Popup Fiasco

Care For Some Tea?

2010-03-01T09:31:01Z

The “Tea Party” movement is a loosely organised, libertarian political party in the USA that has garnered huge support from conversatives disillusioned with the Republican party. This podcast from NPR contains a fascinating interview with David Weigel, who covered the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), and is a great primer for anyone interested in learning why this right-wing organisation has gathered such momentum.

Embrace Life

2010-03-01T09:16:00Z

From Sussex Safer Roads: a stunning reminder that you should wear your seatbelt.

Sound up, fullscreen is best.

What Teachers Make

2010-02-02T03:45:38Z

I’ve long believed that teachers aren’t accorded the respect – and compensation – they deserve. Here’s slam poet Taylor Mali eloquently illustrating why.

Via craigsmojos posterous.

How To Report The News

2010-01-29T01:20:36Z

Charlie Brooker nails it.

Bellamy’s People

2010-01-15T22:46:01Z

“Down The Line” is a radio programme that aired on BBC Radio 4. It parodied the talkback genre, which had the traditional listeners spluttering in protest, unaware that it was all just a laugh. Now the creators have reinvented it for TV:

[Charlie] Higson, who, in partnership with [Paul] Whitehouse, has also been responsible for one of the finest BBC2 sketch-programmes of recent years, The Fast Show, admits that much of Down the Line’s comic charm could have been lost in translation. “Obviously doing a radio phone-in on TV would have been daft. So we had to think, ‘Down the Line has been perfectly designed for radio - what’s the TV equivalent?’”

And then Higson and Whitehouse - with the rapidity of a “Suits You” tailor whipping out an innuendo - had a “eureka” moment. “We realised that all these programmes with celebrities driving round the country meeting people and saying ‘isn’t Britain brilliant?’ would be ideal for us to parody,” continues the 51-year-old Higson, who has carved out a very successful second career as the writer of novels about young James Bond.

Here’s the quoted article^*, from the UK’s Independent. I’m obliged to warn you, however, that the subs got a bit carried away with the exclamation marks! In the article! Which is quite irritating!

Bellamy’s People begins screening on BBC2 from 21 January. So if you’re in Australia you can set your DVR to record it in approximately six years.

^* While you’re there, try clicking the “enlarge” button next to the picture and see how much bigger it gets.

Ian’s Top Ten Albums of the Decade

2009-12-31T08:28:05Z

These are the albums that defined the decade for me. I reserve the right to suddenly remember an amazing album I’ve overlooked and hastily include it. Or drastically back peddle on one of these choices, claiming I was concussed.

In no particular order:

Arcade Fire: Funeral

There are so many members of Arcade Fire - how do they fit on the stage, let alone play their instruments? Cirque du Soleil meets angst rock.

Tour bus DVD: the collected works of Krzysztof Kieslowski.

The White Stripes: White Blood Cells

These guys make a lot of noise considering there are only two of them, and they’re made entirely from Lego.

Tour bus magazine: The Lancet.

Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand

Urgent, charging Scottish rock that makes you want to grab a pitchfork and overthrow the Czar. In a nice suit.

Tour bus drink: Stolichnaya. And moloko.

Fujiya & Miyagi: Transparent Things

They whisper their witty, tongue-in-cheek lyrics over mechanical Krautrock beats, all while flicking through architecture magazines on fixed gear bikes. Sock it to me, uh!

Tour bus snacks: Edamame and Pocky.

M.I.A.: Kala

Best debut of the decade. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that she’s, um, hot. And her videos make my eyes bleed; I didn’t know some of those colours existed.

Tour bus DVD: In The Night Garden.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus

You’ve got to be pretty fucking good to release a double album - stuffed with classical references - with that haircut. Gospel singers, harps, and the fire and brimstone we all know and love.

Tour bus air freshener fragrance: Mountain Glade.

Portishead: Third

These layabouts finally got around to releasing another album after an 11 year hiatus. And it’s amazing. Dark, tortured, and beautiful, it’s like drowning in a spirulina smoothie.

Tour bus entertainment: The Bumper Book of Sudoku.

Radiohead: In Rainbows

“Hey everyone, pay whatever you want! We’re already rich!”

Tour bus DVD: The Best of Benny Hill.

The Streets: A Grand Don’t Come For Free

A UK Garage concept album? Jesus; I’m trapped in Fabric and can’t find the exit. This album already sounds dated, but that’s what Zeitgeists do, y’know?

Tour bus entertainment: a suitcase full of drugs, à la Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

The Veils: Nux Vomica

Frightening folk music. The lead singer, Finn Andrews, throws himself into the role with such terrifying conviction you’re afraid he’s somehow poisoned your pet rabbit. Like being punched in the eye by a leprechaun.

