January Links
Here’s a collection of links to articles or videos or whatever the hell else that I’ve liked elsewhere on the web this month, some of which I’ve shared on other social networks and some of which I’ve not. I know January’s not over yet but busy, busy, busy… you know how it is. Unless you’re not busy and never have been. I don’t really care if you know how it is or don’t. London in 1973 and 1974. Beautiful. If you love grey. The television cameras really shouldn’t make a difference is a well-written article in my local newspaper that talks about the fuss that emerged over my MP, Penny Mordaunt, appearing on a TV programme to raise money for a local amenity. She didn’t do so well in the programme itself but that wasn’t the point. One of the good things to come out of the whole fuss was seeing just how nasty and spiteful some people – mostly Labour supporters, you won’t be surprised to hear – can be. It’s always nice to know that the world is full of bitter scum. A link to an article on this site now – Watching North Korean Television – which got linked to from a Polish website, http://www.wykop.pl/. And that sent a lot of traffic here. The Which Star Wars Character Are You? quiz proved popular with friends on Facebook. I was a stormtrooper, in case you wanted to know. A memory of this video mix popped into my head while driving home one day this month. I don’t know why. That hardly seems important because it’s still as good now as it ever was. What a lovely dress! Now, if only I knew someone with gigantism of the head on whom it would look as nice. In a scene reminiscent of something from Father Ted but not nearly as funny a group of medieval-minded Christian morons in Northern Ireland got a play cancelled without seeing it because there was a chance it might make fun of the bible. Down with this sort of thing! Careful now! National Geographic shared a list of the 8 scarients viewing platforms in the world, one of which – the Aurland Lookout – I walked on last year. It wasn’t scary. But then I am rugged and manly. A new release of an NFL-themed bad lip reading will ease the pain of the Patriots getting knocked out in the AFC championship game. A new supernova! Is pseudoarchaeology racist? Could also have been titled Is Erich von Däniken an Arse? The answer would have been the same in each instance. Spaceship Generator. I just...
The Mirror
A mirror can add a lot to a photograph. It can add depth or light or the presence of something you wouldn't normally be able to see. It can double the appearance of something key to the composition. It can change the angle of some object. It can flip part of the image and force you to look at it in a different way. For me, though, probably the best thing a mirror brings to a photograph is evidence that you're not a few feet from a vampire. This guy in this photo: he's not a vampire. Good work mirror. Google+: View post on...
Musicals Triple
Three videos featuring musical numbers from musicals – musicals being one of the best places to find musical numbers, I’ve found – for your delight. Unless you don’t like them. But why wouldn’t you like them? They’ve got singing and dancing, and everyone likes singing and dancing. Shipoopi From the musical The Music Man, a musical I’ve not actually seen and probably wouldn’t based on this video. Wait. I’m not selling this, am I? Look, I’ll be honest: I prefer Peter Griffin’s version but Family Guy’s not technically a musical so, well, there you go. Flash Bang Wallop From Half A Sixpence and referencing photography which means I love it. Me Ol’ Bamboo If you thought a musical number couldn’t sound more Cockney than the previous one from Tommy Steele then step back and feast your ear holes on this little beauty by Dick Van Dyke from Chitty Chitty Bang...
Fashion Faves – Fortune Cookie
Photographed by Martin Tremblay (and via ru_glamour initially (to me, anyway)) comes this bizarre photoshoot entitled Fortune Cookie. The original set can be found in issue 23 of Schön! Magazine. With an Asian retail backdrop Martin takes models Bayan and Cat, adds some styling by Pascal and Jérémie, takes advantage of some strong hairstyling by Geneva Cowen & Stéphane Legros and then proceeds to turn the models’ whole world upside down to produce some genuinely inventive photos. There’s mixture of attention to detail in this shot. First, there’s the great attention in the placement of the shoes on the ceiling. However, that’s offset by the direction in which the model is facing. Sure, having your feet towards the assistant makes it easier to grab something from the counter but how exactly is she supposed to see what she wants? I know a lot of people in real life who figuratively talk out of their backsides but I’m unaware of any reference to anyone looking out of them. I’ve already mentioned the hairstyling and nothing can really beat that incredible style in the first photo which resembles Princess Leia on a high humidity planet with a dearth of hair salons but this shot provides a close-up of another design and highlights the strength present. Of course, it’s difficult to really get an idea of what the hair is doing here as your brain knows the model is upside down and that she’s not really supporting paving stones. But if we flip another shot over… … we get a much better view. You can see what a good job has been done in not only providing strength to support Cat’s admittedly light weight but in also counterbalancing her legs, feet, and shoes which are quite clearly off the vertical. You definitely get the feeling that Martin simply had to pick Cat up, walk over into position, place her down gently, walk back, and take the shot, all of which indicates great preparation and fantastic work from everyone involved. I’m quite impressed by the ripped, knitted dress from UNTLD; it’s performing an admirable job in not succumbing to gravity. I think it’s safe to assume it must be catching on something. This final shot – also flipped upside down – demonstrates what Martin refers to as his “playful side” but what other people refer to as his “being an arsehole side”. To balance a model on her head right next to two old men trying to meditate in a temple courtyard is incredibly disrespectful. On the other hand it should test their mental strengths and, worst case scenario, will give them one...
Vintage Technology
A small selection of vintage pieces of technology, some of which were precursors to more modern technological marvels and others of which were unique in the history of invention. Nordmende NASEX-1 Manufactured in Germany in 1970, the NASEX-1 was the only attempt by Nordmende to enter what many European companies were hoping would be dubbed “The Smelly Seventies” (although, thanks to their various native languages this term only worked alliteratively in the United Kingdom and no companies there wanted to take part); technology that excited the nasal senses was anticipated to be the next big thing. The NASEX-1 worked with special cassette cartridges to produce pleasing smells in a manner “composed” by scent artists. Unlike modern plug-ins that simply use perfumes, the cassettes for the Nordmende device contained electronic instructions for the machine so that it could manufacture the chemical smells internally. A combination of requiring eight 1.5V batteries, five key chemical capsules in the device, and cassettes to generate the odours made the NASEX-1 very expensive and it never achieved enough sales to warrant its continued manufacture past 1971. The best-selling cassette for the Nordmende NASEX-1 was Mein Haus by Karlheinz Stockhausen, described as “a nasal exploration of my home in Kürten”. In it Karlheinz took the smeller through his garden, his kitchen, his library, and his sex dungeon in a series of distinct pieces. Toshari M3/A “Tricorder” It’s quite likely that you won’t have heard of the Tokyo-based Toshari company or its flagship 1981 invention, the M3/A, dubbed the “Tricorder” by those few people who used it, were Star Trek fans, and lived to tell the tale. The M3/A was a handheld device designed to be used by medical professionals in quickly diagnosing a wide range of illnesses and diseases. The device had a clamshell form factor with a lower section containing scanning parameter selection through a cursor input system and an upper section containing a monochrome display and the scanning equipment itself. Although the M3/A was only initially configured to identify two dozen common illnesses Toshari had designed the system to be upgradeable with swappable ROM chips in its base. That, however, was not the root cause of its swift demise in the marketplace. Because of a government-driven desire for technology of this type the normal testing processes were shortened somewhat, sadly with lethal consequences. The Toshari M3/A’s scanner used unshielded gamma rays to perform its numerous analyses and both users and patients alike soon succumbed to a number of side effects including, unfortunately, fatal Godzillaitis. It was only the M3/A’s superior abilities to detect that very same common Japanese illness that enabled the device to...
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