Russell Davies

Day 4 - Song That Makes You Sad - Venceremos

Don't really have a song that makes me sad, I'm afraid. Don't have anything to get sad about. But this has something of the sad about it. Partly it's got the two best sad voices in pop - Tracey Thorn and Robert Wyatt. Also, it's nostalgia. College. Marches. Engaging with the political process by co-opting 'other musics' and jazz dance. All that.

Day 3 - Song That Makes You Happy - Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)

It's not whole songs that really get me happy, it's particular bits. Specifically, it's long inevitable drum fills and interlocking rhythms. The rise and falls. It's the tension and release. If you see me walking along listening to music, there'll always be a bit where my arms inexplicably flail out for a second. That's me doing one of these fills.

So, there's the bit at 18.14 in the Seconds Out version of Supper's Ready where they do a long fill, that's also in unision with the rhythm of the tedious guitar meandering. That makes me happy.

There are all the long fills in Drop The Bomb, it's almost what the song's about. So long and sweeping, droping you into the rhythm like a wave depositing a surfer on the beach.

Similarly, there are the long fills in Burning Down The House, I can't help but mime to these. They're not even really fills. They're another percussionist. Whatever, they make me happy.

But, actually, thinking about it, it's more than the fills. It's rhythms locking together somehow. And, when it comes on, the thing that always cheers me up, that always puts a smile in my head and twitches in my arms is Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) by C & C Music Factory. Listen to the drums and get happy.

Day 2 - Least Favourite Song - Born To Run

It's quite hard to object to an individual song, they're so slight. I find artists and their careers, in general, easier to hate - Albarn, Bowie, Springsteen.

But this, this is godawful along every access. Even to the extent that Frankie Goes To Hollywood did a far superior version.

, 

Day 1 - Your Favourite Song - Top of the World

Matt has decided. It's time to do this again. So here we go. 

My favourite song? Really, who knows? But when I just asked myself I started singing this, so let's go with this.

It's short, it's beautful and it's freighted with a ton of associations, both personal and general. And, as a special bonus I can show you this, from back when I was a little bit fatter:

saturday afternoon

one hundred netsukemon

Today is the 100th day of 2014. I've been noticing hundreds of days since we did this. Then Ben suggested this and I played along and really enjoyed it. And at the beginning of 2014 I wanted to do something for 100 days again. Something more physical.

So I 'invented' netsukemon. Minimum viable sculptures made of sugru and googly eyes.

They're inspired by netsuke (specifically - half-watching a documentary about Edmund de Waal and leafing through his book in a bookshop) 

and pokemon (specifically - observing and enjoying Arthur's collecting habit and how much I love this card):

 

I've been making one a day since the first of January, it's quick and very satisfying. To make them seem more importantly like art I've been putting them in a vitrine but that seems hard to photograph well. Maybe because mine was a cheap vitrine off of Amazon. 

I want, somehow, to turn them into collectibles. I keep trying to invent ways to make my own collectibles. Like this experiment with pewter and, again, sugru.

I think layering the 100 days thing on top might help. I'm going to spend the next 100 days working that out.

Science Story Magic Q1.3

And here's the new one!

Audio:

 Video (same as the audio but with a slightly moving picture):

Website (same as the video but with clicky links):

www.sciencestorymagic.com

Science Story Magic Q1.2

I forgot to make this audio public - so here it is:

 

stands repeating

"As anyone who has seen the series can attest, crack-dealing is not the sort of business in which you can really make three to five year forecasts. Neither is banner ad-based journalism."

Profits of Doom

naming digital

Two quotes. 

The first from the splendidly clear and focused report mySociety wrote for Parliament.

"Why use the word ‘Digital’?

This review was commissioned to look at online services, which is what we have done. However we are recommending the creation of a new organisation that uses the language of ‘digital’ not ‘online’. Why is this?

The answer is the same as discussed above;­ the collapse of the internet and ICT services into a single activity. Increasingly, organisations use ‘Digital’ to signify that they have made this transition, and that they understand that there are no remaining computer services of note that will not ultimately be delivered over the internet.

Furthermore, digital is shorthand for ‘we accept the internet values of usability, needs focus and agility’. This is important in a competitive labour market where Parliament has not always been successful in attracting the talent desired."

The second from Mr Brian Eno:

"By naming something you create a difference. You say that this is now real."

From, via.