Love this...

RIMG0104.jpg
Originally uploaded by pingmag.

Great image of the Peanuts gang on the PingMag Flickr page. Sweet. Check it out.

New Rich

I like my toys... I'm not a traditional status person - I rock limited rather than expensive... I seek out sweet designs and appreciate classics. I love what BIG GAME have done here for the +41 event... Making luxury items for classic designs like a BIC pen or iPod headphones. Nice idea...

In their latest collection, Big-game questions the meaning of accessories and offers new alternatives to jewellery. This series of objects entitled “NEW RICH” results from the confrontation between mass products and luxury.

When gold replaces plastic, democratic and functional objects become exclusive in a subtle way.

“We’ve picked standard, universal products, and replaced a part of each object by an equivalent in gold”, explains Elric Petit. “We love the shrewd blend between the down-to-earth functionalism of mass-products and the ultimate precious material: gold”

Check it out here: Link

Thanks to Coolhunting for the heads up on this.

The Supermodel & the Barrow Boy

Tonight, at Alpha, Andrea (our Minister) recounted something someone said about Olly and me... It went along the lines of: "We were a lovely couple who really made them feel welcome and at home in the church" (so far, so good) "but they are such an unlikely couple... Olly is like a supermodel and Tom is like a barrow boy!!!"

No disrespect was intended and none was taken...and I don't think any confidences were broken. Personally, I find it funny. Olly is lovely and a stunner so I am happy with her definition but who/what is a barrow boy?

The defintion of a barrow boy according to wordnet is "a hawker of fruit and vegetables from a barrow"... Strangely amusing...

I follow the definition on google (should I be boycotting them or something?) and Gilles Peterson is described for Triptych 05 as a "barrow boy" so there is definately some cache here...

Hmm... I think I will take it in the spirit that it was intended... Now... Get yer bananas here!!!

One person can make a difference...

Never forget that one person can make a difference!

BTW - If you type "Tiananmen" into Google, China's Images you don't get the above image. If you type it into any other Google and you get the above image. Google says "Don't be evil" - what do you call capitulating to China?

A modern day love story...

Love this story about unrequited love... Man loves girl... Girl moves away... Man dedicates a sweet plug-in to the girl of his dreams... Nice!

Check out the article in Wired: Link

Google's new logo for its Chinese operations...

Google's new logo for their Chinese operations... from The Students for a Free Tibet via boingboing(dot)net

Plan 59's Gallery of Scary Kids...

Found this gallery via boingboing(dot)net - think its really funny. Check it out: Link

in this great future, you can't forget your past

"The emerging Church may follow General Booth of the Salvation Army more closely than Charles Wesley in the matter of hymnology, putting new words to singable popular tunes."

Larson, Osborne, The Emerging Church (1970), p86

Its always nice to get a namecheck... I love what the Founder did when he took the "pop" tunes of his day and spiritualised them. For him it was about people and connecting with people... not about traditions or positions... His fight was real!

The emerging church could learn a lot from the Founder... His focus on giving our hearts to God and our hands to man is inspirational.

We need to get back to those days... As Bob Marley said "in this great future, you can't forget your past" This is not a whimsical idea based on "it being better when I was a child" because I was not brought up in the Salvation Army - I chose it. I believe we need to go back to Booth's day and understand the lessons learnt in making church relevant to people... We are not a social club, though its great to socialise... nor are we a music club, though the songsters and band present inspiriational music... we are a community of faith, hope and love that exists for the betterment of people..!

Let's keep the fight going... Check out ourdailyblog for daily insights into the emerging church...

Enjoy Georgia

Enjoy Georgia
Originally uploaded by andyrsoosay.

My man... The Soos... has posted even more photos from his trip to Tokyo. Love this one, especially...

Alpha - Week 2

Alpha is on tonight... at the Salvation Army, Gladstone St, Bellshill. Meet up at 1900hrs for the food / 1945hrs for the discussion. It's going to be good... For more info, follow these links: Main Alpha Webspace & Alpha at Bellshill SA

Leading Church

My good lady and I led church tonight at the Salvation Army, Bellshill; Our ministers (officers) were on holiday and Olly & I were asked to help cover their absence. I do enjoy leading meetings... I like doing something different... Pushing the envelope...

