My Favorites My Home Page
 
Home Music Live Lifestyle My Planet
 
Change Background
You are here -> Lifestyle / Think Tank Friday, 05 December, 2008
PLANETNOTION TELEVISION!
CAMERA-FOLK AND FILM EDITORS WANTED!
Planet Notion is looking for guys and dolls to film and edit features for its new TV channel, PNTV. Accompanying Notion to artist interviews, gigs, fashion shows, festivals and international events, you will be skilled, passionate and full of ideas about how to produce shit-hot video content. Camera-folk will be experienced and ideally have their own equipment, or at least access to equipment, while editors must be able to turn projects around quickly, and with stylistic flare. If you can both film and edit content, we would especially like to hear from you! These casual, unpaid positions would be ideal for those looking to develop their showreels, and to get the chance to travel, film major artists and top events.
 
Please email lucy(at)musichqmedia
(dot)com if you’re interested in getting involved, cheers!
INFO
Do you have more than two brain cells? So do these people.
RSS FEEDS
Subscribe Feeds
What is RSS?
The designers republic
The designers republic
05/09/2007
OK. Pop quiz, hotshot! What do Coca Cola, Swatch watches, mid 90s Indie-pop heavyweights, Pulp, and Sony’s quaint little artificially intelligent robotic dog thing have in common? No, it’s not that each has their heyday firmly in the past, oh cynical reader. Well, OK, I suppose it is that (although Coke can’t really complain at the moment). But the link I’m referring to is that they’ve all been encased in packaging created by Sheffield based design giants, The Designers’ Republic (tDR). — But designing watches, CD cases, bottles and toys is far from the limit of one of British graphic design’s leading lights. Since Ian Anderson set up the company in 1986 as an alternative to the era’s mainstream design community, they’ve been at its cutting edge. First producing flyers, they’ve since broadened their horizons by designing posters, album sleeves, books, computer games, TV advertisements, various corporate images and were even asked to pitch when Slovenia wanted a redesign of its national flag! — They’ve drawn influences from everything from early 20th Century Soviet constructivism to Japanese Anime and used creative vehicles as diverse as t-shirts, flyers, video and modern art. Ask which is the enigmatic Anderson’s favourite medium though, and the only response is a cryptic ‘Ideas. It’s all we have of any value.’ — While a quick glance down any of the nation’s high streets shows their work’s inspiration to today’s designers – that famous abuse of the Coca-Cola logo contorted oh so hilariously to read ‘Cocaine’? Thanks to tDR, dance-rock pioneers Pop Will Eat Itself had their initials on a manipulated Pepsi logo way back in the 80s. And yet despite this – and industry specialists rating tDR as one of the UK’s coolest brands last year – to the average (wo)man on the street they’re as little known as to how to detect the sex of an octopus. — So what is it that’s made them so unique? ‘We aren’t other designers,’ says Anderson bluntly. And it’s this defiant ‘fuck you’ attitude which so encapsulates the brand and its work. For starters, take their refusal to leave their home in the UK’s cutlery capital. You may expect sitting outside of London’s creative hub to be detrimental but Anderson counts it as a definite positive, confidently declaring: ‘We’ve made sure it is.’ — It’s then further emphasised in that even though clients include gargantuan corporations such as Sony, Proctor & Gamble and Powergen, the company has never sold out its ideals in pursuit of the Yankee dollar. Take slogans such as ‘Buy nothing, pay now,’ ‘Customised terror’ and ‘Work, buy, consume, die’ for instance. Or their systematic bastardisation of various company logos; each accompanied by subversive messages. They aren’t just biting the hand that feeds them. They’re taking huge mouthfuls and not stopping until they reach the shoulder. And yet the commissions from multinationals continue to flock in, perhaps realising that a little bit of humility on their part is worth the bottom line results that tDR’s work yields. — So would a lucrative job ever go against the company’s principles to such an extent they wouldn’t touch it? ‘Yes,’ is the monotone response from Anderson, but with little more information forthcoming, I guess we’ll never know where that dividing line would lie. Perhaps a clue comes from the brand’s ethos, summed up in Anderson’s esoteric statement: ‘Information should be achieved, not given.’ www.thedesignersrepublic.com
tags: | more...
Culture Vulture
Culture Vulture
04/09/2007
Foul, distended, rotting and, above all, tasty – these are the corpses of Culture littering the British landscape, and the Vulture is perched considering each vile hulk with eager anticipation. The Vulture reflects that perhaps the flesh of the season’s contemporary classical music might best be enjoyed with a sharp Muscadet and olives... Turning to the stars of the celebrity firmament, he gleefully imagines savouring Russell Brand’s inevitable downfall with a hubris-rich Béarnaise sauce. — “It was a mark of his absolute civility and culture,” wrote W. Somerset Maugham, “that he had achieved nothing in his life bar absolute mastery of the Art of Conversation.” Dilettantes everywhere pay heed – culture is most enjoyable when wielded to display one’s superiority. Anticipation ( 111 Great Titchfield St , London ; 24/05-07/06 ) is this summer’s exhibition to wryly condemn others for missing during casual chat. Run by three art world-hardened harridans of sublime judgement, the show collates work from the most exciting recent graduates; in particular, Boo Ritson’s photographs of painted models revel in everything grotesque about people while celebrating (only slightly) our humanity. — For those who consider America crass and vulgar, good news! New York magazine has officially passed the crown for world capital on to Lahndan Tahhhn, apparently in a ceremony witnessing symbolic copulation between both city’s representative Allens: be-cardiganed Woody and gauche Lily. Consolidating this hideous spectacle is the Mayor’s Lates campaign , which is facilitating museums and galleries across this