VICE: Peruvian Scissor Dancing

The folks at VICE produce a lot of really great videos highlighting cultural practices around the world. I've been a fan of their Americana series for awhile now. Their new travel/adventure series "All the Wrong Places" features exactly what you'd expect from the title - visiting people doing some far out stuff. Take, for example, Peruvian scissor dancing. It's a dance, a test of strength, and a heavy dose of exhibitionism as men - dancers and musicians - perform acts of increasingly cringe-worthy self-mutilation. The part that got the hair on my neck up is when a dude lays down on some cholla cactus. I've felt those before myself - in my legs - and I'm not looking to run into them again, let alone drive dozens of their spikes into my back. Ouch!

Pururambo

Erin and I watched Pavol Barabas's exploration documentary, Pururambo, and I can't say I'm entirely positive how I feel about it. I've been a delinquent blogger (but perhaps a better grad student) and I thought this movie might be something interesting enough to share.

Barabas is a Slovak film maker and explorer; Pururambo documents his trip into the interior of New Guinea and his various encounters with distinct groups of Kombai native people. I tried to find an English version on Youtube, but no luck. We watched it on Netflix and it's available for streaming.

Barabas travels through thick jungle swamps, encountering wary people, and establishing goodwill with packets of tobacco and sugar candy. He stops with each encounter to highlight something about the group he's with, reveal larger aspects of Kombai life, or pontificate on the deleterious effects of Western cultures on indigenous peoples. Barabas is particularly tough on missionaries for corrupting and destroying cultures, even dedicating the final, frustrating moments of the film to the Kombai's hypothetical cultural death after exposure to missionaries. Of course, his criticisms stand - missionaries wreak havoc on indigenous cultures, inculcating them with ideologies and rules they are not culturally prepared to understand. All the antibiotics and Salvation Army jean shorts in the world can't buy a culture. The result is infrequently conversion to Christianity, but often the loss of the original culture. Yet, as Barabas strolls into villages, quelling arrows and gaining shelter, food, and guidance before a camera lens, one has to wonder whether some of the vitriol he aims at missionaries isn't on some level to ameliorate his own conscience. His presence disrupts each village he enters and he offers gifts of food and reveals technology. More often than not he narrowly escapes being shot by obviously alarmed and bewildered men before gaining confidence and hospitality. If you're a Star Trek nerd, you might say he violates the Prime Directive.

Keeping in mind that the film is translated from Slovak, Barabas's word choice might not quite meet professional anthropological standards. He refers to the Kombai as "barbaric" and "headhunters." I admire how he presents his discomfort and even fear, but at times I felt unguided when trying to determine if he described the Kombai or his own anxiety about them with this language, and I think that distinction matters.

Finally, the film ends abruptly with no explanations. The Internet furnishes no clues, so prepare to be frustrated. That sounds like a lot of criticism, but of course some of it is my attempts to reconcile what it means to be of Barabas's tribe and consider he represents us to the Kombai, whether he intends to or not. With all my ethical reservations, the footage is remarkable and it certainly raises awareness. The film exists to be seen now and even a 55 minute glimpse of a culture so vastly different than ours deserves seeing. At minute 6:50 in the clip I provided, a man explains how they count using places on their bodies rather than with their fingers.

I'm Not a Climate Scientist, but I Can Still Speak the Truth

Warning: The video is not safe for work - the rest of the post is probably OK!



I came across this video earlier today. It's produced by The Hungry Beast, an Australian television show that combines comedy/satire with current events. This rap song, "I'm a Climate Scientist," features real climate scientists using hip hop to both point out the actuality of climate change and demonstrate the utter weaknesses of climate change denier's arguments. It's funny to hear scientists swear, but I'm left asking, who is this for? Who is the audience?

Climate scientists Peter Doran and Maggie Kendall Zimmerman lay out the challenge facing their profession clearly in their 2009 article, "Examining the Scientific Consensus on Climate Change," which appeared in Eos: American Geophysical Union. They write:

It seems that the debate on the authenticity of global warming and the role played by human activity is largely nonexistent among those who understand the nuances and scientific basis of long-term climate processes. The challenge, rather, appears to be how to effectively communicate this fact to policy makes and to a public that continues to mistakenly perceive debate among scientists.