Our thought was on "Believing" and "Following"... We used the 3 trials from "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" as a visual aide... Olly and her band played the Tim Hughes song "Holy, Holy" which was wonderful... Claire brought a Hillsong to us called "so you would come"... In addition, our sections were really bang-on with their messages...

I brought the thought and Olly summed everything together with a presentation using Tim Hughes' song "Consuming Fire" which was really challenging...

All in all... it worked well and in the words of Hannibal... "I love it when a plan comes together..."

I love this mouse...

Went to Borders tonight for a latte in Starbucks (still doing Gingerbread!!!) with Olly and the we'ans, and Rosco & Janey... While there I noticed this mouse by Pat Says Now (dot)com. I think it is super sweet and ideal for St Valentines day... The rest of their stock varies... but there are some cool designs. Check it out: Link

My new General...

I worship at the Salvation Army because it fits closest my beliefs - Heart to God, Hand to Man is inspirational. Shaw Clifton (pictured) has been elected to the position of General... He is now the big cheese for the whole of Salvation-dom. I pray for God's blessing on his leadership and add that it is not only by our actions.. by our fruit... that we are judged - our reactions matter too.

"You don't get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree."

Luke 6: 43-44 (The Message)

OHSO

Every so often I see something that makes me go WOW!!! The OHSO range of toothbrushes are really, really cool - the Marko (pictured) is my fav. Basically, its a travel brush with a toothpaste reservoir. Simple concept elegantly executed... Hmm, Italy will soon be here... if you think 6 months is soon.

Check out the product range here: goohso(dot)com

A structure to world peace

A structure to world peace
Originally uploaded by Headphonaught.

Had a lovely afternoon at Drumpelier Park near Coatbridge... It was so tranquil - except for the neds in their loud cars.

Found this monument - A Structure to World Peace - in a wee garden at the park. Its beautiful in a stark kind of way. The dove of peace is so shiny compared to the matt of the structure.

Sweet. Check out my Flickr pics for more from the Park.

Kwanzaa

I have a cool Bible that was originally designed for children of colour. I bought it because the pictures in it are vibrant and lovely, and I needed the translation that it was in (New King James). Inside it there is a page on KWANZAA and I always wondered about it as I thought the seven principles were very inspirational. Kind of forgot about them until I noticed KWANZAA mentioned on the Mimico website. It is a cultural (not religious) holiday celebrated between the 26th Dec and the 1st Jan and I really find it inspiring. Check out the website: officialkwanzaawebsite(dot)org
For those who don't know... these are the nguzo saba or seven principles of KWANZAA:

NGUZO SABA (The Seven Principles)

Umoja (Unity)
To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.

Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)
To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.

Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility)
To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together.

Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.

Nia (Purpose)
To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Kuumba (Creativity)
To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

Imani (Faith)
To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Mimobots...

I love these little guys... A cross between sweet toys and practical USB dongles... Here's what Mimoco say about their genius product:

mimoco is a startup designer toy studio meets consumer electronics brand based in Boston, MA. With a mission to bring style and soul to personal tech devices and to inject interactivity into the burgeoning designer toy movement, the first fruits of our efforts are the delicious and fresh mimobot designer toy USB flash drives launched in late 2005.

mimobots are little friendly data fiends! Feed the 2" monsters all your essential data (tunes, pics, presentations, videos, etc.) and transport your files wherever you go. mimobot characters are what happens when designer toys meet USB flash drives - a marriage of art and technology.

Check them out here: Link

Been caught stealin'

Check this story out... PinkBeltRage is a blog I just kind of happened on - I "fav'd" a couple of PinkBelt's pics in Flickr and did a profile check. Her blog is super cool - loads of stuff on bands she has seen live and other sweet content. Her story "Been caught stealin'" is hilarious - its about guilt, being brought up in a religious Christian environment and wallet-stuffer cards... Sweet.

Fighting back...

Check this out... This numptie along with another is alleged to have stolen a 17" Powerbook from a business in Australia. The owner has gone POSTAL and taken all the info he has amassed on the theft (the numpties checked email so the owner has an IP address / detailed pics of the people and their car / a withheld call to the owner's mobile) and posted it on the Aus eBay: Link The owner is so smart using the net and the media to catch the numpties - no laptop returned as yet but 47,000 folk know about the story!!! Ha ha... never mess with the Cult of Mac!

