Social media news and TV – Current.com Blog – Your guide to Current

Shop until you drop by robholland on flickr

It’s the day before Thanksgiving, and everyone here at Current is poised to head home to prepare for family gatherings and celebrations. A quick look around the web, and it would appear that the majority of folks have other things on their minds right now.

Some of the top trending searches according to Google include queries about word of DJ Peachez’s death, Debbie Schlussel’s tirade about NBA sportscasters being yanked for the use of “Eye-Ran,” and Adam Lambert’s AMA Video awards.

But the rule of the day has largely been queries about “Black Friday.” Scanning retailer specific queries is pretty telling:

1. Kmart Black Friday ad 2009
2. Black Friday Best Buy
3. Walmart Black Friday deals
4. Sears Black Friday sale
5. Toys R Us Black Friday
6. Cyber Monday deals

So much shopping! I find it interesting that Toys R Us appears so low on the list (at the time of post, it was the 14th most popular trend on Google). Sure, 14th place is nothing to shake a stick at, but consider “Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays” author Joel Waldfogel’s perspective on things. Here’s a snippet of an interview with Waldfogel, as conducted by Kai Ryssdal of Marketplace:

Ryssdal: I have to say this plays right into my prejudice here, because I’m just not a good holiday gift giver. But you say it actually doesn’t make any sense.

WALDFOGEL: Well, the problem is, you know, normally we go out and buy things for ourselves, we’ll only spend $50 if we find something that is worth at least $50 to us. But with gift giving, it’s entirely different. You know, we’re operating at an enormous handicap. We don’t know what the other person wants or needs, so if I spend $50 on you, I might buy something that you wouldn’t pay anything for.

Ryssdal: But I place value on that gift that you give me, right, so isn’t there value there?

WALDFOGEL: You may place value on the fact that I gave you something. The problem is the actual thing I get you is something that you typically place less value on than the thing that you would have purchased with the same amount of money. So the spending doesn’t produce as much satisfaction as we expect spending to produce.

So the cynic in me has to question, are people scouring the web in search of Black Friday deals really looking for gift ideas? Or, are they simply seeking deals on the stuff they want for themselves?

Either way, the overwhelming amount of commerce related queries still raises my age-old grudge with this endeavor, the collective focus around the Thanksgiving holiday never feels like its aimed in the right direction. What direction? Well, shouldn’t these holidays really be about more important things like family, reflection, and appreciation? I think most of us eventually get there, once we’ve escaped the madcap craziness, and usually around a cleared table with full bellies.

But in the end, shouldn’t we make a collective effort to re-focus this time towards what really matters, especially amidst a recession recovery effort? Here’s my humble attempt to do so, with a prompt if you will:

What are your plans for Thanksgiving, and what are you thankful for?

Tell us what you think by submitting a story about your Thanksgiving plans and what you are thankful for over on Current.com — extra bonus points if you do it in the form of a webcam or video.

Above all, have a wonderful holiday.

Related links:

1. Hasn’t this just been a whole year of Black Friday? – Real Recovery
2. Farm tour of a Local! Organic! Sustainable! Farm! That raises… Turkey!
3. The race to green Thanksgiving! (and other random thoughts on traditions, values, and the holidays)
4. Who you calling a turkey?
5. Thanksgiving Prayer William S Burroughs

I’ve been reading through some of the #fiestamovement tweets and blog posts from the agents, and @karakay’s recent post, “End of Fiesta, Back to the Music” struck a chord (pardon the pun).

Many people supported my doing this contest, but many others weren’t so excited about it. A few comments came my way stating, “this car promotion was distracting me from my music & a waste of time.” While I understand how it could be seen that way I must say I think I gained quite a bit of knowledge in other areas of social media marketing that are going to help me as an independent artist. Things I had not much experience in, now I do. (Such as video editing.)

It’s been a fun 6 months. Lots of inspiring events happened over the road that will be resulting in some new songs by this spring I did get to travel to a couple festivals and performed some shows this summer.

Six months is a long time to spend with a car while documenting the various adventures one might find themselves getting into. So I wonder, what else did these 100 agents learn while on the road? If you are an agent, send me a tweet @current, or leave a comment below. I’m curious to hear your perspective.

