I bet a lot of people are getting new Blu-Ray players this morning

Problem is that it seems some of them have a hard time detecting the correct HDMI mode for your TV.

Short answer: If your Blu-Ray is connected with HDMI and you are getting a horrible crackling and flickering then you need to change your HDMI mode.  I had this problem with both a Samsung and Vizio Blu-Ray connected to a LG Plasma.  Here’s what I did on the Vizio:

- Check your Manual for more information!
- Mute the sound or if you can’t stand the flickering then switch to the A/V cable that came with your player.
- Hit the SETUP (or MENU or SETTINGS) button on your Blu-Ray remote and go to DISPLAY (or whatever looks like it would have HDMI settings)
- Got to your HDMI mode option and change it from HDMI AUTO to 1080i or 720p
- Picture should be fixed!  (switch back to HDMI if you were using A/V cable to make the changes)
Long Answer:
Most big screen LCD and Plasma TVs are 1080i/720p but the latest Blu-Ray players are 1080p.

The number (720 or 1080) is the number of lines scanned across the screen.

The letter (i/p) indicates whether every other line is scanned each frame (i for interlaced) or whether every line is scanned every time (p for progressive).

1080p is the highest resolution and highest frame rate possible but only the top of the line televisions support it right now.

Blu-Ray players seem to be shipping in HDMI AUTO or 1080p mode and they aren’t dropping down to 1080i or 720p automatically.

Consult your manual or try the Short Answer instructions above to change the HDMI mode.

Hope this helps!

So most of you know that Sony announced there may be a subscription for a special version of Playstation Network in order to get benefits. It doesn’t make the free version obsolete though. They have now announced hypothetical services that they are thinking of providing if this would be made into reality. Below are some of the services they’ve mentioned so far, remember that this is all hypothetical though:

1. Renting games

Note: This would make it possible for people to rent games available on the Playstation Store. The price would be around 2-5 dollars and last for around five days.

2. Uploading your content from Crackle to Playstation Home.

Note: Crackle is a site owned by Sony that works in a way that’s similiar to youtube.

3. Improved server support

Note: Basically Sony would provide a lot more online support and to those with the subscription and are playing a lot of online multiplayer games this would be a great feature. Basically this would take away any lag you would otherwise have experienced.

Servers like these help your online experience... Or more like, they allow it. *These servers have nothing to do with the service provided by Sony

Whether this will or will not be made reality if they actually launch this remains to be seen, but you can’t deny it sounds interesting.

“As a child I had a dream, a marvelous dream, in which I saw a wild place in the country. Dirty children were pouring down the road. The dream gave me the idea for my lifework…the Sanitarium. Everything here has behind it one ideal: biological living to improve the American race.”-John Harvey Kellogg

Emblazoned across the box of Kellogg’s Cocoa Krispies earlier this month (Coco Pops to anyone in the UK or Australia): “Now Helps Support Your Child’s Immunity!“.

Crikey.

Hang on! Where is my childhood breakfast time companion Coco the Monkey? And why do Americans get the correct spelling of “Cocoa” and the three brats from Rice Krispies (Crispies?) on the cover instead? Are Americans really more trusting of three young white kids with pixie ears and big scary eyes (the effects of a century of puffed rice laced with high fructose corn syrup) over a spritely brown big-eared monkey? I guess nutritional health claims carry more scientific weight when they’re introduced by magical singing elves Smack, Crack and Pot.

Are we naive enough to believe that cereal can increase immunity? Why, a box of cereal certainly works out cheaper than visiting the Doctors nowadays. A chocolatey spoon of puffed rice is also undoubtedly more tasty than a metal needle stabbing you in the upper arm. Why not just include a ‘free’ vial of the H1N1 vaccine (syringes sold separately) so we can all shoot up with a healthy dose of mercury and squalene before we “eat”? It may reduce the need for people to go a-rushin’ to their nearest clinic (amidst the “Oh-my-God-we-are-running-out” shortages and “God-save-us-in-the-scary-pandemic” type alerts). There you go ‘, that’s one from me. Keep it. Use it. Go on.

Apparently, the City Attorney of San Francisco, US, Dennis Herrera sent a letter to Kellogg’s and to the Food and Drug Administration in the US asking Kellogg’s to prove its claim:

“I am concerned the prominent use of the immunity claims to advertise a sugar-laden chocolate cereal like Cocoa Krispies may mislead and deceive parents of young children.”

No. Really?

Interestingly, in the same year as our friend Monsieur Kellogg (1852-1945), inventor of the cornflake, began selling cereal commercially (1906), he also founded the Race Betterment Foundation to help stop the “propagation of defectives.” Our Kellogg was also on the Advisory Council of the American Eugenics Society.

It seems that Kellogg was convinced that poor dietary and moral habits were leading America down the path of ‘race degeneration’. His solution was eugenics, not merely as a set of policies, but as a quasi-religious ideology. As you do, when you are the business of fashioning flattened flakes of corn.

