I just got some new flyers in the mail back from Vista Print. They are smaller versions of the posters I’ve been working on. Look for them in the record stores and coffee shops around S.F. If you’d like a handful let me know.

I just got back from opening night at the anti-corporate film festival put on by Counter Corp. They screened two short films having to do with copyright law before showing the world premiere of a documentary called Freedom of Expression which is a film that explores the battle being waged in court, the media industry, academia, and on the Internet between people and corporations for control over the cultural commons. They talked to a number of different people on the subject one of which was the founder of Stay Free magazine who curates a show of artwork that makes use of copyrighted material. Because the show is “educational,” the work can legally be shown without fear of a lawsuit.

If you live in the bay area I would definitely recommend supporting Counter Corp by attending any number of the great documentaries going on all weekend

I was sent this video of Wade Davis at TED, an event that takes place in Monterey every year, and thought it worth posting as it directly relates to globalization. The below blurb from Google video sums up what it’s all about.

With stunning photos and stories, National Geographic Explorer Wade Davis celebrates the diversity of the world’s indigenous cultures, now disappearing from the planet at an alarming rate. He argues passionately that we should be concerned not only for preserving the biosphere, but also the “ethnosphere” — “the sum total of all thoughts and dreams, myths, ideas, inspirations, intuitions brought into being by the human imagination.”

I recently finished John Perkin’s book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. The book covers his work as economic planner for an international consulting firm where he helped wealthy corporations exploit developing nations as an “economic hit man” to advance the cause of corporate hegemony in which the divisions between the corporate world and the state are almost non-existent. The book is classified as fiction but is assumed to be his real life experiences.

Though there are many valuable lessons to be gleaned from the book, Perkin’s writes as if he is the victim of the consulting firm he works for, that they turned him into their pawn, and that they manipulated him into doing their bidding with promises of money and status. It’s very dramatic and definitely a good read for anyone interested the relationship between multinational corporations and the U.S. government, but it’s hard to sympathies with Perkin’s who knowingly aided in creating greater divisions between the rich and poor in developing countries time and time again.

I saw the movie They Live for the first time a few months ago and watched it again today. For those of you unfamiliar it stars the wrestler of early WWF fame, Rowdy Roddy Piper and includes one of the longest and most ridiculous fight scenes I’ve ever seen in modern film. Despite the bad writing and acting the plot line is great. Roddy’s character finds a pair of sunglasses that allow him to see the world as it truly is: one in which people are being bombarded by media and government messages. As it turns out these creepy low-budget aliens are in charge of a massive campaign to keep humans subdued and Roddy goes on a quest, nay rampage, to stop them.

This is the movie Shepard Fairey got inspiration for his OBEY project from and is a lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon must see.

I’m looking for anyone who might be interested in helping out with writing some satirical corporate mumbo-jumbo copy for an Introduction to Anarkon booklet and an Annual Report I will be working on in the coming months. At the moment I wouldn’t have anything to offer you aside from a little bit of fame and recognition when the project is complete.

I’m also hoping to find a photographer a little farther down the line and have just begun the search for a gallery to display my final project in even farther down the line.

If anyone has any recommendations or knows anyone who might be interested give me a shout.

Right now I’m doing a lot of research on the history of corporations and how they work. In the process I’ve compiled a fair share of resources including books, documentaries, interviews and the like. This will be an ongoing process throughout the life of my thesis and would invite anyone who has recommendations to reply to this post or email me.