The hand drawn seven-legged spider above became the subject of a hilarious viral email a couple of years ago. It begins with an email exchange between an Australian man – David Thorne – and a utility company. As it turns out, Thorne owes the company $233.95. Because he has no money, he emails a hand drawn spider which he values at $233.95.

Here’s the response for the company:

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 10.07am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Overdue account

Dear David,
Thankyou for contacting us. Unfortunately we are unable to accept drawings as payment and your account remains in arrears of $233.95. Please contact us within the next 7 days to confirm payment has been applied to your account and is no longer outstanding.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 10.32am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,
Can I have my drawing of a spider back then please.

Regards, David.

Read the rest of the exchange at 27bslash6.com.

Also check these favorites:
Simon’s pie charts
Peter and the shark
Party in apartment 3
Blockbuster late fees

In addition to the remastered Beatles CD set, you can also get the boxed set on a limited edition USB drive. The packaging is quite clever. The stem pulls out of the apple to reveal the USB drive. Here’s a description from Amazon:

The exquisitely crafted, apple-shaped USB drive is loaded with the critically acclaimed re-mastered audio for The Beatles’ 14 stereo titles, as well as all of the re-mastered CDs visual elements, including 13 mini-documentary films about the studio albums, replicated original UK album art, rare photos and expanded liner notes. A specially designed Flash interface has been installed, and the 16GB USB’s audio and visual contents will be provided in FLAC 44.1 Khz 24 bit and MP3 320 Kbps formats, fully compatible with PC and Mac.

Take a virtual tour of the legendary CBGB in New York City. Below are screen shots from the virtual tour.

Dancing on our grave by nojoyyet

“Dancing on our Grave” came up in my iTunes shuffle earlier. I started to reflect back when I wrote the song. I remember coming up with the guitar part first and a partial chorus. I played it through a couple of times on my acoustic guitar. I then started to think about a melody. I started writing and scribbled out 90% of the lyrics right at that moment. I went back and fined tuned a couple of words for flow but basically wrote the whole song in a matter of minutes.

Right from the start I envisioned trumpets in the song. The vision that came to mind was of a Mariachi band playing at a Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos) event. Day of the dead is where family and friends gather to remember friends and family members who have died. It’s principally celebrated in Mexico as well as other parts of the world.

I also have fond memories in the studio and working with the greatest producer in music – James Paul Wisner.

———————————————————

Lyrics

It’s a lie. Never could believe.
I never did inside.
Only fate tempts the photograph, a still frame in my mind

Chorus:
It’s only faded just a memory. Not too fast, no, or what we think it should be
Don’t let it fade away

Can’t deny all these inner shapes dispersed within my mind
Future late
Filling in the blanks
A reckoning inside

Chorus

These are times never explained. We are dancing on our grave.
Daylight focuses, another perennial display

We can never leave the past unaltered without some regret.
Advancing feelings, ignore the fear of another misplaced step.

Don’t let it fade away. We are dancing on our grave.
Don’t let it fade away. We are dancing on our grave.

A hauntingly beautifully black and white animation by MIE.