Kellogg’s’ reveled in his role as defender of scientific efficiency in the realisation of power to control global breakfasting habits. Build up the monopoly; get kids hooked on sugar, playful characters and free toys and then pump whatever ‘immunity boosting’ elements you like into the boxes. For example, there are heaps of interesting articles on Folic Acid in cereal (and now we have it as mandatory for wheat flour – and therefore bread- in Australia). The ridiculousness of the entire situation is that the very target market for folic acid fortification is young women and mass medication is simply not good public health policy. [however, unlike the fluoride in the water, one does have a reasonable element of choice in what we eat for breakfast]. Like most things that get approved by food standard agencies and departments across the globe, there are too many unresolved issues and questions around safety and efficacy- nevermind the issue of the immorality of ‘mass medication’. I say: If in doubt, leave it out. But Kellogg’s insists that once we wake up we all (well, particularly impressionable young children) need to shovel down our mouths:

Rice, Sugar, Chocolate (4.5%), Cocoa Powder, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Malt Flavouring, Flavouring, Niacin, Iron, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin B2, Thiamin B1, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12.

“Kellogg’s Krispies cereals provide consumers with 25 percent of their daily value of vitamins A, C, and E, which play an important role in boosting immunity according to peer-reviewed, published, scientific research” says Kellogg’s.

…Come on.

[Coco Pops are also 40% sugar by weight.]

In his work Plain Facts, Kellogg even prohibits those with contagious ‘urban’ diseases, such as tuberculosis, and cholera, from marrying and reproducing offspring, essentially targeting immigrants, and those whom he collectively labeled “the lower classes”. According to Kellogg, “a few generations of such a degenerating process would exterminate the [white] race, and drive it back to Darwin’s ancestral ape.” Kellogg even compared the product of miscegenation, “hybrid” humans, with mongrel dogs: “Different varieties or races of the same species may form a fertile union, the result of which is a mongrel — a cross between its two parents, possessing some of the qualities of each. All the varieties of dogs are produced by crossing different races, and so are mongrels.

One newspaper said Dr. Kellogg and Dr. Burbank were trying to make the United States into a great stock farm, by breeding for human efficiency.

“I wish we had the power to do that very thing. It would not be such a bad idea,” he continued, “it certainly would be a great deal better than to have the United States a great stock farm, breeding mongrels-which is what we are doing now.” – John H. Kellogg

Very important Americans supported this idea, from Roosevelt, Carnegie, the Rockefellers and the Kellogg family:

“Society has no business to permit degenerates to reproduce their kind…. Some day we will realize that the prime duty, the inescapable duty of the good citizen of the right type is to leave his blood behind him in the world, and that we have no business to perpetuate citizens of the wrong type” (1913- Roosevelt, Theodore)

Now, this is where it gets particularly interesting…

Apparently, Kellogg was a big anti-sex/anti-masturbation activist. You’ll find that he was actually on such a far end of the spectrum that he didn’t have sexual intercourse with his wife even once in their 40 years of marriage (he worked on his book “Plain Facts” on their honeymoon). It would make sense that a self-proclaimed eugenicist would want to limit the reproductive capabilities of the ‘degenerate’ population who consume the highly processed GM foodstuffs in cartoonised cardboard boxes?[ See Porn Flakes Kellogg, Graham and the Crusade for Moral Fiber]

He said (in Plain Facts):

“A plain and healthy diet, with only two meals a day, among other things, would reduce sexual feelings”

So clearly John Kellogg thought there’s link between a person’s diet and his sexual desires. Could the eugenics ideology of today’s global elite NWO have infiltrated our breakfast options by design?

Anyway, don’t let me put you off your cereal. Chew away. But please check the ingredients in “Special K” before you swallow too much…

[Me? I had fruit toast this morning. If you are interested.]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111001/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harvey_Kellogg

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2009-11-02-cereal-immunity-claim_N.htm

http://www.bakeryandsnacks.com/The-Big-Picture/Swine-flu-prompts-Kellogg-to-quit-Rice-Krispies-immunity-claims

http://www.xomba.com/cocoa_krispies_fights_swine_flu_kellogg_claims_cereal_helps_immune_system

http://www.amazon.com/Plain-Facts-Young-Harvey-Kellogg/dp/0554368749

http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/38/wellville1.htm

http://www.nndb.com/people/018/000133616/

http://en.allexperts.com/e/j/jo/john_harvey_kellogg.htm

http://infowars.com.au

http://truthmovementaustralia.com.au

http://www.prisonplanet.tv

Good morning.  Epix is about to take the stage at this the last day of Streaming Media West.  Watch the keynote live at:  www.livestream.com/streamingmedialive/beta. Presentations this weekend at streamingmedia.com/west.  We’ll be posting the remarks here along with a summary of what was said this week by other content distributors and producers:

