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September 29, 2006
Friday Entertainment
» In need of Friday entertainment? Try these

Dark Movies - an M&M's promotional site tied in with their new Dark Chocolate line but that is neither here nor there. Basically it's a huge map of play on words pertaining to scary movies. Example: Nightmare on Elm Street or Alien. Some of them are obvious, some of them are not. If you consider yourself a movie fanatic (Duncan, I'm looking at you) - this should be no sweet.

If you're not up for using your brain quite that much, I suggest checking out Line Rider - possibly one of the most fun Flash games I've encountered in a long time. Draw a line sloping down and hit the Play button - from there I think you'll get the picture. Your rider is delicate but it is entirely possible for him to take some gigantic leaps, spins, and sometimes backwards movement. Not exactly a great way to get your work done for the weekend but that's not the point.
02:57 PM » [ Comments (6) ]


Good Hodgkins - Ringtone Discussion
» There's a post at Good Hodgkins about the use of Indie Rock Ringtones - i.e. what makes a good one, what makes a bad one, and what he considers the top five best. I haven't checked out all the tracks he's put up to offer but I'm curious as to what contemporary music everyone is using as a ringtone? Here's what I'm currently using as available choices:
» Call Florence Pow - Preparation For Battle
» YMCK - Theme From...
» Wolf Parade - This Hearts On Fire
» Fosters Home - Theme From...
» Chromeo - You're So Gangsta
The above are all in ringtone format - meaning, it's not full songs and they've been downsampled like crazy. That being said, anytime you use a song you like as a ringtone it will create a Pavlovian response in you the next time you hear the actual song and you will truly believe your phone is ringing. Fun trick to play on yourself.
12:37 PM » [ Comments (14) ]


Small Stakes
» Several new posters available at The Small Stakes. I was fortunate enough to see most of these in person at the last Flatstock in Seattle and the prints are rather gorgeous in real life. That Mark Kozelek poster in particular is just screenprinting perfection.
12:23 PM » [ Comments (1) ]


Crown Dozen goodness
» Have you been reading Crown Dozen recently? Shamefully, I had not. I was missing out on such great posts as the NYC Art Roundup, Death Attack Limited, Jen Corace, and most importantly - Secret Wars (an art battle that looks to have some incredible results). Thank you Crown Dozen, I apologize for not reading more often - consider your RSS feed bookmarked from now on.
12:19 PM » [ Comments (0) ]


CITIES remix
» CITIES will be releasing a remix version of their debut album on October 3rd entitled Varations. Typically, as I have stated numerous times before, I think the remix album is pretty much a giant waste of time and rarely breathes any fresh life into already solid songs. That being said, this one has promise. Download the following tracks and see for yourself.
» CITIES - Capital (Free The Robots Remix)
» CITIES - Lounge Act (Daedelus Remix)
» CITIES - OOC (Fog Black Metal Remix)
» CITIES - Writing On The Wall (Ladytron Remix)
» CITIES - A Theme (from CITIES LP)

12:16 PM » [ Comments (0) ]


I Make Things
» I Make Things has a new site design up and some new work to check out. The creatures are mildly disgusting but in the cutest way possible (you'll understand once you see it). The globby lightning creatures in the shop are nice.
12:10 PM » [ Comments (0) ]


Soap Nuke
» Nuked Soap Video. Ivory Soap inside of a microwave for an indeterminate amount of time. The results are unexpected and completely welcome.
11:57 AM » [ Comments (1) ]


Squidfingers
» New Squidfingers site. This is a double edged sword. On the one hand - having new works, patterns, polaroids, designs, etc. from Travis Beckham to browse is always an extreme treat. On the other hand, he seems to have removed his link section which used to garner me quite a bit of traffic. Selfish? Absolutely.

But the site is great. Love the hand drawn styles and his portfolio of work is always inspiring and fun.
11:55 AM » [ Comments (0) ]


Midlake
»

Midlake - Head Home

Ariston Ad

11:52 AM » [ Comments (0) ]


Bad Animal
» Listen to Bad Animal. Wonder what you are hearing. Inspect the t-shirt. Wonder why you don't own it already. Fall asleep curious as to what you've just experienced.
11:43 AM » [ Comments (0) ]

September 28, 2006
Driver 23
» Have you seen Driver 23? It's the most amazing mix of This Is Spinal Tap and American Movie (and a weird tinge of Pi).

