sankyishere

dandad got me writing 2

2011-01-12T07:24:00.000-08:00

So: there's no denying that this year has been undeniably tough. As both a company director and as D&AD president, I've seen the industry struggle with signing off new projects, deflating budgets, and staff creaking under the pressure - but the gloom has been tempered by some pivotal and really exciting developments.

After quite a few years working in digital (formerly 'new media', now 'interaction' or whatever catch-all phrase has been handily coined in the last 20 minutes), it seems to me that a certain maturation happened this year. It feels as though we finally found a real acceptance for what we do and that it is, at least in well-considered and well-crafted examples, something where the benefits (be they KPIs, buzz, loyalty or whatever) are real and recognised. We've also made some clients and people famous along the way.

New tools and channels have been popping up often-ugly heads for years, and I personally have spent the last 15 trying to work out what's most appropriate. It's not just having the tools, it's knowing what to do them that's important. Audiences are smarter, more careful about where they're putting their money right now, and, most importantly, vocal. Do something good, and you'll need to do something great next time. Do something bad/ poorly executed/ ripped-off (insert bandwagon-jumping Twitter/ Facebook campaign here), and chances are there won't BE a next time. Big ideas that reach and speak to specific audiences need the right tech or channel to work for them, not the other way around.

Thankfully, some of these amazing new tech tools have permeated everyday life - cue Facebook, Google, Sky+, Twitter, Oyster Cards, Kinect and yes, Apple, which, for the most part, work well and adapt to what people want. These may well be our Trojan horse, proving to mainstream audiences that digital 'stuff' can help and not hinder.

It's no easy hill to climb. The scope of what we do has become wider and deeper, requiring real collaboration and unrelated skill sets that have never met over drinks in the pub before.
At long last, previously fragmented parts of communication are undeniably coming together: UX meets art meets advertising meets writing meets new platforms. This is highlighted by the collaborations, mergers, departures, hirings, and firings of late, but the overriding thinking is that digital skills and thinking have to be the spine of any organisation.

Finally, the precocious digital kids seem to be in the right place. We need to keep, not just thinking, but most importantly, learning about new consumer behaviours. We should accept that we're inexorably flowing towards a totally connected world where we'll have to intuitively understand the exact location of that fine line where technology stops being clever, useful and appropriate and instead becomes distracting and gimmicky.

We have the world to talk to, and it's listening and wanting to take part. Roll on 2011.

dandad got me writing...!

2010-10-29T03:32:00.000-07:00

So, then: it's been a long week in communications, a week which saw the coming (and rapid departure) of a new logo for one of our most respected high street stalwarts, and one of our literary fathers questioning the purpose of the social media space... As I said – a long week.

In the last few days I’m sure we’ve all watched on as GAP became entrenched in a rather messy engagement with bloggers and tweeters, ending in the sheepish retraction of their box fresh – and rather mystifying – new logo. As far as I (and Michael Johnson) know, this was a battle fought purely online. Yes, they replaced the logo at GAP.com, but I don't know of any storefront or swing tag that rolled out the new identity. Nevertheless, it seems the proposed change was a real suggestion, which raises a few questions.

Surely Laird & Partners now hold the record for a U-turn on a rebrand activation. But, as Scott Hansen points out in his open call for designers to 'have a go' at redesigning the logo, it isn’t as easy as you think. He goes on to say that 'these mega-rebrands are always hit with a wave of inevitable criticism', a feeling that Michael Johnson echoed when I spoke to him earlier about 'Gapgate', in that people seem inherently pre-programmed to complain, especially where logos are concerned. [Insert personal experience here]. He emphatically agreed that yes, the GAP do really need an update from the 'lexicon of love' aesthetic they seem to be stuck in, but we both agreed that this storm of publicity has proved that there's a time and a place for crowdsourcing and a global rebrand just isn’t one of them. The move is over GAP, which I think we all know will choose to stay where they are. Genius.

GAP insisted it wasn’t a stunt, but feeling online leant towards 'crafty publicity gimmick'. Yes, the whole episode has been mismanaged, but it highlights yet again the pivotal role in identity work of strategic thinking coupled with beautiful craft skill – things seemingly missing here. If indeed the idea was to create 'buzz' around the identity and stir up some debate around GAP, they’ve certainly succeeded (I mean, I’m writing this, for one) but at what cost? Consumers are very wise to brands and how coherent they are (or aren’t). This may well be a big glitch in the public’s perception of the GAP brand. It does, however, illustrate that people with similar viewpoints can swiftly find common ground, form a collective voice, and change things.

This mobilisation of the angry masses brings us neatly to the other frisson of the last few days – our literary godfather Malcolm Gladwell denouncing social media and its real effectiveness in mobilising like-minded individuals into effective communities. He stated that online communities lacked "emotional connection or engagement", let alone the ability to change issues of a more humanitarian or political focus (dare I say it, something ‘worthwhile’). In his New Yorker piece, he wrote off the notion of social media bringing about social change as "strong, and puzzling, claims", going on to ask, "Are people who log on to their Facebook page really the best hope for us all?”

