That's all, folks.

So I obviously haven't been keeping this blog up to date lately, and there's a reason for that. I've left Dubai, and moved to Singapore, so that took up a lot of my time. I enjoyed posting stuff up on here, but I think it's time to give it up. There are so many awesome websites out there that do what I was trying to do here so much better than I ever could.

I should also be honest about something. I'm not Jordanian. I'm a western expat, who works in advertising. I'm sorry that I didn't tell the truth about that, but I had my own private reasons for doing so.

So this is it, ladies and gents. The final post on The Sandman Files. Just under one year to the day since I started it. I hope you enjoyed reading my posts as much as I enjoyed writing them. Through this blog I learned more about Dubai and the amazing people that live in that town, and I'll always appreciate that.

Thanks guys.

Scratch Perverts

This is so very, very cool:

I really can't describe how cool that video is. Great stuff from Chris Cairns and the Scratch Perverts.

And yes, I know I haven't posted in ages. Let's say I was overseas? Or sick? Whatever floats your boat, really. (We both know I'm just lazy.)

Calvin Harris & The Humanthesizer

Just saw this over on Boing Boing. Calvin Harris teamed up with some students at the Royal College of Art, and created what you could call a macro musical instrument by using electronically-conductive ink to play sounds. I really can't describe it, so you'll just have to check out the video:

Thank you Internet.

Image Dump 16

I don't approve of smoking. I do approve of Catherine McNeil.

So it's that time again, time for another image dump of some stuff I've collected from across the intertubes. If you follow me on Twitter you might have seen a couple of these before, but this just makes you a better and more informed person.

And before you ask, no, I didn't go to Geekfest last night at The Shelter. Yes, that makes me a bad person, but I swear I'll be there for the next one. Seriously, I will. Don't give me that look!

Enjoy your weekend kids in Dubai, and if you're from somewhere else, well, enjoy your weekend in 24 hours..

Sandman Goes Multimedia

I've finally hit the big time! Late last week I got an email from a lovely lady named Jane who writes for the 7Days newspaper. She was asking me about the upcoming Geekfest event at The Shelter. You can find the article here. Also quoted were Alexander McNabb from Fake Plastic Souks and industrial designer/artist James Clar, so I'm in some pretty illustrious company!

So check out the article, and definitely check out Geekfest at The Shelter, this coming Wednesday.

Apologies x 1000

Sorry for not posting for ages, but I've been a bit sick, and I've had a lot of work on my plate recently, so I haven't had the chance. Plus I'm a lazy, lazy man. So to make up for it, here are some cool things I've seen over the past week or so.

Firstly, I'm guessing some of you may have seen it already, but they've finally put together a film clip for Kid Cudi's 'Make Her Say' track, which samples Lady Gaga's 'Poker Face'. It features Kanye West and Common, and is 8 kinds of awesome:

And here's one of my favourite bands Vampire Weekend covering Plastic Bertrand's uber 80s hit 'Ca Plane Pour Moi'. The lead singer's French is pretty great actually:

And finally, if you're really bored, click here and play a great flash game where you launch a hedgehog to the moon.

I'll post some more stuff next week, I promise. And as always, there's my twitter feed if you're feeling really lonely..

Image Dump 15

A picture from my days in London

Here's the 15th installment of the Image Dump. I am so glad that it is a Thursday, I can't tell you.
I feel like breaking out in song. Possibly this song.
Enjoy the weekend guys, and remember, "The man who can't visualise a horse galloping on a tomato is an idiot."

Best Blogs List

Just thought I'd add a quick note to the blog to say thanks to Catboy from Dubai 92, and Alex McNabb, author of the always interesting Fake Plastic Souks blog, for adding me to their list of the best blogs in the UAE. You can find the list over here. Thanks again guys!

Japanese Collaborative Music Video

Just saw this over on BOOOOOOOM! It's by a Japanese band called Sour, and it's for their latest single 'Hibi no Neiro'. They enlisted their fanbase and their webcams to create a stunning film clip that is essentially a moving montage. Great stuff:

Credit goes to the directors Masashi Kawamura, Hal Kirkland, Magico Nakamura, Masayoshi Nakamur, the band, and the fans themselves.

Warhol + Debbie Harry x Amiga = Awesome

Here is an old clip of Andy Warhol painting Debbie Harry on an Amiga computer, because it is awesome.

That is all.

The Temper Trap & MJ

A while back, I was watching the trailer for the upcoming film '500 Days of Summer', and really loved the track that was playing over it. So, after a quick search, I found out that the track was called 'Sweet Disposition', by a band called The Temper Trap.

Turns out that these guys are from Melbourne, where I lived for a few years before I came to Dubai. Fascinating, right?