Emil Rensing, Epix
Epix is a joint venture of Paramount/Lionsgate/MGM that launched three week ago as a FiOS Pay TV cable channel that for $10/month makes its content available to subscribers on any platform :  on TV, on demand, and online.  Epix owns the multiplatform rights for all their titles in the PayTV window of 9-10 months after theatrical release for at least 2y and doesn’t have restrictions on their content like legacy cable providers who signed deals 10 years ago and now have to renegotiate rights for TV Everywhere.   Currently offering 180 first run blockbuster movies and classics, Epix seeks to grow it’s library to 3,000 titles as well as offer outstanding original and event-based programming similar to the HBO, Starz, Showtime model.  Programming like Madonna and Kings of Leon concerts, Sam Shepard’s  Tough Trade and Charlize Theron’s Atlas Shrugged.  Seeking to become home to original storytellers….original programming builds brand for the network.  In terms of the size of the Epix acquisition budget, having just launched they are small now 62 staff, a third focused on digital, wondering whether sponsored star-studded sitcoms like Easy to Assemble and Justine Bateman’s FM78.tv then become an attractive option. Emil Rensing, founder of Next New Networks, shares space with Boxee in New York, is a digital guy agnostic about formats, hoping to see Epix on that toaster we’ve been talking about.  A media business, Epix is proud of its technology partners who provide a seamless playback experience: Akamai, Adobe, ClipSync. Amazing friending feature allows you to invite up to four friends to sit in a virtual screening room, watch the movie together, and chat via pop up speech bubbles.  The friends do not need to be an Epix subscriber. You can check out Epix this weekend.  Three day passes are available at www.epixhd.com/invite.   Watch Iron Man, Cloverfield, Curious Case of Benjamin Button, all four Indie Jones movies, even Scorsese’s Mick Jagger doc, Shine a Light.  Epix will be the first to run the Star Trek movie in the new year, so stay tuned.
(per SMW remarks)

Anthony Soohoo, CBS
CBS distribution strategy online, on mobile, in the connected home has been open, non-exclusive hyperdistribution to AOL, Yahoo!, Google, MSN. CBS.com watch full shows. TV.com nexgen navigation with integrated TiVo functionality and online personalized guide watchlists for the 20mm users of TV.com (2mm iPhone app downloads).  TV shows now, movies in the pipeline.  CBS Web Originals believes there are different ways to tell stories in terms of byte size text format, take about 3-4 different shows on a quarterly basis, on a project finance basis, find a sponsor working with the creators, then distribute across CBS properties and CBS Audience Network, bring expertise on sales side, largest video sales force out there, CBS Interactive is the 4th largest video player in the world, reach on a monthly basis 120mm.  Offer content creators sales and distribution piece mixed up with the TheInsider.com, TV.com, Chow.com, CBS.com.  300 syndicated partners.  A combination of having limited resources and it being early stage for the connected devices, focusing more on mobile right now.  TV Everywhere great for consumer, but only 52% of broadcast nets making content available, 10% cable nets, no economic model/measurement.
(per Commonwealth Club SmarterTV remarks)

Tom Gorke, MTV
Tasked with monetizing content off owned and operated 300 websites worldwide, goal is multiplatform, to stay close to consumer, drive awareness and traffic.  MTV is the largest provider of content to Xbox and iTunes.  The biggest driver of paid download to own is the need for portability, take it with you on the flight.  The need to aggregate a library of content has matured.  Done well on Hulu, Fancast, Atom, GameTrailers, DailyMotion, Veoh.  MTV is all about automation, too much content, it wouldn’t scale if had to customize, even putting a flag in a feed is tough.  Have close relationship with syndication partners, provide exclusive one off promotional content, lots of assets, art work, graphics.  Syndication partners care most about reliability and regularity of delivery, and standards of quality of content.  FB pulls a lot of content from MTV.  Really saw the power of Twitter during the VMAs with Kanye West.  MTV integrates Twitter into sites, audience of engaged folks.  Leading provider of mobile content, sold over 1mm of the 16 iPhone apps, VCast.  Live streaming tentpoles like Kids Choice Awards, VMAs. Live streaming is completely different technology (Ustream, Justin.TV, Kyte, Livestream).  When Ashton Kutcher did his Fantasy Football Show on Ustream viewership went from 100,000 to 1mm viewers, it had a watercoolers effect and was played everywhere all at once.  For the experiment, bought ad unit and inserted Ustream player – was expensive.
(per SMW remarks)

Vanessa Pappas, Next New Networks
500mm streams online in 3 years, 30mm views/month, believe in super-syndication concept, be where the audience is.  Yahoo! has been great for family entertainment, long form does well on iTunes.  TubeMogul is integrated in content management system but do a manual refresh to optimize sites that perform for you.  Recently hired category manager from YouTube.  Know your syndicated partner’s audience.  On Twitter you can’t just post and pray, need to have dialogue with engaged community.  Share office with Boxee, getting on Boxee, Roku..
(per SMW remarks)

Brett Wislon, TubeMogul
Free supersyndication service to Blip.tv, Break, Brightcove, DailyMotion, eBaum’s World, Facebook, Graspr, Grind TV, Howcast, i2TV, Imeem, Metacafe, MSN Video, Myspace, Revver, Sclipo, Sevenload, Streetfire, Twitter, StupidVideos, Veoh, VideoJug, Y! Video, YouTube, Viddler, Vimeo, 5min, Zoopy.  Best campaigns are hybrid like the recent intentionally lame Windows 7 videos.  Got 5.5mm views in September, impressive for a brand.  http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/24/video-windows-7-launch-party-parody-is-bleeping-genius/3.  Most have given up on trying to make money in online video.  Although YouTube is 50% of the game, study found that those that also syndicated to niche sites saw a 100x increase in viewership than those just on YouTube.  Greater success with vertical focus.  Analytics allow you to see where video is most embedded, can see if a specific mommy blog is an important outlet and starting feeding them exclusive content which they love because content drives traffic.  Moving from super-syndication (content everywhere blast) to hyper-syndication (content to engaged fans fast).  FB has no video strategy but is a top ten video site.  Study found most engaged viewers came from Twitter.
(per SMW remarks)

