Classic Drive with Julia Lester

Just thought I’d mention ABC Classic FM Drive with Julia Lester. I switched over to it the other day when the Radio National signal went bad and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. A few hours of classical music is usually enjoyable enough, but this was better than all right, it was excellent! I’m not classical-literate enough to explain why I like it so much, but since then I’ve randomly heard other people commenting on how good Drive with Julia Lester is, like here, so it must be special.

Fifty People, One Question

A kinda syrupy but cute series of videos. With lovely music by Au Revoir Simone, Do Make Say Think and others. For some reason I can’t see the embedded video. If you can’t either just follow the link below.

Fifty People, One Question: Brooklyn from Crush + Lovely on Vimeo.

My favourite answer (taken from video 3 which asks “where would you like to wake up tomorrow?”):

Boy 1: “Somewhere Nice and Hot”

Boy 2: “Somewhere Nice and Hot…Wiv Chicks!”

links to pass the quiet office days

For those of us at work this week, here are some of my favourite links from the past week or so:

Funny, funny, funny! Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis

A gallery of babushkas standing watch in Russia’s great museums

Clean up your desktop with The Unloader

High speed photography. Can anyone tell me what the broken heart is?

Linkitypinks from VSL

Shout outs to VSL which sends nifty things to my inbox each morning. Two extra cool things this morning, the youtube video below (with VSL description) and Sprint which just needs to be visited to be understood. I sure can’t explain it.

VSL Says:

Thirty-nine years ago, a 14-year-old named Jerry Levitan managed to talk his way into John Lennon’s Toronto hotel room. Impressed by the kid’s chutzpah, Lennon obliged him with a five-minute chat that covered war, peace, and the newly arrived Bee Gees.

Last year, Levitan teamed up with filmmaker Josh Raskin to make “I Met the Walrus” — a charming animated film that turns Lennon’s thoughts into concrete images. The results are trippy but cogent, and no less interesting than what the Beatle had to say. Lennon himself would have loved it.

Colour IQ

I know I should be posting news (I’ve never had so much material waiting in the wings!) but instead I’ll alert you to the all important Colour IQ test.

I’m particularly convinced of the value of colour IQ because I got a high score. 

Link found at How About Orange.

Photos

Rijal gives Sarah a memento

Jess McLeod has posted some great photos from my last week in Aceh on facebook called

Sarah bids farewell to Aceh = the week that was. Ahhh, some truly hilarious photos there.

Best thing on the web this week.

If there was any weight in a Where is Sarah? endorsement I would back the following clip 100%.

I found this on Jezebel (a shorter version) which, by the way, has plenty to say on Sarah Palin’s candidacy. I’m not bored by the US elections anymore.

Daydreaming

Another reminder of why trying to be more productive might not be all it’s cracked up to be.

I found a link on the The Frontal Cortex to an article the author wrote for the Boston Globe about daydreaming. Following are a couple of random excerpts:

In recent years, however, scientists have begun to see the act of daydreaming very differently. They’ve demonstrated that daydreaming is a fundamental feature of the human mind – so fundamental, in fact, that it’s often referred to as our “default” mode of thought. Many scientists argue that daydreaming is a crucial tool for creativity, a thought process that allows the brain to make new associations and connections.

***

Teresa Belton, a research associate at East Anglia University in England, first got interested in daydreaming while reading a collection of stories written by children in elementary school. Although Belton encouraged the students to write about whatever they wanted, she was startled by just how uninspired most of the stories were.

If you have time, read the full article, or read the shorter blog post here (and take a look around the rest of the blog…v.interesting stuff, even for an unscientific mind like mine).

Quick posts for Monday morning

Things are getting busy as I wind up my work here so today I will just post a couple of links instead of a story about my weekend (which, unless you want to hear about the report I’m writing, wasn’t really that exciting).

Thank you to those who gave positive feedback on my new WordPress blog and who have shown interest in the Middle East trip. Now I just have to show extreme discipline to stay focused on work instead of wandering off to sites about Syria and Jordan.

P.S to Greg: YES! That photo of the Pade Hotel…taken JUST DOWN THE ROAD FROM MY HOUSE! Can you believe it??

OK, to the links…

Benj sent me this link this morning. Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait. Wow.

Marcus sent me this article over the weekend. The Disadvantage of an Elite Education. Even if the subject doesn’t immediately grab you I hope you keep reading because there are many interesting ideas in this paper. The part about solitude (towards the end)…ugh, it worries me when someone pegs me so well when talking about ‘my generation’. If my personality defects are more than that (i.e. broad systemic failures)…well, we’re all in trouble.