"Although Dan rarely plays music outside of his cramped basement, he believes he's meant for stardom in the music industry."

And if you've already seen the movie, be sure to check the MySpace page for new updates from Dan Cleveland.
11:58 AM » [ Comments (1) ]


Ryan Adams
» Maybe my judgement of the alt-country stylings of Ryan Adams was premature. Check out that link and become exposed to a whole new world of vaguely vulgar robot rap. The song is pretty much amazing and if I had a moment to rip it from the site and listen to it a later date, I absolutely would. Please be sure to stick it out until the Witch Rap - it's worth it.
10:45 AM » [ Comments (3) ]


MP3 Sampling - winamp plugin
» I am a creature of habit and now that I'm using a Mac I'm having to change those habits, a notion I do not always enjoy. For instance, if I download an mp3 from the web for pure sampling purposes - i.e. What's this band sound like? - then I don't neccasarily want it permanently added into my "iTunes Library." Nor do I want to have to delete it out of my catalog later if the song ends up being total crap. That is the one area where Winamp trumps iTunes - it's alot more temporal.

But now that we've got an Airport Express running AirTunes in the office, how could my PC Winamp possibly stream audio to main stereo speakers? Enter the Winamp Remote Speakers Output Plug-In - the perfect solution to my problem. Now I can use Winamp to stream to AirTunes, sample new music, and not have to worry about going back to clean out my iTunes library if I end up downloading some music that I don't want to stick around forever.
10:37 AM » [ Comments (9) ]

September 27, 2006
Zune vs iPod - Tech Specs
» The battle between the Zune and the iPod is bound to be about as heated as any Mac vs PC debate that's been going on for years. After looking at these comparison tech specs I can already hear the Zune zealots praising the inclusion of an FM Tuner, Landscape Video, Customizations, bigger screens, wireless sharing, cheaper pricetag (supposedly), and only a slightly larger case. And really, who's to argue with that? I don't think the Zune looks as nice as the iPod but it's certainly not far off. And I've been told that the lack of click wheel really isn't that big of a deal and that the controls are rather intuitive. Will the Zune be able to overtake the iPod - which already has such a giant marketshare? I know it's good to be King (if just for awhile) but can Apple stay at the top forever? I'd be willing to bet they have at least one more trick up their sleeve before the end of the year to combat the Zune doubters...

At least I hope so.
11:06 AM » [ Comments (28) ]


Atomic Blast
» Can you imagine what it would look like if you built a 10-foot long camera lens, setup camp 7 miles from the subject of your photo, and were able to take pics at 1 / 100,000,000ths of a second of a planned atomic blast perched atop a steel gantry? Sort of a tall order but Harold Edgerton did it. Check out the Exposure Results and prepare to doubt the results. The first pic looks like a pencil drawing and the second two look like stills out of a vintage sci-fi reel. Either way, the images are stunning.
10:53 AM » [ Comments (1) ]


Hard to Believe
» This is probably the oddest place a picture of Christ has ever been found. Much stranger than any piece of toast.
10:43 AM » [ Comments (2) ]


Flag Project
» The flag project known as Meet The World is absolutely brilliant. Artist Icaro Doria has taken flags from around the world and reinterpreted their design as statistics pertaining to that specific country. Rarely is art informative, pertinent, powerful, and interesting to look at (that is assuming you enjoy the simplistic design of flags - which you should).
10:42 AM » [ Comments (0) ]

September 26, 2006
unmentionables
»
It is my belief that everyone should take a gander at the handprinted designs of Unmentionables. Aside from the fact that the designs are great it should be noted that many of the shirts use a technique for printing involving some special bleaches and dyes. It is really rather ingenius.

I believe some of these are for sale in the local Austin area but otherwise Etsy is the only place to snag them. The designer behind the shirts would be happy to make you a custom order if you're not digging the colors you see on the site. Cassandra has long been an inspiring cohort to me when it comes to screenprinting and I hope that I can continue to push her to make more designs. Do yourself (and herself) a favor and buy one!
11:54 AM » [ Comments (6) ]


YouTube Video Roundup
» YouTube Video Roundup. Let me know what I'm missing out on.:


Sci-Fi Talent Agency

Boom!

