Radiohead held an online contest inviting DJs to remix their song, Nude, off of In Rainbows.  Apparently, this was a difficult task, being that the song is in 6/8 timing at 63bpm (most DJs mix in 4/4 time at 120bpm).  Most of the entries were only songs in 4/4 beat with sound bytes from the song arbitrarily thrown in.

The following was done by James Houston on outdated hardware.  Get through the first minute, which is just a “warmup”, and you will hear a beautiful symphony.  It reminds me of an art show I saw in Pittsburgh which consisted of a room full of dot matrix printers that were forced to play a concert (they eerily sounded like string instruments).

I think it is very much in the spirit of Radiohead.

Big Ideas (Don’t get any) from 1030 on Vimeo.

“Based on the lyric (and alternate title) “Big Ideas: Don’t get any” I grouped together a collection of old redundant hardware, and placed them in a situation where they’re trying their best to do something that they’re not exactly designed to do, and not quite getting there. 

“It doesn’t sound great, as it’s not supposed to. ”

A warning:  This site contains sound, so if you do not want to hear it right now, visit it later.  As the sound is one of the things that adds to the experience.

Experience 159

This is a wonderfully immersive flash site done in French for Alfa Romeo called experience 159.  It is the first site I have seen in a long time that uses flash that I actually have thought - wow, this is exactly what flash was intended for!

The site creates an experience.  Even though I have little idea what the text says (I only know the french basics), and I could care less about Alfa Romeo cars (not exactly in my price range), I found myself clicking through every section just to experience more of the site.

The music is beautiful, the sound effects are perfect (when you mouse over the main navigation, you can hear different ambient sounds for each section, when you mouse over text within sections, you will hear a musical note that will change each time), the graphics and photography are intense and dramatic, and all of this sets up interactivity how it is meant to be in flash.

Now, I’m not saying that every site should be in flash as long as it is like this.  Of course, this only is useful for a select market.  Most web sites these days exist because people use the internet as their sole way to find specific information and do research.  So most web sites need to provide that information.  As entertaining as this site is, it would not work for most companies (as in, it would not bring them sales, just the possibility of a bunch of people looking at their site).

Also, this site is not perfect.  It makes some of the major mistakes that most sites built entirely in flash make.  Namely, the inability to skip an intro (and there are lots of mini intros that, the first time visiting the section are very engaging, but on repeated return are a bit long and tedious) and no use of the browser’s back button (although they do have the ability to return to the main menu, which makes things a little bit easier in navigation).

We went to see Indiana Jones last night, but I am not allowed to talk about it because my friend, who lives in China, cannot see it yet and loves Indiana Jones. So I am only allowed to say this:

We had so much fun watching it, and Joe wants to go see it again.

If you like Indiana Jones, you should definitely go watch it.  And find a good theater.  We found one with a huge screen and great sound system.  Theaters have been a little disappointing lately.  Especially with our maxed out home entertainment system.

Last night we finally watched Brother Bear.  We bought it as one a movie for me to watch because of my wisdom teeth.  All I have to say is I have a bone to pick with Disney.

I don’t know if Disney just doesn’t understand that music is VERY important to a visual piece or what, but lately, it seems that they don’t.  At all.  I am so tired of the Phil Collins and Collinesque songs in Disney movies.  They are so bad and so horribly removing they make me want to turn the movie off the instant they begin.

Why, Disney?.. Why?

Brother Bear wouldn’t have been too bad of a movie.  It has a fine message like all Disney movies, and a fine story.  The animation was beautiful.  But that damn music made me start picking apart everything else.  I just don’t understand why Disney would think it is a good idea.  I mean, I can guarantee it is a huge reason why they are not so successful with their hand-drawn films anymore.

And I am not saying that Phil Collins is bad.  I’m not saying that I don’t like that type of music.  But it being in my Disney movie is just NOT COOL.  It is like mixing religion and politics.  You don’t do it.  PLEASE STOP!

When I was little, I used to love singing along with my favorite Disney characters and trying to sound just like them.  This was when they made such masterpieces such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and The Lion King.  I would listen to the sound tracks again and again.  They went perfectly with the movies and what was happening.  They enhanced the experience.

But I always hated the older movies where there was just one stupid song in the movie, or two.  I hated when they sang in Bambi, I skipped it.  And even though I love the song from The Fox and The Hound, I hated it IN THE MOVIE.  It is just very removing and boring.  And this is what they have gone back to.  Ever since Tarzan.

And come on.  The Lion King special edition?  The Morning Report song?  I really hope that was a joke.  Talk about ruining a scene.

It completely takes away from the scene of Simba being taught how to prowl and hunt by his dad.  Which I, as a kid, loved.  And this new song is so utterly stupid, it’s ridiculous.

All I know is that Disney needs to get some better people to oversee their music.

Okay, so aside from the wonderful of-the-Caribbean movies that I so thoroughly enjoy… I, like most people in this country, currently have an obsession with pirates. I always sort of liked them - I would read books about ocean voyages, etc. I think that if I were alive in that day and age I probably would have even tried to be one. I love the ocean so much, and I would love to sail the seven seas.

So when I was at the independent book store with Joe’s grandmother and I saw “The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists” you should know that it instantly struck my fancy. I thought at first that it was probably just one of those books that they give a strange title to, you know, to throw you off. But reading the description and then the first page of the book, I soon found that I was so very wrong.

It was two books in one - if you flipped it over it was “The Pirates! in an Adventure with Ahab” and the books are written by Gideon Defoe (you should visit his web site - it’s hilarious) and are completely and wonderfully absurd. I am currently reading “Ahab”, but finished “Scientists” and can say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Defoe is english, so the humor is very english humor. Witty, quick, catches you off guard, and at times is just silly nonsense. He mixes a lot of things of today with things of pirate-times. For example, The Pirate Captain eating a bowl of Cocoa Puffs. Or them visiting Las Vegas in “Ahab”. You just have to read it to appreciate it.

Most of the main characters in the books don’t have names. Or rather, their names are “The Pirate Captain” “The Pirate who wears a scarf” “The Pirate who dresses in green” “The albino pirate”, etc. There is a female who joins the crew in “Scientists” who Defoe, rather than getting himself into trouble and naming “The pirate with boobs”, named Jennifer.

Another added bonus that I love about these books, is Defoe includes footnotes. There are words or actions he will comment on and actually give you a history on, or why he included it, or just a fun fact (”In ten years our Banana supply will be gone” “The tricorn hat came from the English Civil War when soldiers had to turn up one side of their hat to fire a gun”). I love when I learn something from books.

One of my favorite scenes in “Scientists” was when the pirates, bored of racing Sea Turtles on the boat deck, decide to make a bouncy castle out of jellyfish (they eventually give up, however, with their boots covered in jellyfish guts).

I will definitely continue reading these books as Defoe writes them. He also has “The Pirates! In an adventure with Communists” out. He is a very funny and intelligent man, and it is exactly my kind of humor. It doesn’t hurt that the subject matter are pirates, either.

If you want a story that will make you laugh out loud and throw in a little adventure, read “The Pirates!” books.