Saturday, May 30, 2009

Pining for Venezia...


Bridge of Sighs, originally uploaded by Headphonaught.

For some reason I'm pining for Italia... and Venezia in particular.

I read this article about a chap who "drove" an Amphicar up the Grand Canal... and it reminded me of what an awesome place Venezia is.

My colleague is heading to Cavallino... which is 11km away from Lido di Jesolo. I'm envious... yes... but more glad for her. Its a fantastic part of the world... especially in Venezia herself.

This is our UK year... we alternate our breaks... one year in the UK the next abroad... and I'm eager to see North Wales... in about 4 weeks time.

The weather here in Motherwell is glorious... and Olly smells all "holiday" with the coconut oil we purchased in Jesolo last year... which doesn't help but is a wonderfully sensuous experience. I love to be reminded of beautiful experiences by sights/sounds/smells.

I guess rereading "Angels and Demons" doesn't help either. I tend to read Dan Brown on holiday... and with it set in Roma... well... we went to the Eternal City on our honeymoon. We need to go back.

Where do you pine for?

U*P*D*A*T*E
Miriam is wearing a tee Olly bought in '97... when in Sorrento for our honeymoon. Another reminder of a beautiful & special part of the world.

Do we really need another remake?



My thanks to aldakila for the heads-up to the new "V" TV series.

Whilst it looks really well made... I can't help but reiterate the question my lovely wife asked when I showed her the trailer:

"Why?"

Do we really need another remake? Is nothing sacred? At least George Lucas told new stories with "the Clone Wars"... and J J Abrams sought to pioneer with "Lost"... albeit... I got so lost with Lost that I gave up.

That said... the recent remake of Battlestar Galactica was impressive... and the recent Star Trek "reboot" was... well... fantastic!

I think... at the end of the day... the new "V" should be viewed with a sense of optimism... as if seeing the show through fresh eyes. Who knows... it may become the new BSG?!?


Friday, May 29, 2009

I Love Typography



For my 2,760th post... I would like to show this fab wee YouTube video entitled Typo Video by ZZZZTRN. Its truly beautiful.

(via kitsunenoir with thanks)

June's calendar (2009)

June's calendar :: Mac (2009)

In advance of Monday... here's June's calendar for you:

Download :: Mac + Download :: Windows

Emerging Scotland Meetup

Had a lovely evening last night meeting with fellow emerging Scotland peeps.
 
We took over a corner of my local Starbucks in Borders and had a right natter about our personal situations... plans & dreams for the future etc.
 
What struck me was the diversity of people: young & not so young... male & female... various denominations & associations... it was an inspiring & engaging mix.
 
What encouraged me most was that everyone was immersed in conversation... & mutually appreciative discussion. It was very uplifting for me... and very encouraging to Stewart, who was hosting the meetup.
 
I think it met a need... a gap, so to speak. People were no longer alone or subject to seeking support online.
 
So here's to this becoming a regular thing... albeit... not on a Thursday due to the busyness of the City Centre & Starbucks.
 
My thanks to everyone for contributing... & to the staff of Starbucks for their patience.
 
Tx
 
[Sent from my iPhone]

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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Inspired by... "Chimneys (136/365)"


Chimneys (136/365), originally uploaded by Headphonaught.

I am so stoked tonight... I received an email from Cousin Silas who shared with me an initial take of a track he's written inspired by my picture above.

Seriously... this means the world to me... to be able to inspire someone who has so inspired me and continues to inspire me... is breathtaking.

Hopefully the track will be released at some point in the near future... so that it can be shared with a wider audience.

Thank you Cousin Silas!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Some news on Cousin Silas



Got another "out of the blue" email from my fave ambient electronica producer Cousin Silas who gave me the heads up to his latest goings on...

First off... he's got an album in the pipes for a July drop on just not normal records. 12 new tracks potentially going to drop which makes me all excited... especially considering they'll drop on the 7th... just after I get back from a wee week in Wales.

Next up... he's collaborating with the director/artist Jesus Olmo (who has used Silas' music in installations) - he will be doing the artwork for the release. Excited about this too... as Olmo is a fab photographer (check out his Flickr for more).

Lastly... he reminded me of his Phantom Circuit appearance and session... which is fantastic. I heard it a wee while ago and, I am embarrassed to say, forgot to post about it. It is internet radio at its best... nice & niche.

