Pete Ashton's Weblog

I've had this idea for a flash animation, only I don't have flash, nor do I think I could pull it off were I to have flash. So I'm throwing it out there. Scott Walker's rendition of Jackie performed by dancing Scout Walkers from Star Wars. Perhaps the walkers could dance, or stomp in time (it's quite a stompy song) in the background while Darth Vader sings.

By sheer chance (surfing web, saw a link to the Laibach Kittens, remembered show, saw it was 1.20am, turned on magic lantern machine) I caught Joel Veitch's new TV show, Rathergood Videos, and I'm not sure whether it's that the whole flash animation thing doesn't transfer to TV or that late-night Channel 4 music video shows are just inherently awful things.

It's nice to see Joel's work in that context but other than the obvious advantage of him getting paid I really don't think television adds anything to it. If anything it cheapens it, which is might seem an odd thing to say about work born of b3ta, but there's a purity there that most TV, and this kind of TV especially, just cannot emulate.

I know, I know. I'm a zine-geek and an anti-TV zealot but I was really looking forward to half an hour of the strange and wonderful world of Joel and Alex Veitch and what we got was yet another tedious music video show with captions that confuse sarcasm with bitter cruelty. Oh, and some kitten/monkey action in short, Attention Deficiency Disorder-friendly, bursts to add that edgy, modern, street kinda feel, or whatever the fuck it is these TV wankers are after. Worth noting I feel that the credits listed about 10 people as "being" Rathergood Videos with Joel credited last. And also worth reading the only page on the C4 site that mentions rathergood - a discussion between C4 entertainment producers explaining to their boss, in their own words, what it is they do and why. If anyone still thinks TV and the web will one day converge, read this. It's not about the mediums, it's about the mentalities of the people behind them, and I'll be sticking with the web m'self.

Just to clarify, no criticism against Joel intended here. He's getting paid for doing stuff he wants to do and will probably get more paid work because of it. Best of luck to him.

It's so obvious and not even that original but somehow the joke had never occured to me and I laughed like a drain.

(Source: you know if you know, not me though)

I must say I've been deeply impressed with Fraser Blogjam's J-Blogjam sidebarblog dedicated to weird-assed Japanese 2-Channel flash animation. I first came across this hybrid of ascii and flash last November and since then Blogjam has been on the case, so much so that it all now seems perfectly normal. Well, normal in a really fucked up kinda way.

Anyway, J-Blogjam today informs that there's currently a festival of sorts going on called Super Flash, should you fancy a wee primer in navigating Japanese web sites for fun and profit.

International Talk Like A Pirate Day is on September 19th, which is also my birthday, so this is a not so subtle plug. Apologies.

Friday is accordion video day!

To celebrate this great milestone in the upward trending of the accordion, I have decided that the I would perform the first accordion video naked. Then I decided I'd look even better if I wore my Famous Cowboy Hat. Then I decided that the most appropriate song would be Britney Spears' Baby One More Time.

Magic!

Here's the deal. Go to blogjam and watch every one of the 32 Japanese flash animations he's found. Then go back to blogjam to find out what it all means. Sorta.

People ask if I miss the internet. In this context, yes, I do. Madly.

Fraser of Blogjam has created Kittenfilter, a place to discuss cute animals on the web. How wonderful this is! Once again, I find a tinge of regret that I shall not be around to make use of it.

Dear diary. Bush still doesn't 'get it. I tried making my feelings clear but he's too busy ignoring me, he is such a jerk. Everything in his life is just Saddam, Saddam, Saddam and I am sick of it.

On the plus side, I think my hair looked pretty good today. Also I went frolicking at Paektu Mountain and the rainbow came out again. After dinner some of my subjects sang me a song because I invented Outer Space.

Much funnier than it should be, especially the IM conversations between him and GWB. (via MeFi)

"Over 2,500 dogs are already enjoying a better life at Dog Island. Separated from the anxieties of urban life, dogs on Dog Island live a natural, healthy and happy life. They live with almost limitless space, and tens of thousands of rabbits, rodents and other natural prey. Surrounded by thousands of other dogs, this is the only place for them to be truly social and create healthy families. Dogs at Dog Island have another chance."

Oh, sweet joy!

