How-to: subtitling Youtube videos

1- Download the FLV video with DVDVideoSoft Free Studio.
    Comment: other tools will download AVIs in MPEG-4 V2 format, but I had problems later on manipulating the video without the codec (MP42 is the 4-digit code I think).

2- Convert the FLV to AVI and XVid or DivX encoding with the FLV Converter software.

3- Create the subtitle offline in a text file.

4- Open the video and the text file with DivXLand Media Subtitler. That's the easiest subtitler tool in the world.
    Comment: it didn't work for me on Windows Server 2008  R2 64 bits. Not sure about Windows 7 64 bits... It only worked on Windows 7 32 bits for me.

5- Open the video with VirtualDub. Download and install the Alpha Station Subtitler plug-in for VirtualDub if you haven't done so yet.

6- Choose full processing mode in video in VirtualDub. Under 'Video -> filters' choose the subtitler filter (it will be there if you installed the plug-in in the previous step)

7- Save the AVI VirtualDub. The result is a new AVI file with the subtitles.

I had a problem with the subtitle in that the font size was too big. Size 48 to be precise. I manually opened the .ssa file generated by DivXLand Media Subtitler and I replaced font size 48 with 16 near the header of the file. It is a text file and it's not difficult to understand.

Pílulas

  Na cena em que Morpheus oferece as pílulas vermelha e azul para Neo, costuma-se pensar que a pílula azul faz a pessoa continuar na ilusão e a pílula vermelha traz a pessoa para a realidade. Não é um pouco simplista pensar que basta tomar uma pílula para conhecer a realidade? Penso que sim. O que garante que a realidade depois da pílula vermelha é a real realidade? Não basta escolher a pílula "certa". O cenário todo, a falsa ideia de escolha derradeira constitui uma pílula azul. Assim "tomar a pílula vermelha" significa tomar continuamente a pílula vermelha, ou ainda a rejeição da simplificação de realidades em simples escolhas simplistas que constituem o "tomar-pílula".

"Home" de Yann Arthus-Bertrand

   Hoje assisti ao filme "Home" de Yann Arthus-Bertrand. Tem em Português. É muito bom. O filme aborda vários problemas globais, incluindo principalmente o meio-ambiente e a economia. O filme é feito quase que inteiramente de tomadas aéreas e com narração. As tomadas aéreas me remetem a pensar na coletividade social das nossas ações. Assim, já não somos indivíduos, mas vivemos em sociedade. E convivendo nos nossos agrupamentos sociais imediatos várias vezes não nos damos conta dos vários sistemas e forças atuantes no mundo como um todo. É como se essas forças estivessem escondidas. A mudança de paisagens para vários lugares do mundo diferentes reforça a idéia de efeito global de nossas ações (ou falta delas).
   As igrejas protestantes deram grande ênfase à fé pessoal em Jesus, e teologicamente devem estar certas. Contudo, será que junto com essa ênfase teológica não vieram o individualismo e o consumismo da modernidade moldando as igrejas como um grupo de vários indivíduos independentes? Penso que sim. Uma consequência é a dificuldade de haver comprometimento mútuo no construir das igrejas. Outra consequência seria a dificuldade de ver esses sistemas e forças globais que agem para oprimir o ser humano hoje.
  A igreja pensou que o moralismo seria a força mantenedora da sociedade. Devemos lembrar que a moral seria um meio e não um fim. De que nosso compromisso moral deveria ser para com as pessoas diretamente, buscando primariamente a vida, e a vida em abundância (digna). Esse moralismo por si só falha hoje em dia em manter a vida. A igreja precisa pensar em uma ética aplicada que seja mais eficaz na preservação da vida.

