Gunvertising

Here's a question we don't have an answer to:

Why, when we look at movie posters where celebrities are proudly holding guns, don't we think: Hey, wait a second... That's product placement!

Think about it.

A gun is just a product like any other.

But somehow, when Angelina Jolie is toting one, it becomes an accessory. Not a product. Simply an extension of her arm. A symbol to show that she is capable, deadly, not-to-be-trifled-with, etc.

But a gun isn't a symbol, it's a product made expressly for the purpose of ending human life.

We thought this the other day as we were looking at a poster for that movie "Wanted"
Everyone in the poster is holding guns, which turns the poster into a double ad. One for the movie, one for the guns.

Why is this okay?

So far as we know, a gun is good for one thing: throwing a chunk of metal really fast. Usually at another person. So, a gun is a machine for throwing metal chunks at other people.

A pretty destructive act.

We have no problem with guns. But when they are advertised in such a blatant, (yet subtle) way, with no real thought put into why one would advertise a gun in the first place, that's when we think they've crossed the line into the realm of... dare we say it... environmental negativity.

Angelina Jolie seems to care very deeply about the suffering of folks in war-torn places.
So it strikes us as counter-intuitive for her to be advertising guns.

But make no mistake about it, she's advertising guns.

When you see a celebrity advertising guns, ask yourself: Why is Celebrity X advertising those guns? How much are they being paid to advertise those guns? How much are the gun corporations paying the studios for the honor of having their products toted by said celebrities?

It's time to stop and reconsider gunvertising.

Here's a link to a Yahoo Answers thread where someone was asking about a list of all the guns featured in the movie.

If this post seems a bit prickly for your average SuperForest post, it is simply because lately we here in NYC have been surrounded by these posters. Which makes the posters a big part of our environment.

And, since we are in the business of improving our environment we thought it prudent to spread the "look out for gunvertising" meme.

Love to all,

Team SuperForest.



Mmmmmm! Bananas and radishes!
(Brought to you by the Banana/Radish Coalition in conjunction with the Banana/Radish Lobby 2008)

Kim Stanley Robinson: Red, Green, and Blue Mars

Morning All,

Jackson here. I'm a real sucker for space exploration/terraforming novels, and Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars trilogy may be one of my favorites.

These great, sprawling books begin on Earth with the selection of the second team to head to Mars, (the first team was on a temporary exploratory mission), this time with the intention of staying.

During the long journey from Earth to Mars, the crew get into a heated discussion as to their duty to begin terraforming (making more Earth-like) the planet, ostensibly to pave to way for further waves of colonists.

This proposed terraforming inspires heated and passionate debates, with scientists closing ranks around the two polar viewpoints: One being, "our presence on this planet is a form of terraforming anyway, so why not just continue it?" And the second being: "What right do we have to destroy the natural systems of an entire planet, corrupt it with our Earthly designs, when we don't know anything about the planets' past, including whether or not it ever harbored life, and can we as scientists even take that risk?"

Of course, a third viewpoint springs up between the two extremes that merely says: "Everything will change. Mars. Us. Everything. This change will be something completely new, neither Martian nor Earthling. Life will always find a way to replicate itself. We must simply accept that this will be so."

This immense debate happens amid a flurry of activity on the colonizing ship, and only gets more heated once the colonists actually touch down on the Red Planet and set to work building the first permanent settlement on Mars. And that's just the first few chapters of book one.

A great read, full of interesting and conflicting viewpoints. The Red Mars trilogy also serves as a pretty effective (and plausible) primer on the difficulties of space travel, human group dynamics, Machiavellian politics, closed-system agriculture, solar flares, revolution, and the inevitability of a colony eventually freeing itself from the yoke of its colonial masters.

Along with Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" "Red Mars" is a must read for lovers of planetary exploration/colonization sci-fi.

Here's the Red Mars wiki.
Here's the Red Mars trilogy on Amazon.
And even better, here's the Red Mars Kindle version.


Red Mars, Red Mars, here we come. Right back where we started from...


Love,

-Jackson

Outstanding Octopi!

