OUR WEEKLY PROCRASTINATION

Photos: The Procrastinator (some) Times.

Last week we attended the Second Edition of Sunday Papers Live. It was an interesting proposal: a day-long event, wrapped up in a newspaper format with a touch of Sunday laziness. There was food, loads of carpets, sofas, blankets, tea, cider, walks, fire, and really nice talks on each of the newspapers major topics: sports, art, books, politics, and even a crossword with clues performed live (photo 2). Two of the most interesting speakers of the day were Maajid Nawaz (UK News) and Jon Snow (World News).

Nawaz shared with us his (amazingly interesting) story and some interesting thoughts about, religion, extremism, democracy and the importance of (not listening to Russell Brand and) voting. Jon Snow, exalted what a great moment we are living, technology/communications/information wise. "It's a golden age for journalism and it's a golden age to be a journalist" he said. It doesn't really matter if the big news chains are cutting down budgets and heads, because it's up to us, empowered by technology to keep observing, researching, producing and sharing information.

I think that is a fantastic, incredible positive thought, and I really hope he's right. Meanwhile we will carry on and try to make our shared procrastination as meaningful as we can.

Photo via the New Stateman.

PS. In (un?)related news, you should read Martin Robbins's article How Jon Snow dissing the PlayStation 4 explains why no one cares you can't afford a house in the New Stateman that shows how traditional media is biased towards men over 50. "We live in a society where asking people over 65 to wait a couple of years to receive their free money from the state is a major political issue, but a party can casually talk about stripping welfare from under 25s as though they're somehow children - after all, you'd never see one on Question Time." E.T.P. 7' (article) / E.T.P. 14'05'' (Charlie Brooker/Jon Snow's gaming video).

The Procrastinator (some) Times Sunday 17th of November Edition

EDITORIAL

This week we should start mentioning Belle Beth Cooper's article in Fast Company that you can find  in the Design, Business & Innovation section, a very interesting piece that justify our efforts to make procrastination meaningful, we will add that article to our manifesto for sure. Photoautomat presents the work of Riitta Päiväläinen, In Dog We Trust teach us how to make a fondant poodle and we keep talking about Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity, because we really loved it. Finally, we thank Batkid for saving not only Gotham or San Francisco, but the whole world of another week of just terrible news. Thanks Batkid!

Happy reading and happy Sunday!


NEWS

David Cameron at the Lord Mayor's Banquet. Photo: Getty via The New Stateman.

There is really not much that I can add about Laurie Penny New Stateman's very eloquent article. I'm not English, and I really consider that I don't have a qualified opinion on this country politics. The only thing I will say is that when I read news like this about the UK, the same day I saw photos of the actual re-written history books of my country (Venezuela), books that praise "subordination" as a value, I can't help but think that deep down we are not as far away as it might seem, and as Laurey I had to repeat out loud: "We have not always been at war with Eastasia."

This is how Laurie Penny's article begin:  The throne was golden and the lectern was golden and the speech was very clear: austerity will not be temporary policy in Tory Britain. It will last forever. Addressing a roomful of diplomats and business leaders who had just dined lavishly at the Lord Mayor's banquet, the Prime Minister this week promised a "leaner, more efficient state". "We need to do more with less," said David Cameron, looking comfy in his white tie and tails. "Not just now, but permanently." But he hadn't counted on Ruth Hardy, a journalism student, who was working as a waitress that night. "The contrast of the two worlds was striking; someone said it was like a scene from Downton Abbey," wrote Hardy in a viral piece for the Guardian. "Maybe Cameron didn't see the irony; perhaps he forgot about the army of waiting staff, cleaners, chefs and porters who were also present at the banquet. Perhaps he thought he was in a room of similarly rich people, who understood the necessity for austerity. Perhaps it didn't occur to him that this message might not be as easily comprehended by those who hadn't just enjoyed a four-course meal. Perhaps he forgot about those of us, disabled or unemployed or on the minimum wage, for whom austerity has had a catastrophic and wounding effect." Read full article here. E.T.P. (including video): 7'.

Jim Sollish and his son via The New York Times.

I Want to Be a Millenial When I Retire. Jim Sollish wrote a really thoughtful article about his kid, a happy independent musician whose success is hard to be "measure" and therefore understood by older generations. "The Eskimos have all those words for snow, and it seems the only language we have for expressing success is numeric. It may be a universal language, but it’s an impoverished one. Maybe we need a word for “never having to sit in a meeting where someone reads long power point slides out loud.” Maybe we should have an expression that captures the level of success you’ve achieved when you do exactly what you love every day." Read full article in The New York Times. E.T.P. 3'

Photo via SF Gate.

