Friday 16 December 2011
The Enchanting Element of Music
As compelling as the original video, this live performance of 'Pass This On' recreates the same conditions but in a real life situation.
This is a brilliant live act that reflects the genius of The Knife. There is an underlying eroticism in the video that almost makes you feel dirty and voyeuristic watching it.
Tuesday 13 December 2011
Thursday 8 December 2011
RA Top live acts of 2011
Resident Advisor just released their top 20 live acts of 2011, as voted by fans.
http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1420
I have a lot of catching up to do. Especially with some of the gentlemen in the top 10. Nicolas Jaar, in particular, is going to be huge.
http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1420
I have a lot of catching up to do. Especially with some of the gentlemen in the top 10. Nicolas Jaar, in particular, is going to be huge.
Snapshots of a modern revolution
I bumped into this person's photoblog today. She (I believe it's a 'she' we're talking about) has managed to get into the heart of the uprisings in Greece and capture moments of immense beauty, ugliness, pain, happiness and, above all, truth.
Find them here: http://flavors.me/murplejane#3f5/posterous
Find them here: http://flavors.me/murplejane#3f5/posterous
Wednesday 7 December 2011
Dream-like pop sequences, warm chords and ethereal voices - the trademark sound of French duo Air, who have been commissioned to provide a new soundtrack for George Melies' 'La Voyage Dans Le Lune' (Trip to the Moon). They have expanded this soundtrack into an album. Seven Stars, featuring Beach House's Victoria Legrand, is a new song from the album.
What a treat.
(Although, I must confess, the chord progression is a little reminiscent of David Gray's 'This Year's Love')
What a treat.
(Although, I must confess, the chord progression is a little reminiscent of David Gray's 'This Year's Love')
Tuesday 29 November 2011
Sunday 20 November 2011
A thing of sheer beauty
Sunday music doesn't get any better than this:
The Waste Land
IV. Death by Water
Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead,
Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep sea swell
And the profit and loss.
A current under sea
Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell
He passes the stages of his age and youth
Entering the whirlpool.
Gentile or Jew
O you who turn the wheel and look windward,
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.Tuesday 15 November 2011
Monday 14 November 2011
Groove Noir
Fantastic set, can't wait to listen to this on my new babies:
http://soundcloud.com/timtor/tim-tor-groove-noir-16-06-2011 by Tim Tor
http://soundcloud.com/timtor/tim-tor-groove-noir-16-06-2011 by Tim Tor
Friday 11 November 2011
The perks of living in London
You get to see bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers perform live.
Magic.
I was there. It was worth it. I would do it again.
Friday 4 November 2011
London by bus
London Bus Tour from moritz oberholzer on Vimeo.
Watching the world go by from a London bus window. Just a reminder that it's not a bad idea to enjoy the journey sometimes as well.Thursday 3 November 2011
Monday 31 October 2011
London in 3D
An attempt to make London look much more beautiful than it actually is, whilst making an accidental homage to SimCity 3000.
This is surely fake. Where did the sun come from?
This is surely fake. Where did the sun come from?
Friday 28 October 2011
Celebrity mugshots
Endless fun not-so-suitable for the whole family:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/celebrities
Now every average existence in the world can feel like a better person.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/celebrities
Now every average existence in the world can feel like a better person.
It wasn't just Steve who gave grads inspirational life tips
Here's Jeff Bezos' commencement speech to the Princeton University's class of 2010.
(you can skip the really long intro and go to 06:20 for the real deal)
Transcript:
As a kid, I spent my summers with my grandparents on their ranch in Texas. I helped fix windmills, vaccinate cattle, and do other chores. We also watched soap operas every afternoon, especially "Days of our Lives." My grandparents belonged to a Caravan Club, a group of Airstream trailer owners who travel together around the U.S. and Canada. And every few summers, we'd join the caravan. We'd hitch up the Airstream trailer to my grandfather's car, and off we'd go, in a line with 300 other Airstream adventurers. I loved and worshipped my grandparents and I really looked forward to these trips. On one particular trip, I was about 10 years old. I was rolling around in the big bench seat in the back of the car. My grandfather was driving. And my grandmother had the passenger seat. She smoked throughout these trips, and I hated the smell.