Puchi Puchi Wanko is a small cheerful dog who was born October 15 on Strawberry Farm. He is a very adventurous pup who doesn't let the little things in life bother him - unless that "little thing" happens to be a mouse... While he doesn't really care for mice, it is rumored that his best friend is a cat named "Puchi Puchi Nyanko".

Puchi Puchi Wanko loves strawberries (although too many make him sleepy) and his favorite saying is "a small thing is a good thing!"

Thank to Kate for forwarding the PopBitch email to me. First time I've seen one. Now I know why I'm not subscribed. Who are these people they go on about?

Were I on broadband I'd check this animation out and see if it's worth posting about. But I'm not, so I'm posting it to remind me to check it out next time I'm on broadband.

I don't think this is Japanese, but it's definitely got a connection. Jeezus!

When I first met my good friend Brett whilst working in a bookshop in Birmingham four years ago he had just graduated from the University of Lampeter in the middle of the nowhere of darkest Wales. Whilst there he had spent a long time in pubs. When the beer money ran out he taught himself HTML and wrote about spending a long time in pubs. The end result was 500 reasons why you might be a Welsh landlord, all based on actual experiences of drinking in said establishments. It was one of the funniest things I'd ever read and marked Brett and someone I should get to know a tad better

Unfortunately, someone complained to Angelfire, the free hosting service, that Brett's site was racially offensive to the Welsh and they removed it. At this time Brett's PC had died and with it his copies of the pages. For a while you could get it on the Wayback Machine but it's gone even from there and neither of us thought to make new copies.

Then, magically, Brett found it archived on the website of The Plough And Harrow, a Welsh pub the landlord of which had recognised the earthy truisms in Brett's work and decided it was too good to lose. So, thanks to this great and good man we can one again present to you the genius that is The Amazing Welsh Landlord Site by Mr Brett Tremble.

Brett is also the mind behind the The World of Mayonnaise - where condiments collide!

A top-tastic link from Brett, and this time it's not stupid or dumb or about condiments. It's the Earth and Moon Viewer on John Walker's Formilab site.

You can view either a map of the Earth showing the day and night regions at this moment, or view the Earth from the Sun, the Moon, the night side of the Earth, above any location on the planet specified by latitude, longitude and altitude, from a satellite in Earth orbit, or above various cities around the globe. Images can be generated based on a full-colour image of the Earth by day and night, a topographical map of the Earth, up-to-date weather satellite imagery, or a composite image of cloud cover superimposed on a map of the Earth, or a colour composite which shows clouds, land and sea temperatures, and ice. Expert mode allows you additional control over the generation of the image. You can compose a custom request with frequently-used parameters and save it as a hotlist or bookmark item in your browser.

In addition to the Earth, you can also view the Moon from the Earth, Sun, night side, above named formations on the lunar surface. or as a map showing day and night. A related document compares the appearance of the Moon at perigee and apogee, including an interactive Perigee and Apogee Calculator.

What Joel Rathergood did next.

Only £300 per week...

(mirror)

Thanks Brett!

The bunny died

Warning - this links to pictures of a bunny dying. It really is sad and I'm not being sarcastic here. Made me well up.

Could Neil Hudson be the next big thing on the poetry scene?

Neat little distraction from b3ta - It's a piano made up of a man slapping himself on the face. And it works. Click on the little star to get it to play a song I can't quite place. If you know it, answer in the comments box.

On the other distractions extreme, go play Domo-Kun Angry Smashfest! Madness...

DO NOT follow this link if you value your time. DO follow this link if you need to waste an hour or so and want to do it in style. Orisinal has the most lovely flash games this side of lovelyville and they're eminently playable. Makes all other flash games pale into insignificance.

Flash Face is a photofit thingy which is kinda fun. Here's me:

We Didn't Start The Fire in Flash! MUCH better than it sounds! (via LMG)

via Ben

The Kittens singing The Vines Outtathaway is much better than one would expect, and I was expecting something good. The guitar solo in particular made me laugh out loud. Better than the previous effort which was still damn fine. Kittens, they rock, and no mistake.

Bumfights. For some reason this was posted to the mailing list related to drinking in London to which I am I part (and started, truth be told)... I wonder why...

I've noticed that I've been getting better at pong over the last year or so as more and more varieties of the game keep popping up in the blogosphere. So much so that, even after bursting out laughing at seeing this one (IE only, I think) I still managed to beat the computer first time. Thanks, Tom. Truly it is a doozey.