Author Archives: Niall Murphy

Artist, Mattias Adolfsson’s charming baroque sketches of characters and hardware from Star Wars.

Wait. That’s no moon.

That’s an elaborately ornamented Neo-Palladian weapons globe.

More of Mattias’s Star Wars art here.

The Speech Accent Archive is a gem of a resource for any aspiring actor or voice-over artist. Browse hundreds of locations on a world map and hear the following phrase read out in the authentic accent of the region.

Please call Stella.  Ask her to bring these things with her from the store:  Six spoons of fresh snow peas, five thick slabs of blue cheese, and maybe a snack for her brother Bob.  We also need a small plastic snake and a big toy frog for the kids.  She can scoop these things into three red bags, and we will go meet her Wednesday at the train station.

For Ireland, there’s Strabane, Kilkenny and Belfast. But don’t stop there.

Waste at least ten minutes of otherwise productive time here.

Look people, it’s either this, or some kind of small, hand-held pumping device by which air can be somehow ‘pushed’ into the tyre.

In the interest of simplicity, let’s call it – I don’t know – a ‘bicycle pump’.

Make an Automatic Bicycle Pump To Steal Air From Cars (Makezine)

By 2030, according to leading chocolatiers, a Cadbury’s Creme egg could cost as much as 20 Benson and Hedges. And  20 Benson and Hedges could cost the same as a flat in the Docklands.

We made that last fact up. Seriously though, the world is running out of chocolate.

In the future, chocoholics might have to work quite a bit harder to pay for their fix. The world could run out of affordable chocolate within 20 years as farmers abandon their crops in the global cocoa basket of West Africa, industry experts claim.

“Galaxy, Creme Eggs, every kind of £1 chocolate bar will be a thing of the past,” warns London chocolatier Marc Demarquette, who believes a bar at £7, or its future equivalent, will be more like it.

Chocolate: worth its weight in gold (Independent)

Excerpts from a Cat’s Diary

Day 983 of my captivity. My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.
They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.
The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.
Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a ‘good little hunter’ I am. Bastards.
There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of ‘allergies.’ I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage..
Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow — but at the top of the stairs.
I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released – and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.
The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now………

source


On April 11th, 1998, having recently failed to scoop the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize for her debut novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J. K. Rowling, responded to a young fan’s good luck wish with this handwritten letter:

Edinburgh
11th April 1998

Dear Thomas,

Thank you very much indeed for your card wishing me luck in the Guardian Children’s Fiction competition. Unfortunately, I didn’t win — a writer called Henrietta Branford did. But she’s very nice, so I smiled bravely and said “Congratulations” and tried to look as though I didn’t mind at all.

I am very flattered indeed to hear that “Harry Potter” is the best book you have ever read. There will be seven Harry Potter books altogether, and the second one (“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”) will be in the shops at the start of July.,

Thank you again for writing. (Your handwriting is excellent, by the way).

Yours sincerely,

J. K. Rowling (Jo)

Letters of Note

[vimeo clip_id=”2822787″ height=”” width=”640″]

Two years ago, Michael Marantz edited clips of Carl Sagan reading from his inspirational 1994 book The Pale Blue Dot with a time-lapse sequence filmed in Mexico and Utah.

Now, YouTuber Ian Wallace has done something similar, this time using cut-scenes from Halo: Reach.

Stirring stuff, either way.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePpjCNLCCi0