Ant Colony

What a subterrain ant colony looks like



This is simply incredible!
Amazing!

Heroes Pt. 4

Stephen & Jay
Cheers to PK for sending me this one


a bit of fry and jay z from defyingdarwin on Vimeo.

Good News

I bought my first paper in a good couple of months this weekend (I had stopped buying newspapers becuase I find all the news a little too depressing at the moment) but I bought the observer on Sunday morning because I was having a lazy day.
But this weekend there was some good news. the main being the election in the US. Very positive news and a great outlook for the future. Brilliant stuff.

But the news that really made me smile this weekend was a little news story from my hometown of Bristol. I think this story is great. Here it be:
Original story from BBC

Thief sent 'sorry' letter to shop

The owner of an Indian food store in Bristol has received an apology letter and £100 from a former drug addict who stole cigarettes from the shop in 2001.

Imran Ahmed, 27, who runs Raja Foods in St Marks Road, Easton, said he was stunned to open the remorseful letter.

It begins: "Dear Sirs, I am writing this letter to make amends to you for something I have done in the past."

Mr Ahmed said the thief's change of heart was "really good" and he intends to give the money to a drugs' charity.

The thief's letter continues: "About seven years ago I was walking past your shop late one night when I noticed that someone had broken into it.

Make amends

"I used this opportunity to enter your shop where I stole 400 cigarettes. The money enclosed (£100) is to pay for those cigarettes which I stole from you.

"At that time I was heavily using drugs and my life was in a mess, now I no longer use drugs and I strive to lead a decent and honest life.

"As part of my ongoing recovery I try to put right all of the wrongs I have done in the past, at least where I can, and this is why I am giving you back the money which I stole from you.

"I regret the harm I caused you in the past and I sincerely apologise to you for it.

"I was very wrong to do this and I hope that returning the money will make up for this harm, at least in some small way."

Vote 08

I'm not claiming to have a huge biasty towards any particular party and your not gona see me out on the streets of London riding a donkey preaching that anyone is the black Jesus because I simply do not know enough, but I'd like to think I know a little more than most on the subject and I don't mean from what Cheryl Crow or the Black Eyed Peas have told me.
I will be watching tomorrow with greatest of interest and apprehension and any other emotions that the 'democratic' selection of the most powerful politician in the world can conjour up in a person with even the slightest interest in their own or the worlds future.

Wikipedia has a great bit of background knowledge which is definitely worth a read and the BBC site has a nice little guide to election night in plain (British) English.
I for one will be drinking Redstripe when the Republicans win a state and Blue Pandapops when the Democrats win a state...
... so fingers crossed I'll be bouncing off the walls rather than drunk in a gutter by result time.

People say its in the bag, but don't forget we voted Boris Johnson as Mayor of London.

Heroes Pt. 3

Stephen Fry
National Treasure, head of the dinner table, gospel.
Have a listen of his superb podcasts (currently #1 on itunes and rightly so)
I would like to invite him round for tea.

That is all.

So Fresh, So Clean: MOvember Beggins

OK its October the 31st and I've just had my last clean shave for a month in my bid to grow a moustache for the MOvember charity (see post bellow).

This picture was just taken, literally after getting out of the shower.
Your not gona get cleaner than this.

MOvember

Today is the last day for a month that I will be shaving.
As part of the mens health charity in the UK Movember encourages men to grow a moustache to raise awareness for Prostate Cancer.

All info here: movember.com

So along with my flat mates and most of the men in my work place I will be growing a moustache.
There is even a moustache emporium opening on Charlotte Street in London: www.mosemporium.co.uk where you can get your moustache trimmed and styled for free.

I will be taking a photograph every day of my progress and posting it to my blog for all 3 of my followers to see so be sure to check back.

I am a little apprehensive that my facial hair may go ginger when it gets to a certain length.

To celebrate the moustache I have included pictures of my 4 favourite people with moustaches.

Liscence to ill

Hello,
Today im off work with the dreaded lurgie.
After a few days of having just a sore throat I have been taken over by aching muscles which was joined by trippy head and a constant feeling of being really hot but when taking the covers or jumper off feeling really cold. Nice.
But this is not a post to have a whinge. It is to bring comfort and home remedys to others if they happen to feel a little ill this winter.

Its recipe time!!!

Bryns Home-made Lemsip.

Ingredients:

• Half a lemon
• A nobble of ginger
• Honey
• Echinacea
• boiling water

1. Chop up ginger into thin slices
   
2. Cut lemon in half and then into quarters and squeeze the hell out of it into a mug
3. Add the ginger and a healthy dollop of honey to the mug
4. Open up the capsual of echinacea and pour the powder into the mix. (or add drops if in liquid form or crush up a tablet)
5. Pour on freshly boiled water
6. Stir it up!
7. Slurp it down and feel the goodness massage your throat and warm up your belly. Serve with a nice biscuit or some eggy bread.
   
