Senses working overtime #61

1 Grace Slick

I think I've always been in love with Grace. She is so wonderful, so talented, so funny, with such a beautiful spirit. You get a sense of it as she discusses writing White Rabbit.



2 A movie written by algorithm
Hmm - not sure what I think about this - Sunspring is a sci-fi movie written by artificial intelligence. Definitely fits into 'senses working overtime', though.

3 Girl squad
This NY Times 'report' on the Hillary Clinton/ Liz Warren meeting is hilarious!! I wish I could write clever stuff like this.

4 Brain Pickings
I love tuning into the more cerebral delights of Brain Pickings. This latest piece on reading centres attention on Hermann Hesse in a stunning way!

5 Ellen's set

I saw this picture on my Twitter feed and while it didn't inspire me to go to the link, it did make me admire the set: the white square seating (which allows the humans to float via their darker clothing); the contrasting natural textures of the (fake?) wooden coffee table with book/(fake?) flowers/coffee mugs (not cups); fake cityscape with palm trees projected onto the big screen behind her; the highly polished floor. All gleaming, all fake warmth or fake expanse. It's actually really really well done!

Overtime

Song of the week and, yes, I love Steven Wilson's stuff: Lazurus by Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree:

Senses working overtime #60

1  Pep

It's another Sgt Pepper's anniversary and just when you thought it had all been written something springs up to surprise you. The Greatest? the debate rages on...

2 Mystery train
I like this guy - he embarks on a metaphor (visits to his posts are like a train coming into an abandoned station, and not very frequently) and just extends it without mercy! Gotta love that!

3 Sadiq Khan
How wonderful that there is a muslim mayor of London. Londoners rock!! This is a great Guardian article about what he's up to over Ramadan which started this week.

4 Speaking of Ramadan
What is it? This is what it's about!

5 The Ercolines - Woodstock icons

I remain fascinated by the original Woodstock festival in 1969. I love this couple's story!

They met at Dino’s Bar, a local diner, when Bobbi was with another man, a waiter there, in February of 1969. 

“She was gorgeous, are you kidding me? Long, blonde hair, she was a gorgeous girl. She’s a gorgeous woman,” Ercoline said.

Overtime
Song of the week is Porcupine Trees's Buying New Soul.

Senses working overtime #59

1 National Geographic photos

Get ready to gasp in awe - some truly inspiring images in this lot!

2 Olivia Munn

Woo Nellie - Olivia Munn was freakin awesome in The Newsroom. Wait, what? She's Psylocke in the new X-Men: Apocalypse movie? Let me through...

3 Work place dress codes
Always a hot topic, this is a great article about the changing modes of dress for men and women at the coalface. 

4 Star Wars holograms
Cool idea, holograms carved into the grooves of the vinyl version of The Force Awakens soundtrack. Thanks to James for the heads up.

5 Three years of Unsplash

Amazing images on Unsplash, as you know. This link takes you to a three year anniversary celebration.

Overtime: Song of the week
This insane version of Highway Star by Joe Satriani and the guys from Chickenfoot rocked the Purdmobile this week.

Senses working overtime #58

1 Bill Gates' favourite books

I clicked into this and thought it worth sharing because it seems like an honest list. You know what I mean - it's not a list of worthy but unreadable books (hello James Joyce) but actual books that Bill has enjoyed and still enjoys. Cool!

2 Silicon valley hates music
Really interesting article about the plundering of money from artists - try this for a pull quote: 

The problem has gotten so bad that, in 2015, vinyl record sales generated more income for music creators than the billions of music streams on YouTube and its competitors.

3 Build a bridge

Great article about engineering. Now I'm a million miles away from understanding how engineers do what they do but I loved this wide eyed look at exactly that. Fascinating!

4 They're real and they're spectacular

Jerry Seinfeld's girlfriends from the show.  My favourite is Audrey, who won’t taste Jerry’s pie.

5 Seth Godin
Seth is a fellow less-is-more guy. I loved this post on transitions. Here's the whole thing:

Transitions

Coming and going matter far more than what happens in the middle.

Opening things.

Closing them.

Tearing off the bandage.

Losing something.

Meeting someone new.

Getting on the airplane, getting off of it.

Being greeted.

Elections.

Ending a feud.

We mistakenly spend most of our time thinking about, working on and measuring the in-between parts, imagining that this is the meat of it, the important work. In fact, humans remember the transitions, because it's moments of change and possibility and trepidation that light us up.

Overtime: Prince
Wads of words written about Prince since his death but this piece (a four minute read) nicely encapsulates some key ideas.

Senses working overtime #57

1 Innovation

Excellent article from the New York Times on innovation. It's a longish read but what the hell! Do yourself a favour.

2 Cool
I was never a cool kid, never hip, so this piece from a kindred spirit struck a nice chord.

3 Bad Robot
Actually this JJ Abrams company isn't in the run down but there are some great stories in this list of TV Production company names.

4 Stanley is 90 and an inspiration
Great story from the New York Times about Stanley Turkel, how he spends his Sundays and living well.

5 DC vs Marvel

I am a fan of some DC comics - okay, pretty much only Sgt Rock. Batman and Superman don't do it for like Marvel comic characters like Sgt Fury, The Fantastic Four, Thor, Spiderman, and The Silver Surfer.

This article goes some way to explain why DC lags behind.

Overtime: Commander Cody
My favourite song of the week. It's so good here's three versions:

 

Senses working overtime #56

1 Millennial

A great collection of photographs that aim to capture what it is to be part of the millennial generation  (link courtesy of James Whatley)

2 Star Wars leadership
Seven lessons in leadership from The Force Awakens - pretty awesome little article.

3 Wedding photos
Normally not something I'd blog about, look at, or pass on, but these are very sobering images from the war zone.

4 The Americans
Great story from The Guardian (world's greatest newspaper - official) on the real life versions of The Americans. That means two Soviet moles who lived in the US and had children etc before being outed. Amazing!

5 Who gets the farm?
Love this story - love the younger son!

Overtime
Wow - no way would I wear one of these!

Spanish fourth division football team goes for the naked male look - bizarre.

Senses working overtime #55

1 Seinfeld

Where are the cast members now from the greatest show ever made on TV (official)?

2 Civil War 
Great run down on the state of the civil war between Captain America and Iron Man.

3 Head case
Wowsers!! I told my Year 13 class about this story - an Italian neurosurgeon who claims he's ready to do the world's first head transplant! Yes - you read that right! 

You would not believe how much discussion it generated in class! 

4 The Force Awakens
Great read that reappraises JJ Abrams' addition to the Star Wars movie universe.

5 Ships Have Sailed

A bit racy this one but it comes from my latest follower on Twitter. I really like the song, Drive - melodic pop is my thing!

Overtime: Star Wars Virgin
Another great article from the Vox people. Scroll down and read the guesses and actualities sections.