I just found these animated shorts, and I think it would be of interest for the TDG community. They are part of a series called 'PerfectLand', directed by Benjamin Meinhardt for the Mtv network.

Coming from a source like Mtv, it does feel like a hypocrite message, especially since they are also sponsored by a cell phone company called boostmobile, and I guess the marketing wizards o Mtv have never bothered to study how enviromentally hazardous cell phones are —consider also that many of the music videos that run today are promoting some new hot cell phone, so they are indirectly imprinting the message of throwing your old boring 6-month-obsolete mobile to the trash can in favor of the newest gadget to the younger audiences.

Nevertheless, I really liked these shorts, and I think you'll enjoy them too. It's a nice reminder that if you mess with Motha' Neichur, she's eventually gonna have the last laugh...

Sci-Fi author extraordinaire Arthur C. Clarke was credited for many things during his long, fruitful career as a writer an visionary: Inventor of the tele-communications satellite, proposer of the "Space Elevator", etc.

But it was not until I finished reading one of his first novels, "Childhood's End" (Amazon US & UK, that I realized that he should also be credited for laying the foundations of what would later be known as the ciber-punk cyber-punk movement.

"Childhood's End", written between 1952-53, deals mainly with the concept of First Contact between humanity and 'the Overlords', a race of alien beings so monumentally advanced they almost appear god-like in their powers. Yet there's one part of the novel that should be noted:

"The group of artists & scientists that had so far done the least was the one that had attracted the greatest interest—and the greatest alarm. This was the team working with "total identification." The history of cinema gave the clue to their actions. First sound, then color, then stereoscopy, then Cinerama, had made the old "moving pictures" more and more like reality itself. Where was the end of the story? Surely, the final stage would be reached when the audience forgot it was an audience, and became part of the action. To achieve this would involve stimulation of all the senses, and perhaps hypnosis aswell, but many believed it to be practical. When the goal was attained, there would be an enormous experience of human experience. A man could become—for a while at least—any other person, and could take part in any conceivable adventure, real of imaginary. He could even be a plant or an animal, if it proved possible to capture and record the sense impressions of other living creatures. And when the "program" was over, he would have acquired a memory as avivid as any experience in his actual life—indeed, indistinguishable from reality itself.

How about that? 30 years before "Neuromancer" and "Snow Crash", Sir Clarke was already coaxing us to jack in to the Matrix! Not bad, Artie, not too bad at all...

Of course, even in as early as 1952, Mr. Clarke was already aware of the inherent danger of letting yourself too immerse in entertainment, and forgetting about living your REAL life:

Do you realize that every day something like five hundred hours of radio and TV pour out over the various channels? If you went without sleep, and did nothing else, you could follow less than a twentieth of the entertainment that's available at the turn of a switch! No wonder that people are becoming passive sponges—absorbing but never creating. Did you know that the average viewing time per person is now three hours a day? Soon people won't be living their own lives anymore. It will be a full-time job keeping up with the various family serials on TV!"

And remember, this was published before HBO, "24", "American Idol" and Youtube came into being!

He even predicted the impact of things like Napster, Myspace & Blogger: the advent of a myriad of talented amateurs, that nevertheless would never attain the greatness of their predecessors of past centuries.

Truly, a man who lived ahead of all of us.

I will end this posting by recommending all of you to read "Childhood's End", if you haven't done so already. It's a great novel that begs not to be put down until finished, and will leave you both astounded and questioning about the possible role of man among the daunting vastness between the stars.

I just read a really sad news. Ollie Johnston, the last living remnant of the mythical Disney's '9 Old Men', has just passed away.

No matter how cynical a person you can become in life, there is at least ONE Disney movie that touched your most personal emotional fibers in your early childhood, and still has a special place in your heart. Chances are that for most people, that single movie was the work of Ollie Johnston, or one of his other companions.

