This is the best that the International Atomic Energy Agency can come up with.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Introducing the book
What happened during the upgrade to the book (in Norwegian with Danish and English subtitles).
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Which Super Villain are you?
Your results:
You are The Joker
|
The Clown Prince of Crime. You are a brilliant mastermind but are criminally insane. You love to joke around while accomplishing the task at hand. |
Thursday, February 08, 2007
The Rolling Stones and Mick Taylor
Mick Taylor joined the Stones in 1969 after they had dumped Brian Jones. He was there the first time I ever saw them on TV on a repeat of the famous Granada film of the Hyde Park concert. He quit in 1974, tired of not getting songwriting credits for his contributions. His replacement was Ron Wood who came from the Faces, who I have recently discovered to have been just as good as the Stones. The weird things about Ron Wood is that not only does he look like Keef, he plays like him too. Since 1974 the Rolling Stones sound is based on two guitarists constantly switching between rhythm and lead (Keef calls this the Ancient Form of Weaving).
So between 1969 and 1974 Mick Taylor was in the Stones while they recorded three of their four best records: Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St. But you don’t notice him. Why is this? Sometimes (on parts of Exile) he is actually playing bass, at other times I assume Keef as co-songwriter and co-leader) plays all the guitar parts.
I’ve been listening to a fantastic live bootleg from 1973 called ‘Brussels Affair’. It is a very clear recording: the rumour is that it was officially recorded and then not released. There are all sorts of fun things here: Mick is sarcy about Keef’s singing (or something), the band are playing with a hot sax player (perhaps Bobby Keys?), the band is shit hot. But best of all you can hear Mick Taylor soloing all the way through. Keef is playing rhythm all the time, cutting like a knife, and this leaves space for Taylor’s liquid slide playing. It is another way of hearing the Stones, showing a bluesy direction that they retreated from.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Friday, February 02, 2007
The first genius of YouTube
Artists must deal with limitations of their medium. Frank Sinatra was the first to really exploit the LP. What are the limitations of YouTube? Yes, you can edit videos, and use proper lighting. That’s the classic mistake of a new medium, to treat it like the old one. One way to do it is to embrace its simplicity. Ysabellabrave films herself singing with karaoke records of classic songs. The video is done in one take – I wonder how many she has to discard. Without cuts she fills the screen all by herself, using her expressive face to occupy our attention all by herself. Yes she’s cute, she’s an OK singer, but the genius is that is all works in that little screen on the computer.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Which science fiction writer are you?
I was hoping for Philip K Dick or HP Lovecraft, but I'm not that interesting.
 | I am:William GibsonThe chief instigator of the "cyberpunk" wave of the 1980s, his razzle-dazzle futuristic intrigues were, for a while, the most imitated work in science fiction. |
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Celine Dion
When the Sun dies and the Earth is cold (or will it be hot?) historians of Coolness will rank all the humans that ever lived. Now like most people I assume that, although I will be below Brian Eno, I will be ahead of Celine Dion. But why do I assume this? Surely Celine is a better singer than me, perhaps it is her choice of material? Anyway watch the video to see what Celine does with an AC/DC song. Just to be clear I think this is a good performance. I still don't like Celine's taste in clothes
Friday, January 19, 2007
Movies 2006
All the movies I saw in 2006, with the ratings I gave them on netflix. Statistics don't lie.
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