2011 – Page 3 – whatleydude.com

Rings of Saturn

This happened, but I feel it needs elaboration. Below is exactly how I remember it.
It was …an incredible dream.

In darkness, I shouted over the noise of our transport -Â

“Go! Go quickly! Race to the end of that hill’s corner and then stop. Dead. Do not – I REPEAT – do NOT keep going. Stop, as soon as you get there. Trust me. Go now!”

I saw the outlines of nodding silhouettes as the sky turned a deep blue, “We don’t have much time, go NOW!”Â

Racing, heart-pounding, we drove across the track. Corner one, clear. Dipping, downhill, speed increasing and then, I saw it. The first ray of sun revealing what had been there this whole time. Our planetary rings, silent in darkness, suddenly deafening by their over-whelming presence. Back up the hill. Out of the valley, into the corner and stop. Hard.Â

Breaking, the dirt shifting under the tracks below. We come to a standstill. On the edge of the cliff and as one, we look up. The first sunrise in twenty-seven years and we’re here, to bathe in its infinite glory.Â

The light dances and shines as it pours across the asteroid belt. The deceptively rough lines, crying out as they soak themselves in long-forgotten rays of luminescent nectar.Â

We can only stare, transfixed, in awe of nature’s universal power and equally, at our constant insignificance.Â

Image above taken from this amazing video – ‘What if Earth had rings like Saturn?‘

adrift

again, wind comes unrolling out of the east
like a prophet, judging with a heft of its
palm the weight of things, taking measure
with spanned fingers of the space between,
while wolf-fish graze the floor of the sea,
the teeth inside their smiles white as beacons.

plenty of time to consider the dimensions
of your loss, how it might be listed
on manifests. still, what you have left
is better than you deserve. and sufficient,
if one holds on hard enough, to keep you afloat

a narrow band of slip shows now
beneath night’s skirt on the horizon,
and widens. once again as you watch, light,
with its hunger, will have the world.

– James Sallis

fall

It’s Saturday.

Leaves have fallen and the air is crisp; today is the first day I smelt autumn.

I love this time of year.

It’s my favourite season for so many reasons: the deep brown colours, the change of temperature and the quiet, slow excitement of what’s to come. Autumn’s arrival tells me my birthday is near.

Except, things are different this time.

I don’t know if any of you have ever had your birthday ruined before. It’s not a nice feeling. In fact, it’s pretty bloody awful. Close friends will know (as will those who have read the piece I wrote for CALM) that my birthday last year was probably the worst day of 2010.

The day before, was amazing. A great day out shopping & hanging out in town then later, my awesome birthday party. Benny came dressed as Beetlejuice, friends old and new mixed together, hell, even my family came.

Less than 24hrs later, on the evening of November 21st – my actual birthday – my then girlfriend of two years decided that it would be an ideal time to end our relationship over [what I was then told] ‘trust issues’. Wrongly accusing me of cheating, she was up and out of the flat before the week was out.

It nearly killed me. How do you prove yourself innocent when the other party has convinced themselves you’re guilty?

After months of blaming myself, I uncovered the truth: she hadn’t broken up with me over trust at all. She had, in fact, decided to leave me for one of my alleged best mates and was too cowardly to tell me. A chance meeting with the latter (after general avoidance and non-returning of calls) back in March started that avalanche of information.

The night I found out everything, the week before I headed off to Siberia, my friends were stunned. They expected me to be livid, to be more angry. But honestly? When all the pieces finally fell into place? I felt relieved.

Relieved that I wasn’t at fault, relieved that the pain and angst I’d been carrying around for monthsÂ could finally lift and most of all relieved that I was out of the sick, twisted, horrid mess that I’d mistaken for two people I could love and trust.

Today is the first day of autumn for me. My birthday is just around the corner. I stepped out of the flat this afternoon, took a huge lung full of air and… I remembered.

A couple of weeks ago someone dear to me asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday. “I don’t know” I replied. Then I remembered what happened last year. The fake smiles at the party, the secret plans behind my back – I panicked.

