Your own personal rainbow

This was published on Richard Wiseman’s blog today. It’s your own personal rainbow! Follow the instructions in the image.

The Mona Lisa in Microsoft Paint

I have been a little busy recently, so I haven’t been able to spend a long time writing this post today. However, here is a YouTube video I wanted to share:

Whilst quite lighthearted, I think it raises some interesting questions. What defines a masterpiece (like the Mona Lisa); simply the  end product, or the process of creating it? Does the advent of technology that makes the creation of artwork easier, also make creating masterpieces correspondly easier, or does it just move the goalposts in terms of what is defined as a master piece?

Song of the week (number 29)

This song is great. I only heard it a couple of days ago and already think it’s great. Admittedly, I don’t know much about the singer, he’s called Hsie He-hsian apparently (or A Chord or R.Chord ???) and comes from Nantou in Taiwan. The song is possibly called So Grow Up, but I’m not sure about that (if you can read Mandarin, please let me know). Anyway, this song is great.

If you can’t view YouTube where you live, click here.

Back to my future

Inspired by the photos of Irina Werning featured on this blog last week, I dug out a couple of my own old photos when I went home at the weekend. Here is my own take on the Back to the Future theme. Both these photos were taken in the same playground in Plymouth (where my gran lives) several years apart. The photo on the left was taken when I was around three, the photo on the right was taken when I was around nine. Next time I go back to Plymouth, I will try to remember to recreate this scene again. For those of you with your own blogs, why not take your own Back to the Future photos and post about them?

Kayaking along the canal

I went home last weekend. On the Sunday, since the weather was nice, I took my Dad’s kayak for a short paddle along the local canal.

Song of the week (number 28)

I was struggling a little thinking of what song to share this week. Having been slightly obsessed with Korean pop music recently, I felt that it was a time for a change in tune. Flicking through my YouTube favourites list I came across a song called Hãy Về Đây Bên Anh by the Vietnamese singer Duy Mạnh. Here it is.

If you can not view YouTube where you live, click here.

Back to the future

I came across these photos the other day. What a great idea they are! The photographer is Irina Werning and in this series, old portraits are revisited. Below are a few of my favourites. You can see more at Irina Werning’s website here (beware, some of the photos feature semi-nakedness!).

1983 & 2010 – © Irina Werning

1984 & 2010 – © Irina Werning

1956 & 2010 – © Irina Werning

My top ten British sitcoms

A few months ago, I counted down to my top British sitcom. Here, I present my top ten list in full. Click on the links to go to the post for each of the sitcoms.

10. The Vicar of Dibley – The traditional English village of Dibley is assigned a woman vicar.

9. Father Ted – Three priests of the Roman Catholic Church living together with their housekeeper on a remote island.

8. The Office – A fictional documentary about the employees working in the office of Wernham Hogg Paper Company.

7. Yes Minister – A look into the political career of Jim Hacker, the minster for the Department for Administrative Affairs.

6. Peep Show – Peeping into the eyes and minds of Mark Corrigan and Jeremy Usbourne, two very different flatmates.

5. Only Fools and Horses – Two brothers making a living selling dodgy goods on the mean streets of London.

4. Fawlty Towers – Basil Fawlty is a snob in charge of a hotel.

3. Red Dwarf – The last human, a humanoid evolved from a cat, a mechanoid and a hologram are lost in deep space.

2. Blackadder – A journey through English history with the cunning Edmund Blackadder.

1. One Foot in the Grave – Following his retirement, whatever can go wrong, does go wrong for Victor Meldrew.

Song of the week (number 27)

I featured some Korean songs on this blog not long ago. However, at some point I just had to find space for this awesome music video by Korean group After School. As a special treat for all you dear readers (listeners/watchers?), I have included three versions of this super cool song. The first is the original, the second is a remix, the third is the male version (surprisingly created simply by altering the voices of the seven girls). This is Because of You… enjoy!

If you can not view YouTube where you live, click here.

Fish