Chipophone = COOLEST THING IN THE WORLD

This is the greatest thing I've ever seen. Swedish software engineer Linus Åkesson took an old electric organ off his friend's hands and decided to reverse-engineer it, transforming it into the Chipophone. Truly amazing. I want, no I NEED one of these. Make me one Linus, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease? Check out Linus' page for a full rundown on everything he did for this project.



Linus performing the theme from 1985's ZX Spectrum game Spellbound. Gahhh..



That's all for now,



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Sí "Great Expectations" album taster

Check out some of the lovely Sí's unmastered tracks from her upcoming debut album "Great Expectations", due for release in November. There are four different tracks available to preview, "An Apple for an Orchard" and "Say" on bandcamp and "The Princess Waltz" and "Toy Soldiers" on myspace. <3

That's all for now,

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Matt Dorfman is cool

I love the invite New York based designer/illustrator Matt Dorfman created for his wedding guests. Check out more of his work on his website. http://www.metalmother.com/

Alvin Schwartz - The Green Ribbon

I've been meaning to do a post on this story since I first started this blog, but of course I'm only getting round to it now. When I was a child I was obsessed with "The Green Ribbon". It may have had something to do with the fact that the girl in the story was called Jenny, which made it even more creepy. This short story belongs to a collection of scary stories, from the book "In a Dark, Dark Room" by Alvin Schwartz. A straightforward children's story that is still fascinatingly sinister.

The version I had was illustrated by the fantastic, Dirk Zimmer. I'm aware there were a couple of other versions of this book, but when I think of this story, I always remember how well Zimmer's illustrations portrayed the tense and gloomy mood. Each picture was simply drawn but was then painstakingingly detailed with tiny black etchings to create depth. It always disturbed me when I was younger how even when Jenny was smiling in the pictures, she always looked so sad. I suppose that happens when you harbour a terrrrrible secret..WHoOoOoOoOoOoo etc etc. Was the cat supposed to be Death, or just a creepy cat?! This tale without a doubt, spawned my life-long love for horror. Maybe some of you remember this story?

The Douglas Firs- Haunting Through EP

Check out the beautifully ambient EP; "Haunting Through" from Edinburgh's The Douglas Firs. It's now up for download/streaming on bandcamp. You can download it for as much or as little as you like. Enjoy.

http://www.myspace.com/thedouglasfirs
http://thedouglasfirs.blogspot.com/

Leandro Erlich - Artist Illusionist

Leandro Erlich is an Argentinian artist living and working between Argentina and Paris. His works mainly focus on familiar architectural elements and the audience's perception of reality. The experience requires the viewer to go beyond the allure of the visual marvels and to explore their own psychological reality by stepping into Erlich's world of illusion, reflection and reversal. His temporary exhibition is running in Long Beach, California at the moment and his piece "Swimming Pool" is permanently installed at the Kanazawa Museum, Japan. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to experience his pieces in person at some point! I hope you like his work, and please visit his website for more photos and information here.

"Swimming Pool"

"The Staircase"

"La Torre"

"Window and Ladder"

"Shattering Door"

"Bâtiment"

Here are a few youtube links to videos of Erlich's works in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT7gjhHq9d0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w8pb7fvWFA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oLdZ78DiSw

That's all for now






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