Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Sir David Attenborough Quote of the Day
I know of three people who know that Emmylou Harris is the greatest female singer since Ella Fitzgerald — me, a bloke in Wallington and, to my amazement, David Attenborough. “Yes, yes,” he says, in that breathy, gorilla-charming voice, “absolutely.” He even knows and loves her performance of Love Hurts with Gram Parsons. Attenborough is a national institution, of course, but cool also? Awestruck, I ask him a question I thought I’d never ask: “What’s on your iPod?”
“Every major classical work since Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 — it’s a 45-gig iPod — all Beethoven symphonies, all Mahler and, yes, yes, Emmylou Harris.”
Out in the field, as he so often is, he spends the nights in tents listening to music. Before iPods changed everything, he took CDs, always including some demanding music he had never heard — say, Janacek quartets. In the darkness, he would reach for a CD and put it on, not knowing what it was. If he couldn’t stand what he heard, he would grope for another. But he allowed himself to do this only twice. The rule was that he must listen to the third CD. “I had to sit through it, that had to be it. It was a little game.”
Read the rest of this awesome interview here.
Friday, 25 April 2008
Shawnimal's Wee Ninja and the Moustachios
"Shawnimals was started as a hobby 2001 with one simple goal – to bring people together by way of strange yet cute artist-made stuffed creatures and other fun items. It's what Shawnimals was founded on, and now years later as a full-fledged company, it's what we believe in today. Now Shawnimals is breaking into video games, comic books, apparel, collectible vinyls, lifestyle accessories and more!" - Shawn Smith
I saw these guy's stuff when I was in America and it's all really awesome... Particularly the moustachios and the wee ninja.
You can find all kinds of sweet downloads (desktops, buddy icons...) and merchandise on the Shawnimals site.
SotC scale diagram
Click for bigger.
This can be found in the official SotC artbook. I wish they'd make posters of it...
Dinosaur Comics
There are plenty more where this one came from here.
This was posted by Mat in spirit.
The Independant's 'Green List'
The Independent's recent Green list 2007 promised to reveal who was setting the agenda on environmental issues, writes Rachel Dixon. Unfortunately, it didn't tell us much we didn't already know. Rather predictably, as publication coincided with Live Earth, Al Gore was number one, followed by unlikely environmentalist Arnold Schwarzenegger. More interesting was Wangari Maathai's inclusion in third place - although she was just one of just seven women in a list of 25 people.
On the plus side, the list was a real mixed bag, with campaigners and movers and shakers from the arts ranking alongside scientists, politicians and businessmen. This may be an encouraging sign, suggesting that green issues are starting to be tackled across wider society, rather than remaining the preserve of niche groups.
On the down side, it was geographically limited, with only one representative of Africa, and one each from China and India. The vast majority of those named came from Britain or the United States. As the Independent itself said, climate change is the most important global issue we face, so surely we should acknowledge the role of non-western figures in the fight? One example that springs to mind is Dai Qing, the Chinese anti-dam campaigner, who was included in the Environment Agency's list of the 100 greatest eco-heroes of all time. There must be many more individuals who deserve recognition.
So, who would you add to the list - and who's inclusion do you disagree with? Perhaps you don't think Al Gore deserves the top spot, in light of Live Earth's carbon footprint, not to mention his own massive household energy consumption. Or maybe we're all too obsessed with celebrity, and we shouldn't be focusing on individuals at all. A list of the greenest businesses or governments might shame the rest into action.
The top 10:1. Al Gore
2. Arnold Schwarzenegger
3. Wangari Maathai
4. Sir Nicholas Stern
5. David Attenborough <-------------------------- !
6. Simran Sethi
7. Mark Lynas
8. Patrick Holden
9. Laurie David
10. Dr Carl Hodges
This is outrageous for obvious reasons. Story from here.
Sir David Attenborough Quote of the Day
SimonB: Have you any pets?Sir David Attenborough: When my children were small we had all kinds of pets but now that I live by myself it is not possible to have a pet and still go away for several weeks on end on filming trips. So, to my regret I have no pets at the moment.
Steve: What is the most scared you have ever been while filming?
Sir David Attenborough: If you are not scared at any time you are going to get yourself into real trouble. I have been scared. My scariest moment has been malfunctioning of my diving equipment when I have been some 60 feet below the surface. I decided that I was not designed by mother nature to be down there.
Peloquin: Sir david, is the bird of paradise still one of your favorite animals?
Sir David Attenborough: There is not just one bird of paradise, there are 42 different species. They vary in size from a robin to a crow. They have the most dazzlingly feather decorations of any family and I am besotted by them.
Full interview here.
My set-up
This is my current set up.
It consists of a laptop (w/Reason, Reaktor and a midi keyboard simulator), a Casiotone keyboard, Clive's mixer, Mat's distortion pedal, my Kaoss pad mini, Clive's 'red box' (circuit bent fun), my Nintendo DS w/ Electroplankton and my little lamp.
Shadow of the Colossus: One Coin Grande Figure Collection
Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service
I've been trying to get this manga for some time but every shop I've seen it in seems to have every volume but #1. It sounds awesome: "Your body is their business! Five young students at a Buddhist university, three guys and two girls, find little call for their job skills in today's Tokyo . . . among the living, that is! But all that stuff in college they were told would never pay off-you know, channeling, dowsing, ESP-gives them a direct line to the dead . . . the dead who are still trapped in their corpses and can't move on to the next reincarnation.
The five form the Kurosagi ("Black Heron?-their ominous bird logo) Corpse Delivery Service: whether suicide, murder, accident, or illness, they'll carry your body wherever it needs to go to free your soul! The kids from Kurosagi can smell a customer a mile away-it's a good thing one of the girls majored in embalming!"
Let me know if you see it Lou-Lou!
Thursday, 24 April 2008
The Brick Testament.com
"The Brick Testament is the largest, most comprehensive illustrated Bible in the world with over 3,600 illustrations that retell more than 300 stories from The Bible.Launched first as a website in 2001, then as a published book series in 2003, The Brick Testament project is an ongoing one-man labor of love, constructed and photographed entirely by The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith."
Work your way through the wonders of religio-lego art here.
