Rob Masters

I really don't know where to begin with this one! Let's see now. This is possibly one of the most 60's video the 2010's produced. Embracing the alternate meaning of the band's name, we enter a fantasy world of bright primary colours, and people just wanting to make friends, no matter the differences. And that's a fantasy I can really relate to.  Bright, fun, and utterly adorable, I hope you all enjoy the little bit of pure joy that is "No New Friends", by LSD (Labrinth, Sia, Diplo), from 2019. 

 Dating from 1848, cyanotype imaging is the oldest chemical image-making system known. Following a couple of chance events (a sale at an educational supplies store near us, and some YouTube randomness from BoingBoing), I decided to build a cyanotype camera. Some years ago a friend of mine gave me a lens from a TV projector, so that was a starting point. Add to that a black cardboard camera box, a handful of bolts and some gaffa, and in about 30 minutes I had a camera obscura working. Cyanotype paper is a very slow film - in good light the exposure time is around 15-30. Minutes, that is. Not seconds. Developing, on the other hand, takes about 3-4 minutes and only requires water. So, what sort of results come from this? 20 minutes, part cloud. double-trunked pine tree, surrounded by bushes. Garden with wattle. As you can see, the results are not exactly detailed, but there is a very dream-like quality to them. Part of the reason for this is that the process is not sensitive to visibl...

Delerium, the commercially successful spin-off project of Front Line Assembly, has appeared here before. This track is from their 2012 album Music Box Opera . Telling a tale of loss, pain, transformation, and growth, it is really quite inspiring.  Enjoy "Monarch" by Delerium, from 2012.

There was something of a temptation to keep this one for April, but in the end I decided there were better candidates for that occasion. I really don't have much to say about this, except that the clip is so out of keeping with the song that it becomes almost a pastiche of itself.  Anyway, here is 2004's "Oops... I Did It Again", performed by Britney Spears. 

Another of the classics - here's a band going the full Alice. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, with a bonus of Dave Stewart from Eurythmics, bringing you 1985's "Don't Come Around Here No More". Fun fact - 'Alice' was also the original 'Joanie' in the series pilot for "Happy Days". 

Let's assume for a little while that money is it self somewhat smart. Not sentient - let's be clear about that, and certainly not alive - but smart enough to know when it has been spent, and to understand a passage of time. Critically, it also has a short memory - it can remember the last few hands it has passed through - but can never share that information. Let's further assume that this magical money retains this self-knowledge despite whatever transformations are applied to it - so it does not matter if it is physical, electronic, or in a bank. So, got all that?  Now for the fun bit.  Money loses value the longer you hold onto it, starting 60 days after you receive it. (This is kind of actually what happens over the long term - it is called inflation.) Let's say it loses half its value every 30 days. But regains the lost value 30 days after it has been spent. Instantly. Let's be clear on one other important thing: the change is i n the face value. So the $10 not...