e-clecticism: June 2010

Wednesday, 30 June 2010

Just Hang

A musical treat for you. This is the Hang Drum which I confess I had never heard of, but I love the sound it makes and these two guys (presumably cousins) play it beautifully. Enjoy!

Tuesday, 29 June 2010

The following video shows very well how personal computers have evolved. Despite being around for all these landmarks, it is very easy for me to forget just how far we have come. Enjoy the sound of theme to Secret Monkey Island through the ages. :-)

Sunday, 27 June 2010

Facebook The Movie

There have been Facebook movie spoofs before, some even quite funny. But I never thought I would see the day when a real film would be made about it. But I was wrong. The Social Network is due for a US release in October and is basically the Mark Zuckerberg story. I have to say it doesn't sound very exciting but with David Fincher in charge, it may well be worth looking at.

Saturday, 26 June 2010

Irony

I was talking to a very good friend of mine the other day about irony and how that although it is quite a simple concept, many people seem to still get it confused with sarcasm and other literary techniques or rhetorical devices. It reminded me of a great routine that Irish comedian Ed Byrne used to do about Canadian singer Alanis Morrisette. I have posted the video below and it still makes me laugh out loud. I hope you enjoy it too.

Friday, 25 June 2010

Profile Pictures

You should never trust an online profile picture to get a proper sense of what someone looks like. That's the message in this snappy commercial for the Samsung ST550 camera. Maybe I'll show you all what I look like after a bit of practise to make myself look human. :-)

Thursday, 24 June 2010

Macintosh Dating Game

Here is one for my fellow geeks. This is footage was filmed in 1983 at an early MacWorld. Back in the days when Microsoft and Apple needed each other. It seems very light hearted and easy going but now we know that there was a lot of tension behind the scenes. It is heavily cut to feature Bill Gates by the way.

Wednesday, 23 June 2010

Black Ops

It is time for me to get excited about the release of another in the series of the only video game I ever play. Call Of Duty - Black Ops is due out 9th November 2010 and is set to be an absolute corker. I already have it on pre-order. My only problem is fitting in time to play it. :-)

Below is the official trailer from Activision to get you in the mood.

Video Games | Call of Duty: Black Ops | Debut Trailer HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Tuesday, 22 June 2010

TG Trailer

Regular readers of e-clecticism will remember this post I made about the parents of Oscar who got a little excited about seeing Top Gear filmed. I said at the time that I can almost guarantee that this clip makes it on to the show. Well I was nearly right.

The show returns to UK screens (BBC2, June 27th @ 8pm) and the producers liked the clip so much, that they have included it in the trailer for the new series. :-)

ALT 1977

Californian designer Alex Varanese seems to be a man after my own heart. Clearly a geek but with a great sense of nostalgia for a simpler time. This is perfectly illustrated by his ALT 1977 project, where he takes modern 21st century products and redesigns them so they fit in to the 1970's. He then created a set of print ads to market them. As he explains himself...

What would you do if you could travel back in time? Assassinate Marilyn Monroe? Go on a date with Hitler? Obviously. But here's what I'd do after that: grab all the modern technology I could find, take it to the late 70's, superficially redesign it all to blend in, start a consumer electronics company to unleash it upon the world, then sit back as I rake in billions, trillions, or even millions of dollars.

I've explored that idea in this series by re-imagining four common products from 2010 as if they were designed in 1977: an mp3 player, a laptop, a mobile phone and a handheld video game system. I then created a series of fictitious but stylistically accurate print ads to market them, as well as a handful of abstract posters.

I have reproduced a couple here (click to enlarge) but see the full set here and Alex's other projects here.

Monday, 21 June 2010

How It Should Have Ended

Just like the fabulous Angry Alien site, here is another one for the movie buffs amoung you who have a sense of humour. The self explanatory How It Should Have Ended features some great animations depicting how some classic film should have finished. Well in the mind of the animator anyway.

Below is their version of the Lord Of The Rings, but I recommend you visit their website for more.

