January 2009
94 posts
My parents told me to dig out all my old PC games from their garage this week. I couldn’t bring myself to throw any of them out. Over the next however long I expect to work my way through all the King’s Quests, all the Police Quests, all the Quest For Glory episodes as well as Myst I through III, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, The Seventh Guest, Civilisation and naturally, Return...
This band, Muarena Helena, is one of my favourite...
tags: bus cylon gaius six
Today’s actual number one was again the photo of Brixton Academy. So here’s number two - a phoneboth in Holborn.
This was the week I started work at the British Museum. I decided to walk to Holborn tube station to see if it was quicker/easier than walking to Russell Square. I walked past this phonebooth. I’d spent a lot of the day reading re-caps of Battlestar Galactica at...
Don’t let anyone try to convince you that chilli and lime flavoured chocolate is a good idea.
Welcome to TMI
I think I’m coming down with something. The same thing happened this time last year. I felt like I was getting a cold, but I just powered through. I called in sick on the Monday, went in on Tuesday. The first thing one of my managers said to me was “why are you here?” as soon as I walked in the door. Never a good sign. I managed to last most of the day, with someone telling me to...
1 tag
tags: cone witches hat
Today’s top photo is a shot of Kristin Hersh at the Throwing Muses show a few weeks ago, but as I’ve already posted it instead you get this little wonder which came in second.
Yep, it’s a traffic cone. Or ‘witch’s hat’ as they’re known colloquially here. I don’t know if they’re known as that anywhere else. Some friends and I used to go on...
1.29.09
qod:
Remember that New Years Resolution?
What was it?
Have you followed thru on it?
I decided this year to learn to knit. I started yesterday. I can knit you guys! It’s awesome! I’ve already got 2 inches of a lumpy and misshapen scarf done! It’s gonna be the new fashion statement of winter 2009!
tags: rothko red cream texture
A new artwork today! It’s a close up of a section of Mark Rothko’s “No 3 / No 13” on display in MoMA.
I did a bit of a double take when I walked into the gallery where this was hanging. Friends of mine in the UK has a block-mounted print of this hanging in their house. As they were kind enough to put me up for a while, and helped them move to where they’re...
Further to yesterday’s coworker related incident which culminated in my realisation that maths + logic = fail, I find out today that our end of month reports here are actually due before the end of the month.
I feel like every tenet of reason I have based my life on has been misguided. Is this why people turn to religion, for a context where arbitrary instruction is the expectation?
I started my New Year’s Resolution today. I decided that I’m going to learn to knit. I went to the craft store and asked them to help me find stuff for a beginner learning to knit. They immediately assumed that it was for a gift, and for a girl. I didn’t mind, actually. All the staff I spoke to seemed to relish helping out a guy who was in an unfamiliar environment. I wonder how...
NYC Lomo Gallery Store →
ckck:
A heads-up to analog photography lovers in the New York area: the Lomographic Society International have just opened up a gallery store in New York. It’s located on 41 West 8th Street, just a few blocks north of Washington Square Park. I really want to go check it out tonight after work, but the weather sucks.
Definitely adding this to my list for the next time I’m in NYC. Although I...
tags: cloth tube garment detail
People regularly hit up photos of Issey Mikaye’s A-POC garment. Normally it’s mostly the shot of the whole outfit. This time, they’ve gone for the detail.
Isn’t it great? If they had a man’s version of this I’d totally wear it. It’s one colour so no need to worry about matching, the cut-out bits are customisable to an extent so you don’t have to...
It's funny because it's probably true →
I only regularly follow three webcomics - xkcd, Dinosaur Comics and Questionable Content. The past week’s arc on Questionable Content has been my favourite ever. I rarely laugh out loud at them. Snicker or snort or grin maybe, but rarely do I ‘LOL’. This time the punch line was just so perfect I couldn’t not. The link there takes you to the start of the arc, and it runs for...
The 25 Things Meme
Crumbler started it. (Well, started it here (as far as I know)).