8. Feel better

Banksy's Pet Shop

Banksy's first show in New York.

From Banksy:

“New Yorkers don’t care about art, they care about pets. So I’m exhibiting them instead. I wanted to make art that questioned our relationship with animals and the ethics and sustainability of factory farming, but it ended up as chicken nuggets singing. I took all the money I made exploiting an animal in my last show and used it to fund a new show about the exploitation of animals. If its art and you can see it from the street, I guess it could still be considered street art."

See more here at wooster collective

Shivers Part 1

I know I go on alot about Radiohead but this is just one of the most incredible songs I have ever heard in my life. After listening to it for the umpteenth thousand time and still getting shivers down my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck standing up I have decided to start making a note of all the things that have this effect on me.
It happens alot.
So... Shivers Part 1: Weird Fishes / Arpeggi

Hackney Cakes

Found this pic of the gas cakes on Andrews Road. I see these every day from my flat. I love them. Something so industrial yet so beautiful on the skyline.
Not sure who took the picture but found it on polanoid.net
Nice.

Adam Buxton's Credit Crunch Song

The genius that is Adam Buxton made this song about the credit crunch for the songwars sections of his radio show on 6music last week.
Its taken me a while to find but its worth it.
This weeks songwars was thier takes on Radioheads Reckoner with Adam doing a Thom Yorke in the shower remix. Genius!

Heroes part 2

Graham & Peter

Reckoner Video

Radiohead - Reckoner - by Clement Picon

The video for reckoner by Radiohead by Clement Picon.
Clement was one of the winners of the Aniboom competition set up to create an animation to go with the song. The band liked it so much they asked for it to be the official video for the song.
Good choice.
Well done.

Heroes

Thom & Kieren

London to Brighton in 4 minutes

Saw this on BBC 4 last night as part of an advert for a program that Ian Hislop is doing about the closure of Britain's train stations.
Really nice footage of the journey between London and Brighton in the 1950s.
Having made this journey recently its really interesting to see how the land surrounding the tracks has changed in 60 years since the railways heyday.
I'm trying to think up a joke about the cost of rail travel now or how the privatisation of the rail network in the 80s changed things but I don't think I need to really.
Nice one Maggie.

New York City Waterfalls

This is an ace installation by German Artist Olafur Eliasson in NewYork.
A series of waterfalls set up around NY. My favourite is the one under Brooklyn Bridge.

Check the website for some beautiful pictures: nycwaterfalls
Check out Olafur's website for more lushness: olafureliasson

This is what the wonderful Wikipedia has to say:

New York City Waterfalls is an art installation by artist Olafur Eliasson, in collaboration with the Public Art Fund, consisting of four man-made waterfalls placed around New York City along the East River.[1][2] At $15.5 million, it is the most expensive public arts project since Christo and Jeanne-Claude's installation of The Gates in Central Park.[3][2] The waterfalls officially began flowing on June 26, 2008. They will run from 7 am to 10 pm (under illumination after sunset), until October 13, 2008

CERN

Hello, remember me?
I've been very busy over the last few weeks and not been able to put up any posts, but fear not, I kept a note of the things that got me salivating and I'm back with a vengeance!

First up: CERN!!!
You must have heard about this little gem, probably the biggest news thats not bad news this year, unless you count Theo Walcotts hatrick which over shadowed it in the tabloids. Although to give them respect they did conjour up some cracking puns - "Theos Big Bang" and the Sun opting to go with the front page headline that Theo Walcott had forgotten his keys when he got home.

Anyway: CERN aka The Large Hadron Collider.
The biggest and most ambitious scientific experiment undertaken. Basically it is designed to re-create the conditions just after the Big Bang in an attempt to answer fundamental questions of science and the universe itself.
The BBC has a very nice interactive guide that is definatley worth checking out:here
Also they have a very nice logo:

JR more amzingness!

JR in The Flavelas of Rio De Janeiro - As part of JRs Women are heroes project.
The Absolute scale of JRs work is unfathomable! I don't think he ever sleeps as every week he has new stuff up. His latest work is stunning! adding light to these pieces adds a complete new dimension to the impact of his pieces.
Check it out in detail on the site 28millimetres.com click on the map of South America and then the Actions link to see more amazing photographs like these.

Playful Spaces

Bus Stop Swing

Bruno Taylor - a student at St Martins of Art and Design. High jacking public spaces to make them more playful.

"This project is a study into different ways of bringing play back into public space. It focuses on ways of incorporating incidental play in the public realm by not so much as having separate play equipment that dictates the users but by using existing furniture and architectural elements that indicate playful behaviour for all."



This video is compelling, I love the way people investigate the swing first before deciding to sit on it and have a bloody good swing.
Good work.

