After plans to assemble were temporarily cancelled due to a financial wrinkle, organizers were pleased that this year’s Slutwalk went off without a hitch. Participants gathered in the hesitant rays of the sun before the march to listen to speeches from various community activists. Continue reading
A little ways down Richmond (or for the beer educated, kitty corner from the Labatt Brewery) exists a musical treasure meets mothers kitchen-esque array of tapes, vinyl, and DVDs known as Hot Dog: Musique and Cinema. Don’t worry: if you feel like you might get lost, it’s bright pink. I got the opportunity to chat with the two co-creators, Mike Bott and Pam Haasen, about their unique concept, their love for APK and Bill Murray, how important it is to support local talent, and how they’re not actually a hot dog restaurant (they’d like to take this opportunity to apologize for the mix-up). All unintentional false advertising aside, I think they’re onto something a little more fascinating than hot dogs: making people happy by always creating. Continue reading
Last week, men’s rights activists (MRAs) achieved some marginal media exposure when the Twitter hashtag “INeedMasculismBecause,” initially a prank set about by users of the well-trafficked imageboard 4chan, was co-opted in earnest by a number of individuals professing our culture’s widespread subjugation of men. Thankfully, it seems not all publicity is good publicity when it comes to the imaginary war on masculinity; shortly after the hashtag gained steam, it was hijacked and repurposed by masses of users eager to lampoon the often misogynist tenets of the men’s rights movement. Within hours, satirical tweets dwarfed the zealous ululations of male persecution. Perhaps most striking was the challenge in differentiating some of the more hyperbolic sardonic comments from their equally hyperbolic legitimate counterparts.
When Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web as a space for people to share information, it is unlikely that he meant for it to be a space dominated by furry felines. But alas, the Internet LOVES cats. Cat images and videos are among the most popular links on the web.
What is it about cats that make our culture obsessed with them?
While 2012 may not have ensued in an earth-shattering zombie apocalypse, it sure proved to be a year ripe with radicalism, boundary-breaking creativity, and in this MIT-er’s eyes, a new type of collaboration. Going beyond the realm of popular music and David Guetta feat. everyone-ever-on-Top-40-radio, here is a comprised Top Ten list of duos, trios, and creative projects I’ve found myself grappling with, shocked, intrigued, or inspired by.
Feel free to write in the comments below about collaborations that did the same for you! Continue reading
Last month the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) made headlines when its president, Dr. Doug Weir, proposed a number of so-termed ‘radical’ new measures meant to combat what he called “the epidemic of obesity” in Canada. Obesity needs combatting “aggressively” and “immediately,” he continued, recommending, among other things, raising taxes and mandating graphic warning labels on high calorie foods with low nutritional value. While a tax increase is being considered, the graphic warning labels have so far proved the most incendiary of the recommendations, with claims that they are excessively grotesque and unfairly vilify specific foods, or even the baffling assertion that graphic warning labels are ineffective in general. Continue reading
I recently wandered into one of my friends’ classes, where the instructor began playing the film Almost Famous. I had never seen the movie before, but it portrayed a dilemma that I have encountered as an MIT student and lover of popular culture. Continue reading
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n case you’ve been in a coma for the past two weeks, LRA (a Ugandan rebel militia) leader Joseph Kony was trending on Twitter recently. #KONY2012 exploded into the online universe thanks to a thirty-minute documentary that has received over 73 million views so far (and counting). Made by the not-for-profit foundation Invisible Children, the documentary advocates for Kony’s capture, who has apparently been training child soldiers in Uganda. No sooner had internet users rallied together around this single cause than criticisms started to arise regarding the finances and goals of Invisible Children.
The tool that played such a crucial role in promoting Invisible Children’s cause was now being used to audit its legitimacy. Continue reading
By: Ainsleigh Burelle
At some point on January 18th, you probably found yourself wandering around Internet Land only to be confronted with the blackouts on Wikipedia and Reddit, among other websites. These service interruptions were part of a protest against the proposed SOPA legislation in the U.S., which threatened stricter copyright laws and limited use of protected works. However, it’s not just an annoyance to the average American Joe. While our land may be separated by gated tollbooths and (not the nicest of) uniformed officers, the internet flows freely around the globe. The blackouts raised enough awareness to put SOPA out of effect – for now, anyway.
For those who don’t know, SOPA and PIPA are small aspects of the international movement surrounding ACTA, an opt-in global movement initiated by the governments of various countries to protect copyrighted material circulating the ’net (You know it’s getting out of control when your acronym breeds even more acronyms). Continue reading
By: Julian Uzielli and Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood
2011 was a lively year in politics. Between deaths, wars, revolutions and riots, the global political landscape over the past year was nothing if not captivating. Here are the mitZine’s picks for the top 10 political events that held our attention in 2011.
