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Electrofringe 2007 - programme is now online

Electrofringe 2007 programme is now online. This is one of my favourite festivals, and it takes place annually in Newcastle, north of Sydney, Australia. During the festival Newcastle comes alive with creatives from all parts of Australia and overseas. The umbrella festival is called This is Not Art. Last year's festival was really hands on, which made it extra fun. This year looks set to keep your creative juices flowing also, with sessions such as Physical Computing : 1, Radio Locus Workshops such as Build your own Radio, Mulchwerk, a Dorkshop Sense & Control, a Homemade Instruments workshop Gestural Control & Feedback plus heaps more. The electrofringe website has the full program and a day by day listing of each workshop / panel session / project presentation / gig and happening. The other bonus to the festival is stopping to chat with friends and strangers about the festival and projects everyone has been working on over the year. Some documentation from previous years festivals is on this site, or check out the previous years festivals links on the electrofringe site.

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why would someone pay you to make video / media if you're not getting lots of hits ...

there was a discussion about why would somebody pay you to videoblog if you're not getting huge amounts of traffic (amongst other questions / points). the thread started talking about online advertising. I didn't read all the replies, but here's what I'm thinking..

read the original thread

my reply # 1 and # 2 (below)

I think one day people will be shooting / making video / media as stringers and sell that to people who need video / media, likely businesses who can afford to pay. another layer to news program's stringers/freelancers but on any topic, not just news. ala Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. so people will be taking videos for themselves and to upload and be paid if someone uses/downloads it. when archive.org started I was reminded of this also - "The Library" - a collection of clips from creative minds & people uploading as they will. so the utubes and googles et al will become clip libraries. most will be noise, but some will be useful for others. it happens in a small way now, how many of you have had people see a clip or video and ask if they can use it? similar with photos. eg I've had people see a photo and remember a place or a personal memory and ask if they can use it. after a while of people posting videos / photos / media - patterns will develop and certain topics / styles / genres will be sought after. anything is possible - the niches, the popularist content, the everyday life, the world around us. in the future when the world is different people will want to see how it was. I wonder also if it'll affect our memories & the way our brains connect thoughts & images as the ease of storing photos/videos to trigger memories is different now to even say 30 years ago, but that's probably another thread. I wonder then if it'll lead to obsession ala until the end of the world when Claire became obsessed with watching her recorded dreams on her portable video player. I think the two ideas (book/movie) will merge & expand.

I think this has all been mentioned here before - a while ago.. so a refresher. but, I think it's getting closer. especially with google etc & their searching capabilities and tagging / metadata so common place these days. if I were a big business this is the way I'd be going anyway.

oh, also, which is why I think ads on videos is an old media way of thinking. like ads on tv. (which will phase into product placements soon enough). people will still use them now whilst they make money from them but I don't think they'll be necessary or used in future as they'll be regarded as spam. similar to what was mentioned earlier, people ignore spam on the net now, so in the future when the generations change, they'll lose their power. the information / message will be the currency. & hopefully the creative mind! :)

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extract from Snow Crash (by Neal Stephenson) about the library..

"The business is a simple one. Hiro gets information. It may be gossip, videotape, audiotape, a fragment of a computer disk, a xerox of a document. It can even be a joke based on the latest highly publicized disaster."

"He uploads it to the CIC database -- the Library, formerly the Library of Congress, but no one calls it that anymore. Most people are not entirely clear on what the word "congress" means."

"And even the word "library" is getting hazy. It used to be a place full of books, mostly old ones. Then they began to include videotapes, records, and magazines. Then all of the information got converted into machine-readable form, which is to say, ones and zeroes. And as the number of media grew, the material became more up to date, and the methods for searching the Library became more and more sophisticated, it approached the point where there was no substantive difference between the Library of Congress and the Central Intelligence Agency. Fortuitously, this happened just as the government was falling apart anyway. So they merged and kicked out a big fat stock offering."

"Millions of other CIC stringers are uploading millions of other fragments at the same time. CIC's clients, mostly large corporations and Sovereigns, rifle through the Library looking for useful information, and if they find a use for something that Hiro put into it, Hiro gets paid."

"A year ago, he uploaded an entire first-draft film script that he stole from an agent's wastebasket in Burbank. Half a dozen studios wanted to see it. He ate and vacationed off of that one for six months."

"Since then, times have been leaner. He has been learning the hard way that 99 percent of the information in the Library never gets used at all."