Tour bus board game: Cluedo.

… and there you have it. If nothing else, this should prove entertaining when I look at it in another ten years, incredulous that nothing by Michael Bublé made it on there.

Happy new year.

Air Travel Actually Worsens

2009-12-28T10:13:50Z

Air travel is miserable at the best of times: crazy passengers, crazy staff, crazy weather causing crazy delays, and now some crazy would-be terrorist tries to blow himself up on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. The guy shouldn’t have been allowed on the plane in the first place, yet now countless travellers will suffer extremely inconvenient extra security measures.

Throw into that the rubbery eggs and anaemic sausages you get for breakfast, and I feel particularly glad to be remaining on terra firma this holiday season.

Update: The Economist’s “Gulliver” on why the new security measures are insane (via our London correspondent, Andrew Potter).

NBC Rebrand

2009-12-15T06:29:35Z

The NBC rebrand, by Capacity, is fresh and vibrant. Here’s a great case study of the thinking behind the project. They only use this phrase:

We wanted to tap into the essence of the brand and leverage the qualities that are ownable

… once.

Via Motionworks.

Camels and Moustaches

2009-12-02T10:42:44Z

Magnificent mo’s, all the way from Rajasthan, India. From the Big Picture.

Seems the guy in pic #12 would rather be doing anything else.

Man vs Toddler

2009-11-28T00:50:28Z

47 seconds of nail biting intensity – Man! Versus! Toddler!

Reports of a Financial Recovery Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

2009-11-20T21:42:19Z

In the United States, corporate bonuses are booming yet unemployment is way up. Robert Reich, writing in Salon, explains why:

How can the stock market hit new highs at the same time unemployment is hitting new highs? Simple. The market is up because corporate earnings are up. Corporate earnings are up because companies are cutting costs. And the biggest single cost they’re cutting is their payrolls. So they let people go and, presto, their balance sheets look better and their stock prices rise.

Reich was secretary of labour under the Clinton administration, so his credentials are unimpeachable. He’s also a very funny guy; I highly recommend this podcast from ABC’s Big Ideas programme. It’s a couple of years old now, but what’s not to love about someone who opens their lecture by saying:

I am an economist. And, as some of you may know, an economist is someone who did not have the personality to become an accountant.

The Illustrative Leaf

2009-11-20T06:52:42Z

Amusing puns – and imaginative scissorcraft – with the humble leaf.

Appropriately Autumnal, for those north of the equator.

Ricardo Bomba

2009-11-20T06:13:18Z

Peggy Black won a competition to create a new character for The Simpsons:

In pondering her contest entry, Black decided there was a void on “The Simpsons” and that Springfield needed “something like a Casanova,” she said.

[Ricardo] Bomba, a handsome, smooth-talking South American nicknamed “La Bomba,” works at the town’s nuclear power plant by day and “by night, works Springfield’s singles scene,” as Fox describes him.

Not bad … though I was hoping it would be a little more out of left field. He sounds awfully similar to Alberto Tomba, the Italian playboy Olympic ski gold medalist who was also dubbed “la Bomba”.

TED Talks Jr Coming to Sydney

2009-10-29T02:37:15Z

TED Talks is a conference in California consisting of fascinating people talking about fascinating things. A scaled down, independently organised version of TED is coming to Sydney on May 22:

TEDxSydney at CarriageWorks on Saturday 22 May 2010 will feature a selection of Australia’s leading visionaries and storytellers showcasing their Ideas Worth Spreading LIVE to a hand-picked group of thinkers … as well as ONLINE to the world at large.

As you can tell by the exuberance expressed with the CAPS LOCK BUTTON, this promises to be an exciting event. It’s invite only – and frankly, if you’re reading this blog you’re unlikely to get an invite – but there will be live webcasts and video beamed out to us hoi polloi.

In case you’re wondering what TED refers to, I did a bit of research so you don’t have to. It is, in fact, an acronym derived from “Technology, Entertainment, Design”. Not Tiny Electronic Disco, like I thought.

Still not convinced? Here’s a fine example of a TED Talk, courtesy of adman Rory Sutherland. He’s a Funny Bastard.

52 Suburbs

2009-10-12T05:59:21Z

This LOUISE HAWSON character has taken a year off, set up a blog called 52 Suburbs, and is gallivanting around Sydney taking photos:

I’ve lived in Sydney for over 30 years but I’ve never set foot in most of its 637 suburbs. Time to dust off the street directory, grab my camera and venture out into the great unknown. My plan? To nose around one new suburb every week for a year, in search of the beauty in the ‘burb. Care to join me?

Why, yes! Thank you for asking.