Great desktop background sources

Some desktop backgrounds and sources I enjoyed

• Fantasy
• Dragons
• Nature

Some more amusing items:

• Nick Cage in that machine 
• Fun with David Tennant 

Other Source: hdwallpapersos.com

Don't sign on the dotted line

I'm a big fan of this woman's work so it's important that I echo her words about talent and contracts in a new age of entertainment.

Teh Feelz

This one gets me every. single. time.

Under the Facade

An excellent and beautiful article about acid attack victims in India.  It's one of those nice moments where I could confront something horrific and come away much improved.

RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman

It's an inadequate obituary, but as good as any.  At least two of his performances affected me in a very personal and direct way.

Experimental Electronic: Uncertainty Principle by Current Value

Having searched for something genuinely unique in music, I came across some experimental drum and bass that really shocked me back into the new.  Wonderful stuff from German producer Current Value.

Yes, the above paragraph is a reference to this.

The Good and Evil mix

I've been wanting to post about my old mix for years now and Soundcloud finally gave me a forum to make it available.  Although it draws from a variety of music styles, it has a distinctly electronic vibe, along with movie soundtracks, IDM, and ambient tracks.  I spent over a year making it and 3 more years trying to finish it in a satisfactory way.  Enjoy.

Firefox persona

I almost always setup one of the Firefox "skins" and then discard it after a few days because it's too distracting or too dull.  May have found one that works perfectly: Stormy Sunset.

Pretty vs. Cute

Today, an analysis of the various terms around attractiveness.  While I'm not a huge fan of the show this came from, I've referenced this conversation in some way on too many occasions over the years.

Also entertaining: mistakes from the show.

Unique music video

I really don't know how to explain this video (make sure to switch to HD).  After watching it I had that rare feeling (at least visually) I'd seen something almost totally unique.

Evidently it was created by a group called WeWereMonkeys.

That awesome camera doesn't make you a photographer

So for a few years a professional photographer has been trying to explain to me how photography takes real work and training.  I've long felt that way, but here's some proof.

Amon Tobin stage show

In the early 80s, Pink Floyd was legendary for the creativity and beauty of their Wall album's stage show.  It combined animation, stage craft, metaphor, and more.  For when it was made, that was completely unheard of and nothing I've seen since has really matched what I heard about that stage show.  It looks like this could take the crown.  Here's a bit more, including some background.

For me, Out From Out Where by Amon Tobin is one of my all time favorite electronic music albums so here's hoping they make a bigger tour out of this.

The Sky in Motion

Of all the nature shows and time-lapse bits I've seen over time, its quite an accomplishment to play something that beat all of them.

Make sure you watch in HD on full screen on a reasonably fast computer.  When the video hesitates or lags, it really destroys the effect.

(Thanks Kim)

My new favorite band is doing things other than being my favorite band

If AC/DC is "distilled rock" then Idiot Pilot takes every form of rock I've heard in the past 10 years and smashes it together beautifully.  Although I never could get into their first album, Strange We Should Meet Here, I thought Wolves was bordering on greatness and, assuming that the album stays in my regular playlist, I won't consider any border at all.

Unfortunately they broke up.

Idiot Pilot

Every time I seem to be moving away from the entire genre of rock, a band seems to come along that draws me back.  This time it was Idiot Pilot.  The video's audio isn't synced correctly, but its the music I mean to point to.

Mixxx DJ software

Remarkably easy and intuitive DJ software that's also open source and runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux.  If you've ever been curious about how its done or wanted to try your hand, this is a perfect way.

Big thanks to the authors and contributors of this great freeware.

Amazing sci-fi concept art

Some really amazing and inspiring images from three great artists at cghub.

• Jaime Jones
• David Hong
• Kekai Kotaki

... especially this one by Daniel Ljunggren

Experimental music: Briokids

Briokids, an outstanding, experimental-electroclash-idm-breakbeat-noise music group is still around and has posted much of their music up on Youtube.

One of the best and most unattended concerts I ever went to, the producers are named for the toxic waste neighborhood where they presumably spent some of their childhood.  As such, the music is frequently disillusioned, anarchistic, and harsh, and reminds me very much of how punk music must have first sounded to people in the 70s. I was ecstatic to find out they were still around.

Building an anti-monument

A fascinating architectural and historical achievement, trying to mark something terrible with zero fanfare.

Stuck in a Groove

A disturbing, beautiful, and very unique video about if a remix of perfect or imperfect moments lasted for eternity.  An interesting visual and thought experiment.

From the amazing Live Visuals blog.