Octopodes are so cool.

We just found a great youtube viddy of an octopus doing its thang.

Check it out, it's pretty impressive:



Here are a few other impressive facts:

"Octopuses have three hearts. Two pump blood through each of the two gills, while the third pumps blood through the body."

"When under attack, some octopuses can detach their own limbs, in a similar manner to the way skinks and other lizards detach their tails. The crawling arm serves as a distraction to would-be predators; this ability is also used in mating."

"There are three forms of the plural of octopus; namely, octopuses, octopi, and octopodes. Currently, octopuses is the most common form in the UK as well as the US; octopodes is rare, and octopi is often objected to."

Interesting, no?

Happy Monday!

-Team SuperForest

DIY Invisibility Sunglasses!

To be honest, these cheap, DIY, Infra-red, sunglasses wont make you invisible to your fellow humans, just to CCTV cameras and the paparazzi.

We want!

Look how easy:



Anti-Paparazzi Sunglasses - video powered by Metacafe

We saw this on wonderful, whimsical boingboing.

We Out!

(lovely upstate image via flickr user kiki the cat)

Afternoon All!

We're packing up and heading upstate for some creative makin' time!

Have a great weekend.

Love to all,

Team SuperForest

Ori Ben-Shabat - BOXeD

Ori Ben-Shabbat! Nice viddy. Very Platonic.

Here's Ori's site.

Hill and Bama Playing So Nicey Nice!

What a difference a month makes!

Look at these photos. Hillary and Obama being very sweet to one another, no Photoshop needed.
All fighting and acrimony has been traded for kisses and cuddles, and it puts a big ol' SuperForest grin on our faces.

I guess we can all get along!
(We always knew we could.)

These photos accompany an article in the Times called: "All Aboard the Trip to Unity"

Love to All,

Team SF



(After you. Oh no, you first! Oh, I'd be delighted! Thank you so much!)

Ken Robinson @ TED: Schooling and Creativity

Wow. This is an amazing TED talk. Funny, inspiring, and persuasive. Sir Ken outlines what he sees as a fundamental flaw into our world's education system in what is no contest, the laugh out loud funniest TED talk to date.

Enjoy.



Here's a great quote:

"I believe our only hope for the future is to adopt a new conception of human ecology. One which starts to reconstitute our conception of the richness of human capacity.

Our education system has mined our minds in the way that we strip mine the earth, for a particular commodity. And for the future it won't serve us.

We have to rethink the the fundamental principles on which we're educating our children.

We may not see this future, but they will, and our job is to help them make something of it."

Marvelous.



Here's Sir Ken's Wiki
And Sir Ken's site

MyPOWER Team Cycles Australia, Highlights Sustainability

Hello All,

Just blundered on to this great series of viddys from MyPOWER.

MyPOWER is a team of Aussies who are cycling around mainland Australia, highlighting positive environmental and sustainable actions wherever they go. Four guys, three bikes, and one support Prius seems to be all it takes to produce some deliciously fun and informative eco-media.

Check it out:

Part the first-


Part the second-


Part the third-

(Ooooh nice! We love the Food Forest! Great name.)

They've only got three episodes up right now, but we'll post more as they become available.

It's great work these cats are doing and we heartily support them.

Here's the MyPOWER site.

Go MyPOWER! Pedal! Pedal! Pedal!

p.s. Here's a link to bonus MyPOWER footage

Slashdot: Mars Soil Able to Sustain Life

Morning All,

Interesting post over on slashdot about Martian soil and its newly discovered ability to sustain vegetable life. Apparently you could grow some pretty hardy asparagus on Big Red. We say "hardy" because said asparagus would have to put up with temperatures ranging from +81º to -225º(!)

Oooh, wired has a post too!

Here are both:

Slashdot
Wired

This is great news! We're heading there someday, and this data shows that the planet can support us when we get there.

Robo-Clarinet Plays "Flight of the Bumblebee"

This is a special shout out to SuperForesters Christine and Josie.

Enjoy, my little bumblebees!



