Another video embed (and I know there's a new video released for this song that's on their MySpace page, but I like this one better), this time of the song I've been listening to literally all day -



A perfect closing to the day on repeat. The Rip. From Portishead's album Third.



Sweet F.A. I read Radiohead covers this song during soundcheck. Makes perfect sense. I think hearing Yorke's delicate vocals on this song would suit it well. This begs to be listened to on repeat over + over + over + over + over really loud (on the hi-fi audio it gets much louder when the drums come in). And the vinyl recording I have is perfect.

Gibbons sings in her typical melancholic and hollowed way in the key of F minor -

Through the glory of life I'm scattered on the floor, disappointed and sore.
And in my thoughts I have bled, for the riddles I've been fed
another lie moves over while white horses, they will take me away.
And the tenderness I feel will send the dark underneath.
Will I follow?

OK, after that slightly more intellectual stuff, here's something a little more fun for the fellas, thankfully brought to us by the editors of GQ ...

Emmanuelle Chriqui





And you can see more photos of her here (click on the link in red). And then, if you're interested in the whole list of the GQ-featured women, it's here - enjoy!

~ Carl Sagan

Plato illustrated this by saying -This is from an article entitled MUSICAL ABILITY: Bases of it Inherited by Nearly Everyone - Difference in Ability Due More to Training Than to Heredity - Means for Bringing Latent Ability Into Expression that, although I don't necessarily agree with everything the author attempts to justify, I found quite interesting.

In further studies of visual nuances on my trip back from Pittsburgh, I was reading up on synesthesia, which is a fascinating, neurologically-based phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway (relating numbers or letters to specific colours, for instance).

And what I found really interesting was that, apparently, both Franz Liszt and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (composers, duh) had a complex form of synesthesia in which chord structures produced synesthetic colours. One of my favourite pieces of Russian music is Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Festival Overture which - as with all great classical music - must be listened to extremely loud.

And now, knowing he associated chord structures with colour, I'll have to listen to it again with that in mind.

~ Pablo Picasso

Maybe this is why black and white photography can be more visually compelling than colour.

I found this in an article entitled From Mirrors to the Mona Lisa, a presentation by Martha Livingstone of Harvard, which I found really fascinating.

It turns out that the Mona Lisa appears to smile out of the corner of your eye because of the difference in focus between our peripheral vision (much blurrier) and our central vision (much more clear) as evidenced in this photo from the article -



The other bit that I found really neat was this image -



that appears to move based solely on complimentary colour contrast. So yes, I do agree with Picasso. But at the same time, colour really is fascinating.

So, on the way into DIA and out of sheer boredom after having to put away all my electronic items - I pulled out the SkyMall magazine. Wow, I cannot believe what is in there! I found an actual autographed, framed print of the 'No Soup For You' dude (aka The Soup Nazi) on Seinfeld!



Seriously. And for the low price of 200 clams! And believe me, that's only one of the dozens of scores I found in under five minutes of browsing!

I'm online right now waiting for my order to process (I'm getting the Rush Delivery lol) .... Now, if only it talked when someone walked by and said in the dude's stern, unwavering voice 'NO SOUP FOR YOU!'

Take MoveOn's Bush-McCain challenge today!

At the end, there's a bonus McCain-slightly rotten carrot challenge that will surely stump (ha ha) you.

~ Julian, writing a story earlier in the school year where he had to explain what his favourite activity was (2nd grade) - I thought it was about the most adorable thing ever.

So I got the email today. Nau is winding down their operations after less than a year. They were an incredible company that - despite this setback - will hopefully have at least set a new trend for a sustainable business model if it doesn't come back in a few years.



They made sustainable clothing and technical outerwear, using revolutionary fabrics and materials. Much like Alchemy Goods that I blogged about the other day, Nau Inc. was a business that held to high moral ground in everything it did. But it won't be the end, and I like the last bit that saysVery well said.

So what did I do to help? Went out and bought the Succinct trench of course, at half off. It'll be a piece of history, along with being a well-tailored trenchcoat (of which I don't yet own but have been told every man should).

~ wise friend

~ Mary Anderson, co-founder of REI, referring to her late husband and founder of REI.

I'm really proud to work for a company (doing what I love) with a tagline like 'The mountains are my cathedral.' Spoken best by our founder.

cheers

So a friend of mine got me the new Alchemy Goods Urban messenger bag -



It's killer - made out of recycled bike tubes and seatbelts and (seriously) the baddest messenger bag on the planet!

And apparently the number above the 'Ag' in the logo is the weight - by percent - of recycled content (in the case of my messenger, that's 76%). Like they say, 'Every Alchemy Goods bag purchased represents one less part of our world destroyed.' For their Ad Bag - the red pictured one is actually made from REI vinyl banners and it's handmade of 95% recycled materials (including the banners, a seatbelt and a bike tube).

Their ReOpener was their first 'Ag100' product - completely recycled and a great example of cradle-to-cradle manufacturing.

It really is a unique concept they've got going and yes - über cool. Oh, and in case you're wondering how comfortable a seatbelt is as a shoulder strap - um, the most comfortable shoulder strap, even sans any padding - than any other messenger/shoulder bag I've ever worn. Seriously. Remember, those things were designed to restrain us under who knows how much force.

As seen on a billboard just outside the beautiful town of Chehalis, WA - complete with picture of Uncle Sam pointing at YOU. I thought that was just brilliant.