davidthompsontag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-12079022012-01-27T00:04:00+00:00TypePadFriday Ephemeratag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20163002481fa970d2012-01-27T00:04:00+00:002012-01-27T07:20:28+00:00Amuse small children with this giant inflatable spider puppet. // Lionel Richie’s Hello remixed by Matthijs Vlot. // Couples, vacuum-packed for freshness. // Shaolin kung fu monks. // Can you match the colours? // How to spoil your cat. //...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2012/01/friday-ephemera-1.htmlBecause Artists Are So Dangeroustag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20163000894a8970d2012-01-24T09:44:55+00:002012-01-24T10:22:31+00:00Speaking of Bettina Camilla Vestergaard, whose radical freeloading thrilled us so, here’s a more recent project of her devising, from August 2010. Decenter II was a “park intervention,” the purpose of which was to “reinterpret Decenter, an artist colony set...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2012/01/because-artists-are-so-dangerous.htmlReheated (23)tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e2016760f1e828970b2012-01-23T08:28:41+00:002012-01-23T08:33:00+00:00Yes, I know. Posting has been sparse and I’ve been neglecting you terribly. But trust me, it’s all in a good cause and normal service should resume shortly. Meanwhile, here are few items from the archives. There is, as you’ll...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2012/01/reheated-23.htmlElsewhere (55)tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20168e591d426970c2012-01-15T13:51:22+00:002012-01-15T19:21:57+00:00Chris Snowdon, author of The Spirit Level Delusion, spends an evening with the New Economics Foundation: The NEF recently revived its idea of restricting working hours to 21 hours per week as a means of creating full employment and achieving...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2012/01/elsewhere-55.htmlFriday Ephemeratag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20168e56672dd970c2012-01-13T00:04:00+00:002012-01-13T00:04:00+00:00The animated Kubrick. // Bookshop reorganised. // The museum of bags. // GPS with “avoid ghetto” function. // Grandma’s robot companion. // Made of straws. // Unorthodox kiting. // Cave of note. // To tenderise meat. // Mere rope cannot...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2012/01/friday-ephemera.htmlElsewhere (54)tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20168e4e3ee30970c2012-01-03T07:46:47+00:002012-01-03T07:53:20+00:00Tim Worstall on poverty redefined: One benefit, recall, just one benefit that this family receives, is to be cut from a little under median full time wages to a little under median full time wages after tax. From £23,000 a...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2012/01/elsewhere-54.htmlTidings (5)tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20162fe2d8ebd970d2011-12-22T08:27:41+00:002011-12-22T08:27:41+00:00As the holidays near – and this rickety barge approaches the end of its fifth year afloat - posting will for a while be more intermittent than usual. Subscribing to the blog feed is therefore recommended. As always, thanks for...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/12/tidings-5.htmlFriday Ephemeratag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e201543852c973970c2011-12-16T00:04:00+00:002011-12-16T00:04:00+00:00“The Little Rooster will wake her up with increasing vibration intensities.” // Your kitchen needs robots. // Art with salt. // What exactly happens when you fall into lava? // Scribbled line people. // Do you pogo? // When octopuses...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/12/friday-ephemera-1.htmlIt’s the Calibre of the People That Impresses Me the Mosttag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e201675eb0e096970b2011-12-13T08:34:28+00:002011-12-13T15:33:16+00:00Denver’s occupodpeople take umbrage with a Wal-Mart distribution centre and wrestle with some difficult philosophical questions. Among which, “What right do you have to do that?” and “What money have they stolen from you?” And of course the big one,...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/12/its-the-calibre-of-the-people-that-impresses-me-the-most.htmlElsewhere (53)tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e201675ea8076a970b2011-12-12T08:37:52+00:002011-12-12T08:37:52+00:00Antony Jay, co-creator of Yes, Minister, on the leanings of the BBC: It would be astonishing if the BBC did not have its own orthodoxy. It has been around for 85 years, recruiting bright graduates, mostly with arts degrees, and...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/12/elsewhere-53.htmlQuote of Notetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20162fd9ec1a3970d2011-12-10T08:56:20+00:002011-12-14T20:40:21+00:00Or, We’re Much Too Fascinating to Register the Comedy: I’m tempted to talk about the irony of kids taking out student loans to enrol in a class that will “study” why irate college grads who can’t get jobs are camped...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/12/quote-of-note-2.htmlReheated (22)tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e2015437efb94e970c2011-12-06T18:46:39+00:002011-12-06T18:46:39+00:00For newcomers, three more items from the archives. Freeloading and Snobbery. Leftwing arts establishment claims to be “suppressed,” sneers at the little people, demands free money. Note the word “suppressed.” Like “dissent,” it’s a tad grandiose. I’m not convinced that...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/12/reheated-22.htmlFriday Ephemeratag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e2015393d545cc970b2011-12-02T00:02:00+00:002011-12-02T15:27:49+00:00Attention, starfish. Beware the brine icicle. // Owl petting. // Predator and prey. // Inflatable fifteen-foot-long six-legged robot Ant-Roach. // A Lego ball that’s very nearly spherical. // Electromagnetic leak (or what aliens are watching.) // Occupodpeople versus reality. //...