The shadows were spared, the people were not

When the atomic bomb was dropped over Hiroshima, the blinding flash imprinted silhouettes of all places that were shielded from its light.
The shadows were spared.
The people were not.

Shadowplay (2002) from Dan B. on Vimeo.

Shadowplay (2002) on Vimeo: "Stop-motion film, written, animated, & directed by Dan Blank. Winner of Los Angeles Film Festival (Best Short, 2002), 2002 Student Academy Award (Bronze) & 2003 Student Emmy Award (Gold)."

Severin von Eckardstein playing in the streets of Brussels

In 2003, young German classical pianist Severin von Eckardstein won the first prize at the highly prestigious international Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. Nowadays he plays on the great stages of the world: Berlin, Munich, London, New York, Miami, Amsterdam, Tokyo and Seoul. But yesterday he played for a completely different crowd.
As part of the First Night of the International Brussels Music Festival Klarafestival, the Steinway was not set up on a stage in a chic concert hall, but on the sidewalk of Flagey Square. At first Severin von Eckardstein was so focused on his music that he didn't seem to notice that a somewhat unusual mix of people was gathering around him to listen: die-hard fans of classical music, curious passersby lured by the music, and even young parents hushing their babies and pointing at the pianist. But after a while he couldn't ignore his street audience any longer: they were literally a few feet from his. Most of them were listening with their eyes closed or their mouth open, and the applause and "Bravo!" grew louder after every piece.

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Stinky kangaroo

I have no idea what mameshiba means (bean dog?) but in the mameshiba videos these little creatures overdose unsuspecting people on their quirky cuteness and slightly disturbing trivia. This one is my favourite:

Driving the system harder and faster

Show reel for Moving Brands, a branding and digital agency based in London. Music via Fagottron.
I can't help but think branding is for cattle. But it's a nice example of editing and it illustrates their point: our perception that the internet driven information overload speeds up our world up to a point that many people and companies find it hard to keep up.

Moving Brands/ Moving World from Moving Brands on Vimeo.

But maybe we don't have to keep up. Maybe consistency, trust, and building long-term relationships are evergreens.

Eurostar LondonLovers: a short but sweet weekend in London

Just spent an awesome weekend in London! Here are ten tips for LondonLovers:

1. If you're travelling in small groups, ask for "carré" seats in the Eurostar train, so you can sit four by four (not two by two)
2. Avoid the really long queues at the St Pancras ticket machines and buy an Oyster card with £10 credit while you're on board of the Eurostar. An Oyster card is the fastest, smartest and easiest way to pay for single journeys on the bus, Tube, DLR, tram, London Overground and participating National Rail services. You can do almost anything anywhere in London if you carry just your Oyster and your Visa card.
3. As soon as you arrive at St Pancras, buy a Time Out magazine and use it to help you decide where to go.
4. If you like both gourmet food and an informal, congenial atmosphere, book dinner (well ahead) at a Gastropub.
5. Another great place to eat in summer: Serpentine Bar and Kitchen in Hyde Park.
6. Missed this exhibition although it looked really interesting: Walking in my Mind at The Hayward Gallery, with large-scale installations representing the mindscapes of ten international artists including Thomas Hirschhorn, Yayoi Kusama, Keith Tyson and Pipilotti Rist.
7. My favourite artist, Jeff Koons has an exhibition until Sun Sep 13 at the Serpentine Gallery.
8. At Camden Lock market, try and find Nicola Quilter. She's somewhere in the middle. Lovely embroidered skirts and dresses. And she accepts Visa with a smile.
9. Book a seat on the London Water Bus from Camden Lock to London Zoo and/or Little Venice. Only £6.5 pp for a lovely cruise along Regent Canal.
10. Before you leave to Brussels, get some food at St Pancras Marks & Spencer. They have really good sandwiches, salads and sushi (!)

Think before you Print

Organ Printing: "Organ printing allows new tissue to replace diseased tissue. Since new tissue can be developed from cell sources from your own body, rejection of transplanted tissue is not an issue. The cells can be taken from youthful progenitor cells in your bone marrow to replace the older diseased cells. The cells ability to self-assemble means they will organize themselves into a functional tissue after being positioned."
I'm not sure what to think of this. On the one hand, it would solve a lot of problems concerning organ transplants. The irony is, that thanks to the decreased amount of deadly car accidents, there are not enough healthy organ donors to go round. It would also help people replace organs that are affected by disease, like cancer.
But on the other hand, I can't help but wonder how expensive or exclusive this service would be. And what people would eventually look like if they were able to re-print parts of their body. Michael Jackson died too soon.

Tactics for Digital Marketing

Inspiring: A Difference Between Digital And Traditional visual by Matt J McDonald. But I would phrase it differently:

I think the goal is not just attention, but conversion (to sales, somehow) - both in traditional and digital environments. The problem in traditional marketing environments was not focus, but attention. Traditional marketing professionals are obsessed with getting more of it. This is why they love making the logo bigger, getting "more eyeballs" and a bigger "reach". And yes, the only possible tactic to force your target audience to notice you, is by interruption techniques: mid-movie tv ads, website pop-ups, target mailings, etc. I agree that the current problem for marketing in the digital age is noise. There are no clear standards, business models, measurement tools yet for the new many-to-many and user-driven communication era. But since the goal is still conversion, standing out is not enough as a tactic. I'm not sure how to phrase the ideal tactics in one word: engage ? listen, talk ? join the conversation ?

