I am going to Oslo this weekend as my experimental short film Anamnesis is having it's third screening at Screen. The festival is the first international video art festival in Oslo. After a brief period of living in Sweden in 2003, it is great opportunity to return to Scandinavia, whilst at the same time presenting my work. The opening party is being held at Sound of Mu (where Irish act Somadrone played during the Summer) Aparantly, DJ Zuzu and DJ Kreismyr will be playing some fresh sounding genres: Central Asian underground, chaabi, Turkish psychedelia, Caucasus-folk, African chaabi, benga, highlife and juju. Should be an interesting weekend.

After the recent discussion on specific 'Irish' dance moves here it seems only fair that I share zombie survival tips from Max Brooks. Brooks wrote World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War which has self-contained stories from various people about the war between the human race and zombies. World War Z begins from the point of view of a Chinese doctor witnessing the first cases of a plague that seems to mysteriously resurrect the newly deceased as infectious cannibals. Within a year the world is full of packs of ravenous undead. Americans flee to refugee camps in Cuba whilst Europeans transform medieval castles and weapons for defense. Ireland and Cuba seem to be self sufficient due to their island status, however, these zombies can swim and frequently attack boats at sea and even submarines - no where is safe.

Below is a clip of Max Brooks speaking at a university in America. The clip does not really contain any crucial survival tips but gives you an impression of the passion Brooks has for his subject matter. My tip is to brush up on your d.i.y. making skills. Unfortunately education/music does not help when killing or protecting yourself from zombies.

I didn't realise the popularity of Cajmere's (an alias of Green Velvet) 'It's time for the Perculator' until I had a search on You Tube - it's a big wedding track apparently. It is also my new ringtone. I saw the first funny below on Mad Decent and then found the other clip as my search widened. The girl in the second clip is really doing the perculator dance 'properly'.

I am going to a Majorette Competition in Tallaght this Sunday (not as a competitor... as part of my documentary Rialto Twirlers) so I will be looking out for any 'percolator' type dance moves. It might be interesting to know what dance moves Irish girls practice outside of organised groups like the majorettes. Do kids here do the rolex sweep - or is that simply a U.K. phenomenon? American and U.K. youths seem always eager to put their dance moves on You Tube without embarrassment. I'll make it my mission to find some information regarding what Irish teens do on Sunday.

This is beautiful. I found it on Pitch Fork and whilst I wouldn't normally listen to Mercury Rev this strangely hypnotic video has got me kind of interested. A cat with butterfly wings flies through landscapes akin to those in Hero or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, this hybrid creature subsequently submerges into the hidden depths of the sea.



Chromeo Bonafied Lovin from VICE Records on Vimeo.

The interactive machine International Dance Party is a complete party in a box. With its internal radar, the machine senses and evaluates dance activity of surrounding people and transforms into a mobile disco the more the audience dances. I doubt this invention is going to cause a stir in club promotion but it could work at a festival/art party - you can rent it soon via the website.

KID Cudi's music is described on his official website as 'the next level of music in our generation and for generations to come'. Cudi (originally from Cleveland, Ohio) fuses alternative rock, hip hop and occasionally R & B, to form feel good and emotionally honest records. He is signed to Fools Gold (A-trak's label) who also work with Chromeo, Jokers of the Scene, Kid Sister and Nacho Lovers, to name just a few. I think Kid Cudi is about to explode in popularity, his music is great, he looks hot and seems really likeable especially when compared with musical predecessors such as Tricky. Below is an Kid Cudi interview with the wonderfully named Gak City and click here for a link to his mixtape.

Jean Shin's Sound Wave can be currently viewed at The Museum of Art and Design, New York as part of an exhibition 'Second Lives'. Shin is best known for transforming left over objects such as computer keycaps, glass bottles, lottery scratch cards, perscription bottles into into site specific installations.

Records were melted and sculpted to form a cascading wave, dotted with bursts of colorful labels. The resulting structure speaks to the inevitable waves of technology that render each successive generation of recordable media obsolete. The piece also aims to physically manifest the ephemerality of music as well as one man's musical tastes, as represented by his personal record collection.

Now you know what to do with your record castoffs. Personally, I like holding a record, fingering through them, casting them aside until I select the right tune to put on my Fidelity record player. I still download music, listen to it on my ipod but there is something more precious with the latter action I have described. Shin's piece is gimmicky but kind of fascinating to look at - there is a sense of some kind of loss. When I looked at her previous works on her online portfolio I realised there is more depth in her work, than I initially thought.