Sankyo

Young Folks

11:28 AM » [ Comments (4) ]


style changes
» If you notice some style changes going on around here, just bear with me.. I'm trying to change a few things up and it may cause the site to look less than ideal for a little while. It's all part of my master plan to consider a redesign for well over a year before I actually do anything about it.
11:15 AM » [ Comments (0) ]


Clinton interview on FOX
» Has everyone seen the Bill Clinton FOX interview? Pretty intense. I'm sure that there will be a contingent of conservatives that will try to spin his passion on the subject into making him look crazed or unbalanced but I completely appreciate his sentiment. Fox News Sunday was bringing some pretty loaded questions to the table and Clinton answers honestly and openly - no Orwellian newspeak added in.


Clinton on Fox News Sunday

11:14 AM » [ Comments (3) ]


Japanese beat your ass
» Are the Japanese better than Americans at everything? Tough call but I'd say when it comes to Intense Pen Spinning they've got us beat hands down.
11:06 AM » [ Comments (0) ]


Hanso Foundation
» With LOST just around the corner I am very tempted to poke around the internet and see what people have turned up during their summertime digging in the LOST Experience - the viral online "game" that ABC has been putting on all summer to keep the hardcore fans thinking about the show despite it not being anywhere near coming on. Turns out there is at least one new Hanso Video to watch but I'm not sure I want to expose myself to any new information outside of the show.
11:04 AM » [ Comments (2) ]

September 25, 2006
Codaphonic
»
Codaphonic Photo by Joey Ciccoline
Codaphonic photo by: Joey Ciccoline
If you're in the Nashville area and find yourself wondering what you should be doing around 7:30pm tonight I suggest heading over to 3rd and Lindsley to catch Codaphonic perform an early set in celebration of the release of their EP, Good Morning Radio.

The band is solid, put on a great show, and there's no way you can listen to the songs and not find something you enjoy. Granted, it does not fall into the typical indie genre that I post about, but it's a pure pop treat - in the way that pop rock should be, feel good but written with a twinge of remorse, introspection, and catharsis. Seriously, download "Ritalin" and try to tell me you don't love it.
» Codaphonic - Good Morning Radio
» Codaphonic - Ritalin

12:53 PM » [ Comments (1) ]

September 22, 2006
Friday amusement
» It's Friday. You are probably TGIF'ing pretty hardcore, huh? Yea, no need to really hunker down and finish up those projects that you've been thinking about all week but haven't really done anything about. Who needs to be productive? No one I know! With that in mind, here are some videos that I believe you will enjoy.

Please take note that "Little Superstar" has been sent to me at least four times in the past 12 hours - it is obviously the greatest thing on the Internet for the time being.


Little Superstar

Ben Folds Covers Postal Service

Inappropriate Norm MacDonald

01:26 PM » [ Comments (3) ]

September 21, 2006
Snapalope
» Did you know that it was Snapalope Season? Did you even know that a Snapalope exists? Well, they don't. But it's a really well done ad campaign for Slim Jim featuring some bizarre deer like creatures. In the end it does not, in any way, make me desire to partake in the act of actually consuming a Slim Jim but I appreciate the motion graphics and CG integration.
01:13 PM » [ Comments (3) ]


MOSSO hosting
» Note to self: Remember MOSSO Hosting next time you are considering a robust hosting plan for a client. While a tad expensive for personal use ($100/month) it seems incredible well designed, easy to use, and on the level of reliability that clients would depend on. Plus it has live tech support - rad.
01:09 PM » [ Comments (3) ]


Jonathan Ives - Apple Designer
» Who Is Jonathan Ive? - nice article about the Senior Vice-President for Industrial Design over at Apple Computers - the man responsible for the iPod and G5 designs. Obviously an incredibly talented guy. The article basically sums him by saying that he's a quiet, reluctant celebrity more interested in the process of work than in the glory that comes with it. Aside from that there are some amusing Apple related anecdotes in there revolving around the perfectionist qualities of Steve Jobs.
01:04 PM » [ Comments (1) ]


Airplane Security is a joke
» Can We Please Bring Our Damned Coffee On the Plane Again, Idiots? - at first I thought this rant was going to perfectly sum up my feelings on the current state of airline security and then it delved into some actual science facts about liquid bombs and it took me from an agreeable state straight into baffled amazement that no one is paying attention to actual facts anymore. Why is there no media coverage extolling the fact that a liquid bomb is not what you saw in M.I. 2 and incredibly difficult to pull off? Wouldn't it be better to be informed than to be supressed by the constant Orwellian newspeak that is thrown at you?

