With The First Annual Calgary Zombie Walk scheduled for this Saturday, I was inspired to set up a Zombie Mobs events group on Upcoming.org.
Suitable for use with the Flickr Zombie Mobs photo group.
Friday, October 14, 2005
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
[expletive deleted] for the U.S. in New Orleans
![[Photo: I am thinking of you]](http://static.flickr.com/29/42890555_9e60acd9af_t.jpg)
From people being prevented from leaving the city on foot—turning them back at gun-point [another reference]—to blatant exploitation of the, predominantly black, poor, to what are effectively prison camps for survivors (with scarier implications for the more conspiracy minded).... It seems like practically everything that can go wrong there is going wrong—either through ignorance and extreme stupidity, or through wilful neglect.
Countless attempts to help the people there have been blocked. All sorts of excuses are being conjured up to prevent people from recovering, from getting the basic needs of food, clothing, shelter. The abuses being heaped on the survivors are deeply disturbing.
A very surprising amount of the media coverage, particularly the early coverage, didn't try to apologize for the government(s) responsible. Although that has inevitably begun to shift as the spin control comes into play.
![[photo: Bush: One of the worst disasters to hit the U.S.]](http://images.dailykos.com/images/user/3/bushdisaster9kr.jpg)
And the long-term implications of this disaster are just as scary (if not scarier).
There have been a number of very expressive pictures coming out, both actual and collaged. I've seen a number of them using the Bush guitar photo-op from a couple days into the disaster.
The extreme expressions of racism, classism and unfathomable inhumanity in the (lack of) response to this disaster (and the creation of the circumstances that contributed to it) is beyond any reasonable comprehension. I will echo the sentiment I heard from someone recently that they wished they believed in Hell so they could believe that the people (ir)responsible would be going there.
disaster, NOLA, Katrina, hurricaneKatrina.
Labels:
politics
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Another interview with me about Craftivism
![[Photo: Nelson Knit-out in the Park]](http://photos3.flickr.com/4386588_4929bbde26_t.jpg)
craftivism, GrantNeufeld, me, activism, activist, RevolutionaryKnitting, RevolutionaryKnittingCircle, RKC.
Tuesday, August 9, 2005
My Photography
![[Photo from Sudanese Procession: Many Voices]](http://photos23.flickr.com/31595845_e934302c31_m.jpg)
For a long time, I mainly focused on the technical documenting of an event - getting an overview of the crowd, showing the location, maybe getting individual shots of speakers or performers. I was mainly concerned with getting the information about an event - X number of people participated in action Y at location Z.
Having been paying a lot closer attention to photography - both in publications and by other photographers on Flickr - I've recognized that it's usually not good enough to just document the information. A good photo tells a story and appeals to the eye. More personal photos - showing one or two people in context, rather than a whole crowd - tend to give the viewer more of a sense of connection to the image. That hopefully draws them into the story.
The other thing is looking for angles and backgrounds that provide contrast and "visual interest". A lot of my shots have tended to show something or someone interesting, but against a background that they don't stand out against. Now I'm trying to find situations that have high contrast. A recent photo from the Sudanese Procession is a great example of contrast.
photo, photography, quality, Flickr.
Sudanese Procession
![[Photo from Sudanese Procession: Deng speaks]](http://photos23.flickr.com/31619517_304acdf3c5_m.jpg)
We called on the Canadian government to push for a peacekeeping mission in Sudan to support (and help enforce) the peace process there.
You can see a number of my photos from the event.
Calgary, march, peace, protest, rally, Sudan, Sudanese.
Labels:
activism
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Gaviotas Eco-Village in Columbia
Gaviotas is an amazing-sounding eco-village in Colombia. According to an article on Social Design Notes, they have achieved energy self-sufficiency and no net greenhouse gasses (due, in part, to their massive reforestation efforts - over 1.5 million trees planted).
See also:
eco-village, intentional community, community, environment, ecology, Colombia, Gaviotas, wind power, windmill, rainforest, energy, consensus.
See also:
- Gaviotas on Wikipedia.
- Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World - a 1998 book by Alan Weisman (review, Amazon listing, an article in Mother Jones by Weisman).
- Dispatches From a Colombian Utopia, by Kate Willson:
- New Internationalist: "Time for Utopia".
- Gaviotas home page at University of Iowa.
- Living on Sun, Water, Wind, Grass, and Community.
