forty north

Stachenblochen

2006-09-12T04:47:00.000+01:00

Planet is Demoted - Solar System Unapologetic

2006-08-24T17:02:00.000+01:00

Today, the day before my birthday, has been a fairly depressing day. In an effort to revive my spirit in preparation for the annual celebration, I have pondered all the possible reasons for the current state of psychological affairs. The grey ceiling currently over London is certainly not helping - but it seems to me that the reason lies beyond that. I have been wondering whether somewhere above, my planets are not aligned as they should be. And then, in a moment of clarity, it all came together; of course my planets are not aligned – cause we are missing one!

Ladies and Gentlemen, the planet formerly known as Pluto is no more. As of today, it is no longer considered a planet by the scientific/astronomical community.

But will people follow suit? This is what I’m really interested in. Will I tell my children about the 8 (not 9) planets in the solar system? Can I be expected to assimilate the Aristotelian change just like that? In my universe, the one my mind populates, Pluto is still there – far away, but there. The more I think about it, the less I like the idea of losing a planet. What if they decide that Mars (or Uranus, god forbid) is no longer there? The reason why I think it’s so fundamental a change (and worth this endless paragraphs) is because the celestial bodies have – from time immemorial – defined who we are and our perception of where we are going. You change the planets, you change the present and the future (imagine Horoscopes from now on!). And Im just not entirely sure that I want a bunch of people in the Czech Rep. deciding this on our behalf…

Alive!...again?

2006-08-23T18:48:00.000+01:00

The first time I saw the movie Alive, was also the first time I kissed a girl. I kid you not, I was that old. The girl was the prettiest in the school – and though we agree to start dating, she eventually dumped me for the goalkeeper of our football team – a much taller/older guy called Miranda.

Miranda, or the girl, are not important in this story. The important thing is Alive - because the movie shocked me, like it did so many others. People eating each other to survive? When does the animal instinct switch on? Is there a click sound and a sudden willingness to eat human flesh? Can this happen at any time? Reassuringly, however, I told myself that things like that no longer happen; planes don’t crash in the Andes, and when they do, people don’t survive for months. Thus, surely, enforced cannibalism and tales of heroic survival have come to an end. We can return to our somewhat moral Big Macs.

But like so many times before, the Mexicans had other ideas and have gone on to prove the seemingly impossible. In case you didn’t pick this up on the news; three Mexican guys have just arrived in the Marshall Islands (5,500 miles of the Mexican coast) after claiming to have been at sea for nine months. Now, read this again; NINE months (since October 2005, that is). Two of their comrades on board died (apparently because they were too cool to eat raw fish).

NINE months!!

Is it me, or is this just not right? Surely if it is true, then the two unfortunate souls did not go to waste. Or did they? Is Catholicism that strong? I wonder. In fact, I don’t wonder. I know myself and what I would do.

new is old and old is new

2006-08-23T17:59:00.000+01:00

took this outside my office.

its a nice example of how new is now old and old is new again.

Polliciation, Bush and Wordsmith

2006-08-23T17:52:00.000+01:00

So here is another recommendation, and its one of things that I look forward to daily. Anu Garg, a linguaphile set up a site called Wordsmith.org which sends you a daily word for FREE (so don't complain that I am plugging something commercial, even ask the founder garg@wordsmith.org ), with a quotation at the end of it. Anyway, its all structured so you get 5 words a week linked to a common theme. If your not into it by this point, then you wont ever be, so now to move on and rationalize both the title and embedded picture, with the word I was sent today:

pollicitation (puh-lis-i-TAY-shuhn) noun

A promise or an offer made but not yet accepted. [From Latin pollicitation, from polliceri (to promise).] As used in,

"With what broad gestures of invitation, and also with what subtle almost imperceptible hints and suggestions and pollicitations, she lays herself out to cajole us, to notify her eagerness."
Christopher Morley; Inward Ho!; Doubleday; 1923.