It's amusing to me to think that 5 years ago there was a serious sentiment to not change our way of life or the terrorists would have won. Guess what? They won.

Yes, that's a bit extreme but it's partially true. Last night I caught a bit of last weeks Bill Maher and have to suggest to anyone with On Demand that they cue it up and give it a spin. These comments from Clark Kent Ervin seemed especially poignant considering that he was the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security:

"I worry about this 'good and evil' language. You know, former President Bush famously said that - 'I'm a religious guy, but I'm not a nut about it.' And I understand what this President Bush means when he talks about evil. There's no question but that 9/11 was an evil act. But that suggests that whatever we do is good. And this messianic approach it seems to me, is very, very dangerous. And, ironically enough, it's exactly the approach the terrorists take."


12:49 PM » [ Comments (2) ]


Future Me / Mario Cake
» Send an email to yourself in the future at FutureMe - basically a service that lets you send an email with a scheduled future send date. I'd say it wasn't that huge of a deal but over 300,000 emails have been sent via the service so someone is using it. Be sure to check the Public Messages to see what people are sending.

Mario Cake is both amazingly geeky and incredibly well done. Aside from the amusement that comes from the fact that this thing actually exists I suggest reading the Flickr comments to get an additional kick in the pants of humor - specifically from xhospitalwaterx.
12:40 PM » [ Comments (0) ]


The Silent Years (music)
» I got an email from The Silent Years asking me to check out their new self-titled album coming out at the end of October and to possibly share an mp3 on my site if I cared to do so. Typically if I get a request like this I listen to the band for a few moments and if it doesn't grab me, I move on. This is a terrible terrible way to judge music. How many bands have you heard that instantly hook you in 30 seconds or less? Probably not as many that grow on you after listening to the album some 20+ times. The internet may have given any musician with a MySpace account the ability to share music but it's also inherently destroying attention spans and the ability to really give some art a fair shot. That being said, the mellow mp3 that was sent along has been in my daily rotation for a few days now and been getting a decent amount of listens. I enjoy it and it grows on me the more I hear it. What are your thoughts?
» The Silent Years - Someone To Keep Us Warm

11:41 AM » [ Comments (2) ]


(v) version industries
» The portfolio of version industries is an onslaught of layered div's reminiscent of BEAST magazine. In all honesty it's a bit hard to read at times but I gotta give credit to them for pulling off such a visually intense layout. For something a bit more tame but just as telling as to their style, check their showreel.
11:16 AM » [ Comments (1) ]


Office Slang
» Since it's only Daniel and I in the office these days I don't have a ton of usage for this list of nerdy Office Slang but I can imagine there are those of you out there that could. For some reason the idea of calling someone "404" is just too perfectly geeky to pass up on.

Though a lot of these terms apply to situations outside of the office - see "Crop Dusting" or "It's A Feature."
10:57 AM » [ Comments (1) ]


Design Trends Advice
» The quote on this page is honest and to the point (and a bit humorous) but I'm more interested in the author's insight that says:

Five or ten years from now, I don’t want to be remembering Web 2.0 as the ’80s of web design, neon colored bloated parachute pants and all. The visual design of today is simply a passing fashion, don’t be one of those sites we’re ashamed to look back at, like the GIF-swollen examples of 1996.

Too true. It should also be noted that in 1996 people didn't know any better. They should now.
10:52 AM » [ Comments (1) ]


Brainwave Job
» Anyone in the Franklin / Nashville area looking for a programming job might want to check out this job offering from BrainWave Studios. They emailed me and I told them that I'd post their listing just to see if there were any bites... don't consider this an official endorsement. Just trying to help someone out.
10:33 AM » [ Comments (1) ]


Heads up NY - Kid Robot
» Heads up my New York friends - Kid Robot is going to relaunch their NY store on the 28th. Aside from all the great new vinyl figures they are bound to have, the forthcoming Apparel Line looks great. Hopefully the website will be updated simultaneously as well.
10:29 AM » [ Comments (2) ]

