Archives for category: Inspiring
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Radiohead Pays Its Respects

August 7, 09 //
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Last weekend the last surviving soldier of World War I, Harry Patch, died at the age of 111.

Today, Radiohead has released a new song on their website in his honor and as a tribute to the soldiers of a gritty, brutal war.  The song costs one British pound and all proceeds go to the Royal British Legion.

Taken from Radioheads website:

Harry Patch (In Memory Of)

“i am the only one that got through
the others died where ever they fell
it was an ambush
they came up from all sides
give your leaders each a gun and then let them fight it out themselves
i’ve seen devils coming up from the ground
i’ve seen hell upon this earth
the next will be chemical but they will never learn”

Recently the last remaining UK veteran of the 1st world war Harry Patch died at the age of 111.
I had heard a very emotional interview with him a few years ago on the Today program on Radio4.
The way he talked about war had a profound effect on me.
It became the inspiration for a song that we happened to record a few weeks before his death.
It was done live in an abbey. The strings were arranged by Jonny.
I very much hope the song does justice to his memory as the last survivor.

It would be very easy for our generation to forget the true horror of war, without the likes of Harry to remind us.
I hope we do not forget.

As Harry himself said
“Irrespective of the uniforms we wore, we were all victims”.

I would love for this…

June 15, 09 //
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…to be playing on my wall-sized plasma screen in 3-D. Because the way things are moving, I’m fairly certain that will be available in less than 7 years.

This is so beautiful.

“Like the fist from Frank Black’s shirt”

May 30, 09 //
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In a 1989 interview for Dutch television, Pixies frontman Frank Black talks about his songwriting process as creating a “poetic structure” with the melody and letting the lyrics flow from there. The Dutch graphic design studio Experimental Jetset took inspiration from Black’s approach.

When we get an assignment (which usually comes in the form of a question, a theme, a problem or a riddle), we feel as if the solution is already enclosed in the assignment itself. The design is already there; it just has to be released. Like the fist from Frank Black’s shirt.

An excuse to stay in bed with your laptop for 13 hours

March 27, 09 //
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Hulu wins “hero of the day.” They’ve posted all 13 episodes of Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos.” Spectacularity whenever you want it – for free!

`In 1980, the landmark series Cosmos premiered on public television. Since then, it is estimated that more than a billion people around the planet have seen it. Cosmos chronicles the evolution of the planet and efforts to find our place in the universe. Each of the 13 episodes focuses on a specific aspect of the nature of life, consciousness, the universe and time. Topics include the origin of life on Earth (and perhaps elsewhere), the nature of consciousness, and the birth and death of stars. When it first aired, the series catapulted creator and host Carl Sagan to the status of pop culture icon and opened countless minds to the power of science and the possibility of life on other worlds.`

The 2.0 of Art 101

March 27, 09 //
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Two art historians at MoMA and FIT have created a new online art institute – smART History.

Unsatisfied with dusty art history textbooks and the password-protected, one-way content from online resources – they’ve put their considerable talents, know-how, and insights into creating a multimedia “web-book” journey through the history of Western Art. And they make it freely available.

Their site features over 150 podcasts, 220 images, and links to world-class museums like the Louvre. Their podcasts discuss specific artists, themes, and historical movements. The conversations are spontaneous and they’re not afraid to disagree with each other or art history.

It’s thin from 1960 onwards…but it sounds like they will continue to add more work, more contributors, and even expand beyond Western Art.

Nice.

The world’s shortest novels

October 27, 08 //
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We’ve seen the hip six-word biographies. Now here’s a website of true stories told in one sentence. And there is some seriously good stuff there.

As you were breaking up with me, all I could think about were those mornings when you compared the Pop-Tarts and gave me the one with more frosting.

My online dating service matched me with my cousin.

It wasn’t until the eulogy ended that I realized I had been thinking about porn instead of listening.

It’s been so long that I don’t even look down your street anymore.

There are two kinds of friends in the world: the ones who help you up when you’ve passed out in a bar and call a cab and the ones that take ‘funny’ pictures of you.

Instead of him they sent back a folded flag, and when I was alone I tore it to pieces.

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