Ode to the Old

2006-08-19T15:46:00.000+01:00

If you are one of those (enlightened) people who think that music isn’t what it used to be, this is for you and you alone.

A lot has been said about the Aussie trio Wolfmother and their energy-dense debut album. If you haven’t come across it, or if your contact has gone beyond their single Woman, then prepare yourself for what it’s definitely one of the best albums of the year. Imagine Zeppelin’s lost album, with a sprinkle (and nothing more) of Jethro Tull and the brutality (animal instinct, I think John Peel once called it) of the White Stripes. This is an album that pays its respects to Hendrix and Floyd, the forgotten organ grinding days of the Doors, but also reminds us that this is the post- Tom Morello years. The sounds are anything but original – but its brilliance lies precisely in that it sets to be anything but. It feels like a pretty well thought out tribute to music as it was – a respectful (and at the same time challenging) ode to the music of the old guards. Absolutely beautiful.

Demetri Martin - Comdey, One-Liners and a name which SHOULD be spelt Dimitri

2006-08-16T12:37:00.000+01:00

Demetri Martin, is a bit of comedian i guess, and is probably best known for his guest appearances on The Daily Show, which means in the UK only those non-partisan to eastenders/corination st/emerdale/hollyoaks would have any idea who he is as its on around the same time. He's performed a great set of whats been termed "subtle humour" called These Are Jokes, with lots of one-liners.

Anyway, we all like funny guys (except maffioso types in movies, they dont like them too much) and he's one of them.

Some of my favorites are:

"Employee of the month is a good example of how somebody can be both a winner and a loser at the same time.

"I saw a guy at a party wearing a leather jacket and I thought, 'That is cool.' But then I saw another guy wearing a leather vest and I thought, 'That is not cool'. Then I figured it out: 'Cool' is all about leather sleeves."

"I like clothes, you know. I dig fabrics. One of my favorite clothing patterns is camouflage. Because when you're in the woods it makes you blend in. But when you're not it does just the opposite. It's like, 'Hey, there's an asshole.' But when you're in the woods you're like, 'Is there an asshole out here?' They look like trees."

India's Space Program - Up Up and (willy wonkily) Away!

2006-08-15T14:52:00.000+01:00

So following up on the previous post on space flight, we have the current challenger space program in the form of the Indian Space Agency, which is planning a moon mission and a string of satellite launches. But, as the exclusive Wired tour reveals, the cost-efficient (cutting?) "agency is uniquely Indian: It masterfully mixes high and low tech, and blends rockets with religion."

Rocket starts straight...

...rocket goes a bit bendy...

Check more of it out here

Losing Neil

2006-08-15T11:37:00.000+01:00

Whether you think it was all a spoof, shot in the depths of a Hollywood studio or not, surely you will be as surprised as I am about the reported loss by NASA of recordings and other bits of data from the first moon landing - including the original tape of N. Armstrong's now infamous words.

Would be funny if all there is left to prove that it actually happened, was the bits and pieces scattered (and reproduced) around the intangible internet. Even funnier, when the tapes turn up on Ebay (like some of us know only too well) - and the Russian government puts in the highest bid...now there is something to get the archenemies racing again...

Slightly Stoopid

2006-08-15T09:19:00.000+01:00

Having done it for the war, I now intend to do it in the name of music.

If like Toddy and myself you appreciate the music of Sublime (and their subsequent Long Beach Dub All-Stars project) you may also find Slightly Stoopid your cup of the proverbial tea. Their first two albums were produced by Skunk Records (of Sublime's late front man Brad Nowell). The later three or so have become a bit more comercialized - thus changing the (more laid back, dubby) direction of their music. Now, like Sublime, theirs is a mix of dub, home-brewed punk and ska and the occassional (completely misplaced, in my opinion) touch of californian, white-boyz rap...

They will be playing on the Barfly Club in Camden Town (for those of you in London) on Saturday 19th Aug.

