Only for the very, very brave....

....because once started there's no obvious way to stop....but then again, who'd want to?
Click on the character to listen to the theme tune at Clumsy.info Bring back Supergran!

Find 10 Gnomes, Episode 9:Chemistry

The latest episode of Find 10 Gnomes has been released.....
Play Episode 9:Chemistry
And links to all the rest here

Putting Britain on the Map

Splendid 1953 video of the Ordnance Survey at work. When I was drawing maps for the DOE in the 70's things really hadn't changed that much.....during training we had weeks mastering the art of hand lettering (a full week of my working life was taken up writing the single word MOONMAN with a mapping pen getting to grips with the concept of 'negative spaces'!) and how to use proportional dividers, scribing was still seen as cutting-edge technology. Notice the distinct lack of female presence and the prevalence of the necktie and sensible specs. Happy days!

Excuses, excuses......

So it's been 'Freshers Week'.......and I'm almost blinded by the reflected light from shiny new faces and designer rucksacks. Click on the above image to find out my cunning plan to survive another academic year. The corner shop came up trumps with an industrial sized jar that might just last me till next weekend. Zzzzzzz.......................

Star quality

Via JayisGames......
"Hoshi Saga is a simple game of discovery. One part point-and-click and one part puzzle game, the objective in each stage is to find the star. How you go about doing that is different for every level. The task is up to you to figure out how." (Part 3 has just been released)

Hoshi Saga
Hoshi Saga 2
Hoshi Saga 3

Wooden Mirror

Via Cut 'n Paste Weblog

"interactive artist daniel rozin works in a very particular artistic milieu, making mirrors from unreflective surfaces. one of his creations, 'the wooden mirror' is a testament to his skill in this area. the mirror uses 830 square pieces of wood which are hooked up to an equal number of small motors which move the wooden blocks according to a built in camera. the camera picks up movement in light and somehow transfers the signal to the wood. the result is an eerie representation of reality depicted in tiny wooden pixels. since building 'the wooden mirror' rozin has experimented with a number of other materials."

Watch it in action.....

Daniel Rozin's website

Green webpage printing

"Have you ever printed a webpage only to find your printout consisted mostly of empty space, ads and other junk you didn't want? PrintWhatYouLike is a webpage editor that lets you control how webpages look when printed."

Link

The Map That Came to Life

My sort of book! A scan of the whole thing can be found here at The Alphabet of Illustrators

Giant Pool of Money

Promised Chris I would post a link to this radio programme. It explains the origins of the current credit crunch in a way that even I understood!

"A special program about the housing crisis produced in a special collaboration with NPR News. We explain it all to you. What does the housing crisis have to do with the turmoil on Wall Street? Why did banks make half-million dollar loans to people without jobs or income? And why is everyone talking so much about the 1930s? It all comes back to the Giant Pool of Money."

Link to listen online

The Corpus Christi clock and Chronophage

Amazing stuff....more details here

Fun with stationery.....who'd have thought it?

EepyBird's Sticky Note experiment from Eepybird on Vimeo.

The Golden Age of LP covers

More vintage goodness at LP Cover Lover

Stop-Motion by PES

More clever stuff here

Test your colour IQ

Drag and drop the colour chips into tonal order....the first and last colours in each line are fixed.

At xRite

ps....Whoopee, I managed a 12!!

Vintage recipe books

Just a sample, "Sandwiches" circa 1905 (full-book scan)....and if you get the taste there's loads more here at the Iowa Digital Library, Szathmary Collection..... "The University’s collection includes more than 4,000 promotional recipe pamphlets, published mainly by food and appliance manufacturers and trade associations (the majority are listed in this index). Dating from the late 19th century to the present, this advertising ephemera reflects the evolution of the modern American diet."

So, how does that Large Hadron Converter thingy work then?

But to be honest, I still got well and truly lost about half a minute in....maybe you'll do better! In the meantime I think I'll get myself a t-shirt with this on the front....

Available from the Neatorama shop

Lego Simpsons

Icons of England

"ICONS is a rich resource of material about our lives and cultural heritage. Teachers use it to stimulate classroom learning. Inspiring content continually sparks visits to arts venues and events. It whets the appetites of tourists and provides valuable reference material for students. The content for the site has been created by the ICONS team and our partner organisations, as well as valued contributions from you - the public."

Link

Newcastle's alternative drinking guide

The Burglars Dog just can't be bettered for that 'grumpy old man' take on a local pub review (but don't click if you're easily offended by serial expletives!)

Echogenesis

"Echogenesis is an interactive flash artwork in which you are encouraged to explore and engage with a series of natural environments, moving tableaux inhabited by various creatures and suffused with smooth ambient soundtracks. There's no game, no goal, just the experience, like a pleasant jaunt through a virtual biodome."
via Blue Tea

Pussy versus printer

Kongo.....Battle Cat

Well.....possibly not! Meet the new official blog kitten, Kongo of the monstrous eyebrows and whiskers......maybe he'll grow into them given time.

Toys of the 50's......

.....prepare to be underwhelmed!



But there's a rare shot of some Pelham Puppets strutting their stuff!

BBC Big Bang Day

"Radio 4 joins CERN on 10 September 2008 as scientists attempt to discover more about the origins of the Universe by recreating the aftermath of the Big Bang.
The experiment is one of the most complex and significant of modern times - and one that raises a lot of questions!"

Check out the website to find out what's on. I'll definitely be listening in to some themed drama in the afternoon, "Torchwood comes to Radio 4 in a specially-commissioned drama. Martha Jones, ex-time traveller and now working as a doctor for a UN task force, has been called to CERN. Join Captain Jack and friends in a series of strange events around the activation of the world's largest particle accelerator." Link (also available as a podcast)

Little Nemo in the Land of Wonderful Dreams

High resolution scans of this wonderful (literally) Winsor McCay comic strip from the early years of the 20th Century....there's no less than 376 of them at The Comic Strip Library

And here's a repost of McCay's 1911 (1911!!) animation of some of the characters. If I remember correctly, the individual frames were hand painted on rice paper.

Installation at the Laing

GONE WITH THE WIND by Claire Morgan
.....until 19th October 2008

"Representing an individual's journey through a large crowd, Gone With The Wind is made from over 10,000 wild flower seeds and a Kittiwake Gull."

No other way to describe it but mind-boggling!

See more of Claire Morgan's work at her website

I, Robot.....

Another picture from the Treasure Hunt on Tuesday. Interesting fact...the window to the left of the robot's ear probably belongs to the Swedish Consulate (according to the nameplate on the door)

Found in Black Swan Yard....part of the Newcastle Arts Centre

ps...though for an "Arts Centre" their website could do with an injection of style and new technology!

TOP TIPS.....keep crisps....er....crisp

Tyne and Wear Heritage Open Days

Visit the website

Download the full event listings booklet (2.6mb pdf)

But Heritage Open Days aren't just a northern affair, visit the National website to see what's on offer elsewhere. It's a great chance to visit places that aren't normally open to the public.

Reflections

Took this picture today (not long before it started to rain as you can probably tell by the stormy skies) while on a Sherlock Holmes themed treasure hunt round Newcastle.....a good time was had by all! (The reflection is of St Nicholas Cathedral by the way)

2 Kittens + a crack under a door = Cute

One for Richard

Just think yourself lucky things have moved on a bit!
Picture from 1931 at ModernMechanix