Sunday, 20 June 2010

No Arms, No Legs, No Worries

I was tempted to post no description to this video because it really doesn't need one. However let me tell you that I have watched this clip more than any other on the Internet. Australian Nick Vujicic was born with no arms or legs and has had, what can only be described as, a tough life. As some of you will know I have had problems of my own in the past and I can tell you that watching this is a great way to get some perspective. Enjoy!

Friday, 18 June 2010

U3-X Personal Mobility

This post come courtesy of Wayne. The unluckiest man I know. :-)

OK so this possibly the most cheesy, sickly video you will watch this year. It will make you realise how easy it is to pick attractive women in waiting rooms. It will make you wonder if there is a music store that specialises in ear-curling "Muzak". But most of all it will make you wonder what Honda are thinking?

But having said all that, my geeky side still loves it and thinks that the U3-X, if it ever makes it passed prototype, will actually be very cool. From the press release...

With U3-X Honda rethinks the concept of personal mobility, providing the rider with freedom of movement in any direction forward, backward, sideways and diagonally by simply leaning slightly in the desired direction. The lightweight and compact one-wheeled device also features a foldable seat and retractable footrests. A lithium-ion battery pack provides power for up to one-hour of use and can be recharged by plugging in to a conventional household or office 120-volt power outlet.

Thursday, 17 June 2010

Duke v Tetris

I really wish I could tell you something about this short film. But unfortunately as it appears to Russian made and my Russian is non-existent, I cannot. I can tell you however that it is a witty animation depicting a Duke Nukem type character struggling against Tetris, with a nice twist at the end.

It just made me smile and I hope it can do the same for you.

Wednesday, 16 June 2010

Word Play

Image by e-clecticism via Flickr

Here is a bit of fun with the English language I got sent. See if you can pronounce the following poem correctly.

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.
Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation’s OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.
Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.
Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.
Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.
Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won’t it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Finally, which rhymes with enough,
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!

Tuesday, 15 June 2010

Free Car!

I bet that title got your attention. It's true too. Not just any old car either, it's a bona fide supercar too. There is one small catch though. You have to spend £17m on a yacht to qualify. :-)

Apparently you can only get the car above if you fork out £17 million for the Strand Craft 122 mega yacht (below). But there's only ever going to be six of those.

The as yet unnamed car has been specifically created to act as terra firma accessory to the Strand Craft 122 - but that doesn't mean it's land-locked. The lucky owners will keep the car in the yacht's onboard garage.

Complete engineering details are so far scarce, but the car will produce 880hp from a twin-turbo V12, giving it a top speed of 233mph. But that's nothing compared to the boat itself - which offers over 14,000hp.

The full story can be found here.

Monday, 14 June 2010

Limp Fish

Artist David Barton has produced some fabulous pictures that combine the classics from masters such as Salvador Dali, Vincent Van Gough etc and popular culture such as The Simpsons and Star Wars. I have posted a couple below but I recommend you visit his website, limpfish.com here. As always, click to enlarge.

Monet's Vader With Parasol.

Van Gough's Groundskeeper Willie.

Sunday, 13 June 2010

We Are The Fallen

The Billboard website has a regular feature they call Mashup Monday where bands perform acoustic covers of their favourite tracks. This one caught my eye and my ear. We Are The Fallen, the metal-tinged band anchored by former members of Evanescence and American Idol finalist Carly Smithson, set aside their amps and distortion pedals for a keening, acoustic version of U2's classic "With Our Without You." Nice.

The site is badly designed and so I cannot provide you with a link to the other mashups but they are worth routing out as some are very cool.

Saturday, 12 June 2010

Minority Report UI

Another great TED talk in June of this year at Long Beach in California. Minority Report science adviser and inventor John Underkoffler demos g-speak, the real-life version of the film's eye-popping, tai chi-meets-cyberspace computer interface. Is this how tomorrow's computers will be controlled?

