Pete Hindle

Above is an image by illustrator Jim Phillips, called ‘Screaming Hand’. It’s one of the most famous pieces of graphic design in the skateboarding culture, a piece of marketing that would still be in use as a company icon twenty-five years later. Such is the fame of this image that Phillips himself relates this tale [...]

“Eighty percent of everthing ever built in America has been built in the last fifty years, and most of it is depressing, brutal, ugly, unhealthy, and spiritually degrading” James Howard Kunstler What are hackerspaces? I don’t mean in terms of physical location, but in terms of what societal function do they have? Deyan Sudjic’s new [...]

The title of the fifth book in Douglas Adams’ series, “Mostly Harmless”, comes from a fictional description of the earth as a civilisation. It’s a great pairing of words – the innocuous framed with a hint of threat. Isn’t that what the world of programming is like though? It’s ninety-five percent unthreatening typing activities, with a [...]

This is a piece written for Kino Bambino, a local zine run by film fans in Newcastle. You’ll be able to pick up a copy from the Star and Shadow, amongst other places, from 14/05/2009 onwards. Have you noticed a trend with summer blockbusters? I have. They like to take a well-known nerdy book, film, [...]

Until earlier this week I had a dream of running away to Buenos Aires, but even the foreign office advises against that now. In that case, perhaps the traditional thing to do would be join the foreign legion. Perhaps they have an artist’s squadron I could join, where I can sit around drinking espressos and [...]

There’s been a hiatus since my last post, so you’ll have to bear with me while I express myself without all the nice footnotes and links that I wanted to put in. I was quite unwell in Helsinki, so I didn’t actually manage to see a lot of the festival. I did, however, catch a [...]

I was shopping with Brian in Morrisons when I noticed how bitter I had become. I turned to him and said “I hate cake”. It’s offical: I’m suffering from some form of bitterness that has subsumed my soul. This state is not unusual for me though; however, I think I’m going to have to say [...]

Part two of some, which seem to be slightly rambly. Oh well. Better out than in. Before I get going here, let’s just take a minute out to think about the image creators of the world. I’m not talking about painters, or any other type of specific mileau, but rather just the general act of [...]

Part one of some, in which you can read me espousing in a generalised year-end type way. The other day, a very clever man explained to me about careers and learning curves. He was saying that every two years we complete another learning curve, take a look around at the career we’ve been having, and [...]

I’ve written a two-page long description of a street in my hometown. Here is the start: In summer, the street becomes a long, dusty trial of your patience. Wide and loud with traffic at one end, narrow and stuffed with closed shops at the other, it’s middle section goes on for the longest period with [...]