Brandon White, FUNimation
License anime content, aim to meet the needs of the licensors in Japan.  Syndicated via ad-supported video, iTunes, Xbox/Zune, PS3.  Use YouTube for fingerprinting.  Plan to syndicated across all CE devices – mobile, Blu-ray, web-enabled tvs.
(per SMW remarks)

Jim Louderback, Revision 3
Syndicates 20 shows including Diggnation broadly anywhere, anytime, any device, want to be where our audience millennial men live.  Auto-syndicates with Tubemogul but still need to manually refresh metadata at each site.
(per SMW remarks)

Dominik Rausch, Eleven Minutes Production, Easy To Assemble
EasytoAssembleSeries.com is a sponsored star-studded sitcom that has garnered 4.2mm+ views between its Season I & II on MyDamnChannel, YouTube, Ikeafans.com, KoldKastTV, Hulu.  Also distributed on iTunes.  In talks with DVD sales, releasing on hotel networks, subtitles for 10-15 additional countries in Europe & Asia.  Innovative series where in addition to celebrities like Illeana Douglas, Justine Bateman, Tom Arnold…IKEA is a co-star.  Web series same premium quality as film, all 10 episodes of second season strings together as a movie.  Production company is thinking of new ways to make content adapting to fragmented time-shifting society.  As traditional TV distribution disappears, new media will take over distribution for all platforms.
(per Commonwealth Club SmarterTV remarks)

Brent Friedman, Electric Farm
Production budget for Crackle’s Woke Up Dead is over $1mm, high for a web production but has talent attached which attracted integrated sponsors like Kodak.   (Premise of show is friend trying to monetize fact that friend is a living zombie, sub-plot pitching to brands for sponsorship).  Sometimes you have to take a risk to get a bigger payoff just like more marketing dollars equals more views.  Kodak also cross-promoted on their own site which over a million monthly uniques.  Valemont is a success with an engaged community of 25,000.
(per SMW remarks)

Thom Woodley, Dinosuar Diorama
All-For-Nots co-produced with Eisner’s Vuguru.  Doesn’t like sponsor integration, hurts show creatively, prefer ad-insertion, and smaller more engaged audiences of 50-100,000, hasn’t quit his day job as ad agency exec yet. Show All’s Faire about the Renaissance Faire reaches 20,000 Renaissance Faire fans plus sci fi, comics and comedy buffs.
(per SMW remarks)

I use the Linux Operating System and I am also subscribed to Netflix. I have found it interesting that sites such as Amazon, Hulu and Crackle all enable you to watch movies and TV shows instantly from your computer yet Netflix doesn’t, if you run Linux. I have done my fair share of browsing the internet to try and find anything that might allow me to instantly watch movies on my computer instantly from Netflix website running Linux but have not been able to find a thing. I have hit discussion forums, blogs, web sites, you name it I’ve been there and just nothing.

I was considering giving up Netflix but I love their movie selection and just didn’t want to give that up considering I can still obviously receive DVDs from them to watch. Then, just a few days ago I discovered that I could instantly watch movies and TV shows from my PS3. This came as a big shock to me and I was very pleased with the idea as I really find it a benefit to be able to do this. So, I went on Netflix’s website and ordered myself a DVD for the PS3. I activated it just today and I love how simple it is to use.

Anyone who is running Linux and also has a PS3 will love this as it will allow you to instantly watch your favorite movies and TV shows from your game console. Admittedly they don’t have every movie available to instantly watch but for the selection they do provide you it’s worth it. Also I would keep calling Netflix until they finally support our Open Source Operating System.

www.bluepop13.com

After hearing about Epix for weeks now from Curt Marvis at Lionsgate at both #DH09 and #DMWC, I was psyched to hear this morning that they were giving away 72 hour passes to the EpixHD site this weekend.  Click here to get yours.  Great news for those of us who don’t have FiOS and want another Hulu on the scene.  Epix is a free streaming movie site stocked with the libraries of Paramount, Lionsgate, MGM – from blockbusters to classics to original programming.  Not sure what type of access any of us will have after the weekend, but hopefully we’re looking at another distribution partner for features and webisodes.  Launching with a beautifully clean interface, available to watch right now for free is Cloverfield, GI Joe, Iron Man, Spiderwick Chronicles, Flash Gordon, Love Guru, Madonna, Eat Drink Man Woman, Everybody Wants To Be Italian, Romance & Cigarettes, Dead Again, Crimes & Misdemeanors, Purple Rose of Cairo, Annie Hall, Stepford Wives, Godfather, Box of Moonlight and more.  Better selection than Fancast (Chaplin, Google Me, Hair, MacHeads, Meet the Mobsters, RIP Remix Manifesto, Supersize Me, Slacker…), Sling (Fiddler On The Roof, Heidi, Thief of Bagdad, Birth of a Nation…), Joost (Road to Bali, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Primal Fear, His Girl Friday…), and Crackle (Johnny Mnemonic, People v Larry Flynt, Shampoo, SLC Punk, Wolf..) combined.  Actually, now that I’ve taken a second look, I’m pretty impressed with their interfaces and selections too. Enjoy!