still-idiot-riddled city to make said idiots less idiotic by opening late on weeknights. — Aside from providing the Vulture’s recommended way to artistically cop a feel, Lates is also bringing us First Thursdays , a Whitechapel-led initiative organising late night openings and events throughout east London. May’s inventive programme saw a vast, suggestive Hoxton Square pillow fight and the Art Hunt though the infinite galleries of Hipster Central. Such should be the gregarious public spirit created by late night viewings and extended Tube running times that the event of la Brand being hanged from London Bridge by one of his stringy, effete little scarves (this year’s preferred equinox celebration) will be a moment of community spirit to rival the Blitz. This might briefly distract the Vulture from the fact that Europe’s Largest Cultural Quarter is about to be flattened by bulldozers paid for with all the Arts Funding gobbled up by the giant Olympic folly of 2012. — In the spirit of community, the Royal Festival Hall (08/06-10/06, London Southbank) reopens in June with 48 hours of free concerts . Come see what 23 months and £91 million can make, whilst also basking in the glory of others’ artistic endeavours for free. The Vulture also recommends Tate Modern’s Long Weekend (25/05-28/05). — Though he lingers immovably on his perch atop the Gherkin, the Vulture is aware of a world beyond Zone 2. The first Manchester International Festival ( 28/06-15/07, city-wide ) is the world’s largest gathering of new exhibitions, including the sight of Damon Albarn’s ego (which long ago consumed his body) collaborating with Gorrilaz’ artist Jamie Hewlett on an opera of Chinese mythturned- cult-70s-TV show “Monkey” – I believe they call it “high concept”. — Meanwhile, concrete wasteland Birmingham hosts a festival to comfort its citizens: New Generation Artists ( 14/06-29/06 ) will feature cultural names as big as Germaine “compromised credibility” Greer debating regional art and workshops for budding creatives, all under the ever-relevant theme of “Identity and Diversity”. The NGA should provide Birmingham residents something to do other than gouge out their own hearts in despair. — Finally, the Vulture implores you to remember that, for all his culture, he is still a bird and loves nothing more during the summer than to take flight on the warm breeze and survey all there is around him. He advises there is nothing more cultural or educational than simply taking a walk with your eyes open. It’s amazing what morsels you might feast on. WHAT: Atlas Gallery WHERE: 49 Dorset Street , London W1U 7NF EXHIBITIONS: Floris Neususs’ exquisite photogram light-paintings (27/04-02/06) will be followed by Vintage and Recent Acquisitions (14/06-14/07), highlighting the best of 19th and 20th century fine art photography, including the revolutionary Man Ray and controversial Nazi propagandist Leni Reifenstahl. Art Date WHAT: “Sleep”, Andy Warhol’s 18 hour film of his then-lover, poet John Giorno, asleep accompanied by the performance that inspired it, John Cage’s staging of epic 18 hour repetitive work “Vexations 1893.” WHERE: Tate Modern, Southbank WHEN: 19:30 27/05 – 14:00 28/05; ticketed. The Vulture compels you to disobey self-styled “poet” Scroobius Pip’s 193 rd commandment thou shalt always use art and music to get into someone’s pants. Where better than in the iconic Tate Modern, during this gruelling and impossibly pretentious (but doubtless fantastic) 18 hour film and music performance? While the rest of the audience is either following the lead of Giorno (asleep) or Warhol (too whacked on speed to touch their own noses), you and Date can shove hands knicker-wards guilt free, whilst also luxuriating in the knowledge that you’ll have been a part of this high-brow nonsense without needing to appreciate absolutely anything about it.
tags: | more...
Travel to...Manchester!
Travel to...Manchester!
30/08/2007
It’s grim up north? You obviously haven’t been to Manchester recently. Once a city of mills, filthy canals and smoggy air, today the place is transformed. Think more Footballers Wives than Dirty Dives, and trust me when I say that’s a good thing! Sure the miserable heroes of yesteryear have left their mark; Joy Division, The Smiths... But now it’s the upbeat Hacienda vibe that lives on. ‘And on the eighth day God created Manchester,’ was their favourite phrase. Clubbers raved on to the Happy Mondays, Primal Scream, Stone Roses and the Inspiral Carpets (the ugliest band in the world ever, possibly). Today’s generation has never had it so good, with some of the chicest British boutiques. You could make a pilgrimage to follow in Morrissey’s footsteps, lurk around the famous Salford Lads Club, skulk around graveyards if that’s your thing. Laters, we’re hitting the town! IT’S A FACT! · MANCHESTER SET UP THE FIRST PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE IN 1888. · LOCAL PREACHER REV WILLIAM COWHERD INSPIRED THE FORMATION OF THE VEGETARIAN MOVEMENT IN 1815. · MANCHESTER WAS HOME TO THE WORLD’S FIRST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. · IT IS NOT THE WETTEST CITY IN THE UK. IT COMES NINTH BELOW OTHER CITIES SUCH AS GLASGOW AND PLYMOUTH. TONGUE-TIED? “NOT SEEN YOU FOR TIME!” – “ I HAVEN’T SEEN YOU FOR AGES! ” ”NOT SEEN YOU FOR PURE TIME!” – “ I HAVEN’T SEEN YOU FOR A REALLY, REALLY LONG TIME! ” ”NO MITHER!” – “ NO WORRIES! ” ”EEE YAR!” – “ EXCUSE ME ” ” DO ONE! ” – “ GO AWAY! ” ’ MINT ” – “ GREAT ” “ STOP TALKING RUNCORN YA LITTLE WHOPPER! ” – “ REFRAIN FROM TALKING GOBBLEDEGOOK, YOU CRAZY CAT! ” CHECK THIS OUT Manchester has shopping to rival London in a compact city centre. Selfridges is right beside Harvey Nichols, which is next to the Arndale Shopping Centre. Some shopping centres get bad press - the Arndale was gutted by an IRA bomb in 1996. Rebuilt, it’s now a glittering retail palace with a great food court and market. The Manchester City Art Gallery (Moseley Street) has fine old masters. Or the Urbis Exhibition Centre (Cathedral Gardens) explores global cultures, covering photography, design, architecture, music and art. Tram it to Salford Quays, the city’s revamped docklands . Here you’ll find the Lowry Outlet Mall with top brands at low prices. The Lowry Art Centre is an architectural flagship offering ace