There was a time, way back in the old days, when mobile phones were just phones that could sometimes make phone calls if you were standing in the right place at the right time and in the right position. These days though, the humble mobile phone is now the master of many things, as is proved by this amazing and quite beautiful short film that was shot entirely on a smartphone.

The film is called ‘Splitscreen : A love story.’ It was made by British director JW Griffiths and director of photography Christopher Moon, in response to a competition by Nokia to make a short film using their N8 smartphone.

The film tells the story of two people, one in New York, the other in Paris. It cleverly splits the screen to show similarities in their days then their journey to London where they meet. That’s an awful description of the film, but if you can spare just over two minutes to watch the film you’ll get the idea.

You can watch the making of Splitscreen on Vimeo where you can also see other entrants for the competition.

I just wanted to share with you a very skillfull musical (and video) mashup by a ‘Norwegian Recycling.’ The video is feel good track called ‘Miracles’ which features Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, and Taylor Swift as well as 12 other artists.

Norwegian Recycling is actually a 26 year old guy from Norway called Peter Bull who describes himself as a Mashup-artist, remixer, video-editor and electronic music-producer. If you liked ‘Miracles‘ then you should also check out ‘Singularity,’ another catchy number that puts together Travis, Kelly Clarkson, Oasis, Lyaz, and Christina Aguilera.

I’m quite amazed at this work. I think it’s just about the most creative remixing and repurposing I’ve ever heard.

Check out his other work on YouTube and Vimeo.

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Download ‘Miracles’ (MP3)
Download ‘Singularity’ (MP3)

Anyone who regularly uses the London Underground probably has a story or two they could tell you about something or someone they’ve seen. It’s impossible to ride ‘the tube’ and not eventually encounter a strange or odd looking person… Better yet, maybe you have been that person?

The abundance of wonderful weirdos and interesting anthropological opportunities on London’s busy underground network has provoked one anonymous commuter to start a blog called ‘People I see on the tube.’

The title explains it all but in the first post made on March 26th this year the ‘secret photographer’ writes. “I’ve started to take snaps of people that I see on the London Underground. I am constantly shocked/amused/creeped out by some of the bizarre people that I see.”

Using an Apple iPhone the secret photographer snaps her subjects who, for the most part, seem to be oblivious to her photographic attention.

While the photographer has chosen not to reveal her own identity, she can be seen in reflections on a number of the pictures posted on the blog.

Wary of the possible objections that some of her subjects might have about their photographs being posted online, the photographer has provided details of how to request the removal of any pictures. However, it’s worth noting that anyone who uses ‘the tube’ is monitored by a complex network of some 12,000 cameras recording their every move.

The last time I was on ‘the tube’ a highly intoxicated man who had a distinctive aroma began engaging me in loud an absolutely incoherent conversation. He then started pointing at people, apparently choosing them slurring “You can stay” then pointing at others and grunting “Not you.” – I’m glad to say I made the cut.

I’ve often considered starting a blog of a similar nature, but I don’t commute to work. Besides which you need to live in a city the size of London to be able to gather new and interesting content on a regular basis.

The next time I find myself riding the tube I’ll be on the look out for the anonymous photographer, though hopefully I’m not creepy or shocking enough to get her attention. You can see the secret photoblog at peopleiseeonthetube.com.

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Unfortunately, ‘the secret photographer’ closed the website shortly after this blog post following contact from Transport For London who own and run the tube. According to ‘the secret photographer’ someone complained to TFU about the site.

I have no further information at this stage though it’s difficult to see how TFU could exert any authority over the website or the photographer as she was not doing anything illegal.

‘The secret photographer’ has now changed the focus of the site which is now called ‘People I see on the street‘ which I have to be honest and say I don’t find nearly as engaging as the original.

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People I see on the street
People I see on the tube – No longer working.
Careful Santa
London Underground song
Official London Underground website
British Transport Police CCTV BS

At a card table set up at the county fair in Pamona, California, NPR’s Alex Chadwick conducts a short video interview in his “Interviews 50c” series.

Brooke is a high school sophomore who think her second period math teacher, Mr Belmont, is pretty “Kinda cute,” you know, for an older guy. She estimates his age at 26 and tells an amusing, if somewhat confusing story about how her and her best friend, Jackie… well you know what, I actually didn’t really get what she was talking about. But the interview is funny, in part because she was hoping nobody would find out she though Mr Belmont was cute. Evidently she overlooked this concern when she sat down in front of a microphone, cameras, and a national public radio presenter.

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Pinball wizard
Walking the walk
Well dressed wisdom
Crazy in love
Married five times
(Older) Interviews 50c
Slate V

In the run up to Christmas many of us will end up posing for photographs with family and friends. Back in the old days those old pictures would likely be hidden away in some dusty photo album somewhere. Any embarrassment they could cause was thankfully limited. However, the old days are long since gone and those pictures you hoped would never see the light of day might find a new lease of life on the internet thanks to a hilarious website ‘celebrating’ awkward family photos,

The website is aptly called awkwardfamilyphotos.com and according to the sites founders, Mike Bender and Doug Chernack, it’s intended to be a “communal celebration of awkwardness.”

“It hit us that there was something universal about the awkwardness of family and we thought it be cool to blog about that,” Said Bender. “And what better way to show that than through the family photo, something everyone can relate to?”

The site is very familiar to one which I am itching to make a few submissions to. dorkyearbook.com is another photo submission site this time ‘celebrating’ the geeks of the world.

Since it’s creation in May this year awkwardfamilyphotos.com has received many thousands of submissions. Indeed the site has been such a success that a coffee table book of awkward family photo’s is set to be published early next year.

The awkwardfamilyphotos.com blog still gets more than 100 submissions a day from all over the world. Below are just a few of the my favorites.

I haven’t made any submissions to the site (and I’m hoping my family will also resist the temptation to do so!), though I do feel that a good addition would be the picture of President Obama and the First Lady with Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, his wife, and their two goth daughters who had never been seen in the media before.

The site is very funny and well worth a visit if you have time. Visit it at awkwardfamilyphotos.com.

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awkwardfamilyphotos.com
dorkyearbook.com
Chronic taste failure
Beyond words

I really enjoy Alex Chadwick’s ongoing series ‘Interviews 50c.’ In the video below Chadwick meets Mishke in Telluride, Colorado, who is proud to be ranked the 916th best pinball player in the world.

Mishke is quite the character, with crazy hair and a love of “fighting gravity” he tells Chadwick that he doesn’t participate much, which is why he is so pleased with being ranked in the World Pinball Player Rankings. Since giving the interview his rating has fallen and he is now currently ranked 1636th, however I don’t think “just Mishke” will mind too much.

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Walking the walk
Well dressed wisdom
Crazy in love
Married five times
(Older) Interviews 50c