Pray the Devil back to Hell

www.praythedevilbacktohell.com

Montoneros, una historia

Sinopsis:

Film documental. Ana, una ex-montonera, evoca la experiencia de los años violentos de la Argentina en el movimiento montonero con los ojos del presente y con los interrogantes que aún no ha podido responderse. Historia personal y colectiva a la vez, evoca los días tumultuosos de su juventud, desde su ingreso en la Universidad hasta su encierro en la Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada, y desde su vinculación con Juan, combatiente convencido, hasta el nacimiento de la hija de ambos, va enhebrando los restantes testimonios y las imágenes tomadas de noticieros y videotapes que reproducen rostros y episodios clave de aquellos años: el ajusticiamiento de Aramburu, los copamientos y los choques armados, la masacre de Ezeiza, el regreso de Perón al gobierno, la vuelta de los Montoneros a la clandestinidad, el tiempo de Isabel y López Rega y la usurpación del poder por la Junta Militar, con su secuela de crímenes, secuestros y desapariciones.

Dirección: Andrés Di Tella
Guión: Roberto Barandalla y Andrés Di Tella
Idioma: Español.
País: Argentina.
Género: Documental.
Tiempo: 88 Minutos.
Fecha de Estreno: 26 de noviembre de 1998

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361924/

(I just watched it today - Acabei de ver hoje)

Let 24,000 People Die Today. Amen.

From http://angelsoulblade.blogspot.com/2004/08/let-24000-people-die-today-amen.html

Let 24,000 People Die Today. Amen.

"

A few days ago I saw Costa-Gavras' film Amen., a movie on Nazi Germany. By the end of the film, I had become quite compelled to sign up with Compassion Australia and sponsor a kid. Whu-what? Let me explain.

Amen. (the titled includes the full-stop) tells the story of SS Lieutenant Kurt Gerstein, a real historical character who was both a true Christian and a member of Himmler's 'Death's Head' order. Though a Protestant, he was a tool of the murderous regime of Adolf Hitler. To a certain extent.

What Gerstein did not initially know was that his invention, which was originally used to maintain the health of Waffen-SS soldiers, was also being used to create Zyklon-B, the gas used to mass-murder millions of Jews, Gypsies and other 'sub-humans' in Auschwitz, Treblinka and other extermination camps. As a Protestant, Gerstein was quite appalled by how his creation was being used, and his conscience would not let him allow this to continue.

In the film he uses various ways, including the deceitful use of his position as transportations supervisor for the chemical, to make sure that shipment after shipment of Zyklon-B are never used. Gerstein also pushes his pastor and other Protestants to get German Protestant clergy as a whole to condemn this action. Of course, any student of Nazi Germany would know that most Protestant churches were too busy praising Hitler as the savior of Germany from economic depression. Most had already become part of the Nazi-endorsed German Christian church, save for a few pastors like Martin Niemoller, Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. (Incidentally, the actor who played Gerstein, Ulrich Tukur, also played Bonhoeffer in Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace). Needless to say, Gerstein's plea fell on deaf ears with the Protestants around him. Or at least that's how it goes in the film.

But in Amen. Gerstein is not alone in his plight to make the horror that the Nazis are trying to hide known to the world. He is not the only main character in this movie. A Catholic priest happens to hear Gerstein's plea to the Bishop, and joins him in his cause. To death. While Gerstein continues to try to convince his fellow Protestant that his cause is just and worthy, Riccardo, the priest, uses his connections to ask the ranks of the the Catholic church, even the Pope, to condemn Nazi Germany's murder of millions. But again, any historian of the era knows that Pope Pius XII remained silent about the mass murders committed by the Third Reich. Why?

Here comes the true start of my explanation. Bear with me.

The answer Riccardo keeps on getting as he tirelessly campaigns before the cardinals of Rome, the Pope and even the American ambassador is that he should be patient. Yes, the old men in the safety of their palatial religious bastion keep telling him that he does not know the art of diplomacy, and that success is made of patience. And at that very moment thousands of Jews are being deported to the factories of death!