In the animation circles these guys have reached the status of demigods, their work praised by all strata of critics and enthusiasts of the medium. The book written by Ollie and his life-long friend Frank Thomas —"The Illusion of Life"— is as close to a Bible as the Animation industry can ever hope for.

Ollie Johnston was much more than a superior artist, or exceptional craftsman; much more than a man with enough determination to carry out his vision.

The man was a wizard. Pure and simple as that. His characters are not just immortal, they are forever alive.

Godspeed, kind wizard. And thank you.

I thought you might like to know that Rupert Sheldrake is recovering well from his wound and is currently out of the hospital.

Pamela Smart, a fellow researcher and collaborator of Sheldrake, sent me this via e-mail:

Rupert is recovering really well and is now out of hospital. It didn’t take him long to walk with a stick and he has no pain. The doctors are astonished at his speedy recovery. Many people have been sending him healing and saying prayers for his speedy recovery, which appears to have been very successful indeed. He is very cheery and said he’s enjoyed his time in hospital where he’s received many messages of love and warmth giving him lots of strength. He will be fulfilling his commitments in Tucson at the next conference this week.

I really think this is great news; and I also suspect that Rupert might later want to undergo a study on the effects of prayer and good wishes in the recovery of patients, don't you think? :-)

So I guess that by now everybody knows that Charlton Heston passed away last weekend.

I could never agree with the political activism of his later years, nevertheless I aknowledge the fact that he was a giant as an actor, a member of a generation of Hollywood icons the likes of whom we will probably never witness again.

Thinking about his career legacy, I suddenly realized that what attracted me most about his films, was the fact that he always played the part of the unwilling hero. A character that initially was content with his place in the world and had no great ambitions, but that suddenly due to changes that were outside his power, finds his life making a dramatic turn; and suddenly he has to struggle against the status quo to regain what has been taking from him. In doing so the character becomes a hero.

That's exactly what happens with Taylor in "Planet of the Apes", with detective Robert Thorn in "Soylent Green", with Judah Ben-Hur and even with Moses, the most recognizable of his roles and the one people remember the most.

I suppose all these characters appeal to us because they remind us that any underdog can become a hero, if he finds the courage to fight.

Charlton Heston, thank you for making us feel that WE too can become heroes, if we just heed the words of the burning bush.

Rest In Peace.

I have just read that Tata motors, the biggest Auto maker in India, has recently bought the luxury english brands Jaguar and Land Rover, which were formerly part of the Ford Motor Company.

It sounds like just another Economy news. But then again, could there be some form of poetic justice in the fact that a company from a nation that used to be a colony of one of the greatest european empires, now owns the factories that make the cars that used to be exclusive status symbols for the english elite?

I wonder what would Gandhi think of this. :-)

We have been having a bit of an e-mail discussion among the TDG admins, concerning the recent tragic events that have been reported in Tibet and the nearby chinese regions. Some of us feel that it was about time that these riots and protests began, since for 50 years the chinese have trampled on the cultural and political rights of the Tibet, a country they invaded and claimed as theirs unilateraly.

Note here that in all this mess the Dalai Lama, the religious head of the tibetan church, and also their political leader according to the exiled tibetan government, has for the last two years turned away from the idea of a free Tibet, what he wants is a more autonomous Tibet although still under Chinese rule. Maybe this change came out of a sense of practicality, since it is obvious that by now none of the surviving exiled leaders of Tibet will be able to return in their life-times. Nevertheless, Beijing has been quick to blame all the violence to the Dalai Lama, as a plan to sabotage their precious Olimpic Games where they would show the world what a great and modern nation they have become.

But getting back to our little e-mail discussion: some of us have obviously mentioned names like Gandhi and Mandela, as a way to point out that non-violent movements are more efficient in ensuing beneficial social changes, while it has been argued by others that in a country like XXIst century China, a man like Gandhi would not last alive a week.

My mind objects this idea, but maybe it is a mere emotional sentimental response. Maybe I'm desperate to believe non-violence is a better answer, otherwise I myself would become someone with blood in my hands...

