Monday 28 November 2011

Gary Speed obituary | Football | The Guardian

Gary Speed obituary | Football | The Guardian

I do follow football stories from time to time, but this obituary certainly gives an excellent overview over the tragic death of Gary Speed.

Charlie Brooker: There are two kinds of viewer in the world: right and wrong. Which are you? | Comment is free | The Guardian

Charlie Brooker: There are two kinds of viewer in the world: right and wrong. Which are you? | Comment is free | The Guardian

As someone that has to be aware of what my screen ratio is for my own films, I share in Brooker's screen ratio nightmare screening many times. Whether it is watching a film cropped on a TV set, or watching a film at the cinema that the curtains weren't pulled apart, I've been there, done that, and doesn't tolerate that kind of projection cock-up anymore.

Friday 25 November 2011

Lori Lieberman - Killing Me Softly With His Song [HQ]


Before hearing this, I preferred the Fugees' take on this song, over the previous ,mellow versions Now I really appreciate Lieberman's approach to the lyrics.

Bette Davis Eyes - Jackie DeShannon (1974)


I'm not much of a fan for country pop music, but I do enjoy this catchy tune performed by Jackie De Shannon.

TORN - EDNASWAP original artists


Hearing this version of the radio-friendly Natalie Imbrulgia version is very refreshing, in the punk rock sense.

CAMILLE YARBROUGH Take Yo' Praise.wmv


For someone that only knows the intro from Fatboy Slim's Praise You, hearing the entire song is such a fantastic piece of funk soul.

Big Mama Thornton Sings "Hound Dog"


I'm a sucker for Blues singer of this caliber. So I got to argue that this is the definitive version of the song for me.

Creative Review - 50 posters in the life of Modern Art Oxford

Creative Review - 50 posters in the life of Modern Art Oxford

Having been living within commutable distance to that gallery for nearly 15-odd years, I certainly recall going to that Yoko Ono exhibition... and staring at that apple for quite a while.

Creative Review - CR December issue: free toy!

Creative Review - CR December issue: free toy!

I quite like the look of the poster illustrations in this issue.

Thursday 24 November 2011

Airside to close after 14 years | News | Design Week

Airside to close after 14 years | News | Design Week

I love this quote from Deakin regarding this matter. ‘We feel a bit like the KLF when they burned a million quid - we want to end Airside with a bang.’

Before the Muppets: 10 Surreal and Experimental Works by Jim Henson - The Atlantic

Before the Muppets: 10 Surreal and Experimental Works by Jim Henson - The Atlantic

Having grown up with a lot of Muppet-related media, I am always inspired from the more experimental works of Jim Henson. Not only was he a great animator and performer, but he was also very experimental in a lot of his work- even his commercials, with such comical gags, show an element of experimentation has been done to achieve the necessary effect.

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Snow in January 2010











No we are onto last year, back in January, and some of these shots were re-creating, unconsciously, some of the shots I took several years ago.  Having some new items out there, like the garden tables, made it a bit more photogenic for the shots in the garden.

Snow in February and December in 2009




These photographs were taken back in February 2009. It was a good layer of snow on that day, and the snow caused a lot of activity and shock at the time, because it was a hectic time for me as I was trying to find work.

Later, at the end of the year, I took some shots of some of the powdered snow that have landed during that morning. It wasn't that photogenic, but it sure was slippy out there.

When it Snows Back in April... 2008






I had a discussion with someone about the theme of snow, and it reminded of all the times I have taken photographs purely because it was snowing outside. These picture were taken back on the 6th April 2008.

Tuesday 22 November 2011

Pipsqueak's Corner: Doin' Some Fixin's!

Pipsqueak's Corner: Doin' Some Fixin's!: "I've lately been looking a lot at the CD designs I made for my sister's wedding to see what kind of improvements I could make and thought I..."

I appreciate anyone sharing their wisdom about trying to make a work of art into a piece of graphic design. I learned that kind of thing whilst studying for my masters', which came in handy to do some of the graphic design work I am involved in today. I hope you readers are interested in this blog entry.

Saturday 19 November 2011

Friday 11 November 2011

An Old Sketch Book... with Some New Drawn In Too!

I found this old sketch pad, the other day, and I decided to have a look in. Amongst all the notes- which date to probably my GCSE days from the French revision- there were a lot of doodles.





I do like, amongst all those cartoon heads, I was attempting to draw actual characters, like R2D2, or a villian from the PS1 game Rayman- I guess I was born to do some fan art, now and again.
So noticed that there were some pages left in the old book left. So, I did what came naturally to me.... use it up, of course!



So the top picture was really just me sploshing some paint about, as I was working on a watercolour illustration, which was based on the above 3 sketches of my face- I might get around to uploading that piece soon.
I even did some studies from the Loomis book, but I might make a proper, where this drawing came from, when I get around to doing some further scanning.

Moby 'The Right Thing' Official video



I've always enjoyed the music of Moby. So I like this new track from him, as well as its intriguing music video.

Encounters with Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi | Blog | Design Week

Encounters with Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi | Blog | Design Week

Whether you're a fan of John Krisfaluski's work or not, he always seem to have a pulse on current scene of American animated media. So his views certainly pack a poignant punch. I hopes he gets an educated impression with Britain's current animation output.

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Tom Waits - "Satisfied"

His music is stated to grow on me. The video, for this track, is growing on me too.

Creative Review - New Barnardo's ad by BBH

Creative Review - New Barnardo's ad by BBH

This advert is a very clever advert. The concept works well, and it transitions from one actor to another is done very well to achieve that regressive effect on the character.

Thursday 3 November 2011

Creative Review - How they made Müller's Wünderful Stuff

Creative Review - How they made Müller's Wünderful Stuff

I am always fascinated by behind-the-scenes videos like this, as it just goes to show how much effort goes into it, including all the elements of visual effects and animation that this popular TV advert has displayed.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Canned Heat - Future Blues - 13 - Christmas Blues


As Halloween is over, I can get my mind around that season which can be described as a big religious mash-up in my books. Therefore, here is the kind of track that people SHOULD consider as a social network campaign for the top spot around that time.