I see a few parallels here with what is happening today. When Gerstein appeals to the Catholic bishop of Berlin, the clergyman initially refuses to see him, ironically saying that it would not be appropriate for him to be associating with an SS officer. And Gerstein is there to give the bishop evidence of the Holocaust! Similarly, a lot of Christians today refuse to associate with 'worldly' people, maybe just because they swear, go clubbing or are living together outside marriage. And these people are the very people that can help us make the difference in our communities! They are the ones with the skills, knowledge, contacts and experience to help us do real life-changing stuff in people's lives! I'm not saying that everything that they are doing can be justified by the fact that they can help us do our kingdom-work. I'm just saying that we should leave the judging to God and accept those people with love. In fact, by doing this and working with them we are showing them Christ's love and even Christ!

Another parallel is the self-righteous advice given by the Catholic bigwigs to Riccardo. (Before I move on, let me make it clear that I am NOT anti-Catholic. I went to a Catholic school and I love Catholics!). They tell him that patience is a virtue essential to victory, but I cannot help but empathize with Riccardo's furious response that while they are saying those words thousands of Jews are being gassed and burned to death. Those people simply cannot wait and be patient. In this case patience is something that humanity itself cannot afford. This self-justifying apathy can also be seen today in the actions of the global Church.

In the six years of war that Germany waged, the Nazis killed six million Jews, as well as millions of other 'racially impure' people. Today, 15 million die each year from hunger and hunger-related diseases, six million of them under 5 years old. That's an average of 24,000 per day, 1,000 per hour and one every 3.6 seconds (http://www.elca.org/hunger/facts.html). A brother of mine once said that Christians 'conspire' to murder these 24,000 people everyday. How? By not caring. With apathy.

The world currently contains 6.3 billion people, but it can actually produce food for 7 billion, or two loaves of bread per person per day. The problem is not that there is not enough food to go around; it is that there is no even distribution of this food. Rich countries produce more food than the poor, and the logic of free market economy has no space for compassion. Poor countries are forced to buy food from the rich, and thus end up with ever-increasing piles of debt. It can be said that the rich are living off the poverty of the poor. And let's face it. Most prominent Christian communities live in the countries that are economically well-off.

Now I will be fair AND honest. Many Christians in developed countries -including so many Catholics!- are even at this moment campaigning tirelessly to help save as many of the dying poor as possible. Some are rich and others are less wealthy, but often they give up the luxuries and even the basic needs that they are used to for this cause. And they are heroes. But there are also too many Christians that cannot see beyond how they can be 'blessed' and see how they can keep the the dying millions alive with what they have been blessed with. Yes, I'm talking about YOU, prosperity theologians! You and your Benzes and condominiums and your televised parody of the true Gospel!

But I will be honest. If anyone were to admit that they have not heeded James' advice to put prayer into action regarding the poor (James 2:15-17), I would be the first to put my hand up. God knows how much money I've wasted this year when I could have kept so many people alive with that money. Those who know me would be able to tell how much I spend on my more expensive hobbies. And I grieve for my hypocrisy. In my weakness I am confused by what I should do and what I would do. And that is why, perhaps, I can start by signing up with Compassion Australia. Having explained this, I would also like to ask others who claim to follow the Man who was rich but became poor for our sakes to follow His example.

At the end of Amen. the priest Riccardo attaches the Star of David to his habit, much to everybody's horror, including the Pope's. The bishop cries blasphemy, just as Caiaphas did at Jesus' trial. Yet I think what Riccardo has done is follow his Lord's example; he becomes one of those who are persecuted so he can help them (Isaiah 53, Matthew 25:34-45, Hebrews 4:15). Like the bishop, there will be people who are too preoccupied with religious protocols, diplomacy and liturgy to understand what we are doing. But if we claim to be Christians -'little Christs'- we would do well to honor our claim. We should put people before profit, world hunger before wealth and sacrifice before success. We would do well to put our own version of the 'Star of David', or any symbol of suffering, on our proverbial breasts and care about the 24,000 strangers dying today, even to the point of death (Hebrews 13:3).

