Saturday, April 14, 2012

Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?


Uploaded by on Jan 6, 2007
http://www.ted.com Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.You are reading http://viridianariverstone.blogspot.com/.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

DIY: Home Grown Smoke


Published on Apr 12, 2012 by
How I save a fortune, and my health, by telling corporations to take a hike, preserving a small farmer in Kentucky, radically increasing my standard of living and having a whole, lot more fun than I was by letting factories do my thinking for me!

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License:

Standard YouTube License

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

April Showers, New Mexico Style


Published on Apr 11, 2012 by
Rain might actually look somewhat like this in other places, but they have these weird things called "trees" and "buildings" that obscure the view. . . Before this video finished uploading, the sun is now out. But it's windy as hell.
CREDITS
Crying cat: Chaco
Photos of New Mexico rain stolen
from all over the webs
Music by Kevin MacLeod
Danse Macabre
Genre: Classical
Length: 6:46
Instruments: Full orchestra

Written by Saint Saens in 1874. This is
a quite well known and epic piece of
music. 005 See the wikipedia article
on the piece for more information.
ISRC: US-UAN-11-00546
Epic, Intense, Mysterious 2009

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Monday, April 09, 2012

"Repent & Reload" GOP Super PAC Ad


THIS IS BRILLIANT! Do NOT not watch this! In other words, WATCH THIS! http://youtu.be/IsPBuKe6_ws

Saturday, April 07, 2012

Atheist Magic for Ariel? PLEASE MIRROR!




Uploaded by on Apr 7, 2012
Atheist Magic for Ariel

I don't know if this is possible.
But it stands a better chanceif I get your help.

I don't want to get anybody's hopes up, because this might be a long shot.

But life is short and time is passing, so I think it's worth the risk, if we work together, calmly.

I'm an atheist and so is Ariel's Daddy
. . . and so are quite a few of you.

So, we're rather lucky because we know what Real Magic is . . .
Magic is the so-far un-quantifiable &unexplained: stuff Science will get to, when she's able.
You know: stuff like Love, Wonder, Trust, Curiosity, Loyalty . . .
. . . & Stubbornness.

Well, some of us atheists are real Magicians.
A few of us even have beards. I know I do!

If someone tells us something can't be done, we don't just take their word for it; we want proof, evidence. . .
. . . otherwise, we'll just keep trying.

So, let's work together and see how this goes.
If we pull it off, Ariel will get a terrific surprise.
If it doesn't work, it won't be because we didn't try.
And Djeypscun will know how much we respect him.
. . . Ariel, too, if he decides, not
we, to tell her what we did.

I found out the contact information for the British talent agency that handles many of the cast of the "Harry Potter" films.

TALENT AGENCY:
Artists Rights Group Ltd
4 Great Portland Street
London
W1W 8PA
Tel: +44 (0)20 7436 6400
Fax: +44 (0)20 7436 6700
Email: argall@argtalent.com
http://argtalent.com/
Now, don't you think it would be a shame if some of those actors didn't get the opportunity to meet Ariel, who's obviously their biggest fan?

Me, too. Let's correct that, with a campaign to remind the agency how important fans, and magic, are.
But let's be organized, coordinated and polite about this, okay?.

The 1st week you see this video, send an e-mail.
The 2nd week, send a postal letter.
The 3rd week, telephone (if you can).
Then, repeat as needed.

E-mail Incantation suggestion:
1st paragraph: Introduce Ariel, her situation, the need for timeliness and describe her as a true Harry Potter fan . . .

2nd paragraph:
Explain how you know Djeypscun, what a nice dude he is and how they can find out more at his website & YouTube channel (Make sure you include links!)

3rd paragraph
This is good public relations for "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter," actor/actors, Universal Pictures . . .

Be as calm as you can manage.
We don't want to scare them.
A lot of people have weird ideas about us, as it is.
But do let them know time is not our friend in this.

Please start right away.
If you want help with your correspondence, any of us will be glad to help.
The sooner we start, the sooner we might make magic.