Iranians, Burkhas, the Police and Bombs

2006-08-10T17:53:00.000+01:00

how comfortably we sit at our desks, every once in a while lending a thought or two to ladies in Burkhas in a country far far away hell bent on, among other things, destroying Israel, and anyone who speaks English (a bit of an over statement? apologies...). For those of you who are residents of white-only postcodes, and don't come into frequent contact with many non-aryans, a burkha "is a type of opaque veil sometimes worn in addition to a headscarf by Muslim women observing purdah. Similar to a niqab, the burqa covers the wearer's entire face except for a small region about the eyes. A full burqa or Afghan burqa is a garment that conceals the entire body. The full burqa includes a "net curtain", which also hides the wearer's eyes. Women in some Muslim societies or subcultures wear burqa because of exegetic interpretations of the hijab. Standards for modest dress (sartorial hijab) for Muslim women and men vary greatly depending on the cultural context."

So now that you are even MORE confused than you were ten seconds ago, I will finish my tale, which should by now look great in contrast to the burkha explanation. If not, there are lots of things you can click on to become an expert on the subject. or you can re-read it and count all the varried spellings of burkha.

So anyway, when in Iran on your next holiday, you may, if your lucky, run into these Burkha-clad femacops - either patrolling the streets, disarming bombs, abseiling down buildings, or killing bad guys, all while keeping their heads hidden.

And no, this isn't a deleted scene from national lampoons animal house.

Don't Mention the War

2006-08-10T17:42:00.000+01:00

I find it slightly odd that in the whole time this blog has been up and running, there hasnt been a single significant item relating (even indirectly) to the ongoing war in Iraq. So here is the first,

The US is said to be spending US$128 million per day on the war in Iraq. Rumour has it that this is enough to feed every starving child in the world 12 times a day.

My sister, the economist (read pragmatist) in the family, pointed out that starving children would die if they were fed 12 times a day - a fact that she believes is the most palatable explanation for why the US spends it on one, and not on the other. I was too pissed off that she was lecturing me on child nutrition to come up with my own version...

What do you think?

9 months of gestation in 20 seconds

2006-08-10T09:52:00.000+01:00

is it just me, or is this slightly scary?

Is a Nobel Cause Worth It?

2006-08-09T14:46:00.000+01:00

In my first week living in Dublin – where I was to spend a pretty uneventful year – I developed a cold of biblical proportions. I had just moved into my tiny flat – and the stress, loneliness and equally copious dust all joined forces to keep me bedridden for what should have otherwise been a week of initial discovery and inner-city exploration.

Just before I fell ill, I discovered a bookshop not too far away from my home – in fact, much closer than I had ever had a bookstore before (a fact that if I had noticed earlier, would have played a more significant part in my choice of homes than it actually did). Thus, in my week of illness, I read and read, and visited the bookstore virtually daily, as I swallowed one book after the next.

During this period, I printed a list of laureates and decided to have a stab at reading all of the laureates – which, you should know, amount to over a hundred. What I found was surprising; some of the awards were an obvious recognition of popularity and outright talent; Kipling, Russell, Fo, Marquez, Camus, Faulkner, Neruda, Yeats, Golding, Soyinka and, of course, Hemingway. But other choices I found either dubious (Coetzee, Toni Morrison) or outright bizarre (Winston Churchill). The most striking thing in the end, however, was the eurocentrism of the award – (by my calculations) it took almost 67 years before a non-European became a laureate. This fact was not lost on more modern writers – whose recognition of this fact, led in part to some of the most interesting Nobel anecdotes. In 1964, Jean-Paul Sartre was awarded the prize for his (now seemingly indisputable) role in world literature. But he publicly refused it – in fact, he wrote in advance to the academy to suggest a willing recipient was found – in order to avert the inevitable embarrassment. In his statement, published in Le Figaro he made it clear that a writer should never accept any kind of institutional recognition, lest it confuse their personal commitment to literature itself. The act of writing should remain rewarding in itself. With the Nobel he was less abstract or moderate – to accept it, he made clear, would be to tantamount to condoning the Eurocentric policies of the past. To consider the Nobel an award for groundbreaking contribution to world literature, would be arguing that the Nobel had indeed any knowledge of exemplary literary talent worldwide.

