Callitech Blog

For a clean shave

2008-10-18T14:49:00.002+11:00

If you're not getting your fruit ready for Movember, try zyliss.

peeling cream sold seperately

BBC Soul Deep

2008-10-18T12:15:00.002+11:00

BBC hosted a series earlier this year dubbed "Soul Deep".

The series "tells the story of how Soul music was forged from r 'n' b and gospel to become the most successful music in the world..."

The episodes are available online, and there is also a great biography of some of the more and less obvious soul players.

Drought Breaks

2008-10-18T12:09:00.002+11:00

It's been nearly a year since I've blessed the screens of millions with my words of not-so wisdom.

I'm not black, and my names not Jack...but I am BACK...If only for a short while!

This post is brought to you by La-Z-Boy...

Testarossa Autodrive

2007-10-29T13:06:00.001+11:00

Not often I listen to this kind of "electro" but this "Testarossa Autodrive" filmclip by Kavinsky is worth putting down your guard for. A simple story about a guy, his ferrari and a love affair told through anime...

KAVINSKY - Testarossa Autodrive
Uploaded by rogerhanin

Microsoft Roundtable

2007-10-28T15:57:00.000+11:00

It's back to the future with Microsoft once again. This nifty collaboration device will allow you to have a 360 degree view of a conference room of your choosing. The coolest thing about it is that it automatically tracks and records the flow of conversation even with many speakers!

In other 'Microsoft owns the world' news - this week Facebook will see an investment of $267 Million giving Microsoft a 1.6% stake in Facebook. And so it goes that Facebook is now valued at $15 billion US Dollars!

My father blues

2007-10-26T17:51:00.000+10:00

Yet another Star Wars post, talk about pop culture!

Most famous for his light-saber wielding evil antics, in his spare time the black man Darth likes to play the blues to his children...

La-Z-Boy

2007-10-26T16:51:00.000+10:00

I've been a bit of a Laz-Z-Boy in terms of posting lately, apologies to all who enjoy my content (which I estimate to be roughly the amount of people living in China)!

This post has been brought to you buy Laz-Z-Boy, the uber comfortable chair of choice for couch dwellers and TV channel surfers.

Posting shall resume at an accelerated rate from here on in so be sure to tune in through my rss feeds or email feeds!

Great Moments in the History of Advertising

2007-10-26T16:13:00.000+10:00

This is the kind of thing you would do if you won 30 million in the lottery, otherwise leave it to 3M!

Google Earth Enterprise

2007-10-26T15:57:00.000+10:00

If you haven't heard of Google Earth then you probably don't live on this earth, in which case you are probably using Google Mars, Google Jupiter or Google Saturn!

But most people haven't heard of Google Earth Enterprise. Enter Google's ability to turn technology with a somewhat ambiguous business model into large profits - for only $125,000 US dollars you and your company can map all kinds of data on the Google Earth platform.

My first encounter with the power of enterprise was a TED demonstration by Larry Page and Sergey Brin where they showed google user data worldwide on google earth. Amazing.

Begin to imagine the implications of this form of organising and collecting data, within any industry.

Nix One - Hip Hop Happenings

2007-10-26T15:33:00.000+10:00

I had to pass this on. A friend of mine was recently interviewed by Koky Prik Records about his upcoming EP entitled "Pay Me My Money Back Aggar".

I need not say more, it's an interview that shows his knowledge, passion and hip hop street smarts.

Have a read and listen to his rhymes

Wookah.com

2007-09-23T13:07:00.000+10:00

watch this space.

What is wookah?
A newly spawned search engine that makes search easy for you and me.

How does wookah work?
Simple. Wookah is a vertical search engine which lets you search keywords over a variety of sites all at once and all in the one window.

Try this out...go to wookah.com, select 'Jobs' from the categories at the top of the window, now pretend that you are a zoo keeper and you live in Sydney...search for 'zoo keeper' sydney and then wookah does the rest - it uses your search keywords to search all of the sites in the 'Jobs' category, and now all you have to do is jump from 1 site to another and it's all there, and then once you've found your dream zoo keeper job you can don your khaki's and safari!

What else makes wookah one of the best things since sliced bread?
Well well well, wookah.com is owned by the cleverly named and cleverly ran Internet Property Development Group who have reported 70% growth for the past 3 years! CEO Ari Klinger has been an Australian online entrepeneur to watch and will continue to be, I shake the hand of any Australian that is young, innovative and collaborative and who is pushing the online industry for Australia and creating opportunities for comparatively intelligent people that don't live in Silicon Valley!

So what can we all do for wookah.com?
Try it.
See it's potential.
Become addicted.
Spread the Wookah word.

ideas create ideas

2007-09-23T11:32:00.001+10:00

people create ideas
ideas create ideas
ideas are the basis of our society
society is just an idea

ideas develop through the mind
the mind develops through ideas
through ideas society is created

just an idea = a just idea

Hotel Fox

2007-09-04T17:59:00.000+10:00

Easily the most exciting hotel in the world, Hotel Fox brings together "61 artists, 21 rooms and 1000 ideas". With all the post mod-cons and cutting edge design you would expect from a Copenhagen hotel, there is little more that needs to be said.

So what is left to say? And what sets this apart from all the other hotels?

Individually decorated rooms designed by some of the most quirky and obscure graphic artists, interior designers and artists!

"Two Swans (Fertility Shrine)" - Friends With You

"Sleep Well" - Geneviève Gauckler

"Ecstacy" - WK interact

A Convenient Lie

2007-09-04T17:37:00.000+10:00

I just got back to the big smoke from hugging some trees up in the north coast and thought I might impose on your daily routine with some easy and obvious ways to reduce carbon emissions:

- Turn off appliances at the wall socket. Turns out this makes a huge saving, especially with ridiculously large plasma screens.
- Plant a tree for carbon sequesting.
- Use public transport. Everybody loves Cityrail.
- Use blackle instead of google. Blackle is not only more race friendly, being the black version of google, it claims to potentially save 750 megawatt-hours per year just by displaying search results on a black background.
- Convert your car to gas.

Simple, and now next time you get into a heated debate with Al Gore you can tell him you are making a difference.

And what if it's all just scientific codswallop? Well, if Prince Charles is making a point of reducing his carbon footprint then who can refuse? Not Camilla, not me and not YOU!

Smurfs Up...where are they now?

2007-08-17T17:05:00.000+10:00

Who could ever forget the smurfs?

First coined at the dinner table by a friend asking creator Peyo if he could "passe-moi le schtroumpf", in english "pass me the smurf". He was actually asking for salt but he and many million others got a lot more than that!

Born in 1958 the smurfs were originally secondary characters in a story about Johan & Peewit published in "Le Journal de Spirou", but just as with The Simpsons first appearing in the Tracey Ullman Show, the smurfs became stars in their own right.

In case you had a deprived childhood:

The Smurfs live in mushroom houses somewhere in the forests of medieval Europe
They are 3 apples tall and love to eat smurfberries
They live in harmony with mother nature and every smurf has their own individual task to help the community. Here is a list of smurf characters and the role they played in the community
Papa Smurf, 542 years old, is their leader and looks after the communities welfare

The best thing about the smurfs was their own unique language, just as many people in our world use swear words in every sentence the Smurfs used the word "smurf" extensively. How funny it would be if humans said the word "human" in place of swear words, "human off", "human you" or "human yeah"!

The smurf language has become pop culture and has not seen it's day. Family Guy featured an episode of the Smurfs on The Griffins TV -

Smurf 1: Hey did you have a good time last night?

Smurf 2: Smurf-tacular!

Smurf 1: Yeah, I saw you leave with Smurfette

Smurf 2: Oh man, as soon as we got out of the bar she started smurfing me

Smurf 1: Shut the Smurf up. Right in the smurfing car-park?

Smurf 2: Smurf yeah

Smurf 1: Oh that is freaking Smurf!

So apart from the smurf language, where are The Smurfs now?

The 256 episodes of the smurfs are still being watched in over 30 million countries, over 10 million copies of the Smurfs CD's have been sold in the last 3 years "and with the new style and the increasing range of Smurfimedia coming out, the little blue men are sure to have plenty of surprises for fans in the years to come". The biggest surprise...a 3 part Smurfology coming to cinemas near you in 2008! Paramount and Nickelodean will be putting on the show with a script from Herb Ratner and producer Jordan Kerner. The 2008 release will commemorate 50 years of smurfing around!

I love lamb

2007-08-15T17:44:00.000+10:00

This one is for all of my vegetarian and vegan readers out there:

Fold my shirts and eat my shorts

2007-08-15T17:23:00.000+10:00

In Australia we have kangaroos as shopping trolleys, in Japan they have Kung-Fu laundry maids!

Try it out, I'm actually thinking of either becoming a laundry worker or moving to Japan it is that good!

