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The Festival of the Spoken Nerd…

aogw — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:37:19 +0000

I go to the theatre a lot. And when I say theatre, I mean the building, rather than the art form in the strictest sense. And when I say ‘the’ theatre, it’s not one specific one. It’s lots of them. I’m lucky enough to live a short toddle from The Almeida Theatre and Screen On The Green in Islington and see most showings at both. But films and plays are just the start. I love nothing more than uncovering a talk, or a lecture, or a show, or an event that will tell me something about the world I couldn’t have dreamed existed.

Festival of the Spoken Nerd is such a show. It’s comedy mixed with science in a wrapping that sits somewhere in the crossover between a kind of science based live TV telethon and a TED talk for people with ADD. I saw the show at The Theatre Royal, Haymarket on Feb 2nd having bought a ticket off the back of seeing a couple of the titular Nerds appear at 9 Lessons & Carols For Godless People pre-Christmas.

The show was great, but that’s not why we’re here. We’re here because during the show the brilliantness of shapes of constant width were brought to my attention. A shape (or curve) of constant width is, essentially a circle. Except it isn’t just a circle. It could be a Reuleaux Triangle. And while you don’t probably know what a Reauleaux Triangle (will you give me your last Realeaux Triangle?) is quite yet, know this: you could make a bicycle’s wheels from them.

Watch:

Now, if you watch that video, and marvel at the not-round-back-wheel of the bike doing amazing things to your knowledge of physics and geometry, think this: that front wheel looks an awful lot like a 50p piece. And you know what, a 50p piece is a shape of constant width too. And so’s a 20p. British currency is an awesome marriage of metal smithery and polygon related mischief. Bloody wonderful. Home reading below…

Reuleuax Triangles…
Curve of constant width

Look-a-likes…

aogw — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:35:57 +0000

I love look-a-likes. Largely because, in almost every case, they’re a bit crap. And I like things that are a bit crap. Well, unimportant things anyway. But never have I seen a look-a-like quite as poor as the winner of the Kilkenny based competition to find a George Clooney look-a-like. Before you click through to the story, I’ll warn you: you won’t actually be able to guess which of the men in the photo has won the competition, and which was running it.

I got it wrong.

No word of a lie…

Letters of Note…

aogw — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:35:21 +0000

There’s a fantastic blog I don’t spend enough time reading. It’s called Letters of Note.

The premise is simple: to uncover amazing written artefacts from throughout history that bring to life hidden corners of the world. A particular favourite of mine is a letter sent early in his career by David Bowie to a fan. When a letter from one of the great creative minds of the modern world starts like this, it makes you feel good about things:

When I called in this, my manager’s office, a few moments ago I was handed my very first American fan letter – and it was from you. I was so pleased that I had to sit down and type an immediate reply, even though Ken is shouting at me to get on with a script he badly needs. That can wiat (wi-at? That’s a new English word which means wait).

Read the full letter here, and then explore the beautiful world of the written word.

An island at war…

aogw — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:14:02 +0000

In 1986, The Scilly Isles – the beautiful flecks of Britain that lie beyond Land’s End – were finally allowed to relax. Why you ask? Because for the previous 335 years the islands had officially been at war with Holland. Don’t worry if you didn’t notice; no casualties were caused by the war, and there is a certain lack of confidence around whether war was ever declared in the first place.

Still, it’s a nice dotted line that connects these two corners of the world, and a reminder of the vast, complex and odd history that surrounds us wherever we are.

Abandoned

aogw — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:56:33 +0000

The world is a vast canvas, full of places that remain untouched by man. But there are also many places that were once bustling with activity and now lie silent, devoid of the life that brought them into being in the first place. The theatres and cinemas who’ve run their final shows, the abandoned building projects, and of course the towns and villages that have been left behind for one reason, or another.

