WaveSpace

So I figured out a reason to use twitter. No, not publishing random thoughts--anything worth a tweet is too infrequent. And not describing my daily whereabouts--there's little utility in that. What I'm doing instead is a fitness activity log. Not that anyone will care, but it does a) provide me a log which is useful for training and b) give some extra motivation vis-à-vis the mere possibility that my friends and co-workers might check it out.

The Yes Men are prankster activists attempting to show the harm caused by global corporatism. They first became known for a fake GW Bush campaign site, for which the real GW famously said "There outta be limits to freedom."

Their movie has some truly hilarious pranks. The clips are on YouTube (of course!) but require some intros, as they are missing the long lead-ins which make them much funnier.

In the first, they pose as WTO representatives at a conference in Finland. After a presentation favorably comparing the use of third world sweatshops to slavery (among other outrageous statements), they whip out a demonstration, a futuristic business suit that allows managers to watch their workers by means of a giant phallic extension with a TV screen embedded in it, the Employee Visualization Appendage.

Amazingly, the stuffed shirts at the conference never catch on that they are being pranked. Here's the clip.

In another, they give a talk before an economics class to introduce a new plan to feed starving people in the Third World and at the same time make lots of money. After generously feeding the entire class with McDonald's, they show a video of the concept which is called "ReBurger." Let's just say that it would give new meaning to the phrase "ordering a number two." Here's the clip. Shocked and disgusted, the class ultimately does realize it is a joke.

This week I finished Replay, a three DVD set of Rush concert films: Exit... Stage Left, Grace Under Pressure, and A Show of Hands. I saw them live about 12 years ago; they just wrapped up another tour.

Of the three discs, Exit... is by far superior. The remastered sound quality is great. The highlight has to be Xanadu where Geddy and Alex both break out double neck guitars. The clip is available on YouTube, of course the quality is atrocious there, but you can get a feel for the real thing. A comment on YouTube says "these guys put more work into this one song than some bands do in their entire careers!" Probably true....

With the second and third discs (from the 80's) the sound is more homogenized, more filtered, less raw. Grace is notable for Alex's fashion victim pants and white blazer, frequently blowing out the camera. There are less shots of Neil on drums also. Overall, it was a bit disappointing. Show suffers from rapid-fire editing, especially (again) of Neil, who never appears for more than a split-second with the exception of his solo. Their slower, softer side of Rush during this period (Power Windows and Hold Your Fire) makes for a less energetic show (though I personally like many of the songs).

Rush in Rio is another recent DVD of theirs; it captures a really amazing show from a few years back. But once again, the sound quality is less than terrific... I'm looking forward to seeing R30 next!

I've been trying to get caught up on the TED talks podcast. Here are some micro-reviews of the best talks I've watched recently, a follow-up to my first post on the subject.

Richard Dawkins

Though there are no new ideas in this talk, Dawkins pulls together quantum theory and evolutionary biology to explain how narrow our slice of reality really is.

Aubrey de Grey

Makes a well-reasoned case that 'Ending Aging' is challenge that biomedicine can, and should, tackle.

Keith Barry

Magician / mentalist Keith Barry was stupendous. I'm still trying to figure out how he did those tricks. In the one at the end where he's smashing the paper cups, I'm gonna take a stab and guess that from his angle, he can see which cup has a nail under it. When he's driving the car blind-folded maybe he has driven the exact route so many times, gradually decreasing his vision, that he gets to where he can do it. I could be completely wrong of course....

Nathan Mrhyvold

I didn't think I'd like the former Microsofter and intellectual property miner. But I was really blown away with the diversity of his interests. You've gotta admit that he lives an amazing life. And hey, check out the whale penises.

Susan Blackmore

Lays down a solid foundation for memetics in this highly thought-provoking talk.

Peter Diamandis

Just a real brief slideshow of Stephen Hawking's zero-G flight, which was cool to see. Hopefully there will be a talk from him on the X-Prize or space entrepreneurship at some point.

George Dyson

Shows some amazing log entries and photos of the first real computer hackers, in the 1950's at Princeton.

Mark Bittman

Although he admits to not being a vegetarian, he puts forth a damning case on the industrialization of food, especially the wastefulness of the beef industry. Although he comes off sounding like the stereotypical self-righteous Leftist, it's hard to argue with his conclusions.