Posts in Uncategorized
Real sound

Sometimes the old ones just can't be beat. 01:55 with Etta and she just FEELS it. So passionate and Dr John is perfect with his growly gravelly scratchy voice. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyMd19sE6U4]

Just raw and beautiful. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvmqKBGQO44]

Listened to this for years - beautiful song. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF3IktTk_pQ]

UncategorizedJack Dysonetta james, jimmy cliff, love, love songs, many rivers to cross, music, old music, there he isComment
Tropfest 2011 winner: Animal Beatbox

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxiSP_ch_oI] What is the true call of the wild? Here we travel down a very special river and are introduced to a wide variety of the animal kingdom who all contribute their name for the sake of music.

Directed by Damon Gameau Tropfest Australia ( world's biggest short-film festival, 700 entries, 16 finalists)

I mean, I liiiike it and all that. Shame he didn't go into full chopsticks with the dolphin chorus. Nice idea though.

Tropfest website says: 'The winning film is a branch into animation by Underbelly and Balibo actor Gameau, with a catchy lyrical and poetic narrative. The film was shot in his mother’s spare room for just $85 and on a liquid detox diet with his girlfriend by his side – somehow they are still together. “I’m quite new to stop animation, but I find it a quick and versatile way to express any idea that may be lurking in my head,” he says.'

UncategorizedJack Dyson2011, animal, Australia, beatbox, cinema, competition, film, music, short film, silly, tropfest, winnerComment
Thom Yorke crunks out, looks for perfect beat (Lotus Flower, King of Limbs)

Okay, so this isn't perfect, but it's so nearly there it's got to be worth doing. In the new Radiohead video for Lotus Flower on King of Limbs, Thom Yorke crunks out in his inimitable fashion. So I'm watching it and thinking, only a matter of time - days, maybe even hours, before someone cuts it to a different track or does a video mashup or whatever. I'm not geeky enough to do the whole thing. Just press play on the Praise You video (at bottom - it might have to open in a separate window), then when the music starts, press play on the Radiohead one (below, but mute it). When it works, it's wicked. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfOa1a8hYP8]

It sort of stops working for a bit halfway through when Thom Yorke is singing slowly, but kicks in again hard at 4.21 when he really goes for some crazy moves just as Praise You has its last gasp.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ULVQOneeZE]

Why not try a few myself/yourself? Got to be some other songs that fit better... works quite well with Weapon of Choice too.

Of course, you could just forget all that and enjoy the new Radiohead song, but hey.

UncategorizedJack Dysonfatboy slim, king of limbs, music, praise you, radiohead, rubbish mashup, thom yorke Comments
Sonny's Popcorn Cinema Shock

Cinema is full of hyped-up heroes and explosive action but Sonny and BBH teamed up with St John’s Ambulance to bring some real life drama to London filmgoers. In Popcorn, a cheesy pre-feature commercial goes horribly wrong until a resourceful audience member steps up to the mark.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiJjkNN3z5M&feature=player_embedded]

Read an interview with director Jeff Labbé here on the Beak Street Blog.

(thanks Luce x)

UncategorizedJack Dysonadvertising, bbh, cinema, popcorn, sonny Comment
Eleven reasons why David Shrigley is my favourite artist (today)

  • According to a piece Dazed did on him (it's here), not only is he a good host, but he wears a seatbelt even when he sits in the back seat.
  • He freely admits that he's shit at drawing and that he's always just drawn like he does. Which is great, actually, because it means he's not putting it on.
  • He mixes humour with art, but still manages to make me think. That said, I don't get all of it.

