

From the film archives, Letters of Note unearthed this April 1987 production memo of casting recommendations for Star Trek: The Next Generation. It reads like some episode where the Starfleet discovered a bizarro parallel universe where Reggie Jackson and Wesley Snipes served the Federation.

Plastic saran wrap wigs

Designer Kate Cusack executes a trompe l’oeil with these Marie Antoinette-esque wigs made from plastic saran wrap. [Via]

The Gap gets a facelift

The Gap used to be so cool! They were the go-to place for basics, staples, those American classics. And now, they’ve been upstaged by forward-thinking brands with a bit more personality, like J. Crew, Club Monaco, Gant, etc. Well, someone at The Gap’s trying real hard to be cool again. But I don’t think a [...]

Green tech finds (10/7/10)

Off-grid battery packs for the developing world, a green tech playground, and more… this week’s green tech finds.

• Making solar cells from wind: Welsh solar cell maker G24 Innovations is preparing for the installation of a wind turbine at its Wentloog Environmental Centre in Cardiff in order to produce its renewable power systems with renewable power (at least partially). (via Treehugger)
  
  
• The off-grid battery pack: Start-up Fenix International rolled out its website and first product this week: the ReadySet, a “a 12-volt lead acid battery designed specifically for frequent charges from a variety of sources, including a solar panel, bicycle generator, the power grid, or eventually hydro and small-wind turbines.” The product is designed for use in areas of the developing world without access to power. See the video above for details. (via CNET Green Tech)
  
  

Allan King: cinema’s best kept secret

Billy, Antoinette, their son Bogart and their dog, Merton in A MARRIED COUPLE

It’s no exaggeration to say that Canadian director Allan King made some of the most searing, most intimate, most stunning and remarkable documentary films of all time, but chances are you’ve never heard of him. And before the Eclipse Series from Criterion, “The Actuality Dramas of Allan King,” was released two weeks ago, neither had I. King pioneered a cinéma vérité style he preferred to call ‘actuality dramas,’ spontaneous portraits of the everyday. The Eclipse Series contains five of his best known and most critically acclaimed works, WARRENDALE (1967), A MARRIED COUPLE (1969), COME ON CHILDREN (1972), DYING AT GRACE (2003) and MEMORY FOR MAX, CLAIRE, IDA AND COMPANY (2005).

Artist’s response to cuts to arts funding

As part of a British campaign led by artists to protest cuts to arts funding, Cornelia Parker leads the charge with this statement that chops a wing off of Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North. It’s captioned, “Why clip the wings of an industry that is soaring? It’s a false economy to cut the arts.” [...]

Check your mate with this vibrator chess set

Aruliden, the NY-based product design consultancy, has created a super luxe sex-toy chess set for New York City’s high-end sex accouterments shop, Kiki de Montparnasse. According to Fast Company’s Co.Design site, the 32-piece set made of medical-grade silicone and ABS with gold-plated detailing will be available late November/early December, just in time for the holidays for the filthy rich. Because the most obscene thing about the item is its price tag: a cool 7000 cucumbers!

Ira Sachs’ LAST ADDRESS

Last Address from Ira Sachs on Vimeo. Though 7 months old I just happened upon Ira Sachs’ short film LAST ADDRESS. It’s simple and somber and yet so very powerful. Shot in New York, the film is a montage of street views of various addresses throughout the NYC Metro area. Each address was the last [...]

Farm Aid short film delivers “A Message from Earth” on organic cotton

This past weekend, Farm Aid celebrated its 25th anniversary with its annual concert… this time in Milwaukee. The brainchild of Neil Young, Willie Nelson, and John Mellencamp, Farm Aid’s mission has always focused on the plight of the family farmer in the United States; in recent years, the organization has also added a healthy dose of sustainability to its message. Some might be tempted to accuse the organization of jumping on the green bandwagon, but Farm Aid recognizes that family farmers are well-positioned to meet the growing demand for safer, healthier, and more environmentally benign agricultural products.

The Deer House – weirdest play of the year?

If there was an Obie for Weirdest Play of the Year, “The Deer House” would win hands down. Watching it is an experience that’s almost impossible to describe, but imagine Matthew Barney in a Nordic prop warehouse surrounded by a bevy of naked dancers, who are all on drugs sent down to Earth from an alien spacecraft. Those naked dancers are under the direction of Jan Lauwers at Needcompany, a Brussels-based theatrical group he founded with Grace Ellen Barkey, who also stars in the play. “The Deer House” – the final installment of the Sad Face/Happy Face trilogy – came about when one of the dancers in the company found out her brother, a war reporter, had been killed in Kosovo; The news was broken to her in the dressing room, which serves as the opening scene.

“Every Little Step” remake with Mike Tyson and Wayne Brady

Every Little Step with Mike Tyson & Wayne Brady from Mike Tyson Apropos of nothing aside from laughter is this shot-for-shake remake starring Wayne Brady and Mike Tyson of Bobby Brown’s “Every Little Step.” One learning from this music video: for someone so quick and fleet in the ring, Mike Tyson is one terrible dancer.

The “Cigar Guy” Conspiracy

This year’s Ryder Cup will be known for two things other than who won:  the return of Tiger Woods, and the mystery of the man only known as “The Cigar Guy.” If not for this once in a lifetime shot of Tiger’s flubbed stroke, Cigar Guy (standing at the right of the photo) would have [...]