Thanks to TUAW for the heads up on this.

U P D A T E
eBay pulled the ad because they weren't selling anything... so they have reposted with an ad selling the story of the events along with "Internet for Dummies" and "World's Dumbest Criminals". Sweet. Check it out here: Link

Strawberries... Japanese style

Check out PingMag for a cool article on Japanese packaging design for all things strawberry. Sweet.

Stussy X Alpha Industries

If you like your Stussy extremely limited then check out Hanon-Shop(dot)com on the 28th Jan. Stussy have released this colaboration with Alpha Industries - Its the classic MA1 jacket customised with some sweet patches. Here's the skinny:

A modified MA-1 flight jacket built by Alpha and designed exclusively by Stussy is launched this weekend.

Alpha industries supply the US armed forces with the MA-1 and other authentic outerwear. The Stussy modified style evokes the spirit of a customised military jacket, a look familiar to us all that features badges and patches of various logos, bands and political slogans.

To celebrate this look and style the Stussy MA-1 features badge contributions by friends and family.

Badge contributors include...
* James Lebon-BUFFALO 'Force Tranquille',
* Hiroshi Fujiwara-FRAGMENT 'Fragment Logo',
* James Reid-'No War No Glory' 'Peace is Tough',
* Jules Gayton- LEILOW 'Hep Cat',
* Luca Benini- SLAM JAM 'Fedeli All Linea',
* STUSSY HQ- 'Surferman',
* STUSSY SF- 'Kaya',
* STUSSY TOKYO- 'CND',
* STUSSY UK- 'Stop Killing Me' 'No Nazi's',
* SUPREME- 'Suicidal',
* UNDEFEATED 'Eazy-E'

Personally, I love the Rockstar X Alpha MA1 jacket that the Soos sourced me (wearing it today...) and I am glad Stussy are giving the MA1 some love because its a great style, even though some people can't get "bovver boys" out their minds. Its time we took this jacket back from the Nazis and owned it as a classic. Kudos to both Stussy & Rockstar for having the foresight to do this.

Anyway, if the jacket floats your boat - check out Hanon-Shop(dot)com on Saturday (28th Jan). Be sharp!

U P D A T E
More info from Being Hunted

"A Red, Red Rose" by Robert Burns

For Olly...My red, red rose...

"A Red, Red Rose" by Robert Burns

O MY Luve 's like a red, red rose
That 's newly sprung in June:
O my Luve 's like the melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune!

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I:
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry:

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve,
And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' it were ten thousand mile.

The Southpark Headphonaught

Finally found the site that lets you create your own Southpark character (like the Soos' Flickr pic)... What do you think...Is it like me?

Make your own character here: Link

Skyscraper in Tokyo

EPV0282_2b
Originally uploaded by andyrsoosay.

Love this pic from my man, The Soos... He has added more of his photos from last year's Tokyo trip. Check them out...

Nike Evolution

Look... I know I am a Creationist but you have to check these babies out... Nike Air Max 1 Evolution (above) and Nike Air Max 95 Evolution (below)
I have to say... the colourway is so sweet.

Check them out at hanon-shop(dot)com

Alpha - Week 1

Alpha went down a treat last night... 13 people shared food and fellowship - 5 of which were at Alpha for the first time, with a further 2 attending who had not been able to fully attend a previous course.

Olly lead the band with uptempo guitar-based versions of "Amazing Grace" and "Be thou my vision" - they were fab! I am going to enjoy watching them grow in expertise and confidence - the band have a spark that I hope will burst into a flame!

The talk and the following discussion were productive - people started to relax and open up a bit. I am happy - things all kind of fell into place. Let's hope this develops.

Honeyee(dot)com

Followed a link from Jeff Staple's blog to honeyee(dot)com Its a bleeding edge Japanese web magazine with loads of news/fashion/music info... The site also has individual blogs from the Japanese elite such as Hiroshi Fujiwara & Shinichi Osawa (aka Mondo Grosso) as well as the chap behind soph.net & the chap behind Visim shoes. Its pretty sweet... even though it is predominately in Japanese.