Nothing demonstrates the challenge Doran and Zimmerman describe more poignantly than the "I'm a Climate Scientist" song and video. Far from winning over climate skeptics, this video would likely make them feel ridiculed while at the same time offending them with bad language and failing to provide ample facts. It's misdirected as a persuasive video and I fail to find another purpose for it beyond humor. But why make such a dedicated appeal to authority if the intention of the video is merely humor? Why include facts and climate scientists?

More than anything else "I'm a Climate Scientist" expresses frustration. Frustration with lies perpetuated by special interest groups and the people foolish enough to believe them. Science relies on facts and evidence. How are scientists, and those of us who adequately understand most basic scientific ideas like climate change, supposed to communicate information when pointing to a huge pile of evidence and nearly complete consensus among experts fails? The video attacks the credibility of climate change deniers, a good approach for the situation, but the vehicle delivering the message is not persuasive - it's insulting. I also appreciate that a funny video will get more attention than a boring one, but I still believe this video is rhetorically ineffective because of the content - swearing, rapping, etc.

I understand the urge to ridicule climate change deniers. It's painful to see our world shaped by ignorance. It's hard to watch people destroy the environment when we know how it's happening and that we could be working to counteract it. We can understand scientific concepts more easily than we grasp the ignorance and gullibility of our fellow citizens. However, history doesn't support the rhetorical practicality of shaming or ridiculing large groups of people into thinking or behaving properly.

I don't have a complete solution to the challenge Doran and Zimmerman present, but I can say that we shouldn't make climate scientist go it alone. It's in our best interest to help climate scientists out. Get educated about the facts of climate change so that you can influence those you come into contact with. No one - not the most brilliant scientist - has the persuasive power of a friend or family member. If you know lots of climate change deniers, you have my condolences and your work cut out for you.

Friends don't let friend deny climate change.

For more info on climate change, visit The Pew Center on Global Climate Change.

Chickadees

One thing I miss about living in Massachusetts is chickadees. They're really fascinating birds to watch. If you've got a feeder, spend some time watching the chickadees.

VBS.TV - "Americana" - "The Muscle Shoals Sound"

In VBS.TV's newest installment of their "Americana" series, they move from the forests of Oregon to the swamps of Alabama. "The Muscle Shoals Sound" uses interviews and archival photographs and footage to explore "one of the birthplaces of rock & roll; Muscle Shoals, AL. The place Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Osmonds, Mac Davis, and Duane Allman made famous. We traveled to the internationally acclaimed recording town where host Ian Svenonius talked to some folks who helped establish it's distinctive American R & B sound."

The documentary both unearths the Muscle Shoals, AL area's rich recording history and highlights some contemporary Muscle Shoals musicians trying to make it in the shadow of the giants that came before them. These bands include Doc Dailey and Magnolia Devil, Satan's Youth Ministers, and The Pine Hill Haints. My friends may recognize The Haints as one of the bands I've been pestering you to listen to for a few years now. I'm really digging Doc Dailey and Magnolia Devil now too. Learn some history and discover cool bands all in one place!

Check out the trailer above and visit VICE/VBS.TV to watch the documentary in its entirety.

VBS.TV - The Oregon Fire Lines

The good folks over at Vice/VBS.TV were kind enough to give me the heads up on their new short documentary, "The Oregon Fire Lines." If you watched their recent online series, "Heimo's Arctic Refuge," you should be excited about this one too.  In the documentary, VBS.TV embed themselves with a group of forest fire firefighters from Medford, Oregon to see what the job entails. It looks like really, really hard work, but you can tell from the interviews that the guys who do the job enjoy it. There has to be something rewarding about being out in the woods with other hard-working people all day, busting your ass to keep people and places safe from forest fires. I spent the last weekend in Flagstaff, AZ and I saw the damage caused by the recent Schultz Fire, a huge blaze that tore up the San Francisco Peaks. It was caused by an abandoned campfire. Watch how hard these dudes up in Oregon work to prevent and extinguish forest fires and the way they put their lives on the line (literally). Keep it in mind the next time you're sure your fire's "mostly out."

