Photos from the West of Scotland Youth Band's visit to Strathaven

Posted some photos from the West of Scotland Youth Band's visit to Strathaven on Wednesday past... to see the full set go here :: Flickr

It was a great evening... really looking forward to their concert with the Kirkintiloch Brass Band on the 12th November.

Tx

Olly's new idea: stamped cahiers

Olly is doing something new... something to complement her handcrafted cards: she's stamping Moleskine Cahiers with interesting patterns and uplifting messages.

Pictured is the first one off the 'line'... a wee pocket cahier that's now in my pocket. It combines a celtic symbol with some love imagery.

She's still playing with the idea... but if it is something you'd be interested in... jump onto her facebook page and leave her a message.

Thanks honey!

Tx

believe handmade

What's your number?

Here's an interesting interactive data visualisation... find out your 'ranking' in the world's population.

I am the 4, 007,773,415th person in this world... and I have a life expectancy of 77.4 years (i.e. I have 40 years left).

Find out your ranking on the BBC website.

Tx

Malcolm Gladwell tells the strange tale of the Norden bombsight

It's always nice to hear something new from Malcolm Gladwell... I really appreciate his insight.

Tx

I received this compliment a few days back...

I received this compliment a few days back that has really bouyed me up...

'...just wanted to say thanks for all your music recommendations, photography, and interesting spiritual retweets. Over the last year or 2 Ive found myself reading/listening/viewing a lot of interesting things thanks to you!'

I won't embarrass the person who wrote it... but just wanted to say thanks!

Tx

Loving... 'Introspection' by Earlyguard

Introspection is the act of looking within oneself... the act of self-examination. It is also the fitting title for the ever-productive Earlyguard's latest longform ambient soundscape.

I was delighted when 'introspection' arrived in my Dropbox ... I have become very fond of the soundscapes Earlyguard produces and am extremely grateful for an early preview of his latest work.

I find his latest piece deeply moving... it has an almost tangible other-worldly quality to it as if he has recorded the sound of being in a "thin place"... a place where Heaven and Earth meet and touch.

The majority of the soundscape is a low drone... a kind of reverential hum with rays of light shining into the space at times (such as around the 20 minute mark)... to make an immersive sacred thrum that engages me, the listener, in thought... in consideration... like time spent in the grandest of cathedrals... both man-made and in nature.

'Introspection' provides time out... almost 45 minutes in another place... a dream-like space where there is the freedom and the inspiration for deeper thought and measured consideration.

I welcome this and would actively recommend this release to you.

Tx

'Introspection' is released on Tuesday, 1st November on bandcamp

Loving the artwork... "the past is a foreign country" by Venona Pers

I received today a physical copy of Venona Pers lovely folktronic ambient album "the past is a foreign country" ... and wanted to post about the artwork.

The front cover is wonderfully subtle... so subtle in fact that my Nikon struggled to capture it. It's too white / light for the auto focus... so here it is from the album download:



The cover artwork is reproduced with kind permission from Yanming, Guangdong, China (unfortunately the website appears to be suspended at the moment). I love it.





The inside artwork is by illustrator Jim Robertson. It is also subtle... this time, however, it is an impressionistic painting of a woman... muted with warm oranges contrasting greens and blues.

It is a fitting cover for a beautiful album... and one I would heartily recommend. I've been really fortunate with the physical CDs I've obtained through Bandcamp... all unique and intentionally beautiful... and this one is a fine addition to my collection.

My thanks go to Jonathan C Hill for sending it through to me... he didn't have to... I had bought the album as a download... but he was kind enough to give me the CD. I am grateful.

Please support independent whenever and wherever you can.

Tx

Loving this... "My favourite animal" by Lara Lee

My Favourite Animal (5 min. version) from Lara Lee on Vimeo.

I love this... three different children are heard describing their favourite animal, and then Lara Lee draws the animal according to what they say, so that the creature "grows itself" in a completely unexpected way.

Lee's execution is marvellous... and very entertaining.

Lovely!

Tx

Loving... Justice League on my iPad

My friend Steven (aka "@myopicaardvark") is a huge comicbook fan... he gets all animated about them in the same way I do about music. When DC Comics took their decision to reboot 52 comics... I took the opportunity to start following a storyline.

The storyline I decided to follow was Justice League... I have followed their stories previously in graphic novels borrowed from Library or in the animated TV series... and kind of like the whole "team dynamic" thing... that and I love Wonder Woman but feel a bit odd buying her storyline. Oh and by buying into the JLA I get Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Flash AND Wonder Woman.

In essence, I love a good story and the work Geoff Johns and Jim Lee have undertaken impresses me... albeit I don't think everyone is as enamoured as I am... but then I am new to this. The artwork is vivid and the storyline intriguing.

What has enabled me to start this journey, apart from the DC reboot, is my iPad.

I'm buying the comics for my iPad... I am not buying physical media. This is another way the iPad comes into its own... the comic looks fab and is designed to be read either page by page or frame by frame... which I like. I also like that I can download the comic... once I've bought it... to my iPhone, iPad AND Dayna's iPhone too. She's coming along with me on this journey.

Whilst I am not convinced that the iPad is future of magazine publishing... well not yet, anyway... I do see a very healthy future for comicbooks. The iPad is wonderfully visual and comics are wonderfully visual too... this is a part of publishing that the Kindle can't touch yet... especially the grayscale e-Ink versions.

Tx

Loving this... Sentiment Analysis of the Bible

Thanks to notcot #43,852 for the heads-up to this fantastic infographic :: A Sentiment Analysis of the Bible :: arranged chronologically (top) and by book (above).

According to the post on OpenBible.info... "Sentiment Analysis" involves algorithmically determining if a piece of text is positive (“I like cheese”) or negative (“I hate cheese”)... in essence black symbolises positive sentiment and red symbolises negative sentiment.

I don't get the math behind it... the graphic "arranged by book" uses a moving average of 5 verses on either side whereas "the chronological visualisation" uses a moving average of 150 verses on either side... but I like the way it looks... I have a real soft spot for fab infographics and hope to create my own in due course... for work and the like.

What's more... I love the fact OpenBible.info is giving away full size versions of the graphics for free. I really fancy the chronological visualisation on my wall in my wee computer room... and am grateful for their generousity.

Anyway... check out the article and download the full size versions.

Tx