There is talk of releasing the session on earthrid... which would be fab... albeit... I'm going to grab it for my offline listening pleasure.

I can't wait. For me... THIS is Britain's talent.

The New Socialism

Instead of gathering on collective farms, we gather in collective worlds. Instead of state factories, we have desktop factories connected to virtual co-ops. Instead of sharing drill bits, picks, and shovels, we share apps, scripts, and APIs. Instead of faceless politburos, we have faceless meritocracies, where the only thing that matters is getting things done. Instead of national production, we have peer production. Instead of government rations and subsidies, we have a bounty of free goods../

/..In the late '90s, activist, provocateur, and aging hippy John Barlow began calling this drift, somewhat tongue in cheek, "dot-communism." He defined it as a "workforce composed entirely of free agents," a decentralized gift or barter economy where there is no property and where technological architecture defines the political space. He was right on the virtual money. But there is one way in which socialism is the wrong word for what is happening: It is not an ideology. It demands no rigid creed. Rather, it is a spectrum of attitudes, techniques, and tools that promote collaboration, sharing, aggregation, coordination, ad hocracy, and a host of other newly enabled types of social cooperation. It is a design frontier and a particularly fertile space for innovation../

/..These numbers still fall short of a nation. They may not even cross the threshold of mainstream (although if YouTube isn't mainstream, what is?). But clearly the population that lives with socialized media is significant. The number of people who make things for free, share things for free, use things for free, belong to collective software farms, work on projects that require communal decisions, or experience the benefits of decentralized socialism has reached millions and counting. Revolutions have grown out of much smaller numbers../
The New Socialism - Wired

First this interweb malarky gets all social... and they call it the new Socialism. Next they'll be saying High School Musical is a socialist propagandist epic. What is the world coming too?

Makes for interesting reading... especially to someone like me who has Socialist leanings... or at least Social Democratic leanings.

But... hey... don't get spooked with the name... what's in a name afterall? Oh and HSM is a Socialist epic.

(via psfk.com)

The New Yorker cover



The latest cover of the New Yorker is getting a ton of blog coverage because of the tool used to create the pic :: The iPhone & a £2.99 app called "Brushes".

The NYTimes has an article on the artist Jorge Colombo that throws some light on this fab achievement. This piece jumped out at me:
It “made it easy for me to sketch without having to carry all my pens and brushes and notepads with me, and I like the fact that I am drawing with a set of tools that anybody can have easily in their pocket,” he said. There is one other advantage of the phone, too: no one notices he is drawing. Mr. Colombo said he stood on 42nd Street for about an hour with no interruptions.

“It gives him an anonymity in the big city that an artist with the easel wouldn’t have,” Ms. Mouly said.
Anonymity. The iPhone used to be rare... special. Now its ubiquitous... and with this ubiquity comes the notion of anonymity... afterall, whats another iPhone. Except Jorge is no ordinary iPhone user.

I find this totally inspiring... especially considering my previous post on what my we'ans' can create with the tecnology available to them. I think I'm going to pick up Brushes... for them as much as it is for me.

Watch this vid and be inspired too:






Monday, May 25, 2009

My BSA Javelin :: saddle & tape...

I picked up a honey brown Brooks B17 standard saddle today & some white Fizik tape... from Evans at Xscape. I wanted to keep the bike looking as original as possible... so I replaced the plastic Brooks B18 seat & the white tape that was on the bike when my dad gave me it. I probably should have went with black but... the honey brown was just so sweet.

Next up is new tyres. It would appear that... due to the age of the bike... I may not have a wide selection of tyres to choose from. They are 26" / 1.25... and this isn't too common nowadays... at least in Evans. I hope to find yellow or white tyres... but may have to do with what I can get.

Will keep you posted.

Tx


See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from headphonaught's posterous

Sunday, May 24, 2009

My we'ans amaze me!

I really love my new wallpaper for my iPhone. Dayna pinched my iPhone... created this pic with the "iDoodle" app then set it as my wallpaper.
 
Yesterday, Miriam looked up YouTube vids to learn how to use the open source paint app called "TuxPaint"... then asked me to download it. She is currently playing with it... and by playing with it I mean learning by doing & getting better with every attempt.
 
