Soiree de poche: Beach House

Google Partners Up With Arcade Fire to Launch HTML5 Chrome Experiment

The Wilderness Downtown

Choreographed windows, interactive flocking, custom rendered maps, real-time compositing, procedural drawing, 3D canvas rendering... this Chrome Experiment has them all. "The Wilderness Downtown" is an interactive interpretation of Arcade Fire's song "We Used To Wait" and was built entirely with the latest open web technologies, including HTML5 video, audio, and canvas.

via http://www.chromeexperiments.com/arcadefire/

Twin Sister & Memoryhouse played last night at Cat's Cradle

Last night Memoryhouse and Twin Sister played at the Cat's Cradle, to an audience of about 25. I felt that I got to know these two bands intimately. Both these bands have shown up on Pitchfork's 'Rising Section'. Pitchfork writes, Long Island-bred indie-pop quintet Twin Sister make music that sounds like a secret. Main vocalist Andrea Estella's voice breathes like a whisper while the rest of the band pulse, reverb, and twang behind her. The result is intimate, diffuse, and even a little funky. and writes, Ontario duo Memoryhouse layer reverb over wistful, bittersweet hooks and minimal drum machine tics like a more fresh-faced Beach House.

If you get a chance to see these bands, I wouldn't miss it.

Suburbs hit #1 on the Billboards!

They beat out Taylor Swift, Eminem, and everyone else in the Pop world (Billboard). I can't believe it. Is there a change in the mainstream? Well, I hope so. For your moment of Zen, see their recent live performances on the Daily Show, posted via Stereogum.

Judge overturns Calif. gay marriage ban

A federal judge in California ruled Wednesday that the state's Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage violates the constitutional right to equal protection, the first step in a legal struggle that most expect will end at the Supreme Court.
It was the first federal trial to consider whether banning same-sex marriage violates the U.S. constitution, and Olson and Boies provided an elaborate record for Walker and future courts, with their own clients, social scientists, psychologists and experts on marriage providing testimony. Cooper called only two witnesses, and, in his questioning at closing arguments, Walker seemed peeved that the Proposition 8 backers did not do more. continue reading . . .
via http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Class Portrait

The ethical issues and paranoia surrounding the laws of photographing children in today’s society is confusing and somewhat farcical. At what point will the photography of children be completely forbidden.

via Anna Brooks

You Ain’t No Picasso’s favorite songs of summer 2010

Going through some new songs that 'You  Ain't No Picasso' has added as their 2010 summer jam (link).
YANP’s favorite songs of Summer 2010
MP3: Menomena – TAOS
MP3: Jaill – Snake Shakes
MP3: Wavves – King Of The Beach
MP3: Wolf Parade – What Did My Lover Say (It Always Had To Go This Way)
MP3: Of Montreal – Coquet Coquette
MP3: Lissie – Bully
MP3: Cults – Oh My God
MP3: Guards – Sail It Slow (feat. Cults)
MP3: Antarctica Takes It! – C & F
MP3: Cotton Jones – Glorylight and Christie
MP3: Black Mountain – Old Fangs
MP3: John Grant – I Wanna Go To Marz
MP3: Tennis – Marathon
MP3: Polock – Fireworks
MP3: These United States – The Great Rivers
MP3: Magic Kids – Summer
MP3: Sibylle Baier – Tonight
MP3: Kevin Barnes – Tonight
MP3: Family Trees – Dream Talkin
MP3: Edriano Celantano – Prisencolinensinainciusol
MP3: Carl Broemel – Heaven Knows

Burning Man Infographic

via by xmasons

The Guardian's summer photo competition

This photo was taken in the north-west of Scotland in Fort William. We were there to climb Ben Nevis and afterwards, when camping by a loch, this scene was truly enough to relax our sore muscles

This photo was submitted and was accepted into the guardian's summer photo competition (link). I love this Photo.

Elon Musk: 'I'm planning to retire to Mars'

The SpaceX founder is convinced that humanity's survival rests on its ability to move to the red planet.
Musk wants to secure humanity's future by turning the human race into a space-faring people able to colonise other planets. It's the only way, Musk believes, that we can be saved, either from destroying ourselves or from some outside calamity. To put it mildly, Musk thinks big and takes the long view. "It's important that we attempt to extend life beyond Earth now," he says in an accent hinting at his childhood in South Africa. "It is the first time in the four billion-year history of Earth that it's been possible and that window could be open for a long time – hopefully it is – or it could be open for a short time. We should err on the side of caution and do something now." continue reading...
I still think that the earth is worth saving and the we can do it. I also view the world as a whole, and not humanity separate -  so, this is a bit too much for me to grasp.