For those of you interested, take a look at some of the Fiesta Agents’ profiles and vote for your favorite agent. The awards ceremony is on 12/1, so help your favorite agent get ahead of the pack.

Hey Fiesta Agents, do you want to be on TV?

Max and Jason will be covering the Fiesta Event at the LA Auto Show live on 12/1 (for info check out this post), and they’ll be looking to capture the scene from the perspective of the agents in attendance. So agents, be on the lookout for our cameras, and tweet @current, @maxandjason, or using #current while you’re at the Fiesta Event. Who knows, you might find yourself on TV!

As a part of their Fiesta Movement we’re partnering with Ford to have Max and Jason bring you the Fiesta Movement Celebration on December 2nd at 11:30/10:30c on Current TV. Before we dive into the details, here’s some background information to give you a little context.

To kickoff the Fiesta Movement, Ford challenged bloggers, technologists, and any other social media enthusiasts to spend six months participating in a campaign called the Fiesta Movement. They received over 4,000 applicants, but only 100 were chosen to be “Agents of the Fiesta Movement.” These agents spent the next six months behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta while traveling around the country completing 600 monthly themed missions ranging from Travel, Adventure, Social Activism, Technology, Style & Design, and Entertainment.

Each of these missions were documented using social media sites like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, 12seconds, and just about any other social media site out there. If your interested check out some of the missions, or if you’re interested in what some of the agents are doing as their six month stint winds down take a look at the #fiestamovement hashtag on Twitter.

So, what are Max and Jason up to?

Here’s the full rundown of what you can expect. On 12/1, the guys will be filming live at the Ford Fiesta Movement Celebration at the Palladium in LA between 11pm-2am E / 8pm-11pm P. They’ll be spending the evening soaking up the event, and using Current cameras to get the unique perspective of the Fiesta Agents in attendance. Portions of their coverage will be streamed on the Max and Jason: Still Up page on Current.com, and live updates will also air on Current TV throughout the night.

Then on 12/2 Max and Jason will return to the Current airwaves to host the Fiesta Movement Celebration at 11:30/10:30c.

Recently popularized in America by the big screen adaptation of Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s V for Vendetta, the opening sequence of this poem originated as part of an annual religious sermon to English royal subjects as a reminder of The Gunpowder Plot, and that treason would never be tolerated.

The sermon, originally entitled ‘Please to Remember the 5th of November’ is commonly read as:

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I know of* no reason

Why the Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t’was his intent

To blow up the King and Parli’ment.

Three-score barrels of powder below

To prove old England’s overthrow;

By God’s providence he was catch’d (or by God’s mercy*)

With a dark lantern and burning match.

Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring. (Holla*)

Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

The story goes that in the spring of 1604, Thomas Percy, resentful of England’s position towards Catholicism, plotted with a league of conspirators to detonate kegs of Gunpowder underneath the House of Lords for the purpose of killing King James and other prominent members of the Church of England, which would ultimately incite a revolt culminating in Catholic reformation across England.  Historical revue maintains that while the gunpowder had actually degraded to a state of uselessness, the full force of the blast would have been devastating:  complete demolition of the house of lords and residual impact to neighboring structures within a 1 km radius.

As the man chiefly responsible for ensuring the positioning and detonation of the powder kegs, Guy Fawkes has received considerable notoriety for his role in this event.  Specifically, the evening of November 5th is commonly referred to as “Guy Fawkes Night” and his image burned in effigy during bonfires while children ask for a ‘penny for the guy’.  These proceeds are used to purchase fireworks and candy.  Just as the Sun once never set on the English empire, this event is remembered among many of England’s most prominent colonies including New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa.

As mentioned earlier, Alan Moore used this event and Guy Fawkes as a plot device in his 10-issue comic book run V for Vendetta.  However, Mr. Moore reconsiders the significance of this event with startling insight.  Instead of using the Gunpowder plot as a means of inspiring loyalty to governance, Mr. Moore suggests government should always be mindful of the power of its citizens when united in common cause.

We’re on day two of November, and despite daylight savings time, you may already be behind. That is, if you’re a writer. November is chock full of writing-themed challenges, most of which involve writing at breakneck speeds.

You may already be familiar with National Novel Writing Month, a challenge to the writing community to write 50,000 words by the close of the month. It’s “thirty days and nights of literary abandon!” and Twitter is already alight with tweets from novelists cranking away.

