Clipmarks | Lifes First Beat's clips

Wanted: trend spotter for film mogul, travel included

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:56:34 GMT

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Clip Source: entertainment.timesonline.co.uk

t's every graduate’s dream job. Brian Grazer, the Oscar-winning producer of The Da Vinci Code, American Gangster and A Beautiful Mind, is looking for a personal cultural attaché to keep him in touch with the world beyond Hollywood.

Grazer is offering to pay an assistant £40,000 a year to read books for him, accompany him on his private jet and fix interviews with everyone from Buddhist monks to mafia bosses. No previous experience of the film industry is required.

According to an e-mail advertising the job: “This person would be responsible for keeping Brian abreast of everything that’s going on in the world; politically, culturally, musically . . . They’re also responsible for finding an interesting person for Brian to meet every week. This could mean an astronaut, a journalist, a philosopher, a Buddhist monk – someone who has made an impression in their field.

Doctor Brilliant

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:08:37 GMT

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Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

He helped beat smallpox and saved 3m people's sight. Now the first techno-philanthropist has an even more ambitious task. Spending $2bn of Google's money

Larry Brilliant has a habit of solving big problems. As a doctor working for the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the late 1970s, he turned his energies towards one of the planet's most destructive diseases: as a result, he is one of those credited with eradicating smallpox.

These days Brilliant might be approaching retirement age, but he's set himself some new challenges, among them lowering the cost of renewable energy, spotting pandemics before they happen and creating jobs in Africa. This time around, however, he's not going it alone. In fact, he's got the backing of one of the most powerful companies in the world.

It is two years since Dr Brilliant

took over Google's philanthropic foundation, Google.org, and two weeks since the announcement of an ambitious slate of projects.

Olafur Eliasson set to make a splash in Manhattan with four huge waterfalls

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:03:16 GMT

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Clip Source: arts.guardian.co.uk

He lit up the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern in 2003 with an artificial sun, drawing 2 million visitors to bask in its orange light. Now the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson has turned to another element in an even more ambitious project: installing four huge, freestanding waterfalls around New York harbour.

Reaching up to 37 metres (120ft) above the water, the falls will be installed between July and October this year at strategic sites around the harbour, including one under Brooklyn Bridge, and will be lit up at night to form part of the New York skyline.

Their cost - which could reach $15m - will be met by the US non-profit organisation Public Art Fund. The group also recently unveiled the first American installation by British artist Sarah Lucas, Perceval, a large sculpture of a horse and cart in Manhattan's Central Park.

In 2005, he installed a 20ft waterfall at Dundee University, and his 1998 piece Reversed Waterfall sent water uphill via a series of pumps and basins.

Greatest stories never told: Ten famous writers reveal their works that never made it into print

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:30:55 GMT

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Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

There are reasons why we haven't read the sex saga set in a boys' boarding school, the 'space opera' based on The Tempest, and God: The Novel.

Will Self's The Fantastic Four was trumped by the television series Heroes © Geraint Lewis

For every book that reaches publication day and gives its author his two minutes of (if he's lucky) fame, glory, reviews and the admiration of the opposite sex, there's a nasty pile of debris, of aborted riffs, stillborn metaphors and banished chapters. There's a multitude of titles abandoned halfway through, or consigned to the bottom drawer, to be rescued or reheated half a lifetime later. Herman Melville, finding he was making no headway with a novel called Agatha, passed the manuscript to Nathaniel Hawthorne, who tried his best with it before sending it back – and the two authors passed it back and forth, issuelessly, for years.

I love Lego: Celebrating 50 years of the tiny building blocks

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:19:01 GMT

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Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

On Monday, Lego is 50. The tiny building blocks have entertained more than 400 million adults and children, inspired artists, and changed the lives of countless future architects and designers. To celebrate, we gave buckets of bricks to some of Britain's most creative minds, sat back, and waited. Here's what they came up with...

Sir Paul Smith

Sir Paul Smith, 61, is one of Britain's most successful fashion designers.

