You have to check this out. Hat tip to http://Koreabeat.com who hat tips East Wind up Chronicle for the link.
ala KoreaBeat:
"Photographer Toman van Houtryve posed as a businessman interested in investing in a North Korean chocolate factory in order to photograph the Stalinist country, and despite constant surveillance brought back photos so stunningly diverse and well-composed that if he hadn’t done similar projects before I would think the whole gallery was a hoax.
Hat tip to the East Wind-up Chronicle."
Here's
the link
The slide show is cool, but make sure you go through them one at a time to read the descriptions. If you only see one, check out
this poster
Some of these shots are startling beautiful. All are filled with absolute sadness. A must view.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Three Thumbs Up!
I've got three thumbs up for these folks and their actions to provide music free of charge for people who want to put music on their youdube videos.
There's some groovy stuff, but you have to hunt for it. It's also interesting to see what some people consider "rock" here in the closing down of the first decade of the 21st Century.
Regardless, the Gods of Rock smile favorably upon sharing Rock, and I'm sure extremely memorable sex has been granted unto said artists, and if not, then it's probably on its way.
Rock On!
Update! While searching through the ranks, found this band from Quebec: called "top johnny"
They've got a classic early 80's glam rock vibe, some catchy lyrics which I couldn't quite hear from the other room, (thus, making it perfect glam rock), and the one song that sounded perfect for a little Kung Fu video my lady's working on rocked so hard, that it continued over three songs! Yeah! Now that's rock! Ok, just slightly kidding about that last bit.
Top Johnny mixes some serious glam rock guitar with synth and some weird sounds here and there. There's nothing really seriously artistic about their music, but Top Johnny certainly embodies the "Rock Out with your Cock Out" ethos. It's kind of like listening to Bon Jovi, before he learned to care about more than his hair. I say right on listening for those nights when you're having a field party with a bunch of douche bags you don't really like, but can't hold their liquor so you're guaranteed some free beer.
"Who makes a song called "Glucose" for chrits sakes?"
"An Indie band!"
Update 2! Honourable mention:
Black Robes!
these dolts just don't rock at all.
"Who makes a song called "Glucose" for chrits sakes?"
"An Indie band!"
There's some groovy stuff, but you have to hunt for it. It's also interesting to see what some people consider "rock" here in the closing down of the first decade of the 21st Century.
Regardless, the Gods of Rock smile favorably upon sharing Rock, and I'm sure extremely memorable sex has been granted unto said artists, and if not, then it's probably on its way.
Rock On!
Update! While searching through the ranks, found this band from Quebec: called "top johnny"
They've got a classic early 80's glam rock vibe, some catchy lyrics which I couldn't quite hear from the other room, (thus, making it perfect glam rock), and the one song that sounded perfect for a little Kung Fu video my lady's working on rocked so hard, that it continued over three songs! Yeah! Now that's rock! Ok, just slightly kidding about that last bit.
Top Johnny mixes some serious glam rock guitar with synth and some weird sounds here and there. There's nothing really seriously artistic about their music, but Top Johnny certainly embodies the "Rock Out with your Cock Out" ethos. It's kind of like listening to Bon Jovi, before he learned to care about more than his hair. I say right on listening for those nights when you're having a field party with a bunch of douche bags you don't really like, but can't hold their liquor so you're guaranteed some free beer.
"Who makes a song called "Glucose" for chrits sakes?"
"An Indie band!"
Update 2! Honourable mention:
Black Robes!
these dolts just don't rock at all.
"Who makes a song called "Glucose" for chrits sakes?"
"An Indie band!"
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Worth Reading!
This article in the NY Times is well worth reading. It's short, but it details a bold new way of thinking about how we connect bits inside our machines.
This more, shall we say, flexible, way of connecting electronics opens up a whole new way of tailoring the physical manifestations of our personal technology, if you allow it.
I remember, some years ago, as nano-technology was taking its first steps. Pundits and prophets heralded the dawn of the nano age, and were expecting that in their lifetimes there would be nano mini factories that could sit on your desk and produce what you needed at the click of a button, if you had the base materials to build and the power to run it.
Sure, pencils, paper, such not, that is conceivable. A mini-factory could store the basic design, stack the carbon bits and solder molecules together, but what about a cell phone? Or a speaker? Or a laser pointer? Complex electronics would certainly take ages for a nano-factory to produce, building and placing chips and circuit boards, wires, casings, gah! Wouldn't it be simpler to just go out and buy one?
Maybe. Maybe not. Read the article linked to above. "Silver ooze", they call it, and take a second to dream of the possibilities. If the innards of an electronic device become liquid, well then.... instead of worrying about running connectors and wires, solder and snap in components, well... hmmmm.
Food for thought.....
This more, shall we say, flexible, way of connecting electronics opens up a whole new way of tailoring the physical manifestations of our personal technology, if you allow it.
I remember, some years ago, as nano-technology was taking its first steps. Pundits and prophets heralded the dawn of the nano age, and were expecting that in their lifetimes there would be nano mini factories that could sit on your desk and produce what you needed at the click of a button, if you had the base materials to build and the power to run it.
Sure, pencils, paper, such not, that is conceivable. A mini-factory could store the basic design, stack the carbon bits and solder molecules together, but what about a cell phone? Or a speaker? Or a laser pointer? Complex electronics would certainly take ages for a nano-factory to produce, building and placing chips and circuit boards, wires, casings, gah! Wouldn't it be simpler to just go out and buy one?
