Now, for some science!

If your eyes follow the movement of the rotating pink dot,

the dots will remain only one color, pink.

However if you stare at the black " +" in the center, the moving dots turns to green.

Now, concentrate on the black " + " in the center of the picture. After a short period, all the pink dots will slowly disappear, and you will only see only a single green dot rotating.

A beaut from Cavan on Other Voices

Lisa O' Neill, from Ballyhaise, Cavan, writes her own songs throwing in the occasional cover, naming Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Joni Mitchell, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, the Everly Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel and The Dubliners as influences, she describes her music as folk, pointing out that this means writing songs about the people. "Whether I'm writing about my own life or what I see around me, it is folk music, though some people would have different ideas about what folk is," says Lisa, adding that her influences are "storytellers".

Previously mentioned

Bon Iver Tickets on sale today!

Ticketmaster

Conversations with Bert

I got a chuckle outta this

Nostalgia commences.....

My two most played tracks in Australia:

Wow.

Only coming across these now, where have they been hiding!?!?

First Aid Kit Swedish indie/folk duo consisting of the young sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg from Stockholm. The debut EP “Drunken Trees” was released on the 9th of April 2008 in Sweden on the label Rabid Records, owned by the Swedish electronic duo The Knife. The EP was re-released through Wichita Recordings early 2009.

Their debut album The Big Black & The Blue was released on January 25th, 2010.

It's history.

In case you haven't seen this:

New video for Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

So glad I don't drink coffee (NSFW)

Link

Some indie pop!

He Is We is an indie pop band formed in Tacoma, WA. The duo consists of Rachel Taylor and Trevor Kelly. The band’s first full length album, My Forever, was released November 2010. Their OLD DEMOS album can be downloaded at http://heiswe.bandcamp.com. He Is We is an indie pop band from Tacoma, Washington. The band is made up of Rachel Taylor and Trevor Kelly. They met while working at Ted Brown Music Company, a music store in their home town of Tacoma, Washington.

New Material from Bon Iver!

Bon Iver’s first Bon Iver single is “Calgary,”  the birthplace of Tyler, The Creator critics Tegan & Sara. 

Idaho - International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

There are over 75 countries in the world today where it is a criminal offence to be gay. These countries punish women, men and children because of their sexuality and in seven countries the punishment is death.

An International Day Against HOmophobia (IDAHO) provides a platform for everyone to make a powerful statement to demand improvements for the quality of life for LGBT people.

Genius advertising! :)

Pity I'm away, I had to say no to this

Full size

What a planker!

So, I dunno, are you aware there is a planking craze going on in parts of the world right now? I wasn't really until, I spotted some of my Australian mates posting pictures of themselves.... planking.

There are rules to planking though:

When performing a Plank:

1/ You must always lay face down, ensuring your face remains expressionless for the duration of the Plank.

2/ Your legs must remain straight, and together with toes pointed.

3/ Your arms must be placed by your side, held straight and fingers pointed.

4/ You must make it known that you are Planking. Saying 'I am Planking' usually get this across. Sternly announcing it will ensure a good result.

5/ Your safety should always be considered. Properly thought through Planking procedures should always go to plan. Never put your self at undue risk.

6/ Every Plank that is captured must be named.




Facebook Page 
Australian Facebook Page

Planking death prompts Australian prime minister's call for safety,
First death from planking

So, Game of Thrones....

You may not be following the HBO series on Sky Atlantic (tonight at 9pm), but seeing as I worked on it, I tuned in, and am hooked. There is a lot going on in Game Of Thrones.

Magda Maslowska of HauteSlides is a huge fan of the show and she spent some time studying the relationships between the characters, coming up with this in-depth spoiler-free infographic:

Full size

There's a whole HOST of diagrams to go with that one.

Panti is somewhat of a genius!

Just came across this video advertising Panti's Eurovision night.

Xylos

Debut album Xylos out April 5, 2011!

Xylos are a five-piece pop group from New York City. Singer/multi-instrumentalist Monika Heidemann, guitarist Eric Zeiler, keyboardist/vocalist Nikki Lancy, bassist/vocalist Jordan Brooks and drummer Chris Berry write sophisticated-yet-playful songs, weaving together lush harmonies, electronic production, and soaring vocal melodies. Drawing on influences such as Kate Bush, ABBA and Steve Reich, they have made a quick rise up bloggers’ radars and favorite lists, including being chosen as one of L Magazine’s “8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear” last year.

New look Cheryl Cole, in prep for USA X Factor

Prey Project

I was reading this amazing story on TUAW about a man named Sean Power who tracked down a thief that stole his 17″ MacBook Pro using the open-source and free Prey (available on Ubuntu, Mac, PC, Linux, and Android).

The app, which I had never heard of until today, is a free alternative to the slightly more well-known Undercover (Mac) that does essentially the same thing but at a price. Prey is free for personal use and seems to do its job well.


Prey Project introduction from Carlos Yaconi on Vimeo.

And the winner is!

Each year, Australia holds a Eurovision weekend from Friday to Sunday where the First and Second Semi Finals are shown culminating in the Final show on Sunday evening. During the Final the Australian public get their chance to televote for their winner.

Although Australia cannot vote in the actual Eurovision Song Contest, each year the public do televote to decide their winner and in 2011 there are some surprise results :-

Ireland 8350
Greece 7120
Serbia 4429
Bosnia & Herzegovina 4150
Moldova 3397
Hungary 2862
Sweden 2521
Denmark 2097
United Kingdom 1339
Ukraine 1338
Finland 1308
Romania 1205
Iceland 1061
Russia 982
Italy 935
Germany 922
Estonia 820
Slovenia 757
France 576
Austria 483
Georgia 473
Spain 456
Switzerland 356
Lithuania 262
Azerbaijan 245

So, Europe's winner is Australia's least favourite song of all. Other marked differences in the voting patterns see the actual runner up Italy only in 15th place and Serbia faring much better with the Australian public than the European.

Ultimately, the Australian public decided that Jedward from Ireland was their favourite entry with a clear distance between first and second place.
Original

New material from Nerina

Never underestimate a good morning number. Nerina Pallot is no stranger to pretty tunes, but this track is a little on the upbeat side. It’s a testament to just surrendering at times. Her vocals follow perfectly and the chorus catches you by surprise. It’s the kind of track that might go by unnoticed at first but you’ll soon notice you can’t stop humming the chorus. “Put Your Hands Up” is the lead single to the album Year Of The Wolf and if it is a taste of what is to come then we surely have a great album.