The documentary is part the new "Americana" series that VBS is doing and hopefully there will be more to come. It's presented by Levi's and Filson. It looks like those brands have teamed up to make some sturdy work clothes - "Levi's Workwear by Filson." I found some photos here.

So, head on over to VBS.TV and watch "The Oregon Fire Lines" and peruse the other videos too. It's about 15 minutes long.

Pussy: The Racecar No Man Would Drive

I've met some cool people during my short stint as a census worker. Among these people is fellow enumerator, Heidi MacDonald. Heidi's car is what she calls an "art car" - it's painted with roses, the rear bumper reads "peace is da bomb," and her dashboard is covered in various objects. However, it wasn't always as, relatively speaking, unassuming. Heidi's car's last life was as the Pussy Car and it was the subject of a short film by Pan Left Productions called "Pussy: The Racecar No Man Would Drive." Watch it here via Real Player.  The car wasn't a vulgar prank, or an attention grabbing stunt, but a sort of social experiment. When I asked Heidi if it was weird to give up the anonymity we usually enjoy while riding around, she simply said she's driven art cars for a while and it seems natural to her. If you have a car, why not make it art? 

Dhani Tackles the Globe

In a recent post on Zane Lamprey and his show, Three Sheets, I also mentioned that I'm a fan of another Travel Channel show, Dhani Tackles the Globe. Well, the folks over at the Travel Channel happened to notice and they were kind enough to let me see an episode of the show before it airs. In the episode, Dhani travels to Jamaica and attempts the daunting task of playing cricket.

Here's the episode description:

Monday's all-new episode of Dhani Tackles the Globe finds Dhani in the Island nation of Jamaica trying his best to learn cricket. Jamaica is largely known as one of the world's most popular warm weather vacation spots, but cricket is a sport that is widely not understood by Americans.

The english colonials brought cricket to Jamaica in the early 19th century, when it was a "gentleman's game" meaning whites only. But soon after emancipation in 1838, cricket open to everyone. Soon a uniquely Jamaican version of the game evolved. It was much more aggressive, flamboyant, and athletic... it was dubbed "resistance cricket."

The only way to really learn cricket and Jamaica is to experience the it first hand. Dhani gets a heavy dose of the culture by doing his best to learn everything like a true Jamaican: with a smile on his face.


If you don't watch Dhani Tackles the Globe, let me let you in on why I like it. I'm not a big TV watcher, so a show needs a certain something before I'll like it, let alone recommend it. The premise of the show is simple enough: Dhani Jones is a linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals who goes around the world playing various sports and learning about different cultures in the process.


There are two primary things that I think make the show worth watching. First, Dhani often wins. It's one thing for an athlete to learn a sport, but Dhani learns, competes in serious competitions, and beats the locals at their own game. This could be obnoxious, but it's not - which brings me to the second reason I like the show. This show is probably the most positive hour of TV around. Dhani meets each challenge with a really positive attitude and, in the great effort he puts into learning the sport and the culture, he creates an intercultural experience defined by dignity and acceptance. He often encounters exotic things, but in these encounters he doesn't exoticise the individuals. You never feel like he's an American immersing himself in something primitive, a first-world adventurer journeying into the third world to satisfy the viewer's voyeuristic desire to see poverty, gross food, and primitive customs. It's great to watch the sports, and to learn about the cultures highlighted on this show, but if there is one thing worth learning from Dhani Jones, it's how we Americans should respect and engage with cultures different from our own.

Here's some interesting photos and content associated with the episode:

Jamaica Photo Journal:

http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Dhani_Jones/Photos/Slideshow_Behind_The_Scenes_In_Jamaica_1

Jamaica Travel Guide:

http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Dhani_Jones/Episodes_Travel_Guides/Jamaica#

This episode airs tomorrow, May 10th, at 11 PM E/P.