James Blunt appears on Sesame Street, as so many have done before him, and sends up his greatest hit to delicious effect. Whilst his music may be drippy, dreary, and downright awful… you’ve got to admire how game he is for this slot. It almost redeems him for everything else.

Almost.

John Cage performs his composition “Water Walk” on popular 1960s US TV show “I’ve Got A Secret”. As music, it actually works well; as performance, it works even better. There’s something almost surreal about putting a figure like Cage on light entertainment show, but it makes me wonder if anyone would do something like this nowadays. Via Nicky, via boingboing.

A few days ago, I ran into my college friend Dave, who (amongst other things) is now running a small, independent record label called Kids. Kids release limited-edition, short-run 7″ singles (at the moment); they’ve got a solid lineup (including Paul Hartnoll’s debut single) and, as I bumped into him, Dave was off to a launch party for KIDS009, the latest Wombats single.

We caught up quickly, and he handed me their previous release, the double A-side of It’s Magnetic and Out on 24s (on clear plastic) from Assembly Now. When I got home, I stuck the 7″ on the record player and listened to both sides – really great stuff, and a band I’ll be keeping my eyes on.

What was really interesting, though, was the piece of paper that fell out of the single when I opened it.

On it was written a small note to say that because I’d bought the single, I was entitled to email somebody at Kids who’d send me details of how to obtain the MP3s of that track – for free.

I love this idea. The short runs of 7″ singles that Kids put out are ideal for a small record label trying to find its feet – reasonably cheap to press, I’d imagine, and which can turn a reasonable profit-per-unit. And for their target market, 7″ are still an acceptable distribution format for singles. But their target market also own iPods – and nothing’s more tedious than ripping vinyl to mp3.

So this pattern really works in their favour: people pay money for the music they want to hear on a format convenient for home, and get the mobile format thrown in – because let’s face it, they’re going to find a way to do that anyhow. The convenience of doing things this way around is a huge bonus, though. I hope other small labels do this sort of thing – it’s relatively little effort and cost on top of the pressing, but it’s a smart idea that’s in tune with exactly how people like to listen to music.

And, of course, I hope Kids continues to thrive as a label.

I mistyped into my dialogue box today:

http://flickr.com/photos/fiends

I never hit return; I was afraid the monsters would get me.

Wow. The trailer for the new Michel Gondry, The Science of Sleep, is now up over at the Apple trailers site.

Already, I can’t wait – looks delightful, and the stop-motion looks phenomenal. So glad Gondry seems to be finding suitable places to take his talents in Hollywood. Do watch it!

My former colleague Andy is in Lebanon right now and is keeping a blog whilst there. The writing there is top-notch; do check it out. I hope he makes a swift and safe return to these shores; until then, I hope he manages to keep writing. I know I’d be terrified.

Staplerfahrer Klaus [low-res WMV], or Fork-lift truck driver Klaus. A short German film, spoofing industrial safety videos, by looking at a young forklift driver’s first day at work. “Cruel but informative accidents” occur, according to the blurb.

Yes. Yes, they do. Entertaining – whilst the style is spot on, the sheer messiness of the accidents and the cheapness of the gore has an endearing, shlocky charm. Very, very, very funny; it deserved all the awards it won. Go and watch it (warning, contains strong gory violence by anyone’s standards. If you put a chainsaw on screen, it has to go off, you know).

So we watched Shallow Grave tonight. My second time, Alex’s first; I’d largely forgotten it, so enjoyed it afresh. Anyhow, Alex later asked me what I would do if we had a roommate die with a big stack of cash. I suggested calling the authorities immediately, whilst Alex took the next train home with the money.

Then she commented that she liked David’s plan, securing the money in bonds. I suggested buying Apple products. Alex initially, dismissed this, but I explained:

iPods are universal currency. A Shuffle to two Nanos, two Nanos to a big one. We can launder money through them and they almost hold value. Plus, they’re not much bigger than hypothetical £250 notes anyway.

So if you ever see my suitcase explode, and a thousand iPods go flying everywhere, do be respectful; I’m in mourning.

That’s that, then: one bag packed, everything checked off my list, all my details safely stowed, and I’m checked in onto the plane. All that remains is to get some sleep, and get to Heathrow.

Fingers crossed.

This joins to this.

Which, to be honest, all sounds very exciting. Let’s see just how it turns out – and if they can keep it up. On the Guardian‘s past form, I’d say yes.

Rather exciting.