John Lennon has appeared in a television commercial for the charity One Laptop per Child, 28 years after his death. The charity aims to help children in developing and poverty stricken countries gain access to technology and education by delivering low cost affordable laptops.
Source: BBC.

Tracy Mackenna and Edwin Janssen : LIFE IS OVER! If you want it
24/1 – 14/ 2
An exhibition project looking at how artists deal with life and death
and showcasing a major new film work. See website for details of one day
symposium.
Preview: Friday 23 Jan, 6-8pm
Cooper Gallery
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design
13 Perth Road, [...]

Glasgow - Regeneration and Conservation in the Post Industrial City - An Illustrated Talk by Ian Mitchell @ University of Dundee, D’Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre.
Ian R.Mitchell author of This City now looks at the industrial working class communities of Govan, Maryhill and Bridgeton in Glasgow, all largely created in the 19th century and experiencing long [...]

STRAYLIGHT CAVERN
Preview:  Friday 14 November, 6-8pm
15 November – 13 December
Jonathan Baldock • Michael Bell-Smith • Rick Buckley • Aisling Hedgecock • Ian Monroe • Takeshi Murata • Milika Muritu • Angelo Plessas • Richard Priestley • Rafaël Rozendaal
A collaboration with Cell Project Space, London, presenting invited artists’ work as part of a journey to the [...]

Some of you that were in the know will remember the two Dundee musicians Billy Boyd and Gavin Bain aka Silibil and Brains who were aspiring rap artists. The duo, who were sick and tired of being ignored, simply because they were Scottish, by record industry fat cats decided to take matters into their own [...]

It seems an age since we had the taster track Strange Fruit from M9 to whet our appetites for his imminent album release 144,000, which drops on the 10th November 2008.

A fourth album from Birmingham’s Mike Skinner and it seems the further he goes from the bedroom dynamics which formed his début record, the worse he sounds.

Sam Bourne (Jonathan Freedland) has already been touted as the biggest challenger to Dan Brown’s title as the best thriller fiction writer.

LesMTS has reviewed the recent Doug Stanhope gig at the Jazz Bar in Edinburgh.
A bleary eyed Stanhope, sporting a fledgling mullet, field cap and battered pilot’s jacket, edges his way through the throng at the bar of this tiny, crowded basement venue, politely acknowledging pats on the back and hands thrust out for shaking, and [...]

MyFirstKev has posted a review in the forums of this years Leeds Festival.
The main stage was 45 minutes late in starting due to Slipknot pulling out so we sauntered over to listen to some ‘bangin’ beats’. The two guys mixing the tunes weren’t too bad and managed to get us in the right frame of [...]

Everyone knows that Dundee is a hotbed of creative talent, from cultural to information technology. One local business pushing the boundaries is Realtime Worlds. Started by Dave Jones , the creator of Lemmings and the Grand Theft Auto franchise, RTW is developing games for next generation consoles, while employing a fair few Dundonians within its [...]

Jim is a key figure in Scotland’s music scene. Championing local music he was the first to play artists like The View and KT Tunstall. We managed to catch up with him to ask him a few questions about local music, winning the John Peel Award and the future of radio.

In the centre of the ring, to the right of the referee, I stood with my hand raised. Over the din of the voices in the crowd and the thoughts in my head I heard the MC for the second time, “And a big hand for your runner up, from the Phraya Pichai Muay [...]

Every where one goes and in every city and town across the world there are buildings that have come and gone and which have existed functionally longer than a lifetime. There are even fewer which are less than 50 years old which can be described as a building of world significance and that is exactly [...]

Think about why you want to release a record. Really think about it. I’m talking to you, local bands, young bands, bands just starting out with stars in your eyes and dreams of fame in your hearts.

Two nights ago I was fortunate enough to be able to take a tour around Glasgow’s Britannia Panopticon. The building, situated in the city’s Trongate was opened in 1859 and closed its doors in 1938 after various changes in ownership. Since then the venue has lain dormant until recently where a restoration project has gotten [...]