July 8, 2011
The cobra effect occurs when the solution to a problem, makes the problem worse. The term is used to illustrate the causes of wrong stimulation in economy and politics. The term stems from an anecdote set at the time of British rule of colonial India. The British government was concerned about the number of venomous cobra snakes. The Government therefore offered a reward for every dead snake. Initially this was a successful strategy as large numbers of snakes were killed for the reward. Eventually however the Indians began to breed cobras for the income.
When this was realized the reward was canceled, but the cobra breeders set the snakes free and the wild cobras consequently multiplied. The apparent solution for the problem made the situation even worse. A similar incident occurred in Hanoi, under French colonial rule, where a program paying people a bounty for each rat pelt handed in was intended to exterminate rats. Instead, it led to the farming of rats.
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July 8, 2011
A gurn or chuck is a distorted facial expression, and a verb to describe the action. A typical gurn might involve projecting the lower jaw as far forward and up as possible, and covering the upper lip with the lower lip. Another common form of gurning is the ‘duck face’ which is characterized by outwardly splayed lips. Gurn has also been defined as ‘to snarl as a dog; to look savage; to distort the countenance.’ The derivation may originally be Scottish, related to ‘grin.’ In Northern Ireland, the verb ‘to gurn’ means ‘to cry,’ and crying is often referred to as ‘gurnin’.’
Gurning contests are a rural English tradition. By far the most notable is that held annually at the Egremont Crab Fair, which dates back to 1267 when King Henry III granted the fair a Royal Charter. The competitions are held regularly in some villages, with contestants traditionally framing their faces through a horse collar — known as ‘gurnin’ through a braffin’.’ The World Gurning Championship takes place annually at the same crab fair in Egremont, Cumbria. Those with the greatest gurn capabilities are often those with no teeth, as this provides greater room to move the jaw further up. In some cases, the elderly or otherwise toothless can be capable of spectacular gurns covering the entire nose.
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July 4, 2011
Robert Anton Wilson (1932 – 2007) was a futurist thinker, libertarian, and writer. He held a Ph.D in Psychology. At one time he was a writer for Playboy magazine. Wilson was the author of the ‘Schrödinger’s Cat’ trilogy (1979). He also co-wrote (with Robert Shea) the ‘Illuminatus!’ trilogy (1975), which took a humorous look at the American fear of conspiracies. These books mix true facts with fiction. In ‘The Cosmic Trigger’ (1976), he introduced Discordianism, Sufism, futurism, the Illuminati and other unusual subjects to the general public. He also worked with Timothy Leary to promote futurist ideas of space migration, life extension, and intelligence enhancement.
Recognized as an episkopos, pope, and saint of Discordianism, Wilson helped publicize the group. He described his work as an ‘attempt to break down conditioned associations, to look at the world in a new way, with many models recognized as models or maps, and no one model elevated to the truth.’ His goal being ‘to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone but agnosticism about everything.’
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July 4, 2011
The Noid was an advertising character for Domino’s Pizza in the 1980s. He was a villainous red-suited imp, with red rabbit ears who attempted to ruin Domino’s pizza but was constantly thwarted. Commercials that featured the character used the slogan ‘Avoid the Noid!’ As part of the advertising campaign, a computer game was released in 1989 called Avoid the Noid. The object of the game is to deliver a pizza within a half-hour time limit, in an apartment building swarming with Noids. In 1990, Capcom released a different video game, Yo! Noid, for the NES.
In early 1989, Kenneth Lamar Noid, a mentally ill customer who thought the ads were a personal attack on him, held two employees of an Atlanta Domino’s restaurant hostage for over five hours. After forcing them to make him a pizza and making demands for $100,000, getaway transportation, and a copy of ‘The Widow’s Son,’ a conspiracy theory novel by Robert Anton Wilson. Noid surrendered to the police. After the incident had ended, police Chief Reed Miller offered a memorable assessment to reporters: ‘He’s paranoid.’ Noid was charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, extortion, and possession of a firearm during a crime. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
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July 4, 2011
Subvertising is a portmanteau of subvert and advertising. It refers to the practice of making spoofs or parodies of corporate and political advertisements. Subvertisements may take the form of a new image or an alteration to an existing image or icon, often in a satirical manner. A subvertisement can also be referred to as a meme hack and can be a part of social hacking or culture jamming.
