All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace: Adam Curtis

A series of films about how humans have been colonized by the machines they have built. Although we don't realize it, the way we see everything in the world today is through the eyes of the computers. It claims that computers have failed to liberate us and instead have distorted and simplified our view of the world around us.

1. Love and Power. This is the story of the dream that rose up in the 1990s that computers could create a new kind of stable world. They would bring about a new kind global capitalism free of all risk and without the boom and bust of the past. They would also abolish political power and create a new kind of democracy through the Internet where millions of individuals would be connected as nodes in cybernetic systems - without hierarchy.

2. The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts. This is the story of how our modern scientific idea of nature, the self-regulating ecosystem, is actually a machine fantasy. It has little to do with the real complexity of nature. It is based on cybernetic ideas that were projected on to nature in the 1950s by ambitious scientists. A static machine theory of order that sees humans, and everything else on the planet, as components - cogs - in a system.

3. The Monkey in the Machine and the Machine in the Monkey. This episode looks at why we humans find this machine vision so beguiling. The film argues it is because all political dreams of changing the world for the better seem to have failed - so we have retreated into machine-fantasies that say we have no control over our actions because they excuse our failure.

Adam Curtis is a documentary film maker, whose work includes The Power of Nightmares,The Century of the Self, The Mayfair Set, Pandora's Box, The Trap and The Living Dead.

Love and Power

The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts

The Monkey in the Machine and the Machine in the Monkey

The Century Of The Self: Adam Curtis

Im delighted to be able to post this series of excellent videos by Adam Curtis. Enjoy!

This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy. Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, changed the perception of the human mind and its workings profoundly.

His influence on the 20th century is widely regarded as massive. The documentary describes the impact of Freud's theories on the perception of the human mind, and the ways public relations agencies and politicians have used this during the last 100 years for their engineering of consent. Among the main characters are Freud himself and his nephew Edward Bernays, who was the first to use psychological techniques in advertising. He is often seen as the father of the public relations industry.

Freud's daughter Anna Freud, a pioneer of child psychology, is mentioned in the second part, as well as Wilhelm Reich, one of the main opponents of Freud's theories. Along these general themes, The Century of the Self asks deeper questions about the roots and methods of modern consumerism, representative democracy and its implications. It also questions the modern way we see ourselves, the attitude to fashion and superficiality.

Happiness Machines. Part one documents the story of the relationship between Sigmund Freud and his American nephew, Edward Bernays who invented Public Relations in the 1920s, being the first person to take Freud's ideas to manipulate the masses.

The Engineering of Consent. Part two explores how those in power in post-war America used Freud's ideas about the unconscious mind to try and control the masses. Politicians and planners came to believe Freud's underlying premise that deep within all human beings were dangerous and irrational desires.

There is a Policeman Inside All of Our Heads, He Must Be Destroyed. In the 1960s, a radical group of psychotherapists challenged the influence of Freudian ideas, which lead to the creation of a new political movement that sought to create new people, free of the psychological conformity that had been implanted in people's minds by business and politics.

Eight People Sipping Wine In Kettering. This episode explains how politicians turned to the same techniques used by business in order to read and manipulate the inner desires of the masses. Both New Labor with Tony Blair and the Democrats led by Bill Clinton, used the focus group which had been invented by psychoanalysts in order to regain power.

Where is Foot Foot?

The Shaggs-Some say they're better than the Beatles

If this tune rolls round your head for a few days dont come looking for me!

Have You Met The Poor?

Great stuff

Brand on The Pre-existing Paradigm

He is the one eyed king of the blind. We know all about the problems of the "pre-existing paradigm" but change agents like Brand, pour petrol onto the fire. That is to say, they identify the issues correctly, but apply a completely inappropriate solution. In this case, given the fact that he shied away from outlining his Utopian vision, I would say that the absence of a solution is the answer for him. Chaos.

The Choice

There is a video out there called The Choice, by Trey Smith and I haven't been able to bring myself to post it. The reason is that there are some doctrinal errors in his presentation, and the fact that he appears to still be into "a smoke".
Never the less, the dynamic style is perfectly suited to the subject matter.
I find it fascinating, so here it is.

 

B.t.w. Still on the frog and scorpion trend, The Choice is what enables us to really change the essence of our being.

You Are What You Is

Continuing the Scorpion and the Frog theme....

 



Man Beats Court Bailiffs & Prevents Eviction On Home Repossession

Great. The best thing I've seen in ages. Hat tip to Loz. Way to go mate.

 



Tard Goes To Hollywood

Being grumpy pays as cat gets a Hollywood movie deal

 

 

 

Who says there's no justice in the world?

The Power OF Love-Gabrielle Aplin



This song never struck me until I heard this great version by Gabrielle Aspin. Hat tip to Holly Johnson as well.

Fishbone-Unyielding Conditioning

 

One of my favourite tracks from one of my favourite bands. Fishbone, the best band you probably never heard of.

Awsome Bass Busker

I love guys like this. No massive ego, just raw talent.

Henri Le Chat Noir

Need to come back to earth after the economic news of the last few days?

Meet Henri The Black Cat.

Ben Howard: Wolves



Ben Howard won Best Breakthrough Artist at this years Brit awards..
This song is from his album "Every Kingdom" which is well worth a listen. There are some excellent parts on it.

Making a Documentary Film

I decided this year, that I should be producing documentary videos. Exactly how to do this, I am still trying to figure out.
Video is a much more dynamic format than written words or even audio, because it can utilise all three, or four formats if you include, background music, narration, images and subtitles.
It can draw people into your subject in a way that standard blogs can't.

 Of course, like every other blogger in the universe, I think that I have something uniquely worthwhile to say.
In fact I do (I can hear the "Yawn, they all say that don't they?") No I really do!

So to the details of how to make film.
I'm OK with audio, being a musician of many years now. I'm also reasonable with a camera, so two of the boxes are ticked already. It just seems as though my approach to this needs to be consolidated. Something which does not sit well with my standard way of doing things, IE randomly.

A lot of time can be wasted forever by not having a structured approach to a project so I'm determined that it must be planned to some degree.
How do you plan a video project?
Maybe I need to learn the very basics. Yep that sounds about right.
I might even keep a journal of the process for my own coherence.

Kelly Joe Phelps, The World's Greatest Living Bluesman?

Phew!

Bob Brozman - Nutcase but awsome guitar player

Nutcase but Awsome guitar player

One of my favourite pieces of music

 

 

Vaughan Williams Symphony No 5 in D

Written between 1938 and 1943, the serenity of the piece is in such sharp contrast with the conflict of WW2