Sirharris.com

No sooner have I posted you a link that I must do so again:

...."The foremost giveaway of homelessness is bad odor.
Have workshirts laundered and pressed at a drycleaner. Best is to hang them on a hook in the backseat of your car, but you can also have the laundry fold them and place them in boxes. They will have extra creases if you get them boxed. Take them in just three at a time, and get them out in groups of three. This will help you to keep them crisp. The drycleaner will become your closet. Don't let anything stay at the cleaners for more than 30 days. Keep your cleaning tickets in your glove compartment, where you can find them."... etc. etc.

This is the Survival Guide to Homelessness

I am especially fascinated by the meticulousness with which preparations are made. I understand people often have the homeless way of life thrust upon them with no choice, but it is easy to have a high level of respect for someone who does something to the highest standard they can (especially whilst facing adversity). I sincerely mean not to sound patronising in this regard, I'd like to think my admiration can be received without a false tainting of pity assumed.

Found Via: Boing Boing

It seems only wise to start off the weekend "home straight" with the historical (and speculative) map making work of Matthew White. My work occasionally involves delving into our historical map archives and it's very easy to loose more time than you have available.

Found via: Susurration, where all is not well in the halls of residence.

A proud smile forms for noticing this fabulous monochrome, selected for you as a Greyscale Wednesday from the black and white feast that is Full Frame Images:



Juxtaposed to provide light and shade is an apocalyptic vision rendered by the time honoured tradition of adding spray paint to walls. Part of the You-are-here Los Angeles graffiti photo library, entitled "Doom", this makes for vivid and impressive viewing.

"Veteran BBC broadcaster John Peel dies from a heart attack at the age of 65 while on holiday in Peru."
"Peel, whose radio career spanned 40 years, was on a working holiday in the city of Cuzco with his wife Sheila when he suffered a heart attack".

So that's it then, a true pioneer of the generations of music devoid of mainstream backing shall not speak another word with that ever listen-able voice. Rest in peace.

Reported by BBC News UK Edition

Providing a visual map from your favourite artists to others you may be interested in by genre and epoch, MusicPlasma is both visually pleasant and innovative. Without being bias in any obvious way I did question the fairness of a claim Elton John, The Rolling Stones and David Bowie are all considerably less popular artists than Norah Jones or Jethro Tull. See what you make of it all.

Found via: Loic Le Meur Blog

Taken from the London based Urbanite photoblog is the following fresh air entitled "Beautiful Bay":



Yes, it's another Landscape Monday, I only hope your weekend was as pleasant as my own.

Houser Design Photos has John, a guest photographer, presenting the following delight:



His previous work, Creek is also something special. Anyone reading Sirharris.com beyond the past week will know my following of this excellent gallery.

Today is Friday, gentle reader you are lucky.

The list of writers who does not use Google Adsense gets ever shorter as I give up a little space on Sirharris.com for marketing. Any meagre revenue this site can generate shall go straight to two of my favourite charities Christian Aid and Amnesty International, both I believe play a vital role in our world.

As a side note I'd like to clarify the difference between:

In my mind I design the imaginary reader of Sirharris.com, I like to consider you creative, full of hopes - perhaps even a dreamer, no? Maybe misunderstood, but largely so full of hidden potential no one could be blamed for underestimating your capabilities.

I also assume you to be suitably knowledgeable regarding your safety and personal information online. For instance, I'd expect you to be familiar with the Nigerian Money Scam. It's a well known trick, no one just gives you cheques for large amounts of money, it is obvious.

It figures that there would be derivatives of this type of fraud because good ideas don't appear as frequently as poor ones re-engineered. If you are selling a car there is the African Car Buying Scam and if you are renting a room/flat/shoebox there is the Tenant Scam.

For those that don't mind a deluge of expletives in their good advice J-Walk posted a link to a complete run down of a Nigerian scam at Truthhurts.org, this one has the bitter-sweet addition of the revenge methods used after the predator was downgraded to the prey, making for rewarding reading.

Presented is the work of Anthony Jones depicting the capital from a different perspective, part of my continued observations for Greyscale Wednesday.

"Anthony Jones black and white photography has received phenomenal acclaim in recent years. He has exhibited at the Association of Photographers Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum as well as numerous private exhibitions throughout the world."



Found Via: Burp
Learn More: Anthony Jones

"It's the most famous painting in the world and a must-see for anyone visiting Paris. But most people fight through the crowds to spend a mere 15 seconds in front of it - just long enough to grab a snapshot. So why do they bother?"

I couldn't resist this news piece from Guardian Unlimited covering the bizarre Mona Lisa syndrome around her entire wing of the Louvre. Having only been to Paris last month both my girlfriend and I noticed long before you even reach the floor housing that painting you are swept up into a procession. The rabble move with quickening pace as they sense close proximity, onward they charge past work after work of sacred depiction, you can attempt to pause to glance to your left or right but ultimately you are blocking those who wish to advance.

"Objectively, this is a very bad tourist experience. At least at the Eiffel Tower, the other highlight of travel-brochure Paris, you get the excitement of the lift and an incredible view. Here you get one small, dark picture surrounded by a jostling crowd of hundreds."

"It is hard to see how anyone can genuinely enjoy looking at the painting in these circumstances, which probably explains why most people don't."

To myself the most interesting was the emptiness apparent in visitors after exiting "her" gallery, they traipse downstairs as if wounded hearts in a funeral procession, perhaps planning what pre-requisite vista they shall next endeavour to stand before, and photograph.