Unsurprisingly, the media space in the firing line responded in their droves, with the Guardian’s Josh Halliday calling him “laughable” and Biz Stone himself saying the piece was "entertaining but kind of pointless”. So why did we get so het up about this...?

Well, my theory runs something like this...we live in an age where we have new, very shiny tools to communicate with each other – it’s an 80s term but we are living in the information age. Neville Brody (for one) has repeatedly reminded us that we are experiencing an era of real change – his Anti Design Festival is a great example of a mixture of grassroots and digital mobilisation unique to its time. This change could be likened to the second industrial revolution, where electrification, the combustion engine and mass production were the game changers. These days, it’s computing, telecommunications and information that are the young upstarts affecting not just business, but all aspects of our lives.

Technology has permeated our culture and specifically, in relation to Gladwell's article, how we communicate. Compared to the legacy of failed tech platforms that attempted to connect us (Geocities, UpMyStreet. boo.com, Wal-Mart’s ‘The Hub’…!?), today we have things that work. For the most part, they not only work very well, but – hey! - work wherever you are, on whatever platform you’re on, and are stable (unlike 10 years ago). They have actually become part of our daily routine, like tea and toast or getting stuck in traffic.

The fact that they are so embedded in our culture, our routine, our businesses and our social life means that we become defensive when someone attacks it. It’s like learning a new language and then being told that you can't use it. Gladwell has said that he doesn't really engage with digital media, saying that he finds it intrusive and is trying to make more space for what's important to him – a sentiment I completely agree with, but damning an entire mode of communication seems a bit drastic.
Wherever people do mobilise online, it may be their first personal foray into activism, surely something to support?

One thing in this whole fandango seems clear – people power is alive and well online. The only question is what we’ll do with it. My year at D&AD will hopefully bring some of these more philanthropic issues to the fore. We have some great ideas for how to do this, but we'll be asking for your help soon – and if this week’s taught us anything, it’s how many opinions there are on the internet, so stay tuned to give us yours.

http://blog.iso50.com/logos/gap-redesign-contest/#more-20224

it's been a long time...(thanks rakim)

2010-10-29T03:25:00.006-07:00

how to look at the world
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aufuwMiKmE&feature=related

kase 2 the master
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnRojKDmcRQ

my childhood point of reference, the chrome angelz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLGFdYcdSMU&feature=related

maths + relationships + minimalism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmSbdvzbOzY

the beauty of a simple narrative
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JhlwaeFEVc

process
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEHWaGuurUk

Creative Review - The decline of Battersea Power Station

2010-09-28T05:07:00.000-07:00

Creative Review - The decline of Battersea Power Station

my little pony...

2010-04-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

celebrity dog wank.

ice ice baby

2010-03-22T05:10:00.000-07:00

beautiful stuff from katie paterson...

3 litres glacial meltwater, 3 litres silicon, 3 turntables [2007}

Sound recordings from three glaciers in Iceland, pressed into three records, cast, and frozen with the meltwater from each of these glaciers, and played on three turntables until they completely melt.

The records were played once and now exist as three dvds. The turntables begin playing together, and for the first ten minutes as the needles trace their way around, the sounds from each glacier merge in and out with the sounds the ice itself creates. The needle catches on the last loop, and the records play for nearly two hours, until completely melted.

http://www.katiepaterson.org/icerecords/view.html

sentiment for the week

2010-03-22T04:03:00.000-07:00

after slipping into my old routine of buying things i don't need at all...ie these...(sometimes having lady sized feet is a benefit)...

its nice to be reminded of the directives that one should concentrate on...

via preik

new york....the best place on earth...

2010-02-18T05:49:00.000-08:00

forget pastis, the coffee shop and jane, after 5 days of eating eggs benedict my fat stomach and my wallet can certify this is the best eggs in ny...(definitely in east village)

http://www.cafeorlin.com

and for real time 'hidden spot' fun, go inside the street cafe and ask the person on the door if you can go down to the bar...it's a real good fellas moment...fill up on mohito's if you dare...

http://www.esquinanyc.com

the 'best' in ny is allways a heated topic...the best burger ive eaten...maybe fanellis or maybe the meridian....pizza..?...definitely here...even tho' it's a but touristy...saddle up and go for a pizza and a calzone...mmmmm

lombardi's

the loft nyc...

2010-02-18T05:16:00.000-08:00

so i'm back at my desk listening to holy ghost drifting off to sunday night when i managed to finally get to the musical event of the year...david mancuso's 40th anniversary of the loft. There's too much to say about the evening...i got there at 6 which felt late...the pure love of music and dance was actually quite exhausting as you were really at the mercy of the party...like the excitement you got as a kid at christmas, but to be in a room of people who were all there for a single purpose, to know you were sharing something never to be repeated that formed part of music as we know it today was priceless...and thanks to my dancing partners hen,vicki and lara and clare we made the night an exhausting celebration...here's some highlights but i can only urge to to get there if you are ever lucky enough to get invited...thankyou simon and david...

getting the coals lit...

