The Sando Presents » Emissary

Why Emissary uses that Creative Commons thing

Sando — Sat, 16 May 2009 05:04:08 +0000

On Wednesday I get to take down the sign at HAPPY Bar that says “All recording is prohibited” for an entire hour. It’s terribly exciting as any large festival, like The New Zealand International Comedy Festival, that has a lot of media coverage tends to have fairly restrictive conditions surrounding what can and can’t be done in regards to performances under their control. Thankfully after some discussion with the Comedy Festival people, I was given the permission to go ahead and release my multimedia sketch show Emissary as a Creative Commons document, (specifically the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 New Zealand License) and allow my audience to record my stuff for their further remixing pleasure. So yeah, I’m pretty stoked that Emissary is the first show to be released under the Creative Commons license in the seventeen year run that the Comedy Festival has had.

The reasons why I want to release Emissary are pretty varied, but there are a couple of pretty big reasons:

1. Emissary is about the internet, and how I am part of it. Morally I couldn’t just riff on the internet without saying it was okay for other people to do the same. Well, I could, but that would be a dick move.

2. I want people to feel like they have a measure of ownership over the satire and amusement that was produced for them, and I want them to feel like they can use it, that they can share it and that they can build upon it. You buy access to an event with a ticket, you should be allowed to have a record of it under your own control too.

3. Remember Section 92a of the Copyright Act? I had started piecing together the show when the Labour Government had just flagrantly lied that the public had not bothered to consult with them on the bill. I was still writing it when the protest at the Bee Hive happened because the new government were just as asinine as the last. Possibly more so. That got me steamed, and I realised that if I didn’t actually step up and release my stuff in a way that allowed others the same rights that I desperately wanted, I would be at the mercy of what ever small to middle sized industries (like a teen with a bottle of scrumpy, it don’t take much) bought out New Zealand politics. The license is a toasty little jacket that keeps me from freezing in the open air of the public domain and suffering heat stroke inside copyright.

4. Some of what I’m doing is satire. New Zealand is no Guatemala, where you can be thrown into jail for a twit or seditious Youtube video and I’m no Jonathan Swift, but gosh darn it we kiwis have a healthy respect for the law. This way if one of my ideas takes off the other nerdly and diligent kiwis will be able to share the idea, and an idea can only grow if people have access to it.

And that’s why I use that Creative Commons thing for Emissary.

How to make Sushi Pie

Sando — Sun, 03 May 2009 03:00:48 +0000

Here we go: A quick no nonsense visual diagram of how to create Sushi Pie, one of the many valuable flavours of pie that was utilised in National Pie in the Face Day.

The Comedy Festival opens this week, tickets to my show are located here.

Remember, Emissary is creative commons, like this site and every thing in it, feel free to boot leg it.

Emissary

Sando — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 02:18:14 +0000

I live on the internet. Much more so than some stupid place like “New Zeiterland” or what ever it’s called. That’s what this show is all about. An Emissary from the internet is here to connect with us, to share, to help. Consider it a delightful romp through the absurd and hate filled lands of the internet. In truth it be a revue of sketch, digital film and shenanigans of an absurd and political nature.We advise crying one’s self to sleep afterwards as it is good for the soul.

Lively performed by me, Nic Sando, with short (films) shot by the award winning director of Poppy, David Coyle, Emissary will both amuse and bemuse you. And also make you sad or happy, I can’t remember which emotion is meant to be which at this point of time. Tickets are available from ticketek. (This is a link)

–Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 New Zealand Licence, we encourage bootlegging our performance. Mayhaps use a camcorder, or some form of dictagraphic device. It’s your choice to access material , so what you choose to do with it is also your own concern. So says Sando son of Sando!