Stormy

A great collection of rain-related photography. Bad weather can be beautiful.

Real World

Peter Gabriel's engineer, Richard Chappell, provides a video tour of Gabriel's main writing and recording room at Real World Studios. I'm a fan, so it's nice to see where so much of his music came to life. Part two.

Reading between the lines, I get the sense that the "boss" and employee roles are very clearly defined in this space.

A tour of the entire Real World complex.

Here Again

The sun shines high above
The sounds of laughter
The birds swoop down upon
The crosses of old grey churches

We say that we're in love
While secretly wishing for rain
Sipping Coke and playing games

September's here again
September's here again

- David Sylvian

8 Bit Beck

Beautifully executed design concept for a Beck remix CD.

Must. Not. Let. Compact. Disc. Die.

Burj Dubai

The under-construction Burj Dubai Skyscraper is still a full year away from completion, but it's already the world's tallest man-made structure. Recent construction photos: 1 2 3

Official website
Another site loaded with info and photos.

This project's kinda big.

Silver Bridge

For 39 years, a tiny hidden crack grew to a length of only 3 millimeters - but ultimately enough to trigger the 1967 collapse of the Silver Bridge, which connected West Virginia and Ohio. Here's an interesting video (with animation) that explains what happened.

The event is also linked to the area's infamous "Mothman" sightings, which led to this book and this movie.

Shipbreaking

What happens to huge supertankers when they reach the end of their lives? Half of them end up on a beach in Bangladesh, where they're disassembled by local workers. Eventually, nothing but tiny fragments remain, buried in the mud. Photos here.

Rooftops

Via Kottke - Flickr set of some impressive NYC rooftop gardens and patios.

Sitting in our rooftop garden
looking down below
Sitting in our rooftop garden
waiting for the sun

Isn't it lovely watching
a plane go by
What a lovely couple
are you and I

Sitting in our rooftop garden
a few drops of rain
The lights in the city blinking on
just the same

No sugar in my coffee
how's your tea
In our rooftop garden
above the city

Let's not see any letters
let's not answer the phone
Let's just pretend that
there's no one at home

In our rooftop garden
in our rooftop garden
In our rooftop garden
up on the roof

Lou Reed

A Picnic

25 years ago (Aug 5 1983), my wife (then girlfriend) and I attended "The Police Picnic" at the old Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. The line-up:

Blue Peter
King Sunny Ade
The Fixx
Peter Tosh
James Brown
The Police (setlist here)

I still have the Synchronicity tour program I bought that day.

A Lion in a Sidecar on the Vertical Wall of Death

Indeed.