Mahnamahna

Sorry to inflict this on you all, but a quick discussion in the office turns into a Google search, turns into a tune going round in your head all day, with amusing foreign subtitles and added Statler and Waldorf

This post by: Paul_A

grouphug.us // let it all out

The exciting thing about the Internet for me is that the torrent of opinions and stories real people want to express no longer have to be filtered through mass media. GroupHug, which has been taking up a lot of DanB’s time recently, takes this principle to the limit. The opportunity to confess your innermost guilty secret with total anonymity has tempted thousands of people. The most common topics of guilty secrets seem to be not taking the blame for a transgression, cheating on a lover and the depraved and hunnish practice of groinal self-amusement.

Some fine record sleeves

http://www.io.com/~dork/records/main.html

A selection of truly unique record sleeves, lovingly compiled by a collector from Austin, Texas. The navigation’s a bit clunky but the content is well worth it – scroll down for Nice Ladies…

This post by: Ant_T

Musical Illusions

http://psy.ucsd.edu/~ddeutsch/psychology/deutsch_research1.html

Diana Deutsch is the most published psychologist of music, and has discovered how the perception of melody can depend on where you grew up, and on whether you are right- or left-handed. This is a text-and-music showcase for some of her discoveries.

This post by: Martin_P

Fast Film

A truly stunning experience of the RESFest film festival was Virgil Widrich’s Fast Film, made from 64,000 frames of classic films folded into origami shapes and photographed. It has to be seen to be believed, but this article and the official site give some flavour of Widrich’s achievement.

This post by: Martin_P

The Hex Clock

http://www.intuitor.com/hex/hexclock.html

Forget metric time! Hexadecimal time would allow us to do away with the arbitrariness of the current system. Hexminutes are about a third of a minute and hexhours are about one and a half times the length of an hour.

This post by: Martin_P

The Matrix Revolutions Trailer Analysis

http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/matrix2/revtrailer.html

http://www.thetrailertrash.com/revolutions.html

http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/film/matrix50.html

The approach of “Matrix Revolutions” has prompted a huge mass of unhinged speculation and interpretation to be dumped on the Web. Thank goodness for the wags who inject a bit of humour with their analysis and picture captioning. Lots of classic wit here.

This post by: Martin_P

The Barefoot Doctor, humiliated

My favourite link from NTK this week is an online chat with the Observer’s “barefoot doctor” (he’s not a doctor and he has no similarity to the Chinese medics from whom we get the phrase).

The readers bombarded the quack with some very tough and witty questions which he basically refused to answer. Discussants on the BD’s own web board didn’t address the questions either, preferring a patronising “eventually they’ll understand” stance. I hope someone assembles this into a Frequently Unanswered Questions List with which to goad the BD in the future.

This post by: Martin_P

Ninja Tune videos

Last night was the kickoff of the RESFest digital video festival. The first event was a showcase of music videos from the Ninja Tune label, with in-person commentary from Funki Porcini and Hexstatic. Some of the videos can be viewed online, including the delightfully insane “Animal Chin” by Jaga Jazzist. A DVD of Ninja Tune videos is about to be released.

Audio/video artists Hexstatic, about whom I have frequently raved in the past, finished the evening with a triumphant VJ set, including “Hexstatic versus Cliff Richard”, which is unlikely to be released via any orthodox medium.

Public safety notice

In the interest of public safety, the following is worth a look:

http://www.ukrecallnotice.co.uk/Bedroom/vibrator260902.html

This post by: Paul_Sm