Bob Dylan Remixed and Retrospectived

2007-08-14T20:04:00.000+10:00

There is a first for everything and Mark Ronson's 'Re-Version' of Bob Dylan is not only a first for Dylan remixes but in my mind it's also a first for decent remixes of music from the 60's.

After years of rejecting all offers to remix his catalogue, Dylan, 66, has decided that a dancefloor makeover is the best way to introduce his upcoming 51 track retrospective coined "DYLAN" to a younger generation. You will be able to get your hands on a copy (legally) in October.

The 're-version of Dylan's not so famous "Most Likely You Go Your Way" had it's debut on BBC earlier this month and Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe played the track twice within an hour. The track is that good that even DJ St. Andrew played a sample of the track more than twice!

Post Less

2007-08-13T10:08:00.000+10:00

Just a short apology for the lack of posts of late, I assure you I have been very busy. Hold on for interviews with James Bucknell, Deepchild, Gabriel Watts and Louie Austen!

How to Stop a War

2007-08-03T17:38:00.000+10:00

This just in, artists all around the world have finally worked out how to stop wars:

The people are rejoicing, John and Yoko have risen from the dead (like jesus himself) to proclaim that:

Alas, all the troubles of the world are not over yet, politicians are now trying to find a solution to get rid of all of this graffiti and decide who is going to kill John again!

The Unexpected Radio Slot of Yesterday

2007-07-26T22:26:00.000+10:00

My good friend Kate from The Australian Republican Movement organised for me to DJ for ANU Bush week yesterday.

The story goes that we turned up with no speakers and lucky for us RawFM were broadcasting live through a nice big sound system. One collaboration later and my good friend Jitwam Sinha and myself were broadcast all over Australia!

It was quite a nice afternoon - nice people, nice soundsystem and nice music!

Get Lost

2007-07-26T20:23:00.000+10:00

My friend sent me this map and I thought I would share it with all of you so you don't get lost on the internet!

Click on the map for a larger version.

Would you like to go 'up' to dinner with me?

2007-07-24T16:42:00.000+10:00

The dictionary definition of Ex-treme: the furthest or utmost length beyond the ordinary or average.

Benji Fun definition of Ex-treme: Dinner in the sky, Car Bungee, Toilet Racers and many more seemingly ridiculous definitions including "death riding".

Dinner in the sky is my favourite and probably the most 'practical'. It shows us that with the technology that surround us today and manifests itself as the tools of creativity the sky is the limit...or is it?

I do wonder though what would happen if you dropped your fork or needed to go to the toilet!

Benji Fun have also given me a great marketing idea that would work well locally - Segways with advertising on them. If you think about local scooter advertising campaigns and the costs involved the segway could be a good alternative; being much cheaper, better for the environment and standing out as much if not more than scooter ads. The only real question is could they reach as much of an audience as the scooter ads?

We may see this trend over the next few years!

Computer Music From The Jazz Diaries

2007-07-24T04:00:00.000+10:00

An interesting post by my friend at The Jazz Diaries - The first ever compilation made solely on a computer, which was later sampled by Radiohead in "Idioteque". Look out for there new album which is "scarier than OK Computer"

Happy snaps from last nights dream

2007-07-21T00:54:00.000+10:00

Happy snaps of my new friend I met in my dreams last night, lucky I had my camera!

Skippy spends most of his time drinking near the bright lights. He likes sailing his ship on the high seas but loves nothing more than visiting his extended family in Vegas.

If you can guess where I met Skippy I will give you lifetime membership to all Callitech happenings!

It's never too late to start playing an instrument

2007-07-20T17:11:00.000+10:00

Many people I speak to wish they had started playing an instrument when they were young.

It's never too late to start playing an instrument!

Who needs a Secondlife?

2007-07-19T21:20:00.000+10:00

It’s hard to believe but there are more than 8,000,000 people worldwide “enjoying” Secondlife. Personally I wonder whether there is any correlation between this and 8,000,000 people being unhappy with their first life, or their first wife!

The online world has become a haven for marketers including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation who recently bought an island within Secondlife. Basically this means that our taxes have gone into marketing ABC to these somewhat bored, lonely and obscure individuals, and personally I think just as with Facebook this is a big bubble waiting to burst. I’m not the only one who thinks so either – The LA Times declared that “ the marketing possibilities of the virtual world are dead” and Time magazine placed Secondlife in their “5 worst websites of the year”, ironically the same year that they said Time person of the year was ‘you’.

