Brussels Experiment No 1 - Grand Place using autostitch

Took a whole set of very quick pictures around the Grand Place in Brussels using my Nokias Camera Function. I just made sure they overlapped. Then I just used Autostitch and voila a panorama is produced.



Clearly with a bit more effort (for example taking more pictures of the sky,putting the church in the middle of the panorama rather than at the end and standing in the centre of the square) the results might be brilliant. But as a 5 minute first effort I think Autostitch is well worth further effort.

Big Ideas (Don't Get Any) - Radiohead Revolutionise The Record Industry?

So following on from Princes revolutionary idea to give his latest album away with the Daily Mail (who would have probably pretty much hated a Black, semi androgynous, sex mad Jehovahs Witness***) another act is set to change the way we 'buy' music in the future.

Radiohead have announced they have finished their next album titled "In Rainbows" and that it will be available for Download 10 days after the announcement. It is going initially to be available in two formats:
(a) A super duper box set featuring the album on CD, an additional CD with further tracks, the album, the album spread across 2 heavyweight vinyl records, (perfect for all audiophiles, and lts of art work, lyrics books etc. (Released December)
(b) Download only with just the main album. (October 10th)

The box set comes in at a not insignificant £40 but the extraordinary thing is that the Download is operating on a pay what you think it's worth basis. This means that, subject to a transaction fee of 45 pence, you can get the album for nothing.

Many sites such as Money Saving Expert and Hotdeals are advertising this fact, and some people are encouraging people to pay nothing for the album. I think that if people genuinely think that the album is worth nothing, then why the feck do they go there in the first place?

The problem with the honesty box process is that on the web people are generally dishonest and out to steal what they can. The difference between this and Prince is that Prince was paid by the Daily Mail to be a huge advert for them, helping to sell more of their newspaper. Similarly for Prince it was a huge advert for his concerts, made him as much money as his previous album did and helped shift his vast back catalogue (A Greatest Hits compilation entered the charts, and all of the stores like HMV who moaned had a great opportunity to do deals on the back catalogue.

Radiohead, however, have worked on a 'No Logo' basis before, even resorting to a tent tour to avoid advertising. They will not make profit that way, so if we all resort to getting something for nothing, where will they get the money from?

Box Set Sales? - Maybe but I cannot believe that they will sell that many, even to a willing fan base.
Touring - Hope so, because its been a bugger to get a ticket recently. However not only do we have tour guilt for environmental reasons, but anyone who has seen 'Meeting People is Easy' will understand why Radiohead have avoided large scale tours and only tend to play small gigs when they feel like it.

Don't get me wrong, I've downloaded the new songs from tour boots, and I'm not adverse to a freebie (currently downloading all the GHP bootlegs from here). However the Band struggled for about 10 years with one of these songs before releasing it, (Nude), that was originally titled "Big Ideas (Don't Get Any)". Do you think a 45P transaction fee is justified?

I now have a dilema, as I understand a commercial CD release may follow. Do I get the box set, or donate a minimal amount and buy the standard CD when it comes out. I think I'll buy the box set, and hope it might offer the chance to pre-register for concert tickets or something as good as that.

So you can order the album here.

Go on, give a little. Your honesty and generosity may dictate how artists decide to release their music in the future.


***P.S. This is not the way I see Prince. I see him as a musical genius who is carrying on the band leading brilliance of other greats like James Brown ...who might have a slight teeny fixation with sex ;-)