Maybe. Maybe not. Read the article linked to above. "Silver ooze", they call it, and take a second to dream of the possibilities. If the innards of an electronic device become liquid, well then.... instead of worrying about running connectors and wires, solder and snap in components, well... hmmmm.
Food for thought.....
Friday, April 24, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
choice headlines of the week
What's been making news in your world? Here are some choice weekend cuts for you:
and here British scientists have developed a stem cell cure for the most common form of blindness. Surgeons predict that within six or seven years it will be a one hour procedure.
HOLY $(@Q#)(#*&)#@(&*#!!!! This is a cure for the degeneration of your eyes. That's absolutely awesome, and absolutely terrifying. This is not the cusp of that future we've always wondered about, this is the beginning of that downward slope into a new age. Where it will take us, and how far, are truly scary questions when it comes down to it. We've pondered this moment in our fiction, our science fiction, our comic books, our dreams. It's one thing to dream elaborate fears of future things when your hands are empty, it's quite another when the first tools start to appear in those hands.
Are you responsible enough to make sure we do the right thing?
Parts of America are going batshit crazy. (batshit crazy has been my catchphrase of the month). These are some crazy, funny antics, like this answer to the Obama administration's campaign of change: ""I'll keep my faith, my guns and my money, and you can keep your change!". the entire article is full of gems like this. Enjoy. (photo courtesy of the Huffington Post)
Jackie Chan weighs in on freedom in China. I think sitting down and talking to him for a few hours about this subject would be fantastic. His point of view, the life he's lived, the things he's seen, would be spectacular.
And my final selection today goes to Kim Jong Il for threatening a war he can't win. In what will be viewed as an ultimate tantrum, (but will probably end up being just another move in his crazy-ass chess game aux global politics), Kim Jong Il is kickin' it up a notch. However, it's pretty damn droll. Strangely enough, front page of the best paper in Korea ran this story about beefing up the robotics industry here. What the article fails to mention is the military robots that South Korea commissioned five or six years ago. It's never boring.
Oh, and although I can't find the link anymore, the following picture was in a Korean newspaper in response to the people of Madagascar overthrowing their government and subsequently throwing Samsung out of its colonial bid to develop a huge amount of their land for soy. The Korean papers, as you can tell from the cartoon, had some truly moronic things to say.
and here British scientists have developed a stem cell cure for the most common form of blindness. Surgeons predict that within six or seven years it will be a one hour procedure.
HOLY $(@Q#)(#*&)#@(&*#!!!! This is a cure for the degeneration of your eyes. That's absolutely awesome, and absolutely terrifying. This is not the cusp of that future we've always wondered about, this is the beginning of that downward slope into a new age. Where it will take us, and how far, are truly scary questions when it comes down to it. We've pondered this moment in our fiction, our science fiction, our comic books, our dreams. It's one thing to dream elaborate fears of future things when your hands are empty, it's quite another when the first tools start to appear in those hands.
Are you responsible enough to make sure we do the right thing?
Parts of America are going batshit crazy. (batshit crazy has been my catchphrase of the month). These are some crazy, funny antics, like this answer to the Obama administration's campaign of change: ""I'll keep my faith, my guns and my money, and you can keep your change!". the entire article is full of gems like this. Enjoy. (photo courtesy of the Huffington Post)
Jackie Chan weighs in on freedom in China. I think sitting down and talking to him for a few hours about this subject would be fantastic. His point of view, the life he's lived, the things he's seen, would be spectacular.
And my final selection today goes to Kim Jong Il for threatening a war he can't win. In what will be viewed as an ultimate tantrum, (but will probably end up being just another move in his crazy-ass chess game aux global politics), Kim Jong Il is kickin' it up a notch. However, it's pretty damn droll. Strangely enough, front page of the best paper in Korea ran this story about beefing up the robotics industry here. What the article fails to mention is the military robots that South Korea commissioned five or six years ago. It's never boring.
Oh, and although I can't find the link anymore, the following picture was in a Korean newspaper in response to the people of Madagascar overthrowing their government and subsequently throwing Samsung out of its colonial bid to develop a huge amount of their land for soy. The Korean papers, as you can tell from the cartoon, had some truly moronic things to say.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Korea Night
It's 10:55 pm in Korea, Sunday night. You're about to go to bed. The phone rings, it's your boss. He's plastered. Completely. He wants you to speak English to his rich brother, the CEO, who is afraid of speaking to Foreigners.
Problem is, brother rick CEO is also completely plastered.
It's Sunday night, in Korea.
Many times I've been told by Koreans, "When in Rome, do as the Romans."
If I'd followed that adage, my liver would have burst out of my chest years ago and killed them all.
Problem is, brother rick CEO is also completely plastered.
It's Sunday night, in Korea.
Many times I've been told by Koreans, "When in Rome, do as the Romans."
If I'd followed that adage, my liver would have burst out of my chest years ago and killed them all.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn, is this funny
Courtesy of the Huffington Post, Sasha Baron Cohen's "Bruno" trailer:
click here
Damn, he is truly one of, if not THE, funniest (*^(^&*%(^%^&$%%$%$^%%$%$%$'s on the planet.
First time I watched this, I had to pee, I was laughing that hard.
click here
Damn, he is truly one of, if not THE, funniest (*^(^&*%(^%^&$%%$%$^%%$%$%$'s on the planet.
First time I watched this, I had to pee, I was laughing that hard.
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