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just out of interest, there's also some interesting papers about this book.. google 'neal stephenson video library' and there's even some interesting discussions

http://www.utpjournals.com/simile/issue16/blackmorefulltext.html

http://library20.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=515108%3ATopic%3A5678

Zills & Arabic Percussion

yesterday I bought a dvd on Arabic Percussion - it's a how - to / instructional dvd by Yinon Muallem, "Master of Percussion". I don't think I'd be able to carry a traditional drum around with me on my travels, and I thought they were made from wood & animal skin so wouldn't be allowed back into Australia by Customs anyway. I spoke to the guy from the shop and he had modern versions not made of wood or animal skin which sounded great when he played them but I said I'd think about it.. instead I found a couple of pairs of finger cymbals / zills - like the ones bellydancers use. the larger ones are the more professional versions and sound the best. the smaller ones are the cheaper ones found in most of the stores at the markets. but these fit my hands better so I thought I'd start with them. you wear them on the thumb and middle finger and can do a couple of strokes - hit together then open again for the higher 'ting' and hit together and stay together for the 'clap' sound. the store had a dvd also for bellydancing, hopefully it's got some English. their website lists the classes but it's in Hebrew so I can't read it yet..

http://www.arabesque.co.il/ - the arabic bellydancing & musicians site
http://www.yinon-muallem.com - the arabic percussion dvd site

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Olam Qatan - a chat about Israeli, Turkish & Middle Eastern music and books

Olam Qatan is a spiritual books and world music store in Emek Refaim St, Jerusalem, Israel. I spoke briefly with it's owner Ya'qub ibn Yusuf, who explained some of the music and books available in his store. Sounds like there's a fusion of East meets West happening in Israel and Turkey, which is really interesting to hear. It's great to speak with Independant store owners - their passion for music & books is contagious and it's great to discover new sounds and genres.

Recognized - a documentary highlighting Bedouin displacement & unrecognized villages in Israel


tonight I saw a documentary called "Recognized" at the Jerusalem Cinematheque by director Ori Kleiner which shows some bedouins who live in the Negev desert & have been displaced by the Israeli government and who have had their homes demolished and property confiscated. I'm afraid I still don't really know why. the film mentioned the people were not counted as Israeli citizens, despite them and their ancestors being born in Israel and having lived in the region for longer than the State of Israel has existed. and also that in some cases the land has been claimed by the military and national parks.

it's a good film to see though as I wasn't aware this was happening. to be honest, some of what was mentioned reminded me of India and it's relocation of villages (though some people I've spoken to say this doesn't exist, despite me seeing video footage, photos and reports via the Sarai i-fellows of it occurring)

the film mentions support from Regional Council of the Unrecognized Villages in the Negev - http://www.idealist.org/en/org/160469-22 has some information

dukium.org has some info - time to read up on this..

links page on dukium.org : http://dukium.org/modules.php?name=RefLinks

some other work by the director Ori Kleiner can be found @ :

http://www.holyfly.com/POA/
http://www.wac.ucla.edu/extensionsjournal/v2/kleiner.htm
http://www.oznik.com/art/040613.html

the film blurb :

Recognized
A documentary film by Ori Kleiner
Israel/USA 2007
61min
Hebrew and Arabic w/English subtitles
Additional Camera: Natasha Dudinski
Original Music and Sound Editing: Grundik Kasyansky

"Bedouin usually appear in the Israeli collective consciousness as
either "ethnographic" or "demographic"issues. Their representation by
means of various objects—coffee, camels, tents, carpets—keeps most
Israelis from grasping Bedouin as subjects with wishes and wills,
frustrations and fears; as possessing not only a past, but also a
future. The film Recognized is made up of documentary moments that
trace the uprooted experiences of Nuri al-Ukbi, Salman Abu Jlidan, Eid
Al-Athamin, Ibrahim Abu Afash, and Samaher Abu Jlidan whom history has
cast in the roles of protagonists antagonized by a State that
established itself up on their ancestral lands. Recognized is not a
film about Bedouin, but about people forced into the role of
Bedouin—the only identity theState of Israel allows them, the very
identity it systematically denies them. Substandard citizenship,
coupled with daily existential obstacles posed by the State, are what
this film is about. Recognized was filmed entirely on
location in the Negev desert in the summer of 2006. "

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RENEWING THE ANARCHIST TRADITION - A Scholarly Conference

The eighth edition of the Renewing the Anarchist Tradition (RAT) conference, sponsored by the Institute for Anarchist Studies, once again aims to provide a participatory and scholarly space in which to reexamine, reinvigorate, and make relevant the social and political tradition of anarchism.

