Month: September 2008

He will mail you a Polaroid of anything in New York City

I’m Joe, and I live in New York City. I also really love Polaroids. Polaroid has recently announced that they are discontinuing their instant film. Although sadly inevitable, I regret that more people didn’t get a chance to appreciate the unique quality of Polaroids. So, I decided to start a project. For a few dollars, I will send you a Polaroid of anything anywhere in New York City. I don’t already have these stocked up – each one will be taken just for you. You will have the only copy in the entire world of a picture that was taken by someone else for you and you alone. That means way more than any other medium or method of exchange – there is a solitary, tangible record of a single moment in time shared by two strangers. I’m not doing this for money. The prices cover the film, postage, train fare, etc. It’s about interaction, distance, moments in time and most importantly the most awesome photographic medium ever. So, here are some Polaroids you can have:

[From haybale.org » Home]

the people vs the pundits

The Arena – Politico’s daily debate with policymakers and opinion shapers | Politico.com:

Is the McCain campaign’s decision to “suspend” campaigning and the Friday debate smart or not smart?

The comments are interesting, almost all amazed at such an obvious stunt, while the punditocracy (who I assume are looking for for jobs or favors from a McPalin administration) are heavily in his favor, citing boldness and leadership . . . .

Running from a fight is leadership? As noted, if Lincoln could campaign during the Civil War, why does McCain have to take a break?

got a minute?

make a phone call: it’s important.

I just called my Congressman and urged him to give Big Hank Paulson the finger on his insane $700 billion to buy worthless assets. I strongly urge you to do the same. Some of the general points I made include:

  • The administration is essentially arguing that the treasury secretary should have unchecked power to buy up garbage assets without any congressional oversight. This is completely unacceptable.
  • The panicked way this administration is pushing Congress to enact this godawful rescue plan is akin to how it bullied Congress into voting to authorize the use of force in Iraq. Do not let yourselves be bullied.
  • Given the bang-up job this administration has done in rebuilding both Iraq and the Gulf Coast, do you really want to give them $700 billion to play with? Could you please step back and think before you vote?
  • If these Wall Street a-holes are going to be unloading their shitty debt onto us, I want them under an iron fist of regulatory power. In particular, I want the CEOs of all participating firms to have their salaries and benefits slashed as punishment for making us pay to keep their sorry asses out of the local homeless shelter.

This is a very big deal, peeps. While it may not have the immediacy of opposing the Iraq war, it will have very serious consequences to our financial futures if it passes as proposed. You can find your congressman by entering in your zip code here.

[From Google Reader ]

little help here?

Hey, I need your help!

My TV show pilot called “History Hacker” airs this Friday September 26th at 8PM and Midnight on the History Channel. I’m the host of the show and I check out inventors in history and take a hands-on look at their inventions and then break it on down and hack the inventions together. I need your help to make the show go from a pilot to a real TV show.

The pilot is all about Nikola Tesla and the war of the currents between Tesla and Edison. In the show I learn how to blow a neon tube, explore wireless electricity and build an AC generator from a bike. I also go to Boston to visit an MIT space lab to see how the principles that Tesla pioneered are being applied to space propulsion.

The look of the show is awesome. The folks at History gave the producer, director, and director of photography permission to take my DIY style of making videos with lots of jump cuts and direct talking to the camera and push it forward into a longer format. It doesn’t look like anything else on TV.

There are four things you can do to help make the pilot a TV show.

1. Tell people. Please forward this email, write about it on your blog and help get the buzz going.

2.. Please tune in on a Tivo if you’ve got one to help boost Nielsen ratings. http://www.history.com/shows.do?action=detail&episodeId=365730

3. Once you’ve seen the show, send a feedback email telling the folks at History what you think. Email historyhackerfeedback@brepettis.com.

4. Also after the show has aired, please drop a note with what you think of the show in the History Forums at http://boards.historychannel.com/topic/History-Now/New-Pilot-This/520012982

You can also participate on Facebook, Flickr, Youtube and stay tuned to my Blog

Facebook: If you enjoy the show and want to participate more I’ve set up a facebook group that anyone can join at http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=25165214526.

Flickr: I’m also really curious about the people watching my show so i set up a flickr group. Please take a picture of yourself watching the show and upload it to the group at http://www.flickr.com/groups/historyhacker/. It will be really cool to see who’s watching the show!

Youtube: I’ve posted a teaser on youtube that gives you a feel for what the show will look like. Go check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe5DWyVrvlY. I’ll have at least one more teaser coming out soon on my youtube channel. You can click the yellow subscribe button to see them before anyone else. http://youtube.com/brepettis.

My Blog: I’m writing about the experience of starting up History Hacker and posting behind the scenes material at http://brepettis.com/blog. I’m actually going to put the content of this email on my blog too at http://brepettis.com/blog/2008/09/21/help-turn-the-history-hacker-pilot-into-a-tv-show/.

Thanks for your support! I can’t wait to see it on Television and I hope you get a chance to tune in and help me make this pilot into a TV show!

Bre Pettis
History Hacker