an eye out 12:37 21/09/06
My favourite line of the week so far is:
I once got dumped so hard that I didn’t have a shadow for a week.
It’s from Scary Go Round, a very wise, witty, and beautifully illustrated daily webcomic from John Allison.
Allison eschews the humour webcomic standard of each strip being standalone, and following a basic setup/punchline structure, for intriguing and eccentric ongoing storylines, so if you don’t quite get it from this one strip, go back and read one of the chapters from the beginning… you’ll soon get the hang of it, I promise…
Okay, I know we keep complaining that the future hasn’t turned out quite the way we hoped it would, but look at this:
What you’re looking at there is a detail of a photograph by Thierry Legault, depicting the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station, taken on the 17th September, 2006. The grey backdrop is actually the sun. This is more clear in the complete picture, which is here, with info: astrosurf.com/legault/iss_atlantis_transit.html
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now playing 0:49 21/09/06
”Composer Chris Letcher, regarded as one of South Africa’s best, explores the world of film-soundtracking. His music is enormously melodic with fascinating hooks that easily work their way into your grey matter.”
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Letcher – Deep Frieze
Not sure how I found these guys… There is some musical connection with my cousin, but I actually suspect that, despite his best attempts, I probably stumbled on it by accident earlier tonight via MySpace. Letcher is the UK based outlet/band for Chris Letcher’s work, and it’s difficult to classify… it ranges from wonderfully laid-back and accessible to experimental and mind-bending in the space of each song, and I’m pleasantly enthralled by it already. I can’t work out if it reminds me of The Beta Band or of an english-language Sigur Ros, and that should indicate how very indefinable it is.
He also makes film music:
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Chris Letcher – Piano Theme
His website is here: www.letchermusic.com
Not so new, but because Steev totally reminded me about them:
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Amiina – Hemipode (live at Massey Hall)
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Amiina – Ammaelis (live at Massey Hall)
Amiina supported Sigur Ros when I saw them recently here in Southampton, and I strongly recommend seeing them live if you can… their music is a work of art, and seeing how they produce it is just poetry.
Their website is here: www.aminamusik.com. The show both of these pieces are taken from is available as an official torrent all over the place.
And finally, because, yeah, okay, I love it:
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Ben Lee – The Serious Mythology of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
I have no idea where I picked this track up from, but Ben Lee’s website is here: www.ben-lee.com
There’s an interesting thing that happens when you fall in love with someone, at least if you are me and you fall in love with someone…
As the relationship begins, whether you realise it or not, you go through the process of trying to work out where your personalities fit, and where they don’t, tentatively trying to pick your way through the simple, tiny things that make a life shared with another human being go as smoothly as possible. After getting your fingers lightly burnt a couple of times with poorly received initial explorations into no man’s land, you realise which battles you can afford to avoid altogether…
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an eye out 22:53 20/09/06
If you don’t watch The Show, you won’t have heard ZeFrank’s upbeat musical contribution to the 911 anniversary…
www.zefrank.com/theshow/archives/2006/09/091106
(I have tried to make the video embed, but WordPress don’t play like dat, yo… Apologies for the lateness of this… I am playing major league catch-up at the mo…)
Saddam Hussein, in an absurd attempt to bring levity to his genocide trial, quoted obscure classic Canadian comedy crew The Kids In The Hall:
On Tuesday, Saddam lashed out against what he called “agents of Iran and Zionism,” and vowed to “crush your heads” after listening to Kurdish witnesses tell of the horrors allegedly committed by his fallen regime.
(Ah, balls! I started writing this over a week ago… I had loads to say on this subject, and I was, I have to say, going to be completely hilarious, too… Although, you know, when you’re talking about trials of former dictators, it’s difficult to be anything but…
But I’ve totally lost my thread, now. Bloody ridiculously hectic work, frazzling my mind…)
Hundreds of Paris Hilton albums have been tampered with in the latest stunt by “guerrilla artist” Banksy.
Banksy has replaced Hilton’s CD with his own remixes and given them titles such as Why am I Famous?, What Have I Done? and What Am I For?
He has also changed pictures of her on the CD sleeve to show the US socialite topless and with a dog’s head.
Gutless, HMV spokestard said:
“I guess you can give an individual such as Banksy a little bit of leeway for his own particular brand of artistic engagement.
“Often people might have a view on something but feel they can’t always express it, but it’s down to the likes of Banksy to say often what people think about things.
“And it might be that there will be some people who agree with his views on the Paris Hilton album.”
Bravely not at all countered by gutless Virgin Megastore fuckwit that wishes he had a much cooler job, like being an guerilla artshit…
“I have to take my hat off – it’s a very good stunt…”
I see this a slightly different way. And frankly, I resent the hell out of Banksy for forcing me into a position where I seem to be notionally be taking Paris Hilton’s side on something.
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Mr Irwin, 44, was killed by a stingray barb to the chest while he was filming an underwater documentary in Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef.
I have managed to get through Steve Irwin’s entire life without once actually seeing him on screen… I have, however, watched Crocodile Dundee 1 and 2, seen photographs, action figures, and heard tall stories, so I feel like I’ve known him.
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