Five Masterpieces On The Holyrood Canvas

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PLAYER WANTS HIS POODLE AT WIMBLEDON (Pamela)

The world’s second best tennis player, Novak Djokovic, is throwing a strop at Wimbledon this week all because his pet poodle Pierre has been refused entry to the country.  Apparently he believes the dog is his good luck charm owing to the fact that he dominated the European clay court season with Pierre in tow.  While many will think this is a silly winge, as a dog owner I understand exactly where poor Novak’s coming from.  I never perform to the best of my ability in the absence of my wee jack russell terrier Bailey.  Think about it people, if you had him in your lives as much as me you’d be in the presence of sheer brilliance.  Dynamic duo is an understatement.  Anyone who remembers the littlest hobo will understand the bereft feeling we dog people get when we’re forcibly separated from them. This one goes out to wee Bailey and sin died Pierre.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/wimbledon/8598686/Wimbledon-2011-Novak-Djokovic-pleads-for-pet-poodle-Pierre-to-be-allowed-into-tournament.html 

 

THIS IS A THRILLER DAY TO REMEMBER (Eleanor)

In case you don’t live in a city, you might have missed spontaneous Michael Jackson dancing this weekend. To mark the 2nd Anniversary since the singer’s death, fans around the world tweeted and texted to gather together. But this was no 2-step remembrance. In cities across America, in San Diego, San Francisco and Chicago to name a few, flash mobs of ‘Thriller’ were performed much to the surprise of passers-by. Take a look at San Diego’s offering as they remembered the King of Pop!

http://coronado.patch.com/articles/thriller-flash-mob-on-anniversary-of-michael-jacksons-death-3

 

CREATIVE SCANS (Andrea)

On this day, 37 years ago, history was made when the first ever product was put through a cash register using a bar code. To celebrate this, here’s a collection of creative bar codes – from pouring beer to the rain drops from a cloud. This kind of twist on the bog standard rectangle of lines is popular on products in Japan, but we haven’t caught on to this craze yet. It would certainly make the supermarket check-out girl’s and lad’s day a little bit more interesting.

http://mashable.com/2011/06/26/creative-bar-codes/#178051-Beer-Pouring

 

BUFFY NERDS SET TO FLOCK TO FRINGE (Adrian)

With all the razzle-dazzle that goes with the official launch of the Fringe programme, it’s easy to miss some of the more interesting listings for the summer extravaganza. While John Malkovich, Simon Callow and Ricky Gervais have taken the headlines, there is also a treat for geeks in the programme – a one-man show by U.S. actor Tom Lenk.

The American may not be a household name – or even a particularly well-known figure – to most people in the UK, aside from an appearance in the recent obnoxious Pepsi Max adverts. But to a generation of geeks that were fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, he will forever be a cult figure thanks to his portrayal of nerdy villain-cum-hero Andrew in the show’s final three seasons.

Seriously, there are people who would consider this show to be the hottest ticket at this, or any, year’s Fringe and I fully expect an entire audience of UK Buffy-ites to be descending on Edinburgh to watch it. And, as I’m married to one of these said fans, I’ll probably be there too…

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ninjagoldfish/who-do-i-think-i-am-tom-lenks-journey-to-edinburgh

 

TO PASS ON MODERNITY…OR DO YOU MEAN EQUALITY?  (Eleanor)

Picasso’s 1934 cubist painting ‘Buste de Femme’ is at this moment on display in Ramallah. The journey the painting has taken was not without its hurdles, taking two years of planning between the small International Academy of Art Palestine and the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven.

This intriguing Economist article does not just consider the rocky road the painting has had, but also considers the impact it has had on the country, to invest so much time and money on displaying a piece of strong western art. It is a political debate, one of bureaucracy and personal opinion, that becomes abstract when the museum director is quoted using ‘modernity’ as an idea for ‘equality’.

See the painting for yourself and make up your own mind. Should Picasso’s political views about Israel in 1948 depend on his work being displayed in Palestine in 2011?

http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2011/06/picasso-ramallah