"

LA DIGNIDAD DE LOS NADIES

LA DIGNIDAD DE LOS NADIES (Español)
The Dignity of the Nobodies (English)
La Dignité du peuple (Français)

In IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480126/







http://www.pinosolanas.com/la_dignidad_info.htm

LA DIGNIDAD DE LOS NADIES (2005) Para adquirir esta película ingrese aquí LA DIGNIDAD DE LOS NADIES, 2005, 35 mm color. Producción CINESUR s.a. (Buenos Aires); en coproducción con “DEZENOVE som e imagens” (San Pablo.Brasil); “THELMA Film AG” (Zurich); Televisión de la Suisse Romande (Ginebra). Con la participación del Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales (Argentina); Universidad Nacional de San Martín (Argentina) y el programa Ibermedia. Fue rodada en el gran Buenos Aires, el centro del país y la Patagonia. Ocho semanas de rodaje repartidas en dos años y diez meses de montaje y edición ›› NOTA DE INTENCION: Durante los años 90 reiteraron la idea de que la realidad no podía ser cambiada, que debíamos resignarnos al camino único neoliberal. Una cultura de la derrota, amnésica e hipócrita, caló hondo en los sentimientos de millones de personas. Pero otra realidad venía demostrando lo contrario a través de miles de actos individuales y colectivos. Con “La Dignidad...” he querido revelar las pequeñas victorias y hazañas cotidianas de “los nadies”, alternativas y propuestas solidarias que demuestran como este mundo puede ser cambiado. ›› GENESIS DEL FILM: “La Dignidad de los Nadies” se concibió a partir de la catástrofe social que la Argentina vivió a comienzos del siglo XXI: 25% de desocupados y 60% de pobres e indigentes. Éramos capaces de alimentar 300 millones de personas y se morían de hambre o enfermedades curables cien personas al día. Más muertos por año que todos los desaparecidos del terrorismo de Estado. La tragedia me empujó a hacer memoria contra el olvido. Los más jóvenes preguntaban qué había sucedido y aunque lo habíamos denunciado muchas veces durante los 90, era necesario traer las imágenes de esa historia y colocarlas en su contexto. Así nacieron “Memoria del Saqueo” (2002/2004), un análisis de las políticas del poder, y “La Dignidad de los Nadies”, construida con relatos e historias de algunos protagonistas de la resistencia social. Una epopeya anónima y cotidiana de los traicionados de siempre: clases medias empobrecidas desocupados o piqueteros que salen a cortar rutas. Una situación similar vivida décadas atrás me llevó a concebir “La Hora de los Hornos” y luego “Los Hijos de Fierro”: dos películas distintas e independientes entre si sobre la Argentina de entonces y sus luchas sociales. En los años 90 se impuso, a través de los medios, el discurso del único camino. Una cultura de la derrota que aun perdura en millones de personas, a pesar de cientos de movilizaciones que demostraron la posibilidad de vencer la impunidad. La insurrección espontánea del 19 y 20 de diciembre del 2001 será una de las primeras victorias contra el modelo global. En “La Dignidad de los Nadies” se recogen experiencias a través del relato de sus protagonistas. Difícil imaginarse que las chacareras, ajenas a los asuntos bancarios o políticos, iban a ser capaces de organizar un vigoroso y original movimiento de resistencia enfrentando a los bancos e impidiendo más de mil remates judiciales. Los comedores barriales y comunitarios, los dispensarios, panaderías y otras iniciativas sociales creados por los vecinos para dar respuesta a la pobreza y al hambre. Las decenas de marchas del silencio de familiares de las víctimas de las mafias policiales que lograron desenmascarar a los asesinos y llevarlos a juicio. Las fábricas recuperadas por sus ex trabajadores demostrando que con la autogestión y sin estructuras jerárquicas de gerentes y capataces, podían producir con eficiencia y calidad. Al recorrer el país y hablar con trabajadores, especialistas, productores, ciudadanos, campesinos, indígenas, fue creciendo la idea de realizar un fresco sobre el país. Cuatro largometrajes independientes entre si, pero unidos por el tema de la Argentina: de la devastación y saqueo del modelo neoliberal, a la