entertainment andhouses LS Lowry’s art collection which includes his world famous city scapes with ‘matchstick men and matchstick cats and dogs’. The Imperial War Museum North is a must-see. The building itself is an award winner from Daniel Libeskind. Inside you’ll discover people and their stories; how lives have been and still are shaped by war. GET AWAY AND STAY Go carbon friendly and leave the plane behind. Virgin Train runs regular services to Manchester. Their new website makes it easy to find the cheapest fare. Upgrading to First Class at the weekends costs just £15 . Go on, spoil yourself. www.virgintrains.co.uk The Ibis Hotel ( 96 Portland Street ) is right in the thick of things. A hop, skip and a jump from some prime shopping and the city’s bars and clubs makes its location perfect around the clock. Rooms cost just £59 a night making it easy on the wallet and breakfast is served till noon to oust that morning after. www.ibishotel.com ON THE PULL ‘Queer As Folk’ put the city’s gay village squarely on the map and it’s been paying the price ever since with hen party invasions. Canal Street is central to all things queer. You can’t really go wrong with the likes of Spirit , Taurus , Tribeca , Queer , and Velvet . The Rembrant is older and ‘rougher’ but they’re all just pussycats underneath the leather. Hotel bars have had a bad name in the past. But the new Hilton ( 303 Deansgate ) is the hottest ticket in town, with the Cloud 23 bar offering chic drinks and spectacular views. Alternatively, the Northern Quarter is drawing them in with Bluu , Odd , TV21 , Trof and Socio Rehab . Or if it’s summer hit the Castlefield area for Barca , and Dukes 92 . Fancy hitting the dancefloor? Sankeys on Great Ancoats was only refurbished earlier this year, or head to Club V on Deansgate , or alternatively Ampersand , behind Deansgate . IT’S A DATE! 28th June – 15th July The first ever Manchester International Festival presents unseen work and fresh ideas from the most talented innovators. August . Manchester Pride is one of the biggest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (keep it PC!) festivals outside of London. There’s film, arts, community events, entertainment and a big ole parade. Remember, heels mean pain! October . Manchester Comedy Festival brings laughs from its creme of comedy talent.
tags: | more...
Mean Streets
Mean Streets
29/08/2007
“SUMMERTIME AND THE LIVING IS EASY...” COMES OUT OF THE STEREO; IT’S SET ON A WINDOWSILL, AND BEHIND IT ARE GREEN TREES, BLUE SKIES, BIRDS, FLOWERS. THIS IS IT, BABY, THIS IS THE LIFE – IT’S SATURDAY MORNING AND IT ’S SUMMER AND YOU’RE GOING TO TREAT YOURSELF REEEAL GOOD, MEDIA STYLE. YOU’VE GOT YOUR FRESH-GROUND FAIR TRADE COFFEE, YOU’VE GOT YOUR PASTRIES, YOU’VE GOT YOUR TABLE LINEN; YOU JUST NEED THE PAPERS. GO ON, THEN – OFF YOU GO TO THE SHOP DOWN THE ROAD. Got ‘em? Great. Sit down, pour the coffee, eat a pastry and have a read... SHIT! You’ve just spat your pastry and coffee all over the front page, right? Apparently, you’re lucky you made it down the street to the shop just to buy the papers. Let’s run through that walk again, shall we? You stepped out the door. BISH! You were filmed by seven hundred CCTV cameras, five government agencies immediately located you via your mobile phone’s unique signature; you were lucky not to be transported on a late night CIA extraordinary rendition flight to a torture den on the moon. You made it to the pavement . BOSH! By a geographical sleight of hand, you avoided being gunned down by immigrant mobsters – but only because you live in Dulwich and they all live in Tower Hamlets. You never know, they may have just abducted you and forced you into one of their brothels or cockle-picking projects. You’re walking along the street. BASH! Those two policemen you just passed, yeah? Well, don’t you feel lucky they didn’t take offence at your race/height/demeanour/rucksack and gun you down like so much Menezes on their shoe? — You’ve made it to the shop. BOOM! That’s the noise a terrorist’s bomb would have made. Then, you would have had to walk back, doubtless through the gangs of braying, spitting four year olds swearing like seamen and trying to slice your head off with their ASBOs. And Christ help you if you were smoking a cigarette – you thought you were in danger? Everyone you passed while you smoked DIED IMMEDIATELY as a result of your second hand smoke. These streets, kiddo... they’re pretty mean. But by now, you’ve calmed down. You’ve wiped the pastry and the coffee from your paper and your trousers, and you’re staring disdainfully at the news that startled you. In that crass, cocksure manner of yours, you’re saying, “Like, get with it – get out of 2005 already. That shit don’t scare me no more.” So, fair enough. Maybe your friend has been mugged, but it was more an annoyance than life threatening. You haven’t been blown up, though some people were a while ago. Neither you nor your friends have been held prisoner for 28 days without charge. Those streets ain’t so mean. You’re so laissez-faire, so oo-la-la, you’re over your fear and you’re worrying about what you’re gonna do tonight , how you’re gonna score a gram you don’t give a fuck about what might happen in the name of mean streets. — WELL. FUCK. YOU. We care. We care about being watched 24 hours a day. We care about having 52 different forms of our genetic data being stored on a national computer system, without knowing who has access to it. We care that we are no longer in charge of our own health, that someone decides what we can and can’t do – and often according to long-obsolete moral codes. We care that all of a sudden we’re under suspicion for walking down a street. We care that we’re told we’re in danger from all sorts of threats every day and that the only answer is to clamp down on everyone’s freedoms – and we care that the problems aren’t being solved, just reacted to. We really care that we can’t even protest about it in front of Parliament without giving written fucking notice in advance. We care that we’re living in a society with the worst record in the developed world for spying on its citizens. We care that we’re living in a Police State. Related Articles: Notion gets mugged What we fear Shami Chakrabarti Privacy - CCTV & ID Health
tags: | asbo | more...