This interaction with IT astounds me. It shouldn't really... the we'ans have been browsing & gaming for years.
 
Maybe this kind of freedom makes me a bad parent... and I do worry about YouTube considering the recent porno-as-kids-vids attack... but with the correct add-ons in Firefox, I am convinced they are training for their future.
 
Add to this their gaming... with the DS, Wii, PSP & PS2... and i think they are preparing for the future... and for now... in ways we can only dream.
 
Now... if I could only get them into electronic music.
 
[Sent from my iPhone]

Posted via email from headphonaught's posterous

Strathclyde Park


Strathclyde Park #3, originally uploaded by Headphonaught.

I love Strathclyde Park. There is something special about the place... something open... something social. Its a place to be as much as it is a place to do.

Now that Olly has her own bike... we have a greater degree of freedom to explore - It was really brilliant for the four of us to be able to cycle to the Park today... round it... have a picnic... then back home.

This is what a Bank Holiday weekend is all about.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

This is cool :: fliptime for iPhone

There are three ways to get me to buy an app:
  1. Fulfill a perceived need that I have...
  2. Via a personal recommendation from a trusted friend... or...
  3. Be featured in one of my fave blogs... such as coolhunting, swiss-miss, influx insights or notcot.
Consider this...
  • coolhunting = quadcamera
  • swiss-miss = flip clock
  • influx insights = birdhouse
  • notcot = classics
and now fliptime due to another post on notcot(#21,863).



I'm a sucker for well designed clock apps... and fliptime is nice addition to my collection. One that includes the fab flip clock.

In essence fliptime displays a clock and calendar... a well designed & executed clock and calendar... made special by the presentation... like an old arrivals / departure board in a train station.

Its the kind of app you want on all the time... albeit... doing that would probably kill the battery.

Nice.



Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Monday, May 18, 2009

BSA Javelin

I am now the proud owner of a vintage BSA Javelin bicycle. It was my father's but I pestered him to give me it (thanks dad!) so I can live out my Bike Messenger dreams.
 
The idea is to do her up. I'm thinking Brooks leather handlebar tape & a Brooks leather B17 saddle... along with a pair of yellow Schwalbe Blizzard/Lugano tyres... and a pair of Wellgo pedals.
 
I'm going to keep the gears on her for now but am considering going fixie when I get fitter.
 
Its probably cheaper to buy a new bike... but where is the fun in that? This is an analogue offline wind-in-my-face restoration / nostalgia project... and I'm happy as larry that I have something new to geek out over.
 
She won't replace my full suspension MTB. In fact, they will complement each other nicely... with the BSA being more of a road / town bike.
 
[Sent from my iPhone]

Posted via email from headphonaught's posterous

Sunday, May 17, 2009

the skills workers should strive to have

According to the Institute of the Future these are the skills workers should strive to have... to equipe them for the future:
Ping Quotient
Excellent responsiveness to other people's requests for engagement; strong propensity and ability to reach out to others in a network

Longbroading
Seeing a much bigger picture; thinking in terms of higher level systems, bigger networks, longer cycles

Open Authorship
Creating content for public modification; the ability to work with massively multiple contributors

Cooperation Radar
The ability to sense, almost intuitively, who would make the best collaborators on a particular task or mission

Multi-Capitalism
Fluency in working and trading simultaneously with different hybrid capitals, e.g., natural, intellectual, social, financial, virtual

Mobbability
The ability to do real-time work in very large groups; a talent for coordinating with many people simultaneously; extreme-scale collaboration

Protovation
Fearless innovation in rapid, iterative cycles; the ability to lower the costs and increase the speed of failure

Influency
Knowing how to be persuasive and tell compelling stories in multiple social media spaces (each space requires a different persuasive strategy and technique)

Signal/Noise Management
Filtering meaningful info, patterns, and commonalities from the massively-multiple streams of data and advice

Emergensight
The ability to prepare for and handle surprising results and complexity that come with coordination, cooperation and collaboration on extreme scales
They raise some interesting & extremely valid points. Their suggestions are profound... some are existing skills, previously unnamed or hidden beneath other skills, that have now found names in their own right (such as... Cooperation Radar, Influency and Emergensight) and others are completely new (such as... Mobbability and Multi-Capitalism) at least to me.

