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?!?

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)

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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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!

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:

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

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