|
|
|
May 12th, 2008
10:33 pm - Off to Cannes
This is what is apparently expecting me tomorrow afternoon. In any case, wish me and our short film, Star (official entrant in the Cannes Short Film Corner, no less) best of luck for the Cannes Film Festival, and I hope to see you all again in a week's time.
|
May 10th, 2008
03:02 pm - Chris Marker's La Jetée (1962)
This is one of the best films ever made, and at a mere 26 minutes worth every second of your time.
|
April 21st, 2008
01:34 pm - The Romanian Revolution of 1989
In the light of what is currently happening in Zimbabwe, here's what will hopefully turn out to be a historic parallel: Ceausescu's last speech and the moment his despotic regime fell apart. At the start, the crowd are still cheering his name, no doubt aware of the implications if they don't; however, halfway through, frustration and anger finally give way to booing and jeering and a more widespread protest that would eventually kickstart a revolution and Caecescu's eventual execution a few days later. The look on Caeucescu's face, when he realises what's happening, is priceless.
More information here.
|
November 27th, 2007
November 24th, 2007
04:12 pm - Going to Gdansk
This is where I'm headed this December.
I can't wait. :D
|
04:57 am - My Blog's Readability.
Stolen from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=91.6) doubtofbuddha.
Bask in my erudition!
|
November 9th, 2007
10:23 pm - Margaret Thatcher vs Diana Gould
Here's some democracy in action. Margaret Thatcher is pwned by a housewife from Gloucestershire in what can only be described as a classic television moment.
|
November 4th, 2007
12:00 pm - Charlie Brooker on 24-hour news
I guess this LJ's been a little grim recently, what with the rise of the neocons and the De Menezes shooting, so here's a little light relief, courtesy of Charlie Brooker (again). This time he's looking at how 24-hour news went into overkill mode with the Madeleine McCann story.
In the same light, it's also worth watching Brooker's take on the Northern Rock news frenzy, and... ah, sod it, you can see every single episode of Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe on Youtube, so simply take your pick - in my opinion, it's the best thing on television right now (which is ironic, given that it's a programme dedicated primarily to the awfulness of television). Anyway, enjoy.
|
November 2nd, 2007
06:36 am - Justice
Finally. The London Metropolitan Police was yesterday found guilty of gross negligence of public safety over the shooting of Jean-Charles de Menezes, and it's only a question of time before a civil suit is brought before the individual officers responsible for this incredible cock-up, which caused an innocent man to be shot seven times in the head simply because he happened to be living on the same estate as a suspected suicide bomber. This was a very British cock-up of sorts, if I may say so - the court hearings brought to light that there was absolutely no structure to the operation, some major communication gaps (eg, one firearms unit was expected to be at Stockwell station when in actual fact it was nowhere near), and afterwards all kinds of attempts to brush things under the carpet and smear Jean-Charles's name (he was a druggie! He wasn't in Britain legally!). In other words, the Police did a half-arsed job and someone died as a consequence, and one can now hope that the Met will at the very least restructure their proceedings in order to ensure that this sort of thing will never happen again.
That said, I'm in two halves over whether Ian Blair should resign over this issue; as has been well-documented, he himself was kept in the dark over what really happened that afternoon until well into the evening, and I doubt that the scapegoating of Blair would achieve anything of particular substance. Ideally (if such a word is apt, given the circumstances), the person who should be held accountable is the firearms officer who actually pulled the trigger (in spite of much media-inspired bleating that "they have such a hard job to do"), since, fuck all the "extraordinary circumstances" of the day, Jean-Charles de Menezes was basically murdered in cold blood. But at the very least the Police have now been held accountable for the institutional failures that caused this death, and that's a start at the very least.
For more information, visit the Justice For Jean campaign. Also, this article gives a fairly good account of what happened that day (prepare to shake your head and tut/gasp with disbelief at numerous intervals) while this link tries to shed some light over what went wrong and why. This eye-witness account is also worth reading.
|
October 31st, 2007
07:15 pm - Cheney's Law
“What the Hell just happened?!” was Colin Powell’s reported response when he heard on cable news that President Bush had just signed an agreement, authorising military tribunals against POWs, behind his back; and I suppose it’s a reaction that could describe pretty much most of the last seven years for a lot of us. Anyone who wants to garner a further understanding of precisely what had happened, and how the Bush administration came to administer unpredecented legal authorities to the President’s office, resulting in, for instance, the quasi-legitimisation of torture, the suspension of habeas corpus, or warentless domestic wiretapping et al without the use of any Constitutional checks and balances, could probably do worse than check out PBS Frontline’s excellent documentary Cheney’s Law, directed and produced by Michael Kirk (who also directed the equally brilliant Endgame), which can be viewed online in full here.
Equally, just in case you happen to have another hour or so at your disposal (alas, I currently suffer from a cold so I have an excuse), I strongly recommend you read Angler, the Washington Post’s much-lauded series on Cheney's role in the Administration. However, while the Post probably gives too much credit to Cheney's singular role in enforcing the extension of Presidential authority, Kirk's documentary concentrates on the behind-the-scenes players: John Yoo and Jack Goldsmith of the Office of Legal Counsel; David Addington, Cheney’s lawyer and now-Chief of Staff; Alberto “Fredo” Gonzales, erstwhile Attorney General; amongst others, and as such, it’s an illuminating and highly interesting account of the behind-the-scenes machinations of the Bush Administration, and required viewing for anyone who wants to garner further understanding of what the hell just happened these last six to seven years.
But lest we forget that it isn’t over yet.
|
|
|