The ABC Managing Director Mark Scott seems to be grabbing at any opportunity to ‘understand’ the changing landscape of media. A while ago I attended a GoldmanSachs speaker series where Mark told everyone how technocratic he was by using a daily weather widget and an rss feed reader. He also stood there and told a large group of youth how they were using media today, boasted about his dealings with the Prime Minister and got into a somewhat heated debate about Rupert Murdoch with the chief editor of The Daily Telegraph. Lucky for him he can hide behind the ABC’s charter!

Have a look at Darren Barefoot’s classic parody site “Get A First Life” and then “go outside, membership is free”!

Record a Pirate

2007-07-19T15:31:00.000+10:00

No longer getting enough adrenalin from stealing music off the internet? Now thanks to gadgets.qj.net you can try your hand at pirating records:

1. Make a box with wooden sides and cement on a glass base making sure it is airtight.
2. Place the record in the box with the side to be recorded facing up. Mark the centre hole with some window cement.
3. Mix Silicone ("smooth on" oomoo 25 or oomoo 30) for at least 3 minutes and pour into the box by starting at one corner. Fill the box to about half a centimetre and make sure that it is even. Sit and dry for 6 hours.
4. Peel off the silicone once dry and cut off any excess around the edges.
5. Turn the silicone over and pour liquid plastic ("smooth on" task #4), ensuring that nothing spills over the circle made from the record, and also brushing or blowing out any air bubbles.
6. Once dry carefully loosen the new record from the mould and use a drill to make the centre hole marked with the window cement.
The mould is reusable so if you want to give some copies to your friends just repeat the process!

Theo Jansen: A Modern Day Da Vinci

2007-07-18T13:32:00.000+10:00

Theo Jansen is a Dutch artist/engineer who lives and works in Holland. Studying Science at The University of Delft Theo soon delved into a more artistic interpretation of science, spending 7 years painting and then progressing into kinetic sculpture. His earlier ‘sculptures’ included a flying saucer that actually flew over the town of Delft and brought the streets and police into commotion. He has devoted the last 15 years of his life to “making new life forms”.

Dubbed “strandbeests”, these skeletal animals are made of plastic electrical conduit and are powered by the wind. A large amount of technology, engineering and science has gone into these animals including genetic algorithms.

Genetic Algorithms simulate evolution to solve complex systems and measure for variables including ‘fitness’. In Theo’s case the algorithms are used to keep the animals in movement within the enclosed lines of the water and the inland edges of the beach.

Theo lets them roam free on the stormy beaches of Netherland and measures their success to update his model and “map the progress of mobility”. Eventually Theo wants to put a whole ‘herd’ of these animals on the beach and let them live in complete autonomy.

This type of work is indeed being researched with utilitarian ends in mind. Andrew Biewener a Professor of biology at Harvard studies the economy of movement and is developing robots with legs that will be able to handle terrain that wheels cannot.

Theo believes that these animals are actually much closer to real animals than the audiences first thought – “It's a sort of symbiosis. I live on these beasts - they give me income - and they live on me, because they need me to make them. You could also say they make me make them. It's already a life form that lives in the media. Many people understand what I'm doing without my having told them; even children, they don't know anything about evolution, but when they look at a beach creature they seem to understand what I'm doing. It's strange. Even in nature - butterflies need flowers, and flowers can't work without worms - everything depends on each other. It's a big symbiosis of many creatures.”

Some of the income that he speaks about comes from his BMW “defining innovations” advertisements, but it’s not hard to guess that he is a “bloody Volvo driver”!

Breaking News: World Wide Web Crash

2007-07-17T20:59:00.000+10:00

The Onion is basically America's online answer to The Chaser and CNNNN.

According to their media kit The New Yorker dubbed The Onion "The funniest publication in the US", although based on everything else in the media kit and on the site I'm not sure if this is just further satirical genius!

Below is just one of the many humourous "breaking news" clips on the site, apologies for the embedded advertisement...damn corporate America!

Sergey Brin "Needs Teepee For Bunghole"

2007-07-17T14:54:00.001+10:00

The uncanny resemblance between Google co-founder Sergey Brin & Mike Judges 90's character Butt-Head!

Never judge a book by it's cover!

Are The Wilcannia Mob M.I.A?

2007-07-17T14:32:00.000+10:00

A few years back I was lucky enough to see The Wilcannia Mob perform their one hit wonder "Down River" at Homebake. Since then though they have escaped my record collection and mind, you could say they have been M.I.A (missing in action), but alas they have just recently come back into existence with the announcement of M.I.A's new album "Kala" which features a re-edit of the original!

