tantramar

Onwards

You might have noticed I'm not really blogging anymore. For a long time now I've not really believed in the one person authored blog. So I've stopped. And not the irony of the blog post discussing the death of blogging is not lost on me.

I'm going to be spending less time on here and more time out there. Namely project work and less chin stroking. I have a tumblr here - but very different content to this blog. I might continue this again at a later date, we'll see.

As other sites / projects launch, they'll be news on here so feel free to continue pushing this through RSS readers... if you like.

My 365 Post

Today was my day posting on the 3six5 posterous. It is what it sounds like. A different person (pre selected) posts something about their day each day. Insights, drama, mystery, bordom. Whatever it may be. Today was my day. I hope it doesn't suck.

Here's my post.

And yes the irony of the fact that I haven't blogged in a month and the first post is somewhere else isn't lost on me. Soon.

Grinding The Gears

Sorry, things are slow here. Re-starting your life in another country is more work than anticipated. I'm mainly focusing on somewhere to live as moving from sublet to sublet is a bit draining. I'm nearly there though, so normal service will resume at that point.

My Soup is still active though. The soup never slows....

Chocks Away!

I'm going to live in America, New York specifically in a couple of days. I'm going to work for Fjord who I've worked for in the past, so it shouldn't be too painful an initiation. I've been in London for 15 or so years, so that's certainly a while and I'm ready to try something else.

New places, new cultures, a new stimulus. I know I need it. There's people I'll miss and I'll be sending kidnappers over with green cards periodically.

Monday will be the start of new things.

Art, Business, Culture, Design

A B C D

Art + Business = Culture

Art + Business + Culture = Design

That amused me yesterday. Inspired by a 1930s Max Bill Lecture.

Maybe wrong, feels right, not really important either way.

Phew, Finished. Next.

This year bordered on insane. In the first 8 months I travelled more than was clever. It was good and stimulating until around May when it started to weigh me down.

Then halfway though the year I was offered another bright shiny job at a start up, MePlease. This was not as I imagined it would be and I only lasted a few months before I knew I was in the wrong place. I'd like to run through what I learned and the reason I left but I can't really do that yet.

I'm freelancing right now and I've been offered something else which was also too good to turn down and so I'll be starting that in a few months. 2010 was a mess, 2011 will be tidier.

Funny that we focus so much on this December / January changeover. Until recently the year ran April - April and we used to have ten months before the Romans, anyway.

A new start, with an apology

Things are slow on here. I've been busy. Sorry. I got carried away with work, half my fault and half the fault of my geographic displacement.

So to all the people I said I'd help, things I wanted to judge and advise on, things people asked me to write / take part in, I'm sorry. And to all the people I haven't seen, weddings I missed, babies I've not met, invites I turned down, sorry.

I'm back now, it'll be better. 

Tesla Would Be Pleased

I've seen several interesting things at SXSW but this from the Dorkbot party, is winning.

Post Pong Ping

A big thanks to everyone who helped with the Ping Pong event at the weekend. Spending 22 hours at the Barbican trying to manage kids playing table tennis took it's toll, but we had 1500 through the doors playing table tennis so I think we did good. Phew.

I would have pictures, but you're not allowed to can't take pictures of kids these days... nice huh!

And for someone who is 'trying to make a difference' I think we did good.

The Lives Of Others

This hand-painted bull and matador caught my attention (and earned my pound coin) the other week at a Dalston flee market. The vendor eyed me up curiously, thinking I suspect, that I was mad.

The painting resided on the cover of a photo album containing (mostly) what look to be the holiday snaps of a couple (in love) from I'm guessing around 1940. It's a charming collection of the things they saw and what they got up to in Spain.

It's a terrible shame that this album has strayed from the family that created it. Perhaps the relatives in question no longer care or perhaps it was lost in a move or house repossession. Anyhow, I have rescued it from a being a victim of landfill.

Looking though the pictures I couldn't help but imagine about who this couple were and what their lives might have been like. Plus the guy was a table tennis player, I think I we would've been buddies .

Where would we be without our imaginations? Such a powerful feature of the human mind. You can find all the pictures on my Flickr set, naturally.

Enjoy.

Empty

Things are slow on here right now. Sorry. I have just moved house and having no internet at home is like living in the dark ages...

Slow Progress

I had some posts planned but they required photos and my camera now only does this:

It may take me a minute to get a new camera! Does anyone have any camera recommendations? Somewhere between a compact and an SLR. I'd like the ability to add an external flash and lots of manual options...

Mine Enemy

I hate my bank, Barclays... a lot. Going into a branch as I have to every now and then is without contest my worst customer experience anywhere, anytime.

I'm also fundamentally against Usury and therefore banking as a concept. So after I had been queuing for 20 minutes (to pay a tax bill) can you imagine how I felt when I saw this:

The quote is by Barnum, the famous American showman and circus chap. After all the damage banking has done in this world it irks me that Barlclays joke about this. I hate Barclays.

Friday = Fun Stuff

Someone said recently they missed all the fluff on my blog. (There used to be more). So in the interest of people not doing any work on Friday here's some rad stuff I've stumbled across this week:

The biggest dog sculpture you ever saw by Yoshitomo Nara at the Aomori museum:

A permanently on Mexican toggle switch at the New York shop Kiosk and an awesome poster also at Kiosk:

A little beavering toy by Jeremy Fish:

I learned what a whatnot was; an extra in The Muppets and I discovered the genius of the make your own (Whatnot) Muppet kit:

And yes, Donkey Kong Jenga!!!

The Simonsound mix CD. It's a collection of tracks that inspired the group Simonsound, who apparently are about to release their debut record.

It's a great collection of obscure bleepy electro Moog sounds and 1960s & 70s psyche from France and Russia. You can hear a bit on the Phonica site.

I hope that distracted you from doing some work.

A Reason To Grow

Sometimes people ask me why I have mustache. I find this a stupid question but it annoys me further that I don't have an answer. But now I think I have one.

I greatly enjoy reading about various extreme elements of cultures. I find the fringes are where all the gold is, the most interesting cultural or behavioural activities lie for me in the unusual or the hardcore. The mainstream has never produced anything worthy after all, the source is always more fulfilling, before whatever it is has been watered down and its beauty destroyed.

And as such, I like reading about Samurai beliefs and culture. I've been dipping in and out of Hagakure (the book of the Samurai) for about 5 years now. Near the back there is a passage that caught my eye about mustaches:

The warriors of old cultivated mustaches, for as proof that a man had been slain in battle, his ears and nose would be cut off and brought to the enemy's camp.

So that there would be no mistake as to weather the person was a man or a woman, the mustache was also cut off with the nose. At such a time the head was thrown away if it had no mustache, for it might mistaken for that of a woman. Therefore, growing a mustache was one of the disciplines of a Samurai so that his head would not be thrown away upon his death.

So there you have it, I have a mustache so that when I'm slain in battle you'll know I was a man. I'd maybe hope there would be another way of knowing... but better to be safe than sorry.