For I live in a country where social civil rights are defiled every day, where you cannot expect a thing from politicians except that they will only seek to amass as much money as they can during their time in office, where you fear police officers instead of admire them, where you can never be certain if you'll be able to return home at night, where the rich get richer and the poor get miserable. This is a climate of despair, and despair can turn to rage quickly, because violence is the obvious solution for a person who has nothing to lose; and I fear I am becoming that person.

So I ask you this: Violence or Non-Violence?

[UPDATE]: Roaming through the net, I stumbled upon this brilliant animation short, that in 1-minute manages to express a very profound idea, that I believe may be relevant to my original topic.

Here I am at 1:30 a.m., back from one of he greatest music concerts I have ever attended.

My throat sore from all the shouting and singing; my legs throb from all the jumping and dancing.

My body covered with the sweat of 15,000 smelly strangers, that for 3 hours became my brothers & sisters; my hair soaked with beer; my sneakers' soles sticky with bubble gum and other... dubious substances.

A little bit stoned and with my ears still buzzing. 3 pounds lighter, 10 years younger.

Exhausted as hell; and completely, COMPLETELY happy :-)

Here's a taste of the sky I touched tonight. Enjoy:

• Volver a Comenzar
• Eo el Sonidero
• Ingrata
• Eres (Live)
• Chilanga Banda (Live)

See you in a few hours... I hope! ;-)

"Pachucos, Cholos y Chundos,
Chichinflas y Malafachas,
acá los Chompiras rifan
y bailan Tibiri-Tabara!"

I went last Sunday to the movies, to see 10,000 B.C., along with the only person in my family that actually enjoys those kinds of flicks: my nephew :-)

What did I think of it? I enjoyed it. It's packed with lots of excitement and eye-candy. It will definitely not be remembered in the annals of cinema as the most compelling story, but I believe that for the average Grailer this flick will have many interesting things, if you are willing to suspend your disbelief and remember you are not seeing a National Geographic documentary.

Because obviously, there are a lot of mistakes done in the movie. For instance, all the paleo-creatures presented are freakishly huge —the saber-toothed tiger, which obviously cannot be a smilodon, for those felids were exclusive of America, is twice the size of a Bengal tiger, now that's some scary kitty!— They also assume in this movie that wooly mammoths had a patriarchal hierarchy, when all the modern pachiderms we know have mathriarcal societies —in other words, elephants are just like us, women are in charge of things :-)

Geographically speaking, this movie is a mess. ... Read More »

Right now all the fuzz discussed in latin american media news has got to do with Fidel's anouncement of retirement as 49 years of 'president' (or, should we say, dictator?) of the Cuban government. People are discussing if this is the beginning of a long road towards democracy for the cuban people, or if Fidel's brother Raúl and his subsequent replacements will try to keep things pretty much as they are today.

And of course, there has been talk about the plans of Washington of keeping or lifting the economic embargo that has been mantained for decades against Cuba. After all, isn't it true that Washington has strong economic ties with its former foe Vietnam? Why Cuba should be the exception?

Well, so far it seems Washington has no intention whatsoever to change its policy. I don't know, maybe it's something personal, maybe they are still waiting to Fidel to leave the scene with his death; something that it's highly unlikely because it's obvious that the cubans will in the end elevate Fidel to the pantheon of legendary revolutionaries, right along Ché Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos.

What it is disappointing is the negligence of Washington to assimilate the fact that the embargo, instead of hindering Fidel's power over the cuban people, had actually been his greatest ally.

It is an established fact that the best way to enforce and perpetuate an authoritative government is through two things: either an external threat, on an internal one (sounds familiar?).

The economic embargo became Fidel's Goldstein, turning Cuba into the most accurate recreation of Orwell's famous dystopia '1984' so far. By always having the shadow of the 'american imperialists' over their 'glorious' Revolution, the cuban regime was able to impose whatever restrictions of freedom they wanted; and the cuban people responded... by giving Fidel their inconditonal love.