Photographed by Just.N8

This is a free texture that I am offering to anyone that would like to download and use it. I will be uploading a new texture every week so check back for new ones.

Original Size: farm3.static.flickr.com/2626/4057009044_2394dd6fa1_o.jpg

– License

Here’s a fun way to spend your Tuesday afternoon. Michael Jackson, a huge draw even though he’s no longer with us, is taking the stage for the last time, via the This Is It documentary. The behind-the-scenes movie, set to be shown in theaters for just two weeks, debuts tomorrow with a red carpet premiere at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles at 4:30 p.m. PT. And the red carpet activities will be streamed internationally online on multiple sites, including Crackle, ThisIsIt-movie.com, Ustream and Facebook.

Sony Pictures Entertainment has enlisted Premiere Entertainment to produce the webcast, hosted in the U.S. by Big Boy and Luscious Liz of KPWR, with five more international hosts webcasting in a promised nine different languages.

At this point, we’re used to red carpet streams for awards shows like the Oscars. If the Michael Jackson stream does well — and it is likely to — red carpet streams may soon be another booming category of live online content. The only problem is, the web audience gets left in the dust when the VIPs head into the theater to see the real show.

Update: Livestream says it will also be broadcasting from the red carpet, with a freelance host using the company’s cool new Livepack streaming backpack. The feed will be here.

Update 2: The stats are in from Ustream.

Hulu, at the behest of its co-parent News Corp, is going to start charging for content in 2010. This is not so good, this here news.

Here’s the money quote from NewsCorpian Chase Carey, so there’s no confusion:

It’s time to start getting paid for broadcast content online. I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content. I think what we need to do is deliver that content to consumers in a way where they will appreciate the value. Hulu concurs with that, it needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business

An optimist might interpret this as a move toward tiered access, or even the decidedly good addition of paid premium content, like HBO and Showtime. But read carefully: It’s time to start getting paid for broadcast content online

It doesn’t get any less premium than broadcast content, which is exactly what Carey says we’ll soon be paying for—sometime in 2010, he supposes. (Though to be fair, there’s a scrap of reassurance later in the same article: “not all content on Hulu would be behind a pay wall.” Cool?) This is extra-extra-foreboding next to last week’s statements about a paid Hulu from Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, highlighted by TVBizwire: “That’s not an if,” he said “that’s a when.” It was fun while it lasted, I guess. [...]

Via: http://gizmodo.com/5387909/hulus-free-glory-days-are-officially-numbered

// Another article at cnet has some interesting comparisons with Crackle, Sony’s ad-supported TV content service. Check it out as well at http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-10381622-261.html

In the olden days of Los Frios the entire town owned a single pair of shoes. When someone needed to go into the nearby city of San Juan they would take the single pair of shoes sling them around their shoulders by the laces and walk to the city. After crossing miles of rough terrain on foot they would reach the final river before entering the city. The rivers name translates from Spanish into English as, ”Wash your feet here.” There the traveler would wash his feet, put the shoes on, and strut proudly into town wearing the borrowed shoes.

I finally saw him swaggering in with an overstuffed camping pack on his back.

Saturday, September 5, 2009 9:45am I stood near the window of the cafe on the second floor overlooking the waiting area at Caribe Tours. Byron would be showing up any minute now. Eight-thirty had turned into nine and finally almost ten o’clock I was beginning to wonder what had happened to him. I went out front to smoke a cigarette finished up and walked back inside the air conditioned terminal to the waiting area on the first floor. At about eight minutes until ten I finally saw him swaggering in with an overstuffed camping pack on his back. As soon as he removed the floppy brown brimmed hat I was absolutely sure.

A couple of German tourists held him up at the airport, he explained. They split a cab into the city so he could drop them off at Pension Quisqueya where he recommended they stay. The fare for the couple came to six hundred Dominican Pesos, they only had eight US Dollars not even enough to cover half of what they owed, no Euros, nothing, just their word. “We can send you money.” They promised. The card he gave them had printed on it, Byron Holcomb, Young Tree Coffee. It would be nice if they would. With just minutes to spare we boarded up the next bus heading North toward San Juan making our way to Los Frios.

A single electric bulb sent sharp deep golden rays shining from the slats in the windows of Antonio’s house.

Saturday, September 5, 2009 6:30pm At near sunset Antonio, Byron’s farm manager and good friend, led us to the edge of one property near his house where the cell phone reception is clearest. The golden light was spilling onto Byron, Antonio, and all of the children following close behind. Another man showed up and the three of them discussed matters of the farm.

