Looks Like Crayons

The almighty cassette.

Via *Black Flag*

Not happy about Al Jazeera America but as long as Al Jazeera English remains, I'll be alright.

Below is an article from the Huffington Post.

Al Jazeera America Promises To Stand Out In Cable News Market, But Concerns Loom

Michael Calderone Become a fan

michael.calderone@huffingtonpost.com

 

Posted: 07/27/2013 8:49 am EDT  |  Updated: 07/28/2013 9:11 am EDT

NEW YORK –- Kate O’Brian, a 30-year ABC News veteran named president of Al Jazeera America this week, says the soon-to-be-launched network will stand out in today's cable news landscape.

“I think there is a gap in the market and I think that the other competitors to Al Jazeera have stayed doing certain kinds of stories," O’Brian said in an interview in The Huffington Post. "And whether its left-leaning or right-leaning or pundits yapping, the straight-forward, high-quality, good journalism stories are not being told as much as they can.”

Al Jazeera has a history of being disruptive. Its Arabic-language network changed the static news landscape in the Arab world in the 1990’s by offering a satellite alternative to state-run media. The Al Jazeera Media Network, funded by the oil-rich royal family of Qatar, later launched Al Jazeera English, a Doha-based, English-language network that reaches hundreds of millions of homes worldwide. It also offers a livestream broadcast that international news junkies in the U.S. flocked to during the Arab Spring upheaval.

The global news organization has spared no expense in getting a U.S. network off the ground to compete with CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. In January, the company shelled out $500 million for Al Gore’s struggling Current TV in order to gain wider U.S. cable distribution, and in the months that followed, it hired 700 staffers in preparation for an Aug. 20 launch.

But even with seemingly unlimited resources, can Al Jazeera America break away from the cable news crowd?

Its new stars say yes.

Joie Chen, a veteran of CNN and CBS News who was announced this week as host of flagship evening news magazine “America Tonight,” said Wednesday that the show “will bring together the powerful and diverse voices of Al Jazeera America and stand out from other networks with its fearless, unbiased reporting.”

Yet some inside the company remain skeptical that the network will depart from the status quo, especially given that Chen -– like many of the recent high-profile hires –- hails from established US broadcast and cable news networks.

One Al Jazeera staffer spoke of getting the impression that “those launching the channel have little confidence that the mass audience they seek wants anything terribly different from the current mainstream programming offered by CNN” and other networks.

Whether or not Al Jazeera America resembles CNN in format or content remains to be seen, but the network has definitely recruited from the US cable pioneer.

Kim Bondy left CNN to become executive producer for “America Tonight.” Former CNN anchor Ali Velshi will host a business show on the network, while ex-CNN morning host Soledad O’Brien has signed on as a special correspondent. “America Tonight” correspondent Sheila MacVicar, who came most recently from CBS News, was once a CNN correspondent. And the executive team announced this week includes senior vice presidents David Doss and Shannon High-Bassalik, both previously high-ranking CNN executives.

Al Jazeera America has also hired anchor David Shuster (MSNBC, Fox News), White House correspondent Mike Viqueria (NBC News), weeknight host Antonio Mora (ABC News) and senior vice president Marcy McGinnis (CBS News).

Paul Eedle, Al Jazeera America's deputy news and editorial director, recently told The Guardian's Glenn Greenwald that executives are "building a newsroom culture to embody the Jazeera spirit" and training new hires "to break free of inhibitions they might have had and feel liberated and go for the story."

But Greenwald noted that there has been internal debate over the network's direction. He published an internal email from prominent Al Jazeera host Marwan Bishara blasting executives for distancing the American network from Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English in hopes of appeasing those who view the networks as anti-American. Bishara specifically took aim at the American network's interim chief executive Ehab Al Shihabi, claiming that his desire to ingratiate himself with U.S. leaders had led him “astray.”

DEPARTING FROM AL JAZEERA ENGLISH
In an interview with HuffPost, Al Shihabi downplayed the internal criticism and said that Al Jazeera encouraged discussion about the network's direction.

