Morality

There is only a small difference in spacing between a moral philosophy and amoral philosophy.

Reinventing the wheel

In the year 1913 Marcel Duchamp created his first "Assisted Readymade", the "Bicycle Wheel". According to MoMA Duchamp told Pierre Cabanne that; "...when I put a bicycle wheel on a stool the fork down, there was no idea of a 'readymade,' or anything else. It was just a distraction. I didn't have any special reason to do it, or any intention of showing it or describing anything". MoMA's website also mentions that: "The Bicycle Wheel has also been cited as the first kinetic sculpture" (In a publication excerpt from: Three Generations of Twentieth-Century Art: The Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1972, p. 48). Kinetic sculptures have since then evolved for almost a century, and in the case Theo Jansen's sculptures the notion of evolution of art is to be taken quite literally. These are best described with the aid of moving images, as in the video clip on TED. Jansen claims that; "5000 years after the invention of the wheel we have a new wheel". It all comes full circle - figuratively and literally.

Blue-movies on Blu-ray

The struggle between the rivalling formats - HD-DVD and Blu-ray - has run in to yet another strange twist. Much to the delight of self-proclaimed experts in the blogosphere, that’s seizing the opportunity to sound like intellectuals. According to an article in Ars Technica the pr0n industry has decided to go with the less expensive HD-DVD format. This inevitability brought up the old format feud between VHS and BetaMax. A story nobody remember or care about. The fact that they didn't have an unlimited source of hardcore pornography in the 70's just by typing in a search on google doesn't seem to matter.
The story also hit the wire which seem to focus on that "Sony had ruled porn as unworthy of a Blu-ray license" in their follow-up. They too draw the conclusion that "[T]he porn industry [...] pioneered commercialization videotapes and the Internet". The fact that Blu-ray is superior to HD-DVD, and vastly inferior to the Internet, doesn't matter. If you feel out of touch and don't know shit about what kind of people it is who - seemingly - control the home entertainment industry, I suggest you read True Porn Clerk Stories.

Lacan and film theory

The Slovenian author Slavoj Žižek, known to many as a "rockstar-philosopher", have recently been involved in creating a three part documentary researching films from a psychoanalytical (Lacanian) point of view. It's been aptly named The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (Sophie Fiennes, 2006). He notes, among other things, that:

We are basically watching shit, as it were

There is a blog devoted to Žižek with a lot of information about this documentary, it also links to a transcript filled with entertaining quotes.
He's previously been involved in a number of different projects including candidating for the presidency of the Republic of Slovenia! This and much more is explored in a documentary about him simply titled Zizek! (Astra Taylor, 2005). A IMDb-user giving his two cents about the documentary in the "user comment" space writes that:

Slavoj Zizek is one of the stars of Theoryworld, and deservedly so. He mixes Lacan and Marx with a seasoning of pop culture to analyze how we construct meaning - and reminds us that our understanding is often far from rational.

If you feel intrigued and would like to get a taste of what he is all about you might check out part of one of his lectures titled "Love Without Mercy". You might also read an article (in Swedish) about him in DN.

911

Recent controversy regarding the terrorist attack on the WTC towers has surfaced in Swedish media. The two major morning papers DN and SVD both have articles about Loose Change 2nd Edition (Dylan Avery, 2006). This is obviously another piece of tripe made by a basement dwelling computer nerd (similar to William "christian crazy fuck" Cooper's bestselling book Behold a Pale Horse).
However, if you don't buy in to the official story and/or if you're interested in conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11 you might want to check out The Great Conspiracy: The 9/11 News Special You Never Saw (Barrie Zwicker, 2005). It actually has some convincing arguments and it mentions references.
If you feel that the evidence pointing towards the official story is sufficient you might be interested in watching The Hamburg Cell (Channel 4, 2004), a British docu-drama based on evidence (such as court transcriptions, video footage etc.). It's about the hijackers who flew the planes on the fateful morning of September 11th.

Mike the Headless Wonder Chicken

I watched The Natural History of the Chicken a few days ago. Between all the general nutters and borderline-psychos there was a segment about Mike the headless chicken. I heard about this story a few years ago and thought it was an urban-legend. However, I was proven otherwise. There are numerous sites on the Internet about it. Google it if you feel like learning more about it.

3-D

As we all know Superman Returns will be released in IMAX 3-D. It's advertised as the first live action feature shown in this format. The Polar Express was however released as "An IMAX 3D Experience" before Superman, alas it was purely Computer Generated Images, i.e. crap. On the other hand, Superman was filmed in 2-D and later converted in to 3-D. This means that half of the frames are created digitally which, technically speaking, makes it half "live action" and half CGI. Considering that most of this film, as most other Hollywood films (in a broader sense), is an orgy in CGI-action it leaves little place for so called "live action".
Read more about past attempts to lure people to the cinema with the promise to entertain the senses (article written in Swedish).

Fun and games

I read an article on Super Columbine Massacre RPG and decided to download and try it. I reckon most people in the media have either thought it's horrible or hyped it because it's retro. But there might be something to it, one can't help but feeling a bit nostalgic when confronted with the 90's style of the game. It sort of looks like Final Fantasy but shittier. However, one does grow tired of it quite quickly. If you're in to boring but controversial games I'd recommend a visit to the Border Patrol. It's got mediocre entertainment value and it's highly racist. Have fun.

Arty farty

There was a TV-program called Kazakhstan Swings (More 4) which I saw yesterday. It featured some of the greatest artists working in the former Soviet satellite state Kazakhstan. Somewhere between the enormous concrete buildings and the flotsam and jetsam people below on the streets there seems to be a scene for modern art. This show reminded me of a of a series previously aired on Channel 4 called ArtShock (The show Is bad art for bad people in particular). However, ArtShock focused mainly on western artists. One artist represented in Is bad art for bad people was Paul McCarthy who's art is also exhibited in Moderna Museet during this summer (McCarthy at Moderna in English/Swedish). Dagens Nyheter had a piece about the exhibition (In Swedish: article/interview).

The fat of the land

I recently viewed a show called Tax the Fat (aired on More4). Just like the title suggests it explores the possibility of introducing a tax for being fat. This idea is put forward by Times columnist and restaurant critic Giles Coren who argue that health care for obese people - among other things - are costing the British taxpayers billions of pounds every year. Coren asks if the introduction of a tax for being a lard ass is a reasonable course of action that could solve the obesity dilemma.
This is obviously a highly opinionated documentary with strong personal polemic which may provoke many. On the other hand, I believe that this is a valid question. Most countries have taxes on tobacco and alcohol. This is in part because these products may cause damage to individuals health but it is also enforced to discourage people from buying things that are not good for them. Why should it be any difference between such products and the one's that make people fat? Giles Coren's answer to the problem was to tax individuals according to their BMI. I would deem his approach as a bit unrealistic. Are taxmen supposed to run around with scales when they're checking people’s taxes? And what happens if you are caught cheating on your tax return? People could always claim that they have gained a few pounds after filling in the tax form. Also, let’s not forget that one cannot tell whether a person is very muscular or just a regular fatty using the BMI method. Athletes usually have a very high BMI.
I think it would be more efficient to have a tax on fat food just like the one they have on fags and booze. Even though he does mention this possibility he quickly discards the idea. However, I think this might be part of the solution. Increase taxes on sugar and use the money collected to subsidise vegetables and fresh fruit. How hard could it be?