The evident themes are coordination, cooperation and collaboration... albeit on a potentially far grander scale. I do think, however, that these skills will also work on a smaller level. They are, in some way, a response to the changes to our current understanding of life.

Well worth considering further.


Saturday, May 16, 2009

This made me smile :: The Simpsons theme song a cappella



Fab!

Jóhann Jóhannsson :: The Rocket Builder



Found this on YouTube & wanted to share it... Jóhann Jóhannsson's "The Rocket Builder" from the fab album Fordlândia

Loving me some LIVE Coldplay

I know there are a bunch of my peeps that don't get Coldplay... and I'm cool with that. Ours is a unity not uniformity thing afterall... you like what you like.
 
Me & mine however love Coldplay & we were really excited to download their free live ep :: left right left right left.
 
I'm glad to report that it's fab. The recording [ a collection of their best songs recorded live ] captures something of their live show and really whets my whistle to go see / hear them live
 
Sure... there's is populist rock music... but being populist isn't always a bad thing... especially when there is merit behind the popularity.
 
This live ep highlights their merit... and is well worth checking out.
 
Tx
 
[Sent from my iPhone]

Posted via email from headphonaught's posterous

Friday, May 15, 2009

A wee road in Motherwell (134/365)

A wee lane in Motherwell. Snapped in the sunshine using the toycamera app. I then used the infrared effect in the camerabag. Lastly, I used the DXP app and overlayed the original with the infrared to get the effect above. What do you think?

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

((deep)), City Centre Corps & the death of quantity...

City Centre Picnik collage

The death of quantity... what a bold statement... but one I have been mulling over for the last four days or so. Don't get me wrong... I have been seriously conflicted and have had my doubts but... I think... I have moved on.

Let me explain.

Saturday night was ((deep)). 11 likeminded peeps met in the Salvation Army's City Centre Corps in Anderston, Glasgow; for a time of sharing and contemplation. 5 of these peeps were "the team" with the other 6 being participants. We talked brands. We talked cultural representations. We drew pictures and labelled all the brands on display. We watched clips from "So I married an axe murderer" and "Saved". We drank coffee and shared together. The team possibly spoke too much but that's one thing we need to learn from. All in, a fab evening.

Sunday morning I spoke at the Salvation Army's City Centre Corps' Sunday gathering. I took my mother & father in law with me to help out... as Olly, in her role as Singing Company Leader elect, was busy with her new responsibilities. 7 likeminded peeps met on Sunday morning. 3 of them arrived in my car. 4 of them were from the Corps itself. We sang with gusto... praising God with hymns & choruses. Anne brought two fab poems & James accompanied us on the piano. I spoke on shining our lights. We had a blast.

On both occasions I verged on being disheartened: "Is this it???" I thought to myself... "Is this everyone that's coming?"

On both occasions I was subsequently encouraged by a feeling of relational depth and of a persuasive desire to be there.

On Saturday night I would have rather had fellowship with the 11 folk who were there... because they wanted to BE there... than be in a space with many folk who may have preferred to be somewhere else.

Same goes for Sunday morning. The 4 folk who were there.... WANTED to be there too.

Both were underpinned by deep relationships... and a willingness to experience something of God's love, grace & power.

All these elements are qualitative.

If I had a quantitative head on... I would agree with Einstein and argue that a sign of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This was where part of my conflict lay... was I doing the same thing over and over again but eagerly expecting different results?

The evidence of this conjecture? 11 peeps & 7 peeps. Back to quantity. But then these peeps demonstrated things of value that can not be counted.

I do think there is a bloodymindedness about carrying on... in both endeavours... but then that's a quantitative expression too.

Jesus talked about the twos and threes. Yes... He talked to crowds... but He also engaged people within a far smaller frame of reference.

It got me thinking about the parable of the talents:
"It's also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master's investment. The second did the same. But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master's money.

"After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.'

"The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master's investment. His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.'

"The servant given one thousand said, 'Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.'

"The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.

"'Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play-it-safe" who won't go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.'
Matthew 25: 14-30 (The Message)

I like the way Peterson phrases the Master's response to the two faithful stewards: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.'

I also like how the NIV puts it:
'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
In other words... even if I wanted to define things in numbers... I must be faithful with the few as much as I am faithful with the many.

