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Fifteen hundred paintings and drawings by Dutch post-impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh, who died in 1890, have been digitised and made available online by the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. Why didn’t this happen when I was studying high school art history? Van Gogh was of course one artist who’s work we looked at. A resource like this would have been awesome to work with.

Scientists think low-frequency gravitational waves generated by super-massive black holes found at the centres of some galaxies may be sending ripples through the fabric of space-time. While astronomers still aren’t one-hundred percent sure these waves exist, they would help in the study of super-massive black holes, if they did.

The super-massive black hole, Sagittarius A — also known as Sag A — at the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way, may not be a generator of these gravitational waves though. At a mere four point three million times the mass of the Sun, it’s considered to be a relatively small, er, super-massive black hole.

Julian Sands and Helena Bonham Carter, in a still from A Room with a View.

The remains of British actor Julian Sands, who had been missing since January this year, after setting off on a hike on Mount Baldy, in California, were located earlier this week. Sands’ disappearance sparked a large search effort, which was hampered by dangerous storms in the region.

Sands was a prolific film and television actor. His credits include The Killing Fields, The Phantom of the Opera, Ocean’s Thirteen, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, to name a few. His breakthrough role however is considered to be that of George Emerson, in the 1985 film adaptation of late British author E. M. Forster’s 1908 novel, A Room with a View.

Made close to forty years ago now, the romance drama, set in Italy and England, was the intersection of an amazing array of acting and production talent. Acclaimed producers James Ivory and the late Ismail Merchant, who collaborated under the banner of Merchant Ivory, produced and directed. Late German novelist Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, wrote the screenplay.

As George Emerson, Sands played a love interest of protagonist Lucy Honeychurch, portrayed by compatriot actor Helena Bonham Carter, which was likewise seen as her breakout role. George was pitched against another of Lucy’s suitors, Cecil Vyse, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, in what was also one of his earlier film performances.

Veteran British actor Maggie Smith portrayed Charlotte Bartlett, Lucy’s older cousin, and chaperon during their trip to Italy. Smith and Bonham Carter would later work together in some of the Harry Potter films. Judy Dench featured in a supporting role as a novelist called Eleanor Lavish.

Denholm Elliott as George’s father, Rupert Graves as Lucy’s brother Freddy, and Simon Callow, as a vicar, Mr Beebe, also featured. New Zealand opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa sang O mio babbino caro, an aria from Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s 1917 comic opera Gianni Schicchi, on the soundtrack.

While Sands appeared to not be nominated for any awards for his performance in A Room with a View, the film won in three categories in the 1987 Oscars, and four in the British Academy Film Awards in the same year. For anyone wishing to learn more about Sands’ work and career though, A Room with a View, is an essential, and excellent, starting point.

One point two one billion smartphones were shipped in 2022, according to market intelligence firm IDC, the lowest figure since 2013. The decline in demand has been attributed to increased inflation and economic uncertainty. Purely anecdotal, but a few people I’ve spoken to have said they’re hanging onto their existing devices for the time being.

Apparently eighty-six percent of the global population have a smartphone, so I imagine the market is nearing saturation point. This despite the fact devices need to be upgraded periodically, and there are some people who feel compelled to go out and buy the latest models when they’re released, regardless of the condition of their existing device.

archives.design is a digital archive of graphic design related items found on the Internet Archives, curated by Canadian graphic designer Valery Marier. This is a great resource.

Image courtesy of Veeka Skaya/Vancity Digital.

What do social media influencers, through with influencing, wanting to try something new, do? They find a nine-to-five corporate job, and act as a consultant for other influencers likewise wishing to exit the industry, of course. That’s the story of former — sort of — American wellness influencer Lee Tilghman. But in 2019, with the role no longer fun, Tilghman decided she wanted out. And what’s the point in staying in something you don’t like, especially when there are other options?

But Tilghman’s story is an intriguing one, given the number of people who would give their right arm, to be in her former position. Who wouldn’t want to be self-employed, on a high income, in return for making a few (sponsored) Instagram posts a day? But that’s simplifying matters somewhat. The posts appearing on an influencer’s social media feed or blog, are the tip of the iceberg. Most the work of an online content producer, even those with assistants, takes place behind the scenes.

In a profile written for the New York Times by Mattie Khan, Tilghman speaks of the delight nine-to-five work is presently bringing her. But is the grass really greener on the other side? One of Tilghman’s new corporate colleagues was mortified when he learned she had given up her role as an influencer. How could she possibly want to be “shackled” by a nine-to-five job? But Tilghman replied by saying “when you’re an influencer, then you have chains on.”