- Gaviotas article on MetaFilter.
eco-village, intentional community, community, environment, ecology, Colombia, Gaviotas, wind power, windmill, rainforest, energy, consensus.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Sickness leads to more net stuff
I woke up sick this morning (not a big surprise given how much stress and sleep deprivation I underwent last week). So, I've spent most of my conscious hours today messing around on the net.
I now have:
I've also been updating my photo collection on Flickr a lot over the past week or so with my archive of 5 years of photos. I'm trying to post a handful every day. (Thanks to that other Grant for giving me a Flickr Pro membership which lets me post lots and lots of photos.)
sickness, internet.
I now have:
- moved my old All Consuming list to the new 43 Folders All Consuming site,
- set up a 43 Folders to do list,
- and started posting events to my Upcoming.org Calendar.
![[G8 Vigil photo from 2001]](http://photos9.flickr.com/16143634_d01abeb176_t.jpg)
sickness, internet.
More on succumbing to barbarism
A reader wrote me about my post last month on Jim Trudeau shares his thoughts upon visiting Dachau:
Here's what I wrote in response:
I assume you're referring to my April 26 entry about Jim Trudeau's essay on visiting Dachau.
In particular, the paragraph:
"The people of Nazi Germany, the people of the Rwandan Genocide, the European invaders of the Americas, the lynch-mobs of the U.S., the soldiers in Abu-Ghraib, the slavers of Sudan - and the countless others who would take days to fully enumerate here - we have no fundamental difference from any of those people."
Note that I did not say those were the same or equivalent things, just that they were all (as I called it in the next paragraph) "unimaginable horrors".
Evil is evil - regardless of the scale or extent. Yes, some atrocities are more atrocious than others - but they are all still atrocious.
As to what happened at Abu Ghraib (and Guantanamo, and other places we presumably haven't heard about), to diminish it to "a few USArmy clowns putting panties on some suspected terrorists head" is to belittle the extent of crimes and horrors perpetrated there. Certainly it is not on the scale of genocide, but it's still deeply evil.
In any case, my point was to argue the case that however 'civilized' we may feel we are, we are not immune to succumbing to barbarism.
evil, barbarism.
Enjoy your blog but to compare Rwanda/Nazis etc. to a few USArmy clowns putting panties on some suspected terrorists head is the slipperiest of slopes. Such moral equivalency defeats much of what you say you care about.
Here's what I wrote in response:
I assume you're referring to my April 26 entry about Jim Trudeau's essay on visiting Dachau.
In particular, the paragraph:
"The people of Nazi Germany, the people of the Rwandan Genocide, the European invaders of the Americas, the lynch-mobs of the U.S., the soldiers in Abu-Ghraib, the slavers of Sudan - and the countless others who would take days to fully enumerate here - we have no fundamental difference from any of those people."
Note that I did not say those were the same or equivalent things, just that they were all (as I called it in the next paragraph) "unimaginable horrors".
Evil is evil - regardless of the scale or extent. Yes, some atrocities are more atrocious than others - but they are all still atrocious.
As to what happened at Abu Ghraib (and Guantanamo, and other places we presumably haven't heard about), to diminish it to "a few USArmy clowns putting panties on some suspected terrorists head" is to belittle the extent of crimes and horrors perpetrated there. Certainly it is not on the scale of genocide, but it's still deeply evil.
In any case, my point was to argue the case that however 'civilized' we may feel we are, we are not immune to succumbing to barbarism.
evil, barbarism.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Chinese Watermelon Sculptures

Sunday, May 15, 2005
Campaign Adventures in B.C.
![[Photo: Outside the all candidates forum in Sechelt, B.C.]](http://photos9.flickr.com/13499038_e6881cd679_m.jpg)
![[Photo: Boats in Gibsons Marina]](http://photos11.flickr.com/13931923_5dd6b45bf5_t.jpg)
There have been some Herons hanging around the dock. I got a kind of neat photo of one just taking off.
I found out a few days after I arrived in Gibsons that it's where "The Beachcombers" was filmed. I have to find a free moment to go down to the dock and get my picture taken - 'real tourist style' (you will not survive my tourist-style kung-fu!).
electioncampaign, greens, greenparty, bcgreens, bcgreenparty, travel, campaign, bc, BritishColumbia, bcelection.
Labels:
green party
Friday, April 29, 2005
Time Management for Anarchists: The Movie

anarchist , timemanagement , scheduling , todo , tasks .