“There’s a fun meme going around Facebook right now. It’s called 25 Things and is basically an un-survey. The rules: Write 25 random things about yourself, tag 25 random friends, make them do the same thing.”
I’m trying desperately to stay awake across my last hour of work for the day and am labouring under the...
1.27.09
qod:
What would be your porn name?
It’s your first pet and the street you grew up on.
Harry Cardigan. Oh yeah. I’m a 70s porn star.
Out Of Cheese Error. Melon Melon Melon.
Coworker and I are employed as temps through an agency. As a result we don’t get paid for public holidays. Monday was a public holiday.
If we work more than 8 hours a day, we get paid overtime rates, but company employing us have asked us to not work more than that unless we’re specifically asked by our manager to stay back.
Coworker is asking our supervisors to authorise her to work...
Talk Foreign Policy To Me
I’ve always said that Joanna Lumley’s voice can sell me anything. I think Barack Obama is the same. I’ve got a huge voice-crush on him.
The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn
ckck:
That’s the title of Steven Spielberg’s next film. Quite a mouthful. It just started shooting today, apparently. Even though I loved Tintin as a kid, and with Spielberg behind the wheel (AND Peter Jackson producing), I can’t help but think “what the hell?”. Oh yeah, it’s being shot in motion capture 3D too, though I have no idea if it’s going to be animated a la The Polar Express. I’m...
2 tags
tags: duchamp sculpture painting
Given that most of my photos of works at MoMA are, as I’ve mentioned, I might have to start going to the first photo I’ve not discussed before to keep things interesting. The first two most viewed today were the A-Poc garment and Duchamp’s “In Advance Of The Broken Arm”, so here is the third - a photo of the general Duchamp gallery.
This photo contains 5 works by...
tags: grand piano singer
Annie Clark (St Vincent) performing ‘Marry Me’ on piano at the Sydney Festival Spiegeltent.
I love it when an artist with a limited repertoire has one song on piano and has a piano brought in and everything just so she can play it. No backing track, no synth, no reworking it on guitar, just… ‘let’s bring in the piano’. On the other hand, photographing...
tags: green algae design / annie clark live
Four of my pictures of St Vincent performing at Sydney Festival last week tied with a photo of Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s “Algae Screen” at MoMA. So you get one pic of Annie Clark and the Algae Screen to look at.
Her magic box of loops and effects was playing up. She had to hit certain areas to trigger certain loops. Some of them went fine, some took a few wallops, and she...
The Best Hollywood Man-On-Man Kisses Of All Time →
imstuckinabag:
Where’s the tongue action?
Man-on-man with tongue is still a different section in the video store. We’ve a ways to go yet.
tags: drums guitar
A different Bon Iver photo today.
This was taken during their performance of a Talk Talk song. Can’t remember which one. It was good, and the right kind of dreamy pace for that show - active and punchy in a glacial kind of way. That probably doesn’t make sense. Erm. It was busy, but not in a crazy dynamic way, but not in a repetetive dull way. It was at a good point in the set too....
I Love Tickets!
Off to scamper to the venue to buy tickets for the Kristin Hersh show tonight. I can’t remember the last time I had to queue in person to buy anything outside of food.
I always knew Duncan was right
aniceshadeofred:
From Shmitten Kitten:
The argyle sock is a a bold fashion choice with immense payoff potential. If done well, it can transform an average guy from ho-hum to hot stud… there is something about the kind of guy who wears argyle socks that makes us sit up and take notice. He probably:
has a library card
can enjoy movies with subtitles in them
has neat penmanship
smells clean...
I feel that the time has come to make this an official statement: The only reason I have a beard is that I hate shaving - it’s time consuming, messy and completely wrecks my skin.
I realise that’s probably true for most everybody who has a beard, but somebody told me the other day that beards were fashionable. Beards probably actually aren’t fashionable, it’s just that...
tags: concert quartet bon iver
Thank goodness this had the same number of views, so it was a legitimate tie for #1, otherwise I’d be talking about Andy’s soup cans again.