September 20, 2006
The Big Sleep
» Thank you Relative Theory for reminding me that The Big Sleep record came out this week. Son of the Tiger is such a great balance of My Bloody Valentine and their harder rock ilk of bands that I was instantly hooked. I suggest you all investigate immediately:
» The Big Sleep - Murder
» The Big Sleep - You Can't Touch The Untouchable

03:55 PM » [ Comments (1) ]


Aoes and Androids shirts
» 99% of the time a band releasing a new t-shirt design on the world is hardly news worthy but for some odd reason I think the design of the newest shirt from Apes & Androids is fantastic and completely worthy of being shared. Check it out:

banksy

The artist responsible, Simon Noynay has a ton of great illustrations on his site. He's even got a Threadless Select shirt available.
12:46 PM » [ Comments (1) ]


Booreiland
» For whatever reason I don't see that many design portfolios these days but when I do run across one that does things a little different I try to take note. The design group Booreiland has quite the nice site. Very clean grid design, nice minimal use of Flash, and some nice pieces to check out.

Added to that is MonoKai - the personal website of one of the Booreiland designers. I've seen my fair share of "Flash Labs" during my tenure here on the web but the pieces found here are not only extremely well done but actually fun to play around with.
12:41 PM » [ Comments (1) ]


Flickr Moo
» Moo.com has developed a new service they are calling Flickr Minicards that allows you to take a set of 10 (or 100) of your Flickr pics and print them in a wide aspect business card format. Off the top of my head I can't think of too much use for this BUT they are offering 10 free cards to Flickr Pro users who sign up now so it may be worth checking it out just to see what it's all about.
12:00 PM » [ Comments (1) ]

September 19, 2006
Doctor Blind Video - Emily Haines
» The new Emily Haines album, Knives Don't Have Your Back, is on the horizon (next week) and I'm quite interested to hear it. It should be a far cry from anything Metric has done but she has always had an enjoyable voice in my opinion. Added to that notion is the fact that the album is supposedly more introspective and personal - as opposed to the political and sexual themes of Metric. Regardless, here's the video for the track "Doctor Blind."


Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton - Doctor Blind

02:42 PM » [ Comments (8) ]


Teleport Software
» With my new setup I quickly discovered that getting anything off my laptop was a total pain in the ass because I'd have to switch keyboards / mice in order to use it. Enter Teleport - a handy little piece of software that uses Bluetooth to enable you to share one mouse, one keyboard between multiple machines. Aside from that extreme convenience it now allows you to drag files as well - pretty much perfect.
12:51 PM » [ Comments (5) ]


VISTA preview
» Check out the different styles of the forthcoming Windows Vista OS. Quick comparisons of the four different styles - Aero Glass, Vista Standard, Vista Basic, and Windows Classic. Apparently each one takes a different chunk of memory depending on how much transparency and gloss you want. Overall I'd say it's an improvement from the first screenshots I saw of Vista so long ago. Except for Windows Classic mode - which is unexcusably ugly.
12:47 PM » [ Comments (6) ]


MOV enjoyment
» Occasionally I run across some videos that aren't in easy to consume, streamable formats (aka not on YouTube) but they still need to be enjoyed. So get your plugins ready...

The Force Is A Tool of Satan - Star Wars Geeks vs. Religious Zealots. Who wins? The Force of course.

Field Music - In Context - music video from the new Field Music album that won't come out here for quite some time. Regardless, the illustration is impressive.
12:19 PM » [ Comments (1) ]


Beirut bonus
» According to the official Beirut site (the band) they have signed with 4AD for distribution outside of North America and will be releasing a bonus EP to go along with their debut Gulag Orkestar. The question is, how can I get my hands on said EP without paying import prices for the entire album?
12:09 PM » [ Comments (2) ]


LeDouxville
» Why do I love the Jesse LeDoux print Floating Death so much? So simple but still stylized and just the right amount of creepy cute.
12:06 PM » [ Comments (0) ]

September 18, 2006
Ikea Video Site
» That's it - this Ikea Mini-Site for Garderoben proves that video is the new website. Get those FLV encoders ready because I have a feeling this is going to become a whole lot more commonplace. And, really, from an advertising perspective - it's a good thing. An interactive commercial taken to an almost literal degree. Love the seamless integration of the clip and the transitions between sections / levels.
12:05 PM » [ Comments (3) ]


