Saturday, March 14, 2020
As of 2025, please go to stuff.davidaugust.com, my newer blog. See you there!
Why the News Is Scary
Sometimes, our interconnected-ness, all by itself, can distort the world.
Now let's get a handle on what it really means to have a 1-in-6,500 or a 1-in-13,000 chance of dying. It's as if you lived on an island in the South Pacific with a population of 650. You make your living by swimming around in the azure waters around your idyllic paradise and spearing fish for dinner. Yum, yum. About once every ten years, a stray shark happens by and eats a swimmer. That's a 1-in-6,500 chance of any one person being eaten by a shark, just the same as the odds of dying in an automobile accident in the U.S. in 1992.
Also, about once every 20 years, two men get into an overheated argument over a fish or a woman and one of them kills the other with his spear. That's a 1-in-13,000 chance of being killed in an argument, just the same as the odds of being killed by someone else with a gun in the U.S. in 1992.
These are very sad events, and probably dinner-table conversation for quite a few days, but not the be-all and end-all of life. Fortunately, since you live on an isolated island, these events come and go, and life goes on.
But now imagine there are 392,000 of these islands all linked by television and INN (Island News Network). This brings the total population to about 254 million, less than the U.S. today. Every night, INN reports on the goriest of the 107 shark attacks and 54 spear deaths that day. Suddenly people's picture of the world is quite different. From a peaceful existence disrupted only by a tragedy every few years, you go to a fear-ridden hell filled with crime and terror.
Isn't this interesting? Nothing has changed except the addition of television. Yet now it feels like you're living in a dangerous world, not an idyllic paradise. Same number of shark attacks, same number of spear deaths. What happened?
(from about page 247 of Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme by Richard Brodie).
Labels: news, technology, trends
this posted by David August at 8:08 AM - 0 comments - 
Monday, October 17, 2016
As of 2025, please go to stuff.davidaugust.com, my newer blog. See you there!
David's fight choreography in Peter and the Starcatcher in DC
David co-choreographed the stage combat in
St. Marks Players' Peter and the Starcatcher,
playing through October 22, 2016 in Washington, DC.
tickets: http://bit.ly/petersmp
this posted by David August at 1:17 AM - 0 comments -
Thursday, October 06, 2016
As of 2025, please go to stuff.davidaugust.com, my newer blog. See you there!
Dependent's Day Release (David is in this movie)
Update, watch it now:
iTunes: http://bit.ly/itunesdd
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2p99cqC
Google Play: http://bit.ly/googleplaydd
David plays Luke in Dependent's Day and it starts its theatrical run Friday (tomorrow), October 7, 2016. To celebrate the opening, there will be a red carpet in LA at 6pm, then everyone will cross the street to the movie theatre tosee the film. Details below.
Details:
Red Carpet Pre-Party:
Friday, October 7, 2016
6pm-7:30pm
The Federal Bar (across the street from the theatre)
5303 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91601
google map
Screening:
Friday, October 7, 2016
7:40pm (note that this is one of the screenings that day,
details on the continuing theatrical run below)
Laemmle Noho 7
5240 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91601
google map
Limited Theatrical Run:
Laemmle NoHo 7
from October 7-October 13 with showtimes every day at
1pm, 3:10pm, 5:20pm, 7:40pm with Q&A after, 10:15pm
tix now at http://bit.ly/laemmledd
Dependent's Day will be on Video On Demand (VOD)
everywhere in North America on October 18th 2016
Labels: news
this posted by David August at 5:17 PM - 0 comments -
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
As of 2025, please go to stuff.davidaugust.com, my newer blog. See you there!
David in The Thanksgiving Experience
David was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role, won Best Acting Ensemble and was nominated for 10 awards total, including Best of,
for the Los Angeles 48 Hour Holiday Film Project. David had the chance to work with extremely talented cast and filmmakers on The Thanksgiving Experience. It was shot over the course of just 2 days, from idea to finished film. Happy Thanksgiving!
Labels: news
this posted by David August at 2:01 AM - 0 comments -
Saturday, April 18, 2015
As of 2025, please go to stuff.davidaugust.com, my newer blog. See you there!
David in Bring the Funny screening in festival
See Bring the Funny, which David is in and wrote,
screen as an official selection at Cloud City,
85 N 1st St, Brooklyn, NY 11249 [google map]
at 9pm, Saturday, April 18, 2015.
Bring the Funny was produced for the same show that produced
Corporate Dialects, which David is in and wrote as well.
Labels: news
this posted by David August at 8:06 AM - 0 comments -