We've made a rabbit out of Lego because Paul Smith has always had an association with rabbits. In the early Eighties I was travelling on a train with an American friend of mine, and as I was looking out of the window, he said to me, 'Paul, what are you looking for?', and I just said, 'I'm looking for a rabbit, because if I see a rabbit then my collection will be successful'.

Right Said Fred

My brother and I knew straight away that we wanted to make a guitar out of our Lego, but it was trickier than we thought because there are no curved pieces

Picture Post: Dubya does Tanzania, 18.02.08

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:57:42 GMT

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Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

Bush was in Tanzania to sign a compact for $698m in aid from the United States to help the African nation in its struggle against the spread of malaria. He had also brought Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, a basketball player in his youth, the gift of a pair of Shaquille O'Neal's trainers.

The brother and sister of Dr Seuss's seminal tale are forced by a "cold, cold wet day" to stay inside, wishing for something to do. President Bush had no such problem, and was entertained, as ever, by the best reception his hosts had to offer. His state visits are often characterised by bemusement, as he grins uncomprehendingly at the performances of local dancers such as these Tanzanians in traditional warrior dress. Sometimes, God help us, he joins in. The native people never seem to know quite what to make of Dubya, and perhaps the feeling is mutual. But, as ever, one thing you can't fault is his enthusiasm.

Sleeveface.com - fans post pictures of themselves with their favourite album cover

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:22:23 GMT

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Clip Source: www.sleeveface.com

Are you an infomaniac?

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:16:38 GMT

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Clip Source: women.timesonline.co.uk

Infomania

In the time that I spent researching this short section, I have checked my e-mail about 50 times, played with Google 20 times, checked a newspaper search engine five times, taken three telephone calls and replied to a text from a friend who is on holiday abroad. I am, dear reader, suffering from an acute case of infomania.

Infomania is attention deficit disorder for the communications age. It is the condition of impaired concentration brought about by the constant distraction of “always on” technology. Infomaniacs are the kind of people who talk distractedly in conversation while thumbing text-messages about nothing much, or who interrupt a romantic dinner to check their e-mail on their BlackBerry.

The fantasy of infomaniacs is that the information is important and they are its vital recipients

The condition of infomania is easy to cure.

While going through the painful process of information cold turkey, it may be therapeutic for them to have a conversation.

Gates calls for creative capitalism to help poor

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:09:19 GMT

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Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, last night called for a new version of global capitalism that delivered benefits to the poor as well as the rich.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the software entrepreneur and one of the world's richest men said there was a need for "a creative capitalism" that would use market forces to address the needs of the world's poorest countries.

"We have to find a way to make the aspects of capitalism that serve wealthier people serve poorer people as well," Gates said in a keynote address.

"The world is getting better in many crucial ways," Gates said. "I'm an optimist but I'm an impatient optimist. Things are not getting better fast enough and they are not getting better for everyone."

Gates added that the least needy were seeing the biggest improvements in their lives while the most needy were seeing the least improvement.

Is green the new sexy?

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:50:51 GMT

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Clip Source: blogs.guardian.co.uk

Recycling and turning off the standby are apparently the new ways to a woman's heart according to a poll for men's magazine Nuts. Women quizzed for the survey on the personality traits they found most attractive in men, put caring about the environment top of their list, surprisingly ahead of a good sense of humour.

It may come as a surprise to learn that there are already a host of dating websites catering for the more "environmentally responsible" adult, from earthwise singles, to veggie romance and lovesorganic.

Ironically 'well travelled' is a trait women also rated highly in the poll, just after confidence and intelligence. (No mention of good looks or being good in the sack). But isn't it difficult to be well travelled these days, without flying vast distances and destroying the planet in the process? So perhaps bragging about the size of your carbon offset credits will become the new party chat up line.

Roundabout way to a magical following

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:42:32 GMT

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Clip Source: entertainment.timesonline.co.uk

Have you ever seen the Magic Roundabout film Dougal and the Blue Cat? Look it up on YouTube. It’s all about a blue cat, wandering around in the magic garden, trying to turn everything blue. It’s pretty weird. Also check out that clip of Rainbow, which is full of puns about “playing with your twanger” and “Jane’s lovely pair of maracas”. They weren’t all like that, were they?

