Twitterverse

Hello Twitterverse! We r now LIVE tweeting from the International Space Station -- the 1st live tweet from Space! :) More soon, send your ?


Well, this is the very first live tweets from Space posted by flight engineer TJ Creamer Sunday 22nd of January at 12.13 AM... and I am following him, yep. Me and 25,420 followers by the time I am writing this post. I am not a fan of Twitter, in fact I am technically following only two people, one of my best friend (he forced me) and this astronaut.

It is not the first time that it has been sent a message from Space, but till now astronauts had to send messages to a center control and from there Nasa's staff resend them to astronaut's account. Now is between me and him (ok, ok and the other thousands) and I am going to forgive him even if he writes on what is having for breakfast. How cool is having your weetabix floating while you are watching Jupiter! Probably not even close but I will definitively forgive him.

For those who want to know more about floating cereals, this chap is in Twitter as Astro_TJ

Cape Farewall at Southbank

Back to business after a rather long period of Christmas.

Cape Farewell's SHIFT festival will take place the 29th and 30th January at Southbank Centre. Two evenings of comedy and music and, of course, climate change with Cape Farewell, an organization which promotes a cultural response to climate change.

Artist such us Kate T Tunstall- she will be performing at the festival or Jarvis Cocker (Pulp's singer) have been some of the privileged to join one of its annual and mighty expedition to the Arctic. Apart form scientists, all kind of artists are welcome to make a project which has to link art and climate change. However, I know for sure you need to have a very damn good idea to be part of the expedition...or being Madonna. I attended one evening last year entirely dedicated to the expedition from the previous one at Dana Centre. It was very interesting, although it was equally interesting for me to discover The Science Museum's Dana Centre. It is not very well known but I assured you that it shows a rather amazing programme over the year on contemporary scene in London. It will deserve a post quite soon.
Enjoy the festival, hopefully by then we will no have an Arctic weather like these days.

Southbank Centre
Millbank
London, SW1P 4RG
www.southbankcentre.co.uk

www.capefarewell.com
www.danacentre.org.uk

Earth: Art of a changing world

"Are we at the beginning of an unprecedented era of an international co-operation, or are we living in and Edwardian summer of reckless denial? Is this the beginning or the beginning of the end?" This is part of the speech The Hot Breath of Our Civilisation by Ian McEwan, one of the artists called to participate in the exhibition Earth, Art of a changing world at Royal Academy of Arts. I attended on Monday to a private view organized by The Guardian and time could not be better chosen. Meanwhile politicians, activist, technocrats are trying to fix the mess in Copenhagen, some artists are making a cultural response to the climate change.

It was very inspiring and powerful: painting, pictures, sculptures, videos, installations...etc. Some pieces were a direct and painful slap in your face. Among them one of my latest favourite photographer, Edward Burtynsky. His pictures on quarries are extraordinary, so much detail within so vast space. The Ice Core by Shiro Takany was a perfect mix of art and science as it was the video Black Rain by Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt. The first piece show part of a 2,503 metre ice-core, drilled At Dome Guji in Antarctica, meanwhile the second was made form a raw visual data recorded by NASA's on solar winds. Chilly and magical soundtrack. Not as scary as the golden ball by Kris Martin, which is going to explode 100 years after it was made, actually in 2004. I think I am not going to see that, but you have been warned.

Rear of Royal Academy of Arts
6 Burlington Gardens, London W1S 3ET
Until 31st January 2010


Medusa Swarm by Tue Greenfort


Heart of Darkness by Cornelia Parker


100 years by Kris Martin