China and Arab states follow the yellow brick road with new currency standards for the oil trade. 
via HUFFPOST

Posted by Benjamin Bronfman
ben@greenowl.com

Watch it happen. 

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

The diplomatic logjam

"A way forward requires more than a split-the-difference compromise. The focus needs to shift. Fortunately, such a shift is possible through a more accurate interpretation of the existing agreement. First, it's important to understand that today's framework does not state that China and other developing nations should have no emissions limits ever. It says that such countries should be compensated if they set limits. This is quite different, and opens up the way for a novel agreement that would allow both Washington and Beijing to move simultaneously to break the diplomatic logjam over emissions reductions and to save face with their domestic constituencies."

Gracheila Chichilnisky, a professor of economics and statistics at Columbia University, helped design the Kyoto Protocol's international carbon market. 

Full essay here.

Posted by Benjamin Bronfman
ben@greenowl.com

Shifting to something a little different from the past couple of weeks, it’s worth highlighting a record that has been getting hardly any press at all but has proven to have staying power through the summer was an album by a new group called Triorganico. Released on the Stones Throw subsidiary Now Again, Convivencia is an album rooted deep in the Brazilian musical traditions of its performers. Though there are traces of bossa nova to be found in some of the songs, Triorganico mines the Latin jazz of Baden Powell and Hermeto Pascoal prove to be more of a reference point. The instrumentation—percussion, seven-string guitar, and a variety of woodwinds—and performances evoke such great intimacy. It’s an airy, unassuming record but reveals so much on repeated listens.

Frankly, this isn’t a music I’m deeply familiar with and therefore I’m not especially confident writing about it, but I do know that this is a really lovely album that deserves more exposure. Like I said, I can find very little written about the album or the group, but they seem to be Brazilian expats who are now based in Southern California. They do set up residencies from time to time, so scour the internet for upcoming shows—that’s what it’s there for. In the meantime, explore their cover of “Tempo de Amor”:

Posted by Ned Milligan
mistermilligan@yahoo.com

via MARVELLI

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

Brooklyn's Urban Beekeepers: "Watch Out Ladies" Honey Harvest from SkeeterNYC on Vimeo.

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

"We will go to Copenhagen and manage with whatever we have."  
More from Carol Browner here.

Posted by Benjamin Bronfman
ben@greenowl.com

THE SO SO GLOS make music that hits you in the gut or the heart or wherever it is that you need to get hit.  From behind the drum set, Zach Staggers is often the one delivering the punches. 

Where are you now?
I woke up in a trailer in Birmingham, Alabama. This venue, Bottletree, treats you the best. They got two decked out 1970's airstreams in the backyard for bands to stay in and a plethora of rad music documentaries. We watched Bad Brains Live at CBGB '82. It was fucking amazing.

Most amusing part of being on the road?
The road is just straight up amusing. There is no time to be low because it's your job to party and do what you love. Being in a different place every night keeps it fresh.

What recent So So Glos performance really sticks with you?
We played a show at this all ages punk space in Tucson, Arizona and these kids were pillow fighting while we were playing. There was also a human pyramid happening at one point right in front of us. It was like, mutual entertainment, a show for us too. Definitely a happening.

What's your role in the composition process?
Well, we all play guitar, and usually a song starts with one guitar part any of us will write.Then Alex will freestyle a melody and eventually we get on our respective instruments and go part by part. Drums are fun because I get to try so many different rhythms and beats underneath everything.

How much is improvisation a part of your performance style?
When we play live I add things and take things out all the time. Mostly its calculated, but at some more raucous shows I mess around a little and do some fun stuff. Recently, I have been adding in these high pitched "oooowwooooo"'s into the mic when an instrumental part of a song will build in intensity and its cool. It adds some texture and nobody knows where it came from.

A favorite song to perform live lately?
I like doing "Isn't it a Shame" (in the stream below).  We worked it out so there are like 6 different drum parts and a sweet breakdown.  

When do you see you work most as "art" (if ever)?
I do a lot of the design for us Glos, so i am always thinking about our aesthetic and how it translates from the music to the shirt, the record cover, et cetera. The only thing is I hardly know Illustrator or Photoshop so its all luck.

Any weird recent dreams you care to recount?
I don't really get dreams because I smoke a lot of weed. When I do have a dream its usually a nightmare and it ruins my day. What are the point of dreams anyway?

Who are some of the coolest people you've met because of your music?
We smoked a spliff with Mick Jones at SXSW. Actually, that was the same day Billy Bragg got us into his show because I let him know we didn't have wristbands and we were doing the real, all-ages, non-corporate shit down on the east side of Austin. He respected that and got us in to see him.  

Your personal god when it comes to style?
The '86 Mets.

