01.19.10
Wall painted stop-motion animation.
Making street art does not necessarily mean that the artist does not want to use modern technology or the internet to get his (or her) art to an audience.
The most brilliant and beautiful example of this which I have seen so far is MUTO, a wall painted stop-motion animation film by BLU. You really have to see this. I know I have used the word ‘amazing’ before, but I cannot remember the last time it was so fitting.
Another Youtube video that uses animation on walls (even thought this animation comes straight out of a computer and was later pasted into the video) is the following ‘Safe Sex’ animation infomercial. I guess it’s open for debate if it’s as brilliant as Blu’s work, but I found the clip highly entertaining.
01.03.10
Songs for Bent – Daniel
My son Bent had a little trouble with going to sleep this evening. In cases like these (which do not happen very often, bless him) I do what any responsible parent would do: try to make a quick analysis of the situation and act accordingly. On this occasion mister Fisserman jr. appeared to be very tired but something was keeping him from sufficiently relaxing which would allow him to fall into a deep and soothing sleep which would enable him to recharge his internal battery to be able to wake his mom and dad up in the way to early hour of the next morning.
I decided to carry him around in my arms and thought of a gentle and comforting song that would make him feel loved and safe. As an enormous fan of bands like Radiohead, Tindersticks, Eels, Kashmir, Sparklehorse and so forth, I was sort of expecting something along those lines to pop into my mind. It didn’t. The song that came to the surface and which I, apparently, still know by heart, was ‘Daniel’ by Elton John.
I still remember exactly where and when I heard that song for the first time. I was on holiday with my parents (in Delft, of all places) and had received some extra pocket-money. It was the year after Elton scored a big hit with his song ‘Nikita’, which was the first single I ever bought. I spent the pocket-money on an Elton John ‘The very best of’ album ( a special edition album, which was apparently only released in Holland). My parents were a bit surprised, but on the other hand, I had always been somewhat strange perhaps. The album cover was light blue and there was a photo of Elton, wearing a straw hat and singing. The moment we came back form the shop I put on the record. ‘Daniel’ was an instant favorite then, and it still is. The music and lyrics are beautiful and every time I here I am still back in that apartment with my mum, dad and brother. Instantly trying to sing along to the lyrics I did not quite understand. It would be great if Bent ever found a song to give him such a wonderful feeling.
Oh, in case you were wondering. Even before I was done singing, I had a sleeping baby boy in my arms. Thanks sir Elton!
(ps. album picture taken from eltonography.com)
12.11.09
Why I did not quit Farmville and Mafia Wars
Don’t get me wrong here, I quit. Oh yes. Farmville and Mafia Wars both received the proverbial ‘boot’ and their maker Zynga is a big goner from my beloved Facebook profile. The whole process was over quicker than you can spell Idaho backwards (did you try?). Well, now we’ve got that out-of-the-way… What still remains unclear is the reason why I quit. Chances are you don’t give a hoot about what I do and care even less about the underlying motivations, but bare with me… I promise it will get interesting.
There is no point
For those of you that are still Zynga virgins, let me explain in about as few words as humanly possible what sort of games Farmville and Mafia Wars actually are; You click on options to expand the number of options you can click on. That’s it. Obviously, those new options will look different (usually more desirable, due to novelty) but they’re still nothing more than ‘click-options’. If you play long enough, you may even reach levels where you have to click one thing first, before ou may click another and advance to yet higher levels where een more clickoptions are made available. There is no skill or talent involved. Just preparedness to return to the game and click some options every once in a while. Sounds pointless? It is. But that’s not the reason why I quit playing.
What’s the use of a point?
Does the fact that there is no point mean that there is something wrong with any of Zynga clicking games. Not necessarily I’d say. You can say the same thing (actually, this has been said many times) of all video games, from Pong to Halo and from Pac-Man to Command & Conquer (it’s a point also made by the Shoppers game). If you play long enough you’ll either make it to the end of the game, or you’ll get bored. In both cases you eventually stop playing. And then what? Ehm…. Get a beer? And that’s just video games. What’s the point in paying Monopoly? What’s he point in playing Twister (the opportunity of winding up with your nose under someone else’s armpits aside)? What’s the point in rollercoaster rides? It’s not hard to argue that there is not really ‘a point’ to any of those things. Does that mean that they’re not worth spending time on? Does being pointless also mean being useless?