Anyway, they've just launched their debut album 'Conditions' in Australia, and are touring the UK as I type these very words. And, luckily for us, they've filmed a video for the aforementioned track, Sweet Disposition. And it is good. So I will post it...

Check out their Myspace page if you'd like to hear some more tracks, they're all pretty great.

And yes, I've noticed that the Beatles video below has been removed, but I'm too lazy to fix the post or find a replacement video.

And just because every single site on the internet has paid tribute to Michael Jackson in some way this week, I thought I'd just post this old Pepsi commercial that is kinda nice. It's a bit cheesy, but it's still a nice way to remember the guy.

I shook Michael Jackson's hand once when I met him when I was like 12 years old at an art gallery. It was during his black silk mask stage, and he seemed like a very gentle person. I don't want to pass judgment on some of the things he did in his personal life, but the guy made some great music.

Beatles Rock Band Intro

Just saw this and had to post it. It's the intro for The Beatles version of the Rock Band videogame. The whole thing was put together by the guys and girls at Passion Pictures and Harmonix. I love the seamless transition between 2D and 3D. Awesome stuff. Enjoy:

Image Dump 14/100th Post!

Some villagers constructed a monument to my 100th post

Hey everyone, so here's the image dump I've been promising for the last couple of days. Plus this post is a bit of a milestone, it being my 100th post here on The Sandman Files.

It's been fun doing this blog, and I'll keep it up at least for the next few months. I can't be sure that I'll make it to 200 posts, but only time will tell I guess. I just wanted to say thanks for reading along, no matter how long you've been visiting the site.

I'll definitely be updating my twitter account as usual, so if you find the blog postings get a bit scarce, check up on me over there.

And if you've got any feedback or requests of what you'd like to see on the blog in the future, just leave them in the comments, or send me an email, at sandman.84@hotmail.com

Thanks everyone!

(This last one is for @sharjah on twitter)

Street Art in Tehran

Found this great post over on the bad banana blog yesterday. Just some examples of some of the cool street artworks that have been seen in Tehran over the past few weeks. There's more over here.


Also, if you're on twitter, I highly suggest you follow the author of the bad banana blog, Tim Seidell. You can find his account here. Here are some examples of his tweets:


Anyway, check out his blog for more great stuff. That is all.

I'll be back later today with an image dump...

Mixed Bag

I just thought I'd quickly post up some of the stuff I've been looking at over the past few days. Firstly, here's a track from Mos Def's new album 'The Ecstatic'. The track is called 'Supermagic', and it's the opening track on the album. I'm so glad that the album is great, Mos has always been one of my favourite musicians. I'd really encourage everyone to check it out:

Second, here are some shots from Dina Goldstein's 'Fallen Princesses' project. These have been posted on a few different sites, so you might have seen them by now, but I thought you all might enjoy them. Dina has taken princesses from Disney movies and put them in real life, real depressing situations:



And lastly, I'm sure everyone is seeing how Twitter is involved in the current developments over in Iran. I've posted about Iran's nation of bloggers before, but it's just stunning to see how social networks are circumventing the mainstream media, and getting the world to take notice of what is going on. For live updates on major stories, check out The Huffington Post, and read this great article on the different ways that the mainstream media and social networks have responded to the crisis here.

I'll probably post an image dump later today, so stay tuned for that as well...

Don't call it a comeback

So, obviously I haven't written on this blog in ages. Call it laziness, call it lack of inspiration, call it being busy with other things, the reasons are many and varied. Mostly it was the laziness thing though.

I just thought I'd put up some stuff to let everyone know that myself and the blog are still alive. If you feel like you're not getting enough of my luminous personality, follow me on Twitter, here. You know you want to. I mean, where else can you find out what I had for breakfast? Nowhere, that's where.

So here's two videos that I'm posting for different reasons. The first is a music video created by one of my favourite illustrators McBess. The music isn't that great, but the video itself is stunning.

And the second video is from musician Wavves. This guy makes really lo-fi stuff that shreds your ears a bit, but still manages to sound great. The video itself is pretty rubbish, so it's essentially the opposite of the McBess video above.

So, enjoy the music, and follow me on Twitter. I'll probably post something again tomorrow, but then again, maybe not. (I'm trying to build suspense. I doubt it's working.)

Image Dump 13

The day I tamed a unicorn

Here's another image dump. Some would say it's the best one yet. Those people would be correct. I mean, look at the image below; who even thinks of this stuff? If anyone knows what movie that is from, please send me an email or leave a comment below. So awesome.

And if you're mildly interested in my blog, follow me on Twitter, here. I post more on Twitter than I do here nowadays, and I'm much funnier over there. Promise.