reconstrucción y las alternativas de un nuevo proyecto capaz de recuperar los derechos conculcados y democratizar la democracia. A “Memoria del Saqueo” y “La Dignidad de los Nadies” le seguirán “Argentina Latente” y “La Tierra Sublevada” que tienen avanzada su preparación; el rodaje debe comenzar en los próximos meses. ›› EQUIPO TECNICO Dirección: Fernando E. SolanasGuión, textos y relato: Fernando E. Solanas / Investigación: Alcira Argumedo / Director de Producción: Daniel Samyn / Coordinadora de Producción: Victoria Solanas / Productor delegado y ejecutivo: Fernando E. Solanas / Productor delegado (Brasil): Sara Silveira / Cooproductor (Zurich): Pierre Alain Meier / Imagen y cámara: Fernando e. Solanas / Asistencia: Rino Pravatto y A. Fernández Mouján / Montaje: Juan Carlos Macías, Martín Subira/ Sonido directo: Marcos Dickinson, Abelardo Kuschnir / Dirección de sonido: Martín Grignaschi / Asistente (dirección, producción): Ivan Gotthold / Secretaria producción: Elida Romero Laboratorio imagen: Cinecolor (San Pablo-Brasil) / Mezcla de sonido: Sound Rec (Buenos Aires) Distribuidor argentino: Distribution Company / Venta Internacional: Cinesur s.a. ›› PREMIOS: 62ª EDICIÓN DEL FESTIVAL DE VENECIA (SEPTIEMBRE 2005) DOC/IT (Asociación de documentalistas italianos) “Por la sensibilidad poética y el compromiso cívico para narrar un momento dramático de la historia argentina, haciendo universal el dolor y la dignidad de un pueblo a través de memorables testimonios de los pequeños héroes de la cotidianidad" Premio Derechos Humanos (Human Rights Film Network Aware) Por "su capacidad para representar la resistencia de las personas y su lucha para salvaguardar el derecho fundamental del individuo y la colectividad". Mejor Pelicula Latina - Premio Citta di Roma-Arcobaleno Latino Un film necesario y potente que testimonia con vigor intelectual y maestría cinematográfica la cotidiana batalla de hombres y mujeres contra la impunidad y la degradación social. UNESCO ( CICT – UNESCO “Enrico Fulchignoni”) NUEVO FESTIVAL DE MONTREAL Premio special de L'office National du Film Mejor film documental por sus cualidades técnicas, la fuerza de su temática, su mirada de autor y la justeza con la que el realizador ha mostrado el coraje y la dignidad de sus conciudadanos. SEMANA INTERNACIONAL DE CINE DE VALLADOLID (50 EDICIÓN) Mejor Documental Por mostrar con precisión narrativa las victorias solidarias de los desfavorecidos frente a los efectos devastadores de las nuevas políticas neoliberales. FESTIVAL DE CINE DE LA HABANA Premio Memoria del Centro Cultural Pablo de la Torriente Brau “Por dar continuidad, con lucidez y rigor, a la crónica de la realidad actual de su país a través de la visión humana y participativa de sus personajes, que rescatan –a través de estas imágenes– su rostro y su dignidad” Premio de la Fundación del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano PANTALLA PINAMAR Premio SIGNIS Argentina Premio Balance de Plata

Black Gold

Black Gold: A Film About Coffee & Trade:






As westerners revel in designer lattes and cappuccinos, impoverished Ethiopian coffee growers suffer the bitter taste of injustice. In this eye-opening expose of the multi-billion dollar industry, Black Gold traces one man's fight for a fair price.

Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil.

But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.

Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.

Against the backdrop of Tadesse's journey to London and Seattle, the enormous power of the multinational players that dominate the world's coffee trade becomes apparent. New York commodity traders, the international coffee exchanges, and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organisation reveal the many challenges Tadesse faces in his quest for a long term solution for his farmers.

Coffee Calculator. Find out where coffee money goes:


Visit http://www.blackgoldmovie.com

Film: Slavery: A Global Investigation

TrueVision Productions Oct. 2000 for Channel 4 (winner of the 2001 Peabody Award for Documentary)


Directors:Kate Blewett and Brian Woods