I haven't heard the M.I.A version but I will be heading down the record shop on the 20th of August to satisfy my curious ears.

Production of the re-edit has been done by Australian hip hop artist Morganics, who has spent the better part of his life travelling Australia healing and teaching through Hip-Hop and running social outreach programs in jails, schools and outback communities. The Wilcannia Mob has been one of his more well known projects.

He is also running a hip hop theatre show dubbed "Survival Tactics" featuring the likes of Maya Jupiter. In the show he uses hip hop music, rap, graffiti, beatboxing, breakdancing and scratching to tell a meaningful story about issues faced by youth today. The show costs $25 and this includes a free mix CD on arrival!

Dates
18th - 21st July: Melbourne, Arts House
25th - 28th July: Brisbane, Powerhouse
7th - 10th August: Sydney, Sydney Opera House

Cafe Review: Nest

2007-07-15T14:38:00.000+10:00

Nest - Potts Point
It’s Tuesday 12:30pm and I have arrived in Potts Point for a meeting. After wandering down the leafy Victoria St looking for a bite to eat I land at the quaint Nest, a small café sprawling onto the street.

A friendly and genuine waiter helps me choose a small dish. Pears poached in ginger and cinnamon with mascarpone on sour cherry toast, accompanied by a pot of fresh earl grey tea. A drizzling of maple syrup and a dusting of icing sugar complete the pear dish sensationally.

Seated around me there aren’t many, however they are an eclectic mix; the young trendy male with horse fur loafers scribbling in a recycled paper diary, the real estate agent in a ‘this means business’ suit, and the heritage listed ladies of Potts Point enjoying a cup of tea, darling.

The sour cherry toast is well balanced with the mascarpone, and the pears and syrup kick in a naturally sweet taste with plenty of bite. Finishing up I am asked if I would care for more, however taken by the quaint but comforting decor I rather enter into a conversation about the creative music endeavors of my waiter and discuss the community feeling behind the feature wall spotted with children's drawings and local talent.

Pears poached in ginger and cinnamon with mascarpone on sour cherry toast $10

Victoria St Potts Point
Phone: (02) 8356 9505

Chef: Prue Myers

Interview With Simon Caldwell

2007-07-13T13:24:00.000+10:00

This week I caught up for an interview with Simon Caldwell, who is in my mind one of the more refreshing DJ's to come out of Sydney.

He will be playing this weekend at the birth of Callitech and we've asked him to play a different side of Simon.

Andrew Says: If you were an animal what would you be?

Simon Says: Something endangered ;)

Andrew Says: Favourite food?

Simon Says: Japanese

Andrew Says: How would you best describe your sound?

Simon Says: I play lots of different stuff, from hip hop through to Detroit techno. I also love deep house, funk, jazz and soul. There aren’t really boundaries between these styles in my mind.

Andrew Says: Vinyl or digital?

Simon Says: Vinyl 99% plus a few CDs…

Andrew Says: Where do you shop?

Simon Says: Spank Records, Redeye Records, etc

Andrew Says: What are your thoughts on producing, Have you produced, are you producing or do you see yourself strictly as a DJ?

Simon Says: I have done a little bit of production with other people and I would like to pursue it more, although I think producing and DJing are very different.

Andrew Says: What local DJ’s do you respect at the moment? Are there any noteworthy up & comers to keep an eye out for?

Simon Says: Jamie Lloyd & Jimi Polar, Cynik, Paradise Lost Crew...there are always plenty of good new people…

Andrew Says: What international DJ’s do you really respect?

Simon Says: Chris Duckenfield, Charles Webster, Dixon, Claude Young, Dan Bell…

Andrew Says: Electronic music has gone through a myriad of genres, fads & trends. In your opinion what is the key element/thread shared between artists & tracks that become timeless classics?

Simon Says: Tricky question… a lot of it has to do with timing, and not being a ‘genre’ track (except maybe a ‘defining’ track) – something that stands out as unique.

Andrew Says: In playing overseas, what are the key differences that you have experienced between the Aust club scene and that of Europe?

Simon Says: In Europe people tend to be a bit better informed about music, plus perhaps more open to music. Music (including electronic music) is much more part of the wider culture there.

Andrew Says: What do you think will happen in the Aust electronic music scene in the next 5 years, and how can Australia push greater quality in all aspects of the scene?

Simon Says: I think there is a lot of quality in the local scene. There always has been. There needs to be proper support for local artists and DJs rather than importing everything and paying all the money in the scene to people from overseas.

