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Mat's Blog

An outlet for my wandering thoughts, things that capture my interest and also updates of what's happening in my life. It may also provide a bit of interest/amusement for the few of you who happen to stumble across it.

Bedouin Soundclash Live

Posted on by Mat
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Close to the action

I had a great evening of dancing, chilling and live music last night when I went to go see Bedouin Soundclash perform live at the  The Cockpit in Leeds. What made it stand out from other times I’ve seen big bands play was just how relaxed and fun the entire atmosphere was inside the room.

Even though the place was pretty busy (headed in around 10 mins before the band were scheduled) and for reasons at the time I could only put down to people being so relaxed and busy socialising, we still managed to get a really good spot up front right next to the stage.

I guess thinking about it now, another reason could be that because The Cockpit as a venue is fairly small, there is a general feeling amongst everyone that wherever you end up standing when the band appears you’re always going to get a decent view. All in all, it was a really refreshing experience, especially with everyone in the room up for a good ol’ dance throughout! Will definitely be looking out for small venue gigs more often.

In case anyone is interested I’ve put a few of Bedouin’s songs in a youtube playlist below if you fancy a listen; just press play (you can switch songs from within the video).

Quote of the day:

There’s only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people’s cultures, and the Dutch..

Ode to the Brain! Symphony of Science

Posted on by Mat

Like science? Like music? Like auto-tune? Then check out this entertaining video which uses both to cleverly convey the wonders of our human brain.

It never ceases to amaze me that inside every one of our well-groomed, prettified and decorated heads is one of the most sophisticated pieces of matter in the entire universe. Even some of the brain’s most fundamental functionality such as sensory perception (which the woman in the video beautifully portrays) is when you think about it, completely awe-inspiring.

Of course all of our other organs must get credit too since they all play their part in keeping us alive and are impressive in their own right; but our brain is different. It is completely unique in the way it is the only one that allows us to experience what is to be alive and put meaning to the universe around us.

On a side note; now that I know (well, ‘my brain knows’) how crucial it is to rest of my body, is it weird that my brain is now in awe of itself?

Edit: In case any of you are wondering who the woman is in the video, her name is Jill Bolte Taylor and she is a brain scientist who after having a stroke, did a fascinating talk at TED about the human brain and her experiences. You can watch it over at the TED website.

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Mysterious moustache from the video above

Quote of the day:

It is the most mysterious part of the human body, and yet it dominates the way we live our adult lives…. it is the moustache.

“It’s alive!!! IT’S ALIVE!!!”

Posted on by Mat

Welcome to my first blog and post! I’ve been meaning to make a home on the internet for a while now, however due to the usual poor excuses one never materialised, until now!

Previous designs for a site had actually been on the drawing board for a number of years, but all were eventually abandoned and in the end a final design to build was never chosen.

In hindsight, this was probably for the best as most of them were either overly complicated or just plain bad designs. And not the average ‘burping mid conversation’ kind of bad either, rather more of the ‘farting out loud at a dinner party and then quickly trying to cover it up with beat boxing’ kind of bad. Nevertheless, last month a new simpler design was forged and things finally started to take shape.

As mentioned on other parts of the site, the site’s main purpose is to allow me to store all of my thoughts, design work, photos and contact details all in one place. The blog is here simply to act as an outlet for the wandering thoughts I have during the week; from world events to just something interesting I’ve read, there is no particular format and audience in mind.

With the back story and introduction of the new site now said, all that is left to say is that I hope you enjoy the site and keep an eye out for future updates! o_O

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"You can't touch this"

Quote of the day:

Apparently, “you can murder a good cup of tea… but you can’t beat one”