Europe Video Highlights

I finally got my hands on Andy and Brad's pictures about a week ago and have been trying to throw together a highlight reel of photos in a video. This is my first expeirmentation with iMovie, so it took a while to get the hang of it. I wasn't able to do everything that I had wanted to with the photos but I don't think iMovie is really meant to have all the bells and whistles of a full video editing suite. That being said, it's really easy to get the hang of and quite powerful for simple presentations. Without further ado, here is the video.

FYI: Music - The Clash - The Magnificient Seven

I'm working on a getting a higher quality version of this online. For now though,
this is about all you're gonna get unless you come see it in person. (Then you can watch it in delicous high-def).

Okay, finally got this thing posted on Google video..it's larger but more pixelated, oh well

can't win em' all. Click 'View' to see it.

View

Interesting Art

This guy made a self portrait using a jury rigged long distance GPS module in a suitcase and mapped the signals of the package as it traveled on very specific flight paths to create the largest portrait ever. The whole story, in detail, is at the URL below.

http://biggestdrawingintheworld.com/drawing.aspx

-update (May 28th) ...so Apparently this is a fake...I did have suspicions, not because it wasn't technically feasible but because it is ridiculously expensive. But hey, people have spent money on stupider things. Also, the fact that DHL was in on the joke sort of helped it look somewhat legit.

Also, this is a bit of an afterthought, Banksy is worth checking out. He's a semi-anonymous British graffiti artist. Saw one of his pieces on a sexual health clinic in Bristol, it was quite good.
Personally though, his CCTV piece seems the most 'on point' work he's done, in Britain at least.
The pervasiveness of CCTV's in England is pretty absurd. I couldn't help but think about the Orwellian nature of it all.

The greatest phone I have ever owned

I was getting pretty fed up with the shitty battery life and signal quality that my Motorola RAZR had been giving me of late. This is of particular interest to me as I have no land line. So I took things into my own hands and ordered a new battery online. Sadly, this did little to fix my battery issues. I eventually decided it was time to buy a new phone. I didn't like what was offered through my provider, as they, like every other provider in Canada, had limited selection and what they did have was only reasonably priced if you're extending your contract or some such bullshit. So I decided I'd remove them from the equation and got an unlocked GSM phone online. It's beautiful and was dirt cheap. My biggest problem with the phones offered by the service providers in Canada is that they seem to have quite a lot of trouble selling a phone that just talks/texts. I suppose it's a profitability thing? but you'll forgive me if I don't want a shitty camera built into my phone that's only going to degrade the device's call quality or something that has a full mobile browser for which I will be charged absurd data rates (Canada is terrible for this). But I digress, I have acquired a beautiful utilitarian Sony Erricsson J100a unlocked GSM phone. I believe it was originally meant for resale in mexico and the central Americas, in any case..I love it. Beautiful call quality, great battery life. What more could I ask for? I'm all for device convergence but it seems so often that this convergence comes with performance compromises. Did I mention it cost $50?

Listening to: LCD Soundsystem, Bruce Springsteen, Imogen Heap, Justice

Photo Highlights

A selection of photos from various places on the trip is now up:

http://picasaweb.google.com/murraysteve/HighlightsofEuropeAprilMay2008

Pictures up!

Hey, A random selection of photos is now up at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/murraysteve/Europe