categories
Culture
18 posts
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Inhabit Movie
Inhabit is a beautifully produced documentary exploring permaculture design across rural, suburban and urban landscapes in North America. A compelling and well-made case that human needs and planetary health need not be in conflict.
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The failure of international politics
George Monbiot's response to the collapse of the Rio Summit is stirring and unsentimental: governments have abdicated responsibility for the planet. A companion piece explores Paul Kingsnorth's Dark Mountain project and its unflinching look at what comes next.
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Off the map
I noticed this post recommending the movie 'Off The Map' recently. We watched it last night and really enjoyed it.
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CNN occupy wall street
Douglas Rushkoff argues that Occupy is not a protest but a prototype — a practical experiment in a different way of living. Its lack of demands is precisely the point: it isn't asking anything of the existing system, which is what makes it both unsettling and genuinely new.
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The franklin river campaign - 25 years on
A personal account of taking part in the Franklin River campaign — camped in Tasmanian rainforest, arrested on the Crotty Road, briefly held in Risdon maximum security prison. One of the defining experiences of a life, and a reflection on what was won and what was at stake.
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Sopa what can make a difference
A call for direct, concrete action against SOPA rather than symbolic online gestures — banners and blackouts won't create the change internet users want. A pointed piece from Macdrifter worth heeding.
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US police under the spotlight
The pepper-spraying of seated protesters at UC Davis sparked international outrage and a powerful moment of silent accountability as the Chancellor walked to her car through rows of students. A reflection on police militarisation, civil disobedience, and Thoreau's enduring relevance.
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VW and the darkside
Greenpeace's clever Star Wars-themed campaign pressed Volkswagen to apply its green technology across its full fleet, not just flagship models. A well-crafted piece of activist media that used the brand's own imagery against it.
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Rushkoff speaks to occupy movement
Douglas Rushkoff's rousing address to Occupy Wall Street argues that protesters are fighting not people but a 500-year-old economic program designed to suppress peer-to-peer exchange. A companion piece to his book Life Inc.
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Occupying wallstreet
Tim Bray's sharp summary of why Occupy Wall Street resonates: bankers enriched themselves through what feels like theft, nobody was punished, the bailouts came from public money, and the political system appears structurally incapable of acting against financial elite interests.
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Getting to the root of the problem
Excellent writing as usual from Monbiot, pointing to the underlying causes of the unfolding Eco crisis.
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A slow sunday at the art gallery
A Slow Sunday at the Art Gallery of NSW — returning to the Harold Cazneaux exhibition, a remarkable body of pictorial photography that still impresses for its atmospheric use of light and location. Also the Taisho Chic exhibition of Japanese art from the 1920s and 30s.
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Resurgence slow sundays
Resurgence magazine launches its first Slow Sunday, inviting readers to bake bread as a small act of defiance against commercialism. A personal account of attempting the dutch oven no-knead technique — promising, if not yet perfected.
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Notebooks and Manifestos
A love of notebooks — the Make magazine Makers Notebook with its graph paper pages and embedded manifestos, and the endlessly versatile Moleskine. The Crafter's Manifesto makes a compelling case: things made by hand have hidden meanings and magic powers that purchased objects simply cannot.
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Rushkoff, a change agent
Douglas Rushkoff's books Program or Be Programmed and Life Inc make a compelling case for why we should engage critically with technology and challenge the economic model that shapes so much of modern life. A rare pair of books that genuinely changes how you see the world.
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BEN - bicycle empowerment network
Its Blog Action Day - my plug is for BEN the Bicycle Empowerment Network of Namibia. Established by Australian Michael Linke who had previously edited Australian Cyclist.
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Simplicity amongst the weapons
Son of a Lion is a quietly extraordinary film — shot covertly by an Australian filmmaker embedded with a Pashtun community in Pakistan's tribal weapon-making region. The story of a boy who demands an education over his father's trade is touching, authentic and unlike anything else.
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Clear thinking - well informed outspoken
George Monbiot's essay collection Bring on the Apocalypse makes for compulsive reading — sharp, unapologetically left-wing, and full of the kind of gutsy analysis that rarely appears in mainstream Australian media. A writer who says what he believes needs to be said.