This parable is about risk. Its about doing the most with what we are given. I am blessed to be party to the deep relationships I spoke of above. I wanted to be at ((deep)) & at the City Centre Corps because of these relationships. I want people to want to be at these gatherings. I don't want people to be there because they have to... but because they have a raging fire in their bellies to be with God, to worship Him & to celebrate His resurrection in fellowship with folk who want the same.

For me... that's the true definition of success: I provide or be part of the provision of the space & opportunity for people to be with God... where they can worship Him & celebrate His resurrection in fellowship with folk who want the same.

This is why quantity is dead... because whilst I must be faithful with the few as I am with the many... for me, its about more about just being faithful. This isn't bloodyminded stubborness but a realisation that I am called to be faithful... and to do my bit... focussing on the quality of this bit.

In the words of the sign reported to have hung in Einstein's office at Princeton...
Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.
Lets focus on the stuff that can't be counted but counts more than anything else.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you want to hear my thought from Sunday morning... download it [ here ]. Let me know what you think.

This is cool :: Rotring Skynn

Rotring Picnik collage

You know I love Poundland... Its a place I favour for picking up the odd obscure thing. Well yesterday I picked up this fab pen :: Rotring Skynn gel-ink rollerball :: and I can't stop raving about it. Its a beautiful writing instrument with soft cusioning at the grip... that makes writing a pleasure.

Not bad for a quid. I think I'll get some more.


Blank


Blank, originally uploaded by Headphonaught.

I saw these blank billboards this morning at the Motherwell train station... and it got me thinking: I've seen a lot of blank billboards lately. Has anyone else noticed a similar phenomenon?

Is outdoor advertising spending down to the degree whereby the billboard companies are not putting up posters? Is this a good thing?

We have become so used to billboards that we notice when they are blank... or at least I noticed. Thing is... I'm not sure these monotonous slabs of grey are necessarily an improvement. Some posters recently have even been a pleasure to view... especially the Irn Bru ads when they are out.

What should we do? Could we reclaim them? Put up art for the community instead of the grey rectangles of boring?

Hmm... what do you think?

Back to the Kennyhill Allotments

IMG_0434.JPG

About 40-something folk from my office went along to the Kennyhill Allotments in Riddrie, Glasgow; to continue our commitment to give something back to our local communities.

I volunteered to organise the visit... and, as before, found the whole experience very rewarding. I am sunburnt and sore... but very happy.

There was plenty for us to do:
  • Plant wildflowers & shrubs
  • Build 6 raised beds then fill them with soil/compost
  • Dig out a section within their polytunnel, edge it then fill it with soil/compost
  • Plant flowers for the pond
Everyone was kept productively busy and everyone left with the satisfaction of a job well done.

Lunch was provided by the Riddrie Adult Training Centre for whom we were working for... and it was lovely. Their homemade soup was delicious.

Later on... we were all treated to an ice lolly... which went down a treat.

I am a firm believer in the importance of giving back. Businesses are rich with many things local community groups lack... the greatest one is time. We all got a lot out of the day: getting to know our team mates (my team is comprised of 4 different sub teams who all do different jobs)... and a day in the sun instead of the office (a change is as good as a rest, afterall)... but this is nothing compared with the progress made to the Allotments.

Check out the photos [ here ] - taken with my Nikon D60 & my iPhone (my Nikon's battery died in the morning... d'oh!)

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Reminiscing on the Gameboy



Its hard to believe the Gameboy is 20 years old. I remember buying one in Lanzarote in '92 after obsessing over one for ages. I used to love playing Tetris at friends houses... and wanted one bad. Picked it up on holiday with my folks & Olly. Changed my life in a way... got me into games.

I remember eating French Onion soup at a local restaurant that we frequented... Olly asked me how I was enjoying my "PLAYBOY"... she then realised what she had said and splurted out a whole mouthful of soup... everywhere.

I still obsess over Tetris... and have nearly amassed one model from each line... with the exception of the Gameboy Color & the Gameboy Micro - see the whole line here.

What's your favourite Gameboy game? Mine... has to be Tetris... or Super Mario.


This morning...

...was a glorious morning... filled with light & hope... & a renewed sense of purpose.