Labels:
activism
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Bush at the throat of liberty
![[village_bush]](http://photos1.flickr.com/1060480_37740fb37b_t.jpg)
This painting by Alex Ross (one of my favourite artists working in comic books) puts it very clearly.
bush, liberty, AlexRoss, vampire, president, usa.
Labels:
politics
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Jim Trudeau shares his thoughts upon visiting Dachau
on the radar has posted an excellent short essay, "Jim Trudeau shares his thoughts upon visiting Dachau".
For me it was yet another reminder that - no matter how much we believe we are the pinnacle of modernity and civilization - we are just a hair's breadth away from falling into barbarism. If anything, our arrogance as a society makes us more vulnerable to such a fall.
The people of Nazi Germany, the people of the Rwandan Genocide, the European invaders of the Americas, the lynch-mobs of the U.S., the soldiers in Abu-Ghraib, the slavers of Sudan - and the countless others who would take days to fully enumerate here - we have no fundamental difference from any of those people.
They were just ordinary people - manipulated into unimaginable horrors.
The only thing that can protect us from the descent into horror like that is a willingness to learn from history, and act on what we've learned.
dachau, concentrationcamp, horror, war, wwii, history, repeat, guantanamo, guantanamobay, us, usa, prisoners, attrocities, government, nazi.
For me it was yet another reminder that - no matter how much we believe we are the pinnacle of modernity and civilization - we are just a hair's breadth away from falling into barbarism. If anything, our arrogance as a society makes us more vulnerable to such a fall.
The people of Nazi Germany, the people of the Rwandan Genocide, the European invaders of the Americas, the lynch-mobs of the U.S., the soldiers in Abu-Ghraib, the slavers of Sudan - and the countless others who would take days to fully enumerate here - we have no fundamental difference from any of those people.
They were just ordinary people - manipulated into unimaginable horrors.
The only thing that can protect us from the descent into horror like that is a willingness to learn from history, and act on what we've learned.
dachau, concentrationcamp, horror, war, wwii, history, repeat, guantanamo, guantanamobay, us, usa, prisoners, attrocities, government, nazi.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Earth Day Critical Mass Bike Ride
![[Earth Day Critical Mass: The Crowd]](http://photos7.flickr.com/10451766_d879189650_t.jpg)
![[Earth Day Critical Mass: The Crowd]](http://photos6.flickr.com/10451748_e8231a9ff4_m.jpg)
At least 82 people participated in today's ride! The cops didn't even come talk to us - let alone interfere at all.
After giving up the rides a couple years ago when it got down to just me - a critical mass of one - I think I'm going to be trying to go again regularly. Hopefully we'll continue to see a lot of people coming out.
CriticalMass , bicycle , bike , EarthDay , Calgary , protest .
(See also: Cycle Calgary and Calgary Critical Mass Meetup.)
Photos: My Critical Mass photos.
Labels:
activism
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
New RSS Feed for this blog and other stuff
This feed also includes updates from my del.icio.us web links and my Flickr photography.
If you subscribe to my old Atom feed, please switch over to the new feed.
RSS, syndication, feed, Feedburner.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Knitted Superhero Costumes
![pdetail from Batman costume]](http://www.gregkucera.com/images/newpo_knit_superman_cost_det_small.jpg)
knit, knitting, superhero, costume, art.
Labels:
knitting
Friday, April 15, 2005
Unitarian Jihad
In his San Francisco Chronicle column, Jon Carroll has posted "the first communique from" Unitarian Jihad.
Heh.
(The article inspired Bill Humphries to create an automatic generator of Unitarian Jihad Names.)
funny, Unitarian, UnitarianJihad, Jihad.
Heh.
(The article inspired Bill Humphries to create an automatic generator of Unitarian Jihad Names.)
funny, Unitarian, UnitarianJihad, Jihad.
Steal This Sweater: Knitting with a Vengeance!
![[Picture: Things Can Only Get Worse]](http://stealthissweater.com/pics/images/worse1.jpg)
Of particular note is The Body Count Sweater. It enumerates the estimates of Iraqi civilian and U.S. soldiers who have died in the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq (up to March 14, 2005).
knit, knitting, sweater, radical, political, Iraq, antiwar, RKC, RevolutionaryKnitting, RevolutionaryKnittingCircle.