At that age, I'd take any excuse to make estimates and do minor arithmetic. I'd calculate our gas mileage -- figure out useless statistics on things like grocery spending. I'd been hearing an ad campaign about smoking. I can't remember the details, but basically the ad said, every puff of a cigarette takes some number of minutes off of your life: I think it might have been two minutes per puff. At any rate, I decided to do the math for my grandmother. I estimated the number of cigarettes per days, estimated the number of puffs per cigarette and so on. When I was satisfied that I'd come up with a reasonable number, I poked my head into the front of the car, tapped my grandmother on the shoulder, and proudly proclaimed, "At two minutes per puff, you've taken nine years off your life!"
I have a vivid memory of what happened, and it was not what I expected. I expected to be applauded for my cleverness and arithmetic skills. "Jeff, you're so smart. You had to have made some tricky estimates, figure out the number of minutes in a year and do some division." That's not what happened. Instead, my grandmother burst into tears. I sat in the backseat and did not know what to do. While my grandmother sat crying, my grandfather, who had been driving in silence, pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway. He got out of the car and came around and opened my door and waited for me to follow. Was I in trouble? My grandfather was a highly intelligent, quiet man. He had never said a harsh word to me, and maybe this was to be the first time? Or maybe he would ask that I get back in the car and apologize to my grandmother. I had no experience in this realm with my grandparents and no way to gauge what the consequences might be. We stopped beside the trailer. My grandfather looked at me, and after a bit of silence, he gently and calmly said, "Jeff, one day you'll understand that it's harder to be kind than clever."
What I want to talk to you about today is the difference between gifts and choices. Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy -- they're given after all. Choices can be hard. You can seduce yourself with your gifts if you're not careful, and if you do, it'll probably be to the detriment of your choices.
This is a group with many gifts. I'm sure one of your gifts is the gift of a smart and capable brain. I'm confident that's the case because admission is competitive and if there weren't some signs that you're clever, the dean of admission wouldn't have let you in.
Your smarts will come in handy because you will travel in a land of marvels. We humans -- plodding as we are -- will astonish ourselves. We'll invent ways to generate clean energy and a lot of it. Atom by atom, we'll assemble tiny machines that will enter cell walls and make repairs. This month comes the extraordinary but also inevitable news that we've synthesized life. In the coming years, we'll not only synthesize it, but we'll engineer it to specifications. I believe you'll even see us understand the human brain. Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Galileo, Newton -- all the curious from the ages would have wanted to be alive most of all right now. As a civilization, we will have so many gifts, just as you as individuals have so many individual gifts as you sit before me.
How will you use these gifts? And will you take pride in your gifts or pride in your choices?
I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. I came across the fact that Web usage was growing at 2,300 percent per year. I'd never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles -- something that simply couldn't exist in the physical world -- was very exciting to me. I had just turned 30 years old, and I'd been married for a year. I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go do this crazy thing that probably wouldn't work since most startups don't, and I wasn't sure what would happen after that. MacKenzie (also a Princeton grad and sitting here in the second row) told me I should go for it. As a young boy, I'd been a garage inventor. I'd invented an automatic gate closer out of cement-filled tires, a solar cooker that didn't work very well out of an umbrella and tinfoil, baking-pan alarms to entrap my siblings. I'd always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted me to follow my passion.
I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people, and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired. I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened carefully to me, and finally said, "That sounds like a really good idea, but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn't already have a good job." That logic made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice, but ultimately, I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn't think I'd regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all. After much consideration, I took the less safe path to follow my passion, and I'm proud of that choice.
Tomorrow, in a very real sense, your life -- the life you author from scratch on your own -- begins.
How will you use your gifts? What choices will you make?
Will inertia be your guide, or will you follow your passions?
Will you follow dogma, or will you be original?
Will you choose a life of ease, or a life of service and adventure?
Will you wilt under criticism, or will you follow your convictions?
Will you bluff it out when you're wrong, or will you apologize?
Will you guard your heart against rejection, or will you act when you fall in love?
Will you play it safe, or will you be a little bit swashbuckling?
When it's tough, will you give up, or will you be relentless?
Will you be a cynic, or will you be a builder?
Will you be clever at the expense of others, or will you be kind?
I will hazard a prediction. When you are 80 years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life story, the telling that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story. Thank you and good luck!