I Will Come Back (Classixx Acapulco Nights Version)

turning it up...

fanning the fire...

keeping the flames lapping...

the end of night...

LSD for lunch...

2010-02-04T06:03:00.000-08:00

from crooky...

fight...!

2010-02-04T05:37:00.001-08:00

from gladwell's 'what the dog saw' on the subject of genius and early blooming, put forward in regards to conceptual (picasso) v's experimental (cezanne) creativity...which basically refers the the fact that some people take a while to find their place and that it's no less a genius to have worked hard to find it...anyway read more about Galenson and his research into creativity here...

this is from picasso...

"I can hardly understand the the importance given to the word research,"

"In my opinion, to search means nothing in painting. To find is the thing."

"The several manners i have used in my art must not be considered as an evolution or as steps toward an unknown ideal of painting...i have never made trials or experiments."

cezanne (allthough seemingly was far too angry by the sound of things to comment most of the time, being busy throwing his paintings out the window or slashing them to pieces...said...

"I seek in painting."

read this today 01

2010-02-04T05:29:00.000-08:00

Like getting a letter in the mail that tells you finally what to do. Written in a language you can never understand.

from stg

now i never...

2010-02-01T06:25:00.000-08:00

so i'm sure we've heard and got a wee bit sick of this tune and to those hoarders out there it always still kicks remembering you had to shell out about £150+ for it...it's a lesser known fact those pesky sisters covered it from capanni's orig version...i rather enjoy it's laid back rawness...and you could even go and see what he thinks passes for a decent bit of grub....

was andy warhol right...?

2010-01-29T07:05:00.000-08:00

so a long time ago a friend was asked by the mighty frederick bond to street cast some 20 sommiks that looked like they would have a few pints under their belt and then go for a curry...needless to say that brought him to my door and after some mild persuasion i agreed into being filmed dancing and telling jokes into camera...end of i thought...so i was somewhat shocked when i got a call back a few days later when i was happily lying in the sun in denmark making the most of the danes liberated attitude to tobacco's best friend...(it was a while ago)...so summonsed to a dance studio in mayfair we spent the day 'auditioning' and learing dance steps. I was also very amused when i got 2 models sat on my knee who were non too plus when they found out i wasn't a real 'actor'...anyway...at the end of the day after people had been ejected by getting tapped on the shoulder strictly style i ended up with a part!!!...playing lager....such a proud moment...i remember talking to the art director from mother on set and him asking what i did for a day job, when he found out i was an art director at digit he seemed rather uncomfortable as if i was lowering myself...?...after close inspection he may have been right...but hey if you can't laugh at yourself...

PS...LOOK AT THE LEFT SIDE WHEN WE GO INTO THE PUB...

fonder...

2010-01-28T11:32:00.000-08:00

its been a few weeks and all i've seen is this of my lovely other half...thankyou skype...48 hours away from not needing your fuzzyness...

"It was because the place was just the same
that made your absence seem a savage force"

thanks...elizabeth jennings

penis/elephant/penis

2010-01-27T10:12:00.001-08:00

nuff said...apart from i need to stay away from too much cock action.end.

from somewhere in the midst of the behance network...my girlfriend loves elephants...but does she love _ _ _ _..?...

that's not a knife...

2010-01-26T01:52:00.000-08:00

it's ozzie day so 5 of downunders best comin' atcha'...ahh the great outdoors...

when things go wrong...part 1

2010-01-19T09:11:00.000-08:00

well thanks to the designers here i got to see the catastrophe that ikea have launched to the public...nowadays it's hard to get close to owning a font such as futura in any business let alone the furniture world, what with competing with aram, and vitra but they had seemed to manage, so why has this happened.. seems like any savvy client they decided that once they actually had it kind of right they had to go and change it...

now in the article there is some mention of this decision saving money, which if passed down to the customer or to improving the environment of the manufacterers maybe i'm not so ruffled...but this just seems like another instance of change for change's sake...

i recently had a client quibble about paying £12 for a font!!...this all leads me neatly onto this and this..god help us all...xxxxx

hair of the dog anyone...(sorry)

2010-01-14T08:45:00.001-08:00

same/same number 5

2010-01-14T08:38:00.000-08:00

lars larson scares both me and himself with his stern good looks...we must mention his deftly skills at product design also...kibisi...

shamless publicity...

2009-12-11T07:54:00.000-08:00

hello all, well, maybe 1 or 2 of you, i'm guest posting at it's nice that next week...quite an honor thanks, will and alex for the ask..:}...so have a look over there from monday...other things i find on my travels unearthing stuff to put there will go here...

like this...x

i want to go and paint a wall....