Labels:
knitting
Open Source Internet TV
The Participatory Culture Foundation has been set up by the folks at Downhill Battle. It's purpose is to support the development and distribution of an open source platform for distributed television. They're basing it on BitTorrent and it looks very promising.
video, tv, opensource, downhillbattle.
video, tv, opensource, downhillbattle.
Friday, April 1, 2005
Fossil Fools Day in Calgary: Jumpstart Ford Protest
![[photo of Fossil Fools Day protest in Calgary]](http://photos4.flickr.com/8151383_3e1fbec0ec_t.jpg)
![[photo of organizer, Jennifer, at Fossil Fools Day protest]]](http://photos8.flickr.com/8151341_086e1e73b4_t.jpg)
![[photo of protestors and hybrid vehicle]](http://photos4.flickr.com/8151355_afc0828f90_t.jpg)
Labels:
activism
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Petition to Remove fuel tax on biodiesel in Alberta
The idea of removing the Alberta fuel tax on biodiesel makes complete sense to me. If you're an Alberta resident, please sign-on to the petition.
Alberta, petition, biodiesel, tax.
Alberta, petition, biodiesel, tax.
Labels:
activism
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Artist Trading Cards

ArtistTradingCards, TheNewGallery, tradingcard, art, GrantNeufeld.
Sunday, March 27, 2005
An end to educational textbooks
There's a scary posting on how the state school board of Texas is setting the educational agenda for all (4) of the U.S. textbook publishers.
Seen at Boing Boing: Reactionary school-boards' block-buy eliminates sex from text-books.
education, textbook, censorship, texas.
Seen at Boing Boing: Reactionary school-boards' block-buy eliminates sex from text-books.
education, textbook, censorship, texas.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Make the South Park Version of Yourself

SouthPark.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Successful, but cold, Peace March and Rally in Calgary
![[Photos from the Peace March]](http://gallery.wayground.ca/albums/peacecalgary-20050319/2675marching.thumb.jpg)

peace, antiwar, anti-war, activist, activism, protest, rally, march, Calgary, PeaceCalgary, March19.
Labels:
activism
Why tagging is bad
Tagging, the (bad kind of) evil cousin of graffiti, is a scourge - a plague - that offends my senses.
Years ago, when I could still afford to risk engaging in illegal activities, I spent some wonderful times creating graffiti with friends. There was the excitement that came from "breaking the rules" - but there was also delight in creating something, in transforming the space around us. With our graffiti, my friends and I always tried to either say something or create art in unexpected or unapproved spaces.
A couple of weeks ago I came across a graffiti scrawl - next to some tags - that I found myself laughing in agreement with. It had an arrow pointing to the tags and said "A fine example of useless s***".
Tagging doesn't amount to anything positive - it's just ugly scrawls that express nothing more than laziness and disrespect. Taggers can't even be bothered to say anything. I'd rather see an ugly scrawl that says something - even if I disagree with what's being said. I mean, if someone's going to go to the effort of scrawling on a public space, they might as well do something meaningful with it.
There have been some wonderful stencil graffiti art pieces going up in Calgary over the past few couple years, and there's a long tradition of artful, poetic and challenging posters pasted, graffiti-style, to all sorts of 'unauthorized' surfaces in the city. The unfortunate thing is that many lump this wonderful art in with the taggers - decrying it all as just vandalism. Maybe if the taggers stopped being stupid navel-gazers and put a little thought into their work, we might be able to see graffiti emerge as a strong and positive force for dialogue in our community and for the transformation of the isolating structures of the city into something less oppressive.
Maybe.
graffiti.
Years ago, when I could still afford to risk engaging in illegal activities, I spent some wonderful times creating graffiti with friends. There was the excitement that came from "breaking the rules" - but there was also delight in creating something, in transforming the space around us. With our graffiti, my friends and I always tried to either say something or create art in unexpected or unapproved spaces.
![[Graffiti photos]](http://gallery.wayground.ca/albums/graffiti-westdowntownlrtbridge/2671antitag.thumb.jpg)
Tagging doesn't amount to anything positive - it's just ugly scrawls that express nothing more than laziness and disrespect. Taggers can't even be bothered to say anything. I'd rather see an ugly scrawl that says something - even if I disagree with what's being said. I mean, if someone's going to go to the effort of scrawling on a public space, they might as well do something meaningful with it.

Maybe.
graffiti.
Monday, March 21, 2005
Getting caught up...
Well, it's been some weeks since I last put together an update of what's been going on for me.
