Half awake in a fake empire
Apr/100
Fake Empire – The National from Scott Cudmore on Vimeo.
This song is hauntingly beautiful and this video is a perfect visual compliment. I’ve been listening a lot to The National’s Boxer album a lot lately and I get such a variation of visuals and emotions from it, I find the album is a lot like a dark industrial dream world, a city of black skyscrapers viewed from the clouds as you fall in slow motion through a haze, pure white sunlight piercing through the dark clouds as you reach for a lovers hand to walk through the city.
Swing Polaroid
Mar/100
Taken yesterday in Belper with my beautiful SX-70 Polaroid camera (http://www.twitpic.com/w26f4) yes this is a real Polaroid, I hope you can tell the difference.
This was taken on expired tz-artistic film, but finally The Impossible Project have released their first batch of new Polaroid film, it’s black and white and looks wonderful but rather pricey for 8 shots. Head over to http://www.the-impossible-project.com/ to find out more or just to look at some great Polaroid photos on the site.
I’m also currently rather fond of the Hipstamatic app for the iphone:
I call this one Tiny Little Horses…because of the horses, silly. I like it because it actually makes the crappy iphone camera take good, interesting shots, despite the faux film/retro appeal it’s nice.
Also:
This is a bit good. Ignore the visuals. An instrumental piano cover of the Pixies Where Is My Mind. It’s so damn relaxing and peaceful.
Interesting Music Videos
Mar/100
I’ve been watching lots and lots of music videos lately mainly for research, I’d thought it would be interesting to start posting them up here for fun and for my own reference.
Here’s two I came across today:
Director: James Frost, OK Go and Syyn Labs
This is just genius. I love the amount of work that’s gone into this and the absolute chaos and seer barrage of stuff that’s flying about everywhere.
Director: Megaforce
Even though I can clearly see how the effects in this video have been done it’s still and really impressive and original video – I’d love to see all the planning, working out and tests done in preparation for the shooting.
Back on the Streets (Well, not really)
Apr/095
You can’t (re)read through nearly six volumes of Warren Ellis’ Transmetropolitan without it starting to overload your brain meats, you start seeing the outside world a little differently, it seems to feed the ID and makes you want to rip the right leg off anything that annoys you and beat it into unconsciousness, then have a whisky. It’s a kind of excitement and energy I only seem to get from reading the likes of Hunter S Thompson, Transmet and watching Fight Club, it gets the blood flowing, makes you feel a little more alive, then you lock yourself away in a room for most of the day and attempt to bleed story outlines on to the computer screen, distracting yourself by rereading Transmet, finishing off that volume of Ben Templesmiths Wormwood what you brought and occasionally playing ICO again for the first time in years. Oh you don’t? Just me then.
Love and Hugs
J
Ps.
Fuck off 
New Video: David Gibb – The English Retreat
Mar/090
David Gibb – The English Retreat from James Sharpe on Vimeo.
Barnaby Ward
Mar/090
Brought yesterday, and read today Barnaby Ward’s Sixteen Miles to Merricks and Other Works, absolutely fantastic book, I’m in love with his style of art, the image above is now graces my desktop. It makes me want to get out my inks and sketch pad and really try and improve at drawing people, I might take a life drawing class some day.
Check out his website for more beautiful imagery at somefield.com
Charlie Brookers “Summer of Rage” Article
Mar/090
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/02/charlie-brooker-politicians