Oh, yes. True, there are several opposition groups and dissenting voices (not to mention political prisoners) in Cuba, but the sad fact of the matter is a great majority of the people born after the 1950s are still genuinely convinced of the Revolution. Even sadder, the economic embargo was part of the reason this brainwash could be accomplished. Remember, the human being is infinitely malleable (again, from Orwell's recipe book).

I believe it is time to end the embargo. Not because it is the right thing to do, but because it is the SENSIBLE thing to do, lest we risk the cubans' transition to democracy (which is of course inevitable) to be as painful and messy as we have witnessed in former eastern-block countries, where today's capitalist entrepeneurs ressemble more the likes of Al Capone than Steve Jobs.

Yeah I know, too many obituaries means I'm obsessed with death right?

Well, I couldn't pass to link this news. Actor Roy Scheider, that found world-wide fame thanks to the iconic blockbuster movie that made an ENTIRE generation afraid to enter the water (even in a pool!), died in Arkansas due to multiple myeloma.

I dare anyone to say they haven't felt dread when hearing that famous "Du-dun... Du-dun...Dun-dun". I used to have awful nightmares when I was a kid, that I was inside the boat when it was about to sink and the shark was about to get me.

But Scheider was undoubtedly an iconic actor for the Sci-Fi and Fantasy genre. After doing the sequel of Jaws, he starred in another movie that I enjoyed as a kid: Blue Thunder, which dealt with the kind of police surveillance technologies that now in the XXIst century seems almost child-like and naive.

Afterwards he appeared as Dr. Floyd in 2010: the year we make contact, a very brave and decent sequel to Kubrick's seminal masterpiece 2001. Scheider in my opinion had this silent strength that made him ideal to portray intelligent but emotionally-powerful characters, charcters with a lot of inner conflict like Chief Brody, who had a serious alcohol problem but nevertheless was not afraid of doing the right thing even it it was in direct opposition of politicians and businessmen (if only! right?)

(Of course I'm surely omitting many other wonderful performances made by him throughout his long fruitful career, I hope you'll forgive me)

And in television, I also enjoyed the first season of Sea Quest DSV, which showed us a really promising future when humanity would finally realize the potential of utilizing the huge resources that are stored in the vast unexplored subaquatic territories. Like all good sci-fi, Sea Quest dealt with very important questions, like what is it that which defines us as human beings. It was also very educational and I have no doubt that there are quite a few young college students that decided to pursue a career in marine biology because of this show.

So this is a homage to Mr. Scheider. Thank you sir for scaring the living crap out of me as a kid, and for making me dream as a teenager. You will be missed.

[update] Loren Coleman also made an obit to Scheider at Cryptomundo. You might want to check it too.

Because of the havok created by their worst winter in 50 years, chinese authorities are advising millions of immigrant workers to abandon their travel plans for their annual New Year trip home — according to their lunar calendar, this will be the year of the Earth Rat, although it seems to me this rat is in danger of freezing to death!

And speaking of rodents, tomorrow as many of you know is Groundhog Day, an annual celebration held at the town of Punxsutawney Pennsylvania, where people gather to see if Punxsutawney Phil, Grady, Jimmy and Sir Walter Wally are able to predict the end of winter. Is there any truth in any of this? Cosmic Log's Alan Boyle
takes a look on the scientific facts and fiction about animals and their ability to predict the weather.

Mmm... maybe the chinese government should send a delegate to Punxsutawney, although they'd better not bring any snacks! My advise to them would be to give Punxsutawney Phil and his friends some mexican tamales instead, as it is tradition around here to eat them to celebrate El Día de la Candelaria (Candlemass Day in the church calendar); I bet that with that Phil would give a much more favourable forecast :-)

[UPDATE] It seems that the Pennsylvania rodent predicted 6 more weeks of winter. See? Why doesn't everyone listen to me? Next time bring some tamales people!

