Sunday 27 October 2013

Film: The Net - The Unabomber. LSD and the Internet


a documentary which looks at the influence of utopianism on modern technophilia and the internet and shows how misguided beliefs about technology as a means to achieve a global state without borders, are routed in drug use and covert intelligence operations. The film reveals that the unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, was used as an LSD test subject while a student. Director Lutz Dammbeck takes an unorthodox approach to the material, speculating about the darker side of technological innovation.

Monday 21 October 2013

Sacred Forests



The latest Survive the Jive Video update. I've always found woodland to be an excellent place for contemplation, meditation and general relaxation. Many people around the world feel exactly the same way. It's hard to rationalise what it is about such spaces that cause them to have such an effect on the psyche (if you wish to use such terms) or soul. This video features footage of deciduous forest in England in each season, showing how the woods really make you feel the passage of time. It also shows boreal forest in Sweden and tropical rainforest in Venezuela. The video ends with some footage of me looking fresh faced and beardless and ranting about conservation in the jungle 5 years ago.

Monday 7 October 2013

Film: Útlaginn (1982)

 An Icelandic film with English subtitles. Útlaginn, English title "Outlaw: The Saga of Gisli" demonstrates the family feuds and the associated duty of vengeance that was the cultural norm in Iceland during the Viking age.

Film: Ruslan i Lyudmila (1972)

Finnish wizards, Ukrainian warriors, treacherous Tartars and marrauding Pechenegs all feature in this medieval fantasy epic from Soviet Russia. Based on a folkish tale and the poem by Alexander Pushkin, this upload of the film by Aleksandr Ptushko has no subtitles. It looks fantastic though, and is well worth a watch.