Yes, this is a really big deal.
And we just might make it happen.
Please "mirror" this video and post it around for others to see.
Make sure you copy/paste the info in the description, below.

Are you with me? Okay, then, let's get started and see: can a bunch of
scattered atheists create some real Magic for Ariel?
. . . and do not forget to visit Djeypscun's website to make a donation, so he can take her to Hogwarts!

Information on Ariel's situation:
Website: http://www.dgeypscun.com
Video
Uploaded by dgeypscun
http://www.youtube.com/user/dgeypscun
on Apr 6, 2012
View, MIRROR AND COMMENT on original
here:
http://youtu.be/goR7j6dSrnU
***
Images
Leaky Cauldron Fan Art
http://fanart.the-leaky-cauldron.org/default
***

Music: Kevin MacLeod
"Long Road Ahead"
"Atlantean Twilight"
"Arcadia"
"Constancy Part Three"

Friday, April 06, 2012

URGENT Mirror: For Ariel




Inspirations & Models


Uploaded by on Apr 6, 2012
This is NOT a comprehensive list of what inspires me, no all my role models. I notice it incorporates mostly my personal memories of the 20th & 21st centuries.

I've been fortunate to have been exposed to some brilliance, creativity, humor, wonder, courage and simple foolishness: a good reason to wake up each morning.

It took me about eight hours to research images for this five minute video. I hope I did it justice.

Occupy A.P.A.May 5! "Rip It Up!"

Uploaded by on Apr 6, 2012
PHILADELPHIA (3/6/12) -- On Saturday, May 5, 2012, as thousands of psychiatrists congregate in Philadelphia for the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Annual Meeting, individuals with psychiatric labels and other supporters will converge in a global campaign to oppose the APA's proposed new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), scheduled for publication in May 2013.

Occupy the APA will include distinguished speakers from 10 a.m. to noon at Friends Center (1515 Cherry Street, Philadelphia). A march at 1 p.m. from Friends Center will lead to the Pennsylvania Convention Center (12th and Arch Streets), where the group will protest beginning at 1:30 while the APA meets inside.

"This peaceful protest exposes the fact that the DSM-5 pushes the mental health industry to medicalize problems that aren't medical, inevitably leading to over-prescription of psychiatric drugs -- including for people experiencing natural human emotions, such as grief and shyness," said David Oaks, founder and director of MindFreedom International (MFI), which has worked for 26 years as an independent voice of survivors of psychiatric human rights violations. "We call for better ways to help individuals in extreme emotional distress."

"We will promote humane alternatives to the traditional mental health system, such as peer support, which evidence proves is effective in helping individuals recover from severe emotional distress," Oaks said. "Our protest is about choice, and everyone is welcome."
More at MindFreedom's website here: http://www.mindfreedom.org/release/occupy-apa-news

I've slightly edited the original video, "Rip It Up!" and added some graphics, photos and music.
Rip it up!.wmv
http://youtu.be/PwJC0obHlyU
Uploaded by FLmadhatter on Mar 28, 2012

Getting rid of psychiatric labels.
Category:

Nonprofits & Activism
Tags: Occupy APA

License:

Standard YouTube License

Monday, April 02, 2012

Mirror: The Storm at Valley State


Uploaded by on Apr 2, 2012
I grew up right down the road. I went to college a few miles away at the same time this all happened.

I never heard a WORD about this until now, forty years later. That's how insulated our white bread suburbs were back then!

Uploaded by november41968 on Jan 27, 2009
View original here: http://youtu.be/NB3s_3RDEIc

A documentary about student political activism at California State University Northridge (then called San Fernando Valley State College) in the late 1960's and early 1970's. 7 minute short version. Produced and released in 1985
You are reading http://viridianariverstone.blogspot.com/.

Sunday, April 01, 2012

Book, Movie & a ? for Bobsmeerfak



Squirrel: Bobsmeerfak is asking subscribers to ask him questions, to celebrate having over 1,500 subscribers.

Duck: Who the hell is he? And what kind of name is that?

