Category: Anna’s Video Pick

This video pick is in the key of quirky problem solving solutions. For those of you who will be facing a bumper crop of hard boiled eggs this weekend, here’s a novel way to shorten the time between egg and egg salad. Science! Projectiles! Yes!

As I write this, the US Congress has still not agreed on a budget to keep our government from shutting down. The sticking point between paying our soldiers and keeping federal offices functioning is a rider which the Republicans introduced to eliminate funding to Planned Parenthood—or as they pitch it, to eliminate funding for abortions.

On April 3, 1968, Martin Luther King was in Memphis providing support and encouragement to 1300 African-American sanitation workers who had walked off their jobs in that city. His soaring prose repeats the mission that defined his life- the achievement of justice and equality for African-Americans which our constitution promised to each and every one of us. He made it clear that “We mean business now and we are determined to gain our rightful place in God’s world.”

This video news clip is about the unknown Japanese workers who are putting their lives in peril to avert a nuclear disaster. This is a sobering reminder about what workers do.

The right in this country has declared war upon the working class. It is hard for me to imagine the Koch brothers putting their lives in peril to avert nuclear disaster. Maybe that’s worth thinking about too.

Banksy’s street art surprises one. It grabs the eye and attention by juxtaposing contradictory elements that leave some lingering question about what we perceive as inherent reality. His work is a combination of the satirical and subversive.

Off to my wonderful OBcean tax preparer Byrna, with visions of Shepard Fairey dancing through my head. Byrna reminds me that the good news is that My Beloved and I, card carrying union members, have enough income to pay taxes. Hey! We’re middle class- for the moment! Our taxes are generally computed on a short form and last year our Federal and State tax rate was 13%. And the truth is we are ok with that- except for the war funding.

What does democracy look like? Does it look like teachers, police, firefighters, librarians, nurses, the people who remove snow and trash, and social workers who have peacefully and in large numbers turned out to support the right of working and middle class people to participate in unions and in the collective bargaining process?

Caution, may not be suitable for work…

AOL has bought Huffington Post; Sarah and Bristol Palin have both filed to trademark their names. While we watch raw footage of the protests in the streets of Egypt carried out at times with sticks and stones, the click and whirr of mergers, branding, spin and insider knowledge continue unabated. We live in strange times.

Twenty five years ago, on January 28, 1986 the space shuttle Challenger broke into pieces, a mere 73 seconds into…

There are moments which transcend the need for words. Marcos Efron’s short video “Common Practice” reveals one of those moments.

Since I started this column a few months ago, I have concentrated upon the quirky, the intriguing, the aesthetically pleasing….

Check out this tyger on the prowl through the nighttime streets and hillsides of Sao Paulo. His roars awaken the teeming natural world that exists unseen beneath the surface of the city. This animated metamorphosis is filled with the urgency and power of life pushing, flying and just hanging out.

William Blake’s words “And what shoulder, & what art. /Could twist the sinews of thy heart?” are given a voluptuous Brazilian twist.