Top Button Sometimes

I feel sick...

2011-03-04T17:27:00.003Z

This is absolutely amazing. I've just watched it twice and now I feel sick. Watch in full screen for the best effect.

Weird, but wonderful

2011-02-18T11:33:00.001Z

Records of 2010

2011-01-07T15:23:00.003Z

I've enjoyed my music this year, mainly down to the wonder that is Spotify. My records of the year are as follows:

Albums

The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
Ali & Toumani - Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté
Heligoland - Massive Attack
Queen of Denmark - John Grant
The Archandroid - Janelle Monáe

Tracks

Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
Modern Man - Arcade Fire
La Iguana - The Chieftains featuring Ry Cooder
She Needs Me - Fyfe Dangerfield
Fireflies (Tommy Sunshine 5am Edit) - Owl City

Empire State of Mind

2010-10-08T16:53:00.008+01:00

We've just returned from a holiday to New York. It's been a few years since our last visit and a few things things have changed. Here are some random thoughts:

New York really is a city that doesn't sleep. They seem to accept sirens going off at 3 or 4 in the morning
The subways are much better than they were 20 years ago. However, they're incredibly dirty, and the signs to tell you where you're going are almost non-existent
Cars have got bigger and smaller. Whilst many New Yorkers seem to be downsizing their vehicle, others seem to want the biggest, most obscene vehicle they can find (the Escalade is particularly hideous)
The habit of young Americans to punctuate their sentences with 'like' is very noticeable and really got on my nerves ("OMG, that's, like, really cool"). On a couple of occasions I was very close to saying something which would have seriously soured Anglo-American relations
The Wellington boot is a fashion statement. I couldn't believe the number of very smartly dressed women who, at the first sign of rain, wore something I normally wear in the garden
The 'have a nice day' attitude of the Americans can come across as being a bit false, but it's much more preferable to some of the miserable buggers you get in the UK
If you're going, visit Mary's Fish Camp in Greenwich Village. It's a small, local fish restaurant, the food is superb and the music is brilliant. It couldn't be any more perfect.

Birmingham. Who loves you baby?

2010-06-10T14:39:00.001+01:00

A film about Birmingham. Narrated by Telly Savalas

My Dad

2010-05-11T14:41:00.006+01:00

My Dad passed away a couple of months ago. He was 84 and died of a very aggressive cancer (Metastatic Angiosarcoma, if you're interested). I know I'm biased, but Stan Sydenham was a great man. Everyone liked him and he was the very embodiment of 'the life and soul of the party'. I loved him very much, I was very proud of him, and I miss him a great deal.

Two months after his death, the thing that really strikes me is that I feel I've, all of a sudden, grown up. I'm not in the first flush of youth (or even the second), but I now realise that I've spent the past 30ish years of my adult life, thinking that I'm still a young man and my Dad will always be there to help and support me. Now that he's not around, the added responsibility I have of being there for my Mum has put an extra wrinkle in my brow and a few extra gray hairs at my temples. I'm sure this is the normal reaction to a loved one's death, I'm sure, over time, life will settle into it's post-Stan normality, but just at the moment I feel every one of my 52 years.

New York in minature

2010-03-05T09:04:00.003Z

Click on the HD button and watch it in full-screen for the best effect.

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

Stunning Oscar winning animated short

2010-02-15T15:56:00.004Z

Logorama, an Oscar winning animated short by François Alaux and Herve de Crecy of H5 featuring over 2,500 company logos.

The Weather

2010-01-10T17:56:00.002Z

I’d just like to say I’m getting really fed up with the weather. Thank you.

Harold Budd kept me sane

2009-11-27T16:55:00.005Z

It's been a gloomy week this week. Apart from the rain and wind, my PC decided to call it a day (I had backed everything up the day before, thanks for asking).

So in need of a bit of cheering up where do I turn? Lady GaGa? Pet Shop Boys? Lily Allen? Well, all of these actually, but the music that really did the trick was Harold Budd and his neo-classical doodlings. Along with his mates Brian Eno and Andy Partridge, it's been just the right sort of music to wash over me, allowing me to get an important report written and forget about the most depressing month of the year. I commend Mr Budd and his works to you.

National Geographic

2009-10-25T10:38:00.004Z

I'm a big fan of National Geographic Magazine for the quality of their articles and the brilliance of their photographs. This month's issue is well up to standard and I was very struck by one picture by Monica Szczupider of chimpanzees mourning the death of one of their number.

Cameroon—At the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center, more than a dozen residents form a gallery of grief, looking on as Dorothy—a beloved female felled in her late 40s by heart failure—is borne to her burial.

Original Jake and Dinos Chapman art

2009-10-12T15:05:00.006+01:00

I've been having a bit of a trawl through my database (it's nice to have a tidy up occasionally). I came across the following artwork which was given away, I think, by the Guardian website. It's by Jake and Dinos Chapman and I thought that you out there in the Blogosphere might be interested.

Birds on a wire

2009-10-12T14:57:00.006+01:00

I saw this photograph in National Geographic magazine and it made me smile.

London tourist tube map

2009-10-08T18:02:00.001+01:00

With all the fuss about TfL removing the Thames from the tube map, lodonist.com have come up with a new simplified map for tourists.

Nice fretwork, sir!

2009-10-08T17:49:00.002+01:00

Cross dressing, a thumping bass and glasses of milk (towards the end). What's not to like?

Wonderful projections

2009-09-16T09:54:00.002+01:00

It's a great shame that someone decided to switch the light on in the west wing about half way through.

Shoe Fetish?

2009-09-14T18:19:00.012+01:00

It's not only the ladies that like a nice shoe. I've just bought some of these fabulous black leather George Cox shoes from the British Boot Company in Camden. The chap behind the counter told me that George Cox shoes are more popular in Japan than DMs.

These beauties will form the basis of my outfit for an upcoming 50s night that's being run in the local Village Hall. All I need now are the appropriate trousers, shirt and jacket. That shouldn't be too difficult, should it?

Queen are alive!

2009-09-14T18:05:00.002+01:00

The new Muse album is released today and jolly good it is too. The thing that strikes me on first hearing is:

There are large chunks of it that could have been written by messrs Mercury and May
There are large chunks of it where there's so much going on, I'd swear I can hear the sound of a kitchen sink being played

Each of these points on their own would be A GOOD THING, but together they make A VERY GOOD THING.

Not sure about Twitter? This is worth a look.

2009-09-11T16:57:00.003+01:00

Graham Linehan (Father Ted and The IT Crowd writer) is something of a star in the Twittersphere (he kicked off the #welovethenhs campaign in response to the US criticism). One of his pet gripes is the media knocking Twitter and how it's used, when they don't really understand it. He's just posted this on his blog. It's worth a look.

Jeremy Beadle lives! And he's French

2009-09-11T16:24:00.002+01:00

Are reunion's ever a good thing?

2009-01-29T15:04:00.008Z

The news that Mott the Hoople are reforming for a series of gigs leaves me cold, and I was a big fan. The same applies to the Specials reunion. I remember both these bands when they were new, fresh, glamorous and exciting. These new gigs are effectively going to be upmarket tribute shows. When will they ever learn?

The Sartorial Rule

2009-01-26T12:22:00.005Z

When wearing a jacket, remember:

Top button sometimes.
Middle button always.
Bottom button never.

Whilst I've known this for some time, my thanks go to Bill Nighy who encapsulated the rule in a recent issue of the Word magazine.

Isn't technology wonderful?

2009-01-25T19:05:00.000Z

I'm very new to this blogging mularky, but it gives me a huge kick to send an update to my brand-spanking new blog from my mobile. I'll be in touch.