Jason Brooks

Jason Brooks is a world renowned illustrator widely credited with being one of the key initiators of the boom in computer lead fashion drawing of the 1990's into the present time. His distinctive work is widely imitated but many still see him as the original and best in his particular field.

Arguably his most famous client was the dance label Hed Kandi, where, through the early millennium up until last year designed all the CD covers as well as promotional material. While never proven to be directly related, around the same time Hed Kandi was purchased by Ministry of Sound, which lead the Hed Kandi's founder Mark Doyle to start a new label, Fierce Angels, where, Jason Brooks now producers art for.

View his beautiful artwork at his official website.

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Creative Amateur

The internet is full of videos made by people who have lots-of-time-on-their-hands (LOTOTH) to be viewed by people who have LOTOTH! The quality of most of them can be quite low since there are no editors, producers or publishers involved. As such, its very hard to find material that you watch and agree that it was worth your time! However, this is a very creative one by Lasse Gjertsen. Genius! I wouldn't want to spoil the fun for you so.. all I can say is it involves a piano, drums and this text at the end: "All the sounds are the actual audio from the original video tape. No alterations has been made other than basic timeline editing...etc" This must have taken a long time to compile. WATCH!


If you enjoyed that, then look at his other work where you can make him beatbox.. PLAY! The Hyperactive Machine game from Lasse Gjertsen's previous video, which I found kind of annoying so I don't recommend it (!) but I am putting it here for reference only. DON'T WATCH!

UPDATE: I found some more creative videos in response to Lasse Gjertsen. Not bad at all!

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Dreaming of Dubai

It is amazing how buildings can be both functional and beautiful at the same time. Not only it makes a pretty cityscape to look at everyday for the locals but also attracts lots of tourists from around the World! I am talking about the innovative skyscrapers in Dubai of course. I think they are really amazing. So much so that I even photoshopped one of them as you can see in the slideshow:

Since 2000, Dubai's municipality has initiated an abundance of construction plans. In many areas, it is not easy to see Dubai's sky without at least one crane in your view; Industry experts cautiously estimate that 15% to 25% of the world's cranes are in Dubai.

The most impressive is the Burj Dubai which is currently under construction and the building seeks to acquire the designation as the world's tallest structure upon completion in 2008 with over 800 metres. (Currently the world's tallest freestanding structure on land has been the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada.) It has been designed to include 30,000 homes, nine hotels, 2.5 hectares of parkland, 19 residential towers, and the 12 hectare Burj Dubai Lake. The complete development will cost about US$ 8 billion.

Though, my favorite completed landmark today is the Burj al-Arab (pictured above), the world's first 7 star luxury hotel, built on an artificial island. Probably, there isn't anyone who hasn't seen it somewhere as it received much publicity due to its very distinct look resembling a sail. The Burj al-Arab does not have ordinary rooms; rather it is divided into 202 duplex suites. It is one of the most expensive hotels in the world to stay in. The cost of staying in a suite begins at $1,000 per night and increases to over $15,000 per night; the Royal Suite is the most expensive, at $28,000 per night. Crazy amounts of money. Just for one night!!

UPDATE: "Green" skyscrapers are the trend now. In Bahrain, a twin skyscraper complex is being built, called the Bahrain World Trade Center (BWTC) with three massive wind turbines blades, measuring 29 meters in diameter each, integrated on bridges between the twin towers. Can you believe how amazing this building looks?

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Desktop Evolution

Looking back over the past few months, it seems like there are significant changes in the way I use my computer. See these screenshots! First, I have discovered two great programs that can gave my computer a more Mac look: RocketDock and Yahoo Widgets. The dock is a quick way to access my favorite software and doesn't seem to put much load on my computer resources.

Widgets simply allows you to put toys on your desktop that you can move them around individually. Like real toys! Not all widgets are toys as some can be informative too, such as the clock, date and weather can be read at a glance. One negative aspect about Yahoo Widgets is that it eats quite a bit of your free RAM space.

Then, I found out that I had more choices to see my windows in just gray or green+blue themes.. with a small patch you can open up the limitation for Msstyles. My choice is the Luna Element 5 Black which is the best Windows Vista like skin out there.

Finally, the only thing missing from my desktop was a calender that would remind me about deadlines, events and important days. After searching the Internet for a bit, the best option seemed to be Rainlender. It comes with a bonus To-do list which is quite useful as well. My skin of choice for this thingy is Exceed.

It's nice to look at now! Then there is the ever lasting change of wallpapers. I can't make any recommendations on that because everyone has a different taste of what they enjoy staring at.

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Summer 2006

This summer I was in Fethiye, which is in the south west of Turkey, and had quality time enjoying all of nature's great wonders! The water was crystal clear, the beaches sandy and lots of green scenery in the back. Honestly, it was not just nature that was wonderful. The food was excellent, the people were friendly and there were nice places to visit. The best of all was the boat trip around 12 islands in a day! The captain stopped in beautiful bays for us to take a swim and for me to make use of the photo opportunity. To give you a taste, I have uploaded some photos to Flickr for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy the slideshow:

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Hello world!

If you are reading this, that means you have reached the first post that started it all. This is my passion! The Thinking Blog is where I write about things that I like, find useful, and ONLY stuff that I feel is worth sharing. It is about many of the topics that make me think! I hope it will keep you thinking too..

"Knowledge grows when shared." - Bhartrihari (c 450-510)

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