Category: The Great Magnet

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Synchronized Dancing

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

I think everyone should learn this and begin busting it loose in public spaces. The potential locations and applications for it are amazing: parties, events, museums, wallstreet, wallmarts, the list goes on…..

Think of it like this: With enough people learning this dance we could start random outbreaks of dancing in the streets. Allow me to present a 7 part proposal as to why this is awesome:

1. It’s fun to dance

2. You don’t have to worry about looking like a fool because everybody is doing the same silly dance.

3. Imagine the random people watching who wouldn’t yet be in on it, their minds? – - blown.

4.It could easily turn into a party.

5. It genuinely creates that moment in musicals where everybody suddenly seems to know the words and steps and harmonies to a city wide dance.

6. It is the antithesis of politics.

7. Synthesized synchronicity. (I’d imagine for most adults this is much easier to catch on to than true synchronicity.)

This could be anything to everyone. This could be a street performance to midwestern city tourists. This could be performance art to the aesthetically selective.This could be attention K-Mart shoppers entertainment. This could be afternoon cardio to a bored housewife. This could be the good shake everyone needs now and then to just get happy.

I’ll tell you what this definitely is : It’s a group of people coming together as heroes for five minutes then disappearing just as quickly as it all started.

Tags: dancing, fatboy slim, praise you, synchronicity
Posted in Finding the Others, More Like This, The Great Magnet, aMusing | 2 Comments »

mmm Media.

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Soooooo if you can’t make it through all 400+ pages of Noam Chomsky’s “Manufacturing Consent” there IS a movie about it! I dare you to watch all 2hrs and 40 min of it. I will buy you a candy bar if you do. Then we can talk about why you chose that candy bar and who made you want it. Mmm. Sweet sweet media.

Tags: democracy, documentary, freedom of speech, manufacturing consent, movie, Noam Chomsky
Posted in Finding the Others, Strange Fruit, The Great Magnet | 1 Comment »

2010: The year of the Tin Hat

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

tinhat2

Mark my words. This trend begins. I’ve been doing this out of necessity for years now but 2010 is the year of the tin hat. Tin hats are a great way to express yourself. You can tailor them to almost any occasion. Whether it’s elegant and clean or practical and manageable, tin hats are the perfect addition to your ephemeral fashion. They’re super cheap to make and above all else they block out Beta wave (38-15 htz) transmissions from any Government/ Extra Terrestrial scanners and receivers.

From here on out I’ll be sharing some inspiring examples from the cutting edge of TinFashion as well as some insider tips on how to get the most out of your Beta, Alpha, Delta, and ~possibly~ Gamma hats… Perhaps I”ll even throw a few lessons at you in wave cloak theory. We’ll see!

I need models, so if anyone wants to get in on a session just hit me up below. This is a great way to get into the TFH community. ALSO, shoot me any questions you guys may have as I need to get a FAQ together anyway.

Posted in Photography, The Great Magnet, aMusing | 2 Comments »

Another Meaningless Ritual

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

I went to a Greenpeace rally a few weeks ago. They called it “Chicago Climate Action”. I was late, as I seem to be for these things lately, but I made it just in time for the march. So like a good little photographer I jogged into the mob and started fluttering. The pictures look about like I felt that day. I’m not too happy with them.

I was somewhere between a marcher and a spectator. I was in it physically, walking in the center of the blob, but emotionally I was completely detached. When I looked around I thought the majority of these people felt the same. Maybe it was me projecting but it seemed like these kids had just enough energy to get there but not much else. I was late though so I should shut up on that….

What I WAS there for in it’s entirety was the “sit-in” occurring on the street in front of the power plant. It went down like a boring, syndicated, mid-day program. Boring as in little to no action or movement, Syndicated as in an old method of 30 years past, and Mid-Day because it was the afternoon. I could have been watching Golden Girls.

“What do we want? green energy! when do want it? now! what’re we gonna stop? global warming! when’re we gonna stop it? …now!”

There was a group of about 8 people sitting in the street with a sign resting at their feet. The cops had blocked off the street previous for the (sanctioned) march but it was now past 4pm and the cops had to wait. The Chicago police department gave them a warning. They nodded along. At the same time this band is playing pirate/marching music on the sidewalk and a ton of video cameras are swarming the scene. It was a B-story media dance.

The police were tired of waiting around and the rally folks were running out of cheers so they did what everybody was waiting for and arrested them. The band played them off as they exited stage riot van.

“aint no power like the solar power, cuz the global power won’t stop!”

The cameras left and nobody wept. Everyone went home and slept. There wasn’t anything bad-ass about it. It wasn’t like the movies. Or the 60’s. There wasn’t anything productive communicated. There was no new statement made. It was just a boring drawn out ritual further diluting the significance of events like these.

Tags: chicago climate action, coal plant, rally
Posted in Photography, The Great Magnet | 1 Comment »

Tea Party? Anyone?

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

I went to the “Tea Party” in St. Charles a few weeks ago. There was no tea and no sign of a party. There were quite a few people listening to speeches though. It was a strange gathering — something like a toe dip into a 60’s protest or a tired sunday night revival. An old lady quivered some patriotic hymns through cracked speakers. A crazy haired lady did some fist pumps to pump the pep. A doctor spoke. He got lots of cheers with cheesy, condescending remark about Obama’s health plan. Church lady came back with some more B-sides. Then crazy lady was back with a little “support our troops” diddy. It mostly winded down into rhetoric about how socialist our country has gotten/becoming and how little we know about our constitution let alone abide by it. Throughout this event speakers had some how equated “support our troops” with the health care reform debacle. I despise this tactic. This statement has become meaningless.

I got there toward the end of it all so I didn’t get the full experience. I did catch this guy’s speech. It might have been one of his first public speeches. He had some good points but it was clear he was nervous. I think I made it worse taking pictures of him. He seemed to stuttered in rhythm with the flutter of my camera shutter. I don’t blame him, I’d be scared of cameras pointed at me too.

It’s good to see people actually gathering together in a place that wasn’t a bar or a mall. People came to listen and in some way participate. This sure beat the hell out of reading it on a blog (like your doing now :0) or watching the TV chew it out for us. This was pulp Missouri.

So if you hear about any of these happenings I recommend checking one out. At best you learn/feel something at worst you get to watch a circus.

And of course there’s always a lurker….