One thing that I’m very conscious of is making background noise, it’s a bizarre situation as usually you move, drink something, change position etc during a normal conversation, whereas during the two hours or so of the podcast you have to be acutely aware to make as little sound as possible, especially as my mic even seems to pick up the sound of my clock ticking in my room. This leads me to having to focus on something else whilst listening to what everyone is saying.

Last night seemed to create some sort of teen-textbook Jeff Bridges love-in in doodle form (I don’t ‘heart’ Bridges, I think it may have been my Tron excitement manifesting itself).

If you are so inclined the podcasts are here, here and here

It was made as a promo for the concerts at the Bellavista Social Pub but feeds right into my love of Jazz imagery.

via: Monsieur Bandit

The Bechdel Test is based around the simple premise of  taking any film and asking 3 questions:

1. Does the film have two women with names in it?
2. Do these two women talk to each other?
3. Do they talk to each other about something other than a man?

Original source: Ted Hope

This blows my tiny mind…

I’m absolutely loving these videos from the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). They have a Youtube channel with loads more here, but these are particularly great.

RSA Animate – Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us

Dan Pink’s talk at the RSA illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home and in the workplace.

RSA Animate – Smile or Die

Acclaimed journalist, author and political activist Barbara Ehrenreich explores the darker side of positive thinking.

RSA Animate: The Secret Power of Time

Professor Philip Zimbardo conveys how our individual perspectives of time affect our work, health and well-being. Time influences who we are as a person, how we view relationships and how we act in the world.

via baekdal

Seeing Kings of Convenience at the Barbican was one of my favourite moments of last year. They completely blew me away and I was in complete awe of how impressive a show can be when there are only two men and two guitars on stage. This video is the next best thing to experiencing that in person and finding this after one of the most tiring weekends of my life was absolute bliss.

It’s worth every second of its 26 minute duration, a definite must-see if you’re a KoC fan or an Erlend Oye fan in general (how you couldn’t be, especially the latter, does not compute with my brain).

Enjoy!

oh and if you are a lover of all things Erlend and haven’t visited his website of late, do it just to rollover France – website

(from headunderwater via rawkblog)

I have no excuses tomorrow so we’ll see what happens.

As I’m fairly unwell and haven’t really left the house today (other than to get chips, but that doesn’t count) it’s been Henry who’s unfortunately been the focus. There is also the fact that I only have two weeks left with him before he has to go and live with my parents so I’m a little soppy towards him at the moment. But this is my photo for today. I’m going to be uploading them all to this set and see how I get on.

Magnum Photographer Dennis Stock sadly died today.

Stock started his career as an apprentice to Life magazine photographer Gjon Mili and joined Magnum in 1951. Although best known for his intimate portraits of James Dean he was also a prolific Jazz photographer taking some of the most iconic Jazz portraits in history for his book Jazz Street. in 1968 he founded the production company Visual Objectives and shot several documentaries but returned to Magnum to serve as president of Magnum’s film and new media division in 1969 and 1970. Stock generated a book or an exhibition almost every year since the 1950s.

“Art is a well-articulated manifestation of an aspect of life. I have been privileged to view much of life through my cameras, making the journey an enlightened experience. My emphasis has mainly been on affirmative reactions to human behavior and a strong attraction to the beauty in nature.”

From Magnum: His photographs have appeared in other major publications, including Paris Match and Stern. He has worked as a writer, director, and producer for television and film, and has exhibited his work at the Art Institute of Chicago; International Center of Photography, New York; Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris; Schirm Kunsthalle, Frankfurt; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Magnum have an incredible Audio/Visual Essay of his work here and I’d really urge you to check it out.

His Magnum portfolio is here.

The British Journal of Photography’s obituary is here and they are updating it with quotes and tributes as they come in.

‘Dennis Stock was among a group of photographers that were able to define themselves through iconic sets of images,’ says Peter Hamilton, writer, curator and book publisher. ‘His images represented the essence of the 1950s cool.’

all images ©magnum

(Laura Bari, Canada, 2009) – website – trailer

As usual I couldn’t stick to convention and pick 10 or 20, but this is the list that just appeared when I began writing down the documentaries I’ve loved most this year. I know there are some big films missing but there are a few that I haven’t had a chance to see (Collapse, Objectified and Best Worst Movie being three in particular that I’m itching to get hold of.)

As with the decade list this isn’t in any order, I still can’t bring myself to do that. All of these films I absolutely adore and have championed to anyone who’ll listen. I really think it’s been a great year for documentary, there have been more feature docs than ever coming out of the UK, which is great as we tend to be broadcast oriented, and there have been a lot of great international co-productions that have really pushed some films that might not otherwise have been made. Also check out The Documentary Blog’s year end list here.

As with the decade list I’d love to know what you think I’m missing, I watched some great documentaries I might not have found off the back of all your suggestions so please feel free.

2. The Cove

(Louie Psihoyos, USA, 2009) – website – trailer

3. Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo

(Bradley Beesley, 2009) – website – trailer

4. Mugabe and the White African

(Lucy Bailey & Andrew Thompson, UK, 2009) – website – trailer

5. Last Train Home

(Lixin Fan, Canada, 2009) – website – trailer

6. Sergio

(Greg Barker, USA, 2009) – website – trailer

7. The Red Chapel

(Mads Brügger, Denmark, 2009) – imdb – trailer

8. Anvil! The Story of Anvil

(Sacha Gervasi, USA, 2009) – website – trailer

9. Dancing with the Devil

(Jon Blair, UK, 2009) – website

10. Winnebago Man

(Ben Steinbauer, USA, 2009) – website – trailer

11. Kings of Pastry

(DA Pennebaker & Chris Hedegus, 2009) – website

12. I’m Not Dead Yet

(Elizabeth Stopford, UK, 2009) – imdb

13. Afghan Star

(Havana Marking, UK, 2009) – website – trailer

14. Presumed Guilty

(Roberto Hernández & Geoffrey Smith, Mexico, 2009) – website – trailer

15. RiP: A Remix Manifesto

(Brett Gaylor, Canada, 2009) – website – trailer

Honourable Mentions:

21 Below
Shelter in Place
Burma VJ
The Time of Their Lives
Along Came Kinky
The Most Dangerous Man in America