Witch: That's not his real name. He's the guy who makes YouTube videos about Bible stories, using little Playskool dolls.

Squirrel: Are you sure they're Playskool?

Witch: No, but I tried looking them up on Google Images, and got bored, looking at thousands of molded, plastic toys, so I quit.

Squirrel: Maybe they're Weebles.

Witch: No, Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down. Remember all the dolls in “Your Bible on Psychotherapy” who are lying down, sometimes, even on a psychiatrist's couch?

Duck: So, this guy plays with dolls and posts videos of this on YouTube?

Squirrel: Yeah, what's wrong with that? Are you transphobic, or just sexist? Caught in a gender binary, perhaps? Lots of men play with dolls. Just look at dgeypscun and Opinion-Ville. Or, for a more historical citation, look at Gepetto. Everybody forgets about Gepetto, because the Disney PR department co-opted the story and placed emphasis on Pinocchio, instead. Seriously, where would Pinocchio be without Gepetto?

Duck: In a forest? Infested with Dutch Elm Disease?

Squirrel: Precisely.

Duck: But puppets aren't dolls.

Squirrel: Why? Because men play with them and, until Shari Lewis and Lambchop, most puppeteers were seen as male?

Duck: Don't forget Kukla, Fran and Ollie, which first appeared on television in 1947. Did you know that show was entirely ad-libbed, and watched by more adults than children. Shari Lewis first appeared on television in 1952, well afterward.

Squirrel: People watched television in 1947?

Duck: Not many, no.

Blue Thing: What's a television?

Duck, Squirrel, Witch: Go away!

Witch: Yes, but Fran was another character on the show. She wasn't the puppeteer. That was a man, named Burr Tilstrom.

Squirrel: Or is it because puppets have mobility and voices, and most other dolls don't? Don't you see? It's way past time for the liberation of other anthropomorphic toys! We've been relegated to silence and stillness long enough? And why? Because GIRLS play with us, and girls aren't supposed to be active or have a voice? The colonization of dolls by male-dominated puppetarchy . . .


Witch: This is getting rather tangential. What does Bobsmeerfak want us to ask?

Squirrel: Oh, right. Ok, we can ask him anything we want. And he wants to know our favorite books and movies.

Witch: I hate when people ask my “favorite.” I'm an eclectic person; my tastes and interests change far too often to confine myself to such a narrow self-definition.

Duck: You're really an elitist jerk, aren't you?

Squirrel: This is not an occasion for a flame war, you two! Let's just think of something to say, ok?

Witch: I'm sorry, but the whole Inquisition Dark Ages Burning Times thing has left me a but squeamish about publicly stating a strong opinion of social issues, especially in today's climate.

Duck: Completely understandable. My apologies.

Squirrel: Okay, so, we won't do a favorite book or movie, but does anybody have a suggestion for a really good one?

Witch: I'll go with “The Handmaid's Tale.” I think it's completely relevant today, with the resurgence of misogynistic, theocratic fundamentalism, invading U.S. politics, and rippling into global policies.

Duck: Yeah, that was a great book. But the movie just stank. I wish people still read; everybody should read that.

Squirrel: Okay then, is there a movie that is up to snuff with the book it's based on.

Witch: Oh, I've got a good one. But it's controversial.

Duck: It doesn't sound to me like this Bobsmeerfack dude is going to tie you up and torture you for having an opinion.

Squirrel: Hey! I resent that remark! Can we leave my lifestyle choices out of this discussion?

Duck: Sorry. You're right. But I would like to hear her suggestion. And there is an historical precedent for her unwillingness to speak out.

Witch: Okay, I can speak for myself here. I think we should suggest “Silence of the Lambs.”

Duck & Squirrel: WHAT?

Duck: It's so pathological!

Squirrel: And the whole transphobic angle: Buffalo Bill is portrayed as a trans person, whose sociopathy is based on his non-binary gender status!

