My presentation

My project consists of a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, dealing with the issue of freedom of speech, and the threat to it posed by religious fundamentalism. I chose this topic having been interested in it for some time, and because I felt it was relevant in light of recent events, such as the battle faced by Indonesian atheists for religious freedom, and the imprisonment of Alex Aan for saying 'God does not exist' on a Facebook page. I was able to make the presentation with some ease, having had much experience using PowerPoint in the past. Most of the time was taken amassing research concerning the topic, for which I turned to a variety of sources, including books, newspaper articles, blogs and Wikipedia. It also took time to formulate a series of notes to guide me when delivering the presentation, and which I was able to memorize.

Embedded Video

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3-mEhvADaUg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Mash-ups taken down

I know of one example were mash-ups were taken down, these were the ones parodying a scene from the film 'Downfall'. Many mash-ups featuring this scene went viral on the internet, but a large number were removed at the request of the filmmakers, who saw it as a breach of copyright. Youtube decided to comply with their wishes.

Two fun mash-ups

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-mEhvADaUg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdSkr9kRBmY&feature=related

Interesting art projects - The Floating Cinema

UP projects, an arts fund, gave a grant for a 'floating cinema' to built as part of their Portavilion projects series. A decrepit barge was painted blue, fitted with 12 upholstered cinema seats and converted into Britain's first picturehouse equipped with lifejackets. This is surely the most interesting and unusual arts project that I have ever encountered in London. Hopefully, it will return this year. For several months last summer the Floating Cinema navigated the waterways of East London, hosting talks, presentations, workshops, and film screenings for small crowds on the boat, as well as larger canal-side screenings. Various documentaries concerning the history of the area were shown, along with such favourites as Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr. Fox.' The project was the brainchild of Emma Underhill, curator of UP projects. UP often creates unusual installations, such as a pavilion made of plastic bubbles that toured London's parks the year before last. The Floating Cinema is probably their most exciting project yet, anyone interested in art should definitely check them out.

To find out more about The Floating Cinema, visit this website: http://floatingcinema.info/

To find out more about UP projects, visit this website: http://www.upprojects.com/

Secret London

In the South-East corner of Trafalgar Square, perhaps Britain's largest tourist traps, lies on of London's best kept secrets, an unusual attraction which goes unnoticed by most visitors. It is the world's smallest police station, embedded in a granite street light, featuring only one room. It was built in the 1930s in order that the police might keep a constant look-out on the protests that frequently occurred on this well-known public piece of ground.

Nearby to London's smallest police station is one of London's smallest police station is one of London's smallest museums: the Twinings Museum on the Strand. The museum charts the 'thrilling, tea soaked history of the Twinings family', as well as some examples of tea caddies (canisters used to store tea), and more unusual items on the world of tea, including a tea bag used by P.G Wodehouse and a set of spoons used by A.A Milne during his 'tea period'. Nearby is the house inhabited by Benjamin Franklin, the famous diplomat and political scientist. Who knew he lived in London? The house is now marked by a blue plaque and is open as a museum.

If you are as interested in secret London as I am, feel free to email me and I shall give you some more examples.

My Reaction to Matt Egdar's Blog

One of the most successful analogies Edgar uses is the one considering perspective. He explains that: 'We humans see change as if looking through a window at a...night sky. Clouds rush by while the Moon appears a fixed point. In fact the Moon is hurtling by at 2288 miles per hour. The clouds..draw our attention. We try to make sense of them, and see patterns in their random shapes.'We look at the past in the same manner. Changes that a long time ago were highly groundbreaking and revolutionary, now seem still, peaceful and uncontroversial. However, the things that are changing currently seem fast and exciting, easily grabbing out attention. In this piece of analysis, Edgar successfully and robustly describes the attitude of humans towards change, a topic which one could write endless volumes on, in just a few sentences. 

Photography

New Photography gallery at the V and A. Anyone been yet?

Rainforests and what is happening to them

Article by Johann Hari of The Independent about what is happening to the world's rainforests. I recommend reading it very strongly. http://bit.ly/rzSl5h

Economic Shock Therapy

This is a really interesting video, where journalist and activist Naomi Klein explains the thesis of her book 'The Shock Doctrine', one of the mandatory must reads of the past decade http://bit.ly/123Z69

Hello, Everyone

1. Hello, everyone. Its me, Michael. I have lots of views on many issues which I will no doubt be sharing with you later on, as I continue to post!