Health
Health
29/08/2007
WE’RE BEATEN AND DOWN. WE’VE BEEN FLAYED AND THRASHED – OUR SKIN HANGS LOOSE IN BLOODY STRIPS. WE CURL ON THE FLOOR, FOETAL, BY OUTDOOR WALLS AND BAGS OF FETID GARBAGE. WE DON’T KNOW WHERE THE NEXT ASSAULT IS COMING FROM, BUT WE KNOW IT WILL. Our attackers are relentless in their persecution, ferocious in their means and unforgiving of our every cigarette. They are the anti-smokers: now, they’ve succeeded in turning those who would harbour us, provide us room for a night and shelter from the cold, into criminals. They’ve banned smoking in public places and they think they’ve won. We can’t let them! Smoking has been ingrained in British cultures for centuries, if not millennia. From the Shisha bar to the Teesside working men’s club, smoking has played its role in the havens where people escape from the empty toil that constitutes their worthless lives. These dens of iniquity are to lose a defining aspect of their atmosphere completely, a deeply saddening fact that is worsened when we look at the opposition more closely. — These mercilessly healthy hounds, these anti-smokers, how they make us fear! How they chant their slogans at us, that smoking kills, that passive smoking kills! How they bombard us with figures seemingly guaranteeing the immediate, hideous death of all we love before eventually we will succumb ourselves! How they jam into our mouths the rotten lungs of smokers and pour the thick black tar of a thousand cigarettes through tubes in our ears! — Enough! Let’s fight back with some statistics of our own: NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON HAS EVER, EVER DIED FROM PASSIVE SMOKING. There are no death certificates with the cause of death listed as environmental tobacco smoke, not one. Smokers dying of lung cancer? 99.8% of us will not. Does it upset no-one else that the World Health Organisation spends more money on anti-smoking campaigns than curing AIDS and Malaria in the developing world? — We live in a society that is scared. We cower, waiting to discover which next dayto- day occurrence will be pronounced deadly by our new Gods, the Doctors, spouting facts from Science our faith to lead us to Health our Heaven. What is this society which has descended into such a fear of risk? Must we demand our every pleasure comes not only guilt-free, oh my fair-trade poseurs, but also risk-free? What is this ridiculous fashion? And what business is it of theirs if we smoke? Aside, that is, from their health products and services business. It’s not just the smoking ban Notion wants to challenge – it just typifies this pathetic fad, this fear of nothing, this doomed pursuit. What is it that your vitamin supplements and your cod liver oil provide you that simple fucking food cannot? Honestly, quanti-fucking-fiably, how much better are you than us because of it? Why do you desire so much to become an Aryan Uber-mensch that you will condemn yourself to a life of anaemic pleasure? You strive against some future inevitability and forget the pleasure of your youth. And what was that pleasure? Once, it was the giddy glee of discovering the forbidden without knowledge of danger, like playing in spooky derelict buildings. — In maturity, we suggest that pure, beautiful vice is the greatest source of pleasure, all the more divine for knowing the dangers of the forbidden and finding solace in that infinity of risk anyway. Every now and then, Health must go fucking scream into the wind – we need to not care about danger because it makes the pointless toil bearable. — So let us praise vice for it is pure humanity! Let us build a society that acknowledges that we are human and so builds a place for vice because we need it sometimes. Let us respect the government that acts, not like the erroneous nanny slapping the cigarette from our lips and dragging us home by our ears, but who cares for us enough to regulate us. Let’s condemn the society that governs drugs on the word of obsolete science and puritan morality long since broken. And let’s just kill those who’d take the urge to vice and danger out of life because they obviously don’t appreciate living enough. — See, Notion knows smoking makes us smell. It makes us cough thick streams of oleaginous brown phlegm into the sink. It might kill us. We dearly hope that our smoking won’t kill someone else. We’ll be considerate. But we’ll enjoy every damn fag. We’ll enjoy the romance of sitting in train stations with a fag and a book, imagining we’re waiting for a returning lover. We’ll love lying on our backs, in grass, smoking and looking at the sky. We’ll revel in smoking in bars because it’s illegal. We’ll smoke because it makes us happy, and we’ll smoke towards the revolution.
tags: | health | more...
Privacy - CCTV and ID
Privacy - CCTV and ID
29/08/2007
SOMNAMBULISM: SSSOM-NAM-BE W-LIS-MMM... THAT’S WHAT WE, THE BRITISH PUBLIC, ARE DOING RIGHT NOW. WE’RE SLEEP-WALKING INTO A SURVEILLANCE STATE AND WE ALL NEED SOMEONE TO GIVE US A HEARTY SLAP. BECAUSE THIS SHIT IS DANGEROUS. Where do you draw the line with being watched and recorded? And who looks at this data? There comes a point when surveillance becomes too intrusive, becomes more than just a safety net. It’s not about being paranoid – it’s about our right to be considered innocent until proven guilty. Yet we’re observed so much, by institutions who regard us as, at best, a nuisance and at worst the enemy. We’re all in a goldfish bowl, and there are plenty of cats outside. But now they’ve got all sor ts of fishing rods and nets... BIOMETRIC DATABASES AND IDENTITY CARDS ID Cards will be available in Britain from 1st January 2009, and mandatory one year later. Despite the media hullabaloo about them, the cards are (£10billion price tag excepted) fine in principle – 21 EU countries use them. However, most of these are not compulsory, not linked to a national database and are not biometric. Britain’s will be. The National Identity Register will at first feature 52 pieces of personal information, including fingerprints, retinal scans, voice recognition and hand geometry. DANGERS? If the data isn’t secure – and what computer system is? – then there should be real worries about our privacy. There’s also the marvellously-titled “Feature Creep” danger: the possible extensions to the use of the cards and databases. HOW TO AVOID: Er...get a fake one? RFID (RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION) RFID tags, placed most frequently in cards (like an Oyster) and passports but also planted in animals and people, are an automated form of identification. DANGERS? The clothes you’re wearing might contain RFID tags in them – your identity and your whereabouts could be tracked by anyone capable of reading the chip. HOW TO AVOID: Maybe there’s some kind of scrambler somewhere? Otherwise, avoid store loyalty cards at all costs – and if anyone tries to plant a chip in you, kick ‘em and run. HEAD-MOUNTED CAMER AS FOR POLICE AND POLICE DOGS Tested in several police forces already. The cameras record to a storage device on the belt/harness, footage is uploaded at the station and stored for reference to crimes that may later be tried in court, where it may be used as evidence. — DANGERS? Apart from resuming our familiar refrain of “innocent until proven guilty”, this further eats away at our right to silence. It compromises freedom of speech, as careless actions when confronted by officers of the law are not generally representative of an individual and would be over-weighted in cour t before a jury. HOW TO AVOID: Grow a pixelated face and practice different voices. Wear masks. Don’t say or do stupid things to policemen with cameras on their heads. CCTV CAMERAS Reports recognise 3 million cameras in England, but that was in 2003. No one knows how many there actually are: they are completely unregulated by law. Britain is the world leader in the use of surveillance cameras. On the tube, “smart” cameras are for behaviour monitoring and, better yet, cameras with audio microphones are on the way as well. DANGERS? You’ve seen what constant surveillance does to the BB inmates. Who, exactly, has access to this footage? For how long is it kept on a database? When none of it is legislated for, we really can’t know.... HOW TO AVOID? They’re everywhere. Try wearing a paper bag, changing clothes every five minutes or carrying round a bag of novelty disguises. COMMUNICATIONS SURVEILLANCE There is currently great debate over an EU directive which would make it mandatory for all telecom and internet providers to keep complete records of all clients’ usage for at least 12 months. DANGERS? This technolog y is completely invisible to us. Though heavily regulated, it is also primarily commercial. Anyone could theoretically track your movements and monitor your communications.