I didn't notice many others not attempting to take a photograph of The Mona Lisa, yet I certainly don't consider myself elite for this choice. I figured few would enjoy my vantage point from behind six lines of people, all with their cameras thrust into the air accidentally taking haphazard snaps of what, dissapointingly, turns out later to be a stranger's head obscuring their piece of artistic history. For me there were much more interesting creations in The Louvre (and even more at the Mussee d'Orsay).

Read the story that started this post in Guardian Unlimited.

Yesterday brought me the latest issue of ChangeThis, that started a period of reading and that, in turn, created this entry.

If you haven't been following ChangeThis then you should really give it a brief examination.

From this point I shall assume you have familiarised yourself with the aforementioned website. Current highlights include article 6.04 on leadership and Hugh from GapingVoid presenting, in one manageable PDF, article 6.05 How To Be Creative.

Not being from the United States I don't feel in a suitable position to evaluate 6.06 Ten Election Questions, you can consider it a reflex reaction after absorbing paraphrased letters from the US to Britain in the posting Dear Limey Assholes.

Presented as part of the continuing Landscape Monday findings is this beautiful fairy-tale vision linked from Sparkle Photoblog, named: "We Are Family".

Six Polish musicians utilise their Nintendo handhelds to produce a low-tech fest of all things aural and electronic.
"Our generation has been dealing with computers since childhood. We have witnessed an evolution of 8 bit computers into 32 bit ones. Computer technology has grew with us. We would play computer games in free time."



"Gameboyzz Orchestra Project is an experimental sound - visual project, basing on the use of GameBoy console as a music instrument. Main assumption of project's authors is to create new sound space on the base of tones generated live from console during the performance."



This is the Gameboyz Orchestra Project.

Found via: We Make Money Not Art

For Greyscale Wednesday I offer the latest from East3rd Photography, "Accordian":

The fantastic and far futuristic portrayal of watch technology in 2154 is presented by Core77 and Timex here at The Future of Time Design Competition. Some of the entries really are highly desirable and make my kinetic watch look in need of prompt updating.



Found via: adamgreenfield

Provided by NASA is a daily photograph documenting aspects of the cosmos, notes are provided to explain what you are viewing.

For Landscape Monday I present the work of wideangle.ca entitled "Domestic" and linked from the Italy album.



Welcome to the new week.

"The recording of the homeless scene and of homeless people is regarded as “victim” photography by contemporary photography theorists. For the documentary photographer such a criticism, if taken as gospel, prevents the bearing of witness to social conditions, and assists in the elimination of particular pieces of visual social history."

Collected photography containing the portable possessions of the homeless, both fascinating and unexpectedly touching. Named: Identity Kits and found via Boing-Boing.

"If I had to choose a plant, or indeed a vegetable, to describe someone dear to me, likewise I doubt ‘my (little) cauliflower’ would spring to mind, but in France ‘mon chou’ is another common affectionate name."

There is something very enchanting about this diary of an English woman and a French man living in Paris, entitled Petite Anglaise.

Found via: Messy Christian

Today is Friday, the weekend commences for myself in just the short duration of this working day. To mentally prepare you for your weekend I shall attempt to bombard you with feel good material, it could be humourous, picturesque or inspirational.

Commencing with Overheard in New York which instigated foolish grinning on numerous occasions.

To follow here is the beautiful "Damn by Moonlight" [sic] from the Houser Design Photos



Stay tuned.

In issue 5 of the online collective ChangeThis:

"One of the world's best-known linguists explains why progressives need to pay more attention to conservatives' most powerful weapon: framing. Lakoff provides a clear explanation of what framing is, why it's so important, and how progressives can use the tactic to their own gain."

Read the article George Lakoff Manifesto

Since yesterday I have switched Sirharris over to allowing comments, I don't expect a deluge but I would really appreciate the odd line or two of response from you now and again.

Finding a black and white work for Greyscale Wednesday was proving much more difficult than usual today. I began with a selection of the usual mixture leaning towards cityscapes and architecture...

Unfortunately I then went on to read this bitterly miserable entry posted by Laban Tall named More Urban Nightmares. Since a small boy, on visits to the capital, I have dreamt of living in London. It poisons me to follow the catalogues of links containing London's brutal urban suffering and endless racist attacks. News offers me no alternative but to read, habitual like the rubbernecking when a lorry jack-knifes on the motorway.

I present to you the bi-product of this depressing material, from DailySnap named "College Frustration":



In closing, please, inform me of any positive news sites. There is only so much I can take of chav muggings and crime statistics. I do not wish to turn a blind eye to the issues of the nation, but I would love to read more positive blogging in Britain now and again.

Having never enjoyed being forced to suffer someone else's definition of "zany", I present to you a site containing just that.
It's named Hungarian Goulash, it's more than worth a quick look through their archives.

Found Via: J-Walk Blog

It is Monday morning. This time last week I was re-accustoming to England after nine days of no work and an excellent stay in Paris. In a search for something both beautiful and similarly Parisian in theme I present the following from Chromogenic. This is the second Landscape Monday:

"Picking through garbage bags, they fill their knapsacks with enough fruit, vegetables, loaves of bread and packaged goods to fully stock their shelves and refrigerators. They're not homeless, and they have jobs. They call themselves freegans, and though some fill their fridges with food from garbage bins to save money, many choose not to buy food for philosophical reasons."

"One Freegan, Luna Tic, even took the concept a step further and converted his car to run on cooking oil discarded by restaurants (he says he gets 12 miles to the gallon)"

Newsday presents this alternative lifestyle of the freegan. Cuisine is free if you are prepared to get your hands dirty.

Found via: boingboing