“Al Jazeera, as a culture, is all the time open for any suggestion, whether that be in an aggressive mode or a soft mode,” Al Shihabi said. “We don’t take it personal.”

Al Shihabi, who joined Al Jazeera five years ago, also pushed back against early news reports that 40 percent of Al Jazeera America's programming would come from the Doha-based Al Jazeera English. He said that was a misconception.

The perception, at least, that the network abandoned its original plans to devote a significant amount of airtime to Al Jazeera English's content has prompted criticism, with the English-language network’s former head Tony Burman recently writing that the American project has the “odour of potential disaster.”
Al Jazeera America is unlikely to run full Al Jazeera English shows in their original form. One plan is to create a new version of innovative Al Jazeera English program “The Stream,” but with an American host: former ABC News correspondent Lisa Fletcher. If the network brings over hard-hitting Al Jazeera English program “Inside Story Americas,” meanwhile, host Shihab Rattansi has already indicated on Twitter that he won’t be joining.

Any editorial differences between Al Jazeera America and Al Jazeera English should become apparent once the new network gets off the ground. Each will have their own White House correspondent, producing stories geared toward U.S. and international viewers, respectively. There are still a number of issues to be worked out regarding whether and when the networks will repurpose each other's content, all the way down to questions of house style -- such as switching any mention of kilograms to pounds.

NOT IGNORING THE WORLD
The day after landing her new job, O'Brian spoke to HuffPost about the new network's focus.
“The American viewing audience is unique to America,” she said. “So everything that we’re going to be producing is for the American viewing audience. It’s not a value judgment that something is better or worse. It’s just what the American audience expects. So every decision we make about formats of shows and anchors of shows and pacing of shows will all be based on what we, as American journalists, have learned and have come to expect.”

Although the network is based in the U.S, she added, “it doesn’t mean we will ignore the world.”

The possibility of tapping into Al Jazeera’s global reach is a key way in which the American network could distinguish itself from Fox News and MSNBC, both of which focus more on partisan talk, and CNN, which has increasingly turned to sensational domestic events like the George Zimmerman trial.

“There is no other news media group anywhere that has the resources and reach that Al Jazeera has,” O’Brian said, noting plans for 12 domestic bureaus to compliment 70-plus bureaus worldwide.

“I will never have to worry that, oh my god, we have to get a team to this place,” she said. “Or, is the story important enough to actually send a team to this place? Because Al Jazeera will have somebody or some team that, if they’re not right there, they’ll be pretty close.”

Al Jazeera America is also investing heavily in investigative journalism. The network is building a 16-person investigative unit that could produce enterprise stories not seen on its competitors.

While impossible to judge a network’s coverage pre-launch, O’Brian suggested U.S. viewers would see a difference. For example, Al Jazeera America wouldn’t cover the “Royal Baby” frenzy in a “minute-by-minute, breathless, day-in-day-out way that we've seen some of the competitors out there doing,” she said. As for the recent round-the-clock Zimmerman coverage, O’Brian said there’s a “sameness” to daily trial coverage and believes there’s “an audience out there that wants something different.”

‘IF THEY PLAY IT SAFE, THEY'RE DOOMED
Jay Rosen, an NYU journalism professor and media critic, told HuffPost that he has a “small suggestion” for the new American network if it “wants to stand out from the cable news pack.”

“In a prominent spot on their home page, set up three pie charts showing the percentage of time devoted to the top 15 stories on CNN, Fox and Al Jazeera over the last 24 hours,” Rosen said. “Then promote the results.”

After Rosen tweeted the suggestion, Ryaad Minty, head of social media for Al Jazeera, responded: "Great idea! We'll see if its doable for us."

