I’m not sure, but am I the only one who is getting the feeling that everyone is talking about this year’s Tomorrowland music festival? Plenty of my friends are already constantly posting about it on Facebook. Others are saying that attending this incredible music festival is their goal for 2012.

I don’t have any past experience with this festival, so I tried my best to get as much information about it as possible. I must admit that I’m really impressed with the sound of this upcoming event.

It’s that kind of festival that every electro fan dreams of going to. Once you attend Tomorrowland you will find yourself coming back again and again, until it starts to become an addiction. Tomorrowland has been held in Antwerp, Belgium since 2005 and is a massive success every single year. People seem to have the most enjoyable time of their lives and the music brings everyone together. Tomorrowland is basically the Glastonbury of the house-music world and the Coachella of the trance nation.

Tomorrowland always has an immensely diverse stage set up, which including dancers, a smiling sun with a functioning opening/closing mouth and amazing fireworks. This is something you seriously don’t want to miss out on. I wanna go there so bad!!

The organizers of the event are enticing the crowd with not only an impressive line-up, but also by only announcing little bits-and-pieces of info at a time. Updates of which top international DJ’s will be attending are released slowly over a 6 month period. This is cool because the year is then filled with gifts and mysteries – true to their motto ‘Yesterday is History, Today a Gift, Tomorrow is Mystery’. You can get a little impression of the line-up here.

Tomorrowland – OFFICIAL DATES: 27 -29 July 2012

If you would like to find out more about Tomorrowland please cruise across to their homepage.
Alternatively you can catch them on Facebook or their Twitter pages.

Now this is what I call the ultimate electro music festival. It’s insane!!

Miriam

The Up the Creek 2012 music festival lived up to its reputation and then some!

No more will I wonder why this festival has such a strong following, or why every year people travel from all over the world just to sit in the river and listen to some bands. This festival is truly something special. I may have been to quite a few music festivals in my day, but I can honestly say that this is the most chilled, superbly positive and accepting festival I have ever had the pleasure of attending.

What I really enjoyed was that the organisers managed to pull together a perfect mix of musical styles. It was also a great opportunity to see bands that don’t get nearly enough exposure compared to the usual commercial selection of bands.

I honestly don’t even know where to start when it comes to the bands. There was so much talent that it’s actually difficult to single out favourites. However, my ‘band of the festival’ and also a band I’ve been meaning to see for a frigging eon was Shadowclub. These guys are seriously good. They honestly have so much potential, solid lead vocals, inventive riffs and a driving energy. When Good Morning Killer came on the crowd went ballistic. To top it all off they even managed to get a little mini mosh-pit going at the front…which I attacked with much gusto. Who would have thought I would be moshing it up with a crowd that are famously laid back?

Perhaps the most ‘commercially well known’ band that played was the ever impressive Aking. Singing along to Safe as houses was so much fun…what a song, what a band! They rocked a pretty groovy gig, even considering that the lead vocals got a bit drowned by the instruments. Machinery had a similar problem, but in reverse, Sanni’s vocals were too loud and crushed Andre’s insane guitar work.

My worst moment of Up the Creek came when we realised that we wouldn’t make it in time for Jeremy Loop’s set on Friday night. We literally missed it by 30 minutes. I have been telling my girlfriend about Jeremy for ages and really wanted her to witness his musical genius. Luckily he joined Machinery on stage during their gig…however it was only for one song and he didn’t get to show off any of his looping skills, so sad!

It is always a pleasure when I hear a band and instantly connect with their sound. The Kongos blasted the crowd with a fresh infusion of rock, which really got the audience moving. Interestingly enough their musical back ground resonate with the South African crowd, because the four band members, who are also brothers, spent much of their childhood in SA. Their father, John Kongos, is a well respected South African musician who is entrenched in the SA rock scene. They are currently recording in Arizona, but who knows maybe we will be seeing even more of them in the near future. They are on tour in South Africa at the moment, so check their tour dates here. This is a band I will be writing a dedicated post about very soon!