Roots Manuva

Roots Manuva - Slime & Reason

Ah Roots Manuva has a new album out!
Where to start? Basically without gushing too much, it's Roots Manuva, if you dont already love this guy then get to know!
Since being 15 and being literally dragged by patl (paulorder) to a dark and grim back room in the Black Swan in Easton Bristol, only to find a packed aromatic room full of an amazing crowd of Red Stripe swigging, dub bouncing, spliff smoking Bristolians about to witness (sorry) something very special.
That night pretty much paved the way for me into a world of hip hop, dub, regae and even grime. The UK hip hop scene was amazing and something pretty special for me growing up.
So back to Mr Manuva - I've read a few reviews for thsi new album and im looking forward to something spectaclear, the word is its some of his finest work to date.

ROLL ON BESTIVAL!

P.S: The lovely sleeve for the Slime & Reason is designed by Oscar & Ewan (www.oscarandewan.co.uk)

Burger Shoe

Olle Hemmendorffs Nike Air Max 90 Burger

Olle was commissioned along with 7 other creative types to interpret a Nike Icon. As you can see he has turned the Air Max trainers into a burger.
Weather or not there's deep routed symbolism and metaphors about modern consumerism and capitalism in his interpretation or not, its a brilliant piece of work.
I cant wait to buy a pair, especially seeing as iv been running everyday recently, it can get a bit peckish around Victoria Park when the pavillions not open. Just gota watch out for the dog walkers and geese, suppose it will encourage me to run faster.

Camera Barcodes

I received my yearly phone update this morning and I have delved into the fascinating world of camera phones, having previously shunned the technology, specifically choosing phones without a camera preferring to use a proper one and take real photos.
However I lost my camera at Glastonbury this year so reluctantly decided that the time was right to succumb to the medium I have frowned upon for so long.

The benefits of having a camera on your phone isn't just taking videos of happy slapping but there is a whole host of other uses, my favourite being 'Smart Barcodes'.

You may have noticed these funny little square patterns turning up everywhere from shampoo bottles to electricity bills and billboards, they are barcodes specifically designed for camera phones to read.
All you need to do is download some free software to your phone (www.i-nigma.com) and now when you hold your phone up to one of the barcodes the camera scans it and links you straight to a website with more information about the product and special offers.
Clever stuff.

There is also a section on the website to build your own barcode for free. Brilliant!
This could be used for a number of creative uses. My first was to make a barcode to link to my blog to put on my CV. Who knows what crazy ideas il come up with next, I could plaster stickers around London like hypertech-cyber-graffiti-links.

The possibilities are incredible...

Inspiring Films

So just as I figured out the credit crunch isnt a breakfast cereal and my very sad looking bank account is taking the strain of London living, the fantastic world of free preview screenings of new movies has been an amazing source of inspiration.

This week I have seen 2 superb pieces of cinema:

1. Man on Wire www.manonwire.com


Following the events leading up to and culminating in the worlds greatest artistic crime, Man on Wire tells the story of Phillipe Pettit a young Frenchman who tight-rope walks between the Twin Towers in New York.
The movie is semi documentary and semi Heist story pieced together using original footage, photographs, first hand accounts from the people involved including the very charismatic Phillipe himself and brilliantly executed reconstructions.
This is a very inspirational piece of cinema and is a fantastic celebration of the twin towers.


2. Somers Town www.shanemeadows.co.uk


Being a massive fan of Shane Meadows I have been looking forward to seeing this for a while having watching little clips here and there on youtube.
If you are aware of Shane Meadows previous movies (Deadmans Shoes, This Is England etc) you will be pleased to know that this does not disappoint. There's not so much of a story line rather a study of London life in the area known as Somers Town between Euston, Kings Cross and St Pancreas Train Stations following the lives of 2 young boys new to the area. The first being Tomo having travelled to the city on his own to escape his meaningless life in the Midlands. The second being Marek who has come to London from Poland with his father.
It is pure Shane Meadows magic. The sound track and the film work are amazingly pieced together in a way only he can. Beautiful scenes of relationships and interaction with the city makes you come away feeling very warm in contrast to the evocative horror of Deadmans Shoes, This is England, 24seven and A Room for Romeo Brass. Definitely Shane's feel good movie, it is also a brilliant comedy movie and one to watch again and again.

I'm looking forward to the DVD releases when hopefully my bank manager will let me have a trip to Fopp.

Free Fun, Yes please.

This is B R Y N log

First day of London jobhunt v3.0 and first day of B R Y N log.

I now Blog
I am now a blogger.

It took me several cups of tea and pleanty of Olympics watching to come up with my fantastically original name. Ideas that were thrown out of the window include: brynandtonic or brynandjuice if your feeling abit more g-funk, B L Y N B R O G (see what i did there) and also TaffSez. it took until the end of the box of PG tips and lots of cursing at AndyMurrey to realise they were all crap.

so...
Welcome to B R Y N log

Look forward to blogging with you all.

is this right?