(you can skip the really long intro and go to 06:20 for the real deal)
Transcript:
As a kid, I spent my summers with my grandparents on their ranch in Texas. I helped fix windmills, vaccinate cattle, and do other chores. We also watched soap operas every afternoon, especially "Days of our Lives." My grandparents belonged to a Caravan Club, a group of Airstream trailer owners who travel together around the U.S. and Canada. And every few summers, we'd join the caravan. We'd hitch up the Airstream trailer to my grandfather's car, and off we'd go, in a line with 300 other Airstream adventurers. I loved and worshipped my grandparents and I really looked forward to these trips. On one particular trip, I was about 10 years old. I was rolling around in the big bench seat in the back of the car. My grandfather was driving. And my grandmother had the passenger seat. She smoked throughout these trips, and I hated the smell.
At that age, I'd take any excuse to make estimates and do minor arithmetic. I'd calculate our gas mileage -- figure out useless statistics on things like grocery spending. I'd been hearing an ad campaign about smoking. I can't remember the details, but basically the ad said, every puff of a cigarette takes some number of minutes off of your life: I think it might have been two minutes per puff. At any rate, I decided to do the math for my grandmother. I estimated the number of cigarettes per days, estimated the number of puffs per cigarette and so on. When I was satisfied that I'd come up with a reasonable number, I poked my head into the front of the car, tapped my grandmother on the shoulder, and proudly proclaimed, "At two minutes per puff, you've taken nine years off your life!"
I have a vivid memory of what happened, and it was not what I expected. I expected to be applauded for my cleverness and arithmetic skills. "Jeff, you're so smart. You had to have made some tricky estimates, figure out the number of minutes in a year and do some division." That's not what happened. Instead, my grandmother burst into tears. I sat in the backseat and did not know what to do. While my grandmother sat crying, my grandfather, who had been driving in silence, pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway. He got out of the car and came around and opened my door and waited for me to follow. Was I in trouble? My grandfather was a highly intelligent, quiet man. He had never said a harsh word to me, and maybe this was to be the first time? Or maybe he would ask that I get back in the car and apologize to my grandmother. I had no experience in this realm with my grandparents and no way to gauge what the consequences might be. We stopped beside the trailer. My grandfather looked at me, and after a bit of silence, he gently and calmly said, "Jeff, one day you'll understand that it's harder to be kind than clever."
What I want to talk to you about today is the difference between gifts and choices. Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy -- they're given after all. Choices can be hard. You can seduce yourself with your gifts if you're not careful, and if you do, it'll probably be to the detriment of your choices.
This is a group with many gifts. I'm sure one of your gifts is the gift of a smart and capable brain. I'm confident that's the case because admission is competitive and if there weren't some signs that you're clever, the dean of admission wouldn't have let you in.
Your smarts will come in handy because you will travel in a land of marvels. We humans -- plodding as we are -- will astonish ourselves. We'll invent ways to generate clean energy and a lot of it. Atom by atom, we'll assemble tiny machines that will enter cell walls and make repairs. This month comes the extraordinary but also inevitable news that we've synthesized life. In the coming years, we'll not only synthesize it, but we'll engineer it to specifications. I believe you'll even see us understand the human brain. Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Galileo, Newton -- all the curious from the ages would have wanted to be alive most of all right now. As a civilization, we will have so many gifts, just as you as individuals have so many individual gifts as you sit before me.
How will you use these gifts? And will you take pride in your gifts or pride in your choices?
I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. I came across the fact that Web usage was growing at 2,300 percent per year. I'd never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles -- something that simply couldn't exist in the physical world -- was very exciting to me. I had just turned 30 years old, and I'd been married for a year. I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go do this crazy thing that probably wouldn't work since most startups don't, and I wasn't sure what would happen after that. MacKenzie (also a Princeton grad and sitting here in the second row) told me I should go for it. As a young boy, I'd been a garage inventor. I'd invented an automatic gate closer out of cement-filled tires, a solar cooker that didn't work very well out of an umbrella and tinfoil, baking-pan alarms to entrap my siblings. I'd always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted me to follow my passion.
I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people, and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired. I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened carefully to me, and finally said, "That sounds like a really good idea, but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn't already have a good job." That logic made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice, but ultimately, I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn't think I'd regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all. After much consideration, I took the less safe path to follow my passion, and I'm proud of that choice.
Tomorrow, in a very real sense, your life -- the life you author from scratch on your own -- begins.
How will you use your gifts? What choices will you make?
Will inertia be your guide, or will you follow your passions?
Will you follow dogma, or will you be original?
