The Pen is Mightier than the Saw

This is a miniature sculpture from the Brazilian artist Dalton M. Ghetti. He came to the US at the age of 24, and after studying an Architecture degree, decided to work on pencil sculptures. Fascinated by miniature art, he has produced a range of pieces, all of which you can see at his gallery.

My favourites are the hollow cube, the Elvis, and the boot, which is incredible. It made me wonder how many times the lead has broken and ruined a piece. The answer can be found in "The Graveyard" a print of all the broken pieces he has not been able to finish.

Perhaps the most poignant work is "3000 Tears". Deeply affected by the events at the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, he decided to create a memorial to honour the victims of the attack by carving one teardrop every day for each of the victims. Each miniature drop takes around an hour to make, and it has taken him 10 years to complete it. The final work shows all of the drops arrangen within one large white wooden teardrop, and is on display at the New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut.
(Thanks to Dalton Ghetti)

Wolf People gig announced

This week we herald Wolf People, the first British band to sign for the amazing Jagjaguwar label, joining illustrious label mates such as Dinosaur Jr, Besnard Lakes, Black Mountain and Bon Iver. In September, they are only playing one gig in London, at the Val Parnell bar at the world famous London Palladium.

The show is being promoted by Idle Fret, who are creating a bit of a reputation for booking fantastic bands, and the odd label release too. It is part of a mini festival that they are running at the Palladium, and other acts in the festival include The History of Apple Pie, Turner prize-winning artist Martin Creed, and Crushing Blows. See right for the Idle Fret twitter tracker.

Listen to two of their tracks below, then buy tickets here:
Silbury Sand - Wolf People from Silbury Sand B/W Dry
Tiny People – Wolf People from Steeple

Marketing Against the Marketers

As part of these summer games, the London Organising Committeeof the Olympic Games (LOCOG) have issued strong brand protection guidelines that detail what you can't say, and the combinations of words that are banned. They even go so far as to help with organising parties in your own home or street.

This all adds a slightly big brother edge to the games though, as I described in my previous post, and as Oddbins have observed. This report in the Drum website describes how Oddbins are tackling these brand restrictions head-on. Their marketing director describes the campaign as "a marketing counter-strike in defiance of the labyrinthine restrictions placed on businesses by the Olympics’ legion of brand guardians".

As well as a prominent window display campaign, anyone who comes into an Oddbins branch wearing Nike trainers and has in their pocket a set of Vauxhall car keys, an RBS MasterCard, an iPhone, a bill from British Gas and a receipt for a Pepsi bought at KFC will receive 30 per cent off their purchase.

So it's good to see some marketing creativity coming out of the games. As a campaign, it stands out cleverly, alongside British Airways brilliant Home Advantage campaign urging us: "Don't Fly. Support Team GB." Also, in the defiantly anti-brand-strangling bracket is the Lodnon 2012 Oimplycs campaign, undertaken in a window display by Focus Formal Wear, again in protest at being told how not to capitalise on a vibrant time in the UK.

Sport For All?

Nothing puts the icing on a cake of something like the Olympics like being involved. Imagine the honour of being one of the 2000 schoolchildren lining the route to the Olympic stadium on the eve of the Opening Ceremony. At 9pm on Friday, the eyes of the world will be on London, with estimated viewing figures of millions, and there you are, centre screen, ushering the athletes to the Olympic Stadium, bearing the flags of their nations.

But don't think that you're just going to dress up, turn up and enjoy it, because you could be turned away. It was announced this week that the children would have to wear Adidas trainers, or wear unbranded trainers, if they wanted to be part of the ceremony.

As if the branding madness hadn't gone far enough, the rule was further reinforced that athletes will have to wear Adidas branded sports goods on the podium.

Now I know that Adidas have to protect their brand - they're one of the premium sponsors for the Games, and they have provided millions of pounds worth of equipment and so on. But to put proud parents in a position where their child cannot get involved unless they wear a specific brand of footwear just seems draconian in the extreme.

And if I had spent my whole life training for one event, and had prevailed against the lifelong challenge that presents, and all my competitors on the day, the last thing I would accept is a sponsor telling me what to wear.

Little wonder perhaps that a recent survey indicates that children would rather watch sport than take part. Now is the time when openness, nurturing and positive attitudes to all forms of sport should be garnered,

So on both counts, stories like this fail .. they must damage Adidas' brand, as now we all think they're idiots, and children are just going to be disillusioned with the whole thing. Particularly the child sent home because he wouldn't fund Adidas policy of paying £10 a week to impoverished Cambodian workers to manufacture Olympics sports wear.

Top 20 Albums of 2011

So here it is. The shortlist of my top 20 albums of 2011. The set of albums that just missed out are also awesome, but I genuinely love listening to every one of these. Good to see a British band at Number 1, as well, although it genuinely just worked out that way.

1. Male Bonding - Endless Now
2. Givers - In Light
3. The Dodos - No Color
4. Apex Manor - The Year Of Magical Drinking
5. White Denim - D
6. Baxter Dury - Happy Soup
7. Chapel Club - Palace
8. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Mirror Traffic
9. Vetiver - The Errant Charm
10. Josh T. Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen
11. Nathaniel Rateliff - In Memory Of Loss
12. Cults - Cults
13. The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From The Vaccines
14. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
15. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
16. Slow Club - Paradise
17. Radiohead - The King Of Limbs
18. Gold Leaves - The Ornament
19. Braids - Native Speaker
20. The Horrors - Skying

Traffic Cop Enjoying his work

This is a Filipino Traffic Cop enjoying his work like a champ. I have no idea how he manages to avoid accidents, it all looks like random traffic control to me.


Thanks to Boing Boing

A New Testcard?

Recently Kate and Wills went to Canada and North America as a married couple. This photo was on the BBC website, covering the story of how they visited Skid Row, a particularly deprived area of Los Angeles, and worked with the children on arts projects.

This picture reminds me of the old BBC testcard from years ago; this is from a time when TV was not 24 hours. There were only 3 channels, and every night the BBC would finish around midnight to the tune of God Save The Queen (you couldn't make it up). At that point all you could see would be the white dot, something parodied in the Young Ones, when alternative comedy was emerging phoenix-like from the ashes of sexist & racist comedians of the working-mens' club circuits in the UK.

Thanks to the BBC

"It takes a long time to get up north, the slow way"

I feel compelled to tell you all about a great new Indie radio show that's been launched by a friend of mine, Marc Cooling. Based in Yorkshire, the show goes out on Friday nights between 11 and 12 at night on Phoenix FM. If you're out and about at that time, fear not, you can catch the previous shows on Marc's podcast page.

There's a really eclectic mix of music, from upbeat tunes (Caribou, Everything Everything) to more thoughtful stuff (Jesca Hoop, Villagers, Daniel Johnston), with even a little vintage thrown in (Ian Dury, Kinks, Syd Barrett). So go check it out.

If you listen to the podcasts that are already there, you'll hear the quote listed above in one of the songs. Can you spot it?