2009-11-20T06:45:00.000-08:00

go to 2.15....true.

slide away friday....

2009-11-20T05:50:00.000-08:00

georgia based synth popper Ernest Greene brings us something to smile softly about...makes me want to snooze on my daybed with my missus...hipster yoof music purveyors pitchfork's accurate description made me smile

"like someone smeared Vaseline all over an early OMD demo tape"

enjoy...(and buy..!!)...also quite liking dungen and the drum breakdowns ala the genius of james gadson, earl palmer, paul humphrey and roy porter...

and also this...

2009-11-20T04:52:00.000-08:00

on the poppy front...and look out for the norwegian titan prins thomas's remix...

getting older....and not wiser...

2009-11-20T04:05:00.000-08:00

i'm not a fan of kanye to say the least and i'm firmly sure he has a team of 'minions' who are the real source of his 'taste' how can i be sure of this?....i saw/heard this on universe city this morning...lovely...but im pretty sure kanye's not been near a cms recently...

australian 20 year old jonathan keps the summer vibes from down under bubbling up top with this poppy number that makes me wonder where my musical snobbery went...the scarves and hats and gloves are out but the summer from under makes me remember these things i saw when looking up in tarifa, new york ,new zealand, canada and denmark...

the clearest day in new zealand

me and harry lose our minds...

"pardon me..."

same same

cautious stickman...

2009-11-20T04:01:00.000-08:00

sad...

2009-11-20T03:59:00.001-08:00

skulking...

2009-11-20T03:58:00.001-08:00

apples...

2009-11-18T10:01:00.000-08:00

so i'm going to have to step up the posting as it looks like i'm up for guest posting on will and alex's lovely site at the end of december...whoo...it was on my mind whilst i was in new york djing oddly playing some things like this (which i quite enjoyed as i was in his hometown, which reminds me of a little story about kim catrell if you want to ask me sometime) erm...anyway i saw this...

on the shelf of what may be the best book shop in new york if your ever there, or if your round the corner on crosby you could be good citizen, get some respite, have the best pink lemonade in ny and help out a great cause...or maybe just pop into here and get baked eggs (but order something else too like the ham baguette, then you've truly got a meal to prepare for a day of meandering...come on, anyone needing to promote themselves that little is doing something right i proclaim...

heres my top 5 ny must do's

* eggs benedict here...(also open all night)
* burger here...find it on the left side where the red curtain is, go just after lunchtime and there should be no queue (the veg option is grilled cheese is pretty good apparently)
* get 1 subway card between you it's cheaper and you can use it together as a ride anywhere costs the same
* its expensive but you can allways find more 'stuff' here

* always ask to change you hotel room you've been allocated, you'd be amazed what "is there anything else" gets you in the big apple...this is a bit of advice paula scher gave me last week at dinner after her fantastic dandad talk...(next up a wanker...maybe..?...sorry neville)

so maybe i should get some of my festive faves out before i subject the stylish it's nice that kids to some of them...

command malfunction...

2009-10-28T02:45:00.001-07:00

same/same number 4

2009-10-28T02:41:00.000-07:00

odd isn't it that 'brands' spend time, money and effort position themselves as such individuals and end up as noisy 'wallpaper', one indecipherable from the other...watch out...!!...roxy outbreak!!!...

new zealand part 2

2009-10-12T06:49:00.001-07:00

i'm fairly sure that everyone that is lucky to visit here will be nothing but stunned by the natural phenomenon's all around, even though we both nearly copped it trying to get this shot but it was worth it looking through my photos today it made me smile again...this was just after we had been out here looking at these...

after we'd spotted 5 sperm whales and the sun was starting to sneak away a school of dolphins dropped in (about 150 of them!!) and decided to swim along for a while, they really seemed to sense our glee, as when one of them flipped out the water and we all screamed it sent off a kind of chain reaction in the scchhol that they all started to vie for the attention...fyi, dolphins feel like hard boiled eggs...

oh , and harry tried to a flip in homage but failed...

i urge everyone to go to kaikora...

a surprise smash...

2009-10-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

the heritage of wireless internet...

2009-10-02T08:20:00.000-07:00

type down under

2009-10-02T03:42:00.000-07:00

as per usual me and harry seemed to take pictures of almost every bit of signage known to man...here's our top 5 beaten up shots...

same/same number 3

2009-10-02T03:39:00.001-07:00

omfg...

2009-10-01T04:45:00.000-07:00

its not often i actually post something of vague relevance to what i do but some things are just too spectacular too not share...the sigur ros influence doesn't really need to be mentioned...the piano allways manages to throw me hurtling back to the piano playing household i grew up in...wow...

Ólafur Arnalds - Ljósið (Official Music Video) from Erased Tapes on Vimeo.

welcome to new zealand...