When I say sustainability, you think of???
I lived in Israel for 8 months when I was 19 and I worked on a kibbutz called Lotan that was active in bringing permaculture to the Negev desert. That was my first encounter with sustainable culture so I think of that magical place.

How does activism play a part in your art?
I don't know if musicians can ever necessarily be activists in their music. We try to make meaningful music, with non-fiction themes that hopefully resonate with people. We try and get people to dance, at the very least. I think it takes more than songs to really affect change. Artists can do that, absolutely, get involved and what not, but to say John Lennon's "Imagine" is activism, or any song is activism, dilutes what activism is. My friend, Patrick Stickles, who sings with our tour comrades, Titus Andronicus, he told me he wants to become a teacher after this rock and roll stuff. I think that is real activism.

If you had to play on a streetcorner in New York or BK, where / why / when / what would happen?
We have done a couple of fun, albeit acoustic, Subway shows. I want to bring a generator on the train, and a drumset, some amps and a PA and do it for real. What I don't want is to spend yet another night in central booking.

What bands are you fascinated with right now?
Titus Andronicus are the best. I really like this band Surfer Blood from Florida. Carnivores (video above) from Atlanta are amazing. But, when it comes to new music, well, I favor the older stuff.

Reggae music, what does it do for you?
It is the heartbeat. I never met a person who does not like reggae. It is simply the best music on earth, maybe not your or my favorite, but no argument- the best music.

Favorite cassette tape that's lying around your apt  / car / or parent's crib?
Nirvana's "Nevermind" was the first cassette we always had on. Also, Big Audio Dynamite "The Globe". Remember mini-discs? What the fuck was that?

The So So Glos are now on tour with Titus Andronicus.  More from them on their blog:
www.underneath-the-universe.blogspot.com

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

Democracy Now reported last week on the use of what is called a "sound cannon" by the Pittsburgh police at the recent G20. The New York Times in its reporting on the protests quoted Pittsburgh police bureau chief Nate Harper as saying "Other law enforcement agencies will be watching to see how it was used. It served its purpose well." While the gadget blog Gizmodo said it was "pretty eye opening to see tech like that used at home", as this device which is reported to be used by the military abroad is now used on Americans for the first time.

Posted by Lee from US&THEM
usandthemcity@gmail.com

The Explorer from Mike Anderson on Vimeo.

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

Brazil just snagged the olympics and all I can think about is what that party is going to sound like.  Imagine the three pictured above in some Mt. Olympus-style cultural athleticism ceremony -- Gilberto Gil, Tom Ze, Marina.  This is magic in the making y'all.  Tom Ze is in the stream.

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

The Buckminster Fuller Challenge from Buckminster Fuller Institute on Vimeo.

"The license [to invent] comes only from the blue sky of the inventor's intellect. No one licensed the inventors of the airplane, telephone, electric light, and radio to go to work. It took only the personally dedicated initiative of five men to invent those world-transforming and world-shrinking developments." --From Utopia or Oblivion, Prospects for Humanity by, Buckminster Fuller

 1. ONLY 30 DAYS LEFT TO ENTER THE BUCKMINSTER FULLER CHALLENGE

TO ENTER visit: http://challenge.org/ DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: OCTOBER 30, 2009

2.    PROJECTS FROM THE IDEA INDEX FEATURED IN TIME MAGAZINE

This distinguished international prize program awards $100,000 to support the development and implementation of a solution that has significant potential to solve humanity's most pressing problems.

 Entries Past entries include bold, visionary strategies across the spectrum of human endeavor, from a radical solution to human transportation in the world's largest cities to a strategy to dramatically increase crop yields and economic development in remote African villages. While the entries cover a broad range of topics, the common thread among them is a highly integrated approach to design - one that is simultaneously comprehensive, anticipatory and aligned with nature's fundamental principles. This focus on an integrated design strategy is what distinguishes the Challenge and the innovators who have submitted their work from other prize programs. These solutions can be found in the Idea Index.

 Idea Index The Idea Index represents a growing pool of knowledge about how to tackle some of the most inexorable problems facing our global society - ready to be picked up and put into action by investors, philanthropists, designers, artists, policymakers, and anyone who wants to change the world.It is not just a static database of projects; it is an interactive hub for discussion and debate. The tools provided by the Idea Index allow users to comment on entries, contact the submitters, and engage in dialogue with the Buckminster Fuller Challenge community.

-Posted by Catherine Despont, catherine@greenowl.com

via TANLINES

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

"Do u support sample-based music? Is ur life a sample-based life?"
HipsterRunoff Bro wiles out on samples here. 

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com

Play it here.
via MARTINA.

Posted by Wills Glasspiegel
wills@greenowl.com