The chains binding influencers are numerous. There’s the need to toe the line — or at least convey that impression — of the brands you represent. While you might be happy to take a brand’s money, for a time anyway, your values may not always align with theirs. There’s also pressure to post frequently to keep followers engaged, lest they drift away. Being in the spotlight constantly can also take a toll over time, to say nothing of the criticism some influencers are subject to.

Today Tilghman counts the relatively low profile nature of nine-to-five work as a bonus, citing the absence of a “comments section at an office job.” That may be so, but how about things like office politics, and KPIs, at a corporate job? There’s a comment section surely as fearsome as any other. But I wonder, once an influencer, always an influencer? Despite having turned her back on the profession, Tilghman still has a profile that would make many a newbie green with envy.

At last count, Tilghman had some two-hundred and forty thousand Instagram followers, a following she’s partly leveraging for her side-hustle, online workshops assisting retiring influencers transition to a new career. And despite the desire for a “boring job”, Tilghman admits to occasionally missing her old work. But is influencing really work? It’s hardly what I am, I call it being a self-publisher, or blogger. But it’s not a job, it’s more of a way of life, and one that’s hard to turn away from.

Long running science-fiction franchise Star Trek, which first to air in the 1960’s, is still with us today because of its intrinsic sense of optimism. This according to Anson Mount, who portrays Captain Christopher Pike, in the latest variant of the story, Strange New Worlds. For anyone not up with the play, Pike commanded the USS Enterprise prior to Captain Kirk.

Mount is on to something. Dystopian sci-fi is fun to look at for sure, but only for so long.

The awards span six categories fiction, non-fiction, young adult literature, children’s literature, poetry, and Australian history, with prizes of up to one hundred thousand dollars awarded per category. Entries are open to citizens or permanent residents of Australia, for titles published or released in 2022, and close on the afternoon of Tuesday 25 July 2023.

Winners will be announced later in the year. Read more here.

Image courtesy of Pexels.

Should mobile phones be banned at music festivals? What sort of question is that? After all, is not recording the happenings of the day, be it video clips, or photos, and sharing them online, part and parcel of the music festival experience? Well it is, but doing so also has a downside. Just ask anyone who’s standing towards the back of the audience. The wall of held up arms and mobile phones might be about all they see of the show.

How’s that meant to be fun? But that’s not all. Evidence suggests recording certain events or experiences, by filming or photographing them, may diminish our ability to remember said occasions later on. So perhaps live music events would be more memorable, and more enjoyable for all concerned, if everyone left their phones at the ticket office?

That’s what Sydney based Australian event promotor Pia Del Mastro is betting on. Del Mastro is collaborating with American musician and electronic music producer Daniel Goldstein, also known as Lane 8, to bring such a rare creature, a music festival that does not allow the use of mobile phones, to Australia, in July 2023. The event, aptly enough, is called This Never Happened.

Lane 8 has been organising mobile phone free music festivals for several years overseas, and Del Mastro says they would be a first in Australia, in the mobile phone era. Lane 8 observed audiences were more engaged and immersed in the show, and gave their full attention to the bands performing, when they weren’t thinking about a device in their hand, which all makes sense.

It still remains to be seen how Australian festival goers will take to such a radical proposition. I’ve been to the occasional preview film screening, or product launch, where attendees needed to leave their phones at the front desk, but we were only without our devices for a couple of hours.

But This Never Happened will differ. Revellers will instead keep their phone, but be given a sticker to place over the camera lens. Del Mastro expects a degree of peer pressure, together with the phone-free spirit of the event, will see most of those present keep their devices pocketed away.

But we’ll find out soon. The first This Never Happened event takes place in Melbourne, on Friday 14 July 2023. I get the feeling though audiences, once they lose themselves to the music, will embrace the concept with open arms, and open eyes.

American filmmaker Chad Stahelski, possibly best known for directing the John Wick films, starring Keanu Reeves, believes an Oscar Award for movie stunts is forthcoming.

While promoting the latest instalment of the franchise, John Wick: Chapter 4, earlier this year, Stahelski, a stunt actor himself, said he spent time talking to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who present the Oscars annually, and described the process as “incredibly positive”:

In a recent interview with ComicBookMovie.com to mark the Blu-ray release of “John Wick: Chapter 4,” Stahelski announced that conversations about a stunt Oscar have finally taken place “in the last couple of months” between the Academy and a contingent of stunt coordinators.

“We’ve been meeting with members of the Academy and actually having these conversations, and, to be honest, it’s been nothing but incredibly positive, incredibly instructional,” Stahelski said. “I think, for the first time, we’ve made real movement forward to making this happen.”

Earlier this year, entertainment and culture magazine Vulture, frustrated by the Academy’s apparent lack of interest in the matter, established their own awards for film stunts. Winners, who were announced in March 2023, included Top Gun: Maverick (surprise, surprise), The Batman, and Nope.