  • He works pretty constantly - about 30 drawings a day.
  • He's trying to swear less.
  • He said this when drownedinsound asked him if he was worried about overexposure: "“Err… Yes, probably. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about that though. I suppose to say no to some things, but I don’t know. My criteria is that as long as what I am doing is good then it’s fine to do it. As long as I’m having a good time and I feel what I am doing is interesting and not shite then that’s good and I’m going to continue. I supposed there is a fashion aspect to what I am doing, and perhaps I will go out of fashion at some point. But, again, there’s not a lot I can really do about that so I might as well just… Oh wait, an ambulance is going past.”
  • Apparently he throws away 70% of his drawings
  • Looking at his work, and then at a picture of him, the two don't necessarily go together. That's a good thing.
  • He told The Scotsman that he sometimes he likes to draw people before he meets them for the first time: "The image you have before you meet someone is gone forever as soon as you see them. I like to preserve that image. I like how wrong it is."
  • He did an exhibition at The Serpentine a few years ago, and I bought a book of postcards. Then, when I was ill not long after, loads of people came to visit me and stuff, so I wrote loads of postcards in the book to say thank-you to them. But then I never sent the cards and kept them because I didn't want to part with the art (I still feel a bit guilty about that, but then I've always been crap at writing thank-you letters).
  • Finally, I really really love his stuff. Here's a slideshow. I don't know how to make it go slower, so press stop if you want.

    • [slideshow]

    ps - if you like it, there's loads more on his website, which you can get to by clicking HERE It's much better than the slideshow.

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eyuqk_IeBl8]

    UncategorizedJack Dysonart, david shrigley, drawing, funny, illustration, me, silly, sketches Comment
    The Magic Roundabout

    Can't quite believe this, but it's real. The magic roundabout is Swindon town-planning's answer to the gaping maw of Hades, Dante's inferno, the dark side of the moon, Icarus's wings and Richard Desmond's mind in one neat little tarmac package. I genuinely fail to see the point of this monstrosity, and it's making me angry just thinking about it. Paul Daniels has more magic than this, and he doesn't even do shows any more.

    UncategorizedJack Dysonbeing hungover is not helping, roundabout, some things just make me want to puke, swindon Comments
    Out of my way! (pavement politics explained)

    1. Tourists walk 3.79 feet per second; 2. Smokers: 4.17 feet per second; 3. Cellphone users: 4.20 feet per second; 4. Headphone listeners: 4.64 feet per second; 5. Large pedestrians: 3.74 feet per second; 6. Men: 4.42 feet per second; 7. Women: 4.10 feet per second; 8. People with bags: 4.27 feet per second.

    According to the Wall Street Journal, tourists really do walk more slowly.

    For many people, few things are more infuriating than slow walkers—those seemingly inconsiderate people who clog up sidewalks, grocery aisles and airport hallways while others fume behind them.

    Researchers say the concept of "sidewalk rage" is real. One scientist has even developed a Pedestrian Aggressiveness Syndrome Scale to map out how people express their fury. At its most extreme, sidewalk rage can signal a psychiatric condition known as "intermittent explosive disorder," researchers say. On Facebook, there's a group called "I Secretly Want to Punch Slow Walking People in the Back of the Head" that boasts nearly 15,000 members.

    Some researchers are even studying the dynamics that trigger such rage and why some people remain calm in hopes of improving anger-management treatments and gaining insights into how emotions influence decision making, attention and self control.

    "We're trying to understand what makes people angry, what that experience is like," says Jerry Deffenbacher, a professor at Colorado State University who studies anger and road rage. "For those for whom anger is a personal problem, we're trying to develop and evaluate ways of helping them."

    How Walkable Is Your Neighborhood? Signs of a sidewalk rager include muttering or bumping into others; uncaringly hogging a walking lane; and acting in a hostile manner by staring, giving a "mean face" or approaching others too closely, says Leon James, a psychology professor at the University of Hawaii who studies pedestrian and driver aggression.

    For the cool-headed, sidewalk rage may seem incomprehensible. After all, it seems simple enough to just go around the slow individual. Why then are some people, even those who greet other obstacles with equanimity, so infuriated by unhurried fellow pedestrians?

    How one interprets the situation is key, researchers say. Ragers tend to have a strong sense of how other people should behave. Their code: Slower people keep to the right. Step aside to take a picture. And the left side of an escalator should be, of course, kept free for anyone wanting to walk up.

    (read the full article here)

    UncategorizedJack Dysonetiquette, infographic, pavement, psycho, rage, rules, sidewalk, violence, wall street journal Comments