Andrew Says: What is the most humourous thing that has happened to you whilst DJing?

Simon Says: Being asked for the track that’s already playing is always a bit of a giveaway about the state of the requestor. I once got handed a joint about a foot long while I was playing – there were many incriminating pictures taken… but of course I didn’t inhale…

Andrew Says: What do you do through the week?Do you have an alter ego for eg are you an investment banker?

Simon Says: I’m currently studying at uni and operating as a casual international spy (but don’t tell anyone).

Andrew Says: What made you decide to put on your Mad Racket parties?

Simon Says: We all knew each other and wanted a place to play the music that we couldn’t play at other events but which we loved.

Andrew Says: What are your objectives behind Mad Racket?

Simon Says: To put on a party we would really like to go to ourselves. It’s simple really.

Andrew Says: Mad Racket is known for it’s local DJs more so than your internationals. How do you believe you developed this cult status that is associated with the Mad Racket name?

Simon Says: I think we share the emphasis between quality internationals (we try to bring people out before they are well known) and locals. Often people say they like the locals more, which is cool, but it’s also good to keep things fresh with diverse international guests. Hopefully it’s more a trust than a cult. People know we will put on an event that they will enjoy.

Andrew Says: What do you see as the key to Mad Racket’s overwhelming success?

Simon Says: Keeping it simple and not thinking about getting rich.

Andrew Says: We’ve noticed the more upper class Mad Racket ‘cocktail parties’ – is this where Mad Racket is heading?

Simon Says: I think we’re keen to just keep putting on solid parties.

Border Community

2007-07-06T20:03:00.000+10:00

Border Community is James Holden's stalwart record label for music "that doesnt fit in a category". It's all "about providing djs with the tools to innovate".

Artists Released include:
James Holden
Dextro
Lazy Fat People
Extrawelt
Nathan Fake
Petter
Ron Trent

A cool thing about the community (border) is the artworks used for the vinyl labels is all submitted by fans and community members.

My favourite is the cover for Holden's "The Idiots Are Winning" ep painted by Gregory Dourde:

The Simpsons Movie

2007-07-06T18:10:00.000+10:00

A while in the making, The Simpsons Movie will finally hit cinema's worldwide on July 27th, 2007.

To no surprise the plot is very under wraps although Groening has in the past spoken about making a parody of Fantasia called Simpstasia and also possibly making a live action Troy McClure film.

Check out the trailers for more clues

Lego Fantasy

2007-07-06T16:27:00.000+10:00

Memory lane is coming back in late 2008 thanks to the new "Lego Universe" project.

“By merging the online world of social interaction with the LEGO concept of play, LEGO Universe will provide our community with an entirely new way to experience LEGO and connect with other players in a fun and imaginative setting.”

Promises include customizable characters, the complete Lego collection and expansive community and collaborative features.

Hooray!

ChangeThis Manifesto: How To Be Creative

2007-07-06T16:14:00.000+10:00

"ChangeThis is aiming to disrupt the media pattern with powerful, rational arguments from leading thinkers"

And they have done it again with a "How to be creative" manifesto by Hugh Macleod.

The Freshmaker meets his Soda Pop

2007-07-05T13:09:00.000+10:00

What happens when you mix mentos, diet coke and two crazy scientists:

Bubble Tease Communications Podcast

2007-07-05T02:04:00.001+10:00

Looking for some jagged flipside funk and boogaloo blended with a splice of techmania?

Go no further than Maurice Fulton's unmistakable drum sounds and tune into his Bubbletease Communications Podcast:
listen
subscribe to rss feed
add to itunes

Killer Innovations

2007-07-05T01:55:00.001+10:00

Killer Innovations is "a podcast with tools, tricks and lessons about creativity and innovation, with a goal to show the listeners that being creative and innovative is a skill that can be learned."

Run by Phil McKinney, CTO of Hewlett-Packard and a true innovator, it has a huge backcatalogue of insightful episodes.

Manworks Design is..."the right idea and perfect realisation"

2007-07-05T01:35:00.001+10:00

Manworks Design a.k.a Studio MWD wad founded in 2006 and has all the freshness of a one year old bundle of joy.

The sole parents Sergey & Yaroslav have strong beliefs about what creativity is... "Industrial design for us is the right idea and perfect realisation".

They also follow simple steps throughout the creative process to collaborate effectively.

Joost Poppers

2007-07-05T01:33:00.000+10:00

Joost brings you...
[insert 90's style drum roll]
...TV on the internet!