Today was a good day. Tx
 
[Sent from my iPhone]

Posted via email from headphonaught's posterous

Sunday, May 10, 2009

"we find ourselves becoming archivists of our own lives"

...In general, however, Web 2.0 encourages us to behave like spectators. This is not only because of the endless temptations to look back offered by burgeoning online archives, it is also because, thanks to the ubiquity of recording devices, we find ourselves becoming archivists of our own lives: we never experience live events, because we are too busy recording them.

Yet instantaneous exposure deprives cultures of the time and space in which they can grow. There is as yet no Web 2.0 equivalent of the circuit that sustained UK dance music in the 1990s: the assemblage of dubplates, pirate radio and the dance floor which acted as a laboratory for the development of new sounds. This circuit was still punctuated by particular moments (the club night, the radio broadcast), but, because anything in Web 2.0 can be replayed at any time, its temporality is more diffuse. The tendency seems to be for a kind of networked solipsism, a global system of individuals consuming an increasingly homogeneous culture alone in front of the computer screen or plugged in to iPod headphones../
Running on empty :: Mark Fisher :: New Statesman

(via psfk.com)

I have been mulling over this article for a few days now... this line in particular :: we never experience live events, because we are too busy recording them.

Is this true? I have seen a noticable change in my blogging of late... I have moved away from recording events in the manner that I used to. I am more likely to record the event in pictures rather than comments... but still... am I still too busy recording my life to actually live it?

Twitter is the home of my "doing this" or "doing that" commentary... and this is one of the contexts in which Twitter works really, really well. In fact, its designed around the "what are you doing right now" kind of realisation... its all about the moment... and about being in the moment.

Blogging has become for me a means of expressing my opinion... of sharing things that I like and a means of displaying stuff I have created... pictures and the like. I think this is where blogging comes into its own... but even with that I probably spend too much time bigging up the achievements of others... and not spend enough time creating content of my own.

I am reminded of this post from 13 months ago where I considered the monologue at the end of Ratatouille:
In many ways the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and theirselves to our judgement. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read.

But, the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things... the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.

But there are times when a critic truly risks something... and that is in the discovery and defense of the new.
I feel we must defend / celebrate the new... and, where possible, experience & demonstrate the new through our own interaction and interpretation. More importantly, however, I believe we must seek to be the new... and build it ourselves. It is through this experience that we move from spectators to participants... where we seek to create / build upon something new.

We need to look forward. This is ironic considering two posts above this I am reminiscing about the Gameboy... but its a truth I believe in.

I believe in the future and in participation in all elements of my life. We need to focus on the small candles we light rather than the darkness around us... the darkness that is so easy to moan about. I hope this blog may reflect that small light?

Now... who has a match?



Friday, May 08, 2009

Mikey Burton makes a letterpress poster & thoughts on analogue things

Letterpress Poster Printing from Joshua Gerken on Vimeo.


I am grateful to omgposters.com for sharing this fab video... in which an artist, Mikey Burton, makes a letterpress poster.

It has me thinking about analogue things... stuff that isn't digital. Digital is now the norm... the mainstream... and analogue things have become special... niche... select.

I read an article today on my iPhone (using the "Instapaper" app)... The article was entitled :: The Transient, Digital Fetish (the morning news) [via psfk.com]. In it, LLEWELLYN HINKES speaks of the fetishation of stuff in the digital age... and makes this valuable point:
...The convenience of digital deep storage is hard to deny. Fewer people are willing to make the sacrifice of cost and convenience for the impracticality of flipping sides, changing needles, and hauling thousands of pounds of paper and plastic when they move in exchange for better sound quality, musty paper, and gatefold album art. But what if you don’t care about actually owning your fetish? That is, what if true fetishism had little to do with possession, but instead was more of a compulsion to ensure that those things you find precious and holy are preserved and treated with dignity?
Is having a fetish for the analogue and the manual... actually about preservation? I think so. We seek to keep the flame alive... because we believe in the quality of the object or the quality of what the object does/produces.

I love taking photos on my iPhone that mimic lomographic or polaroid imagery... but, deep down, I want to create imagery with the real thing. That's why I desparately want the impossible project to suceed - I want a polaroid camera.

In a similar manner, I love listening to tunes on my iPhone or iPod... I also like the immediacy of listening to tunes on Spotify. There is, however, something within me that longs for vinyl... for the real time listening experience... the unique pop/click/hiss of a record found in a charity shop... waiting to be found and loved again.