2009-10-01T03:47:00.000-07:00

Well its been a few weeks and it really is far too slack to have not posted up some of the magical things that occured down there...i seem to have had a habit of pictures up text down so im going to try and give some half decent explanation on the images to that proceed...

It was true pleasure to be invited down there and the stereotypical kiwi hospitality seemed to flow thick and fast...even my telly said hello to me...

whilst on the plane id been so jetlagged i'd forgotten that id snapped this...

(an image which actually ended up in my talk at semi-permanent days later)...i started to hum when i saw it and i guess it made me wonder about how your environment effects you, fairly pertinent to the book i was reading at the time...which we should all delve into if we want to understand more about this kind of thing...or maybe just look and marvel at them...

so after our arrival, me, harry and phil went for the usual wonky drift about in auckland, jetlag is sometimes a blessing and so is rain when you're a brit away from home as it made us huddle away from meandering and have a good old chinwag about the state of all things creative industy related and made us all feel better about what phil called the 'draw of shame' that everyone has in their studio (work that should never see the light again and be best forgotten)...allthough he did show one of his pieces from the draw which is actually quite nice ( go to more work/dyson - campaign)...WARNING!!!...never ask phil about washing machines as he really can wax lyrical about them for longer than you might think...on our search for junk, as all designers have a habit of spending their time doing i came accross this which has lost in translation slapped all over it... tho'...

and i'm not too sure what the oap's are up to over there but maybe this is another oddment (hopefully) confused only on its name...

someone tell tim berners-lee...

2009-10-01T03:07:00.000-07:00

we found it...

co-ordinated grafitti...

2009-10-01T03:03:00.000-07:00

blow up doll shocker in 'the hills'

2009-10-01T03:02:00.000-07:00

same/same number 2

2009-10-01T02:59:00.000-07:00

my friends in typographic fashion error...

new things to covet part 1

2009-08-14T12:34:00.000-07:00

in auckland for the semipermanent conference and am so bowled over by the energy and straight up niceness of the place...we even got some rain to make us feel well at home...the last few days have officially been a prescription jet lag drift but have managed to not only fall in love with a print but actually buy it from james jean's new show here...

a proper report shall ensue but probably after me and harry's tiki tour embarking from wellington on monday...

im twittering (finally) for the studio here...

my new willow tree...(with heron paul)

i should be happy...

2009-08-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

i was thinking about all the things i haven't done this year...and then stumbled accross something i actualy got round to producing. It made me realise that when i apply myself i can actually create something i actually like and that it actually had an effect...the knock-on effect of going out with a writer is the fear that rises up when I have to write...but this was for 2 friends who were getting married so i bit the bullet...

love builds up

the brightest light I ever saw,
burned with me, glowed with me,
stayed with me when i needed it most.

it slept with me, cared for me,
gave me my partner in crime.

lives bound together into a perfect book of adventure,
where the things of dreams became real,
and nothing was mine any more, it was ours.

i jigged like prince, sang with maria,
origami at will, such a thrill,
cauliflower cheese, thank you please,
and hearts had found their place in life.

a gorgeous ache; an ordinary swoon,
I know for sure love is in this room.

sunshine an a rainy day,
and all the things i cannot say,

can now unfold.

Give with me, take with me,
you got the love i need to see me through,
Love me the way that I love you.

right now,
that word we use when what we feel exceeds all other words.

love builds up,
and the shimmer of light became the bright sun,
accomplice to our joy.

wants list...

2009-07-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

1/i would like to record brain activity in the hippocampus whilst showing specific images possibly promoting certain emotions, connect it to this and then display them...

this in reference to finding...

which i heard when i was here listening to him and it made me wonder how the timing of something really warps your mind and your opinion of what's good, bad or ugly...you can guess what supermax is to me...

i wish i could go to blackpool mecca...

2009-07-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

ode to last year...

2009-07-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

today
woke up feeling sick
smoking closed eyes
the crackling of liquids and powders and late night fuckery
another fag
try to scrape the filth out
try
bullet
bacon and a fag
another fag
thinthinthinthin...hahaha
how long till it's late enough
one at lunch
easy
crying at therapy
waiting to feel better
fucking waiting
fucking
something glimmers but it's far too much to ask
excitement
fading

17 years waiting...

2009-07-07T02:54:00.000-07:00

i thought id tidy up my desk and stumbled upon a copy of blues and soul from 1992 which had some charts in from my old mate hobbsie...i remember at the time pondering how i could get to hear those 'chestnuts' as he put it to decide what to spend my easily earned cash on...but back then it was hard...5 minutes on you tube and hey presto...something to spend another £100 on...thank god i never throw anything away...it surprises me sometimes that the things that were air to me in my 20's are still the things that keep me smiling today...enjoy.

horse meat glasto...

