March 2009
42 posts
2 tags
Lianne La Havas
Now, I wouldn’t normally review a supporting act separately to the main event (The Rumble Strips at Dingwalls), but I feel like Lianne deserves her own mention.
I’ve always thought the laziest form of journalism is when a music journo resorts to the ‘like x mixed with y’ type descriptors … but I’ve always been a terrible hypocrite. If you imagine the power of...
1 tag
This weekend, I...
Went for a lovely glass of wine after work at the Royal Exchange: a truly lovely setting for a relaxing drink after a busy week.
Followed up the wine with a stroll to the Tate Modern to peruse the Rodchenko and Popova exhibition. I’m no great fan of constructivism, but I have to say I rather enjoyed parts of the show, particularly the huge room dedicated to the design work they (and their...
SEED →
SEED magazine redesigns: they’ve done a really great job of the information hierarchy, and making a large tag-based navigation work in a pleasing, intuitive and valuable way (I love the information richness, in that colour, position and obviously, the word, all mean something). Great work.
2 tags
Watchmen
Directed by Zak Snyder (2009)
Not as bad as I thought it was going to be … which is the kind of backhanded compliment I suspect a lot of people will be offering Watchmen.
What makes me sad is that if a talentless imbecile like Zak Snyder can squeeze a half decent film out of the source material, imagine what Paul Greengrass, Terry Gilliam or Darren Aronofsky could have done with it.
In...
gingergit: I once watched a baby orang pick up a stick, sharpen the end, clear a space of dirt on the ground and begin FUCKING DRAWING on it. Lines, shapes, circles, the little bugger was rubbing bits out he didn't want and redoing them. His output far exceeded the quality of some graduates I've seen.
Andy Hawkes: You sure that wasn't just an autistic ginger orphan?
“I don’t even know who the assistant manager of Hull is or what he looks like.”
– Cesc Fabregas
Google Earth used by thief to pinpoint buildings... →
Best Web 2.0 mashup yet?
2 tags
Red Riding 1980
Channel 4, 12 March 2009, 9pm (or 10pm if you had to catch it on 4+1…)
The second in a trilogy of feature length dramas based on David Peace’s quartet of books (Nineteen Seventy-Four was on last week), and it was just as good as last weeks effort. If not better.
Paddy Considine really is one of the finest actors working today. I was massively impressed at how much depth he brought...
“It’s about time we got a break this season and anyone who wants to poke...”
– Roma 1-0 Arsenal: Defeat but it’s Roma who pay the penalty
“When you make something you make something else.”
– Sell Your By-products - (37signals)
The Guardian Open Platform →
The Guardian have opened up their content feeds via their ‘Open Platform’, open APIs for accessing nearly all guardian content. Brave, and potentially brilliant.
Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics new album...
“If some natural phenomenon occurs with almost supernatural timing and saves your...”
– Bruce Haley’s Tao of War Photography
Escape From City-17 →
I’m pretty sure it counts as geeky, but live action Half Life 2 homage? Yes please.
“Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may whet my mind and say something...”
– Aristophanes
2 tags
Red Riding 1974
Channel 4, 5 March 2009, 9pm
The first in a trilogy of feature length dramas based on David Peace’s quartet of books (Nineteen Seventy-Seven is omitted from the TV trilogy), shown last night. I have to say I was hugely impressed.
Julian Jarrold, who has directed a whole slew of mediocre TV dramas and a couple of mediocre movies, really excelled himself here. At times reminiscent of Paul...
The Space Game →
It’s amazing. It looks incredibly complex, but the best thing to do is just to start playing and work it out as you go along. I wish there were more games like this for the iPhone. (via Kottke)
“Who you tryin’ to get crazy with, ese? Don’t you know I’m loco?”
– Who’d’ya’think?
“the environmental concerns at the core of Transporter 3 are like the tits in...”
– Twitter / Dean Cameron Allen
“Once you realize that you’ve put yourself in a deep hole, please please please...”
– PeterSchuh.com » The First Step to Reducing Technical Debt? Stop Digging.
WatchInspirational stuff from Jill Tarter, astronomer and current director of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) institute: why should we care whether there is life ‘out there’?