“What will I do? What can I do? God, last year was terrible..”

But y’know what? Life is better now. So much better. Life has moved on, love hasÂ moved onÂ and, best of all, the people around me are amazing.

When I first started writing this about an hour ago, I was full expecting it to a be low,Â melancholicÂ exploration of how now the change of season has made me sad. Instead it’s a celebration of autumn, the beautiful season it is and a look up toward the amazing birthday I’ve got lined up for next month.

Bring. It. On.

[Private post – made public Dec 23rd, 2011]

UB: catching up

Moleskine Entry: April 20th, 2011

or ‘things that I’ve forgotten to write down and mustn’t forget that I did them’

Day one in Ulaanbaatar (UB):

Feeling immensely spiritual (and quite honoured) after catching an extremely rare Buddhist ceremony at the main Monastery (pictured) in UB. So rare in fact, our guide called her mother as it began so she too could hear the prayers and chants around us; incredibly moving.
Facing down pick-pocketers (my new favourite past-time)
Crying tears of laughter at the hilarity of Mongolia’s ‘world famous’ International Intellectual Museum. There are honestly, no words.
Oly (finally) admitting his love for our first Honcho, Marina.
Beers, pool and then a Mongolian Karaoke Bar until the very early hours.

Yesterday (day two in UB), we drove for an hour out of the city to camp out for the night in a traditional Mongolian Gur camp. It was pretty impressive stuff.

There was horse-riding, local delicacies, a visit to a nomadic family and of course, the sunrise earlier this morning. An additional bonus was that the other group we met on our first night in Moscow were staying at the same camp-site too and now, we’ll be travelling together all the way to China.

Oh yeah, that’s another thing, there’s still China.

<GRIN>

Go play a video game

“It’s you, it’s you, it’s all for you…”Â

Yes, I know. But I don’t care.

DRIVE

Stunning, vicious, cold, visceral, glorious, sexually-charged, breathtaking, chilling, gorgeous, arresting – DRIVE is one of my films of the year.

Ryan Gosling is silent and broody to the point of irritation, but carries the weight and predatory confidence of the deadliest scorpion; deadly, quiet, lethal. His ‘Driver’ is an anti-hero of our generation.

The 80s vibe, that riffs from the opening credits, through the electro synth soundtrack and down to the inevitable, violent crescendo, is a perfect fit for the squalid neon backdrop of downtown LA.. But, despite the retro undercurrent, this is a thoroughly modern piece of cinema.

Its dark, foreboding symbolism mixed with an almost continual referential nod to classics gone by (Hallowe’en, Bullit, Scarface to name but three) creates a kaleidoscope ofÂ imagery that – even at its most gruesome – is impossible to turn away from. The use of light, colour, sound, words… or lack thereof on all counts… is encapsulating.

I am in love with this film.

See it.

NB: I’ve just IMDb’d the director, Nicolas Winding Refn, and it turns out he’s directed two films that I’ve been busting to see for ages: Valhalla Rising and Bronson.

They’re next.

Fincher, the Girl and the Frog.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a stunning film.

The original, gut-wrenching thriller smashed into my face like an iced bucket of water; it was fresh, cold and very, very dark. I loved it. Admittedly, I am yet to see Hornet’s Nest or Played with Fire.

(Nor have I read the books but I’m sure that’ll change shortly)

However, something I wanted to share today is this awesome trailer for the US re-make of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Two words that should send a shudder down any film purist’s back are ‘US’ and ‘Re-Make’ but, this is Fincher we’re talking about kids. David. Fincher.

His last film, The Social Network, was very, very good. The first trailer, which dropped back in July 2010, showed that (with such contentious source material) he really meant business.

I think it’s fairly safe to say that this time ’round, he’s done it again.

It drives and it beats and it rages. Like the film itself will do so too, I’m sure. Bring it Fincher, I can’t wait.

Finally, before I go, I have to share one more thing. There’s a new Muppet film coming soon (no, really) and, to help build buzz and interest, they’ve been gently ripping off the trailers from other upcoming films. Dragon Tattoo is no exception.