The sunset view from where they all stood looked over Byron’s property in the valley below. You could see the tall shade trees in a dense thicket which formed part of his farm. After wards the sun went down and the misty clouds made ghosts of everyone. A single electric bulb sent sharp deep golden rays shining from the slats in the windows of Antonio’s house. Eventually we walked back in the dark Byron lighting up the path with his blueish LED headlamp.

His broken leg was propped up on the couch covered with a blanket

Sunday, September 6, 2009 6:00pm “Euplina is telling me about the way things used to be in Los Frios.” Byron spoke with a wide grin on his face between one of her stories. I was listening politely but do could not understand most of what she was saying I continued eating the dinner that she had cooked for us rice and beans, boiled plantains and yukka. After dinner we all joined Lin, Euplinas husband, in their living room. His broken leg was propped up on the couch covered with a blanket, underneath crude looking bolts and screws were driven deep into the bone like someone had built a scaffolding around his limb with an erector set.

The couple who appeared to be in their sixties recounted old stories about Los Frios concerned that they might bore us. Byron however could spend hours with Lin and Euplina, and he has, having lived in Los Frios for two years as a Peace Corp volunteer. “The first time I met Lin,” Byron likes telling this story, “I thought he was going to shoot me.”

some older people complain about the passing of the olden days, they say back then there was no delinquency in society.

These days Lin who used to break wild horses and mules is recovering from a motorcycle accident from six months ago on one of the muddy steep roads. Euplina offered to heat up some milk for us then disappeared into the kitchen. Byron is like a son to them and he admires and respects them as if they were his own mother and father. He laughed again translating what Euplina had just told him, “She says that some older people complain about the passing of the olden days, they say back then there was no delinquency in society. But she also says, there wasn’t much of anything else either.”

Monday, September 7, 2009 9:00am Antonio was busy pulling up a plant from the ground, it is a tuber or root called rabano it grows the way potatoes do. “He planted this particular root because I like it so much.” Byron proudly told me, “Whenever Antonio pulls up anything he plants two or three more.” After inspecting the root they throw most of it away. “The rats have eaten it.” 

I watched as Antonio hacked away at the thickest branch of the rabano that he had pulled up holding it in the air with one hand slicing off arm length pieces with wedge shaped incisions at either end. The machete was then driven into the ground to dig a shallow hole to insert the branch. Scattered around I could see where other branches had been planted some rabano, mostly yukka, another root that is planted in the same manner.

Our synthetic woven sacks and tin buckets used to collect the coffee were placed on the ground, filled with what we had picked all morning.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 1:00pm We had been picking coffee all morning, eight workers in a pack scouring each tree by hand, careful to leave the unripe cherries, picking only those that were ready or beyond ready. When coffee is left beyond its optimal time to be picked as a red cherry it will eventually dry on the branch in the sun, it gets shriveled up like a raisin becoming black and hard. Our synthetic woven sacks and tin buckets used to collect the coffee were placed on the ground, filled with what we had picked all morning.

The meal that morning was similar to what we had at every meal on the job, boiled plantains and yukka, rice and beans. For the most part we ate quietly, resting. Byron showed up after most of us had already started eating. “¿Como tú ta?” He asked, everyone replied, “bien” or “muy bien” One of the workers then explained in Spanish how bien is always the answer you will always hear from a Dominican when you ask how they are doing.

Local wisdom dictates that it is best to accept the present state and focus on moving forward. “I learned that lesson early on” Byron later told me about an experience he had years ago. He was visiting, sending his condolences to a Dominican family, friends of his from the area and there they were getting ready to bury the deceased when he greeted them. He says he was shocked and surprised that they could answer him saying things were good.

like rice crispy cereal, a steady smoldering snap, crackle, pop.

Thursday, September 10, 2009 1:45pm There were a million tiny pine trees all sprouting tiny little pine needles in a single tassel on a single branch each separated by the tiny round pot it grew in. In a single glance the whole life of the pine flashed before my eyes, trees at every stage of life. A bed of pine cones was laid out in the sun to harvest their seeds they crackled like rice crispy cereal, a steady smoldering snap, crackle, pop.

I returned from wandering around the property and found Byron again. “How much longer?” I asked wondering when the Sur Futuro coffee meeting would be finishing up. ”Two more hours.” he said confidently. “Really?” I asked as more of a question of the existence of an itinerary at all. “It is always two more hours when you are in the Dominican Republic.” He qualified.

Running my hands through my hair it felt course and dry, dusty and ridged.

Thursday, September 10, 2009 5:00pm Traveling up the steep clay and mud road on the bed of a four wheel drive pick-up truck there were about seven people in the back and a few more crammed into the cab. A young man on a motorcycle by the side of the road got the attention of one of the passengers sitting in the back sliding his pointed index finger along the bottom of his neck. The young woman began sobbing.

We got off the truck at Lin’s house he sat a plastic lawn chair on his patio resting his broken leg upon a second chair. It looked like an infection had been spreading. The day before he had to have it re-set because it was not lined up correctly, painfully it had been rebroken. Byron spoke for awhile explaining the significance of the Sur Futuro meeting we were just returning from. Running my hands through my hair it felt course and dry, dusty and ridged.