Friday, 11 June 2010

Iron Baby

Forget the Iron Man film's, I want to see Iron Baby! This is a fake trailer designed by YouTube user STROBdotNET. I have to say he has done an excellent job. Technically and aesthetically pleasing and humorous too. A combination of 3dMAX and After Effects was used.

Thursday, 10 June 2010

Don't Skip This

With a huge thank you to Al over at crivens, jings and help ma blog for suggesting the link let me introduce you to the Kings Firecrackers performing at a half time show at the US Naval Academy. This astonishing "jump rope" team are from the Kings Local School District in Ohio. Coached by Lynn Kelley, they perform at venues across the US. Some notable past performances have been at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a Presidential Inauguration and an appearance on The David Letterman Show.

My daughters are all Wolverines, cheerleaders for the Worcester Wolves basketball team, perhaps I should suggest this routine for the next home game? :-)

Wednesday, 9 June 2010

Daily Affirmation

Thinking in a positive way is very important. A lot of self help books claim that a self affirmation speech repeated to yourself in the mirror everyday is a good way to start your morning. Well Jessica would agree. But then Jessica is wise beyond her years as she is only four. Check out more of her great videos on her dad's YouTube channel.

Tuesday, 8 June 2010

Lauren Rose

I'm going to be a little cheeky again and post about one of my own photographs. I know this effect is a little clichéd but this rose from my garden was such a stunning colour, I knew I wanted to photograph it and separating the colour from the background is quite a simple job in Photoshop but it really brings it to life. My daughter kindly agreed to add to the composition. Although Photoshop was used for the separation and a little tidying of shadows around the face, the rest of the picture is natural. Oh apart from me spraying the petals with water just before shooting. :-)

I hope you like it. Click to enlarge. If you are interested, my full collection of photographs can be found on my Flickr page here.

Monday, 7 June 2010

Throw Me A Line

The following video claims to show the 100 best movie lines of all time in 200 seconds. Would you agree with the choices?

Sunday, 6 June 2010

Free-Fall

Well this is a free-fall with a difference. World champion freediver, Guillaume Nery, performs a special dive at Dean's Blue Hole, the deepest blue hole in the world. Filmed entirely on one breath by the French champion Julie Gautier. There is something very hypnotic about this astonishing video.

Friday, 4 June 2010

Can't Contain The Rock

Why make such a big fuss of the guitarist, he is quite good but certainly nothing special? No take a look behind him at the drummer. He is a class act that puts Animal from the Muppets to shame. His name is Steve Moore and for my money he is the star of Rick K And The Allnighters. To quote This Is Spinal Tap..."He can't contain the rock". :-)

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Thursday, 3 June 2010

Troops

There are fan films and there are masterpieces that are just way too good to be called fan films. This is one of the latter. This a spoof of Star Wars using the theme of the US television show Cops. Troops is an independent film created by Kevin Rubio in 1997. It actually features proper voice actors and the CGI would make ILM take a second look. Enjoy!

Wednesday, 2 June 2010

Rosie Phone

This is either very cool or very sad, you'll have to be the judge. Enjoy the following video of Youtube user steffest playing Neil Diamond's Crackling Rosie on two Android phones, two Windows Mobile phones and an iPod Touch.

Tuesday, 1 June 2010

Go For Launch!

Air & Space Magazine has a fantastic article about a time lapse film of a space shuttle mission (actually Discovery's penultimate mission).

In this unique time-lapse video created from thousands of individual frames, photographers Scott Andrews, Stan Jirman and Philip Scott Andrews condense six weeks of painstaking work into three minutes, 52 seconds (read here how they did it). The action starts in the hangar-like Orbiter Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where Discovery has been outfitted for its STS-131 mission. The vehicle is then towed to the 525-foot-high Vehicle Assembly Building, hoisted into a vertical position and lowered onto its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters. Then it’s off to the pad on the giant Mobile Launcher Platform, where the shuttle is encased in its protective Rotating Service Structure until just before launch on April 5, 2010. The film ends with a glimpse of Discovery and the STS-131 astronauts coming in for a landing 15 days later, back in Florida where it all started.