Philip Seib, director of USC's Center on Public Diplomacy and author of "The Al Jazeera Effect," told HuffPost that the network’s Qatari backers are motivated by the realization that “you’re not a real international player in the broadcast world until you’re in the U.S.” Seib pointed out that as the 1996 launch of Al Jazeera put Qatar on the map as a “regional player,” U.S. expansion is a way to expand its reach as a “global player.”

Seib said the American network has an opportunity to “stake out some kind of territory in terms of investigative journalism” and perhaps take a populist approach that holds corporations accountable in a way that U.S. cable networks may not be doing.

“If they play it safe, they’re doomed,” Seib said. “No one’s going to pay attention to them.”

crippled

I can't look at you while I'm thinking.

Cracking the Codes: Tim Wise Speaks of Fear, Envy and Bias

Cracking the Codes: Tim Wise, Fear & Envy
In this clip author and anti-racism advocate Tim Wise talks about that media plays in creating whites' fear and envy of people of color and other barriers that keep whites from developing authentic personal relationships with people of color.


Cracking the Codes: Tim Wise, Implicit Bias in the Age of Obama 
In this clip author and anti-racism advocate Tim Wise shares how white folks carry implicit negative bias toward people of color will carve out exceptions for those who seem different from the norm. For more information on Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity

Posted by WorldTrustTV
http://www.crackingthecodes.org

Film Trailer


Cracking the Codes: A film produced by Shakti Butler, Phd.

The Hunted and the Hated: An Inside Look at the NYPD's Stop-and-Frisk Policy

The Hunted and the Hated: An Inside Look at the NYPD's Stop-and-Frisk Policy - 2012

Video Description:

A secret audio recording of a stop-and-frisk in action sheds unprecedented light on a practice that has put the city's young people of color in the NYPD's crosshairs.

videonation 

Ani DiFranco - Buildings And Bridges (Live 1996)

I am always grateful to Youtube user francoapple as they are able to find the most amazing Ani Difranco concert footage--some real gems.


Ani DiFranco - Buildings And Bridges (Live 1996)

10/19/96 Paseo Academy For The Arts - Kansas City, Missouri
with Andy Stochansky(drums) & Sara Lee(bass)

Anti-racist speaker, educator, and author, Tim Wise in the Rector's Forum at All Saints Church, Pasadena, on Sunday, April 28, 2013.

Presentation by Tim Wise in the Rector's Forum at All Saints Church, Pasadena, on Sunday, April 28, 2013.

Posted by allsaintspasadena1

Honey

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

How do you hold a powerhouse in small spaces? I guess this is how. A little uncomfortable but then it's just there. Thanks, NPR Music


Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert - 2012

Video Description:

Tears and laughter in the span of about 15 minutes — that's what's so astonishing about these Macklemore & Ryan Lewis songs.

The first time I heard "Same Love," it brought tears to the eyes of a roomful of people, myself included. The song is about equality, specifically gay rights, with an unambiguous message: "It's human rights for everybody / There is no difference." Then, in a flip of a backing-track beat, Macklemore (a.k.a. Ben Haggerty) sings about wearing a velour jumpsuit and some house slippers, "grandpa style."

The contrast in these songs, "Same Love" and "Thrift Shop," makes the levity all that much memorable; as producer, Ryan Lewis is a master at the hook and clever with the melody. But this Tiny Desk Concert didn't end there: The live, sweet, soulful sounds of singer Ray Dalton belting, "Like the ceiling can't hold us" had Macklemore standing on my desk and shaking the dust off the ceiling tiles. Watching this video fills me with that inspirational feeling we shared watching it happen: I'm still cleaning dust around my desk, but it only makes me smile. --BOB BOILEN

Set List
"Same Love"
"Thrift Shop"
"Can't Hold Us"

Credits
Producer: Bob Boilen; Editor: Denise DeBelius; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Denise DeBelius, Christopher Parks, Lauren Rock; photo by Lauren Rock/NPR

Max + Free Humanity

By street artist Free Humanity via Stephen Cockroach Zeigler

White Like Me: A 2013 documentary based on the work of anti-racist educator and author Tim Wise

White Like Me - Documentary by Anti-racist activist, speaker, educator, author, Tim Wise -- 2013

A 2-minute clip from White Like Me featuring Tim Wise. Available Fall 2013.