The past month or so have been absolutely crazy for me, work-wise, politically and personally. The last time I had a weekend without some major event, or where I got more than one full night of sleep, was in January.
I'm planning to post some back-dated entries (that will show up before this one), going back to February 20, to cover the many interesting recent goings-on, while I have a few days with no major crises planned...
The past month or so have been absolutely crazy for me, work-wise, politically and personally. The last time I had a weekend without some major event, or where I got more than one full night of sleep, was in January.
I'm planning to post some back-dated entries (that will show up before this one), going back to February 20, to cover the many interesting recent goings-on, while I have a few days with no major crises planned...
Monday, March 14, 2005
An Intense Experience
On Sunday night I was visiting a friend whose neighbor has been living with a violently abusive partner. Things came to a head that night and she called the police to have him taken away.
Afterward, she came over to my friend's place for some support. It was incredible to see her emerging from the fog of the abuse and finding a sense of her own power. In standing up for herself, she was able to begin the process of reclaiming her sense of self and her independence from her abuser.
As we talked about what had happened, it was wonderful to see the effect of putting names to the various aspects of what had happened to her, and what she had done. She'll have much work ahead of her to fully break away from the deeply damaging emotional crap the abuser did to her, and to fully heal from it. But, it was tremendously inspiring to witness her strength and empowerment that night.
heroes, abuse, power, empowerment.
Afterward, she came over to my friend's place for some support. It was incredible to see her emerging from the fog of the abuse and finding a sense of her own power. In standing up for herself, she was able to begin the process of reclaiming her sense of self and her independence from her abuser.
As we talked about what had happened, it was wonderful to see the effect of putting names to the various aspects of what had happened to her, and what she had done. She'll have much work ahead of her to fully break away from the deeply damaging emotional crap the abuser did to her, and to fully heal from it. But, it was tremendously inspiring to witness her strength and empowerment that night.
heroes, abuse, power, empowerment.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
On Religious Wars
A quote I saw in an email today:
religious, war, religiousWar, quote.
Religious war is like fighting over who has the best imaginary friend.I wasn't able to figure out who the quote is originally by. So, please let me know if you know.
religious, war, religiousWar, quote.
Labels:
politics
Sunday, March 6, 2005
Disability Action Hall retreat

The weather was amazing - a beautiful weekend.
Sleep was in short supply, especially given the late-night rowdy energy of some of the participants... (not to mention some rather horrifying karaoke performances [he said with a big grin]).
The Action Hall remains one of my most favourite activist groups to work with. In spite of the incredibly hard experiences most of these people have gone through, they remain a very fun and hopeful bunch to be around.
DisabilityActionHall, ActionHall, developmentaldisability, disability, selfadvocate, retreat, .
Labels:
activism
Monday, February 28, 2005
Follow-up to the Alberta Social Forum
![[Alberta Social Forum Photos]](http://gallery.wayground.ca/albums/asf/2580panel.thumb.jpg)
While we were far from the level of inclusivity we had hoped for, there were some great stories. The presence and full-inclusion of members of the deaf-blind community was very exciting. Additionally, a self-advocate from the developmental disability community reported really enjoying the sessions he attended - with no feelings of exclusion.
Attendance was lower than we had hoped, but we kept hearing from participants who really enjoyed and valued the sessions they went to. In the end, there were over 40 sessions offered on Saturday and Sunday. I helped or presented at 5 of them - including a session on Craftivism for the Revolutionary Knitting Circle.
There's still a tremendous amount of work to be done to turn the Alberta Social Forum into a broad-based process for the people of Alberta, but this weekend event has certainly helped bring it a little closer.
activism, activist, ASF, WSF, AlbertaSocialForum, SocialForum, WorldSocialForum, forum, Alberta.
Labels:
activism
Thursday, February 24, 2005
FFWD article on Alberta Social Forum
FFWD (Calgary news & entertainment weekly newspaper), has an article in today's edition by Amy Steele, on the Alberta Social Forum. (Among others, I was interviewed for this piece.)
activism, activist, ASF, WSF, SocialForum, WorldSocialForum, forum , Alberta, FFwd.
activism, activist, ASF, WSF, SocialForum, WorldSocialForum, forum , Alberta, FFwd.