In response to NaNoWriMo, a group has declared November to be National Blog Posting Month as well. The challenge here? Post one time daily for the entire month of November. According to Twitter, the challenge is being met.

So, whether you’re interested in writing a novel or just getting your blog back in shape, you’ve got options. But, you better get cracking, the month is already 2 days old. So, here are some ideas to help get the creative juices flowing:

Thinking negatively can boost your memory, study finds

“Whereas positive mood seems to promote creativity, flexibility, cooperation, and reliance on mental shortcuts, negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking paying greater attention to the external world,” Forgas wrote.

You could go so many directions with this. First, it’s an interesting story to dissect based on the headline. The actual study offered some interesting details on the benefits of both positive and negative thinking, but then again, “Balancing positive and negative thinking boosts memory and creativity equally, study finds” is not a very compelling headline.

World’s largest cruise ship squeezes under Danish bridge

The 20 story tall ship, The Oasis of the Seas narrowly cleared the Great Belt Fixed Link while departing on it’s maiden voyage. This is really good news, and passengers should revel in this for a while. After all, the cruise is headed to Florida, which means it’s all downhill from here.

Honor Sandwich day — Vote for the Greatest Sandwich in America

Go meta! Use November’s tribute to writing to pay tribute to another November dedication — sandwiches! November 3rd is the home of the oft-overlooked Sandwich Day. The good folks over at lemondrop have compiled a list of 16 sandwiches for their readers to vote on. A friend of mine has a published poem titled, “Ode to the Sandwich” which you can find in his book, The Date Fruit Elegies. Paying tribute to the art of food while making social commentary is possible, people!

Surprise! Cost cutting boosts Ford’s profits to almost $1bn in 2nd quarter

In a total shocker, Ford has announced nearly $1 billion in profit during the 2nd quarter. The company is crediting cost cutting, but did cash for clunkers play a part?

Obama warns more job losses coming

On a sour note, President Obama has warned of more job losses looming in the future. I’m not sure about you, but now might be a good time to take advantage of November’s writing-centric themes. Just think, this could lead to selling your novel, or open the door to the next breakthrough blog that takes the Internet by storm.

We’re taking the challenge, and I’m going to get things rolling on my own personal blog as well. We’ll see how that goes.

So, what are you waiting for? Start writing! And be sure to share your work in the Creative Writing group on Current.com.

It’s an exciting time around these parts. For those of you who regularly read our posts, there are two things that may hold true:

You’re well acquainted with my weekly Around the Blogs posts where I recap some of the posts on our other Current blogs: News, Movies, Music, Green, Tech, and Comedy.

You’re growing tired of the rather bland layout of our blogs. Admittedly, these were a patchwork effort when they launched, but now that we’re picking up a little steam…

Join me, for a very special “BEHOLD! A STYLISH NEW BLOG LAYOUT!” edition of Around the Blogs. Here’s a round-up of recent posts from our blogs, but do yourself a favor and check out the new layout for each blog. Let us know what you think!

// Vanguard Blog //

Speaking of Vanguard…the team put together a Season III Preview which aired on Current TV last night. Did you miss it? Don’t worry! According to our new TV Schedule, the Vanguard Season III Preview will be re-airing on Saturday October 10th 4:30/7:30c.

On October 1st, the Vanguard crew did a special presentation for Current Italy. Here are some highlights:

Laura Ling opened the live show with some thoughts about Vanguard’s mission.

Mariana van Zeller flexed one of her five spoken languages, acting as host and translator for the rest of the team during the show. What CAN’T she do?

// Current Music Blog //

Have you embedded Embedded yet? Don’t look at me like that. Seriously, if you have a website, blog, MySpace account, or any other home on the Internet that takes video embeds, now is your time. Current Music is looking for help raising awareness for their upcoming special, Embedded.

This is where you come in, I’ll let Shana’s words do the talking:

Embed Embedded is a viral game in which users get a unique embed code for a sneak peek video from our new six part music special. The user who generates the highest number of video views during a one-week period gets a limited edition poster for the show designed by legendary music artist Justin Hampton. Each week we’ll put up a new video and you have a new chance to be our mastermind of viral videos.