My cold eventually vanished, and with it my Nobel endeavour. Not because I felt cheated, or disappointed even, with the poor sample of world literature. But instead, because I found some of the writers and their work impossibly dull. I simply wasn’t ready for Thomas Mann or Saul Bellow. Im still not. But I continue to go back to this list from time to time – to remind myself of a different vision of literary quality in which the marketing strategy of Random House, Vintage and Penguin have less bearing. It sometimes feels like a walk in a Pantheon of literature, one in which Dan Brown works as tour guide, and can only dream of attaining the status of literary demi-God that he currently enjoys. If you are the kind of person Im likely to bump into in such a place – then you will find this link of use, and the previous words of some amusement.

(Tune in next week for an candid feminist critique of the Man Booker Prize)

Banksy's World

2006-08-08T09:09:00.000+01:00

Just to continue on the street-art theme, here is one of my favourites.

Some of you may recognise the work - especially those of you living in London, Barcelona or Paris or LA. If not - then keep an eye out for it, and you are likely to eventually spot a quick thing in an unknown corner.

If you like what you see - check out some of the stuff he has done indoors; like adding his own artwork to the Louvre and the National Gallery. The singularity of modern art and its critique has never been so laughable.

Mark Jenkins: Street Installations

2006-08-04T13:06:00.000+01:00

I love it,

honestly. I am a huge fan. Yes, so what, you don’t care. (do you?)

too much art on here and not enough substance. BUT, never mind that, pictures are better than words after all. What is truly fantastic about this is not that the execution is slick, its not the that there are guerilla art/tones-of-banksy(isms) amplified another notch, its that these form of urban disruptions challenge you to ENJOY your concrete landscape. they challenge you to look again, and take in what is normally just wallpaper. Why on earth is this not everywhere in london...

please check it out and let me know what you think in the comments. i'd also love to build a database of this kind of stuff, so anything else you may know of, and can point me in the right direction i'd be mucho appreciado.

9/11, Vanity Fair and Norad

2006-08-03T14:35:00.000+01:00

How did the U.S. Air Force respond on 9/11? Is it possible that they shot down United 93, as many conspiracy theorists claim (and I tend to believe)? Well Vanity Fair somewhow managed to get ahold of 30 hours of never-before-released tapes from the control room of Norad (North American Aerospace Defence Command for the unmilitarised of you) an have transcribed, and streamed audio here, where apart from that the author “reconstructs the chaotic military history of that day—and the Pentagon's apparent attempt to cover it up.”

(and yes, i am sure norad looks a litte more advanced nowadays, but i am a sucker for wide-angled lenses.)

Meny Pannies (errrr Many Pennies, so dizy...)

2006-08-03T11:49:00.000+01:00

As I am sure everyone is aware, visualizing huge numbers can be very difficult not only conceptually but literally. “People regularly talk about millions of miles, billions of bytes, or trillions of dollars, yet it's still hard to grasp just how much a "billion" really is.” So, to stop everyone sweating over this massive problem, and for the sake of allowing to simply get on with life and bury this beast of a problem, some thoughtful individual has created The MegaPenny Project which aims to help by taking one small everyday item, the (in this case U.S.) penny, and building on that to answer the question: "What would a billion (or a trillion) pennies look like?"
All the following pages have tables at the bottom, listing things such as the value of the pennies, size of the pile, weight, and area (if laid flat). All weights and measurements are U.S. standards, not metric.
Anyway, these type of things interest El_Montador_Loco.
May my interest become yours and our friendship blossom.

is it a bird? is it a plane? No, it's... SUPERTONY!! hehe

2006-08-03T11:07:00.000+01:00

sorry doodes, just thought i would add this so we can increase the hits we get from the female population of this world. Got nailed by a jellyfish about 4 seconds later... Norway rocks!