Photo via SF Gate.

Photo via SF Gate.

Photo via Wired.

And of course, the cutest news from this past week was Gotham City being save by Batkid, the legendary Miles Scott aged 5. Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which organised the event, and to thousands of people in San Francisco that collaborated, Miles fulfil his wish to be Batman for a day. He participated in events across the city including fighting mock crimes and receiving an honour from the mayor. Read the article in BBC, Wired, SF Gate or in Spanish in BBC Mundo.

Procrastinator (some) Times Sunday 27th of October Edition

EDITORIAL

This week it's been very political, mostly thanks to Russell Brand (go figure). You may or may not agree with his thoughts and his ways, but he has given us a lot of material to talk about, the real stuff, not celebrity bullshit, and drawing attention to what really needs our attention is already remarkable, is already making our procrastination time meaningful and inspiring.

That on one side. On the other side, we are absolutely delighted to be starting a new photography section curated by our favourite Brooklyn-based photographer, friend, and partner in crime, Andreína Restrepo. Welcome Andre! So, pay close attention at Photoautomat, and if you want you can follow Andre in twitter: @pianpianpian.

Have a nice reading and a super happy Sunday!


NEWS

Knitbombing revolution? Photo: Reuters/Cathal McNaughton via the New Stateman.

You probably heard a lot about Russell Brand this past week. His interview with Jeremy Paxman in BBC's Newsline (E.T.P. 10'46'') about him editing an issue of the New Stateman magazine (E.T.P. 4'), became viral shortly after, firstly because most people still can't get pass Brand's appearance, fame, lightheartedness, (you name it), and fail to consider him a man with something to say. But more importantly because he is absolutely right in almost everything he is saying.

Honestly I started paying attention to him, when I read his article in The Guardian about Margaret Thatcher E.T.P. 4'). Shortly after that he was invited by an American so-called news show (E.T.P. 8'34'') to talk about his play "The Messiah Complex" and he demonstrated that he was the most lucid person in the studio. By far. It was painful to see and I think that those anchormen and women still don't get it.

"I have never voted. Like most people I am utterly disenchanted by politics. Like most people I regard politicians as frauds and liars and the current political system as nothing more than a bureaucratic means for furthering the augmentation and advantages of economic elites." That is a fragment of his article in the latest New Stateman's issue. That along with the Newsline interview had a lot of people saying (in social media at least) that he might have started a revolution, and in that scenario, ironically enough, Brand might be becoming some sort of messiah.

For me the word "revolution" when is not describing the movement of an object in a circular or elliptical course around an axis, is a bit rusty and an amazing way of subtracting value to any proposal, but, hey that's just me. People is free to use words and adjectives however they want. So I ask you, what do you think about Brand's remarks, about this dying pre-existing and quite narrow paradigm and about the possibility of starting a revolution?

It would be awesome to hear from you. Please do leave a comment.

The Trojan horse is the symbol of the Partido de la Red, of course. Photo via Twitter.

In the same order of ideas, in a highly political, deeply serendipitous afternoon, I came across "El Partido de la Red" (The Net's Party), an Argentinean party created by Santiago Siri, a developer, coder, gamer, that believes that in one of the most bureaucratic countries of the world (I lived in Argentina for 5 years, I know what I'm taking about), change is possible through technology.

Weirdly enough I read about Siri and El Partido de la Red thanks to a tweet from BuzzFeed, that I didn't know where producing original content. You really, really, really have to love the Internet. This is a fragment of that article:

At the heart of his new program is a piece of software: DemocraciaOS, a mobile web application that offers, right now, easy access to the doings of the Argentine Congress, and an easy way to comment on them. It’s a small taste of the digital governance Net Party candidates promise. And Siri is operating on the counterintuitive theory that Argentina, with its ossified and corrupt politics, is actually particularly ready for the revolution. “The first thing you get told when you’re proposing online democracy in a place like this is those are things for Sweden or Iceland — countries that are very rich in resources, it would never happen here,” he said. “But innovation usually happens in the place where nobody is innovating.”

Read the full article in BuzzFeed (E.T.P. 3'30''). And please, again, any comment on this subject would be highly appreciated.