When you log in (hey, we have Facebook Connect login BTW) and visit Embed Embedded on Current each week, you’ll find a different video clip to embed. The code to the video on the Embed Embedded page is unique to you. The user with the most views on their video will become the top embed user for the week, and will be showered with praise in the Current Music blog. So what are you waiting for? Start embedding your unique embed code, help us spread the word, and get the opportunity to score some exclusive Embedded swag.

I’ll even help you out. My bet for video views would be to embed your unique embed code on your blog, then submit the link to your blog post to Digg, Reddit, Tumblr, StumbleUpon, Yahoo! Buzz, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.

Well, what are you waiting for?

// Current News //

Lightening round for the News blog:

1. Love in Gaza: A Palestinian couple marries against all odds
   

   “Der Spiegel has a great story of a Palestinian couple, he in Gaza and she in the West Bank, who came together despite the blockade and travel restrictions. How? The bride crawled through a smugglers’ tunnel out of Egypt.”

   Read the rest of the story here

2. Did the US capture an Iranian nuclear scientist? – Reasons to think they did
   

   “Crazy accusations from a regime known for its bending of the truth? Perhaps. But Seymour Hersh of the New Yorker wrote a controversial article last year disclosing the Bush Administrations secret plans to go to war with Iran, and also pointing out a rise in clandestine activities by the US in the Islamic Republic. Additionally, at a talk in Minnesota in March, Hersh went into a little more detail. While he made headlines with a claim that the Bush Administration had “an executive assassination ring”, he also described secret US efforts to capture an Iranian nuclear scientist inside of Iran and use that person to make the case that Iran was secretly building a bomb. So perhaps not such a crazy claim.”

   Read more here.

3. Fighting IEDs with advertising
   

   “With IED deaths rising in Afghanistan, what new, futuristic counter-insurgency strategies will the military unleash? How about anti-IED ads?”

   Read the full post here.

// Current Movies Blog //

A couple of quick tidbits from the Current Movies blog, as John is wrapping up his coverage of the New York Film Festival.

This week he took a look at Pedro Almodóvar’s latest, Broken Embraces and reports back from the press conference featuring both Almodovar and Penélope Cruz. Take a look, it features some of Lichman’s finest doodles.

Before that, he took a look at the Palme d’Or snatching film from Michael Haneke, The White Ribbon. Here’s a snippet:

“On one hand, it is every bit as brutal and bleak as Caché–almost to a startling degree to some fellow viewers sitting around the first few rows. But on the other hand, If you want proof the Cannes Film Festival is a joke, then look no further than this Children of the Corn remake that won.”

Ouch.

Last but not least, Ellen Fox walked us through Fame by the numbers. Here’s a taste:

1. As for the original Fame, it combined the surging hormones of high school and the ache of young artists into a wonderfully frizzy, perspiring, autumn-colored postcard from a New York that’s not around anymore.
2. New York in 1980 – Graffiti on the subway, no AIDS ransacking the performing arts and not one, but TWO Howard Johnson’s in Times Square. The original’s where a supposedly street-smart Irene Cara meets a sleazy predator. (It’s also where my parents went on their first date).
3. If you’re like me, and you like to daydream that you’re a serious, emotional teenage dancer (yes, say it with me, dancer!) who lives life at the dance studio, you’ll probably love it. The leg-warmers, the artfully mismatched outfits, the boobs. This look wasn’t invented by American Apparel, ya know.

You can read her full post (and you should) on the Current Movies blog.

// Current Tech Blog //

Things you need to know:

1. Hunch and Simler are cool. And they sound better than Facebook and Twitter when you talk to your friends.
2. The future of healthcare is online
3. Sarah found a walkthrough of the last 30 years in Apple mouse history. You’re welcome.

// Current Green Blog //

Leah keeps the Current Green blog stocked fresh with food for thought. Here are a few things you may have missed:

1. Healthy Food, Healthy Thought — from guest blogger Joti Levy!
   

   Today, I witnessed a trauma, a trauma that happens every day in Bayview-Hunters Point. I’m not talking about Uganda, but 94124. San Francisco, one of the liberal hubs of the universe. A Superfund toxic site, a modern-day ghetto where the normal pedestrian has to travel miles to get to a grocery store with “healthy” produce — AKA fresh vegetables.

2. Leah found a DIY on a nickel and dime way to use sink water to flush your toilet, and decided to ask What’s your Green It Yourself idea?
3. Is “frugal” the latest sexy trend?
   

