Author: Oriol Salvador

Journalist in the age of new media. Pop culture nerd and social media Jedi. Exploring the potential of technology and media to deliver information and entertainment through digital platforms.

Vincent Moon c’est Creative Commons!

Profile of the independent filmmaker from Paris, the original creator of La Blogothèque’s Concert à Emporter (Take Away Shows).

Mathieu Saura, better known as Vincent Moon, is one of the greatest and more respected filmmakers you can find, nowadays, licensing his work under Creative Commons, allowing its use and remix for derivate works. His work is available for free on Internet, he is a nomade artist building an audience on social media and keeping his projects alive by donations (crowdfunding).

Early on his career – not using Creative Commons, yet – he became known adapting filmmaking style ‘cinema verité’ to document bands playing one or few songs off the stage, on acoustic, in streets, parks, flats… anywhere. This music video subgenre, that was known as ‘Concert à Emporter’, or Take Away Shows, started in La Blogothèque. The list of bands Moon’s lenses captured includes: Arcade Fire, Phoenix, REM, Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Bird, St. Vincent or Bon Iver.

Continue reading “Vincent Moon c’est Creative Commons!”

VICE: The Hipster Media Empire

The business model of VICE Media Inc., from its foundation in 1994 to its expansion, in late 2013, through partnerships with Viacom and more.

Looking for a definition to hipsters, this is roughly what you’ll get: “Hipsters are hard to define”. Urban Dictionary gives, nonetheless, a fairly precise definition:

“Hipsters are a subculture of men and women typically in their 20’s and 30’s that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter.”

Further, the definition includes: “Hipsters reject the culturally ignorant attitudes of mainstream consumers”. Mainstream media products are usually rejected by this sub-culture, too, and hipsters were seeking for media products that appeal to their interests. That is how hipsters found VICE and VICE editors found a fleet of needy consumers worldwide.

VICE's timeline
What is VICE? Screenshot from the SlideShare presentation (full presentation bellow).

In 2008, The Observer interviewed Shane Smith, VICE‘s co-founder, about the story of the magazine: “We wanted to be the first international voice for the universality of youth sub-culture,” Smith said. Continue reading “VICE: The Hipster Media Empire”

“Tu, tu, tothom!”

A study on TV-show ‘Alguna Pregunta Mès?’ (APM?), Joana Brabo’s phonetic poem “Tu, tu, tothom” and the phenomenon as a viral meme.

What in this paper will be considered a meme, it was not originally considered a meme in the media and social context from where it was developed, in Catalonia (Spain). However, the Catalan phonetic poem Tu, tu, tothom and its landing into mass media and popular culture through television, Internet and social media, meets the characteristics Richard Dawkins described for memes in 1976 book “The Selfish Gene”.

This meme belongs to a different media and social context, which the reader may not be familiar with, so, before start describing it, I should briefly introduce its main actors Continue reading ““Tu, tu, tothom!””

Locarno brings Latin sound to TRU

Review of the Live at TRU! show that the Latin music band Locarno brought from Vancouver to Thompson Rivers University (TRU).

A cold winter day provided a great opportunity for people to head inside the TRU Alumni Theatre for the first Live at TRU! performance of the new year.

From Vancouver, Tom Landa, front man of multi-Juno nominee The Paperboys, was introduced to the TRU campus and Kamloops audience with his side project, Locarno on Jan. 17.

Locarno is his new band, started about two years ago.

“We played a lot on the festivals season, all around Canada and in short tours like this weekend,” Landa said. The recent short tour included shows in Ashcroft on Jan. 18, and Kelowna on Jan. 19.

Continue reading “Locarno brings Latin sound to TRU”

Thought provoking Wave

Movie review of the German sociopolitical thriller Die Welle (2008), shown at a movie night organised by TRU Intercultural Council to discuss acceptance in social groups, unity, conformity, bullying and the chances of a dictatorship in first world societies.

German movie Die Welle (The Wave) was shown on campus at the TRU Intercultural Council’s second monthly event, held Wednesday, Nov. 21, at the Alumni Theatre in the Clock Tower.  Approximately 50 students and some faculty left studying for midterms and assignments aside to enjoy an evening of film and discussion with free popcorn and drinks.

The Intercultural Council, which aims to integrate domestic, international and aboriginal students into the university culture, organized a movie night after an on campus DJ event last month.

“We wanted to do something that would be interesting, thought provoking, entertaining and [with] a cultural relevance,” said Andrew Dalgleish, a TRU student and member of the Intercultural Council.

Continue reading “Thought provoking Wave”

Aleida Guevara, hija del Che Guevara, en la defensa de Cuba

¿Qué hace Aleida Guevara, pediatra y líder de la revolución cubana además de la mayor de los cuatro hijos del ícono político Ernesto Che Guevara, en una pequeña ciudad de Canadá?