This, is perfect.

Jasmine flowers of Lebanon

Jasmine flowers of Lebanon,
fall softly on dusty streets.
The fragrance soft, enraptures,
stops me dead upon my feet.

Around me buildings crumble,
scars of war so plain to see.
Yet nature’s beauty thrives right here;
this flower has ensnared me.

Soaring, its scent takes me.
Higher, higher still.
Skies, bright blue. Sun, pure yellow.
I’ve nearly had my fill.

But wait, one second longer.
Let me taste its wonder once more.
Savour this moment, this fleeting kiss,
Fair flower maiden, no more.

1000heads: The Nokia Gift Machine

It’s Social Media Week this week and all across the globe, a multitude of key cities are gathering together to learn and discuss about the impact of social media on modern society today.

As part of our work with Nokia, global partner for Social Media Week, we’ve got teams all over the world helping with all kinds of different activations, similar to the work that we accomplished back in February.

At Social Media Week Glasgow however, we’re doing things a little differently.

Introducing The Nokia Gift Machine

Our brief was simple: how do you make the simple things you see around you, just that little bit more special?
Our response? We decided to create one of the world’s first Foursquare-enabled vending machines.

Unlike most machinery, the instruction manual is quite simple:

Open Foursquare on your phone
Find the Nokia Gift Machine @ SMW
Check-in using the #NokiaConnects hashtag
Share to Twitter
Collect your prize

As demo’d belowÂ –

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=29294541&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=00adef&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0

Anyone following on Twitter last week would’ve spotted this teaser we put out when we first went to test the machine above, I’m fairly sure no one managed to guess what the image was going to be!

If you’re at Social Media Week Glasgow this week, make sure you get yourself along to the Sky Park on Elliot Place and give it a go!

PS. It doesn’t just hold candy y’know…

Full press release

Other Vending Machine images

1000heads: Co-creation. Mobile Web. Social Media.

Three different subjects, all intrinsically linked in a multitude of ways. However, today I wanted to share with you three slideshare presentations covering off each of these subjects in various forms.

If you’re a grade one newbie or a seasoned master in any of the above areas, these slides will be of use to you.

First up, co-creation.

This presentation, from the smart chaps at the Board of Innovation, came my way via Google Plus just over a week ago and it’s taken me that long to truly process all of the data available. It not only introduces the concept of co-creation, but also talks through the guiding principles and then goes onto benchmark TWENTY different examples.

Really, really interesting reading for anyone with even a passing interesting in Co-Creation.

How to kickstart your co-creation platform – 20 examples http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=cocreationbenchmarkboimisemo-110909070517-phpapp02&rel=0&stripped_title=how-to-kickstart-your-cocreation-platform-20-examples&userName=boardofinnovation

Next up: the Mobile Web. Or, in this case, Selling the Mobile Web.

Hat tip to @CarlMartin for bringing these slides to my attention; this presentation speaks to me for a whole number of reasons. First and foremost, I have mobile in my soul and so therefore anything and everything that helps move the handheld revolution forward is alright in my book.

Second, this presentation is about the mobile WEB. Often forgotten in the today’s world of quick-win ‘let’s make an app’ marketing, the mobile web has been playing second fiddle to mobile applications for some time. If I’m honest, the two should easily be able to co-exist comfortably together. However, that is not always the case

This presentation has great ideas, theories and strategies for attacking your own mobile website. Definitely worth a look.

Selling The Mobile Web

Finally, and here’s the biggie, Social Media around the world, 2011.

The big take out from this monster, all 167 slides of it?

OVER ONE BILLION PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD USE SOCIAL NETWORKS TODAY

A truly astounding number. Admittedly, the research was conducted with ‘just’ 9000+ people so it obviously isn’t a complete look at the social networked world we live, however if you’re hungry for the latest stats and figures, this isn’t a bad place to start.

What are you waiting for?

Social media around the world 2011 http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=socialmediaaroundtheworld2011-110914000406-phpapp01&stripped_title=social-media-around-the-world-2011&userName=stevenvanbelleghem