2009-07-02T08:57:00.000-07:00

and the other one...

turn left at the lightning
in the back door
people
heat
mud (my first wellies)
wine in a plastic bottle
old friends
back stage
sofa's
real toilets
hot tent
sausages
cider
wine
cidercidercidercidercidercidercidercidercidercidercidercider
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
cidercidercidercidercidercidercidercidercidercidercidercider
sunshine
blue ridge mountains
cidercidercidercidercidercidercidercidercidercidercidercider
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
down by the river
oh my god this is really happening
drinking vodka on each other
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
horse meat
poppers!!!
gravy and chips
birds nest
charades
tea
c.s.n....for what it's worth
sleep
on it
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"is your head in the same dimension as your body"
get rid of it

i think you get the picture,or maybe not specifically...anyway i'm sure it's not very interesting hearing about my festival experience as it's mostly the same as everyone else's...i think my girlfriend realised that her opinion of me being slightly high maintenance may have disappeared...god bless being wrong...i have a dream...

the opposite...

2009-06-25T05:13:00.000-07:00

for many years ive marvelled at the 7 series of genius created by larry david...it got to a point i watched it so much i started to think i was a character in it...but that another tale along with the time i started thinking my life was all in folders in a photoshop file being turned on and off...i digress...and wonder what my first grassy rave will be like...something i've allways avoided like the plague, it just seemed like too much of the norm...but of recent i've thought alot about the things i'll never get a chance to do...and how small things lever themselves into your life and end up being sturdy points of reference...i get to go with my beautiful girlfriend, some other incredible rabble, i get to drink some hallucinogenic 'stealth' cider our friends make and i get to listen to him most importantly...

the jury's out till tuesday...here's to saying yes to things you're not sure of...

tired sticks...

2009-06-25T05:07:00.000-07:00

R/B/G

2009-06-18T06:51:00.001-07:00

same/same

2009-06-18T06:11:00.001-07:00

father/daughter shopping trip...

2009-06-18T06:04:00.000-07:00

god damn west coast ebay auction finish times...

2009-06-18T04:23:00.000-07:00

otherwise i'd be annoying the neighbours with this piece of chugging detroit genius...you can forget sam and dave, this is what soul music is all about...thank god he manged to put gems like this out before his untimely death in February, 1970, after being shot by a policeman in an altercation with his girlfriend...the world's a 'hair's on the back of your neck place' once more...

talc and sunday exercise...

2009-06-18T03:53:00.000-07:00

Back in the late sixties in a Loft room on 647 Broadway, a young Timothy Leary disciple and a group of like-minded flower children unwittingly created the blueprint for New York’s disco underground. Beneath a ceiling covered in balloons and streamers, David Mancuso stood before a small Buddha, weaving an eclectic and atmospheric soundtrack (from obscure Latin and African rock, to psychedelic soul and unclassifiable ethereal LP tracks) to match the mood and movement of the dancers; who defined the melting pot that was cooking up in post-industrial New York. Re-launching his party as ‘Love Saves The Day’ in 1969 (after a period of Buddhist disownment and a trip to the psychiatric ward of Bellevue Hospital) Mancuso and his friends created an environment where freedom and unity were the watchwords, as dancing became communion. In the early seventies as word about this unique dance space started to filter through, The Loft became a haven for NYC’s outsider art community. The party’s whole aesthetic, from the refined sound system to the family ethic, became a huge influence on New York’s future DJs and their revered clubs, with famous ‘Loft babies’ including Nicky Siano (The Gallery), Larry Levan (Paradise Garage) and Frankie Knuckles (Chicago’s Warehouse).

Mancuso once claimed he was “tuning in to ‘that natural rhythm - that three billion year old dance – I just applied it through these artificial means which were amplifiers and records.” The bearded mystic first brought this party ethic to London at the end of the nineties as a guest of Nuphonic Records. However, it was a conversation with Tim Lawrence while he was researching his book ‘Love Saves The Day’ that led to Mancuso’s Loft parties becoming regular happenings at The Light Bar in Shoreditch, with Lawrence and friends setting up The Lucky Cloud Sound System. These parties have inspired others such as LCSS and Voices collective member (alongside DJ Alex another LCSS partner) Cedric Woo, DJ Cosmo and Simon and Guillaume whose Beauty and The Beat, Cosmodelica and Deep Frequency parties respectively embrace the Loft atmospherics, as London embraces the more cerebral and spiritual side of nightlife.

you'll be there if you should be there.

it's breezin' outside...

2009-06-17T09:40:00.000-07:00

nathan barley lives...

2009-06-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

overheard in the studio this afternoon...

"what's gonna cost more...a singing drain or a talking bin...?"

someone put us out our misery....

it's hot outside...

2009-06-17T07:58:00.000-07:00

and i think this fork must have got tired...