White Like Me, based on the work of acclaimed anti-racist educator and author Tim Wise, explores race and racism in the U.S. through the lens of whiteness and white privilege. In a stunning reassessment of the American ideal of meritocracy and claims that we’ve entered a post-racial society, Wise offers a fascinating look back at the race-based white entitlement programs that built the American middle class, and argues that our failure as a society to come to terms with the legacy of white privilege continues to perpetuate racial inequality and race-driven political resentments today. For years, Tim Wise’s bestselling books and spellbinding lectures have challenged some of our most basic assumptions about race in America. White Like Me is the first film to bring the full range of his work to the screen — to show how white privilege continues to shape individual attitudes, electoral politics, and government policy in ways too many white people never stop to think about. Features bestselling author Michelle Alexander, Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree, legal scholar Imani Perry, and others. - See more at: http://www.mediaed.org/wp/production-update-request-white-like-me#sthash.kWQs4op4.dpuf

White Like Me, based on the work of acclaimed anti-racist educator and author Tim Wise, explores race and racism in the U.S. through the lens of whiteness and white privilege. In a stunning reassessment of the American ideal of meritocracy and claims that we’ve entered a post-racial society, Wise offers a fascinating look back at the race-based white entitlement programs that built the American middle class, and argues that our failure as a society to come to terms with the legacy of white privilege continues to perpetuate racial inequality and race-driven political resentments today. For years, Tim Wise’s bestselling books and spellbinding lectures have challenged some of our most basic assumptions about race in America. White Like Me is the first film to bring the full range of his work to the screen — to show how white privilege continues to shape individual attitudes, electoral politics, and government policy in ways too many white people never stop to think about. Features bestselling author Michelle Alexander, Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree, legal scholar Imani Perry, and others. - See more at: http://www.mediaed.org/wp/production-update-request-white-like-me#sthash.kWQs4op4.dpuf

White Like Me, based on the work of acclaimed anti-racist educator and author Tim Wise, explores race and racism in the U.S. through the lens of whiteness and white privilege. In a stunning reassessment of the American ideal of meritocracy and claims that we’ve entered a post-racial society, Wise offers a fascinating look back at the race-based white entitlement programs that built the American middle class, and argues that our failure as a society to come to terms with the legacy of white privilege continues to perpetuate racial inequality and race-driven political resentments today. For years, Tim Wise’s bestselling books and spellbinding lectures have challenged some of our most basic assumptions about race in America. White Like Me is the first film to bring the full range of his work to the screen — to show how white privilege continues to shape individual attitudes, electoral politics, and government policy in ways too many white people never stop to think about. Features bestselling author Michelle Alexander, Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree, legal scholar Imani Perry, and others. - See more at: http://www.mediaed.org/wp/production-update-request-white-like-me#sthash.kWQs4op4.dpuf

White Like Me, based on the work of acclaimed anti-racist educator and author Tim Wise, explores race and racism in the U.S. through the lens of whiteness and white privilege. In a stunning reassessment of the American ideal of meritocracy and claims that we’ve entered a post-racial society, Wise offers a fascinating look back at the race-based white entitlement programs that built the American middle class, and argues that our failure as a society to come to terms with the legacy of white privilege continues to perpetuate racial inequality and race-driven political resentments today. For years, Tim Wise’s bestselling books and spellbinding lectures have challenged some of our most basic assumptions about race in America. White Like Me is the first film to bring the full range of his work to the screen — to show how white privilege continues to shape individual attitudes, electoral politics, and government policy in ways too many white people never stop to think about. Features bestselling author Michelle Alexander, Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree, legal scholar Imani Perry, and others. - See more at: http://www.mediaed.org/wp/production-update-request-white-like-me#sthash.kWQs4op4.dpuf

http://www.whitelikememovie.org

From the Website:

