Back to the Start - Country meets Coldplay

A charming cover version of Coldplay's 'The Scientist' sung by Country Music megastar Willie Nelson as part of the soundtrack for a short film about farmers returning to a more sustainable way of working the land. The film is called: 'Back to the start' commissioned by the the Mexican (yum!) Grill chain Chipotle, official blurb here:

The film, by film-maker Johnny Kelly, depicts the life of a farmer as he slowly turns his family farm into an industrial animal factory before seeing the errors of his ways and opting for a more sustainable future. Both the film and the soundtrack were commissioned by Chipotle to emphasize the importance of developing a sustainable food system.

P h/t Mike Todd

The Story of Stuff...

From the excellent Story of Stuff website:

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

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Kofi Annan and Didier Drogba’s World Cup guide

A challenging perspective on the World Cup from the Africa Progress Panel (APP). Above is a section of the Stats Table, download the full guide here (11Mb) from the APP website.

h/t @theElders

Thou shalt reduce thy Sins of consumption...

George Monbiot concludes his blog post on the guardian.co.uk website today with this paragraph:

Only the Green party has approached this issue honestly, by accepting upfront that economic growth is the problem and that current levels of consumption cannot be sustained. It's time we called out the other parties on their failure to acknowledge, let alone tackle, this contradiction. And it's time we all recognised that consumption is the big issue.

The title of the piece is: 'Carbon calculator reveals Labour and Tory policy as science fiction' and condemns the two 'old' parties unsurprising refusal to run the Guardian's National Carbon Calculator. Simon Hughes of the Lib Dems both ran the calculator and shared the results online. Sadly whilst addressing climate issues are in all the manifestos it is not as hip and newsworthy as the deficit (understandably) and immigration (inflammatory!). It is clear the main parties see economic growth as the solution to all ills whilst ignoring other burgeoning issues. One of the late Sir John Harvey-Jones' mantras was to 'always define the problem before suggesting a solution' and that is why the Greens are so very right.

So will I vote Green in a totally safe Tory constituency? Probably! Will I be wasting my vote? Some may consider so, however, my view could become part of a tangible statistic, the increase in vote for the Green Party in this election. Perhaps I should practice what I believe and vote with my conscience against the spiritual evil of rampant consumption?

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Against the Machine - Being Human

 

I read with interest as certain bloggers nobly ceased their proclamations during Lent this year and, indeed, some have decided to cease altogether. The fear that the time spent reading, composing and publishing blogs drags you away from more worthwhile pursuits is definitely something I can relate to....

Stephen Siegel, author of 'Against The Machine, Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob' was one of the 'Talking Heads' on the excellent BBC TV series 'The Virtual Revolution' broadcast early 2010. Having been so impressed by his relatively short contribution I purchased his book which turned out to be an excellent read, full of illuminating facts about the last 20 years of the virtual world and the contributory factors to the successful aspects of the web. Certainly he reinforces fears and concerns many feel and although in interview he comes over as pretty cynical and sarcastic, on the written page his arguments are measured and totally reasonable.

Intriguingly the back cover sports Marshall McLuhan's famous quote: 'The Medium is the Message' which turned out to be at the core of the next book I chose to read, more soon!

So, what makes this book so compelling is, as mentioned, the confirmation that behind so much of what we may consider to be the worthwhile aspects of the applications available are specifically geared to 'capturing' more information about you. Now that might not sound particularly original, Google searches and online shopping forays are obviously giving merchants detailed statistics and buying patterns that they can tap into to attempt upselling you alternative or similar products that other folk with similar stats have bought. It is more how Lee Siegel reveals the poiltical and financial drivers behind our movement to what we now term as 'Social Networking'.

Bearing in mind this book was written prior to the Twitter explosion, so the main analysis is based on Blogging, MySpace and Facebook. What he is saying is that we are trading our privacy for popularity. In earlier times we would come home and have dinner and chill out together... now we tend to go onto our computers and start revealing more 'private' information for the rest of the world to absorb, not just our family and close friends. Whilst we may be careful about our credit card numbers common sense seems to evaporate as we pour out deeply personal information via our keyboard, sacrificing our identity and withdrawing into a world of physical solitude.

He then moves on to the sense that we are drawn into this world to the extent that if we are not repeatedly checking our Facebook page (and now, Twitter, of course) we fear we might miss something really 'important'. So now we move from a bit of fun to compulsive behaviour which then escalates the more we share and absorb.

Added into this equation is the vast and ever expanding amount of false information out there. He quotes examples of where large corporates are tweaking their Wikipedia entries to cover up their blunders and, indeed, to be fraudulent to bump up their stock and impress their shareholders. Even in the last few days I noticed some blogs that had fallen for some 'jokes' and considered them to be real, one which is now accepted as just a prank, the other is still considered 'real'!

Siegel is particularly scathing of corporate America where the multinationals will rent so called Social Media gurus who will charge obscene amounts of money to portray the internet as a magical world under its own independent control and destiny! He also puts into perspective issues which people perceive the internet has cause and effect, such as the Obama presidential campaign.

Finally I must stress that he is not saying all web, blogging and social media is totally wrong and, in fact, he highlights examples of where excellence and philanthropy is clear. What he does do, though, is highlight the 'copy culture' where information with scant provenance, a blog post, for example, gets re-circulated numerous times and perpetuates total nonsense or effectively re-writes our history!

I found this a fascinating read, both confirming and re-assuring and very challenging all at once. It has reinforced changes in my on-line behaviour that I had started and may well have more impact still and I give it a hearty 5 star recommendation.

Digital Economy Bill - Oxymoronic...

