Here’s what it looks like if you plant a camera in the same location for one year and snap photos throughout the changing seasons. Video is striking but random. So we’re filing it under “Random.”
Unauthorized Beatles Masterpieces
This weekend’s New York Times ran a piece detailing how the record industry has dithered and continually failed to release several long-awaited Beatles’ projects. It also mentioned how fans and collectors have forged ahead and put together unauthorized bootleg projects, some of which the Times calls “curatorial masterpieces.” In particular, the article highlights the Purple Chick label, which “has assembled deluxe editions of each commercially released [Beatles] album, offering the original discs in their mono and stereo mixes, along with the singles (also in mono and stereo) released at the time, as well as every known demo, studio outtake and alternative mix.” Some of Purple Chick’s include “Beatles Deluxe” (which covers 10 CDs); “A/B Road” (which gives you 96 hours of the “Let It Be” sessions); and a series of BBC radio performances.
So how do you get this stuff? It’s a question that Rolling Stone asked rhetorically when it recently gave another positive review to Purple Chick recordings. And it answered the question with this: “Google is your friend: Try searching ‘purple chick and megaupload’ to get started.”
The Clash of Civilizations (and the Passing of its Author)
When the twin towers were taken down in September 2001, America looked to make sense of what happened. And it wasn’t long before many started turning to The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, a book written by Samuel Huntington, the Harvard poli sci professor who passed on last week.
The book itself was an elaboration upon a controversial article that Huntington published in Foreign Affairs in 1993. In the opening lines, he wrote: “World politics is entering a new phase… It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural. Nation states will remain the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations and groups of different civilizations. The clash of civilizations will be the battle lines of the future.” Particularly he suggested, it would be the “West versus the Rest,” and within the latter category, he lumped in Islam.
Below, we have posted Huntington’s 1997 appearance on the Charlie Rose show, where he expanded on his world view. You can also get Edward Said’s general retort, The Myth of the Clash of Civilizations, here and Noam Chomsky’s thoughts on the concept here.
Remembering Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, the Nobel Prize-winning playwright, died in London on Wednesday. As The New York Times obit mentions, when Pinter won the Nobel in 2005, his declining health prevented him from attending the awards ceremony in Stockholm. Instead, he gave his acceptance lecture — “Art, Truth & Politics” — via a recorded video, which we’re posting below. (You can also watch it on the Nobel web site here or alternatively read the transcript.) The speech runs a good 45 minutes.
Christmas Under Fire (1940)
Here’s a logical (but unplanned) follow up to our previous post that looked back at Christmas Eve during World War I.
Here we present a Christmas propaganda film that came out of England during the Second World War. Britain is under German siege. But it’s enduring the Blitz and keeping a stiff upper lip, and Christmas will go on … if only underground. Britain’s children won’t be cheated out of this. This clip, which reminds us that, economic problems aside, we have much to be thankful for, comes from the British Film Institute National Archive on YouTube, which we’re now adding to our collection: Intelligent Life at YouTube: 80 Educational Video Collections.
via Crooked Timber
Christmas Eve in the Trenches, 1914: When Warring Sides Laid Down Their Arms & Joined Each Other in Song
Right in time for Christmas Eve…
World War I was a relentlessly grinding and brutal war. Europe had never experienced anything like it. But there was one notable moment of respite, a brief moment when humanity showed back through. Christmas Eve, 1914. The moving story of what happened that night gets recounted in John McCutcheon’s touching song, Christmas in the Trenches. The video below includes the backstory and the song itself. You can also watch a live performance here, and get the lyrics here. Happy holidays to all. And thanks Sheryl for the tip.
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E‑Books Finally Here to Stay?
The New York Times thinks that e‑books may have finally turned the corner in 2008. The Kindle is sold out until February (which messes up my Christmas plans). Sales of Sony’s e‑book reader have tripled over last season. And we’re now seeing e‑books hit the bestseller list. The digital age for books may be upon us.
David Lynch on His Favorite Movies and Filmmakers
In a quick 59 seconds, David Lynch tells you the films and filmmakers that he likes best (see below). In equally succinct videos, though with a bit more salty language (read: language that’s not ideal for work), Lynch also gives you his thoughts on product placement and the whole concept of watching a movie on an iPhone.
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 — Karajan or Muppet Style
A couple of big blogs recently highlighted a clip of the Muppets doing Ode to Joy from Beethoven’s Ninth. It’s cute, and I was hardly surprised that the video logged 3.6 million views on YouTube.
Not far behind, at 3.2 million views, is a long video showing Herbert Von Karajan leading a live performance of Beethoven’s Ninth. The fact that Karajan, one of the world’s best-known conductors, lags behind a bunch of puppets is unfortunate, no doubt. But it’s also heartening in some ways. It tells me that high culture is still competing for an audience. So here it goes. Karajan in action:
(You can get Part 2 here, and we’ve added both clips to our YouTube Favorites. Also you can find more vintage Beethoven/Karajan footage in this guy’s video collection.)
It’s a Wonderful (Scratch That, Miserable) Life
About the Christmas classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” a New York Times op-ed had this to say today:
It “is anything but a cheery holiday tale.” It “is a terrifying, asphyxiating story about growing up and relinquishing your dreams, of seeing your father driven to the grave before his time, of living among bitter, small-minded people. It is a story of being trapped, of compromising, of watching others move ahead and away, of becoming so filled with rage that you verbally abuse your children, their teacher and your oppressively perfect wife. It is also a nightmare account of an endless home renovation.”
And, with that, we present the 1947 film directed by Frank Capra and starring James Stewart:
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