Subway Sandwich Sensation...

We like this... Featuring beatboxer Yuri Lane demonstrating his technique of beatboxing through a harmonica. An advert you actually want to watch!

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OK Go show All Is Not Lost...

The latest epic video from Pop Combo OK Go who pretty much came to fame because of their energetic treadmill routine for the song 'Here It Goes Again', one of my all time favourite pop videos. Since then there visual creativity blossomed with the creation of a 'Rube Goldberg Machine' for 'This Too Shall Pass'.

A bonus in the latest creation is you can have your own message included as part of the end sequence:

Try it out for yourself right here!

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The Peace of the Lord be...

Well, I, for one, can't wait to see this movie based on Don Miller's cracking book 'Blue Like Jazz'. Instead of a 'coming of age' storyline it's a bit more of a re-discovery with some seriously perceptive observations of the church.

Love it!

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Out of the mouths of babes...

Adele's wonderful cover of Bob Dylan's 'Make You Feel My Love' plays over the closing credits for BBC's documentary masterpiece, 'Poor Kids' broadcast last Tuesday. Filmed and directed brilliantly by Jezza Neumann, here's the official blurb:

Documentary telling the stories of some of the 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK. It is one of the worst child poverty rates in the industrialised world, and successive governments continue to struggle to bring it into line. So who are these children, and where are they living? Under-represented, under-nourished and often under the radar, 3.5 million children should be given a voice. And this powerful film does just that.

Eight-year-old Courtney, 10-year-old Paige and 11-year-old Sam live in different parts of the UK. Breathtakingly honest and eloquent, they give testament to how having no money affects their lives: lack of food, being bullied and having nowhere to play. The children might be indignant about their situation now, but this may not be enough to help them. Their thoughts on their futures are sobering.

Sam's 16-year-old sister Kayleigh puts it all into context, as she tells how the effects of poverty led her to take extreme measures to try and escape it all.

Poor Kids puts the children on centre stage, and they command it with honesty and directness. It's time for everyone to listen.

Sadly there are only a few days left to watch on iPlayer, try and make the time...

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Archbishop Rowan busts a move...

Another advert and although it's a rip-off of the famous original YouTube wedding entrance video still made me laugh! Plus I used to live in E17... and we will get a holy day...

P (h/t Pat Kirby)

The President's Speech...

In the wake of the success of the incredible film 'The Kings Speech' comes the trailer for the American adaptation... it helps if you've seen the original, makes this even funnier despite the soft target!

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A blast from the eighties...

Was sent this youtube link by my good buddy Peter Bigg 'tother day, who commissioned me for one of my earliest music to picture jobs for The British Television Advertising Awards.

The production became a pretty collaborative process with motion control guru and director Peter Truckel of The Moving Picture Company. Unusually, no final visual element was completed before the initial music track was recorded and therefore I only had the storyboard for inspiration. All the spot sound effects, all created by synths, were then overdubbed as each piece of video was sent over. When I submitted my very first rough demo tape Peter T immediately gave my creative masterpiece the glamorous title of G-Dung!

I can still pretty much identify every instrument used including:

• Fostex B16 track analogue tape machine
• Soundtracs 16-8-16 mixing desk
• Revox B77 half track tape machine (still have - serviced)
• Yamaha CS-80 Synth (still have - mostly working)
• Yamaha DX7 Synth (version 1) (still have - broken)
• Yamaha RX11 drum machine (might still have!)
• Roland SH-101 Mono Synth
• Moog Multimoog (still have - broken)
• Some BanksyBoy vocals! (yep, still have!)
• Cubase on an Atari ST
• Great British Spring reverb (still have - condition unknown!)
• Some cheap and cheerful delay unit
  
• Klark Teknik active monitors (still have - one broken)


• Yamaha NS10 monitors


• Auratones

It could actually be a bit of a showreel for 80s synth sounds, especially the DX7 brass! The filming and effects took absolutely ages to complete and, at the time, was all very cutting edge stuff...

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And the greatest of these...

LOVE WINS. from Rob Bell on Vimeo.

Seems the fundies are already up in arms... I thought we were supposed to WANT hell to be empty?! Oh well, seems I must be a post-modern, semi-evangelical, universalist something or other...

PB

Fruits of Greed...

Colchester Mercury Theatre's stunning production of Steinbeck's classic 'Grapes of Wrath' could not be better timed as a counterfoil to today's spending review. I was completely blown away by this production, even having read the book. Of course, readers will know the story is dark and yet redemptive through the sacrifices of some of the key characters.

I confess I am not a regular theatre goer, however this sensitive and highly creative interpretation really hooked me in. In fact I remember failing to watch the movie version all the way through as it seemed to contradict the images my imagination had drawn in my mind's eye. The combination of the physical boundaries of the theatre and the gentle pace meant this play still allowed me to both keep intact those images and to add to them. In fact that conclusion made me realise why film versions of previously read books don't come up to the mark with their literal, photo realistic interpretations which tend to restrict our own imagination so much as we are, actually, watching someone else's imagination instead.

I cannot stress enough if you are in the area do make the effort to go, it is so fantastic in every respect. Brilliant acting, production and staging plus special mention of the musicians who doubled up as actors too. The music was totally live featuring a brilliant fiddle player, multi instrumentalist guitar / banjo / mandolin / slide guitar player, double bass and some occasional percussion. The style was quoted as Bluegrass yet also included a vibrant Hoe Down sequence and incredibly haunting and moving instrumentals.

The closing sequence was breathtaking - simple, redemptive, challenging - not a dry eye in the house! It's on until the 30th October, make the time!

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Pentecost Baptism Of Fire...

A little bit of Pentecost humour from MrDeity.com discovered via Lesley's Blog

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Spinal Tap meets Chequebook Worship

Yeah, right, on one level this makes me crack up... on another it is a really sad indictment of all that is bad in this style of 'popular' church... and it is not just my 'opinion' or even my 'taste' (although I have both in abundance). The irony that dated music is 'Contemporary' and that technology makes the message of the Gospel 'Relevant' is cleverly captured. However, the 'Medium' changes the 'Message'...

Rob Bell summed this up so succinctly when answering a question on Mega Churches at Greenbelt 09:

The problem is that a large massive group of people who have gathered for an hour a week can easily deceive themselves into thinking that's 'Church'. But Church is a sort of revolutionary movement of people who have the body and blood at their centre who see themselves as we are here to break OUR bodies and to pour out OUR blood for the healing of the world. And what can easily happen is the 'show', the hour on Sunday, the big exciting thing, can easily become a surrogate for actual community...

Listen to the full version on Greenbelt website.

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Eddie Izzard - Brilliant Britain

Well, whoever you vote for you have to agree this is excellent AND positive art?!!

Love it! h/t Martin Wroe

P (Green Party!)

Easter suffering... fuel for forgiveness

From work of the people found on their blog.

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Coldplay and re-imagining Culture Clash

Coldplay-Life In Technicolor ii HD
Uploaded by crytek2. - See the latest featured music videos.

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Distinctly Canadian...

h/t Mike Todd

And the greatest of these is Love

Love will try to conquer all! h/t Squiffy

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