Posted by on under haiti voodoo, serpent and the rainbow, haitian voodoo, slave revolt, vibrant cultures, african slaves, devil worship, crossing the delaware, french coffee, symbol of freedom, pat roberts, washingt, cultural diversity, massey, ethnosphere, slew, colts, cbc | 
Anthropologist Wade Davis is an incredibly engaging and eloquent explorer of the world's cultural diversity, what he calls the Ethnosphere. He has written a slew of amazing books about the dangers faced by disappearing cultures, both to the people whose vibrant cultures are getting wiped out, and to us. His latest book is The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World, based on his CBC Massey Lectures last year, but he is perhaps best known for The Serpent and the Rainbow (1985), an illuminating study of Haitian voodoo and zombis. National Geographic interviewed Davis about the earthquake in Haiti, voodoo, and Pat Robertson's idiocy. From National Geographic: What do you think of Pat Robertson's recent remarks that this month's earthquake in Haiti was God's revenge for a pact Haitian slaves made with the devil to overthrow French colonists in the late 1700s? Cruel, ignorant, unforgivable, the ravings of a lunatic. He doesn't even know what he's talking about. What happened--according to both historical record and the founding history for the Haitian state--was that there was a voodoo ceremony where the symbol of freedom sang out, which was the sound of the conch trumpet [spurring African slaves to rebel against French coffee and sugar plantation owners in 1791]. In the same way that we speak so reverentially of Washington crossing the Delaware, that was the catalyst of the slave revolt. It was the only successful slave revolt in history [to have won control of a country], and it's said to have begun with a voodoo ceremony. So Pat Robertson is saying by that comment that voodoo itself is the devil. Voodoo is not a black magic cult, nor does it have anything to do with a Christian notion of the devil. All he's saying by that comment is that all African religion is devil worship, and he's revealing not only his ignorance about what voodoo really is, but also his bias that any religion not his own is devil worship. For a man who aspired to the presidency he revealed himself to be remarkably unschooled in American history. Had it not been for the revolutionary slaves of Haiti, we might well be speaking French in much of what is today the U.S.A. Napoleon at the height of his power dispatched the greatest military force ever to sail from France. Its mission was twofold: Crush the slave revolt in Haiti, and then proceed up the Mississippi, hem in the expanding 13 Colonies, and reestablish French dominance in a continent that only 30 years before at the Treaty of Paris had become British North America. Thanks to the Haitian patriots, the French armada never reached New Orleans [and Napoleon decided to sell much of what is now the western U.S. via the Louisiana Purchase.] "Haiti Earthquake & Voodoo: Myths, Ritual, and Robertson" Previously:Wade Davis: an Inuit elder and his shit knife - Boing Boing Anthropologist Wade Davis speaks at Long Now Foundation, January ... Haiti's real deal with the devil Boing Boing Voodoo is official in Haiti - Boing Boing...
Tagi: haiti voodoo, serpent and the rainbow, haitian voodoo, slave revolt, vibrant cultures, african slaves, devil worship, crossing the delaware, french coffee, symbol of freedom, pat roberts, washingt, cultural diversity, massey, ethnosphere, slew, colts, cbc
Posted by on under wall saws, bosch tools, outdoor exhibits, bricklayer 500, hammer drills, attractive girls, brick walls, first timer, multiquip, th time, mortal enemy, good tools, product business, trowels, true art, acti, 60 minutes, wacker, main event, slew |
This was the first year anyone from coptool.com has had the opportunity to attend the World of Concrete. As a first timer I have to say it was a very impressive sign to see. Perhaps, down from last year but still just an amazing show with all the indoor and outdoor exhibits, vehicles, competitions and hands on demos. There is a true art to a trade show of this proportion, what kind of freebies you got, how you run the hands-on and demos, floor placement, how pretty the girls are if you have any and its probably important that you’ve got good tools as well. Just the shear effort alone that went into the setup and the volume of concrete poured just to destroy everyday… Checkout this time laps video of the effort it took to set up just one of the hundreds of outdoor exhibits.