Fragments, shored against our ruins

From The Longest Poem in the World:

"Wet and windy today, so it's a good day to stay indoors.
Fuck you bon ton and your slow workers! Im in a hurry!
And if you like that person then you start to worry
Without sweat and toil no work is made perfect!
Maria Mena - Cause and Effect"

Very modernist. I bet T.S. Eliot would have liked the idea. The waste land as a hypertext - Audio [exotic file formats!] of T.S. Eliot reading the poem.

Vote for your favourite Twestival charity

The Brussels team of the social media driven charity event Twestival have shortlisted a total of 15 Belgian charity projects for you to choose from. The 5 charity projects that receive the most votes will then go forward to the vote that takes place on 12 September at the Twestival.
Thank you very much for taking the time to vote and supporting Brussels Twestival!

How the internet sees me

Personas | Metropath(ologies) | An installation by Aaron Zinman is "a component of the Metropath(ologies) exhibit, currently on display at the MIT Museum by the Sociable Media Group from the MIT Media Lab. It uses sophisticated natural language processing and the Internet to create a data portrait of one's aggregated online identity. In short, Personas shows you how the Internet sees you." The result looks a lot like a urine test, but watching the data being crunched was very impressive. Give it a try!
Found via Presurfer.

Afterlife Dreams

YouTube - 16: Moments: "Radiolab presents: Moments by Will Hoffman. This films is a celebration of life that was inspired by [neuroscientist] David Eagleman's book, Sum [trailer, reviews & sample chapters."

There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be butterfly

A little bit of Sunday zen: let yourself feel. on Vimeo: "the song is called LLjósið and you can listen to it at: foundsongs.erasedtapes.com/. In that site you will find a few more songs, and let me tell you, they're all incredibly beautiful and haunting (and inspiring)."

let yourself feel. from Esteban Diácono on Vimeo.

Hidden In Remembrance Is The Silent Memory Of Our Future

 

At first I didn't get the title for this year's Contour in Mechelen. Contour is a unique, biennial initiative for people with an interest in contemporary art as well as architectural history. And this year's curator Katerina Gregos chose Hidden In Remembrance Is The Silent Memory Of Our Future for a title. This is why the exhibition's themes are mostly historic, like anti-semitism and xenophobia leading to World War II, colonialism, the complex relationship between Picasso and French communism, or the fall of the Austrian empire. I liked that, because it was a perfect fit with the historic buildings the installations were set up in. You would find yourself in a hot, dark room, with often only the soft breathing of the other visitors and the whirring of the video projector for a sound.
Contour 2009 runs from today, Saturday August 15th until Sunday October 18th 2009. Opening hours: Thursday to Sunday, 1 PM to 8 PM. Tickets are 8 euros but if you'd like to get in for free: I got 4 free tickets. Just drop a line in the comments if you want one (or two).

Bambi lives

 

As you know I host Office Picnics for my employer Sanoma Magazines. And since these picnics usually are "al fresco", they take me to interesting places. Friday I noticed this deer in a little park in the beautiful Watermaal-Bosvoorde. He's behind a fence, but close enough to touch. He (I'm guessing it's a he) looked as if he was chewing on something so I only took this picture. Anyone know what kind of deer this is?

Fit for business

Fighting fit for business is an interactive animation with tips for a healthy workplace. The animations are gorgeous and the tone of voice is just right: not condoning or threatening at all. This microsite was commissioned by the NHS of Brighton and Hove (a popular seaside resort on the south coast of England). I was pretty impressed by their NHS website too, since it really tries to convince local businesses to invest time and energy in eating well at work, getting your employees in shape, and reducing stress levels.

Yahoo says I'm a Twitter Concierge

Yahoo! Know your mojo's "proven scientific method" has determined that I am a Twitter Concierge: "You're a busy tweeter and a genius at showing people all the best URLs around the web. Thanks for the great tips."
This microsite was created to promote the new Yahoo home page, but I fail to see what the connection between both services is. The aim was probably to "create buzz" but in the process nobody is talking about the object of the advertising campaign.

Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web

Some facts and figures from the Socialnomics video.

• Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web (note: but not the #1 revenue source)
• 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
• % of companies using LinkedIn as their primary tool to find employees….80%
• The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
• 80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices …people update anywhere, anytime…imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
• Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé …In 2009 Boston College stopped distributing e-mail addresses to incoming freshmen
• Because of the speed in which social media enables communication, word of mouth now becomes world of mouth
• 24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation because we no longer search for the news, the news finds us.
• Successful companies in social media act more like Dale Carnegie and less like David Ogilvy Listening first, selling second
• Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers than traditional advertiser

Socialnomics: How social media transforms our lives and the way we do business from Wiley Publishing will be in book stores August 31, 2009.