   “But is “extreme frugality” the latest emerging trend? Have we come to a place where we understand that (gasp) resources are limited: and the limited resources in our wallet could be the best metaphor to understand the limited resources on the planet?”

// Current Comedy Blog //

Sometimes FAILs are FAILs. Other times, they aren’t. Josh lives for the opportunity to analyze and re-evaluate FAILs.

So here he is, with part 3 in his ongoing series of “Some FAILs, that I don’t think are FAILs”.

It’s important to stay informed, and Josh is doing his part. So take a look at some PSAs (that aren’t real), and don’t say he didn’t warn you.

It’s time, once again, for another Current blogs round-up. Sit back, let the tea steep, and let’s dig in, shall we?

Current News

According to bansheewail’s post earlier this week, prescription drug related deaths have actually overtaken traffic fatalities in 16 states. Andrew took a closer look on the Current News blog, and according to the CDC, that number has been on the rise lately. The question is, why? The AP points to changes in the way doctors prescribe painkillers, and this actually coincides with the season premiere of Vanguard on October 14th. In “The Oxycontin Express,” Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Florida, “the epicenter of the prescription drug boom.” Be sure to check it out.

Mariana van Zeller travels to Florida to investigate the prescription drug boom in Vanguard’s premiere, “The Oxycontin Express”

Some of biggest news this week came out of the South Pacific, where a pair of earthquakes and a tsunami ravaged the Samoa Islands and Indonesia. Andrew pulled together raw video intel and followed the story closely. Take a look.

Current Music

The Current Music team is racing to the finish line in preparation for the premiere of Embedded, immediately following the season premiere of Vanguard on October 14th. Shana took a minute to share progress on the six-part special on the Current Music blog: apparently the team is knee-deep in post-production on the six episodes, as well as preparation for online distribution.

Also, Alex posted photos from The Dodo’s show at the El Rey. Alex always takes amazing photos at shows, so head over to the blog and check them out. If you have a few extra minutes to spare, give this a look as well.

Current Movies

John has continued to make due on his festival coverage with dispatches from the New York Film Festival. A couple of excellent posts this week, one covering some of the influences and inspirations behind Harmony Korine’s latest, Trash Humpers.

Additionally, John finally screens Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist, the film that compelled Cannes audiences to collectively question, “Why?” Additionally, Von Trier went on record with this film, proclaim that “I am the best filmmaker in the world.” Check out John’s review here.

Current Tech

Over on Current Tech, Sarah Lane shed a little light on her shopping addiction with her exploration of your best online shopping options and deals. As community member aaronights pointed out, “No wonder you’re always low on cash!”

In a far less costly post, Sarah takes a look at another obsession that is apparently taking over the world: Twitter Apps. More specifically, OneForty — the Twitter App store that Twitter forgot to build. Seriously, take a look.

Current Green

Leah spent some time chatting with Colin Beavan (you may know him as No Impact Man from his Twitter account, blog, and the trailer of his new movie), and discusses the dedication it takes for someone like No Impact Man to commit to a lifestyle change of this extreme magnitude. All in the name of “green.” It’s quite remarkable.

Keeping in theme with environmental heroism, Leah caught up with photographer Ian Shive — the man dedicated to saving our National Parks one photo at a time. If you haven’t checked out “Photos Across America” yet, be sure to give this post a read.

Current Comedy

Thursday nights mean a new episode of infoMania. In case you missed it, you have Josh to thank because Fridays are “Hey check out what happened on infoMania” days on the Current Comedy blog.

Josh likes to combat claims of failure. In fact, you might even call him a FAIL adjuster. In the FAILspace, he is what an auditor is to accounting. Once again he’s worked up another account of why some supposed FAILS are, in fact, not FAILS. Peep them here.

Vanguard

An added bonus this week, our friends in Vanguard are ramping up their blogging efforts, and to kick things off they’ve posted a couple gems for you to take a look at. First up, Vanguard correspondent Laura Ling shared her thoughts on Vanguard’s mission during a live event in Italy. As an added treat, the full broadcast of the Italy event is embedded on the post, so if you’ve ever wanted to hear Mariana van Zeller speak Italian, make sure to watch beyond the intro.