Just when Up the Creek couldn’t get any more surprising the crowd received a wonderful uplifting announcement! Two long time Up the Creek festival goers, Blues Broers band member Rob Nagel and his partner Maggie Frost, were to hold a surprise wedding…right there on the river in front of the entire crowd. It was actually quite a moving little ceremony. Maggie was rowed down the river in a little kayak, smoothly navigating between the masses of inflatable crafts, where she met Rob on the banks of the river. They had a short exchange of vows, which was presided over by Piet Botha (another well know musician). They kissed and waved to the crowd and everybody cheered like crazy…loved it. Supposedly another couple also got married at Up the Creek 2011, but I hear this one was much better and also didn’t mess with the musical schedule. So happy for them they looked so sweet together, congratulations!

The organisers did a pretty good job of coordinating the event itself. Yes there were a few stuff-ups, but that’s the same with any festival. There will no doubt be plenty of people complaining out there, I’m sure of it. To be honest about the biggest mess-up was the mobile Standard Bank machine, which was out-of-order from early Saturday evening…ouch fail! Maybe go with FNB next time, lolz. Oh and the guys at the healthy option food stall ran out of Jalapeno poppers way too quickly, hehe. Ok, that’s all ;)
Let’s focus on the good stuff rather than the poofie shall we!

What is the true magic ingredient of Up the Creek? Yes it’s the music, the atmosphere and the breathtaking prime location, but there is something more. Perhaps it is the fact that there is no divisible line separating the revellers. Regardless of age, people of all persuasions came together and had a massive party. Everybody is respectful of each other and there is a genuine feeling of togetherness. Many people I spoke to referred to Up the Creek as a ‘hippy music festival’. Yes I agree to a certain extent, but there is definitely a very broad mix of personalities running around.

All I can say is that I am well and truly hooked! I have undoubtedly caught the Up the Creek 'bug' and will make the pilgrimage in 2013…I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Up the Creek 2012 was insanely fun and now sits firmly as my favourite South African music festival.
Let’s hope that the organisers keep the festival small and super intimate…its simply perfect as it is now!

Hey there guys and girls!

For the past few days I have been looking at different kinds of street art for inspiration and was really amazed by the new discoveries I came across.

Moss Art, better know as Moss Graffiti, is such a great way to let creative people express themselves in an urban setting. Even better, moss art is eco-friendly as it lacks the toxins and chemicals of regular art materials.

Normally the designer will use a mix of yoghurt and sugar to stick the moss onto bricks. However, another method is to blend moss with yoghurt and sugar and then paint it onto the wall. After a few weeks of being watered, the moss begins to grow. There are also some moss graffiti artists who prefer to attach their creations in a ready-made form. Whatever the process is, using moss as art invariably means that the nature of the art will change over time.

During the last few years artists such as Edina Tokodi and Jozsef Valyi-Toth have created many different kinds of Moss Graffiti throughout New York City. Their work is better known as ‘Mosstika’, which also describes their pseudonym.

Their work even has the power to captivate people who are in a rush (New Yorkers are always in a rush!), who can’t help but stop by and take some time to have a look at their incredible artwork. It basically assaults passers-by on multiple sensory levels. It’s soft, it’s alive and it’s shaped in such a way as to remind us of life without big city lights, stress and noisiness. For a short moment you can relax, breathe and even rest your body just by looking at the Moss Graffiti.

I must admit, I’m really surprised that a little bit of green art can truly change the vibe of city life in such a very positive way. I’m desperately trying to find more examples of this art form in other cities around the world.

Have you discovered green art or even moss graffiti in your neighborhood?

It would be great if you could share some images or links to graffiti art with me! I can’t wait to see even more inspirational street art like this.

Miriam

Robot design has changed so much over the years!

These days you seem to have three prevailing groups of robots that continue to make their presence felt: mecha, retro-robo, contemporary

Mecha is the term given to robots (more precisely gigantic robot-like battle armour) that come from a Japanese animation origin, otherwise known as anime.

Mecha have become seriously popular, especially since the ‘robotic uprising’ of the late 90’s (Flight of the Conchordes would be proud) when anime/manga really struck Western audiences with its epic might. This kind of robot art was vastly different from what most people were used to in the West and this ‘fresh’ take on robots was welcomed with open arms by robot lovers everywhere. These days it seems that every 3^rd robot design I see has its roots in anime.

Take a look at this perfect example of an anime style robot design. Ahbiasaaja’s illustration ‘And outcome the Wolf’ shows the scale that some of these mecha can reach (which can in actual fact get much, much larger). Most diehard fans will usually list mecha such as those from Macross and Gundam fame, as your stereotypical mecha designs.

