blog.champura.com

http://unfollowashton.com/

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 12:31:49 -0400

Because Twitter is not a popularity contest.

Twitter is the new Facebook. Facebook is the new MySpace.

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:24:21 -0400

Why do I like Twitter better than Facebook? This guy’s blog post sums it up really well.

why is twitter inherently different from facebook:

1) social networks usage patterns are dictated by its leading users, not by the actions encouraged by a technology / interface

Facebook is about hearing about the people in your life or past life’s lives. Call it ambient intimacy if you want whatever. It mirrors very much the types of relationships with real life people.

Twitter is about information streams / trend hunting/ real time search with people I dont necessarily have to know.

Facebook is about gossip. Twitter is about feeling connected/ a social sixth sense.

2) twitter is lightweight. facebook is heavy.

facebook not only has the messaging component, it also has its applications, networks , groups, granular rich privacy settings and networks.

twitter only has an on/off switch for privacy. you follow or unfollow someone.

why is “lightweightness” a key factor:

1) twitter encourages emergent behavior
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence

(e.g. twitter being used for flash mobs, for the backchannel effect, for reporting evil caltrain conductors, starting revolutions)
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/04/activist-charge.html
http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/03/sxsw-mark-zucke.html

2) twitter encourages creative usage from the users (not only developers)
3) twitter has a rich API which drives 95% of their traffic
4) twitter relationships can be built on the fly with hashtags
#groups surface relatioships in current situation
(used heavily for conferences and talks)
Twitter encourages new uses , facebook controls the types of uses.

3) your audience shapes the message.

when I blast something to twitter, I am communicating with a sea of random people, most of whom have opted to listen to me despite not knowing me at all.

when I blast something to twitter, I am communicating to people that mirror my real life social graph. In most cases, people from elementary school, high school , college.

Frankly, the majority of my facebook friends are not interesting.

your messages are going to be constrained if you are talking to a bunch of people that include:
a) your mom b) your elementary school classmates c) your coworkers d) your friends

vs.
people who have decided to opt in to listen to you.

There is nothing transactional about a twitter follow/following exchange but its a big deal for a facebook friend defriending which adds moree friction to this.

Twitter is about listening to interesting people , facebook is about listening to everyone you have ever known in your entire life.

4. Twitter is better poised to win in a mobile web fight.

Twitter translates better through a variety of canvases precisely because it is so simple whereas facebook is still primarily a desktop app ( though I must give its mobile web props).

Twitter’s going to win, I bet it.
Twitter is the New facebook.
And facebook is the new Myspace.

Oh and did I forget to mention real time search.

'Ratana' now online in HD

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:30:00 -0400

About 3 years after shooting my first short film Ratana, I’ve decided the time has come to post the film online. I’d been holding out on the very remote chance that I could sell the film for online distribution, but at this point, that’s unlikely to happen.

The film had a nice run in the festival world. The original cut played a number of great festivals, including the Sarasota Film Festival and Nantucket Film Festival. About a year after we finished the original cut, I decided to do a re-edit, in part to make it shorter but also to solve some story problems that always bugged me. After completing that cut, I submitted the new version to show in the 2008 Cannes Short Film Corner, a segment of the Marche du Film dedicated to short films. I went to France with the film and got to enjoy the Cannes Film Festival for the first time. Ratana obviously didn’t sell, but going to Cannes was something I’d always wanted to experience so that made it all worthwhile.

Now, almost a year after that, I’ve decided the time has finally come to get the film posted online. It’s located here, nicely presented in HD.

Part of the inspiration for putting it online now, beyond just getting the film more widely seen, is a retrospective series on Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray opening this week at the Walter Reade Theater in NYC. Ratana was inspired by a short film called The Postmaster made by Ray, and that film will have a rare theatrical screening at the Walter Reade on Sunday, April 19th. It’s part of a rather long three-part omnibus film called Teen Kanya (Three Daughters), and while I don’t think the other two parts are particularly memorable, The Postmaster is a wonderful, heart-breaking film and (obviously) made a big impression on me. More info on the Ray series can be found here, and if you’re interested in international cinema, I recommend checking it out.

Is this thing on?

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:54:05 -0400

Ok, my blog thing here has been in hibernation for 4 months. Everytime I thought “Crap, I should update that thing”, it was immediately followed by “Ugh, but it’s been so long.” So yeah kind of an endless loop.

But, as I’m embarking on a sort of reinvention for myself (and yes, I know I’m not alone), this seems like a good time to reinvent the ol’ tumblr. So yeah, I’ll be updating soon. I promise.

Here’s the first trailer from Lukas Moodysson’s...

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 13:31:00 -0500

Here’s the first trailer from Lukas Moodysson’s latest film MAMMOTH (or as it’s known in Swedish,
MAMMUT). I’ve always admired Moodysson. He’s one of the few filmmakers I can think of (Gus Van Sant
might be another) that seems to reinvent himself with every film he makes.

His first film FUCKING ÅMÅL (aka SHOW ME LOVE) is one of my favorites—a joyful coming-of-age tale
that heralded Moodysson as a major new talent. But then he suddenly switched gears with his third film
LILJA 4-EVER, a harrowing dive into the world of human trafficking. As different as LILJA 4-EVER was from
FUCKING ÅMÅL, I actually think I liked it better. It wasn’t as “feel good” (to say the least), but there was a
rawness in LILJA that I found exhilarating. Perhaps not surprisingly, Moodysson continued his
turn towards darker material with his next film, A HOLE IN MY HEART. And while it was nowhere near as
good as LILJA, I still respected Moodysson’s drive to experiment and push his own boundaries.

