There’s a moment during one of the black power scenes in Jean-Luc Godard’s “Sympathy for the Devil” where the narrator speaks from the perspective of the economic elite about using drive in movies as a means to control the masses. Godard’s intent was to explore mass culture as an artsy intellectual critique of the failures of intellectualism. It’s a slow paced, abstract piece with many hidden layers of symbolism, beautiful recording studio footage and exceptional narration.
The story of the film production is interesting too. Not surprisingly there were conflicts between Godard’s original vision and the final product that went to market. It’s amusing to think that a studio would work with a known trickster like Godard, and expect the results to somehow not explode in their faces.
Unlike modern productions featuring trendy pop stars, Godard’s 1968 message was that consumers were obligated to engage in the culture. He argued that fans of the Stones shouldn’t be content with the mass produced and slickly marketed blues rock of that period. Rather fans should dig deeper and learn about the roots of blues music. What’s more, you can’t watch his footage of the Stones in rehearsal without sensing a sort of bemused amateurism in these pop art icons. It’s strong realism that brings the subjects down to earth while inspiring a different type of respect for their work and the work of their producers!
Speaking of great work, friends at the Disposable Film Festival are doing a fine job shining a light on an emerging genre of video art - video produced using non-professional equipment. Their second festival in SF a few months ago was a big success and they’re organizing screenings around the world. Currently they’re hosting a Bike in Movie screening on May 13, 2009 in downtown San Francisco. It’ll be a fun night.
You have to believe Godard would be pleased to learn of a bike in screening of cool new genre of DIY movies. Maybe someone on the internet will let him know.
It’s been 2-3 months since I wrote about the first MusicTech Summit. The second summit is happening tomorrow May 8, 2008. Go to the SanFran MusicTech Summit site if you want last minute details.
It’s unusual for conference organizers to stage a follow-up event so close to the first. It’s also a somewhat unusual event, worth paying attention to. Like last time, I’ll take notes and post them here as time allows… You can do your part by continuing to do whatever it is you do and I’m sure everything will work out fine between us.
Matt Richtel at NY Times Bits summarizes a survey from the National Venture Capital Association.
The survey results show that VC’s had a successful 2007 in terms of creating markets in new regions. The Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Berkeley area is the undisputed national leader in total deal flow. Meanwhile, other regions are growing at a faster rate. Richtel writes:
“A number of factors propelled growth elsewhere. Among them, some not-very-startling developments: increasingly capable telecommunications and accessible travel has made it possible for venture capitalists to live in financial centers but to oversee investments in distant areas. But there have also been specific efforts by regions outside of Silicon Valley to attract capital, and those efforts are paying off, said the National Venture Capital Association.”
From my limited perspective, telecommunications technology seems to be the main enabling force here - email and web based communication especially. Vendors and clients are learning to work together in new ways, especially remotely. As a result, individuals with highly specific expertise (VC financiers as an example) are available to a much broader economic region.
It’s not a 2007 thing… the NVCA analysis supports ideas that people have been talking about since Gilder’s Telecosm and Malone’s Future of Work.
According to NVCA President Mark Heesen:
“Venture capital growth is extremely organic. Once a critical mass of companies is funded in a certain region, a new ecosystem will develop,” Heesen says. “It is very magnetic in the sense that start-ups breed innovative thinkers and entrepreneurs who, in turn, attract venture capitalists. For regions that don’t have a large, indigenous venture investor base, it is important to give outsideVCs a reason to visit.
Have little faith in the stories that show up on stock discussion boards. Either way, I’ll keep watching and let you know if I was wrong about Ebay’s leadership.
Disclosure: I do not own Ebay stock. I have no financial interest in the company.
EBay deserves credit for not shutting down this pro-boycott thread in their own forum. EBay is doing the right thing by allowing the thread to stay alive. It must be frustrating for insiders to watch.
Congratulations eBay for allowing the community to continue using that thread. The decision to support dissenting opinion reflects well on the confidence, values and vision of your leadership team.
One excerpt from the 234+ page pro-boycott discussion thread:
“Even as I sit here looking at my unsold items, I’m still kind of happy I’m contributing to the boycott. Even if it’s only in a small way. While they might not be as popular as eBay I’ve found a lot great sites. The one I’m moving my listings to right now let me import my ebay feedback score to their site so that I don’t lose my good ratings! They even transfered all of my unsold item listings from eBay over to their site!”
Plan Resonate isn’t what you’d call a high transaction business. There are few transactions and gladly many of them occur via direct deposit. When there are checks to process, it’s not always convenient to walk or bike over the bank and drop them in an envelope.
So I’m mildly interested [not quite excited? not indifferent to? care barely enough to link to?] this press release from CheckFree Corp. (via SFGate.com).
“Customers want to be able to deposit checks without having to go to banks, and banks want to be able to offer that”, said Rod Springhetti, CheckFree’s vice president of global strategic marketing.
This innovation may likely be the last encouragement I need to leave my old school bank in favor of someone who emphasizes online services. Unfortunately I expect that my present bank will try to charge for this service, if and when they adopt it, despite the fact that they’d be reducing costs by shifting another operational process (scanning checks) onto me.
[tags]Vice President of Global Strategic Marketing![/tags]
San Francisco based Current TV has filed for a NASDAQ IPO. Appears to be a well timed move. They’ve been in business since 2002 and recorded 68% growth in revenue in 2007.
AP reports Current’s outstanding debt and accrued interest to be $36.5M as of 12-31-07. Of interest is their stated intention to use IPO funds to completely retire that debt. The equity sale may leave them with over $50M to fund expanded operations. I assume they’ll also fund growth with a new package of long term debt at a lower rate.
I predict a major international expansion, using London as a platform for north and western Europe, followed soon by expansions to Tokyo and Mumbai.
Reuters reports that former Vice President Al Gore is Current’s owner and executive chairman. No kidding… I doubt I’ve ever seen any mention of Current with seeing Mr. Gore’s name prominently attached. They’ve made smart and effective use of the media - something I suppose the market should expect more of in the future.
Today, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos accused Yahoo of acting like moral pygmies (NYT via SFist). While I respect the sentiment behind Lantos’ politically opportune statement, I wonder if he’s being fair to the pygmies?
Of course one shouldn’t knock Yahoo’s brand value without mentioning other tech leaders involved in helping the Chinese state to repress basic human rights. Let’s all take a sanctimonious moment to shame our friends at Google and Microsoft too.
I guess we should all remember that a freedom, once sold, becomes remarkably difficult to ever buy back.
PS: today is a good day for San Franciscans to vote.
Overheard last Saturday night at the corner of 24th and South Van Ness:
Guy: “You know, your whole attitude is lame because it’s totally pro American empire and capitalistic.”
Girl: “What are you talking about? Who’s the one that turned her lights out tonight? You didn’t even care.”
Guy: “Oh, right, because turning off my lights for an hour is going to accomplish anything. You’re missing the point. It’s like Buy Nothing Day. Who cares if you buy nothing one day and go back to buying way too much stuff every other day. I mean, who cares if you turn your lights out for an hour?”
Girl (stubs out her cigarette): “Well, I care, I guess. Whatever… Do you want to get another round or should we go for a spin?”
Guy: “Yeah!”
Guy and Girl cross the street, jump into a new long bed pickup, and burn rubber through the intersection.