Below are some of the goodies on the site:

Advert for the Stussy 25 year bash - what a line up!

Nike Air Footscape Woven - super sweet trainers.

The Shibuya district Stussy Store.

Check it out: Link

Jeff Staple's blog

I wrote a post on the 6th Jan 06 about Staple Design and their sweet trainers... Well check out Jeff Staple's blog (link) - its a fun read. He's been busy in Tokyo recently so if you dig the cooler things in life from the Land of the Rising Sun then check it out...

mr jago

Check out mrjago(dot)com - its Duncan Jago's online portfolio space for his fantastic work. I'm a sucker for big robots and I have seen some of his illustrations before but the depth of his collection here is pretty amazing...

Thanks to the Soos for the heads-up on this.

Check it out here: Link

“The Road Not Taken”

“The Road Not Taken”

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost (1874 – 1963)

According to research...

According to research carried out by Netratings, as a user of iTunes my brand preferences should be for Volkswagen cars, hard cider or imported beer and Rolling Stone, Wired & FHM magazines. I also prefer Cartoon Network and the BBC (albeit BBC America).

Well... I drive a Mazda but would love a VW Golf and/or Camper Van... My favourite drink is Snapple...and I read Wired's online news site. However, although I am more of a "Boomerang" fan to Cartoon Network, I do watch the BBC...

Close but so far away... To paraphrase the "Prisoner" - I'm not a statistic, I'm a free man!!!

check it out: Link

Knomobags(dot)com

Check out Knomobags(dot)com for some sweet porterage for your tech. They don't do PSP cases but I feel that will change. Check them out: Link & eShop

Chris Moyles interview in the Observer Music Monthly

I love Chris Moyles but rarely get more than the podcast to keep me going. Olly raves about his and listens to him in the morning before/during/after the school run. OMM this month has an interview with him. Thought this comment was interesting:

His mum is proud of both her sons - older son Kieron works as a radio plugger round the corner from Radio 1 - but would like them to go to church again. Chris Moyles went with his parents on Christmas Day for the first time in a long while but is ambivalent about it all. He wants to believe but isn't sure there's anything to believe in.

But all those formative years going to church have made him wary of the possible existence of heaven and hell. 'I don't want to die and go to heaven to find a big, burly-looking Jesus on the gates saying, "Oh, I didn't exist, huh?" It's always better to keep an open mind just in case.'

Read the whole interview here: Link

Reflections on Mr T...

Mr. T speaks only when necessary. His main form of communication is folding his arms and slowly shaking his head. And regardless of the situation, he is always understood.

There are only four horsemen of the apocalypse, because Mr. T is going to walk.

Mr. T invented fools. Realizing the magnitude of his folly, he then created Pity.

Mr. T's pity for fools is used by mathematicians as a demonstration of the concept of infinity.

23. That's the number of people Mr. T has pitied in the time it has taken you to read this sentence.

Mr. T is allergic to doorknobs. That's why he can only kick through doors.

They say when a bear is chasing a group of people, you don't have to outrun the bear, but only have to be faster than the slowest person. If Mr. T is chasing you, you're dead no matter what.

Mr. T once pitied the sun. An ice age followed.

The last time Mr. T went to McDonald's, Ronald McDonald greeted him. What occured next proved to be the most violent beating of a clown ever recorded in human history.

Mr. T was fired from the Psychic Friends Network for always predicting pain.

Mr. T is not black. It's just that the sun is to afraid to shine on him.

Before Mr. T, the alphabet only had 25 letters.

Sticks and stones may break your bones but Mr T. will also crush your internal organs.

Rome wasn't built in a day. But if Mr. T had assisted, it sure as hell would've been.

Mr. T made his van go twice the speed of light because he wanted to prove that quantum physics was a bunch of jibba jabba.

Mr. T doesn't obey the second law of thermodynamics. It obeys him.

Mr. T rejoiced as President George W. Bush was elected to office, as the coming administration would assure that he would never run out of fools to pity.

When Mr. T cuts onions, it's the onions doing the crying.

The vegetarian group PETA one time tried to establish the catchprase "We PETA the fool who eats animals." Upon learning of this blatant theft of his catch phrase, Mr. T founded McDonalds.