Lin had already heard about the death, the news of which was just reaching the young woman on the truck. Her younger sister who had been living in the United States was tragically shot when a gun accidentally went off. Lin’s father, Ramoncito a shrinking man with leathery skin who had been quietly standing nearby now joined the conversation. “Machetes are for planting yukka, guns are only for killing.” Byron translated for me.

The sun was setting making the clouds a pinkish salmon tangerine color against the clear blue patches of sky.

Thursday, September 10, 2009 6:50pm We climbed the steep hill to the top where Boliviar’s house is. From up here there is an unobstructed view of the mountains except for the tops of the pine trees and a few small bushes that form a green fence around the small dirt yard. The sun was setting making the clouds a pinkish salmon tangerine color against the clear blue patches of sky. We sat down on five simple wooden chairs Boliviar, his wife, his daughter, Byron, and myself, leaving his young boy standing by curiously watching the conversation.

It was about a copy of a birth certificate that Byron needs to square away some legal paperwork concerning land he has purchased. Byron and Boliviar dance around the subject as I watch a rooster poking his head out of a sack in the shack that is their kitchen wiggling in vain for his freedom as flames dance in the fire pit nearby. On the way back Byron was counting the amount of times has had to ask Boliviar about this paperwork while I was counted the pine tree lined peaks in the distance.

the conversation eventually turned to the weather, the flooding to be more accurate.

Friday, September 18, 2009 9:00pm “I have some terrible news,” he began. I ran into Byron a week after we had returned from the Dominican Republic. This sounded serious, I thought someone had died. “Well, not terrible” he clarified. We had run into each other at the Castleberry Hill art stroll in Southwest downtown Atlanta. “That makes it sounds like something really bad happened.” I was a bit relieved. He continued, ”I got laid off from Counter Culture.” He was still absorbing the shock of it. “What happened?” I asked, this seemed so unexpected. He explained that the company came to the decision to cut four full time positions and he happened to be one of them. He had already begun to tap his network of contacts in search of a new job.

There was not much else to say about the subject that would help and the conversation eventually turned to the weather, the flooding to be more accurate. “The Krog Street tunnel was completely under water.” Someone else in the group was saying. “One poor guy had just moved his family back into their home in cabbage town after finally finishing months of repairs from last years tornado.” His house was now a disaster once again, he has decided to call it quits, sell it for cheap, and move out.

In the DR till November 24th Byrons status update reads. It takes foresight to endure present hardship for an uncertain future yield. In environments so removed from rituals of perseverence time is perceived as a unit that mournfully slips away. “There is no such thing as not enough time.” Byron told me before he left to spend seven weeks back in Los Frios patiently harvesting this years crop of coffee. Agriculture, it is said, provided the means for civilization, that uniquely human phenomenon. Perhaps farming was the first step, the very first human act of faith, it seems an appropriate place to start again. (a)

www.youngtreecoffee.com

Today I was clicking through a local church’s fan page on Facebook when I found an embedded YouTube video from Penn of Penn & Teller. He does a “Penn Says” bit on YouTube. I’d embed it here, but Penn has disabled the option for his videos to be embedded. You’ll need to visit this link to watch it: A gift of a Bible

In the video he tells the story of a “good man”, a fan, he met after a show that gifts him with the Gideon pocket-edition of the book of Psalms. The fan writes his contact information in the front so that if Penn had any questions he’d know where to find him.

Now, Penn is a known atheist, but his response to this action was incredibly interesting – Penn seems to be genuinely moved at the fan’s gesture and expresses an encouragement of his motives. In the video Penn shows that he understands that if God is who he says he is and hell is real then it’s absolute truth that a non-believer would incur God’s wrath and go to hell. In fact, he knows it so well that he gives the example of someone about to be hit by a truck and how he would be forced at some point to tackle that person. He then goes on to say that the issue of everlasting life is more important than the truck example. In other words, he understands that the fan has done exactly what he should be doing if everlasting life is absolutely attainable.

I can’t help but relate this to Ravi Zacharias’s apologetic against postmodern thought in part 3 of The Search for Absolutes in a Pluralistic Society. I find it curious that an atheist recognizes absolute truth, but some Christians refuse to do the same with their postmodern approach. After watching this I’m convinced even Penn would consider a postmodern approach to the gospel to be ludicrous. Atheism is absolute; it only makes sense that an atheist would take the same approach to Christianity.

At one point Penn asks this:

“How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”

Wow. I haven’t been challenged that much by most pastors I listen to. He’s suggesting that we must hate those we do not try and proselytize – that Christians have access to the most important information ever possible and that it could only be pure hate that would keep us from sharing that gift with anyone who could possibly not know it. I’m floored.

In the end Penn chalks the fan’s actions up to being merely good, and says that with that type of goodness it’s okay to have that deep of a disagreement between belief and non-belief. Penn is open to talking with this fan because of the fan’s right attitude and rightly so; I wouldn’t expect Penn to feel any other way.

This video leaves me asking tons of questions though. I’m interested in what Penn feels he can attribute evil to, what makes good inherently good and why the idea of a God even exists in our reality. At some point Penn will have to reflect on this situation and determine what makes this man good at all.

