The Weekender

Date
4 November 2011

It’s November 5 tomorrow which in Britain means it’s Bonfire Night, an evening where we all get together and indulge in collective pyromania to celebrate the fact some naughty men didn’t blow up Parliament in 1605. Nowadays it’s an excuse for young scallywags to swipe cider when their parents aren’t looking, and for the rest of us to say things like “Ooooh” and “Aaaah” at the sky without being sectioned. That said, roll on The Weeknder…

Best of the blog

A blindingly busy week chez nous this week – we were charmed by André Beato’s typography, dazzled by this Semiconductor video visualising electro-storms, and more than a little inspired by photographer Giles Duley – as much for his attitude to his work as his extraordinary personal story.

Best of the rest

So much to read, so little time, but stand-out mentions for Peter Jellitsch’s STB drawings of the virtual world, this inteligent, timely piece from Creative Review about the London protesters’ newspaper and Design Boom’s personal helicopters post. We want.

Tweet of the week

“Stop using “must see” in reference to every cool article, photo, and video you see online. Save it for that f***ing bus bearing down on you."

@jkottke puts things in perspective for us all.

Retro talents of the week

Gather round children, and let Papa Alderson tell you a tale about the past. Before all your fancy-dan gizmos we enjoyed a simpler life, one where Microsoft Paint seemed like interactive art at its most cutting edge. Thankfully some fellow romantics keep the spirit of MS Paint alive and make these pictures of celebrities with it, with hilariously variable results.

Animal video of the week (1)

There’s a bit in the Ricky Gervais stand-up show Animals where he lovingly lampoons the genius of David Attenborough, suggetsing that the great documentary maker could film a “whale geting mugged.” Not quite, but these stone-stealing penguins from Frozen Planet come close. We particularly like his guilty little face.

Nightclub owner of the week

1960s cad Sherman Billingsley, with an amazing range of hand signals for his staff to turn down the music, throw out ne’er-do-wells etc, as photographed in LIFE.

Animal video of the week (2)

Lots of birds plus canoe plus video camera = this.

Christmas wish-list new entry of the week

The McJumper is a winner, but any of these will do to be honest Santa..

See you down the bonfire fellow gunpowder fans!

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

Rob joined It’s Nice That as Online Editor in July 2011 before becoming Editor-in-Chief and working across all editorial projects including itsnicethat.com, Printed Pages, Here and Nicer Tuesdays. Rob left It’s Nice That in June 2015.

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