tags: | more...
Shami Chakrabarti
Shami Chakrabarti
29/08/2007
I HEART LONDON. ONE DAY YOU’RE WRITING FILMS WITH A SPY, THE NEXT YOU’RE STEALING FROM TRAMPS. MAN, THINKS I, THIS IS FREEDOM! EVERYONE KNOWS IT; ANY THING CAN HAPPEN IF YOU PURSUE IT - AND GRASP IT. WE DO, EVERYTIME. SO IT’S DIFFICULT TO LISTEN TO THOSE WHO CLAIM YOUR LIBERTY IS UNDER THREAT - JOYLESS, SEXLESS PEDANTS THAT THEY ARE! “Of course you aren’t going to consider abstractions like safety and liberty when you walk down the street,” Shami Chakrabarti tells me. “One young man might walk through the street and fear being mugged – but another is going to worry about the police. Is either fear entirely justified? And is either fear wholly unjustified? We must consider both men, have compassion for both – that’s at the root of human rights.” Usually, Notion would pause here to tell you about Shami, but it’s impossible to halt this fierce intelligence in righteous mid-stream. “Most people know what respecting each others’ human rights is. A heavy hand can only make things worse. If you respect yourself, you can respect others; but if someone feels thrown aside by society, you can’t expect them to feel the same compassion. To me, any young person getting into trouble is a young person in trouble.” For every law passed by this government granting police extraordinary new powers or quickly condemning young people to jail, Shami Chakrabarti has protested in the media and on the streets. Director of the pressure group Liberty since 2003, Chakrabarti has been our most prominent defender against those acting on our behalf during this “exceptional era of threats” – those mean streets. “Like the Government’s approach to the unfortunately-named “War on Terror”, their approach to crime and to young people has left a hole in public discourse, opposition parties have not been vociferous enough. Pressure groups provide a voice at certain moments in history when required, and right now someone needs to talk about human rights.” It is very easy to believe that we face deadly new enemies: look at a bus without a roof, look at limbs scattered and blood spread. It’s convincing. To consider those responsible for such acts deserving of the same dignity as friends and neighbours requires a much greater leap. I – somewhat foolishly – suggest to Shami that to quibble over rights weakens us all when we’re facing such extremism bent on our evisceration; “Absolutely not!” she cries. “There was a magical moment for me, after World War II, when people of the centre, the right, left and all the great religions shared a consensus on human dignity. You talk about extremism – I’ve spoken with all kinds of leaders and they share that consensus even now. That Rights framework is a unifying force, not a divisive one. In fact, it is the hypocritical use of that framework by democracies that has led us to “conflict” – the Guantanamos, Belmarshes and Iraqs are examples where our society has shown that it won’t extend its own morality to those opposed to it and so has massively increased that opposition. That’s why Liberty have attacked “our own” – because if we show that the democratic perspective, the notion of human dignity, should be shared equally by all, then we will unite people.” Human rights, then, are something we must uphold as a definition of democracy, regardless of how exceptional the times: “If you encounter a new disease, the first response is not to simply discard science and start again. If we treated home and world affairs that way, we’d stumble blindly from revolution to revolution.” It’s a valid point: the French, of course, did that for centuries and look at them. Sarkozy. Ha! Rights do not preclude heavy-handed action; they are not synonymous with weakness. They simply demand that compassion be universal, that the same measures be taken to ensure everyone’s freedoms. The difficulty naturally comes when we presume that other people’s must be intact because ours are, when actually others shiver at every siren and we ourselves are blind to the possibilities already lost . Rights are difficult to recognise until they’re gone. “We’ve never said that there’s a giant conspiracy; that we live in a police state – because the reality is when you walk along the street, you aren’t in a police state. What I do,” Shami Chakrabar ti tells me, “is very much like being an environmentalist – I ask people to think what might things be like thirty, or a hundred years hence.” To protect our liber ties, our rights, our freedom, requires concentration, effort. “I’m optimistic but ever vigilant . That sums up Liberty, really. We care about people, so we have to hope. But we must always remain watchful and cautious.” If that post-war consensus becomes unable to deal with the new threats we supposedly face, then we’d better not assume we’re ok and sleep-walk through the meetings where it is decided what rights we should have. So, y’know, GIVE A SHIT. FOR ONCE.
tags: | more...