Do click through to view it larger - the postage stamp size here doesn’t really do it justice (and I’ll discount any clickthroughs from here in tomorrow’s figures). The stage at the City Recital Hall was pretty much the perfect...
Kristin Hersh is playing a just announced solo show tonight as part of Sydney Festival. Assuming I can leave work early enough to get tickets, I’m so excited.
The only trouble is the show starts at 11.30pm. That’s way past my bedtime. Also it means that if the show is longer than an hour I’ll miss the last train home. The things we do, eh?
we need to get started on the zombie heath ledger...
scarydan: I'm sick of Heath Ledger being dead but still getting awards being news.
_NinjaPenguin: Srsly. I wish they'd just resurrect him already and then they'd shut up about it. Or would a zombie be bigger news?
scarydan: a zombie heath ledger would be WORTHY news. someone still being dead after a year is...not.
I listened again to ‘Woods’ on the way...
Bon Iver III
Re: “Woods” - not as irksome as I first implied. It’s actually really interesting, and surprisingly powerful. It’s just drowning a little in the voice effects. It worked for Kanye, but it doesn’t work here. If only it had one untreated voice running through as well, then I’d be all for it. Based on the concert it’s fairly clear that JV can sing very well...
Veronica Mars Movie Finally In The Works →
As Kristin Bell is the only reason I watch Gossip Girl and was the only reason I kept watching Heroes, this is so very, very exciting. Excuse me while I go and change my trousers.
tags: equivocal reserved thaw boxes
Google Image Search, I love you, but I am again blaming your efficiency for making me repeat myself here. I might have to start posting the second most viewed image if this keeps up. Today we have, again, Josef Albers’ “Homage To The Square”.
I really like this artwork. I’m not quite sure why. I think it probably falls under my favourite ‘category’ of art -...
tags: campbell's soup cans
Google, I’m flattered that your image search keeps throwing up my picture obviously towards the top of the page but there have got to be more suitable ones out there, I’m sure. So, second time this year Mr Warhol gets his soup cans up here.
And that was yesterday’s top viewed - I missed posting it on the actual day so hopefully you’ll get a different image shortly for...
Unprofessional Work Rant
I was off sick yesterday. I come back today to find that coworker:
Had not checked office voicemail so didn’t get my ‘I’m sick’ message.
Spent the day ‘[wondering] if [I’d] been hit by a bus and if [she] should tell somebody that [I wasn’t] in’. Note that she does have my mobile number even outside of what I left in the unchecked message.
Had not...
Bon Iver Part II
They had new EP ‘Blood Bank’ on sale at the merch desk, no naturally I picked it up. Two of the highlights of the show were new songs ‘Babys’ and ‘Blood Bank’. Interesting to hear them on the EP where they aren’t being played live by four guys across four voices, two drum kits, two keyboards, bass and two guitars. They’re much more assured songs than...
Bon Iver
Remember how I was concerned that Bon Iver live would be not be interesting enough? Given that ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ wasn’t really interesting enough it seemed a logical assumption. Rest assured that is definitely not the case. The word ‘incendiary’ sprang to mind on more than a few occasions. Even if you only half like the album (and I only half liked half of the...
When dictating to Moses (the world’s first PA?), God wasn’t paying attention to the important stuff that, if uncurtailed, is going to cause us to commit the big stuff. Why wasn’t one of the commandments ’thou shalt not slurp hideously your hot drink in an open office as it will not make it cooler any faster, but shall instead beget many dirty looks and people posting...
tags: kristin hersh throwing muses
Another shot from the Throwing Muses show at the top. If I remember correctly this one was probably taken during the first song, which was ‘Devil’s Roof’.
Sometimes it’s really easy to get a good live music shot, other times it’s really hard. Being close always helps, but being close and having a well-lit stage makes all the difference. Also digital photography -...
Yesterday I went to see a performance of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Telltale Heart” as part of the Sydney Festival which consisted of a staircase, a handful of well-used spotlights, a pianist and a very, very engagingly disturbing performance (‘visceral’ would be an apt description) from the actor. Turns out it was also Edgar Allen Poe’s birthday yesterday. Nice.