2009-06-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

I was honored to chair an evening of short talks for dandad last night (my post on the executive keeps me increasingly busy)...i truly enjoy seeing and hearing what's in other peoples's minds...what gets them out of bed in the morning...or not go to bed at all...having a sanity check and all that jazz...people's kids seem to be a design factor in the life of many a 30+ year old designer...oops, sorry by this point we should all be art directors shouldn't we?...and it seems like were all still playing/tinkering around as the recession keeps a fair grip on our material aspirations and we all try to keep ehaed of the game...the 'get on and work' ethos seems to be fairly popularist at the mo'...because it's cheap to work i guess...here's what i like most...sometimes peoples work is firmly placed in the 'this makes me belive again' catagory...thanks matt for the photos...

http://www.tweenbots.com

In New York, we are very occupied with getting from one place to another. I wondered: could a human-like object traverse sidewalks and streets along with us, and in so doing, create a narrative about our relationship to space and our willingness to interact with what we find in it? More importantly, how could our actions be seen within a larger context of human connection that emerges from the complexity of the city itself? To answer these questions, I built robots.

Tweenbots are human-dependent robots that navigate the city with the help of pedestrians they encounter. Rolling at a constant speed, in a straight line, Tweenbots have a destination displayed on a flag, and rely on people they meet to read this flag and to aim them in the right direction to reach their goal.

Given their extreme vulnerability, the vastness of city space, the dangers posed by traffic, suspicion of terrorism, and the possibility that no one would be interested in helping a lost little robot, I initially conceived the Tweenbots as disposable creatures which were more likely to struggle and die in the city than to reach their destination. Because I built them with minimal technology, I had no way of tracking the Tweenbot’s progress, and so I set out on the first test with a video camera hidden in my purse. I placed the Tweenbot down on the sidewalk, and walked far enough away that I would not be observed as the Tweenbot––a smiling 10-inch tall cardboard missionary––bumped along towards his inevitable fate.

The results were unexpected. Over the course of the following months, throughout numerous missions, the Tweenbots were successful in rolling from their start point to their far-away destination assisted only by strangers. Every time the robot got caught under a park bench, ground futilely against a curb, or became trapped in a pothole, some passerby would always rescue it and send it toward its goal. Never once was a Tweenbot lost or damaged. Often, people would ignore the instructions to aim the Tweenbot in the “right” direction, if that direction meant sending the robot into a perilous situation. One man turned the robot back in the direction from which it had just come, saying out loud to the Tweenbot, "You can’t go that way, it’s toward the road.”

The Tweenbot’s unexpected presence in the city created an unfolding narrative that spoke not simply to the vastness of city space and to the journey of a human-assisted robot, but also to the power of a simple technological object to create a complex network powered by human intelligence and asynchronous interactions. But of more interest to me was the fact that this ad-hoc crowdsourcing was driven primarily by human empathy for an anthropomorphized object. The journey the Tweenbots take each time they are released in the city becomes a story of people's willingness to engage with a creature that mirrors human characteristics of vulnerability, of being lost, and of having intention without the means of achieving its goal alone. As each encounter with a helpful pedestrian takes the robot one step closer to attaining its destination, the significance of our random discoveries and individual actions accumulates into a story about a vast space made small by an even smaller robot.

87 baby...

2009-06-17T07:07:00.000-07:00

i can't begin to imagine how many times i used to stare at pride's section of this clip and wonder what would it be like to live in london and be part of the graf scene down here and go to camberwell college on the back of my graf and make something of myself rather than taking drugs and getting drunk and into trouble...i used to get the clipper down from newcastle on a friday night (£13 return..phew!!) as groove records on greek street would get all the new imports in on a saturday morning which westwood had played the week before, and i'd wing it down to the general in kensington market to get a new tag belt trying to avoid a taxing on the way out...as 15 year old geordie kid it was like a real utopia...a true escape both for my mind and my body...but it felt like a reality too...22 years later and a bit of cleaning up of my act and im sat in my office wondering what i have now in my life that will be an intrinsic part of my life in 2031 and what things ill remember that define this moment...i have my hopes...which are actual possibilities...

dust...

2009-05-28T03:52:00.000-07:00

15 years ago a walked into newcastle town centre crying and had a cup of tea with my friend jill...it was truly a surreal part of my life, i remember the spinning feeling that the world had been assaulting me with for the previous 10 years just dissipated, everything seemed hushed even though it kept on turning...when i got back to my house everyone didn't know what to do, i suggested we all go let off some steam, we'd spent so much time with each other waiting, waiting, waiting and when it happened we really had no place for ourselves...so we went out...out on our own hazy path, i ended up playing music here alongside him...at the end of the night sasha asked me if i was the guy that has cleared his floor...it's odd what you remember...i remember playing this...i woke up amid all my amazing friends sprawled out all over my house, usually that would be the point that my mum would have rounded everyone up and made tea for the wounded but not that morning.