Competitions
All week long there were several competitions which were really interesting to watch and/or take part in. The Bricklayer 500 would have to be the main event where teams build brick walls in 60 minutes and get judged on speed as well as accuracy and precision. There was also a Bosch Tools skills challenge open to anyone and several truck & large equipment contests for anyone with a license. The artistry in Decorative Concrete was surely the most skillful competition. Some real head scratchers as to how they did some of this amazing work. (See some pictures here)
Exhibitors
Everyone in the concrete product business was here it felt like. Some personal highlights in tools; seeing Concrete Cutting Saws & Wall Saws in action from Diamond Products, Bosch had nice hands on demos for breakers, hammer drills as well as a few new products (post coming very shortly), Makita had some attractive girls I wasted some time talking with and alright Hilti’s booth was kinda impressive (which is saying a lot because Hilti is my mortal enemy). For the bigger equipment like the Ride on Trowels and smaller compaction, Wacker had a huge area (see video below) as well as Multiquip and a slew of others. Two days of 9 to 5 walking and I still didn't see close to all the booths.
All in all it was a great show and really could not even begin to do it justice in just one post. There are new videos popping up every minute on YouTube and www.ForConstructionPros.com. Also checkout all my photos in this facebook album.
Tagi: wall saws, bosch tools, outdoor exhibits, bricklayer 500, hammer drills, attractive girls, brick walls, first timer, multiquip, th time, mortal enemy, good tools, product business, trowels, true art, acti, 60 minutes, wacker, main event, slew
Posted by on under hollywood blvd, hollywood video, digg, slew, batman, crack, authorities, hollywood |
A slew of superheroes getting banished from Hollywood Blvd as authorities crack down...
Tagi: hollywood blvd, hollywood video, digg, slew, batman, crack, authorities, hollywood
Posted by on under hdmi inputs, 3dtv, best buy, usb socket, engadget, fri, hundies, 720p, starter kit, marts, slew, grabs, dcs, hdtv, plasma, samsung, nbsp |
Looking to spoil yourself with a fancy new
3DTV? Ain't got the cash to go
all-out? Hello, compromise. Samsung's 50-inch
PN50C490 -- which we
peeked just a few weeks ago -- is now shipping from Amazon, Best Buy and a slew of other local consumer electronic marts if we had to guess. As a refresher, this mid-sized HDTV has a 720p resolution, 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, no internet connectivity to speak of, a USB socket, three HDMI inputs, a pair of component jacks and support for the third dimension. It's up for grabs today at just $989, but you'll probably want to budget a few extra hundies for that
Samsung 3D Starter Kit (not to mention a few 3D Blu-ray Discs).
[Thanks, James]
Samsung's 50-inch 720p PN50C490 3D plasma on sale now for under a grand originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tagi: hdmi inputs, 3dtv, best buy, usb socket, engadget, fri, hundies, 720p, starter kit, marts, slew, grabs, dcs, hdtv, plasma, samsung, nbsp
Posted by on under gary valentine lachman, boing boing, gary lachman, daily grail, fringe culture, dedalus book, strange trip, carl jung, psychedelia, sixties, blondie, slew, 1960s, consciousness, 1970s |
In the 1970s, Gary Valentine Lachman was the founding guitar player for Blondie. In recent years though, Lachman shifted his focus to writing a slew of books about fringe culture, the occult, consciousness, and esoteric figures from history. His book about sixties psychedelia and the occult, Turn Off Your Mind: The Mystic Sixties and the Dark Side of the Age of Aquarius, is one of my favorite chronicles of the time. I highly recommend it. (The 2001 book was recently reprinted in the UK as The Dedalus Book of the 1960s: Turn Off Your Mind.) In the above interview, Lachman talks about his own long strange trip, and his new book, Jung the Mystic: The Esoteric Dimensions of Carl Jung's Life and Teachings. He's also blogging over at the Daily Grail!...
Tagi: gary valentine lachman, boing boing, gary lachman, daily grail, fringe culture, dedalus book, strange trip, carl jung, psychedelia, sixties, blondie, slew, 1960s, consciousness, 1970s