Witch: That's explained, both in the book and the film. I think that's one reason why Hannibal Lecter is a psychiatrist. He explains that Buffalo Bill isn't really a trans person, but takes on female identities and skins, simply because he hates himself and wants to be anybody other than him. A discerning reader and viewer would understand this.

Duck: Yeah, and most movie goers are discerning, right?

Squirrel: Other people's willful ignorance is not our problem, so long as we present our own arguments clearly and factually.

Witch: I think we should suggest this because it's a terribly clever book. The writing, the word-play, the anagrams, the serious treatment of Agent Starling's struggle with the old-boy sexism within the institutions of the F.B.I., the compassion for the low-income victims. It's insightful. It's a page turner. And the movie treatment, although necessarily abbreviated due to time constraints of a two-hour film is so true to the author's original intent! So unlike “The Color Purple,” in which Steven Spielberg treats low-income, rural Black pansexuals like E. T.s and Alice Walker lets him!

Duck: That was a very popular movie, you know, among African American women. And it became a musical on Broadway.

Squirrel: Musicals on Broadway are tourist attractions for the affluent.

Witch: Exactly.

Duck: So, you want to go with “Silence of the Lambs?”

Squirrel: The editing, the sets, the locations, the directing, the acting, the lighting, the score: it's one of the creepiest and most thought-provoking films to come out of mainstream Hollywood! It could almost be Asian horror, it's so good.

Duck: Well, let's not get carried away, shall we? If we go with Asian horror, I'd vote for the Korean film, “Momento Mori:” the struggles of two, adolescent schoolgirls in love, the best film of the “Whispering Corridors” horror series. It's hard to believe it was written and directed by a man! Talk about score, lighting, sets, directing and stuff....

Witch: Well, I agree, but most Americans are too caught up in the pablum of their corporate-controlled, popular culture to understand the reference to “Momento Mori.” Besides, there's no book it's based on, and I think we're trying to consolidate for brevity, aren't we?

Duck: And see how well that's going? Yes, let's go with “Silence of the Lambs.” I doubt Hollywood will ever produce anything of that caliber again.

Squirrel: That's the film when I fell in love with both Tony Hopkins and Jodie Foster, at the same time.

Duck: We know. Because Hopkins is so virile, understated and sympathetic and Foster is resourceful, insightful, determined and butch. Both characters fell outside the gender stereotypes of the day and your heart just melted at the understated Queerness of it all.

Witch: A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Squirrel: Now, what question do we want to ask Bobsmeerfack for his channel party?

Duck: This script is almost two pages long, already. We either need brevity or surrender.

Witch: I agree. I have a very simple, boring question.

Duck: Shoot.

Witch: Does he actually have kids and, therefore, toys lying around, or was this a compelling, personal commitment to atheist videos that drove him to dolls?

Squirrel: Here we go again.

Duck: Nah, I get what she's saying. And it's a good question. A lot of atheists, secular humanist and freethinkers might not have considered using toys, for fear of ridicule or not being taken seriously. Itf took some gonads for him to go with the toys angle.

Squirrel: Okay, that settles it. Let's wrap this puppy up. Rogi needs to take a bath, eat breakfast at 11am, find the camera and get to work. And this script just lopped over onto page three. Deal?

Witch & Duck: Deal!

Squirrel: Wait! We need to thank Bobsmeerfak for the shout-out!

Witch: He shouted us out?

Squirrel: Well, not US, exactly. We're brand new characters on Rogi's channel; nobody's ever even heard of us. She'd been thinking about it for a long time, influenced, in part, by Bobsmeerfak, himself, but was afraid it would be too much work.

Witch: And now she's not?

Squirrel: Oh, no. she's still worried about the too much work thing, not to mention the no fancy editing software thing, and the fact her cheap video camera can't focus to save its life.

Duck: But she's doing it, anyway?

Squirrel: Yeah, in honor of Bobsmeerfak, she thought it was only right.

Duck, Squirrel, Witch: Thank you for the shout-out, Bobsmeerfak! You'll be sorry.

Duck: Yeah, he kind of created a monster here, didn't he?

Squirrel: Oh, shut up.