Life is a game
If we stay on this trail of thought; what’s the point of life? I know most of us choose to believe that there is some higher (level of) being that this life is leading to, but if you think about it logically, that doesn’t really make sense, does it? There is probably a reason for our lives, in the sense there will most likely be an origin of it all, but a reason in the sense that there is something where our lives are leading to… If you accept that, I feel you also have to accept that the existence of every rock, light beam and gravitational field should be in existence only for a ‘higher’ purpose. And what would such a ‘purpose’ look like? Let’s not forget that ‘purpose’, ‘reason’ and ‘meaning’ are all concepts that have been thought up by humans themselves. In nature you will find a lot of cause and effect, but what is ‘purpose’? Life itself may just be a game. It serves no higher purpose than the mere fact of playing it, there is no use for life than just living it. And let’s not forget; meaningless does not mean worthless. You can check Damien Hirst’s bank-account for proof.
Life should not be a Zynga game
I think I’ve made it clear, I did not quit Farmville or Mafia Wars because they’re completely pointless. Then, why did I quit my unhealthy pointless Zynga habit? Well, because life may be a game, but life certainly shouldn’t be a Zynga game, where everyday is basically the same, only the shapes and colors vary. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to live a life where you know for sure that there will be no surprises, no puzzles or mystery, nothing more than going through the same (clicking) motions over and over again. A life in which you may only choose options that have been pre-approved by marketing execs, in which everything you gain is designed to increase your hunger for even more gain. Where acquiring only exponentially increases your dissatisfaction with what you have obtained. I choose to avoid feeling like that in ‘real’ life as much as I can and I certainly wish to avoid that in my gaming habits.
12.08.09
Are you a Shopper?
Hello and welcome shopper!
The holidays are over, hurrah, the newyears Sale has begun!
We all buy (into) stuff now and then. For most it’s mainy functional, which appears the most healthy way to look at it. Not that it can’t be enjoyable, many functional things are. There is however a -growing- group of people that would include the word ‘shopping‘ when requested for a list of hobbies. That’s worrying.
But being a shopper is about more than merely than not having a better clue about what to do with your life than consume. Being a shopper is about the desire to obtain. To gain posession, information, power. At an ever increasing speed. That’s what the online game Shopper is about. Find out a bit more about yourself. Are you a Shopper? Play, free, quick ‘ easy at fisserman.com.
Are you a Shopper? find out at fisserman.com
12.04.09
A day out with Herman – art by Herman James
One of the most awful websites I have visited in recent history is the one by artist Herman James. Even for a site that’s under construction it is poor. but that does not mean that a visit is not worthwhile. Herman James’ art itself is stunningly beautiful and impressive.
His works represent just about everything that I love in paintings. The subjects seem to be full of meaning, without forcing a meaning on to you. If you do not wish to think about what you see, that’s a fine. Just enjoy the composition, the colors and the flowing brushstrokes. The sharp and detailed objects that become smooth and flowing when you’re up close. Looking at an enlarged image on my computer screen I swear I can smell paint. I hear it dripping from a brush onto a floor.
But when you do wish to think about a ‘message’… Especially his ‘loaded landscapes’ series make a really deep impression without getting aggressive about climate change. Where ‘artworks’ like Roland Emmerich’s blockbuster ‘we-are-all-going-to-die’ doomsday-flicks aim to bring fear to your bones and are presumably hoping to scare us into changing our behavior (scientific evidence has shown that this does not work), Jeams’ work is much more relaxed. There is room for a sense of (dark) humour in his works, which gets his message across in a much more effective way. Apparently, James is holding the landscape responsible for climate change (much like Dutch artist Armando used to talk about ‘guilty landscapes’) which is a great way out for the ones among us that feel guilty ourselves. James himself tips Matthew Roses’ interview for artblog for information on ‘Loaded landscapes’.
I strongly advice you to go and see some of Hermans James’ work. Let’s not hold his website against him…
(you could always go see his work on another site like the one of NY base Dutch Kills Gallery. Do yourself a favor, check out Kendrick Mar as well)
11.26.09
Facebook is forcing me to grow as a person
I do not actually know the guy (nor do I know anyone that does) but apparently Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO, is not known for his people skills.
The image you get from reading articles about the young billionaire is best described as ‘unkind’ and ‘anti-social’. His brainchild however (the thing that got him on the Time’s World’s Most influential People list in 2008) is now forcing me to work on my personal growth. (Is that Alanis Morissette I hear in the background?)