Benny in London

2006-08-02T15:23:00.000+01:00

Guys,

Just got in to London and picked up a mobile. Call me at 07772755247 since I don't have your numbers.

Chuck Norris Gets Even More fame

2006-08-01T17:12:00.000+01:00

A new bridge in Hungary could be named after Hollywood action movie actor Chuck Norris (drop kick, roundhouse kick, karate chop etc) unless the trend turns in an Internet vote organised by the Economy Ministry. Votes for the "Chuck Norris Bridge" had attracted 8,725 votes or 11 percent by Tuesday morning, just ahead of those cast in favour of naming it after Hungarian humorist Geza Hofi and three times more than for Szent Istvan, founder of the state. Votes can be cast until September 8 on the www.m0hid.gov.hu Web site, where people have put forward more than 500 nominations including Bud Spencer and Bob Marley, as well as names referring to construction delays such as "It Will Never Happen Bridge". A government committee will review the three winning names, as well as other proposals put forward by local governments, cartographers, linguists and other experts. The bridge over the Danube north of Budapest is due to open in 2008

Connections: clean water and playground laughter

2006-08-01T14:28:00.000+01:00

here is one for the guerrero - he who fights the fight we all secretly wish we cared enough to fight but instead care too much about ourselves and shiny flats/lives/ipods/holidays, so instead only fight for whats best for me, and thats not you to me, but "me" as you read it (so technically me as well when i re-read it).

Anyway… “Clean water. It is the key for public health and for fighting infectious disease. The question for some parts of the world with few resources is how to get it out of the ground. PlayPumps is a non-profit that has connected the sounds of playground laughter with groundwater to change villages in Sub-Saharan Africa. It’s a simple idea. As children spin on a merry-go-round, water pumps from below the ground. It is stored in a tank just a few feet away, making a safe, plentiful supply of water available in the community.Nearly 700 PlayPumps have been installed in South Africa, providing safe water to a million people living in rural communities. Thousands more PlayPumps will be installed throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, bringing the many benefits of ready access to clean drinking water to millions of underserved people. Intersectional innovations like this one may have plenty of applicability in other areas – children after all have tremendous amount of energy … are there other ways to tap it? " Cant get the link in at the moment, as it keeps messing up… will be up soon.

Karl Hungus is an Expert

2006-08-01T11:17:00.000+01:00

How to be an expert (like Karl Hungus in Lebowski, "Meine dispatch says something's wrong with deine cable... Ja I'm expert") on everything, curtousy of this guy, here:

-Pick a field that can't be verified.
-Choose a subject that's actually secret.
-Get your own entry in an encyclopedia.
-Use the word zeitgeist as often as possible.
-Be sure to use lots of abbreviations and acronyms.
-Speak from the balls, not from the diaphragm.
-Don't be afraid to make things up.
-Don't limit yourself to current knowledge.
-Get an honorary PhD.
-Make a habit of name-dropping.
-Be famous. It helps.

Mini Water Cars

2006-07-31T18:00:00.000+01:00

Apparently developed to educate kids (and anyone else who is curios to listen), the H-racer has been developed by Horizon to be the worlds smallest fuel cell car in the world. The car measures 16cm X 7cm and once you've "fueled" the car up can run around for a couple hundred yards!

Apart from all the environmental benefits, its also great because it costs under $40 - full details here - meaning that it might just be possible to have fun for under $10 (if you split it 4 ways with three other friends).

How long before we start seeing a lot of these, just bigger?

Cosh

2006-07-28T13:17:00.000+01:00

This is a beautiful idea, and hopefully will make people think twice before buying those horrendous Ikea prints, of rocks/skyline/ blown up flowers to decorate their walls. If you cant find something here which is better, well, quite simply, I denounce you as a certifiable muppet. Of the count chocula variety. Yes some of it is rough over stylized silk screening like you see in any poster/frame shop nowadays (think close up of Al Pacino or Michael Caine gun in hand crazy look slapped across face in bright red), but there are also some diamonds. having had a cursory glance, one of my favorites is this: