Melbourne Specimen

A Short History of Nearly Nothing: Creative Writing Assignment

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:09:06 +1000

A Short History of Nearly Nothing: Creative Writing Assignment :

Feedback would be much appreciated!

You are asleep beside me, and I am awake, listening to the way the air sounds at three am.

I’ve never noticed how different it is before. It’s hollow and empty, but far from quiet. The T.V buzzes. The trains have stopped but the stream of traffic is…

Andrew Bird - It’s Not Easy Being Green I’ve posted...

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 21:06:47 +1000

Andrew Bird - It’s Not Easy Being Green

I’ve posted this before, but I feel compelled to again. I’ve been looping it continuously since I read this article about green industrial paint Hulk guy.

This feeling…

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 23:40:23 +1000

This feeling…

aliveandreaming: night shadow by Crazy Ivory on Flickr.

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:41:49 +1000

aliveandreaming:

night shadow by Crazy Ivory on Flickr.

jtotheizzoe: Scientists Find Thousands Of Previously...

Thu, 31 May 2012 12:32:31 +1000

jtotheizzoe:

Scientists Find Thousands Of Previously Undiscovered Species Cowering In Amazon Rainforest

As usual, The Onion’s best comedy is that which is just barely beyond truth. If you don’t laugh, you just may cry.

“Our expedition has shown that the Amazon Rainforest is simply teeming with a multitude of creatures never before glimpsed in this region,” said lead researcher professor Courtland Gere, who personally observed a rare form of spider monkey as it huddled, shaking, inside the stump of a freshly felled tree. “Just mere minutes after our vehicles entered the forest, our team was lucky enough to hear the grief-stricken whimpers of a fascinating, previously unknown species of striped jaguar locked in the fetal position under a pile of leaves.”

(via The Onion)

jtotheizzoe: I know I said I was done posting cool photos of...

Thu, 31 May 2012 11:20:10 +1000

jtotheizzoe:

I know I said I was done posting cool photos of the recent annular “ring of fire” eclipse, but this one just found its way to me and I can’t resist. Here’s the story behind the photo.

(photo by Michael Chow, Arizona Republic)

alecshao: The glowing “firefly squid” of Toyama, Japan. Each...

Thu, 31 May 2012 10:02:29 +1000

alecshao:

The glowing “firefly squid” of Toyama, Japan. Each tentacle contains a photophore which produces light to attract small fish for the squid to feed on.

Via

ikenbot: Full Moon above Stuttgart Aww man I want to shoot...

Thu, 31 May 2012 02:23:24 +1000

ikenbot:

Full Moon above Stuttgart

Aww man I want to shoot light trails like that.

This lamp wants your blood. “What if power came at a cost to...

Thu, 31 May 2012 02:21:41 +1000

This lamp wants your blood.

“What if power came at a cost to the individual? The average American consumes 3383kwh of energy per year. That’s equivalent to leaving the light on in 4 rooms for a whole year. The simple flick of a switch allows us to power appliances and gadgets 24/7 without a thought to where it comes from and the cost to the environment. For the lamp to work one breaks the top off, dissolves the powder, and uses their own blood to power a simple light. By creating a lamp that can only be used once, the user must consider when light is needed the most, forcing them to rethink how wasteful they are with energy, and how precious it is.” - Mike Thomson

This is fascinating, but really, where can I get awesome fluro glowing liquid?

I went to check the price for Zoe Keating tomorrow night and her...

Tue, 29 May 2012 20:59:00 +1000

I went to check the price for Zoe Keating tomorrow night and her show is all sold out. Damn.

Not to worry. There is a second show on at 11pm. I hope I’m not dead by the time I get there…

meninthistown: Leather and plaid. Man I wish I could see the...

Tue, 29 May 2012 20:52:31 +1000

meninthistown:

Leather and plaid.

Man I wish I could see the bag.

Photo

Tue, 29 May 2012 17:12:03 +1000

mianoti: “Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow” A video portrait of...

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:32:00 +1000

Anselm Kiefer

Anselm Kiefer

mianoti:

“Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow”

A video portrait of the artist Anselm Kiefer by documentarian Sophie Fiennes

1 - 2 - 3 - 4

thanks to | about the documentary

…more Kiefer

…also, my photographs of the towers

aliveandreaming: Deserted Truck [Explored] by JM Clark...

Mon, 28 May 2012 18:26:47 +1000

aliveandreaming:

Deserted Truck [Explored] by JM Clark Photography (jamecl99) on Flickr.

aliveandreaming: Sólsetur by Jón Óskar. on Flickr.

Mon, 28 May 2012 17:43:20 +1000

aliveandreaming:

Sólsetur by Jón Óskar. on Flickr.

tomdickins: A few weeks ago - I asked twitter for suggestions...

Mon, 28 May 2012 15:06:19 +1000

tomdickins:

A few weeks ago - I asked twitter for suggestions for song ideas - giving myself the challenge of writing a song in ten minutes. Two tweets in particular set the wheels in motion for this song, one was a link to a Wiki page about “Seasonal Affected Depression” - the other was “the story of a coffeemaker and a toaster - theirs is a forbidden love”.

This reminded me of this very sad, sad barista I met a few years ago. He and his partner had been living together, working together, bought a puppy together… they were in love and wanted to spend their lives together. As his partner’s work visa had expired - and we STILL don’t have marriage equality - they were not able to marry to stay in Australia together.

This was such a fucking awesome way to write a song - a test case, if you will, for one of the ways in which the online community for the album will work. This song wouldn’t have happened without the interaction with people who enjoy my music.

If you haven’t become part of the project - please head to http://tomdickins.pozible.com . If you can spare even a dollar, you can be a part of the album.

Also - if we hit $20K I am going to be making a super-exclusive, pledger-only covers EP. Everyone will get a download.

Please spread the word as far as you can.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tom

rebhava: Degraves Accordian on Flickr.

Mon, 28 May 2012 14:37:27 +1000

rebhava:

Degraves Accordian on Flickr.

Photo

Mon, 28 May 2012 14:27:20 +1000

The Man Who Took on Amazon and Saved a Bookstore

Sun, 27 May 2012 17:03:00 +1000

The Man Who Took on Amazon and Saved a Bookstore:

Phil Johnson looks at how a small bookstore survived: By becoming faster than the internet.

The title is misleading (I thought that this would involve a lawsuit). What the man really did through passion, understanding technology and good business sense was to find a way exist as a small business alongside online shopping and e-books.

I’m a huge fan of e-media of all types and am not one to get sentimental over page turning or the smell of paper. It is heartening though to see somebody figure out the retail experience without relying on nostalgia to make it work.

unhistorical: May 26, 1895: Dorothea Lange is born. Dorothea...

Sun, 27 May 2012 15:23:42 +1000

unhistorical:

May 26, 1895: Dorothea Lange is born.

Dorothea Lange was a prominent American photographer who worked most extensively through the Great Depression, during which she photographed the unemployed and homeless for the Resettlement Administration, and later the Farm Security Administration. One of her most famous photographs - “Migrant Mother” (actually one in a series of photographs) - is one of the most iconic of that era.

During World War II, Lange was assigned by the War Relocation Authority to cover the rounding up and internment of Japanese-American - in fact, if you see a photograph of that event, it’s likely a Dorothea Lange piece. Dozens of her photographs, especially those that portrayed conditions within the camps, were impounded and censored by the U.S. government.

Though she was a native of New Jersey, Lange spent a substantial amount of her career working in California, and in 2008, she was inducted into the California Hall of Fame, stating that “her passion for people and the art of photography left us with era-defining images of 20th century America.”