.357 Magnum hair dryer

I’m “blown away” by this working vintage novelty hair dryer modeled on a 357 Magnum pistol that is available for sale on Etsy. I don’t suggest you try to carry this on the plane with you. [Hat tip: Annie]

Celebrities speak out

There have been a slew of videos uploaded by celebrities of all walks of life this week in reaction to the five suicides by young gay men in the past couple of weeks. The videos are very emotional and powerful and draw attention to the growing problems, since, you know, Obama has yet to pipe up on the issue.

I have collected my 3 favorites: Sarah Silverman, Cyndi Lauper, and Kathy Griffin.

Museum update: Indianapolis Museum of Art makes a boo-boo

Late last month the Indianapolis Museum of Art announced the firing of 56 security officers. This is only the latest in a long line of museum closures and firing sprees, but IMA is unique in that it plans to fill the now vacant positions with students at a slightly lower salary. Before we get to that, let’s take a look at IMA’s security program as it stands now. Even with the 56 security officers, the museum was unable to meet their objectives, like “responding to potentially serious incidents that arise on the IMA campus” and reducing costs. From their website: “The IMA has a reputation for being a safe place. Regrettably, we’d seen some incidents that could threaten that reputation. We’ve had numerous car break-ins, and we had been unable to curb that problem.”

LET ME IN director lets us in

A horror film slash coming-of-age story, Let Me In is the Matt Reeves–directed remake of Let The Right One In, the 2008 Swedish film which was based on the John Ajvide Lindqvist novel about a bullied boy who finds a soulmate in a female vampire. This version, transplanted to 1980s’ New Mexico, is a beautiful piece of work, filled with angst, soul, atmosphere, and blood stains.

I phoned Reeves (who did the 2008 hit Cloverfield) and asked him to let me into his process.

Me: Hi, Matt. You obviously love the story of the outcast triumphing. Everyone does.

Reeves: That’s only one aspect of the story. It’s the outcast finding someone who understands him, but there’s a dark edge to the story. He has vivid fantasies of revenge and when they’re played out, it’s not all victory. There’s something chilling about it and there are consequences. I was haunted by the ambiguity. It makes it a powerful horror story. I wanted to make sure that even the bully would be humanized. It’s not black and white. There’s a potential for evil in all of us.

British biogas plant producing energy from sewage

As you can see in the picture above, the landscape of Didcot, Oxfordshire is dominated by cooling towers for coal and oil-fed power stations. Not the cleanest of energy sources, but, as of today, Didcot is contributing to greener energy generation in Great Britain as the home of the country’s first biomethane station that produces gas from sewage.

Rolex presents THE YOUNG LAUREATES: Bruktawit Tigabu

Bruktiwat Tigabu

Almost 400,000 children die in Ethiopia a year, mostly from preventable causes like malaria, diarrhoea and measles. Growing up surrounded by poverty and then working as a primary school teacher in Addis Ababa, Bruktawit Tigabu saw it all for herself. She decided early on to make a change by educating children on health and social matters. Working from their living room, Tigabu and her husband produced Tsehai Loves Learning, an educational program about a young female giraffe who tackles crucial issues such as health, nutrition, and life skills.

Naked News: Orgasms & sensitive fingers, boomers & safe sex

• Study finds that highly sensitive fingers in a woman may be linked to her ability to orgasm during vaginal intercourse.
  
  
• In Indonesia, a mandate being discussed would require girls to pass virginity tests to attend state-funded schools. Just. Wow.
  
  

Art of the title sequence to NAPOLEON DYNAMITE

I was in Virginia this past weekend for a wedding and while resting in the hotel room, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE was on the tube. I forgot how funny and unique that movie still is. It reminded me to share this interesting interview with the director Jared Hess about the film’s memorable opening sequence, which was created [...]

Never before seen LIFE photos of Hells Angels

LIFE posted online a gallery of great photographs of Hells Angels that have never been previously published or publicly seen before. The pictures were snapped in 1965 by LIFE photographer Bill Ray who accompanied writer Joe Bride as they spent a few weeks with this infamous motorcycle gang. I particularly like the photo above, which [...]

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, the world’s youngest billionaire

THE SOCIAL NETWORK is the age-old story that pits the jocks against the geeks in a power play for popularity, only this time around there’s more at stake than just getting in with the cool kids. There’s a multi-billion dollar idea up for grabs, and it takes place at Harvard, which means that everyone, even the buff, blonde crew team champs, the Winklevoss twins, are just as smart and ambitious as the king geek, Mark Zuckerberg. Played by Jesse Eisenberg (THE SQUID AND THE WHALE) as supremely nerdy, even witheringly so, Zuckerberg is seldom without his uniform of baggy sweatshirts and Adidas sandals with white socks, all items of clothing not seen much in the Harvard final clubs (Fox, Phoenix, Porcellian) Zuckerberg is obsessed with. When he finds himself unable to get into any of them, and his girlfriend dumps him for his pathetic obsession with Harvard’s social elite, Zuckerberg and his roommates write an algorithm that soon spawns Facebook, or The Facebook, as it was originally called.

Dance party song, “Barbra Streisand”

“Barbra Streisand” is an amazing dance song and video by D.J. duo Duck Sauce (A-Trak and Van Helden) that captures the love, with some irony and humor, the cool kids have for New York City. Watching it makes me want to put on my Reebok pump kicks, skinny jeans, Opening Ceremony shirt, and head to [...]

Emergency Bras at the 20th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony

The 20th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, which honors achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think,” was held Harvard University last Thursday. On hand to help honor the 2010 prize laureates was Dr. Elana Bodnar, last year’s winner of the Ig Nobel Public Health Prize for her Emergency Bra, a [...]