Labels:
activism
Sunday, February 20, 2005
We won first place at the Supertrain Model Train Show
![[SALUG's Awards]](http://gallery.wayground.ca/albums/supertrain2005/125_2528_award.thumb.jpg)
![[Grant's Supertrain 2005 Photos]](http://gallery.wayground.ca/albums/supertrain2005/2538canyon.thumb.jpg)

Lego, AFOL, train, SALUG, modeltrain, Supertrain.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Lego at Supertrain Model Train Show
SALUG, the Southern Alberta Lego Users Group, has a massive display in the Supertrain Model Train Show again this year.
I'm super exhausted because I spent the last couple of nights frantically trying to finish my chunk of the display. I put together a river canyon with a bridge running across it (I should have some photos up within a couple days). It's 144 studs wide by 48 studs deep - and 29 inches high. This is the biggest Lego model I've ever built.
The event was packed. A lot of the people who came were parents with young children. That's good for the SALUG team because they are likely to vote for us as the best display in the show - the Lego is a real crowd-pleaser for kids. So, we stand a good chance of winning an award again this year.
Lego, train, SALUG, AFOL, modeltrain.
I'm super exhausted because I spent the last couple of nights frantically trying to finish my chunk of the display. I put together a river canyon with a bridge running across it (I should have some photos up within a couple days). It's 144 studs wide by 48 studs deep - and 29 inches high. This is the biggest Lego model I've ever built.
The event was packed. A lot of the people who came were parents with young children. That's good for the SALUG team because they are likely to vote for us as the best display in the show - the Lego is a real crowd-pleaser for kids. So, we stand a good chance of winning an award again this year.
Lego, train, SALUG, AFOL, modeltrain.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Alberta Social Forum
The Alberta Social Forum is only about a week and a half away.
While admission is free, people are being encouraged to register in advance.
There's an excellent range of sessions being offered at the Forum, with space also being provided to add sessions on the fly as people make interesting connections during the Forum.
AlbertaSocialForum, ASF, WSF, SocialForum, Alberta, activism, conference, community, forum, event.
While admission is free, people are being encouraged to register in advance.
There's an excellent range of sessions being offered at the Forum, with space also being provided to add sessions on the fly as people make interesting connections during the Forum.
AlbertaSocialForum, ASF, WSF, SocialForum, Alberta, activism, conference, community, forum, event.
Labels:
activism
Monday, February 14, 2005
AlterNet: MediaCulture: America Offline and Online
Zephyr Teachout has written an analysis of some potential roles that internet resources could have in increasing (in-person) community participation and "reviving civic life".
internet, web, community, CalgaryJammers, meetup, ZephyrTeachout, online.
internet, web, community, CalgaryJammers, meetup, ZephyrTeachout, online.
Labels:
activism
Sunday, February 13, 2005
A Library, a Work of Love
Stephanie Simon, of the LA Times, has written a delightful little story about a town, it's population of 1 person, and the library there that serves people who love to read.
Via Metafilter: If you could fly an airplane to the moon....
library, book, smalltown, story.
Via Metafilter: If you could fly an airplane to the moon....
library, book, smalltown, story.
Friday, February 11, 2005
Naomi Klein sums it up: The Iraqi 'Election'
Naomi Klein has put it about as clear as can be - the Iraqi people got to vote for what they want, but that doesn't mean they'll be allowed to have it.
Via: Common Dreams: Getting the Purple Finger.
Iraq, election, NaomiKlein, vote.
Via: Common Dreams: Getting the Purple Finger.
Iraq, election, NaomiKlein, vote.
Labels:
politics
Gold for Valentine's Day means human suffering
Oxfam America has issued a press release for the "No Dirty Gold" Campaign. They share an estimate from EARTHWORKS that the "Valentine's sales of gold jewelry in the U.S. will leave in their wake more than 34 million metric tons of waste worldwide"
gold, jewelry, mining, environment, valentine's, ValentinesDay.
gold, jewelry, mining, environment, valentine's, ValentinesDay.
Labels:
activism
Wednesday, February 9, 2005
Dog Judo videos
Dog Judo is a bizarre and humorous series of short videos featuring dogs with black-belts in judo. (available in QuickTime and the very evil Windows Media format.)
Thanks to The Lotus Queen for the pointer.
funny, humour, DogJudo, dog, dogs, judo.
Thanks to The Lotus Queen for the pointer.
funny, humour, DogJudo, dog, dogs, judo.
Space Travelers Meetup On The Moon

As group organizer Dan Chusid said: "These people are out of this world!"
Eyes on the Screen follow-up
The Eyes on the Screen screening of Eyes on the Prize went well last night. About a dozen of us here in Calgary watched episode one of the documentary series.