A quick search will throw up dozens more examples, so go explore a world that at once persists and ceases to be…

The world, in review

aogw — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:45:55 +0000

The opinions and thoughts of people are fascinating. From the high level ideas of Aristotle or Kant, to the throwaway comments of Saturday night TV critics, we all enjoy a wallow in the insightful, the shocking and the absurd. But nothing illustrates the strange recesses of the human mind better than a brilliant trawl through the world of Amazon One-Star reviews, an idea I picked up some months ago from A Hard Day’s Blog.

It’s a simple game: pick a great piece of work (or one you admire for any reason), find it on Amazon and navigate to the reviews. Once you filter down to the one-star points-of-view, you’ll be hooked. And of course, you can do the same on IMDB for films, or any other review site. Now I won’t quote from any reviews here, but it is interesting to note that The Beatle’s Revolver has only picked up two one star reviews: one for a damaged box, and one for the remix of the sounds on the CD release. So some sense still prevails…

And if, after much one-star battering of the great, good and inspiring you need some way to restore your faith in humanity, you need look no further than the wonderful reviews of the Bic Crystal Ballpoint Pen, Medium Point, Black on Amazon. Superb.

The money shot

aogw — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:30:22 +0000

Simply awesome work from Dan Tague.

Dollar bills revealing hidden messages. Beautiful. Simple.

Via the ever wonderful Quipsologies.

Last week I went to the Edinburgh Fringe…

aogw — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:18:37 +0000

I go every year. Though was disappointed to find that from the age of 3-6 my parents thought in unecessary to drag me along. However, every other year, whether I recall it or not, I’ve been in Edinburgh in August watching shows, ignoring flyers and enveloping myself in a cloud of brilliance (I’ve become much better at blocking out the crap).

TOP 3 SIGHTS:
1. Paul Daniels, rabbits in hand, and Dave Gorman, sans rabbits, enjoying a chat by a crepe stall
2. Spotting two different people I recognise not because I have met them, but solely due to their appearances on the BBC’s University Challenge
3. A man who had made a chicken puppet from a bagpipe

TOP 3 SHOWS (Seen in Edinburgh*):
1. Sammy J – An Aussie stand-up with a gorgeous tale about a possum
2. Swamp Juice – A shadow puppet extravaganza that featured 3D shadows
3. The Horne Section – Alex Horne’s late night musical excursion

(*Isy Suttie and Adam Riches, both seen in London in preview, were sublime. Two of the best shows I’ve ever seen. So go see ‘em and take something to throw on stage at the end in appreciation. Nothing heavy or creepy though.)

TOP 3 MOMENTS:
1. Chatting amiably to a former Perrier Award winner and a disgraced MP within hours of each other
2. Hearing Axis of Awesome have also come up with my long term, LOTR inspired slur ‘Dildo Baggins’
3.Giving what would have been the tip from a meal that featured terrible service (I’ll spare them, as they’re usually awesome) to the girls at Assembly Bar for being great on multiple visits. Karma.

Why I love living in London…

aogw — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 08:13:33 +0000

When I left the house on Friday morning I had no plans.
No tickets for anything. No arrangements made. No hankerings to do anything much.
A quiet weekend beckoned, with some light pottering top of the agenda.
But then living in London that can easily change.

Step 1. Get invited to theatre. 4 tickets to Blithe Spirit (negotiated discount on the fly) bookended by pub. Friday night sorted.
Step 2. Realise, stupidly, that Scotland vs Brazil is at the Emirates – a stadium 15 minutes from your flat.
Step 3. Find tickets. Find mates coming to London for match.
Step 4. Warm up to tartan army induction pretending to be sensible at the Ideal Home Show. No magic vegetable chopping implements purchased.
Step 5. Shoreditch -> Blackstock Road -> Emirates Stadium -> Islington with beer in hand and football on mind (and a bit of sleep in between).
Step 6. Monday.

2,564 frames per second…

aogw — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 22:44:53 +0000

Locked in a Vegas Hotel Room with a Phantom Flex from Tom Guilmette on Vimeo.