Stephen Fry on the threat to enlightenment

In the guise of a letter to his 16-year-old self, British national treasure Stephen Fry gives a rallying message to the gay community, and to wider society: “[T]he entire achievement of the enlightenment is under threat like never before. The cruel, hypocritical and loveless hand of religion and absolutism has fallen on the world once more.”

What’s particularly nice about this link is the way readers are commenting in the form of letters to their adolescent selves: “Dear me at 16, Natalie is not the be all and end of all of women and sex.” “Dear me at sixteen, Don’t shave your hair to a number 1, it makes you look ill.” “Dear Me at 16, Dont drink from the wine bottle that is handed to you at the beach party – it’s piss.”

Statebook

A spoof site showing all the information the Government collects on individuals, brought to you by the Open Rights Group.

Aporkalypse: Swine Flu Pandemic

We’ve found the culprit. Track the disease on Google Maps. “Aporkalypse” and “Snoutbreak” are copyright Ben Goldacre.

Messianic Mime Flash Hell to Make You Crap Yourself

The designers who made the promotional Flash video for K&K Mime Ministries (“The Founders of Gospel Mime”) want to introduce epilepsy and terror in the audience. At first, the idea of having some guys over to do a mime about Jesus sounds harmless, but this site makes it sound and look like a visit from the taser-equipped henchmen of a sadistic, irascible Mafia boss when you are well behind on the payments and you impregnated his daugher on her seventeenth birthday. The New Testament in mime could be boring, but clearly these guys make it a terrifying traumatic experience whose memory you’ll want to repress for the rest of your life. Good marketing!

From Underscore mailing list via Gid.

The IKEA freeze

Last Saturday there was a freeze in Bristol’s IKEA, following on from the previous one in Cabot Circus. KDnC’s Simon H was there and his timelapse videos have again been picked up by the Evening Post.

Why Michael Gregory rules

Following on from the previous post, I’d like to introduce my latest short-duration hero and role-model.

• His songs are as melodic and soulful as anything in the charts.
• He’s comfortable with the trappings of 80s synth-pop as well as rap and r’n’b.
• He uses music to make people laugh.
• He uses humour politically, mostly against the loony US right.
• He wouldn’t have become a celebrity in the mass media era, but now thanks to YouTube his rise is inevitable.
• He adds cowbell.

There are still eight months to go, but I’m counting on either him or Jon LaJoie to write the defining song of 2009.

Auto-Tune the News

Watching the news nowadays can be pretty depressing, so why not run the audio through auto-tune software, then sing along with the newsreaders and politicians in beautiful harmony? Climate change, financial collapse and Somali piracy become joyous, chart-worthy music.

Music from the financial crisis previously on KDnC

Dub FX: another outstanding beatboxer/ looper

Looped beatboxing – the live-est of live music – is always welcome here on KDnC. These stunning performances are by a Dub FX, who will be playing various dates in the UK in May.

Recycled Art: a round-up

With the theme of the coming ILRT Art Show being “Remix: Re-use: Recycle” I’m grateful to Ben J for providing these links to recycled art:

• Jean Shin’s “Sound Wave”
• chair from a pallet
• Plastic bag inflating animals
• Jewellery from skateboards
• Trophy animals from sweaters
• Amazing art made with old audio cassette tapes
• Kids Make Art From Recycled Washing Machines
• Folk art
• Plastic bag art (Claudia Borgna) (1) (2) (3)
• Plastic cup landscapes (Tara Donovan)
• Julian Schnabel paintings with plates (1) (2) (3)
• More recycled Assemblages

Parkour Showreel

You know how unhealthy it is to just sit there watching the screen? Do something exhilarating and exhausting- watch this.