I opened the event with a short spiel giving the background on the copyright issues plaguing the series - and other cultural and historical records. We then watched the film and followed it with a short discussion on civil rights activism.
A group of "Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement" has put out a statement in support of Eyes on the Prize and the struggle to ensure it remains available
Update: Wired News has a good article on a Bay Area screening held last night.
Update 2: Democracy Now! had a show about the Eyes on the Prize copyright issues (available as transcript or MP3).
Veterans statement via: Boing Boing: Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement support Eyes on the Prize screenings.
CivilRights.
I opened the event with a short spiel giving the background on the copyright issues plaguing the series - and other cultural and historical records. We then watched the film and followed it with a short discussion on civil rights activism.
A group of "Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement" has put out a statement in support of Eyes on the Prize and the struggle to ensure it remains available
Update: Wired News has a good article on a Bay Area screening held last night.
Update 2: Democracy Now! had a show about the Eyes on the Prize copyright issues (available as transcript or MP3).
Veterans statement via: Boing Boing: Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement support Eyes on the Prize screenings.
CivilRights.
Labels:
activism
Tuesday, February 8, 2005
50s decor room recreated in knitting and crochet
The seniors in residence at Hobart's Strathaven Home (in Tasmania) have done some incredible work producing all sorts of furnishings and objects (including a wide selection of food replicas) - entirely in yarn using knitting and crochet.
See the article for details and photos.
knitting.
See the article for details and photos.
knitting.
Labels:
knitting
Sunday, February 6, 2005
Calgary Adbusters / Culturejammers
I'm contributing to a new group blog for folks in Calgary who are part of the local "Culturejammers" (Adbusters) community.
Adbusters, culturejammers, blog, calgaryjammers.
Adbusters, culturejammers, blog, calgaryjammers.
Labels:
activism
Saturday, February 5, 2005
Interview with "Sequential Artist" Josh Neufeld & Sari Wilson
Years ago, when I was first doing websites, I had a section on my personal pages about comic books - particularly independent comics. Writer & artist Josh Neufeld came across the site and got in touch with me, since we share the same last name.
We've chatted occasionally since then by email, and I've made a point of picking up his work when I come across it. For anyone who enjoys autobiographical comics, his work is definitely worth a look.
Anyway, he sent out a note pointing to a recent interview on the Sequential Tart site. It's primarily a discussion, including Josh's partner Sari Wilson, about the travels that Josh covers in his work.
We've chatted occasionally since then by email, and I've made a point of picking up his work when I come across it. For anyone who enjoys autobiographical comics, his work is definitely worth a look.
Anyway, he sent out a note pointing to a recent interview on the Sequential Tart site. It's primarily a discussion, including Josh's partner Sari Wilson, about the travels that Josh covers in his work.
Creepy Goodness
Excellent twisting of religion children's book into evil menacing alien takeover of Earth.
What's particularly disturbing is how creepy the original pictures are - even without the alien twist.
Via Boing Boing: Religious picture book remixed into twisted alien-invader primer.
What's particularly disturbing is how creepy the original pictures are - even without the alien twist.
Via Boing Boing: Religious picture book remixed into twisted alien-invader primer.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Freedom for "Eyes on the Prize"

The documentary is caught in copyright-hell because it used tons of news footage which the filmmakers would have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to renew their rights to use the footage. Even though they made, broadcast and distributed the series in the 80's, the vicious copyright laws that have been enacted on behalf of the fat-cats in the "content industry" now prevent them from legally engaging in any further distribution.
That means no more video tapes, no more broadcasts or public exhibitions, and no dvds.
Downhill Battle have rightfully called for people to download and share (via video, dvd, file-sharing, etc.) the series to ensure this immensely valuable historical record continues to be available. They have also called for a special day of action:
On February 8, 2005, at 8pm, you can join in the struggle against the corporate pirates who seek to take away our collective history by putting on, or attending, a viewing of part 1 of the series.

Update 2: J. B. Zimmerman, nephew of Henry Hampton who produced the Eyes on the Prize series, is speaking out against Downhill's "Eyes on the Screen" campaign. He has written a couple articles ("It doesn't matter if the cause is just" and "Eyes on the Prize is most definitely NOT commonsized").
I'm still supporting the campaign, but I'm calling for folks to fundraise at the screenings to support the efforts of Blackside to get the series re-released - especially for dvd which it has never come out on. I'll post when I have info on where the money would best be sent.
