I'm on an aeroplane...

Em and I are currently sitting on an aeroplane destined for Cape Town. If all has gone according to plan, we should be about halfway into our trip, and you're able to read this because the schedule post thingy has worked successfully. Good job.

In the meantime here's a video showing a mini bus taxi burning on one of Cape Town's major highways...

New 'Nine Inch Nails' album announced

Last night Trent Reznor made the following announcement regarding the state of Nine inch Nails,

“I’ve been less than honest about what I’ve really been up to lately. For the last year I’ve been secretly working non-stop with Atticus Ross and Alan Moulder on a new, full-length Nine Inch Nails record, which I am happy to say is finished and frankly fucking great. This is the real impetus and motivation behind the decision to assemble a new band and tour again. My forays into film, HTDA and other projects really stimulated me creatively and I decided to focus that energy on taking Nine Inch Nails to a new place. Here we go!”— Trent Reznor, 5.28.13.

That's right! There's a new Nine Inch Nails album set for release later this year. I'm fairly certain that the release will coincide with the tour dates for mid-July till November.

The Oatmeal's Manbat

Source: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/manbat

Remix Bloc Party's 'Walk on music'

Bloc Party have made the stems available for their track, Walk on music, available for free download. Walk on music was written and recorded by Russell Lissack and Jamie Ellis (Battle), and has been played live at some of Bloc Party's recent shows. A link to download the stems can be found here, just a heads up, the file is 670 MB in size.

-- Updated 29 May 2013 --

I finally managed to download the stems, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it included a WAV file of the original track.

Pigeon performing Daft Punk medley

If you thought you were going to see a video of a bird performing a medley of hits by French electronica duo Daft Punk, you are sadly mistaken. Instead here is a video of five blokes from Australia, who call themselves Pigeon, performing a medley of hits by French electronica duo Daft Punk.

The medley contains renditions of One more time, Around the world, Da funk, Robot rock, Aerodynamic, and Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. If you like what you heard, the track is available below as a free download.

After hearing this I can safely say that while Daft Punk isn't one of my favourite acts, I do prefer the sound of their older material compared to the tracks I have heard off their latest offering, Random Access Memories. Also, check out some of Pigeon's original material here and here.

Pictures taken using Mount July creative filters

Last week I posted about the Mount July filter company and their inaugural Kickstarter campaign. So far they've managed to raise just over two-thirds of their US$ 32 000 target in just over a week. Since then, Mount July have also updated the project page with several photographs taken while using their range of their multi-coloured filters, as well as pictures of the individual filters themselves. 

Here's what the three individual filter colour options look like

While a lot of the pictures uploaded to Mount July's Facebook page feature photos taken while using two filters stacked on top of one another (which create some really dreamy effects), there are a few taken using only a single filter at a time. I've chosen one of each of these pictures from their Facebook to share with you, as they really show off the type results achievable with only a single Mount July filter attached to your camera lens.

Stinson (left): This filter looks to simulate an effect similar to over-exposing a scene. It also creates subtle vignetting, which although often undesirable, can result in some creative shots.










Sayulita (right): In contrast, this has been my favourite filter since I first found out about the project. The contrasting colour enhancements caused by the yellow to violet colour gradient immediately caught my eye. If I only ever order one filter from Mount July it will be this one.

Sedona (left): Finally the Sedona creates an even more dramatic vignetting effect, while distorting the colouration around the periphery of the composition.

To get an even better idea of the results achievable you can see a few more examples here, although it doesn't say which filters were used to create the shots.

I really hope these guys reach their goal. The creators say they would like for Mount July to reach all seven continents, well if these filters do become a reality, I'll ensure some of them reach Africa.

Batman: Arkham Origins - 10.25.2013

I'm not a big fan of DC Comics' list of super heroes, as I personally prefer Marvel's selection of anti-heroes. That said I have considered getting a Batman video game, more than any other licensed super hero game, simply due to the almost unanimous good reviews the Arkham series has received from reviewers. Batman: Arkham City has been on my radar in particular, as it is currently the third highest rated PS3 game released.

Now a full trailer for the Arkham series prequel, Batman: Arkham Origins, has been released, and it looks pretty good. Okay, so it's a cinematic trailer that doesn't feature any actual game play, but it still looks good. Besides it features Batman battling Deathstroke, who is essentially the character that inspired Marvel's character Deadpool, they even share the same surname.

Now the question is, do I wait for the release of Origins before playing Asylum and City, or do I just go ahead and play City?