So my dream places to explore (and indeed the sorts of places I find myself exploring in my dreams) tend to be modernist buildings … concrete and interesting angles and all.
Here’s one such building that I’d like to see preserved rather than demolished!
Have some addicting games!
I’ve long had a love for things that light up in interesting ways, particularly if they’re time pieces too. Reckon it’s the old hippy in my wishing I lived in a word of groovy progressive tunes lit only by coloured oil projector lamps … tempered with something of a 70s vibe given my love of interesting light up digital stuff too, probably so I can tell the time in the darkness of my groovily lit world ;-).
As an aside I’m currently listening to some very suitable music by Pete Brown & Piblokto so the lights are right down in my study and I really need that oil projector on now!
Anyhow, I own a gorgeous Nixie clock for my living room, I’ve a collection of interesting watches including a lovely classic red LED one and several of Tokyoflash’s finest, and I owned several of Mathmos‘ classics, years before lava/glitter/fibre optic lamps were considered fashionable and hence were ten a penny!
I’ve decided however that this clock is a step too far in terms of unreadability despite it being a shiny colourful looking beast! However, if somebody would like to buy it for me for Xmas I’m sure I’ll give it a go ;-).
… here’s another step up in the world of workplace seclusion. It’s not that I don’t like people! It’s just that I enjoy solitary time concentrating with my tunes on!
I recently listened to the entirety of Peter Frampton’s famous album “Frampton Comes Alive!” for the first time. Over the years I’ve of course heard “Show Me The Way” plenty of times on the radio along with its famous talk box japery and so I thought his other stuff might be cool. I was wrong, and the album was quickly consigned to the bit bin as annoying 70s MOR pap.
Far cooler though is the Korg DS-10 application for the Nintendo DS! There’s just something really cool with having a tiny retrotastic synth/sequencer and its ability to create really quite cool tracks with simple loops is excellent!
Take the DS-10 app and a bit of ingenuity and you get the following curious Frampton-related fun …
I’m not normally given to posting “opinion pieces” on here, because there are many others who do that better and more loudly than me. However, today I do feel moved to post something which is more important that my usual ramblings …
I was saddened to read the following about a 19-year old who chose to commit suicide live on webcam on livecasting site justin.tv. It’s not the first time it’s happened, and I’m certain it won’t be the last! The fact that he chose to end his life is a tragedy and my feelings go out to everybody in his family and real friends affected by his death. The fact that his online watchers … watched, encouraged, laughed, and did nothing to help is a tragedy too, and the one I wanted to comment on …
I’m a big advocate of the positive benefits of our connected world and its ability to bring us closer together. However, a downside is that it’s desensitizing us all to the value of people through the pervasive availability of ghoulish content that wasn’t available to the majority before and through the mob reaction of a bunch of people sat safely behind insulated keyboards. If the watchers of this particular event had been there in person would they have done nothing or encouraged him onwards? Would any of us have wanted to watch ten years back? Just because you can now connect to a gazillion people just that reduce the value of each of them to the point their life and its passing is just like that of the ant you tread on because you can and because there are a million others anyhow?
Now maybe I’m just a sensitive soul … but I for one do think this desensitivity is a worrying negative effect of our world of socially spread media. Despite trying my best to avoid it, I’ve come across various things on the web for which I wish I could get out the mind bleach and scrub from my mind. In this case I’m not suggesting we forget this lad’s death, but that we don’t need to swap the video and laugh about it and see it as a thing whose value is simply entertainment! Heck … maybe the rest of the world has always been sick bastards who’d have loved to have watched if they could (hmmm … public executions = family fun day out), but I’m determined and my boys won’t become desensitized to the violence and sadness in the world and it’s real impact on real people!
And here endeth the sermon … I’m off to look at pictures of some busty celebrity in her bikini on my favourite celeb site ;-).
It’s almost certainly a poisoned chalice but you’ve got to assume a minor salary increase and a fat relocation bonus, and so I was of course waiting hopefully by the ‘phone for the star head hunter John Thompson to call me up and offer me the Yahoo CEO job. Given the cloud that Jerry Yang’s gone out under, in all seriousness I’d do a better job.
Then my bubble was burst! Paul Carr’s latest column in The Guardian (and blogged about here) contains a strong list of left of field candidates. Heck, I’m even more left field, and then I got to number #3 on the list … Owen Thomas soon to be ex- of Valleywag … and then I read the cons for his selection. Bastard! That’s me out of the running on the same logic too!
No CEO pay check or Silicon Valley lifestyle for me … so will have to make do with the fact that newest trainers alone are cooler than any likely successful candidate ;-).
