dan collier

will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas wrote and produced the yes we can song after being inspired by Barack Obama’s speech the night he finished second in New Hampshire. Jesse Dylan, Bob Dylan’s oldest son, directed the video. will.i.am also wrote what amounts to liner notes explaining his rationale for the song:

[....]
no one on this planet is truly experienced to handle the obstacles we face today…
Terror, fear, lies, agendas, politics, money, all the above…
It’s all scary…

Martin Luther King didn’t have experience to lead…
Kennedy didn’t have experience to lead…
Susan B. Anthony…
Nelson Mandella…
Rosa Parks…
Gandhi…
Anne Frank…
and everyone else who has had a hand in molding the freedoms we have and take for granted today…

no one truly has experience to deal with the world today…

they just need “desire, strength, courage ability, and passion” to change…
and to stand for something even when people say it’s not possible…

America would not be here “today” if we didn’t stand and fight for
change “yesterday”…
Everything we have as a “people” is because of the “people” who fought for
change…
and whoever is the President has to realize we have a lot of changing to do

I’m not trying to convince people to see things how i do…
I produced this song to share my new found inspiration and how I’ve been moved…
I hope this song will make you feel…
love…
and think…
and be inspired just like the speech inspired me…

that’s all…

art &politics posted by: dan  @  04 Feb 2008 12:09 | Comments (0)

I’m running out the door on my way to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for five days. If you have any ideas for what to do there, send me an email or leave a comment. Before I leave, I wanted to post the following link that I think everyone should read.

Ramak Fazel’s Amerika profiled in the New York Times – Ramak Fazel is an Iranian born, American raised US citizen that attempted to visit the capitol of all 50 states. Midway through his travels, he noticed he was on a watch list. Who keeps the list, why he was on it, and how one gets off are all unclear.

As someone that has enjoyed the freedom to sleep in a van in many WalMart parking lots in quite a few state capitols and even more remote stretches of American highway, I find the entire story of what is happening to Fazel to be very important. The question that prompted Fazel’s trip seems more uncertain than ever: What does it mean to be American?

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On a happier note, check out Jennifer Maestre very cool pencil sculptures.

art &politics posted by: dan  @  23 Jan 2008 7:20 | Comments (0)

Knowledge Sharing Photographic Competition – Creative Commons China held a photo contest and the results are worth seeing. There were three categories: Society, Nature, and Portraits. I linked to translated pages, the original are here and may load faster. Via Joi Ito, who also shares this story concerning his adoptive godfather Timothy Leary.

If I had to pick one photo as the best, Howling winds before the storm is my favorite.

art &photos posted by: dan  @  06 Nov 2007 0:35 | Comments (0)

Iran Keeps Picassos in Basement – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, was in all the headlines today after his speech at Columbia University. This fairly recent story from the LA Times is about the great art collected in the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. The museum seems to prevent linking to individual images, but you can browse them all by clicking on one at that link.

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Cigarette Diaries – In 1944, bombardier Second Lt. Frank Pratt was shot down by the Nazis over Poland. Newsweek published excerpts of the diaries he kept, often on the inside of cigarette packages. In the accompanying video, Mr Pratt remembers jumping out of his crashing plane.

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Slick Willie, Uncut – Comedy Central posted Jon Stewart’s interview with Bill Clinton, plus 6 minutes that didn’t air on TV. Clinton is promoting his new book. If you didn’t see the interview, it is probably worthwhile. John Stewart, as usual, asked all the tough questions:

I read the book, Giving, and while I read it I wondered… “What’s in it for me?”

foreign affairs &links posted by: dan  @  24 Sep 2007 22:36 | Comments (0)

Venice Art Biennial 2007 photos – Lots of nice photos. These are two of my favorite collections.

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Name the 49 Countries in Europe – I’ll give you two that don’t show up on the map: Liechtenstein and Vatican City. Also, name the 50 US states.

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Map of an Operating System – A representation of the layered approach of the OSI Model as implemented in the Linux kernel. This is a case of beauty in the details.

art &links &photos posted by: dan  @  01 Sep 2007 16:21 | Comments (0)

A carving displayed among other more modest ruins in an old church courtyard in downtown Braga, Portugal.
Taken July 6, 2007 1:21 PM.

art &my photo &photos posted by: dan  @  15 Jul 2007 21:44 | Comments (0)