White Like Me, based on the work of acclaimed anti-racist educator and author Tim Wise, explores race and racism in the U.S. through the lens of whiteness and white privilege. In a stunning reassessment of the American ideal of meritocracy and claims that we’ve entered a post-racial society, Wise offers a fascinating look back at the race-based white entitlement programs that built the American middle class, and argues that our failure as a society to come to terms with the legacy of white privilege continues to perpetuate racial inequality and race-driven political resentments today. For years, Tim Wise’s bestselling books and spellbinding lectures have challenged some of our most basic assumptions about race in America. White Like Me is the first film to bring the full range of his work to the screen — to show how white privilege continues to shape individual attitudes, electoral politics, and government policy in ways too many white people never stop to think about. Features bestselling author Michelle Alexander, Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree, legal scholar Imani Perry, and others. - See more at: http://www.mediaed.org/wp/production-update-request-white-like-me#sthash.kWQs4op4.dpuf

White Like Me, based on the work of acclaimed anti-racist educator and author Tim Wise, explores race and racism in the U.S. through the lens of whiteness and white privilege. In a stunning assessment of the American ideal of meritocracy and claims that we've entered a post-racial society, Wise offers a fascinating look back at the race-based white entitlement programs that built the American middle class, and argues that our failure as a society to come to terms with the legacy of white privilege continues to perpetuate racial inequity and race-driven political resentments today. For years, Tim Wise's bestselling  books and spellbinding lectures have challenged some of our most basic assumptions about race in America. White Like Me is the first film to bring the full range of his attitudes, electoral politics, and government policy in ways too many white people never stop to think about. Features bestselling author Michelle Alexander, Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree, legal scholar Imani Perry, and others.

White Like Me, based on the work of acclaimed anti-racist educator and author Tim Wise, explores race and racism in the U.S. through the lens of whiteness and white privilege. In a stunning reassessment of the American ideal of meritocracy and claims that we’ve entered a post-racial society, Wise offers a fascinating look back at the race-based white entitlement programs that built the American middle class, and argues that our failure as a society to come to terms with the legacy of white privilege continues to perpetuate racial inequality and race-driven political resentments today. For years, Tim Wise’s bestselling books and spellbinding lectures have challenged some of our most basic assumptions about race in America. White Like Me is the first film to bring the full range of his work to the screen — to show how white privilege continues to shape individual attitudes, electoral politics, and government policy in ways too many white people never stop to think about. Features bestselling author Michelle Alexander, Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree, legal scholar Imani Perry, and others. - See more at: http://www.mediaed.org/wp/production-update-request-white-like-me#sthash.kWQs4op4.dpuf

Tim Wise Responds to the "Some-of-my-best-friends-are black" Defense

Anti-racist speaker, author, activist Tim Wise Responds to the "Some-of-my-best-friends-are black" Defense - 2013

Video Description
To help us make sense of the Zimmerman verdict and the conversations surrounding it, we looked to Tim Wise for some answers. Here he reacts to the assertions made by defenders of Zimmerman suggesting he couldn't possibly be influenced by race because he has black friends, dated an African American girl and mentored black children.

http://www.mediaed.org/blog/?p=2661
whitelikememovie.org

Patty Griffin: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Patty Griffin: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert - 2013

Per NPR Music:
Patty Griffin has always had a gift for locating a song's nerve endings; for surveying her subject matter and identifying the most efficient possible pathways to listeners' emotions. Her warm, wise voice is comforting, inviting and relatable, even — perhaps especially — as she tackles weighty subjects like middle age and the death of a parent.