15 years goes by so fast...some things feel like they just happened.

alison kate sankarayya, 15th october 1942 - 28th may 1994.x

i know that my mum would love the person i love.

awe inspiring japanese film wierdness

2009-05-27T09:03:00.000-07:00

i'm a film novice...my music obsession doesn't filter into celluloid, so when i cite my favourite films as the airplane and the woman in red and grand canyon im not really pushing the boat out to be sure...but sometimes i come across things that blind me with their risk taking, this amazing piece of cinema (apparently a muse for Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange) relects the feeling of revolution in the behavior of japan's youth at that time...see some of it here...i'll tell you what i thought when i've watched it a couple of times...

oh...and that soundtrack.!!...makes me want to go listen to

this shit more...

stan kenton

self love...no not that kind...

2009-05-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

so it seems that everyone is getting very excited about her of recent and especially today but as we know most things in life have been done better, harder, faster, funnier and most importantly without taking oneself too seriously...her quiet narcissistic demeanor makes me shiver...oh look she's so shocked of all this publicity...hmmm...personally i prefer limmy's old-but-still-good shots...

homo orgy

schoolboys

hitler

a fan club of 1...

2009-05-27T05:49:00.000-07:00

whilst with my girlfriend buying some fruit on our surprisingly not too depressing detox i went to pay only to be looking at...Mr fruit face!!!...and i promise i didnt 'art direct' it at all...

hoxton knows how to roll in winter...check that, erm, detail...!

at college we allways loved the local tree surgeon called the 'top fella'...

i'm kind of obsessed with gorilla's and in particular getting dressed up as one, so much so i now own a monkey suit...( can i have my foot back paul)...i like it when silent things make noises...

(funny) ozzie graffiti humour...

drinks rules/leave me alone please...you're talking rubbish...(matt)

2009-05-26T09:50:00.001-07:00

1. If you have a soft drink with ice, use a straw.

2. No spirits before 9pm (unless you've been up all night in which case you have to drink spirits but with straws and ice)

3. When ordering a round of drinks allways order yours last and start to drink it last.

4. Never drink on planes.

5. Allways have a pint in the airport (regardless of your time of departure).

The end.

a scary prospect...

2009-05-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

dont get me wrong im not a 'hater'...i shall explain later why i'm not a fan of the use of that word and allways advocate a careful use of the english language, but with technorati counting 112 million blogs (apparently not counting the chinese contingent of 80 million ) kanye ranks 10th in google under 'blog'...why am i scared/bemused...because he says things like this which the youth are obviously listening too...

A message from kwest on Vimeo.

i'm a fan of expressing oneself but it's kanye's birthday on the 8th next month, should he really be getting comedy haircuts like this...?...or does he think it actually it's a good bit of co-branding...

his ex missus certainly thinks he's compelling company...i don't understand...they seem so in love....

do what you love...fuck the rest...

2009-05-12T07:07:00.000-07:00

I seem to be constantly reminded that the passage of time exponentially gets faster, which got me wondering about how we truly assess what were doing and subsequently is ones time been spent in a worthwhile manner. We seem to constantly question if what we do is good enough or could have been improved, or if it's 'defining', or a worthy part of the legacy we will, definitely leave behind. Alongside our inbuilt human instinct for heirarchical systems and criticism we have a plethora of new tools (yay) at our disposal to prove our 'undoubted' value or insignificance, facebook friend total, twitter followers, missed calls, being an episode ahead in 'lost', pounds saved v's pounds gained (in both weight and financially) ...it's all there to throttle yourself with...but you don't have to play along...no no no...so...

Don't ignore the questions of have i _ _ _ _ _ _ _ enough ?, try it, ask yourself the question, in fact take an afternoon off and do it...and don't worry if it initially seems as if your in a solo game of hangman asking questions to strangle yourself with...have i loved enough ?, am i giving enough ?, am i nice ?, does everyone think i'm an idiot ?...life is not as close to the tipping point as you think...the trick is just surfacing these things and seeing what floats.

For me it takes very little (nowadays) for the mirror to present itself and get me to stop and think and take stock, which is maybe one of the most useful things i've learned in years...to make sure that the 'bankruptcy of pure gain' (thanks rumi) doesn't take it's hold and what's left of my humility stays intact and that you don't have to better everyone or everything. It's simply healthy to be aware that these things exist and can open your eyes and your mind and your heart wider, a truly positive stake in the ground to refer too is as good as any, too know that it exists, to be aware.

Today the mirror was a simple conversation about how a monthly meeting hadn't actually happened for 6 months,yikes...6 months...in which time i hadn't spoken to the person who will most likely be the best man at my wedding (whom i promptly called and will see next week), i had only seen my dad once (whom i also called and will see in 2 days) and that i still hadn't paid my parking tickets.

Slow down

In fact be slow on purpose

Think about the continuous present (thanks)

See the potential of pure potential

Local then global

Accept that fun is useful

There's no such thing as spare time...you have to create it

Look at yourself and answer it...it'll make you feel better.

2009-05-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

hoxton fashion turns it up a notch...

jaffa cake vice

2009-03-17T10:15:00.000-07:00

i think this is what im supposed to be doing on twitter...