What we fear
What we fear
29/08/2007
THINK TANK WHAT WE FEAR SO WHAT’S BEING DONE TO PROTECT US? A LOT OF THINGS HAVE BEEN DONE, COMPLICATED THINGS LIKE LAWS THAT NONE OF US REALLY UNDERSTAND – WHICH IS A DAMN SIN, AS FAR AS NOTION IS CONCERNED. READ, LEARN AND JUDGE. THREAT: TERRORISM WHAT DO WE FEAR? Rampant hordes of bearded, turbaned extremists devastating our beloved national landmarks out of completely irrational loathing for a culture that visited colonialism, war and other things on them. WHAT’S BEEN DONE? The Terrorism Act (2000) outlawed organizations which promote terrorism and allowed police to stop and search any individual engaged in protest . The Civil Contingencies Act (2004) empowered government ministers to act without referring to parliament , against an emergency they believe is about to happen. The Home Secretary can issue Control Orders on people he “suspects” are terrorists. The Terrorism Act (2006), meanwhile, allowed terror suspects to be detained for up to 28 days without charge and defined the crime of “glorifying terrorism” . Provisions passed in non-Terror acts include protests within 1km of Parliament Square requiring written permission from the police (SOCPA, 2005). Terrorism is another justification for ID Cards, the National Identity Register and CCTV. WORST-CASE SCENARIO As our interviewee Chakrabarti says: ‘These small measures of increased ferocity add up in time to a completely different society.’ Gulag, Stasi and Gestapo may suggest one, though we might be going a little far. Remember, only common sense reins in a police state now. WHAT HAVE WE LOST? Potentially, we’ve given up almost every right associated with democracy. By criminalising non-violent expression with the glorification of terrorism, Free Speech is drastically compromised and a precedent is set. Detention and the Civil Contingencies Act all potentially eradicate basic democratic liberties like privacy and freedom of movement at the whim of a minister or police officer, while simultaneously undermining the sovereignty of Parliament designed to represent us. To make it even worse, SOCPA means we’ve can’t retaliate – no law, no parliament and no public debate to protect us... THREAT: ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AND STREET CRIME WHAT DO WE FEAR? Anything wearing a hoodie – who knows what lurks inside, spitting, swearing, stabbing, drinking and taking drugs, menacing the weak, hosting parties until ungodly hours, environmental damage, prostitution... A good life, eh? WHAT’S BEEN DONE? The 2003 Anti-Social Behaviour act included updating the infamous ASBOs themselves, Parenting Orders (ASBOs for parents), and Powers of Dispersal for police when two or more people together might commit a crime. Powers of Arrest were changed by SOCPA, while non-convicted arrestees, from kids to drunks, are all entered into the police’s DNA database. WHAT’S BEEN LOST? ASBOs are often issued against children and the vulnerable, those who could really do with social support networks rather than rope to hang themselves with, should they break the terms of the ASBO and end up in jail. Imagining those power-mad policemen you often encountered as a teen having excessive powers is hardly a pleasing thought, is it? WORST-CASE SCENARIO Most of us can at times be a little anti-social – imagine if we were all one cock-up away from five years in the slammer... THREAT: ORGANISED CRIME WHAT DO WE FEAR? An Italian society – we’re all paying off some gang for protection. Meanwhile, they might steal our identities and give them to immigrants who’ll then steal our jobs and sell drugs and guns to our children, while shooting both each other and us up on the streets, ultimately leaving the few of us cleaning the corpses up. Smelly. WHAT’S BEEN DONE? The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) made any offence arrestable – this also requires DNA samples, fingerprints and photos even if the arrestee is not convicted, for storage on the national Police DNA Database. The money-scoffing ID Cards and National Identity Register, which will hold 52 pieces of information (and potentially more) about everyone in the UK for more than 3 months. Blair would have liked to “go further...and impose restrictions on those suspected of being involved in organised crime” – just like terror suspects’ Control Orders. WHAT HAVE WE LOST? Our Privacy . With SOCPA granting the police extensive powers of arrest and requiring that data be recorded whether or not a crime is committed, the Presumption of Innocence as a mainstay of our legal system is pretty much negated. Many fear the DNA data will be used for “fishing trips” to match DNA from old crimes – making everyone a suspect for every unsolved crime ever. We’re none of us innocent . WORST-CASE SCENARIO Stormtroopers kicking your door down and taking you away in the middle of the night because your DNA has been matched with Jack the Ripper ’s - a clerical error.
tags: | more...
Notion Gets Mugged
Notion Gets Mugged
29/08/2007
Is it true? Are supposed UK terror chiefs Abus Hamza and Izzadeen conducting a long term plot to send house prices plummeting by making our streets deadlier than a Darfur refugee camp, and are they using hooded delinquents and immigrant mobs to do it? Notion sends one terrified reporter onto the streets, and waits to see if he makes it back alive... So, about fifty metres from my house I stop to enjoy a pleasure soon to be outlawed – lighting up at a bus stop. Six hooded guys approach. ‘Gotta fag?’ says one. I gesture with the cigarette – only rolling tobacco. I ask if this will be ok; he just grabs it from my hand. That seems a bit unsociable... Unsociable... anti-social... AH! I could be on to something here. Obviously, two seconds later he has his hand in my pocket on my iPod. We tussle a little, fall over and he runs off up the street . His mates look as surprised as me – they’d even tried to get him to stop. Now I’m fucked-off and iPod-less. At least I’ll get to talk to the police, eh? Why, then, I wonder, do they have such terrifying powers? The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act of 2005 removed all distinctions between powers of arrest. In the past, we were protected from the occasional power-trip-smalldick policeman (‘There are plenty of wrong ‘uns,’ X admits) by the difference between arrestable, serious arrestable and non-arrestable offences. Now, any constable can arrest you for an offence as minor as dropping litter. Oh, and if you are arrested, the officer is obliged to take a DNA sample, fingerprints and a photograph for the criminal databases – before you’ve even been charged. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? And all this because you’ve pissed off a mini-Hitler rozzer on a bad day with powers the Stasi would like to work under, given to him to fight gangs he never comes across. I suggest that this is a little bit ridiculous. ... ‘No, because we’re not going to arrest someone for pissing us off,’ says X. ‘We’ve gotta use common sense – if we just kept arresting Somali kids for dropping litter cos they looked at us funny we’d get hauled over the coals. We’d get massacred.’ ... Not the point – while he might not do that, he has the power. And so do others. They might. How mean can the streets get if the police wield powers they don’t need, to fight the menace they never see? Y tells me that ‘ the big drive at the minute is from alcohol-related crime. Harassment, fights, anti-social behaviour... it’s rarely deadly and it’s never the gangs.’ So none of it, then, is the street-level initiation of would-be gangster superstars? ... ‘It’s sixteen year olds playing at being hard, or it’s druggies and others getting late night drunks on buses,’ says Y. ‘Organised crime might contribute drugs to the streets, but they stay away themselves.’ Which is all common sense, really. Do DCs X and Y have to deal with them at all then? ‘Never,’ they say. DCs X and Y are shitting themselves with laughter. Y asks again, ‘You’re writing about street crime? And you just got mugged?’ Yes. Yes I am, and yes I did. Now shut up. We’re in an unmarked squad car, about ten minutes later. Given everything we’ve heard about the dangers on the street these days, I’m wondering: skagheads funding gun purchases from mafiosa in order to blow shit out of the punks in NW5? DC X: ‘Just kids. They’re bored, they see a chance and they’ve heard so much about it they feel like they’ve got something to live up to.’ DC Y agrees. ‘One of our busiest times is just after schools are out - kids mugging kids.’ Anyway, after twenty minutes of driving around like this it’s obvious they’ve scarpered. We arrange for me to go down to the station; I’ll look at ten photos of kids from NW1, kids on the police database who fit my hazy description. What have they done to be on there? They might be ASBO kids. Or they may just have been arrested and then not charged with a crime. Innocent – but their details kept. Then, they’re presented to me as potential criminals. Innocent? None of us. Mean streets? Well , apparently it’s not the gangs and the guns making them mean; kids and drunks making a nuisance of themselves, and a police force with exaggerated powers and backed by CCT V cameras and databases of potential criminals watching them. We might not be innocent, but we’re probably safer than we thought.
tags: | ipod | more...
Shoestring Art
Shoestring Art
03/07/2007
The polar ice caps are melting. Before long you won’t be able to enjoy a nice slice of cod on Fish Friday. The United Nations tell us that children in the UK are worse off than in any other developed country. The 2012 Olympics are going to be one long cringe fest. Wealth divides seem irreversible. 'Eastenders' is what we use to cheer ourselves up. Internationally and nationally, the shit, my dear friends, is splendidly hitting the fan. Having a score in your back pocket might make you feel slightly better about life but forgetting the filthy lucre completely and making something out of nothing is a whole new buzz. The Knitting Circle were right! Sure, now is the time for eco wars and self-improvement schemes, but for most of us adjusting to these lean, troubled times is a necessity rather than a lifestyle choice. Allow PlanetNotion to introduce you to some bright young British things who are shirking limited means and all manner of obstacles to offer their art up to a world that can’t afford to pay them back for it. This new generation of shoestring creators recycle hardship and frustration as invective and inspiration; borders become portals and hope is never in short supply. Meet Roger 'Flash Boy' Molloy, a photographer whose philosophy is 'Use what I have.' Forget soupedup digital gizmos and Photoshop wizardry: Roger uses his Sony Ericsson mobile phone for all of his work - 'Yeah, maybe I’ll buy a laptop one day,' - and the doorway of the flat where he rents a room along Shoreditch High Street is his makeshift gallery. An overturned cardboard box framed by light bulbs labelled 'ART' is his personal advert, with a chalk arrow etched on the pavement directing downward gazing passers-by to check out his photography. Roger’s fellow tenants have to duck under the white photo adorned sheet which hangs across the doorway: 'I haven’t had any real hassle, I'm an easy, lucky-go guy!' Just as Roger's landlord harbours plans to turn the flat into an Internet café, Roger is busy rallying support to make the place an art gallery; 'Time Out' are also running an article on me, so I’m just waiting for the press to give me some more muscle and persuade him that there’s commercial interest in art.' London, predominantly the people, is what inspires Roger to document life like this; ‘It’s just such a great city, like New York, when you can walk down the street any time day or night and see something new.’ A popular print is ‘No Gray In My Day,’ where one foot firmly planted on Oxford Street points towards a rainbowed miniature miracle of nature: ‘The sunlight is focusing on something and acting like a prism, it’s completely natural.’ ‘Bombed’ freezes a freshly cleaned Brick Lane toilet in its old graffed-up state, while ‘Josh’ is the red lit exterior of a brothel. But Roger considers his first calling to be a portrait photographer. ‘Peace’ is a grainy, monochrome female face resembling an ultra scan image – ‘The model was actually very ill and sleeping at the time but I tried to make something peaceful out of it.’ Starting out by selling 50 photographs at £1 each, then paying for more prints and landing up at zero again, Roger agrees how other artists ‘might like to say they’ve struggled. I may not eat gourmet meals, but I’m not signing on or taking a government grant. I think people admire me for what I’m trying to do. It’s the people who suffer but don’t give up, that do make it.’ Word! www.nograyinmyday.com WORDS: LUCY WILSON
tags: | more...
