need a designer?

this idea is half joke, and half hack international style for the needy...enjoy!

via swiss miss

happy birthday jackson pollock

i'm not sure i really got it until i saw his work in person. it's quite possible i don't really get it now, but i do enjoy it. there is a monumental quality to his work. viewing it, for me, is a near endless process of discovering little portions that seem just right. it's a bit like discovering an amazing tiny detail on flower you never looked at closely enough--that's on a scale so vastly different from the forest it lives in. an amazing tiny detail that makes you smile. he would have been 97.

"Every good painter paints what he is." -JP

so, go paint yourself.

doing more with less

a really wonderful stop motion video...



and dubious talents!



enjoy!

DLR

i recently re-watched better off dead--one of my favorites, and an early john cusack classic. in watching it i was reminded of van halen, a band that, at the time, i think i was simply to young for--or at least too young to be a fanatic. i'm not to broken up about it though because, while it was a certain time and a certain place, it wasn't really great music.



DLRsteriods. do it.

making it fun.

when you make it fun, people stick around. when people stick around, you get through to them...whatever it is you have to say. or sell.



go play!

p.s. ctrl, shift, and arrow keys make for an extra good time. if you want an extra double good time, check this out.

oleg dou

the first thing i thought was: are these real? computer generated? painted? i really wasn't sure. i love not being sure. rather than what they aren't, let's get at what they are. surreal yet engaging. funny and sad. inhuman and very human. real and unreal. amazing. photographs.








oleg dou

stackable hip hop

i came across this delight some days ago...and i was delighted by the simplicity of the concept. hell yes.

via beans

mostly the voice...

my first time to the santos party house, i went for the obits. after all, as far as i was concerned, i went to an obits show. following the obits excellent set was a band that took too long to get started, made too many stupid jokes, and persisted in their banter and multi-encore with a self important tone. i was ready to leave before they even started, but i figured i'd give them a couple of songs to turn me around. it took me about one and one half seconds to be sure, but i was certain. i knew this band, (the night marchers) or at least i knew this singer. fast forward another one and one half seconds, and i had my answer. rocket from the crypt! that distinct and ferocious voice was a dead giveaway. there was enough awesome in their music for me to forgive the crappy stutter start. while the night marchers certainly aren't rocket from the crypt, for the time being, it will plug that hole in my heart.

this food means business...

bento in its simplest form is a pretty easy concept for westerners i'd guess--basically a to-go meal. kyaraben on the other hand is a rather foreign idea.

the united states has an industrious and radical history. of late it may have become burdened with apathetic and stagnant behavior, but our disposition as a nation originated from a wonderful desire to streamline and improve...to eliminate the unnecessary and consolidate the requisite in our day to day lives. to chose what our lives would hold in the very most fundamental sense. to make our own destinies.

spending a lot of time making a pretty lunch just isn't the american way. maybe it should be, but the way we scarf down the typical workday lunch just doesn't seem worthy of the effort put into making kyaraben. i'm fascinated with the dichotomy between a bento and a busy, modern western world. food presentation in entertaining, dining out, and for special events makes an unconscious sense--but sometimes microwaveable junk and mushy leftovers really do seem good enough.

i take pleasure in a number of small things, and i like to think i'm rather considered and deliberate. but i had to think a bit on this to find what i will ultimately take away from this entire thought exercise. it is simple. pursue happiness.



a few days ago, i came across this flickr page...filled with images of inventive and well executed bento. i was pretty taken with them, so i followed some links, and found out they are made for made for him by his lady. she keeps a blog that is a bit story time and a bit how to. it's worth the visit.

ex cell ent .

the more technology and media evolve, and more familiar we become with it, the more we seek reactionary retreats. sure it's cool to tweet your geo tagged photo complete with meta data hyper linked via a tiny url alias that will in turn update your facebook status which in turn will alert your friends who in turn will do something that will in turn update their facebook status that will in turn send you a notification via plain jane email...but sometimes all you really need is paper and a pen. in hands-on low-tech pursuits many of us find what it is we actually want. satisfaction.

check out an endearing and compelling collection of stop motion shorts.

another good one.

bummer it's not a more epic product, but they always show the funniest parts in the commercial--no?



via core

unreality.

unreality is what makes fiction worth reading. it makes animation worth watching. it sells copies of photoshop. it's why we make anything. i've always liked the idea that in creative pursuits you really can do anything you want to. that freedom asks of you a bit ingenuity and vision, and it demands full responsibility and accountability. if the result isn't good, or at least compelling...well, then you really haven't done much at all. chinese photographer Li Wei uses this freedom to make something great. his images tell a story that might not be strictly factual, but is truthful nonetheless. if that makes any sense.



via design observer

one of my favorite insults.

however it is that you like it.

punks rock.

bullshitting today at the bike shop, where i'm working a few odd days a week to slow the draining of my checking account, Allan Dias came up. Allan Dias the bike mechanic...or if you prefer, Allan Dias the bassist for PiL. This guy. The one in the middle.



His is a pretty interesting story. What no one at the shop seems to know is what exactly happened to him--musically. apparently he wrote and produced much of PiL's music while he was with them, and so it's a bit hard to understand his just dropping out. i'd definitely like to get to the bottom of it, but i can't imagine i ever will. In talking about it, and scouring the internet for pictures, video and the like--i came across this gem. gotta love johnny rotten. in the whole process i rediscovered a band i really like, which for me is the best part of the story.



fuck tom snyder. how do you host johnny rotten on your talk show, and have no idea what you're in for? enjoy.

fucking rad.

i love this.

woah.

so, as far as bikes go...i really missed the boat on this. Alta was a new project about four years back. i don't really think that's the point though...it's the advertising images that have captured me. things that don't look right--done right--often look...well, kinda neat. taking the time to make the impossible possible is a noble endeavor. this pursuit of what if is one way to retain your childlike sense of wonder...and i respond with a smile everytime i see it.



kinda reminds you of the triplets of belleville, no?

politics is funny.

the best thing to happen to get your war on, is the animated adaptation from 23/6. it really brings to life a cynical and funny but sometimes dry political comic. true to form, and much more internetable...or something like that.

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

more GYWO
via copyranter and 23/6

science unfair!

Dr Monster as he is known via flickr, or travis pitts as you might address him in person has 'shopped a number of kid's science fair presentations. the results are exceptional. if this idea isn't one of genius then that word doesn't means what i think it does...







travis has a website!
via not lying.

it's like twitter only...

sometimes, you just need a little something stupid.

as good as it gets.

i fucking love maryland. it's been a while since i've been back for a visit...so perhaps i had forgotten that. i got a healthy dose this weekend. full of riding, scenery, tasty beer and food, good company, and ton's of laughter. by far the most epic and photo-documented element was sunday's ride. i think my pictures tell it better than my words can.


spoke cards, liquor, and organization courtesy of james.










via single speed outlaw