Originally spotted at the Boing Boing article Eyes on the Screen: Direct action to save Eyes on the Prize.
Labels:
activism
Return of the Blog
I'm returning to this blog, but under a new web-link:
I've also copied a lot of entries I've done on other blogs over to this blog. They're back-dated appropriately.
blog.grantneufeld.caPlease update your bookmarks accordingly.
I've also copied a lot of entries I've done on other blogs over to this blog. They're back-dated appropriately.
Thursday, January 6, 2005
Jon Stewart Is My Hero
The great Jon Stewart's appearance on Crossfire [MOV] (a transcript) was one of the most important moments in television history - a turning point that will surely have wide reaching ramifications for generations to come.
It is already transforming CNN.
Earlier this evening, I came across a Boing Boing item, "CNN 'Crossfire' host Carlson to stop hurting America," that alerted me to the wonderful effect Stewart is having on that network. The story is covered in more detail in the Associated Press' article "CNN Lets 'Crossfire' Host Carlson Go".
CNN U.S. Network chief executive Jonathan Klein was quoted as saying:
"I guess I come down more firmly in the Jon Stewart camp,"
Truly, it is a great day for justice.
DRAFT JON STEWART FOR U.S. PRESIDENT!
Originally posted to my LiveJournal.
It is already transforming CNN.
Earlier this evening, I came across a Boing Boing item, "CNN 'Crossfire' host Carlson to stop hurting America," that alerted me to the wonderful effect Stewart is having on that network. The story is covered in more detail in the Associated Press' article "CNN Lets 'Crossfire' Host Carlson Go".
CNN U.S. Network chief executive Jonathan Klein was quoted as saying:
"I guess I come down more firmly in the Jon Stewart camp,"
Truly, it is a great day for justice.
DRAFT JON STEWART FOR U.S. PRESIDENT!
Originally posted to my LiveJournal.
Labels:
activism
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Blog Archive
-
▼
2005
(49)
-
►
April
(10)
- Time Management for Anarchists: The Movie
- Bush at the throat of liberty
- Jim Trudeau shares his thoughts upon visiting Dachau
- Earth Day Critical Mass Bike Ride
- New RSS Feed for this blog and other stuff
- Knitted Superhero Costumes
- Unitarian Jihad
- Steal This Sweater: Knitting with a Vengeance!
- Open Source Internet TV
- Fossil Fools Day in Calgary: Jumpstart Ford Protest
-
►
March
(10)
- Petition to Remove fuel tax on biodiesel in Alberta
- Artist Trading Cards
- An end to educational textbooks
- Make the South Park Version of Yourself
- Successful, but cold, Peace March and Rally in Cal...
- Why tagging is bad
- Getting caught up...
- An Intense Experience
- On Religious Wars
- Disability Action Hall retreat
-
►
February
(16)
- Follow-up to the Alberta Social Forum
- FFWD article on Alberta Social Forum
- We won first place at the Supertrain Model Train Show
- Lego at Supertrain Model Train Show
- Alberta Social Forum
- AlterNet: MediaCulture: America Offline and Online
- A Library, a Work of Love
- Naomi Klein sums it up: The Iraqi 'Election'
- Gold for Valentine's Day means human suffering
- Dog Judo videos
- Space Travelers Meetup On The Moon
- Eyes on the Screen follow-up
- 50s decor room recreated in knitting and crochet
- Calgary Adbusters / Culturejammers
- Interview with "Sequential Artist" Josh Neufeld & ...
- Creepy Goodness
-
►
April
(10)
Labels
- activism (74)
- politics (74)
- calgary (42)
- democracy (27)
- video (18)
- green party (13)
- feminist (12)
- knitting (10)
- alberta (7)
- poverty (7)
- democracy tech (6)
- environment (6)
- peace (6)
- random (6)
- economics (5)
- housing (5)
- social networking (5)
- community (4)
- disability (4)
- internet (4)
- interview (4)
- pro-choice (4)
- racism (4)
- canada (3)
- education (3)
- health (3)
- internet tips (3)
- public space (3)
- reading (3)
- ruby on rails (3)
- bicycle (2)
- religion (2)
- speech (2)
- art (1)
- comics (1)
- entertainment (1)
- humour (1)
- lego (1)
- media (1)
- morality (1)
- personal (1)
- urban agriculture (1)