This little video (which has no sound, btw) brings to light more than one issue about the absurd Bill that Peter Mandelson is championing at the moment. First of all it is clearly impossible to police and, as has already been proven with some court cases, inconclusive as to who the actual culprit is.

In this country there is a huge amount of mistrust whilst in Canada, for example, even high profile folk do not have fences or hedges around their properties. Their WiFi connections are usually unprotected and therefore a subscriber could be open to abuse by a passer by, however, my impression was that Canadian people are simply more interested in being real world, i.e. outside and enjoying themselves!

However, in the UK it makes a lot of sense to protect your WiFi router as someone could piggy back and exceed your monthly allowance or, if you have an uncapped service, get it restricted. Now I think that to abuse an openness of an unprotected WiFi like that does amount to stealing, however, when it comes to the thorny matter of royalties from uploaded videos and other matters the Digital Economy Bill seeks to address it is a very different matter.

I very much take the view that has been eloquently explained on Steve Lawson's blog and the reference to Danny Barnes' blog here, we are living in a new era for music generation where the revenue is returning to performance rather than sales of media that has an enormous mark-up on it. Despite the plethora of seriously crap output and the promotion of 'celebrity' above talent there are many new ways to be heard and work within reasonable means to be an artist.

Ironically, for me, as a bit of a 'has been', my music is tied up by worldwide rights such that I cannot use the very wonderful Bandcamp to sell new recordings of my own 'legacy' material, the very pieces that former followers of After The Fire do want to buy. We are restricted to any brand new material that would have a limited market. However, there is no doubt that this is the way ahead for all but a tiny slither of folk trying to make their way in music. Alternatively trying to shoehorn the old music business ways into the new Digital economy is a complete non starter.

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Not on my watch... please?

Although I have commented on a couple of blogs I have been uncomfortable about many of the things that have been written this week concerning the devastating tragedy in Haiti. And, of course, it has been surprising to see the extent of the reaction to right wing evangelist Pat Robertson's insensitive statement concerning Haiti. As a result 'pat robertson' has overtaken the word 'haiti' to become the top 'trend' in Twitter.

Singer songwriter Martyn Joseph rebuked Mr Robertson's previous ludicrous 'political' suggestions in a witty ditty he performed at the Greenbelt Festival in 2006 (warning: expletives NOT deleted!). However, in the context of the extreme reactions to Robertson's claims about the Haitian people, Martyn's piece could now be seen as judgemental and, despite its pithy, prophetic brilliance, by posting it I fear I may be seen to be demeaning the seriousness of the Haiti situation.

From our distance we naturally respond with a mixture of horror and abject helplessness. Giving money and fundraising are tangible, it is certainly uplifting to hear how the donations are mounting up after fears of compassion fatigue. There is a small yet positive step we can all take that just might make a huge difference by signing the petition to drop the debt Haiti has with us of $890,000,000:

HELP HAITI - DROP THE DEBT

If the debt was dropped this would make a long term difference to the poverty in Haiti. Whilst the debt remains in place Haiti will always be kept at arm's length and effectively their people will be held in poverty by 'us'. This will mean the potential for suffering and a casualty toll on a massive scale all over again at a later date. Whatever faith or belief we have can we allow that to happen? We could try blaming God, Satan or someone else (again), but we are the ones with the keys to implement prevention rather than catastrophe...

Stand by your man... (NOT!)

Anyone in the UK cannot have missed the story today of Father Tim Jones, parish priest at St Lawrence and St Hilda in York, who has been pilloried not only by the media but by his Archdeacon as well. Unbelieveable... well, maybe it isn't so surprising.

It is well worth reading the full transcript of Fr. Tim's excellent sermon on Sunday 20th, based around the Magnificat which includes the sentence: 'My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my saviour.' Now although Fr. Tim does actually concede that shoplifting could, in extremis, be a solution, the context is clear in his sermon. Over and above that is the point he made so clearly on BBC Five Live today that the 'tut tutting' contempt of the relative wealthy (who spend 100s or even 1000s on 'utter tat for Christmas') for some poor unfortunate who has just taken a can of ravioli worth 80p is a 'grotesque indictment of who we are'. I am minded of the established Biblical principal of allowing certain of our crops at the side of our fields to be gleaned by the poor... there is a precedent for taking only what you need, remember the Manna in the wilderness?

What was really encouraging was to listen to some of the callers who had shown enormous and generous compassion, some simply turning a blind eye to some transgressors and others simply paying for the goods that someone had tried to liberate. In stark contrast the Archdeacon of York was condescending and dismissive, promising to give Father Tim a good talking to to put him straight. How ironic that, once again, the establishment is so readily prepared to undermine someone acting in a Christlike manner and, in a corporate sense, not stand by their very own?

Respect Fr. Tim, keep up the good work... oh that we (read I) may learn how to be as dangerous as Jesus too.

It's High Fashion...

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A gentle video which so ably articulates many of the fears and concerns I have about church and worship... Stan's the man!

Links in to my post about the 2009 Greenbelt Festival Communion nicely!

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The Rolling Bones...

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They should have gone to SpecSavers!

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Read more in Ruth Gledhill's article in the Times Online. This section caught my eye:

— At Westminster Cathedral alone, 50,000 roses - the saint's symbol - were sold and up to 10,000 candles. Roses sold for £10 for a small bunch, although as the final Mass progressed they were discounted to £5
— The Big Issue seller outside Westminster Cathedral during farewell Mass sold three copies at £1.50 each

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Rooting out Evil...

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Michael Moore, Oscar and Emmy winning director, implores us to think on this as we go to church. Read his Huffington Post entry here on his take on capitalism, health reform and a guide to what our Christian response should be.