However on his next film he pushed his own boundaries right off the cliff. CONTAINER was a disaster, a
pretentious mess that made me fear that Moodysson had embraced non-narrative to a point-of-no-return.
Thankfully, judging by the trailer for MAMMOTH it appears my fears were unfounded. I actually think it
looks really interesting and promising.

Much like Van Sant seems to do, perhaps Moodysson needs to experiment as part of his storytelling
process, to keep moving himself forward. I’m okay with that if it means he can come back to making
narratives that are interesting and challenging. Hopefully MAMMOTH will fit the bill.

(video clip via Twitch)

Pic of the day: Weird balloons from a 1930s-era Macy’s...

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:47:33 -0500

Pic of the day: Weird balloons from a 1930s-era Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (via The Bowery Boys)

Pic of the day: Harwick Pines, 2005 from Melissa Catanese:...

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 01:30:05 -0500

Pic of the day: Harwick Pines, 2005 from Melissa Catanese: Fieldwork, currently at the Sasha Wolf Gallery in NYC (via gmtPlus9)

frances: muton: urone: ericlodwick: (via...

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:56:35 -0500

frances:

muton:

urone:

ericlodwick:

(via planettampon)

want

"He took Michelle to see the Spike Lee film ‘DO THE RIGHT THING’ on their first date."

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:56:08 -0500

“He took Michelle to see the Spike Lee film ‘DO THE RIGHT THING’ on their first date.”

- From “50 things you may not know about Barack Obama” on Telegraph.co.uk

Yes We Did

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:30:00 -0500

If you’ve been following this blog for the past few months (and I know you haven’t), you’d know that I was a supporter and believer in the Obama campaign. In some ways, it started for me after his 2004 speech at the DNC convention when I optimistically thought that he could be the future of progressive politics in this country. At that time, I thought that 2016 or maybe 2012 was the soonest we could expect to see him as a serious contender, in part because I figured we’d need 8 or 12 years to get to know him, but even more because I thought it was unlikely that a black man could be elected President in 2008.

As he began to break through in the primaries, I remained uncertain as to whether he was electable but still became a fervent supporter. Once the battle with Hillary hit its fever pitch I began to feel that indeed he was electable, and maybe this nation is ready. Part of this was rooted in optimism, and part of it was a belief that the desire for change was strong enough to overshadow the silly notion that we should choose our President based on the color of his/her skin.

Now that I have my answer re: his electability, I find myself more optimistic about the future of this country than I ever have since I started voting. To have someone in the White House who is an advocate of the people, who will work to bring about meaningful change, and perhaps most importantly, who will undo the massive damage inflicted by the Bush administration over the last 8 years, is so remarkable and invigorating that it almost makes me forget about the horrible state of the country.

I don’t envy the President-elect and his team. His statement yesterday about the “depth of the hole we are in” was not stated lightly, and I fear that the Obama adminstration will be so bogged down cleaning up the mess that any sort of positive progress can’t even being to happen until his second term. This is when my optimism wanes, but I’m determined to hold out hope that he’s the right man at the right time and that this is the beginning of a new post-neo-con era.

Back in the spring, I donated for the first time to a political campaign, and subsequently I donated at 3 or 4 more times. It wasn’t much in the scheme of things but I do feel like I can say “Yes We Did” when I think about the 2008 election. Today at 12:30pm, Moveon put the above poster designed by Shepard Fairey on sale. I paid $500 for a signed one, from an limited-edition of 1000. It’s a lot of money to spend on a poster, but it feels worth it. To commemorate this moment in time, a brighter day full of optimism and hope.

Pic of the day: Obama listens from a back stairwell as he is...

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:20:22 -0500

Pic of the day: Obama listens from a back stairwell as he is introduced in Muscatine, Iowa. Nov. 7, 2007. From Calle Shell: Obama (via gmtPlus9)

The video for the next nine days: MC Yogi “Vote for...

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:54:08 -0400

The video for the next nine days: MC Yogi “Vote for Hope”

Sarah Palin meets Terry Tate.

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:12:29 -0400

Sarah Palin meets Terry Tate.

Pic of the day: Obama draws a crowd of 100,000 in St. Louis.

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:56:47 -0400

Pic of the day: Obama draws a crowd of 100,000 in St. Louis.

From Aden Nak, via Political Wire.

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:59:47 -0400

From Aden Nak, via Political Wire.

Reminder for NYCers: Go see SILENT LIGHT

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 21:30:08 -0400

A little over a month ago I wrote about MOMA screening Carlos Regadas’ SILENT LIGHT for a full week. I went and saw it again today and I remain convinced that it’s one of the best films of the past several years.

Thankfully I’m not alone in this view, and perhaps thanks to Manohla, the screening today was sold out. There are only two days left and may not be any other opportunities to see the film in the foreseeable future, so consider this a polite nudge: if you live in NYC, go see SILENT LIGHT.

"In light of the recent crisis that is threatening the very bedrock of our nation, I would like to..."

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:05:12 -0400

“In light of the recent crisis that is threatening the very bedrock of our nation, I would like to announce that I am suspending this humor piece to focus on the economy. […] I am calling on other writers, too, to temporarily set aside their work, whether fiction or nonfiction, humorous or serious, and join with me in attempting to design a plan that can deliver our country from the grips of this potentially devastating threat to the foundation of our economy. Thank you.”

- Ben Greenman, The New Yorker

Image of the day: Abandoned Soviet army base on the coast of...

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 21:14:15 -0400

Image of the day: Abandoned Soviet army base on the coast of Russia near the city of Murmansk. Full gallery at englishrussia.com (via Buzzfeed)

If you haven’t seen this yet, you should watch it now.

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 12:37:43 -0400

If you haven’t seen this yet, you should watch it now.

Image of the day: The tax plan proposals in graph form (full...

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 22:48:31 -0400

Image of the day: The tax plan proposals in graph form (full size version here).