Monday miscellany
Monday, January 23rd, 2012- Cowboys, superheroes, and freedom.
- Intelligent dogs party down.
- Are the NDAA and the upcoming Enemy Expatriation Act two pieces of the same puzzle?
- Writers: You may want to may want to avoid self-publishing via Apple iBooks Author.
- The evolution of the U.S. dollar. (Tip o’ hat to D.)
- Yet another reason to be glad you don’t live in New York.
- You’ve heard about the long arm of the Feds reaching to New Zealand to shut down one of the biggest sites on the Web without due process — showing that the MPAA, the RIAA, and the fedgov hardly need SOPA. You heard about the first swift response (you go, Anonymous). But here’s the bigger story, longer term: “Hollywood Must Die.” As a movie fan, I hate to say it. But we’ll all be better off if Paul Graham succeeds.
- Good time to review your digital rights vs the police. (Here’s the one page version (.pdf).)
(Several tips o’ hat to MJR)
Share or Bookmark
January 23rd, 2012
I was wondering when someone would say it: Hollywood must die. Provocations like SOPA are far too dangerous to be endured.
Why does any aware person go to movies or buy disks? Why give your money to people who you know are deeply evil? It’s no secret who is behind these assaults. They are threatening a boycott of Obama campaign donations because he caved on them. That would be a boycott of money freely given by movie patrons. Why enable more of the same?
January 23rd, 2012
Well, I’d hate to see the movie industry die — but that’s nostalgia talking. I was raised on movies, it was the major entertainment when I was a kid. But they had actors, directors and writers who took their craft seriously then, not attention-seekers and political pundits out to make an easy buck as so many are today.
As long as the likes of Charlie Sheen, Michael Moore and “reality” shows remain popular and in the driver’s seat, it might be best if animation and computerized characters are the only things put on film. Out-of-the-loop Sundance films and documentaries are majorly all that’s worth watching.
~~~
Re the Enemy Expatriation Act, it states one reason for barring Americans would be if they “formally” renounced U.S. citizenship.
And the next step might be to deny those with dual citizenship, or those who live elsewhere X number of months per year, from ever re-entering the U.S.——the excuse being that if they don’t live here full-time, then they *have* renounced citizenship.
January 23rd, 2012
Pat, if it’s any comfort, I doubt that a “death of Hollywood” would ever mean a death of movies. “Hollywood” has always signified a control cartel — and often, from its early history, one with covert political motives. Movies don’t have to be tied to that any more than … well, than computers had to be tied to IBM, the Defense Department, or academia.
“Hollywood” is already dying, and creativity is exploding.
January 23rd, 2012
About the cowboys vs superheroes thing- I watched an episode of “Have Gun- Will Travel” last night and was struck by how libertarian it was. Has society changed that much since shows like that were made? If it hadn’t, we would probably have several more seasons of Firefly to quote at “appropriate” times.
I’ve never had any use for superheroes (other than The Tick). Maybe for the reasons the author pointed out.
January 23rd, 2012
Hollywood may die, but movies never will-there’s just something fun about going to a theatre. There’s no law of physics that states Hollywood and all its bureaucracy are the only ones that can make movies..
January 23rd, 2012
I can’t say I would mind seeing “Hollywood” get a good bashing. I believe the need for entertainment in the market would drive someone to replace them and given their total lack of ability to come up with anything original in the last decade I have to believe the new provider would have to be an improvement. I find the policies that many actors and producers to advocate for that they quietly sneak into TV show dialogue and movies to be repugnant.
Regarding the lack of Westerns, truly this is a sad development. I love westerns and I must admit to being a sucker for the image of the lone cowboy with his gun and horse out of high plains somewhere totally free and unencumbered by government. I remember a scene from Steve McQueen’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” when someone asked him why he became a bounty hunter. He replied he used to work at a bank and discovered he worked in a cage everyday. He said he quit the same day. I can totally relate.
January 23rd, 2012
Given how easily available filmmaking resources are anymore, both in high-quality cameras and in cgi software that can be run on a home computer, I think Hollywood is going to face more and more pressure from independant films. The only advantage hollywood has anymore is advertising budgets, and as social networking grows, that will fade.
My prediction, anyway.
January 23rd, 2012
Well, about that digital rights part, the EFF might be needing to revise a bit: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops — that’s in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. So now we’ll see whether the 10th Circus will hear an appeal. The (sorta) thinking here reminds me a bit of the Hibbel case, where there’s a little thing about how you might be protected under the 5th, if there’s a chance that revealing information (i.e. you identity) might be self incriminatory. But then, how would you necessarily know that? (I’m trying to recall Eugene Volokh’s explanation of Hibbel here.) Not that it matters much to TPTB these days, but I don’t think the 5th Amendment was supposed to resemble Shroedinger’s box.
January 24th, 2012
Loved the escaping dogs… had a horse like that once. Could open anything that didn’t require a thumb and a second hand – with his lips and teeth. He was amazing.
I’ve pretty much eliminated Amazon for publishing, will probably go with Lulu.
And as for the password to my laptop? My memory is just soooo bad these days. Sorry.
Even better, encrypt the whole thing, not just your files, but everything. Double is even better. And carry a duplicate, encrypted of course, on as small and hidable a device as you can find… just in case they toast your machine trying to tinker with it.
That’s the world we have come to. I remember when things could safely be sent on a post card…