Speaking of Mariana, her piece “The Oxycontin Express” is going to be our season premiere for Vanguard on October 14th, and as an added bonus the team was invited to tape an episode of Dr. Phil and discuss both her documentary and the prevalence of prescription drugs. Darren posted some photos from the visit to Dr. Phil, so go check it out. The Dr. Phil episode with Mariana will air on the same day as our Vanguard season premiere, October 14th.

News

Over on the Current News blog, Andrew took a look at setback for MILF rebels in the Philippines. Also, Obama’s UN address raises a question about whether or not it added up to anything substantial. Lastly, Manuel Zelaya returns to Honduras after being ousted, only to remain behind the gates of the Brazilian embassy. Tegucigalpa is rioting, check out his posts for raw video.

Vanguard: The Art of War

• >> Leader of Philippines rebel movement captured – Setback for MILF rebels
• >> What should America’s intl priorities be? – Did Obama’s address change anything?
• >> Manuel Zelaya’s triumphant(?) return to Honduras

Music

Hey, did you hear the news? We’re launching a brand new show on Current TV!! It’s called Embedded, and man…we’re all super stoked about it.

Mos Def is coming to Current TV October 14th

Shana has the scoop over on the Current Music blog, along with some other awesome f’ing Amanda Palmer, Neutral Milk Hotel, and High School Musical news (wha?? — ed. note: just read the post) from Peter Grumbine.

• >> Mos Def is coming to Current TV October 14th
• >> Amanda F’ing Palmer, Neutral F’ing Milk Hotel, and a high school f’ing musical

Movies

John’s been playing hooky entrenched in all things related to the New York Film Festival, so here’s what he has for this week’s round-up on the Current Movies blog:

• >> New York Film Festival By The Numbers: 9/17 to 9/23
• >> We’re Watching: Afterschool trailer
• >> Wednesday’s Important News: Sweet Diablo’s Valley High…Lander Remake, and the Nic Cage as Superman picture

Tech

I seriously laughed myself to tears when I saw Sarah’s recent “olive branch in the form of a tweet” to Justine Bateman. Here’s an article to catch you up on the drama, and if you feel like lending a helping hand post a tweet with #helpmallory in it.

Twitter tools. Also, my hatred of babies.

Here are Sarah’s recent Current Tech blog offerings:

• >> Power Twitter in Twitter tools. Also, my hatred of babies.
• >> iPhone I love you but you’re bringing me down.

Green

Leah’s been cranking away with posts, and a few from Current Green blog guest bloggers as well. Take a look at a few of her latest, and check out her recent Activist 911, an interview with Amazon Watch activist Han Shan. They discuss the new film CRUDE in “Death zone in Ecuador”:

Activist 911: Death Zone in Ecuador

• >> Guest Blog Post: Land mark case: environmental orgs can sue electric utility companies
• >> Powershift announces new schedule regional summits
• >> Activist 911: Death zone in Ecuador

Comedy

Over on the Current Comedy blog Josh makes an interesting comparison between Muammar al-Gaddaffi and accidental comedy — because nothing is funnier than a dictator who unintentionally takes to stand-up. Also up for perusal is the latest Current Virals rundown, and rather serious flooding in the southeast US conjures up rather flippant memories of TV’s Step-by-Step.

• >> Gaddafi is a dictator, a very entertaining dictator
• >> Current Virals 9/22
• >> Six Flags underwater

Current News

Holy cow. If you haven’t been reading Andrew Fitzgerald’s latest posts over on the Current News blog, you’ve been missing out. Don’t panic, we’ll get you caught up.

First up is a post that includes raw footage of Afghan insurgents being blown up by their own IED. The footage is shot from overhead from the perspective of airborne Apache helicopters, and well…

Here’s a snippet:

US military personnel watch as Afghan insurgents set up a deadly IED and then accidentally trigger it themselves. I think this video is pretty rare: I imagine not many insurgents are caught on camera setting up their IEDs.

Check out the full video on the Current News blog and see for yourself.

To top things off, Andrew hit the ground running today with two new posts: The first regards Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi reporter made famous for throwing his shoes at President George W. Bush, and the implications of his reception post-release. Next up Andrew revisits the Kibera slums, which are now beginning to be dismantled in Kenya. Several years ago, Vanguard’s Christof Putzel produced a peice on the Kibera slums, take a look:

Vanguard’s Christof Putzel takes a look at the Kibera slum

In his post Andrew brings us updates on the present state of things in the Kibera slums outside of Nairobi. Take a look.