eBoy
eBoy
07/06/2007
The idea of re-using pixel objects to build complex artwork may have the less techie minded amongst us running for the hills, but that notion has earned Steffen Sauerteig, Svend Smital and Kai Vermehr worldwide recognition. Together they formed eBoy, a graphic art collective whose designs have caught the eye of companies as large as Coca-Cola, MTV, Diesel and Adidas. Recycling may be something that we all are encouraged to do in our everyday lives but eBoy have always been one step ahead with their computer database full of used objects. 'Think of it as a shelf with a lot of toys,' explain the trio. 'We constantly play with these toys but also create new ones or modify them if needed. This workflow evolved while playing.' When working together on the big busy pictures they are most famed for, eBoy tend to rip them apart into objects. These materials are easier for each member to handle and can then be stored for re-usage and modification. 'Inspiration comes from everywhere,' the group say when prompted about their love of digital art. 'We never liked the idea that a piece of work is final and cannot be printed and re-used many times, or the concept of limited editions. We really dislike static, final, limited stuff - this approach has been an underlying force just right there from the beginning, even if we were not too aware of it.' You would be forgiven for thinking that their largely colourful pieces are made to counteract the grim reality of everyday life in Berlin, but they disagree: 'We don't perceive the reality as dull...There are so many exciting things happening on all levels. Finally it is becoming obvious that technology is nature, the net is connecting ideas; wonderful mutation, decay and evolution is happening everywhere. This world is a crazy madhouse and we look at it in awe.' The creative hub they work within has fuelled their ambition, with the eBoy website showing the wide range of mediums they have applied their trade to. Posters, animation, toys, badges, advertising...The (pixelated) sky is the limit! The Lego-like eCities seen on their site are like video game fantasies. Outsize creatures and corporate logos take root in an unruly concrete jungle. 'No it's not a vision of the future,' they stress. 'It's just us having fun with it at the moment we work on it.' Full of optimism and with eyesight just about intact, Steffen, Svend and Kai count their most exciting project as their work with fashion label Paul Smith. 'We had the opportunity to dive into the world of fashion design and were invited to Tokyo, which was pretty stunning.' Also in the pipeline is a new series of toys, a result of their collaboration with Kidrobot. The modular figures are prepared for some serious play as they are sturdy enough to be thrown against walls! They can also take on new personas with their multi-changing parts like futuristic transformers. Despite appearing to be a company that has unlimited boundaries when it comes to its work, eBoy feel that their ultimate project would be 'A modular self evolving game, with lots of weird spin-offs and eBoy having the freedom of some unlimited steering...' And what about the immediate future for eBoy? 'Hopefully a lot of surprises!' they all agree. Judging by their past work, we're sure there will be. Go, eBoy, go! http://hello.eboy.com Words: Lauren Tones
tags: | eboy | more...
Mistress Carly Castille
Mistress Carly Castille
30/05/2007
DEEP DOWN AND DIRTY WITH A PRO-DOMINA American dominatrix Mistress Carly Castille shared a bottle of wine with us when she was last in London. Carly specialises in BDSM (Bondage, Discipline, Submission/Sadism and Masochism) and reckons the sex trade is where it’s at in terms of job satisfaction. Forget showbiz! HERE’S SOME BLURB FROM HER WEBSITE: I enjoy all manner of BDSM play. My interests range from the strict and severe to the sensual and erotic. My interests include but are not limited to bondage, sensual play, golden showers, CBT, NT tease and denial, pet training, foot and leg worship, sissy and slut training, cross dressing, forced femme, humiliation, flogging, whipping and spanking. I do not enjoy wrestling, heavy medical play or infantilism. CAN YOU DESCRIBE A TYPICAL DAY IN THE LIFE OF MISTRESS CARLY? I usually wake up pretty late around 11am; check my email, post on my yahoo group. Then I take calls from clients and try to weed out the legit guys from the wankers. I session in the late afternoon. After that I have the rest of the day to do as I please. It’s a pretty comfortable life-style. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING AS A MISTRESS? I have been a pro-domina for the past 6 years. HOW DID YOU START OUT? I saw an ad in the adult section of a local paper in Chicago, advertising for this particular dungeon and it also said it was hiring. I was bored with my life at that moment and wanted to try something different. I have always been very dominant and kinky since I was little, so when I went in and tried it out, it fit like a glove. I had to train very little. WHAT’S THE MOST BIZARRE REQUEST YOU’VE EVER HAD FROM A CLIENT? Oh there are so many weird requests! I have men request that I put needles through their penis. I did up to 35 small needles on this one guy’s cock and balls. I also had a guy that was really into trampling, and used to bring me in all sorts of weird shoes to jump on top of him in. Once he brought in golf shoes and I got midway up on a ladder and jumped onto his chest. And he still wanted me to jump on him from higher and harder after that! Another guy paid me a lot of money just to comb my hair for an hour. WHAT ARE THE MOST POPULAR REQUESTS? Bondage, spanking, foot worship and golden showers (me peeing on them). DO YOU ALWAYS FEEL SAFE WHEN YOU ARE WITH A CLIENT? Yes. I never had a problem with anyone in the past 6 years. I always feel in control. And they are usually very nervous when they show up. WHERE DO THE BOUNDARIES LIE? I don’t do nudity, or any form of prostitution. No “happy endings” either. Strictly fetish and BDSM. WHO ARE YOUR CLIENTS – FAMILY MEN? BACHELORS? My clients are mostly upper middle class white men. They tend to be the pillars of society lawyers, doctors, judges, cops and CEOs. Most have families but I also get bachelors (they are more fun because they can usually take a harder spanking without worrying if I will mark them up). DO YOU GO TO FETISH NIGHTS? Yes. London has the best fetish events in the world! DO YOU HAVE A FETISH? I love men with tattoos. The more you have the more I want to jump on top of you and lick them all. DO PEOPLE ASSUME THAT YOU HAVE A BIG APPETITE FOR SEX BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU DO? Yeah, I get that a lot; people think I am a sex machine just because I work in the sex industry. My friends say I am the most sexual person they know that doesn’t have sex. I don’t have it as often as most people because men typically disappoint me in bed. I need very kinky sex and rather have none than not get what I want in bed. WHAT’S YOUR SEXUALITY? I am bi-sexual. WHAT’S YOUR ULTIMATE FANTASY? OK. This might sound a bit perverted, but here we go: I have a fantasy of kidnapping a guy from a public place, then taking him back to my bed, tying him up and really dominating him sexually against his will and not letting him leave till he pleases me. WHEN DO YOU THINK YOU'LL RETIRE?! I think I will do this as long as I can. I really enjoy it. I will of course stop professionally at some point, but never personally. www.mistresscarly.com
tags: | more...
NEWSLETTER!
Click here and sign up to our weekly newsletter, to get the latest Notion goodness.
Contact Us Support Us Music HQ Ltd / Notion
Site Map Advertise with Us Website designed and developed by PS Europe Ltd.