Guevara ha sido una de las invitadas de la organización Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba (VCSC) – que lucha, desde Canadá, por la defensa de la revolución cubana – para unas conferencias que anualmente celebran entorno a la figura del Che.

El viernes, sábado y domingo se celebraron en Vancouver y ayer, lunes 5 de noviembre, viajaron hasta una de las aulas de la universidad Thompson Rivers University (TRU), en una pequeña ciudad de la que posiblemente no habéis oído hablar antes: Kamloops.

Además del superficial atractivo de conocer a la hija de uno de los iconos del siglo XX, la conferencia, bajo el título de Cuba’s Economic Reforms: Capitalism or Socialism?, buscaba exponer y debatir el modelo socioeconómico socialista en Cuba frente al capitalismo imperante en el primer mundo.

Continue reading “Aleida Guevara, hija del Che Guevara, en la defensa de Cuba”

Music Makes Meals goes bigger

Preview of Music Makes Meals, a one-day music festival headline by Colleen Rennison’s No Sinner to raise funds for Kamloops Food Bank.

In its seventh year, Music Makes Meals presents a lineup of local talented musicians to raise funds for the Kamloops Food Bank.

Saturday, Nov. 10, three local bands — Solara, Matt Stanley & The Decoys and Henry Small Band — plus special guests No Sinner from Vancouver, will be playing a show at the Kamloops Convention Centre.

The event started six year ago, according to Kamloops This Week’s Dale Bass.

“The food bank in Kamloops was having significant problems,” Bass said. “We ran a story in our paper where the executive director said they may have to shut down.

“Two friends of mine [TRU alumni Joey Jack and local singer-songwriter Danie Pouliotte] e-mailed me and said, ‘We need to do something, let’s do it with music.’ We called up a few friends and put together the first Music Makes Meals night at The Blue Grotto, where we had been until this year.”

Continue reading “Music Makes Meals goes bigger”

Shred Kelly folking on Heroes

Review of the live show that Shred Kelly brought to Kamloops on a cold Wednesday night to introduce their second album In The Hills.

Coming from the East Kootenays of British Columbia, Fernie’s Shred Kelly visited Kamloops on Wednesday, Oct. 24 as part of their Fall Album Release Tour to perform songs from their second album, In The Hills, recorded in May and released in September.

Heroes Pub was more full than what could be expected on a cold Wednesday night. Supporting local band Van Damsel warmed up the stage offering a 40-minute set of their energetic indie-rock songs.

Shred Kelly started with the title track from its latest album, following that up with “Goodbye July.” The audience fervently joined, clapping and tapping to the mixture of folk, rock and country.

Continue reading “Shred Kelly folking on Heroes”

Musical standoff held to integrate cultural groups

A review of East Meets West, a party aimed at integrating domestic, international and aboriginal students at Thompson Rivers University.

East Meets West, a face-off between DJs MaRE and Erik Boog outside Old Main, was the first event held by TRU’s new Intercultural Council, Thursday Oct. 4.

“The council itself is trying to integrate domestic, international and aboriginal students because we have noticed that (different cultural groups) tend to stick with themselves,” according to May-Grace Maung, a TRU psychology student and member of the Intercultural Council, which formed over this past summer. “We are trying to get down all those boundaries and integrate [the students].”

There are other events on campus planned over the academic year but Maung said that for now they are just trying to become known to the student body.

The party started with MaRE (real name Vadym Nosov) onstage. He is an international student from Ukraine and when he arrived to Kamloops this summer he immediately sought opportunities to DJ. Continue reading “Musical standoff held to integrate cultural groups”

La cerveza ahumada en Bamberg

Guía publicada en el blog de la compañía aérea Vueling para visitar la ciudad alemana de Bamberg y disfrutar su famosa cerveza ahumada (Rauchbier) en una de sus nueve cervecerías tradicionales.

Para aquel que visita la ciudad de Bamberg, a una hora de Nuremberg, tan importante como descubrir su patrimonio históricoy arquitectónico (su catedral milenaria, por ejemplo) es descubrir la historia de su cerveza, la cerveza ahumada (Rauchbier en alemán).

Este tipo de cerveza se elabora de forma tradicional y es característica de Bamberg. Su color oscuro y sabor ahumado es producto de que la malta se deja secar al fuego durante el proceso de producción. Bamberg conserva en pleno funcionamiento nueve cervecerías tradicionales que producen un total de quince tipos de cerveza ahumada distintas.

Como parte de los atractivos de una visita a la ciudad de Bamberg, proponemos descubrir sus cervecerías tradicionales, esparcidas por toda la ciudad, y probar alguna de las rauchbier que ofrecen.

¿Hace falta que te advirtamos que bebas con moderación?

Continue reading “La cerveza ahumada en Bamberg”

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