Will you choose a life of ease, or a life of service and adventure?
Will you wilt under criticism, or will you follow your convictions?
Will you bluff it out when you're wrong, or will you apologize?
Will you guard your heart against rejection, or will you act when you fall in love?
Will you play it safe, or will you be a little bit swashbuckling?
When it's tough, will you give up, or will you be relentless?
Will you be a cynic, or will you be a builder?
Will you be clever at the expense of others, or will you be kind?
I will hazard a prediction. When you are 80 years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life story, the telling that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story. Thank you and good luck!
Thursday 27 October 2011
Wednesday 26 October 2011
Tuesday 25 October 2011
Thursday 20 October 2011
Friday 14 October 2011
Monday 10 October 2011
Friday 7 October 2011
For IKEA sadomasochists, like me
http://www.ikeahackers.net/
You can make loads of cool stuff, like a cheese grater lamp, for example.
You can make loads of cool stuff, like a cheese grater lamp, for example.
Thursday 6 October 2011
Tuesday 4 October 2011
Apples on Fire: Better or cheaper?
This is not your usual case of David versus Goliath. Because when the two parties involved in this digital fistfight are known as Amazon and Apple, then Goliath vs Goliath is the humblest way one can describe their most explicit head-to-head battle yet.
The Kindle Fire is a small and sexy piece of gear. It's not as sleek or out there as the iPad, but it's a case of 'good things come in small packages'. The iPad screams bigger and better. Bigger screen, more space, camera, longer battery life, more apps. 3G.
So, what's the big win the Kindle Fire is going for?
Well, price of course. With the initial price tag at $199 (around £130), Kindle Fire is £270 cheaper than the lowest-priced piece of Apple tablet goodness. If you don't splash out half a grand on a piece of gear, the fear factor immediately diminishes. You use it more, you take it with you more, you don't crap your pants every time someone else holds your baby in their hands, thinking they might drop it any minute now. If your cup of tea is reading and web browsing, then the Kindle is all you need. When it comes to multimedia entertainment, however, the iPad and it's badass screen are clear winners.
An interesting possibility could be current iPad owners also buying a Kindle to satisfy their thirst for entertainment for shorter journeys where the iPad might be a bit of a pain to carry around.
Only time will tell. 40 days to go. Apple has plenty of time to react, but can sit comfortably in its throne for now. Especially with the imminent release of the new iPhone.
The Kindle Fire is a small and sexy piece of gear. It's not as sleek or out there as the iPad, but it's a case of 'good things come in small packages'. The iPad screams bigger and better. Bigger screen, more space, camera, longer battery life, more apps. 3G.
So, what's the big win the Kindle Fire is going for?
Well, price of course. With the initial price tag at $199 (around £130), Kindle Fire is £270 cheaper than the lowest-priced piece of Apple tablet goodness. If you don't splash out half a grand on a piece of gear, the fear factor immediately diminishes. You use it more, you take it with you more, you don't crap your pants every time someone else holds your baby in their hands, thinking they might drop it any minute now. If your cup of tea is reading and web browsing, then the Kindle is all you need. When it comes to multimedia entertainment, however, the iPad and it's badass screen are clear winners.
An interesting possibility could be current iPad owners also buying a Kindle to satisfy their thirst for entertainment for shorter journeys where the iPad might be a bit of a pain to carry around.
Only time will tell. 40 days to go. Apple has plenty of time to react, but can sit comfortably in its throne for now. Especially with the imminent release of the new iPhone.
Thursday 29 September 2011
Beating aging
This talk by Cambridge researcher Aubrey de Grey suggests that people can extend their lives to live for at least an additional 50 years. His theory is that aging is a disease, and there are ways to cure it.
Long and dense, but interesting.
Wednesday 28 September 2011
listentofeist.com
No, really. Listen to her. She's great. So is her new album, 'Metals'.
It's such a breath of fresh air to finally get a new 2011 album that doesn't bring you to the brink of fatigue when you listen to it.
It's such a breath of fresh air to finally get a new 2011 album that doesn't bring you to the brink of fatigue when you listen to it.
Thursday 22 September 2011
Monday 12 September 2011
Nice Way to Start Your Week 6.0
Some quality house to welcome the first afternoon of the week in good spirits.
Tuesday 30 August 2011
Thursday 11 August 2011
It doesn't have to be loud to have energy
Some underplayed creepiness here, masterfully delivered by the king of contrasting atmospheres, Trent Reznor and his sidekick Atticus Ross.