Friends of friends
The situation used to be like this. You, mostly, like your friends, which is why they are your friends in the first place. Your friends’ friends however, much like your in-laws, is an entirely different story. Even though there much be some sort of ‘common ground’,there is absolutely no reason why you should particularly like or give a hoot about friends of friends. If you did: they would be considered your friends as well wouldn’t they? Chances are you are a very social person and you can get along nicely with all sorts of people in terms of ‘chitchat’ and exchanging superficial niceties for the time being. Not me. I am better described as being a ‘difficult’ person. Although I work hard to keep a friendly face I hate people who, in my personal view are superficial, egotistical, short-sighted or just plain stupid. As will be the case with your friends as well: some of my friends socialize with those people as well.
(note: to my friends that are actually reading this. No, I don’t mean any of your homies…)
Situation 1.0
Back in the old days, before 2.0 that is, the aggravation and annoyance could be kept at 
acceptable levels.The occasional birthday party was survived by simply avoiding certain people and conversations and if you somehow got stuck with any one of those, it made great gossiping material. The prospect of that would keep me sane. Every once in a while you could also ’skip’ on a social date when you found out ‘they’ were going to be there, should that date occur at a time when you just ‘couldn’t face it’. So everybody was happy. My friends’ friends were still retarded, polluting and selfish pigs and I was still the -secret- intellectual snob. How times change.
Situation 2.0
Now is the age of the online social networks and hey, aren’t they heaps of fun? I cannot remember what I used to do with my spare time before LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook and the mere thought of ever having to do without any of them sends a shiver of fear through my spine. but for all the blessings particularly Facebook has brought me, it’s also confronting me with my second worst nightmare… my friends’ backward friends. See, I like reading what my friends have been up to, seeing what they thought was interesting and listening to what they feel is worthwhile to share with their own circle. But I do not necessarily enjoy reading the comments their friends feel they have to write beneath them. In the best cases they make me laugh and feel superior, in the worst cases they enrage me with their stupidity to the point where I just want to throw my laptop out of the window (I have already mentioned that I am a little, little man haven’t I?). And to add injury to insult, in some cases I have to put up with comments by friends of friends of friends, vague acquaintances of friends, family of friends and colleagues/business contacts of friends as well. Just shoot me.
Becoming a better person
The answer to this problem is quite obvious. I should stop being such a stuck up prick and start (excuse the cliché) practising what I preach and let people who-do-no-harm just be. The alternative -blocking all friends that have annoying friends- just does not appear to be a viable option. And for the worst cases of ’short-sighted, superficial, egotistical and plain stupid’, I guess I should learn to have more understanding, patience and respect. Damnit Zuckerberg, my personality used to be just fine!
11.23.09
(Don’t) get vaccinated
Sometimes it’s best to keep your mouth shut. I already knew that, but knowing something and actually show behavior which is in accordance with that knowledge is something else. My latest mistake, in a steadily extending line, was when I somehow got involved in a discussion about vaccination. Like in many other countries, many people around here can get vaccinated against H1N1 (or: Mexican flu).
Our best medical experts, health scientists and epidemiologists have been debating this for weeks and decided: yes, for certain groups it is wise to get vaccinated and should they so desire, they should be given the opportunity to do so. As a parent of a five month old son I belong to one of those groups. I hav been informed that my son does not have an increased risk of actually dying of H1N1, however, there is a higher chance that he might need medical care in hospital. I think every parent would do anything to avoid that as well.
The wiser choice
What I also did was read up on the subject as I had also done when it came to all the other vaccinations that babies and infants receive in the Netherlands (like tuberculosis, polio et cetera). I was always a bit sceptical about the idea of injecting perfectly healthy people with all sorts of drugs, so I wanted to know more about it. As it turns out, all scientific evidence points clearly towards: getting vaccinated is the wiser choice. The diseases that are prevented by it are serious and horrific and the odds of side-effect are very small indeed.
Gullible people
I thought (stupid, stupid, stupid) I could have an intelligent and respectful debate about this with someone who was clearly an anti-vaccine crusader. No way. Within seconds I was treated to an extremely unpleasant mixture of conspiracy theories (our government wants to make us all ill because of the powerful and wealthy vaccination lobby), misinformation (I was informed that there is scientific evidence that vaccination causes autism. I know for a fact: there is no such evidence whatsoever), bad source-material (websites by -mostly- moms who makes claims they do not provide any relevant evidence for) and plain old gossip (our national top medical advisor has shares in pharmaceutical companies (true) which is why he is not to be trusted because vaccines make him rich (not true)). In short: I should have ignored all this. But I didn’t. I explained, calmly or so I thought, why all their theories are dubious, non-scientific and in fact: dangerous. Gullible people believe them. They do no get -their kids- vaccinated and people might end up in hospital (let’s not even talk about ‘dead’) because of it. And I am pretty sure that no one of those vaccination critics will take any responsibility for it. It will undoubtedly be the government’s fault yet again.