Stormtroopers bloopers

2007-07-05T01:19:00.000+10:00

Darth may be black and Luke handsome, but for me Stormtroopers are hands down the best looking characters to come out of Star Wars, even after this blooper below which actually made it into the final cut and onto screens all around the world!

Invitation to Visit Mars

2007-07-05T01:13:00.000+10:00

This is an official invitation to explore mars

Bananas are yellow

2007-07-05T01:10:00.000+10:00

A scientific study published in Nature Neuroscience in 2006 uncovered the interesting fact that our perception of colour is based both on the actual colour of the object and our knowledge on what it is suppose to look like, although this seems like an oxymoron as you would need to see an object before you know what it looks like.

Scientists have discovered "that color sensations are not determined by the incoming sensory data alone, but are significantly modulated by high-level visual memory,” that is, expectations.

This means that if we see a purely black and white picture of a banana, it will look just a tad yellow to us.

Time-Lapse Graffiti

2007-07-05T01:01:00.001+10:00

German Artist Lichtfaktor is exploring new creative materials through a much less destructive interpretation of graffiti:

Want to try it out yourself? Well Lichtfaktor has been kind enough to let us in on his technique...

The Basics:
To get the best results you need a tripod
The exposure should be around 10-30 sec (or longer if needed)
Be sure to stay in front of the camera while light writing
To avoid overexposure set the camera to about iso100, and close your aperture as much as possible. if there is still to much light you might have to use a nd-filter
Experiment with filters and light reflection materials

Basically you can use different types of lights depending on the effect you are looking for:

xenon - warm golden light
LED - thin precise lines
cold cathode - thick line
flashlights
biking lights
flashing LED's
fireworks

Will Glowsticks Blend?

2007-07-05T00:32:00.000+10:00

The creative bunch at Blendtec continue to find exciting new objects to blend

Below is a video of Tom putting a handful of glowsticks into the blendtec blender -

After only adding a marketing department a year ago Blendtec decided to advertise solely on the internet, producing the "will it blend?" video series and unleashing it on the web...and to much success, this episode has been viewed on youtube more than a million times!

See Through Desktops

2007-06-20T17:31:00.000+10:00

Desktop...you're so vein, I can see straight through you! I'm glad there is someone out there doing this kind of thing to entertain the rest of us!

Drawers...In Staircases...Simple!

2007-06-20T17:24:00.000+10:00

As with most design it is the simplicity of this idea that makes it so practical. Now you can not only use your stairs for going up and down, but also for storage!

This is a great space saving idea for otherwise cluttered apartments, and could be a great spot to keep your shoes if you live in an apartment with stairs right near the entrance.

Might also be a good place to hide kinky or illegal substances, but nobody really has either of those things do they?

Buraka Som Sistema Live @ Fabric

2007-06-09T11:30:00.000+10:00

Buraka Som Sistema, or BSS, are a production trio who have gained significant respect recently with their releases on labels Enchufada and Australia’s wildly successful Modular recordings, as well as track appearances on Simian Mobile Disco’s Suck My Deck out now on Bugged Out. Whether it’s by train, bus or plane I couldn’t really say, but one thing is for sure, BSS seem to be going places.

Coming from the streets of Portugal, their sound is an unusual fusion of jackin house and kuduro, which originates in Angola, Africa. Personally BSS are a rain of sunshine and a much welcome alternative to the somewhat stale sounds that seem to be coming out under the breaks and drum & bass umbrellas.

Not just with the music, there seems to be incredible energy behind their live shows, and this video has left me waiting for their Australian tour (which at this point does not even exist). The video also reminds us all that there is so much cutting edge creativity going on at this very moment, and somewhere in the world someone is…
banging away at a drumkit,
shaking their booty in a dark club,
mixing some records in their bedroom,
and getting down and dirty and having a baby that will become a future creative pioneer!

Interview With Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google

2007-06-09T11:17:00.000+10:00

This one is a little bit off topic but extremely interesting all the same. iinovate - a podcast ran by Stanford business school students - has just recently done an interview with Eric Schmidt, CEO of the Google monster, and it is extremely inspirational & intellectually stimulating for anyone.

Anyway, I'll just let Eric do the talking...here it is!

Quirky Minimal Fuss Advertisement

2007-06-09T11:01:00.000+10:00

Pictures speak a thousand words and so does a girl holding up placards with nonsensical words!

Clever, cute and mildly mysterious...god bless the bear headed girl and all the minimal fuss behind her!

