A view of one of the Saudi Arabias of wind — Texas
The US’ discussion over our energy future hasn’t just produced many innovative ideas for harnessing cleaner and renewable sources of power; it’s also given rise to its own collection of cliches. Arguably, the most prevalent among these is “_______ (a location) is the Saudi Arabia of _________ (an energy source)” You’ve heard ‘em: “Texas is the Saudi Arabia of wind,” “Arizona/Nevada is the Saudi Arabia of solar,” etc., etc.
The New York Times‘ Green Inc. blog decided to find an alternative to this well-worn (and often inaccurate) metaphor by asking readers to come up with better descriptions for a state/region/country’s energy resources. Today, they announced the winners. Among them:
_______ is the El Dorado of green power
_______ is the Homer Simpson’s stomach of _____
And, perhaps my favorite…
_______ is the Rush Limbaugh of wind.
Green Inc.’s contest is over; that doesn’t mean you can’t get those wheels turning to see what you can come up with… share them with us below.
Every male creature on the planet has a unique “piece of equipment” specifically designed by mother nature to work “hand in glove” with the female of its species.
Are you up to the challenge of matching nature’s creatures with their appropriate “features?”
To take the challenge go to any of the 4 participating blogs below. Find the penis in the photo on any of those blogs, enter the animal’s name in the comment section and get a chance to win an eco-friendly, Sundance Channel gift bag (it’s not just a bag, it’s got stuff in it too).
To help you find the proper penis, we have posted a Green Porno “Grand Gallery of Penises” on Sundancechannel.com. Click through the gallery until you find the penis that matches the photo on any of the blogs below.
Visit the blogs below to find the NAME THAT SCHLONG CHALLENGE. Happy hunting!
Editor’s note: this is a new weekly editorial column from filmmakers Annie Howell and Lisa Robinson that will primarily focus on the evolution of film storytelling in this age of inexpensive, ubiquitous digital cameras and computer-based media. Watch for it every Wednesday.
Welcome to our column!
We are two filmmakers toiling away in the trenches, fighting the good fight in trying to make feature-length films. We also both teach filmmaking to undergrad and grad students, and co-create a web series that will appear on SundanceChannel.com beginning this summer. This column will take on the question, “What’s gonna happen to story?” Okay, we don’t know the answer, but we are both interested in the question. In this time of internet dominance, of viral video and short attention spans, where we live with both YouTube and the three hour release of Soderbergh’s CHE … where are we? And where is visual storytelling going?
Because of our backgrounds and interests, we want to examine these questions from the aesthetic, filmmaker-based point of view, less from the industry standpoint. We hope to share interesting links, pose questions about current films, web series, and web videos, and think in general about the way story functions. We hope you’ll read more, and contribute when you can.
Story as Contest
At least for the past ten years, marketing execs have realized the value of letting the public essentially create an advertisement for them, for free. My first encounter with this was in film school, when the Coca Cola company came to NYU, trolling for student filmmakers who would be willing to compete in their “Coca Cola Filmmaker Challenge” — win a “huge” budget to create a three minute film involving the love of movies and drinking Coke, to play theatrically nation-wide before major motion picture releases. I submitted. I lost.
I remember seeing the winning film play before some big romantic comedy, and feeling crushed that my ticket to the big time had been absconded by some squirrelly undergrad. Since then, of course, hundreds of organizations, both non-profit and for-profit, have posed filmmaking challenges to willing ‘contestants.’ I used to roll my eyes … how could this serious life pursuit be reduced to a contest? Why would makers play directly in to the hands of needy promotional types? But years later, I’m starting to see the opportunities, and how it’s grown far beyond simple commercialization. In posing story as game, isn’t there value in simply inviting broader creativity? Aren’t there new types of opportunities for collaboration?
A group of former students, a collective known as Profluence Productions, have participated for three years now in the week-long speed-doc-making International Documentary Challenge (affiliated with Hot Docs), and they cite the experiences here. I watched their filmmaking just get better and better; they made three wonderful shorts that continue to screen at festivals. My friend Brian Mooney has created this board game, The Storymatic, wherein players draw cards that help to initiate dramatic scenarios for fiction and screenplays. (Hmmm…good assignment for my screenwriting class.) Here’s the sample on how it works, on their site:
1. Think of this sentence: “X is in a conflict with Y about Z.”
2. Draw two ivory cards. Suppose you draw “plastic surgeon,” and “person with the hiccups.” This is your main character (X).
3. Draw one ivory card. Suppose you draw “child star.” This is your secondary character (Y).
4. Draw one silver card. Suppose you draw “overdue apology.” This is the source of the conflict (Z).
There is a good story in those cards: A plastic surgeon with the hiccups is in conflict with a child star about an overdue apology. There is just one thing missing: a person to tell that story.
5. Tell the story.
And, I just found the following docu-comic series contest through the very compelling smithmag.net: Next Door Neighbor. Readers submit stories around this theme, and the winner’s entry will be illustrated in to a comic strip. Clearly, this site utilizes well the notion of reader-contributed stories via theme (check it out, “My Pregnancy Story,” “My Ex,” etc). What’s not to like?
-AH
In honor of Earth Day, high-end sex toy creator Jimmyjane is asking you to kill your toxic vibe: post of photo or a description on their Facebook page by next Wed, April 29th, of what they’re calling a “decommissioning ceremony” of any crap sex toy you may have (i.e. it’s a battery hog or it’s made of cheap, potentially carcinogenic materials that can’t be recycled easily or at all) and you’ll automatically receive $25 off a Little Chroma or Form 6 (normally $125 and $185 respectively). We know, we know, that sounds like a whole hell of a lot for a sex toy, especially in these hard economic times, but considering that the Chroma has the world’s only patented replaceable motor for vibrators and the Form is rechargeable, they’ll last a million times longer than some cheap, gas-emitting knock-off that requires two AAs. Plus, all their products are phthalate-free, made with medical grade-materials, and adhere to European regulations (which are stricter than the U.S.’s) — check out their Environmental Responsibility statement. So if you’re going to do something for the Earth today, might as well get an orgasm out of it for your efforts. Oh, and the person with the best submission gets a Little Chroma totally free.
At least for the past ten years, marketing execs have realized the value of letting the public essentially create an advertisement for them, for free. My first encounter with this was in film school, when the Coca Cola company came to NYU, trolling for student filmmakers who would be willing to compete in their “Coca Cola Filmmaker Challenge” — win a “huge” budget to create a three minute film involving the love of movies and drinking Coke, to play theatrically nation-wide before major motion picture releases. I submitted. I lost.