The memory of Griffin's father hangs over her recent seventh album, American Kid, but the singer remains far too resourceful to make it a collection of navel-gazing dirges about mortality. In sampling a few of the record's many highlights at the NPR Music offices, she takes care to balance the exquisite mourning of "Faithful Son" — and the sweetly somber "That Kind of Lonely," which Griffin describes as "a song about finally letting go of your delayed adolescence" — by closing her set with the playfully bawdy, kindly celebratory "Get Ready Marie." Inspired by a favorite photo of her grandparents, the song finds Griffin viewing two complicated lives with the generous, hopeful eye she's been casting on her subjects for three fruitful decades now. --STEPHEN THOMPSON

Set List
"Faithful Son"
"That Kind Of Lonely"
"Get Ready Marie"

Personnel
John Deaderick, accordion
Patty Griffin, guitar
Dave Pulkingham, guitar
Craig Ross, baritone guitar

Credits
Producer: Bob Boilen; Editor: Denise DeBelius; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Kainaz Amaria, Denise DeBelius, Gabriella Garcia-Pardo; photo by Denise DeBelius/NPR

Mint Green Geneva Platinum Watch

My new purchase! Mint green is my favorite color, and I'm very particular about the hue. I'd say I'm a Wintermint gal.

I found this randomly, while doing an internet search. I purchased this $35 Geneva Platinum watch from Urban Attic Boutique.

Silicon strap mint watch with gold detail. The face of the watch on the model below looks much larger than the above photos. I won't complain. The mint looks much brighter, which may just be due to the lighting of the photo. As long as the color doesn't resemble sea foam, I'll be fine.

To purchase, visit Urban Attic Boutique.

Amanda Palmer: The art of asking - TED Talks

Amanda Palmer: The art of asking- 2013

Video Description

Don't make people pay for music, says Amanda Palmer. Let them. In a passionate talk that begins in her days as a street performer (drop a dollar in the hat for the Eight-Foot Bride!), she examines the new relationship between artist and fan.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.
Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at http://www.ted.com/translate

Follow TED news on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tednews
Like TED on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TED

Subscribe to our channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalksD...

Cassette: A Documentary

Do you remember the first cassette tape you ever owned? I do. Are you a fan of mixed tape nostalgia? Definitely, sometimes.

I am eager to meet Cassette: A Documentary. Visit the website, and you will see the timeline of production. The film is scheduled to complete by later this year. The film that speaks to the history of the audio cassette, features some impressive musicians that reminisce about the tape days. In the trailer below you'll see some of worthy note. Daniel Johnston, Mike Watt, Ian Mackaye, and Henry Rollins.

to have your job

Plenty of nice folks at Firefly (taken by @picocole) via Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros tumblr

just saying..

There's a kind of glory that comes from human pyramids.

Now, that's photography & that's freedom

communitymusicgroup:

More pictures from Edward Sharpe’s show at the Cabooze in Minneapolis here. Via Edward Sharpe Tumblr

Unicorn Rainbow Cupcakes by Amanda Cupcake

Blessed be. Created by the marvelous,
Amanda Cupcake

Dazzle

Made by Amanda Cupcake

Glory Be

Marvel at the wonder that is Amanda Cupcake

Red Velvet Hi-Hat Cupcakes by Amanda Cupcakes

Look like gnomes, looks like Christmas. Amanda Cupcake

Blueberry Velvet Cupcakes by Amanda Cupcake

By Amanda Cupcake

Churro Cupcakes by Amanda Cupcake

By Amanda Cupcake

Strawberry Margarita Cake Pops by Amanda Cupcake

I don't consume alkeehawl on any level, but these sure are purty. Magnificent, really. By Amanda Cupcake.

Rose Cupcakes by Amanda Cupcake

By the glorious Amanda Cupcake.

Lemon Golden Oreo Cupcakes

Is it genius that she placed an oreo inside the frosting rather than on top? Yes. Good job, Amanda Cupcake.

Mountain Dew Dorito Cupcakes by Amanda Cupcake

I hate Mountain Dew soda but Amanda Cupcake is a genius: I'd try her Mountain Dew Dorito Cupcakes.

Prettiest darn things

By the grace that is Amanda Cupcake

but you knew

artist:Belladonna-Mio via Rawforbeauty