Komplet składający się z kolczyków i zawieszki wykonanych ze szkła crackle w stonowanych barwach.
Kolczyki mają długość 4 cm + 1,5 cm bigle , zawieszka około 4,5 cm.

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Type PR continues to establish close relationships with the most interesting venues in the UK, presenting innovative music and media art to the public.  The Basement in Brighton is one of the most creative spaces in the South of England and Type PR has been lucky enough to work closely with The Basement delivering two monthly record label showcases by Woodland Recordings and Slowfoot Records. Please click on this link to download the autumn 2009 programme

www.thebasement.uk.com

Komplet kolczyków z zielonymi kulkami szkła crackle i posrebrzana ozdobną opską.

Kolczyki mają długość 4 cm + bigle 1,5cm.

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BATTLE CREEK, MI- Fans of the original Snap Crackle Pop have been a buzz as rumors of a possible reunion fly. The group’s publicist confirmed yesterday that band is in fact returning to the studio to record their first album of new material in over seven years however, this time around the line-up will be slightly different. The groups’ front man Crackle, who left the band in 2002 citing creative differences will be replaced by none other than longtime solo sensation, Ernie Keebler of Keebler Elves fame.
“Snap and I are confident that Ernie will bring an energy to the band unlike anything fans have seen before.” Pop said in an impromptu press conference, earlier today. “We want to assure everyone that this is the same band you know and love, only better! Ernie has some big pointed shoes to fill, but with him taking the rains we are able to put an end to shenanigans and sibling rivalry and concentrate on making really kick-a$$ music” added Snap.
The as yet to be named super group plans to promote their new album with a world-wide tour set to kick off next spring. Not to be out done, Crackle is said to be putting the finishing touches on his long awaited solo debut.

So my boyfriendo and I were goofing around on Facebook chat, and somehow, this question came up:

Who would you rather live with: Tony the Tiger (Frosted Flakes guy), The Rice Crisipie Brother (Snap, Crackle, and Pop) or The Trix Rabbit (silly rabbit! Trix are for KIDS!)?

Here is the conversation that followed:

Pauley: Definitely the Trix Rabbit, the frosted flakes tiger isn’t nearly negative enough to live with me, and the Rice Crispie Brothers are really creepy. I mean, REALLY creepy.
“Pauuuuul! Pauuuuul! Can’t you hear the cereal talking to you? LIstttten! SNAP CRACKLE POP!”
And with Tony the Tiger couldn’t ever agree with me.
“Failure to Launch is an awful movie.”
“No, it’s grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!”
The Trix Rabbit would just be plain fun to have around, since every day he’s try to stop me eating yogurt. You have to admit, that’d be pretty entetaining.
Now, what about you?

Bridget: I’d have to agree. With Tony, he’d be like:
“C’mon Bridget! Let’s go play soccer! It’s greeeeeeeeeat!”
“SHUT UP!”
And with the RC Bros, they’d be all:
“Haha! Look at us! Weeee! SNAP CRACKLE POP! Hahahahahah, we’re elllllves who are cereal! SNAP SNAP POP CRACKLE! We make annoying noises! Delicious cereal, but ANNOYING NOISES!”
And with the Trix Rabbit:
“I want the yogurttt/cereal!”
‘NUUU! Silly rabbit! Trix are for kids.”
“Your a teenager…”
“… o_o… *runs away with the cereal*”
“GET BACK HERE STUPID TEENAGER!”

Pauley: Hehe, that’s the Bridget I love.
“Let’s go for a run, Bridget! It’ll be grrrrrrrrrrr–”
“SHUT UP! JUST SHUT THE @&$# UP YOU #(*)!##!&(#!)!^& ANIMATED TIGER! YOU SAY THEY’RE GREAT BUT THEY’RE ONLY GOOD! ONLY GOOD! JUST GOOD! ‘They’re not just good, they’re great!’ Just give me a #&(*&!^(#)!_~ break you insane psycopath! What is it with @&@(!)~#$* insane animated animals and cereal! Now wonder you’re crazy, all you eat is &$^#(@!(# frosted flakes, you $*#^$(@! Tigers are $%(*@% carnivores! How do you live off cereal? Now, you better get out of here right now before I force-feed you your OWN #^@*$)(!^# BREAKFAST CEREAL!”
♥ ♥ ♥
But awww, I feel sorry for the Trix Rabbit. All he wants is some yogurt, but nooooo.
“Trix is for kids!” the kids yelling, prancing around while the rabbit slowly becomes insane from starvation and the racism against it and its rabbit brethren.
I have had way tooo much cake.
PS: What was that about guests on the pockymouse show? I’d reccomend Tony.

Bridget: LOL @ Trix Rabbit neglection
“Kidsss… pleeeease… fooood….”
“Silly rabbit! Trix are for kids!”
“NOOOO! Whyyy does everyone keep saying this…. FOoOoOoD!”
Hoorah for cake!
You want me to bring Tony onto the Pockymouse show? xD

Pauley: Haha, who else? The Trix Rabbit’s probably dead from starvation.

Bridget: R.I.P Trix Rabbit. <3