According to AdBusters, a Canadian magazine and a proponent of counter-culture and subvertising, ‘A well produced ‘subvert’ mimics the look and feel of the targeted ad, promoting the classic ‘double-take’ as viewers suddenly realize they have been duped. Subverts create cognitive dissonance. It cuts through the hype and glitz of our mediated reality and, momentarily, reveals a deeper truth within.’
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July 4, 2011
Redshirt is a term for a stock character in fiction who dies soon after being introduced. The term originated with fans of Star Trek, from the red shirts worn by Starfleet security officers who frequently die during episodes.
In many episodes of Star Trek, red-uniformed security officers and engineers accompanying the main characters on landing parties quickly die.
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July 4, 2011
The Principle of Evil Marksmanship (also known as the Stormtrooper Effect) states that enemy marksmen in action films are often very bad shots and almost never harm the main characters. They are generally only capable of hitting a target if the target is either of no value to the plot or if their death will advance said plot. The term first appeared in film critic Roger Ebert’s 1980 book ‘Little Movie Glossary.’
The theme is commonly seen in cowboy films, action films, martial arts films, and comics, and is often a source of mockery by critics, satirists, and fans. Ebert often uses the term in his reviews. Imperial Stormtroopers in the original Star Wars trilogy possessed overwhelming numbers and firepower.
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July 3, 2011
Mr Bingo (b. 1979) is an illustrator living and working in London. He describes himself as having a ‘slightly smaller than average’ head and ‘girl’s arms,’ plus ‘the same haircut as his mum.’ He includes amongst his influences ‘[the] local ASDA supermarket, thick humans, fat humans, dogs who wear clothes, the British abroad, overheard conversations and juvenile graffiti.’
A selection of his work can be found on his website, and he has created a number of limited edition silkscreen prints which can be viewed online, and (so far) consist of ‘Hair portraits’ – famous ‘faces,’ illustrated only by their hair.
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July 3, 2011
The Subservient Chicken is a 2004 advertising campaign created to promote international fast food restaurant chain Burger King’s TenderCrisp chicken sandwich and their ‘Have it Your Way’ campaign. On its website, a man in a chicken costume performs a wide range of actions based on a user’s input, showing pre-recorded footage and appearing like an interactive webcam. The site takes literally the advertising slogan ‘Get chicken just the way you like it.’
There are more than three hundred commands that the Subservient Chicken will respond to, including: Moonwalk, Riverdance, and pick your nose. When told to perform sex acts, take off his mask, or do anything the Subservient Chicken considers offensive, the chicken walks up to the camera and shakes a scolding chicken finger in disappointment.
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July 3, 2011
Almost 30 years after its release, the plot for the movie ‘Trading Places’ was part of the inspiration for new regulations on the financial markets. In March of 2010 Commodity Futures Trading Commission chief Gary Gensler stated, in testimony he gave to the 111th Congress, ‘We have recommended banning using misappropriated government information to trade in the commodity markets. In the movie, starring Eddie Murphy, the Duke brothers intended to profit from trades in frozen concentrated orange juice futures contracts using an illicitly obtained and not yet public Department of Agriculture orange crop report.
The ‘Eddie Murphy Rule,’ as it came to be known, later came into effect as part of the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which dealt with insider trading.
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June 29, 2011
Chip art, also known as silicon art, chip graffiti or silicon doodling, refers to microscopic artwork built into integrated circuits, also called chips or ICs. Since ICs are printed by photolithography, not constructed a component at a time, there is no additional cost to include features in otherwise unused space on the chip.
Designers have used this freedom to put all sorts of artwork on the chips themselves, from designers’ simple initials to rather complex drawings. Given the small size of chips, these figures cannot be seen without a microscope. Chip graffiti is sometimes called the hardware version of software easter eggs (an intentional hidden message or feature).
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June 29, 2011
Sun Ra (1914 – 1993), born Herman Poole Blount, was a prolific jazz artist and philosopher known for his ‘cosmic’ music and philosophies. His eclectic music and unorthodox lifestyle made him controversial. Claiming that he was of the ‘Angel Race’ and not from Earth, but from Saturn, Sun Ra developed a complex persona using ‘cosmic’ philosophies and lyrical poetry that made him a pioneer of afrofuturism. He preached awareness and peace above all.
He abandoned his birth name and took on the name and persona of Sun Ra (Ra being the Egyptian God of the Sun), and used several other names throughout his career, including Le Sonra and Sonny Lee. Sun Ra denied any connection with his birth name, saying ‘That’s an imaginary person, never existed … Any name that I use other than Ra is a pseudonym.’
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