At previous conferences, presenters have proposed topics that ranged from the character of social change to the ongoing relevance of categories such as class, community, and labor; from the changing shape of the state and capital to emergent forms of both domination and resistance in a globalizing world; from the character of twenty-
first-century technology to the functions and potentials of anti-authoritarian art and propaganda; and from anarchism's relation to geopolitical concerns such as terrorism and war to its ability to grapple with issues of identity such as race, gender, and sexuality.

Read more for the Calls for Proposals or visit http://anarchiststudies.org/node/146 for more details. http://www.homemadejam.org/renew has archives of previous year's conferences.

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first glimpse of the Dead Sea, Israel (video clip)

this is the view of the Dead Sea where highway 1 & 90 meet, East of Jerusalem. I stopped for a drink and to take a photo. then I drove down as far as Meseda - will have to go back another day to see more as I only stayed on the highway this trip. the desert is amazing - layers of beige. I was expecting lots of sand, but the countryside seems to be quite rocky. perhaps further inland there's sand.

28/07/2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a043xf9rPTk

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postering in Jerusalem & Tel Aviv

in jerusalem, and even tel aviv there's not much postering going on - on the walls of the buildings. it seems much more controlled. they have these boards up at regular spots around the city. there's a number to call at the top of the board and I've seen the guys swapping the posters each week.

so it's a small business for the board holders. similar to the flyer bags in UK.

there's a mix of events listed on the boards too. I've seen flyers, with bits of english that I could read, for djs (eg Markey Funk who's cd I bought the other day - a down tempo hip hop / turntablist), plus larger concerts and jazz festivals and book readings / fairs and workshops / lectures. most of the things actually look like they'd be quite interesting if I could read / speak Hebrew!

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Tel Aviv beach

a few quick clips taken at the beach at Tel Aviv, 27/07/2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cM-X05Rpa4

Tel Aviv graf (video clip)

short clip of some graf near the beach at Tel Aviv, Israel, 27/07/2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUEaJkL_CE0

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Soundscapes @ Tower of David, Old City, Jerusalem

Soundscapes Exhibition, in the courtyard of the Tower of David, Old City of Jerusalem, Israel, wednesday 25/07/2007. Outdoor instruments play compositons as people walk around the grounds. there's a light show also which highlights the instruments playing. it's a beautiful space and the sounds are very melodic.

www.towerofdavid.org.il/

"Numerous oversized instruments, including a harp, drums, tambourines, bells and contrabass, are automatically played by computer command producing an original composition. Mechanical arms play the instruments and each creates its very own sound."

found music so far in jerusalem

here's some artists/music I've found (so far) from checking out a
nearby music store Music House (keren ha-yesod 25) (mostly classical & jazz, but a smaller
section on other styles) in Jerusalem. there's a music store on Shamai Street too where I later bought more cds.

dj Markey Funk
Agitpop Records
http://www.agitpoprecords.com

- I bought his "Beats!!! AMN Manifesto Sound! Vol 1" cd
Beats from AMS Manifesto shows 2003-2004
nice collection of beats. sort of ninja tune / turntablism style if
you're into that. he has some other radio shows recorded & available
for download on the site @
http://agitpoprecords.com/go_ask_alice/index.html. just downloading
now to take a listen.

his myspace page is http://myspace.com/markeyfunk - songs there also & info

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The Apples
- funk / jazz / beats
http://www.theapplesmusic.com/
http://myspace.com/theapplesmusic

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Radio Trip
http://www.myspace.com/radiotrip

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Tel Aviv, Israel - night time city skyline (video clip)

the city skyline of Tel Aviv in Israel, taken from Jaffa, the original port town nearby. 18/07/2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEePddtsh_o

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a letter from Israel to family & friends

posting a letter from Israel to family & friends - this site seems to be turning into my travel blog ;)

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Dome of Rock, Western Wall, Jerusalem (video clip)

short clip showing Dome of Rock and Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel. 13/07/2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywkcriVMsVY

the view of the Western Wall in Jerusalem Old City, from the rooftop of the Armenian Quarter. 13/07/2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCkMPpf2-JU

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