I was supposed to be investigating what makes a children’s TV programme a “cult classic” (as opposed to merely something fondly remembered) but it isn’t easy.

Although weirdness alone is not enough. After some consultation, the weirdest example of children’s TV brought to my attention is a cartoon from the 1990s entitled Captain Planet Saves Belfast. Google it, and watch the hero convince an oddly accented assortment of Protestants and Catholics not to detonate a nuclear bomb but to open an interfaith bakery instead. Weird, yes. Cult, no.

A little green computing machine that made Intel see red

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:36:14 GMT

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Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

An interesting package arrived in my household the other day: a small bright green-and-white laptop with a built-in carrying handle. It looks as if it has been designed by Fisher-Price, an impression reinforced by two little 'ears' which, when unclipped, double as wi-fi antennae. The 7.5in screen rotates and folds back on itself to form a kind of tablet, rather like those pricey Toshiba laptops only Microsoft salespeople can afford.

It's the celebrated '$100 laptop', the brainchild of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project (www.laptop.org). Its designers have christened it the XO. I paid $200 for it. Actually, I laid out $399, which got me two machines, on condition that one was donated to a child in a poor country where OLPC has an established programme in place. It's what they call the 'Buy two, get one' initiative (www.xogiving.org).

The machine has no moving parts, and can (so I'm told) be dropped from five feet without significant damage.

Here, kids - have some nice culture, says new minister of fun Andy Burnham

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:45:44 GMT

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Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

The new head of the Ministry of Fun, Andy Burnham, 38, is as well known for his huge doe eyes and luxuriant lashes as for his policies on culture, media and sport. But in his first interview since he was propelled into his “dream job” he explains how he intends to make high-quality culture part of the school curriculum

It has been Andy Burnham’s week. Fresh in his new post as culture secretary, Burnham has already been touted about on Question Time and the Politics Show and has a big new shiny idea to tell us about. Could this be a clever ruse by the Brown government to flag up its posse of groovy young ministers, in an attempt to divert our minds from the second-rate old duffers that make up most of the cabinet?

At 38, Burnham is about as new a face as Brown has got; he is not only remarkably young to land a ministerial position, but he is also in great shape

A kick up the curriculum.....As the government unveils plans to give children five hours of culture

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:41:30 GMT

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Clip Source: arts.guardian.co.uk

Kwame Kwei Armah, playwright
I went to a stage school, so my experience of the arts was as someone who wanted to be in the latest West End extravaganza; I had very little exposure to culture outside of that. A guaranteed five hours sounds brilliant.

David Bailey, photographer
I learned nothing at school. I didn't really go until I was eight, and I left on my 16th birthday. The only person I liked was an art teacher - a woman, of course - and she told me you couldn't put a line around things. I was amazed because that was all Walt Disney ever did. My real education came from reading and going to Hollywood movies with my mum - it was cheaper than putting another shilling in the meter.

David Edgar, playwright
I think it's terrific and exciting and right.

Esther Freud, novelist
I think about this when I take my own children to galleries. It's about giving people the chance. You just don't know with a child what's going to capture them.

Clinton or Obama - who clicks with the voters?

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:20:44 GMT

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Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Media coverage: the internet enables us to gather the entire corpus of news and check whether it is in sync with the world it covers. Last spring, I counted mentions of the candidates in major media and saw Obama getting disproportionate attention. Was that news judgment or an agenda? Today, we can track media mentions via Google Trends and Daylife (a startup I advise), where I see Clinton generally ahead.

Searches: Google Trends lets us snoop on the number of searches on words. Clinton was ahead, but since Obama's victory in Iowa, he took the lead. Is that an indicator of support or merely curiosity?

YouTube: Video traffic is a similarly skewed but still informative measure of supporters' rabidity. The small but passionate band behind libertarian candidate Ron Paul in the Republican race has played YouTube brilliantly, making him No 1 with 10.5m views v 9.5m for Obama and 4.6m for Clinton.