Stay critical
The anti vaccination lobby’s mantra seems to be: stay critical. Which, as mantras come and go, seems to be a clever one. Unfortunately these ‘critical lobbyists’ have something in common with conspiracy theorist’s; being critical only refers to ‘them’ and never to ‘us’. The anti-vaccination crusaders use unscientific source material, myths and nonsense as arguments, while at the same time spreading lies and gossip about scientists, researchers, policy makers and politicians who have to work by ethical and scientific rules and laws. Perhaps there are good arguments why there is a better alternative to vaccination, but they will come, in time, from the latter group, not the misinformed cynical mob. And in the mean time, all these bad arguments and poorly informed ‘worried parents’ are taking up a lot of research time that could also be used for advancing medical knowledge. Not to mention all the victims of unnecessary diseases.
10.15.09
Safer sex for a cooler planet
… As a sort of Blog Action Day bonus: The London School of Economics has calculated that the most cost-efficient way to counter the greenhouse effect and stop global warming is to start practicing safe sex. (or as the Vatican would like you to do: stop having sex at all. Except with choirboys obviously.)
According to their calculations, for every 4 GBP ( about $7 US ) spent on safe sex (or as they call it: family planning) in the next 40 years there will be a reduction of CO2 emission of one tonne. To reach the same effect by using technological methods would cost up to four times that amount.
This plan would be in accordance with recent UN findings that about 40 percent of all pregnancies worldwide are unwanted and a reduction of these (by means of condoms or birth control pills) with 75% would mean that the world population would grow with half a billion people less.
Less people and less global warming basically means: more fun. As they say in parts of Africa: be wise, condomize.
Blog Action Day: Do less for the climate
Today (oct 15, 2009) it’s Blog Action Day. X-mas time for bloggers when we all get together (virtually, obviously) and have a sort of private celebration and spread love, warmth and kindness. And just like when we get together with our families for the holiday season, there are specific rules and themes; this years BAD theme (anyone laughing out there?) is: Climate change. Or, as Obama would put it, Change we do not need.
We all know it…
Don’t get me wrong, I think BAD is very good idea. It’s a great way to put some items on the agenda and get some original ideas out there in the open. But what could someone possibly write about Climate Change that hasn’t been said a thousand times already? What Climate Change critic hasn’t already been sufficiently ridiculed and dragged through the polluted mud? Who, after Al Gore’s world tour and the glorious rise of the Cradle2Cradle concept still does not know what he or she can do to reduce pollution?
Do not focus on reducing CO2
Oh, perhaps there’s one thing. Perhaps it should not be about how we can continue on getting richer and buying more products without further damaging our environment. Perhaps the debate should not focus on optimizing production with reduced carbon dioxide emission. And, perhaps, the best idea is not on how we can make more products from more waste.
Do less
For as long as we know, we have been working harder and smarter to become rich enough to be able to provide everybody -who so wishes- with a comfortable and happy lifestyle. Well, Westerners, congratulations! We are there! It’s time to stop. Stop working more, stop working harder, stop producing more efficiently and effectively so we can speed up production. We have enough junk, we have too much stress and we have too little time. Start working less, start planning less and have more attention for yourself and loved ones. Buy less products and things which you could then appreciate more. Travel less miles so you can spend more time actually enjoying that holiday. Put less into quantity so you can put more into quality. We need less advertising, news and choices and we need more actual quality of life. It’s no longer a matter of ‘we can have it all’, we’ve already got it but just don’t see it. If we can realise that, we’ve the climate and ourselves that biggest favor ever.
And if Blog Action Day helped a little at reaching that goal… that’s not bad at all.
10.10.09
@anything
Getting/becoming/being
really scared,
-what- to do, to think, to see, to do, to write, to eat, to do,
Not much good for anything,
breathethinkbreathethinkbreathethinkbreathethinkbreathethinkbreaththinkbreathethinkbreathethinkbreathethink
@anything
Decent, reasonable, mediocre+,
Above the line, outside of the f-ing box,
(What idiot came up with that one?)
At least I’m not diagnosed,
No one cares,
no one really cares,
not really,
why should they?
Anyone.
Shortness or out of
breath.