Current Movies

As is the style of John Lichman’s Current Movies blog dispatches, here is a listicle of important posts you may have missed out on:

1. The New York Film Festival is starting up, and Current Movies is all over it. I suspect covering the fest may have been an elaborate ploy on Lichman’s part, who may be secretly missing NYC. However, he’s promised that we’ll be premiering trailers, interviews, and magical unicorns over on Current Movies and our New York Film Festival group. Keep an eye out for more, I’m holding him to it.
2. John caught Stingray Sam at CineVegas this year, and he hasn’t stopped talking about it. Good news for you, both his review and film’s episodes are available via the tubes. Take a peek.
3. Toronto A to F, Weinstein’s Super Serious Bet, and Harry Potter’s Park. All part of Wednesday’s Important News.
4. Speaking of festivals, are there too many out there? Read and decide for yourself?

Current Music

Over on the Current Music blog, Shana Naomi Krochmal unleashes word of two new punk rock docs. Check out the details, and peruse a list of classic punk rock doc faves culled from the Current Music community!

From the “Get this now” files, Peter Grumbine has not 1, but 2 offerings this week:

Os Mutantes’ “Haih or Amortecedor” is their first album in 35 years. Here’s some of what Peter had to say:

If you don’t know Mutantes, it would be easy to say something like they’re the Brazilian Beatles or the Brazilian version of the guys from Buena Vista Social Club, but they’re not; they’re Os Mutantes.

The Mutantes were a big part of the Tropicalia movement in Brazil during the ’60s. Imagine what you know about the psychedelic ’60s in America and the UK, and then combine that with Carnival, and you can basically suss up the sound of that movement. Put simply, it’s fucking wild.

Read more here.

As a “Get this too” add-on, Peter recommends Rodrigo y Gabriela. Here’s what he had to say:

In case you don’t know the story, years ago, Rodrigo y Gabriela were in some badass metal bands in Mexico, but they grew tired of the limited scene and potential there. A lady from Mexico who had moved to Ireland was back in Mexico and ran into them. After talking about their situation, she invited them to come stay with her in Ireland, a country where artists were treated better. Ah fate, at last!

Read more here.

Current Tech

Ever since Sarah Lane took Final Cut Pro classes, she’s been cutting together some awesome tech videos and posting them on the Current Tech blog. Here’s a taste of flickr’s new iPhone app, plus a list of some of the others she’s cooked up:

1. Flickr’s iPhone App… Finally!
2. Mag.ma – All the videos you love, plus the ones you don’t
3. ColorSuckr for Photo Enthusiasts/Amateur Designers
4. Who here likes Helvetica? *Raises hand*

Current Green

Over on the Current Green blog, Leah Lamb tackled the green contraception debate (who knew?) while fantasizing about getting a greener car. Here’s a snippet of what she learned:

I recently learned while checking out an article reporting on the Frankfurt Auto Show: I should start using condoms to lower my carbon footprint. The facts are coming out, if you want a car that has a small carbon footprint (we’ll skip over the argument that you wouldn’t have a car) than you should have a small car. A very small car. The kind of car that would make you get out of it if you wanted to…discuss… the birds and the bees. The kind of car that doesn’t need to carry a large family.

Who knew, right? Give the full post a look to learn more.

Guest poster Joshua Wiese, the coordinator for the Adopt a Negotiator project kicked off our first post for 360 Degrees of Copenhagen — a series of blog posts leading up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (aka COP15) in Copenhagen on December 7th, 2009. Give it a read.

Current Comedy

Funny man Josh Heller is in a “tribute” mood this week, and he has three Current Comedy blog posts to place on the alter of the Internet gods (that means you, dear readers):

1. First up, a Current Virals rundown dedicated to the memory of Patrick Swayze. No one puts Heller in the corner.
2. Next up, a very special Current Comedy blog post about the most famous meme to ever surface from Mexico in dedication of Mexican Independence Day.
3. Last, but not least, a special taste of what is to come on infoMania this week. Here’s a hint: it involves Sarah Haskins and backpacks. Think you know the answer? Better click to make sure.