Mrs M is now on Twitter...

Olly is now on twitter... The geek in me is very happy!

This is cool :: Sigur Ros @ MoMA

Current_TV rocks! This is an awesome concert from an awesome band! Anyone know if its on YouTube..? I want to watch it again on my iPhone.

btw, Sigur Ros are coming to Glasgow in November. Anyone going? Anyone want to go/meet up with me?

Loving :: "Hydrophobia" by Entertainment For The Braindead

Hydrophobia by the fabulously named Entertainment for the Braindead aka Julia Kotowski is another worthy addition to the Aerotone collection.

Hers is a delicate... fragile... lo-fi folktronica [albeit more folk than electronica] that is a beautifully subtle antithesis of all the in-you-face music of now. Her approach to music is refreshing and inspiring...

“Hydrophobia” is full of colourful sounds and melodies. Ukulele, guitar and flute are ever-present instruments, just like Julia's wonderful voice and her unconventional percussion that consists of jars, cans, boxes, drawers and peppermills. Her intimate songs are detailed snapshots of thoughts and feelings - sometimes filtered and reflected, sometimes pure and transparent.

Julia's voice is engaging with a warmth and maturity that is simply ironic considering the subject matter that she has based her songs :: drowning...

This album is something special and well worth checking out for free from aerotone

Picture posted with LifeCast - text updated later...

Ambient Intimacy...

This is the paradox of ambient awareness. Each little update — each individual bit of social information — is insignificant on its own, even supremely mundane. But taken together, over time, the little snippets coalesce into a surprisingly sophisticated portrait of your friends’ and family members’ lives, like thousands of dots making a pointillist painting. This was never before possible, because in the real world, no friend would bother to call you up and detail the sandwiches she was eating. The ambient information becomes like “a type of E.S.P.,” as Haley described it to me, an invisible dimension floating over everyday life.

“It’s like I can distantly read everyone’s mind,” Haley went on to say. “I love that. I feel like I’m getting to something raw about my friends. It’s like I’ve got this heads-up display for them.” It can also lead to more real-life contact, because when one member of Haley’s group decides to go out to a bar or see a band and Twitters about his plans, the others see it, and some decide to drop by — ad hoc, self-organizing socializing. And when they do socialize face to face, it feels oddly as if they’ve never actually been apart. They don’t need to ask, “So, what have you been up to?” because they already know. Instead, they’ll begin discussing something that one of the friends Twittered that afternoon, as if picking up a conversation in the middle.

New York Times via psfk.com

Ever wondering what Twitter was all about..? Well I suggest you read this fab article in the NYT on the concept of Ambient Intimacy. The writer speaks of "co-presence"... "weak ties" and the fact that "the information we subscribe to on a feed is not the same as in a deep social relationship".

Fascinating read... made all the more interesting when I see that coolness personified, Xeni Jardin, has quoted the same 2 paragraphs on Boing Boing... check it out!

This is cool :: Open Doors Days

Thanks to my dad for the heads up to Doors Open Days...

Doors Open Days give you free access to hundreds of fascinating buildings across Scotland. Every weekend in September you can explore places that are normally closed to the public. Some open up once a year, some just once in a lifetime...

This weekend we are going to check out some of the places in the vicinity... like...

• Hamilton Fire Station
• Hamilton Mausoleum (again)
• Hamilton Sheriff Court (first visit... honest!)
• The Tower of Hallbar in Crossford

Should be fun... Check it out!

Playing with Genius in iTunes 8

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Above is my first attempt at playing with the new Genius functionality within iTunes 8.

I had to move One Perfect Sunrise to the end... that's an end-of-night track... otherwise pretty impressed. It has reminded me of a few tracks that had slipped my mind... Bonobo and The Knife for example.

Have you tried it yet? What do you think?

Mazal Tov... Its a boy!!!

Introducing Nathan Alexander Pentney to the world and the ol' nanolog community. Born today at 1042hrs in Wishaw Hospital... weighing in at a very respectable 7lb 12oz.

Janey and Nathan are doing well... although they are both a wee bit knackered. Roscoe, on the other hand, is hyper and acting like the squirrel in Hood Winked.

We are all delighted to welcome Nathan to the world... and give thanks to God! We also are grateful that he has his mother's looks!

Mazal Tov to the Pentney family!

U*P*D*A*T*E

Mazal Tov, according to wikipedia is...

an acknowledgment that good fortune has already occurred; the sayer means, "I am pleased this good thing has happened to you."

I thank my friend Sister Eleanor for her plurk that kick this whole phrase off for me... It is one I intend to use from now on because of its excellent sentiment! We need to celebrate the success, blessing and good fortune of others... share in their pleasure, pride and enjoyment... instead of jealously grudging their happiness.

Loving :: "76:14" by Global Communication

Been loving this album for a long time... it is a glorious slice of ambient electronica... and reminds me of many things...

One especially comes to mind... I used it for background music for the Thursday night devotional meeting at Summer School this year and my pal, Paul Clement, wanted me to put something else on... something "a bit less spooky".

Check it out... if you like your ambient electronica "spooky".

Picture posted with LifeCast... text updated later.

Pippin's Had A Haircut

Not all interruptions are welcomed when I am studying... but I couldn't resist Pippin's cute wee face this evening. Could you???

Picture posted with LifeCast... text updated later.

Loving The Paralympics... C'mon Team CB

Talk about making lemonade out of lemons... the Paralympians are AWESOME!!! The tandem cycling was brilliant... and wheelchair basketball... OMGoodness! Loving it. C'mon Team GB... do us, and more importantly yourselves proud.

Picture posted with LifeCast... over enthusiastic use of exclamation marks added later.