Thursday 4 August 2011
Wednesday 3 August 2011
Inside North Korea
AP Asia chief photographer and bureau chief were granted unprecedented access to parts of North Korea, in an attempt to offer a wider coverage of the nation in its isolated condition.
In some cases these can be appreciated more as artistic pieces than photojournalism, but viewing them still is a worthwhile experience.
Find them here.
In some cases these can be appreciated more as artistic pieces than photojournalism, but viewing them still is a worthwhile experience.
Find them here.
Monday 1 August 2011
There's no place like home
And there's nothing like amazing design ideas from all over the world to make you want to make yours even better:
http://freshome.com/
Sometimes I just want to go pretend-play in IKEA.
http://freshome.com/
Sometimes I just want to go pretend-play in IKEA.
Friday 22 July 2011
Wednesday 20 July 2011
Where do YOU want to go?
We are the generation that travels. "Moving is living", says George Clooney's character in Up In The Air, and today's youth seems to have grasped and embraced this concept more than anyone.
Travel is now a common interest, so much so that it is not even mentioned as something special by some, because it is something that should already be implied and assumed about people our age.
This infographic demonstrates this trend in a dual manner, showing the trends and preferences for young and educated people. The trends, unsurprisingly, since the majority of young people in developed countries end up receiving some kind of education (and 'education', in this case, has not been defined), are similar for both groups. The only minor shifts are noted in Europe, where distances are shorter and the Eurozone has given European youth its blessing for easier and more frequent travel between its member countries.
Curiously, the BRIC countries are AWOL.
Tuesday 19 July 2011
A taste of things to come
The new Chilis single has finally been released. A couple of first impressions:
1) The guitar melodies during the chorus are great, but I have a suspicion the sound of Frusciante will be greatly missed in this album. His epic riffs during verses and the ability to twist everything he plays into something new are very much absent from 'The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie'.
2) "Hey now"? Uncanny, non?
3) The funk is very much alive.
4) Release date is August 30th - a long time away, and RHCP are usually my summer music, but since I'm stuck in rainy England in the middle of July it really doesn't make a difference anymore.
Wednesday 6 July 2011
Why does generation Y buy?
Another interesting look at our generation, this time by getsatisfaction. But, FYI, not all of us are hipsters.
I think one of the most interesting points in the infographic is not given enough weight, and that is the fact that we are massive information-sharers, which, in today's age, is equivalent to the gold-miners in the 19th Century Gold Rush.
I think one of the most interesting points in the infographic is not given enough weight, and that is the fact that we are massive information-sharers, which, in today's age, is equivalent to the gold-miners in the 19th Century Gold Rush.
Monday 4 July 2011
Friday 1 July 2011
Short and sweet
Shot entirely with a phone. The possibilities are endless. Enjoy.
Splitscreen: A Love Story from JW Griffiths on Vimeo.
Wednesday 29 June 2011
I Need Fresh Blood
As a warm up to the first episode of the new True Blood season, and since I've been 'convinced' to wait until Friday to watch it, I found this article on Rolling Stone that will just about manage to keep me going till then.
Tuesday 28 June 2011
Friday 10 June 2011
Thursday 9 June 2011
Let's get together
Creating an emotional connection with your customers is a must - creating an emotional connection between your customers, however, is a much harder thing to achieve.
The new Bacardi advertising campaign, which has to be my favourite of the year till now, seems to be doing just that.
Tuesday 31 May 2011
Trent setting foundations for Oscar no.2?
Trent Reznor and Karen O cover (remix?) of Led Zep's 'Immigrant Song', taken from the trailer for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. And the film will be released for Christmas. Exciting times.
Wednesday 25 May 2011
Tuesday 17 May 2011
Tuesday 26 April 2011
Thursday 21 April 2011
Wednesday 23 February 2011
Saturday 12 February 2011
Thursday 10 February 2011
Tuesday 8 February 2011
Tuesday 1 February 2011
Thursday 27 January 2011
Sometimes less is definitely more
The Four Icon Challenge aims to summarize entire books or films in just 4 images.
Check it out here.
Still a work in progress apparently, but one I'll be coming back to.
Check it out here.
Still a work in progress apparently, but one I'll be coming back to.
Friday 14 January 2011
Thursday 13 January 2011
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