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/12/friday-ephemera.htmlElsewhere (52)tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20162fd0590d8970d2011-11-28T10:23:00+00:002011-11-30T10:28:25+00:00KC Johnson encounters more protesting intellectuals: According to the New York Times, organisers “were protesting not only tuition increases [of $300 per year] but also the university’s push for a public-private partnership,” such as the $1.4 billion in private philanthropy...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/11/elsewhere-52.htmlIncongruitiestag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20162fd0573c0970d2011-11-28T08:18:11+00:002011-11-28T08:18:11+00:00“Fox chained to automobile,” 1940. By John Vachon. Note the water dish. “Members of the Ku-Klux-Klan about to take off with the literature which was scattered over the suburbs of the city.” 1922.David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/11/incongruities.htmlHush, Our Betters Are Speakingtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20153936f4090970b2011-11-23T08:31:16+00:002011-11-23T18:55:59+00:00It’s about antagonising people and slapping them around a little bit and waking them up to reality. So says Kalle Lasn, editor of the anti-capitalist magazine Adbusters and inspiration for Occupy Wall Street. He and his OccupodPeople are slapping us...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/11/hush-our-betters-are-speaking.htmlElsewhere (51)tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20162fca3c07f970d2011-11-20T09:32:11+00:002011-11-24T21:09:15+00:00Heather Mac Donald on the moochers of Zuccotti Park: While the number of people who commandeered Zuccotti Park was pathetically small - several hundred a night - compared with the weight of media attention lavished upon them, their sense of...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/11/elsewhere-51.htmlFriday Ephemeratag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20162fc816258970d2011-11-18T00:09:00+00:002011-11-18T00:09:00+00:00Measuring explosive duck erections. Make a donation and advance science! (h/t, Jim Cambias) // The museum of the modern snowglobe. // Baby teeth and adult teeth. // Wombat in a tea cup. // Pig-shaped pork. // On eating insects. //...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/11/friday-ephemera-2.htmlWhere Earthlings Livetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e2015436eae053970c2011-11-17T00:22:00+00:002011-11-17T07:51:43+00:00A time lapse compilation of photographs taken by Ron Garan, Satoshi Furukawa and the crew of expeditions 28 & 29 onboard the International Space Station, August to October, 2011. Edited by Michael König. Further out and worth another squint, Chris...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/11/where-earthlings-live.htmlThe OccupodPeople Will Save Ustag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e2015436de8981970c2011-11-14T11:18:52+00:002011-11-14T11:18:52+00:00Via EBD, meet Daniel Johnson, Saskatchewan Green Party candidate and full-time OccupodPerson: “Occupy has no leaders. We run on a consensus based thing, though there are kind of… certain people whose ideas get followed more than others.” Spare a moment...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/11/the-occupodpeople-will-save-us.htmlFriday Ephemeratag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20162fc44b915970d2011-11-11T00:12:00+00:002011-11-11T00:12:00+00:00The starlings of Rome. // Surfing, Matrix-style. // This is exactly why I’ve never had a moustache. // How to relocate a sedated rhino. (h/t, Ka-Ching!) // The perpetual dilemma of Michael Moore. // Mythical injustice. // Unfolding apartment. //...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/11/friday-ephemera-1.htmlA Better World (2)tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20162fc3e630d970d2011-11-09T08:36:26+00:002011-11-10T07:31:09+00:00Another one for the pile marked passive-aggressive, from Occupy Portland. It’s a long clip but instructive, and as things progress, unpleasantly tense. I can’t help thinking it captures the, er, flavour of so much of what we’ve seen. There’s something...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/11/a-better-world-2.htmlThuggery and Squalor is New and Excitingtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e2015436b04eb6970c2011-11-07T09:19:32+00:002011-11-08T08:04:00+00:00Further to this extended post on the Occupy phenomenon, here’s a brief update on the “movement” that, according to Laurie Penny, “is trying to do something so profoundly new and exciting with politics.” Occupy Wall Street seems to be spiralling...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/11/thuggery-and-squalor-is-new-and-exciting.htmlFriday Ephemeratag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20154369a01d8970c2011-11-04T00:12:00+00:002011-11-04T14:47:11+00:00Attention fitness enthusiasts, the Tug Toner has arrived. (h/t, Elephants Gerald) // Man mistakes moon for UFO. // Levitating lampshade. // Apartment block of note. // It’s a decommissioned nuclear bunker, it’s a luxury home. // Clouds, lots of clouds....David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/11/friday-ephemera.htmlBecause It Can Be Done (Just Barely)tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20154368a3697970c2011-10-31T20:10:42+00:002011-11-01T12:55:01+00:00A taste of Sébastien Montaz-Rosset’s documentary I Believe I Can Fly. “I’m not sure I can hold on with my toes.” And I’m reposting this because it’s so damn lovely. Like falling, but better: Skydiving filmed by Melbourne design studio...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2011/10/because-it-can-be-done-just-barely.html