Thanks to The Soos for sending through this jibba-jabba!!!

thought for today

"...Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup--where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?"

James 2:14-17 (The Message)

Favorville

Check this out... Favorville(dot)com is an online community where you can give of your time or talent... or ask a stranger for a favour. I like this... it exemplifies the best of web 2.0 - just hope it works.

Check it out: Link

Alpha

The Alpha course starts tomorrow night at my church - the Bellshill Salvation Army - and to promote it my friend Ron has created an area on the independent webspace to tell people all about it... including the few words I wrote on Alpha. Check it out here: Link and I'd love to see you if you can make it.

Oh and theres even a wee link to the nanolog... Cheers, Ron.

Being Stussy

Being Stussy is a one-off colaboration between Stussy and one of my fav bleeding-edge webspaces BeingHunted(dot)com The tees can be bought at the Glade: Link along with a jacket by One True Saxon, some cool bags by BagJack and some sweet incense holders by Kuumba. Check it out... and bookmark BeingHunted(dot)com - its a worthy read.

Sigur Ros videos

Sigur Ros are one of my fav bands - I love Takk... it is such an accomplished piece of music. The band have 2 videos, Glosoli & Hoppipola, available for you to watch here: Link

coffeegeek(dot)com

Although it takes a while to load, coffeegeek(dot)com is a great read - their guide section is pretty good if you have a guest who is Jonesin' for a Turkish coffee and you don't know how to make one or if you need to know the best way to froth milk...

Check it out... Link

Love this...

Moran Taing

Olly and I would like to take this opportunity to say Moran Taing (Gaelic for "many thanks") to all our family and friends who supported us through this difficult time with texts, phonecalls, cards and visits. There are too many people to mention - you know who you are!!! - We love you and appreciate your kindness.

Check out Jennifer's Thank You page here: Link

Billy Joe's Tattoos

Found a link to this story about Billy Joe's Tattoos from Needled(dot)com - Billy Henry runs a tattoo place that also serves as a Christian ministry...

This is a Christian ministry in the form of a tattoo shop," said Henry, co-owner of the 2-year-old downtown Nashville shop he operates with his wife, who serves as manager.

"She knew how much I loved doing it, but I stopped. When I first got involved with it, I also associated it with a certain lifestyle that I no longer wanted to embrace. As a ministry, we do not force anything down anyone's throats. As our ministry, we hang out with a lot of people that a lot of Christians may feel uncomfortable to associate with.

I think Billy and his wife, Lynn's approach is tremendous and should be celebrated.
In addition, Billy Joe's is part of the Christian Tattoo Association who have this to say on their site:

Whether a tattoo artist or tattoo enthusiast, we think of our art as permanent – an everlasting mark that time may somewhat fade, but never completely remove. It's one of the most permanent alterations we can make in the flesh... but what about the spirit?

What about ink that is eternal? Imagine... eternal ink. An ink so rare, you would sell all you own to obtain it. But it can’t be bought. It’s not for sale. Yet you can posses it because it is freely given.

It was made available nearly 2000 years ago when Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross on Calvary. The innocent blood that was shed on that cross paid for your eternal ink – your name – indelibly written in the palm of God’s own hand!

Eternal ink is a sworn covenant, written in Holy blood. And it’s free. It has to be free because you can’t be good enough to deserve the Master Tattooist’s ink... nor can you be bad enough to be denied His work.

Fantastic! I have wanted to get some ink for a while - I'd love "Blood and Fire" on my right forearm. Maybe one day soon...

Oh and if you have an issue with ink - check this out: The Bible & Tattoos

Robert "Bob" Finlay

The funeral of my Uncle Robert will be held on Saturday in the Evangelical Church, Selkirk Street, Hamilton @ 1030hrs...

It will be a celebration of his life with my father leading the eulogy...

Its a time to say goodbye! Although he will be missed, he will never be forgotten!

Oded Ezer - experimental Hebrew typography

Check out PingMag for a fab interview with Israeli typographer, Oded Ezer... His work is beautiful and vibrant... and really makes Hebrew look fantastic. When I think of typographer I think in terms of English and Japanese... its great to see someone doing something special with Hebrew.

Check out the interview: Link