Robots and music! Music and robots!

Fun and fun and fun!

The Global Mind

Here's a thought:

The internet represents the Global Mind. The collective "brain" of our entire species.

So,

The more time you spend on the internet, the greater your awareness of the Global Mind.

This is a wonderful thing.

Surf the 'net. Expand your horizons.

New York Street Snaps: Wild and Wonderful NYC!

Grommet - Hudson River Park

Hey All!

Jackson here.

New York is such an inspiring and enlightening place to be.
Where else in the world can you find such an incredible mix of ideas and interests?

I try to take a picture whenever I see something interesting, and here is a little taste. The photos are all from this year, and all were taken with my iPhone.

Enjoy.


Front Yard - Red Hook


Antler Car - Red Hook


Antler Car 2 - Red Hook


Peace Bag at Street Festival - Chelsea


Mr. Softee Gets a Promotion - W. Village


Little Green Brownstone - Chelsea



Internet Phone - Midtown


Two Cats Logo - Chelsea


Two Cats Logo 2 - Chelsea


Street Closed - Chelsea


Tape Graf - Chelsea


Tape Graf 2 - Chelsea


Melies Gate - Chelsea


Easter Sunday - Financial District


Woman in Light - Chelsea


Shop Window - Chelsea


Trash Bike - Chelsea

Bikes in the trash is something I'm not sure I'll ever get used to.


Trash Fendi - Chelsea


We Plant 2 Trees - East Village


Love Song 422 - East Village


LED Sidewalk - Chelsea


Street Fair Clean Up - Midtown


Heavenly Space Invader - Chelsea


Sprinkler Siamese/Standpipe Siamese - Chelsea

Love this town.

Got any good pics? Want them on SF?
Send 'em on in to: superforestnyc@gmail.com

2 Great Central Park Pics

Hula Dancers on Great Lawn - 1946

Truly a Sheep Meadow.

These made us smile. Enjoy.

Jena Malone Brings The Shoe to NY!

Jena Malone, multi-talented free-spirit entrepeneuse is bringing her band/art project/experiential to NY this weekend for 3 free shows.

Fun!






Here's the intel:

---------------------------THE SHOE PERFORMS------------------------------

A WIND BLEW
AND THE SHOE KNEW
THAT SUMMER IN CITY WAS A CONSTANT BLOOM

...........THE SHOE ANNOUCES THEIR OFFICIAL N.Y.C NAPKIN TOUR......
JUNE 27, 28 , 29

FRIDAY,JUNE 27: the caress!! the call!! lovers in central park will walk hand in hand while the shoe sings out in remembrance. Come to the gazebo at the southern end of central park, close to the pond. Hopefully the wind will carry if you get lost! THE SHOE PERFORMS @ 7:30PM

SATURDAY. JUNE 28: our patron saint jack offers his abode. an interior space of love and paint and heart spells!! brown bag your bottles!! this is an inside/out show. come to jack's bar at 85 south 6th street on the corner of barry street. THE SHOE PERFORMS at 7:30pm

SUNDAY, JUNE 29: Todd P's acoustic BBQ on roosevelt island. this is a NEW KIND of show for the shoe. fellow musicians coming together to play for the wind! how wonderful!! bring your own rabbits and stews and ribs and lemonade. On the southern tip of roosevelt island. enter on the corner of main st and road 3. come for fellowship and watching manhattan set itself on fire by the sun!! THE SHOE PERFORMS @ 5:30-ish. don't be scared of this island there are many trams and cars and horses that come to the island everyday!!


thanks!!

LOVE

THE SHOE
(aka jena and lem jay)

Every show is free! Sweet t-shirts and cds for sale!

We really adore this venture. The Shoe travels around, bringing magic and mischief with them, performing for free and inviting people to experience them in as unfettered and refreshing a manner as possible.

Go see one of the shows! Go see all of them!
Get right up close and reach out and touch.

Love to all,

Team SuperForest

And by all means, visit Jena's site for her record label: There Was An Old Woman

And also The Shoe's myspace page

Yum.