The other aspect of Ahbiasaaja’s design is the fact that it shows a human soldier, standing quietly, almost seemingly appreciating the scene of the giant mech. Mecha are tools used by humans! They are for the most part, not sentient machines with advanced ‘artificial intelligence’. The future is often seen as a time where gigantic robotic creations are used by humanity as weapons or simply as a part of industry for practical use. This symbiosis of man-and-machine working together, on a daily basis, more prevalent than in Japanese mecha illustration!

Retro-robo is the kind of robot design that our parents and grandparents remember from their youth. Stretching as far back as the weird and wonderful rounded robots during Asimov’s time, to the shapes of the 80’s, I would consider all of these to be retro. The humanoid style of the time, such as the C-3PO automaton of Star Wars, was a very popular trend in robot design that continues today.

The concept of realistic humanoid robots has been a passion of sci-fi lovers the world over. In more contemporary times the humanoid automaton has been likened to robots that have a structure identical to their human creators (also a very popular trend in anime/manga).
The retro robot is still a huge source of inspiration for designers. The classical, almost humorous style (in our current opinions) of yesteryears robots, is mega unique and can often be seen employed in illustrations where the designer wants you to pick-up on a specific feeling.

Take for example this wicked robot design by Mathieu Leyssenne, simply entitled, ‘Robot’.
This is undoubtedly a retro-robo. The rounded shapes of the robot itself and the single red beam of light (War of the Worlds), not to mention the unfriendly disposition are all very retro in nature. Of course it helps that there is an old school ‘bubble headed ray gun wielding’ space adventurer in the image too, hehehe.

Finally, contemporary robot design. Wow, this is a rather difficult category to define. The reason for this is the fact that the robotic design trends of the past all seem to have been integrated into what we term modern robot design. Retro, and more recently anime, have totally entrenched themselves in the minds of designers and undoubtedly the influence has become inescapable….nothing wrong with this at all, this is the evolution of robot design!

I found this awesome illustration of the Star Wars B-2 Super Battle Droid. This is the exact kind of hybrid robot that incorporates a retro aesthetic with that of the anime influence. While this droid didn’t exactly look super hot in the movie, this illustration does look pretty awesome. I’m afraid I could not find the designers name, apologies there…anybody out there know his name?

Where do you think robot design will go in the future? Have you got any awesome examples of robots that you feel don’t fit any of these 3 categories…I would really love to see them.

R0b0t5-4-3v3r!

Geeks and techno-fiends alike erupted with cheers as the CES (Consumer Electronics Show 2012) let rip with a barrage of amazing devices that will undoubtedly trickle into our lives throughout the year and give the commercial market a boost into this-is-the-future tech.

There were big strides by all the usual giants, but the device that got me the most excited was the preview of the new Samsung Smart Window.

In essence this is a transparent LCD display, without back light units (BLU), but which incorporates a sort of ambient light display. This now means that the screen, or ‘window’, is completely transparent – you could now place this as a window overlooking your garden, or perhaps the window in your office.

The Samsung Smart Window may use ambient light, but the device will still work in low-light settings by harnessing the power of an “invisible BLU”. This creates luminosity when night falls or when you switch off the lights!

The Samsung Smart Window has already been likened to the interactive screens of Minority Report and bear a striking resemblance to rudimentary ‘vid-screens’ found throughout popular science fiction *happy dance*.

Somebody I spoke to about the Samsung Smart Window was worried how much power this baby would suck! However, I read that most of the power drawn from your typical LCD display actually goes to the BLU’s, which this device goes without. This means that the Smart Window actually uses a tenth of the power a traditional LCD would….how about them apples, hehe.
Obviously when you go into low-light situations it will start to suck more juice…but hey it’s better than nothing.

For you secretive types don’t worry that people on the opposite side can’t see what you are seeing, because the screen itself is one-way, with a mirrored effect on the opposite side.

When these tasty gadgets will go into mass production is anybody’s guess. Samsung is keeping ‘mum’ on the release date, but when you watch the video you will see just how close they are to developing a commercially viable product (honestly they probably already are).

Who knows, we may be pulling Tom Cruise Minority Report impersonations by the end of the year!
That would make me a very happy sci-fi freak, indeed.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the Samsung Smart Window.
Do you think this will change the world? Is it a single step…or a giant leap?