Prognathic, Mitten, Man.

Album of the Week #4 [04/04/10] - Clor - Clor

I saw Clor live back in August 2005 at the Leeds Festival, and they were fantastic. They were bouncy, fun, quirky and unexpected. They squeak, squeal and electro-beat their way through a range of songs that make you feel a little like you’re stuck in a telephone line (not sure if the album cover has something to do with that). Take the guitar riff in “Making you all Mine” for example; alone it must have sounded like such a bad idea, but with the drumbox backing and vocals it works, maybe not beautifully, but effectually. This is by no means the best album in the world, but it’s really good fun. I remember sitting on a Megabus, on the M1 going to Leeds a few years ago, listening to this album and feeling like I’d had about 7 coffees by the time I arrived. It was clearly all too much for them too, as they broke up in May 2006. Still, it was fun while it lasted, and now they’ve reached ‘album of the week’ status 4 years later. What more could any band want?

I was the bird that buzzed the bees, and stole the honey. (Love and Pain - Clor (2005))

Apple tree covered in lichen at Godolphin House, a NT property in the heart of Cornwall. Photo taken last Summer. The property has only recently opened (and even then only partially), and so there are only ever a few visitors. It’s remarkably tranquil - one of the most relaxing gardens I’ve visited.

Over the next few months, I’m going to be uploading some of my favourite photos. You’ll be able to see them all together by clicking the photography link on the left hand side, or clicking on the photography tag on any photograph post.

Snazzy Invention of the Week: Ipod Desktop Stand

With the clever combination of an old Belkin ipod case and a small piece of cylindrical cardboard, I invented an ipod stand! Cheap and nifty no? Now I can access it with post haste while working, almost making up the time I spent making it, and then taking unnecessary photos! Woo!

The next job on the cards is to make a waterproof back-pack cover out of an old waterproof jacket as I got soaked today walking home, and had to resort to covering my bag with a bright orange Sainsbury’s bag. Not sexy. I will need elastic, scissors and the ability to sew. I have only one of these things… the scissors. I’m hoping that Alex or my Sister will have some Smart-Alec ideas regarding the execution of this plan (*looks hopefully*).

Chinese Parasite Poster - Help Required!

A few months ago, I found a selection of old 1920’s public health posters when searching for a print of my personal favourite, ‘Pneumonia strikes like a man eating shark, lead by its pilot fish the common cold’.

When re-searching for the posters today, I came across an old Chinese public health poster, detailing a variety of parasites and their life-cycles. I’ve tried to work out as many of them as I can (trawling my memory from 4th year Parasitology), and label them alongside. I particularly like the diagram of a sarcoptes mite tunnelling through skin laying eggs behind it - I can almost feel the itch! It’s beautiful, has a fantastic retro-quality to it, yet is gruesomely detailed.

I’ve by no means got all of them, so please help me out with the ones I’ve missed, or poorly labelled! Leave a comment here, or email me at tom@prognathic.co.uk. Click the image above for a full-size view.

Isn’t this just beautiful? I have a thing for clocks anyway, but the technical skill involved in producing this, and the massive variety of shapes it would produce during a 12 hour period would be mesmerising!

bauldoff:

Continue Time is a concept clock by Sander Mulder, where each of the three clock hands are connected end-to-end and rotate around each other (for example, the top photo shows the clock at 1:43:03, the lower photo at 3:38:30).

There’s a real time video on their website which gives you some idea of how it looks in action. The second hand flies through the air, totally detached from the main body of the clock but still controlled and exact. There’s something orbital about it, like the moon around the earth around the sun. All wild, but tethered.

I’d love to have this on my wall, but I fear the restricted run of 40 will make it FAR too expensive for me to even comprehend. I wonder how hard it would be to make something similar (if a little less beautiful) from cheap clocks? Answer: very (see my comment).

Album of the Week #3 [28/03/10]: Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - A Night in Tunisia

It’s Sunday night again, which means it’s time for Album of the Week. This week, Jazz has invaded my musical world in a big way, and Fopp sneakily fed my newly found addiction with a £3 offer on a huge range of Jazz CDs, and this is the one that has really excited me. A Night in Tunisia is the opening track, and opens with a 90 second long drum fest, by way of preparation for the rest of the album. My only previous experience of the song was Charlie Parker’s sedate yet bouncy rendition, but the Messengers play it at about twice the speed with alot more spike. That’s not to do down CP’s version - it’s a beaut. Lee Morgan (another Jazzman whose albums I’ve picked up for £3 in Fopp) drives the tune on with some manic trumpet, and after 11 minutes the track is over and the rest of the album beckons you in like a siren.

It’s mighty different from Grizzly Bear, though notice how the album cover has a similar split-word alignment going on… creepy no?