Jantzen Thinks Outside The Box

2007-06-09T09:08:00.000+10:00

Michael Jantzen is nothing short of a stalwart for the cliché ‘thinking outside the box’. With a Master of Fine Arts in multimedia Jantzen unconventionally blends/merges ideas in art & architecture, and creates shapes and concepts of functionality beyond the period. Spending the best part of his ‘career’ exploring alternative energy systems in architecture Jantzen founded the non profit Human Shelter Research Institute and further dedicated himself to the development of alternative human shelter systems. Alternative being the operative word! Here are my 3 favourite Jantzen works:

Wind Shaped Pavilion

Because the outer shell of the pavilion is made of lightweight fabric the wind is able to rotate the 6 levels around a central support frame. The cool thing is that as the wind continues to alter the structures shape it generates power for night time illumination, and as long as the wind continues to blow there is slim to no chance that it will ever return to its original shape!

Stairscape

The stairscape is basically a set of unusual stairs for children & adults. Jantzen says that through this work he is challenging status quo concepts of functionality, stating that the stairscape can be a public gathering place to promote communication & physical fitness.

M-House

35 years of research & experimentation went into this sustainable, recyclable, relocatable house. The structure is made up of customizable ‘cubes’ that can be shipped in flatpack and erected in a new location to suit both the environment & the M-House dwellers. Jantzen wants to see other architects designing M-House ‘cubes’ so dwellers can exchange parts. There has actually only been 1 of these houses made and it was sold in March 07 at auction for an undisclosed amount.

It’s impossible not to respect Jantzen for his nobel attempts at challenging both design and concepts of functionality, but it is also impossible not to ask how practical these designs really are. Realistically funding for these types of projects is extremely limited although this may change. There also seems to be certain functionality issues with many of his designs, for example the M-House has no utilities, and I would personally be afraid of entering a multi level pavilion made out of ‘lightweight fabric’. Putting these flaws aside though I send my respect to Jantzen for pushing the envelope and challenging all of the people who say no.

McKenna pays homage to iconic lamps

2007-06-09T07:10:00.000+10:00

One of the more creative designs to come out of this years International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) were Mark McKenna’s ‘Designer Emulation Kits’, which are basically DIY 9-volt LED lamps.

There are 5 kits, each being a mini appropriation that pays “sincerest homage to some of the greatest modern designers of our time”;

DEK1 - Ingo Maurer’s ‘Luccelino’

DEK 2 – Castiglioni’s ‘Ario”

DEK 3 – Sapper’s ‘tizio’

DEK 4 – Castiglioni’s ‘Toio’

DEK 5 – Phillipe Starcks ‘Miss K’

Now, with only 9-volts of power you to can play chess past your bedtime!

Will the real John Howard please stand up!

2007-06-06T17:25:00.000+10:00

Can you guess what song the Prime Minister is gettin' down to?

Marc Newson's Qantas Lounge Takes Off

2007-05-27T17:11:00.000+10:00

High Flyers be aware: last week Qantas opened their super-luxe first class Qantas lounges at both Sydney & Melbourne international airports.

Amidst an $11 billion takeover bid for Qantas, with $20 million Australian dollars in hand and carte blanc, Marc Newson has designed the ultimate ‘flying star feng shui’ lounge, and you only have to look at the impressive list of features, materials, designers and collaborators to see where all of that money went:
• American oak dividers
• Leather flooring for 80sqm library which holds an array of the latest magazines, newspapers, best-selling books and board game classics.
• Plasmas, Playstation 3’s, PC workstations & wireless (so you can keep up to date with the Callitech Blog!)
• Poltrona Frau leather lounge chairs, recliners & sofas designed specifically for the lounge
• Cappelini dining chairs and tables, also designed specifically for the lounge
• Open kitchen restaurant with menu’s from Australian chef Neil Perry
• Carrara Marble lined showers with individual volume and lighting controls
• Switzerland Quartzite adorns the day spa
• Complementary Payot Paris day spa
• ‘Vertical garden’ with over 8,400 plants designed by Patrick Blanc
• The lounge is managed by French hotel group Sofitel and the service will offer chair side waitering, full concierge service and day spa services.

As is standard with Newson’s designs he has thought about every detail of design and functionality, with “music specially created to complement the atmosphere and function of each area of the lounge”. Newson also sets out to “bring the romance back to travel” which is evident in his use of old fashioned clapper boards to display arrival & departure information.

This kind of luxury coupled with the trend of Australian based companies not owning a company jets makes me wonder if Macquarie executives are flying Qantas!