Its the same with books. I love books and yet I am the slowest reader alive. I love nothing more than hunting in charity shops for the inspiring and the interesting. I understand the need for an eReader and will get one... some day... although if Apple bring one out that may be sooner rather than later. Understanding the need and getting excited are two different things. There is a tangibility about books... you can touch them... alter them... smell them even... that's is part of their value to me.

There I go... getting all emotional about things... about stuff... but I do think we seek to preserve the memories that are intrinsicly wrapped around the thing we wish to preserve.

In that way... its not so much the record but the memories wrapped up in the record. Will we get all misty eyed about PSP games or iPhone covers? I don't know. That's why I fear this is a transitory thing... a feeling of getting old and wanting to retain those things that comfort me... that connect me with points in time that give me meaning.

This is why I celebrate artists like Mikey Burton and dream of a new record deck... for they are not only the real thing... true & authentic as opposed to a digital "copy"... but they also connect us with points of meaning... points that should not be lost in this world of progress.

I guess that makes me less of a materialist and more of a sentimentalist.


Puddles on the Bridge (128/365)

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

This is cool :: "crayon" advert



According to notcot #21,389 this is an ad featuring art by Diem Chau and music by Au Revoir Simone. Awesome. Enjoy.

Oh and if you ever wondered how crayons are made... here's a vid from Sesame Street with some really rad music to show you how:



((deep)) -- this Saturday (9th May 2009)



Hey... I know its short notice but if you are free THIS Saturday (9th May) from 7pm & can make it to the Salvation Army's City Centre Corps... I'll make you a coffee or a cup o' cha.

We're kicking off a new series of ((deep)) gatherings... more stripped down... interactive... with loads of coffee, tea and goodies... and no door tax.

The idea is to spend some time together contemplating who Jesus is.

If you are around and can make it... it would be fab to see you.

The challenge here is that it's not simple binary, it's not about more or less, but instead it's about different.

...When there's less demand and new expectations there's the need for new thinking. As people experience the world that surrounds them their goals, needs, expectations are changing and transforming in significant ways. We don't quite know yet exactly what that might be, but we can assume that the likely new scenario will lie somewhere between the crazy "must have it all" credit-fueled consumption that characterized the early part of the C21st and the frugal thriftyness that sums up the current zeitgeist.

The challenge here is that it's not simple binary, it's not about more or less, but instead it's about different. There's the challenge for corporations or the opportunity, if you are so disposed.

The future is not about producing less or more of what you currently make or do, but re-thinking it all.

Now is the time to discover and imagine what those new things could be and there's probably never been a better time to do this. Across whole categories people are applying a very critical eye and filter to determine what's wrong and excessive and what feels precisely right../
influx insights

Think different.

Monday, May 04, 2009

Olly laughing at the Klingons

Whilst I don't need anymor ... (20090504).jpg

Honestly... she smirks EVERYTIME Klingons are mentioned on Star Trek. I hope to see the new movie this weekend & I am gearing myself up for a gigglefest :: Olly laughing at the Klingons & me laughing at Olly laughing at the Klingons.

What words make your better half giggle & make you love them all the more?

U*P*D*A*T*E
I am reliably informed that there are no Klingons in the new movie. Gutted.

This is cool :: I Cartai Notebooks

Picked up these notebooks for £1.99 in TKMaxx today. 3 square (shape) blank notebooks.

Three different colour combos:
  • Red cover + blue pages
  • Blue cover + orange pages
  • Black cover + pink pages
I've never heard of "I Cartai della Corona" before... (it means "The Paper Crown" in Italian) but I am impressed. ..and yes, I am a stationary geek!


See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from headphonaught's posterous

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Headphonaughtic iPhonaugraphy...


Boat, originally uploaded by Headphonaught.

I've created a wee set on Flickr entitled Headphonaughtic iPhonaugraphy for pics taken using my iPhone.

If it interests you... check it out.

Tx

Saturday, May 02, 2009

A calendar for May 2009


A calendar for May 2009, originally uploaded by Headphonaught.

Here's a wee calendar for May... if you wants it. Haven't made one for a while & had a notion.

Okeydokey... so the one above is more suited for Windows folks, here's one for my Mac-loving peeps. Enjoy.

Tx

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