BTW, Am I the only one who thinks Bill Murray's Ground Hog Day is a superb movie disguised as a simple comedy?

Since New Line Cinema execs have had more than a few issues with Academy Award-winner Peter Jackson, they have turned to Guillermo to see if he is willing to bring the prequel of Tolkien's trilogy, The Hobbit, to the big screen.

Apparently, it is confirmed.He has accepted.

Guillermo is one of my favorite directors and it fills me with pride to see the accomplishments this fellow mexican has obtained. Nevertheless, it kind of makes me sad that Jackson will not be able to complete his full vision of Tolkien's world because of petty quarrels with studio suits.

Now, I'm sure that Guillermo will use his wonderfully creative -and very twisted- imagination to explore new things about Bilbo and his companions...

But if they cast some other than Sir Ian Mckellen for Gandalf, that would REALLY piss me off!
...
On other things, Guillermo will also bring to us Lovecraft's The Mountain of Madness in 2010. That sure will be one scary flick.

Burt Rutan, aircraft designer extraordinaire, has finally revealed in a press conference the first images of the suborbital space ship he's building for Virgin Galactic, the commercial spacetravel agency most likely to offer wealthy would-be astronauts the first regular flights to experience weightlesness and observe the curvature of the Earth.

Journalist Alan Boyle was present at the press conference, and you can read his impressions of the event here. Computer renders aswell as production photos can be seen here.

How curiosly eerie is to see the photos of these seemingly ordinary workers building something that you know it is destined to leave our atmosphere in an incredible enginnering accomplishment. It almost feels like a crazy garage experiment of some excentric mad scientist -and when you look at someone like Rutan, he definitely captures the maverick spirit and non-comformist nature of the mad scientist, something I find EXTREMELY cool :-)

Personally, I liked more the aesthetic lines of Space Ship One, that kind of followed a retro-futuristic look; but now her new sister will not only be larger, but ressembles more an ordinary business jet thanks to the enlarged nose and the bigger fusselage -with room for 6 passengers and 2 crew members.

And although I know my chances for being onboard one of these new commercial spaceships are rather slim, to say the least, I nevertheless welcome and applaud these efforts that contribute in a small way (or maybe not so small) to make humankind a extra-planetary civilization.

To Infinity and Beyond!

Searching for movie trailers at the Apple website, I stumbled upon this new upcoming movie. Shrooms tells the tale of some american college students that visit Ireland and decide to ingest some hallucinogenic mushrooms to get the usual psycodelic kicks, but apparently things go pretty awry and terror unleashes.

It is interesting that, just when serious scientific research on the potential benefits of DMT and other entheogenic chemicals were finally regaining legitimacy among the Academic establishment, this flick that will hit the theaters in February is quick to remind us that for most of our society -especially the younger members- power plants are nothing more than a wild form of entertainment in an endless search for hedonistic fulfillment.

Personally, if some dumbass neo-hippy decides to risk ingesting such a dangerous substance without the propper state or mind or the right spiritual guide, and ends up with his head all scrambled, I think it is nothing more than a logical consequence for a reckless behavior.

I have never taken any kind of power plants in my whole life, and the closest thing I've come in contact with illegal drugs have been this one time I drank a liquor that -supposedly- was mixed with a dose of Marijuana. The idea of embarking in an entheogenic experience both attracts and repels me at the same time; it atracts me for the potential benefits of trying to discover new forms of perception and "awaken my body" as Castañeda would put it, but I'm very reluctant because I don't think I have the necessary mental stability for such a difficult test.

So I rather try other things to expand my perceptions of the world. I'm thinking about taking meditation classes, that seems a lot safer than meddling in the realm of Mescalito.

But I don't discard the possibility entirely. Who knows? Maybe with age I will be mature enough to widthstand such an adventure, but only with a propper guide, and NEVER for petty recreational purposes -for that I already have my Xbox 360 :-)