DesignSponge
» Design*Sponge is a "stuff" blog - along the lines of Cool Hunting but, obviously, based on somene elses taste. Love the mobiles, Dream Objects (yes!), but everything there is pretty great.
12:02 PM » [ Comments (0) ]


Monday Video
» A few videos to entertain you during your Monday morning worktime lulls. The first, "Enter The Copywriter", should brighten just about anyones day that has worked with / in an ad agency. The second is another entry from this years 48 Hour Film Project directed by Michael Carter and featuring Chris Crofton and Dave Cloud. It also happens to feature some rather vulgar and very nsfw situations. Regardless, it contains at least a few chuckles.


Enter The Copywriter

The Golden Egg (nsfw)

11:47 AM » [ Comments (0) ]


Banksy LA show
» This weekend UK's favorite artist Banksy had an art show in LA. Much like his previous shows the location was not announced until the day of the opening but that didn't seem to stop droves of people from showing up. Check out this gallery from the show. The first 10 or so pics are all of celebrities attending which I would hope Banksy could care less about - but the amount of art being shown is fantastic. The very last two pieces in the series are possibly my favorite.

Oh, and there was a live elephant as part of the exhibit completely painted trunk to toe in an atypical Banksy fashion (i.e. not graff style - more Louis Vuitton).

banksy
11:32 AM » [ Comments (7) ]

September 15, 2006
Kaufman's next film
» I love Charlie Kaufman. Who doesn't? Adapation, Eternal Sunshine, Being John Malkovich, and Human Nature are all brilliant or hilarious in their own way. But what's he up to next? According to this revealing article he has a new movie ready to be shot - entitled Synecdoche, New York. Aside from the fact that the article puts the movie on such a high pedestal that it sounds like the greatest thing since film was invented it puts forth the fact that Kaufman is set to direct the film himself, as Spike Jonze is off in Australia shooting Where The Wild Things Are. Will a Kaufman directed movie be as brilliant as a Kaufman written / director collaboration film? More brilliant? Total self-indulgent? Only one way to find out...
02:04 PM » [ Comments (2) ]


Spinach is bad
» Heads up - don't eat bagged spinach. E. Coli is running rampant in bagged spinach and the FDA is recommending just not eating any until they figure out the source (washing it will not help). Thought you should know.
01:50 PM » [ Comments (3) ]


Ambien will wake you up (if you're in a coma)
» Ryan has sent me many links over the years but I think none have been quite as fascinating as this one - a report on the bizarre phenomena of victims contained in a persistent vegetative state (read: heavy coma) awakening after being given a ground up dose of Ambien, a popular sleeping pill. The relief is not permanent but the fact that it works at all is baffling scientists / doctors around the world. The irony that a sleeping pill is waking up coma victims is not lost on me but the notion that people are actually waking up is truly mindblowing.

Added to this article - which I can not recommend more highly, seriously, read it - is this article about recent discoveries of the mental activity of people trapped inside of a coma, and exactly what sort of brain activity is going on. Turns out that what appears to be completely unresponsive to us may just be a physical inability to react from a highly mental state. Combine that idea with the Ambien sleeping pill awakening and you've got an indie film in the making. Too insane to be true.
01:47 PM » [ Comments (5) ]


INK Splash
» Designgraphik has a set of Ink Movies for purchase on YWFT that is gorgeous. Even more appealing are the still frames posted on flickr.
10:41 AM » [ Comments (1) ]


Luckiest Man In The World
» The Luckiest man in the world is an incredibly harrowing story of one man's fight against the troubles of the world and his ability to finally overcome absolutely uncertainty and the downtrodden problems he faces. It also doubles as the tale of a lottery winner who wins more prizes while re-enacting his original win for a local television show. Nuts.
10:39 AM » [ Comments (0) ]


What We Are
» Occasionally you need a quick educational video to remind you of your place in the world. Right? No better time than Friday morning to take a good look at your place in the world and keep it in mind over the weekend.


What We Are

10:34 AM » [ Comments (0) ]


The Visual History of iTunes
» Check out The Visual History of iTunes - from before it was called iTunes (SoundJam sold their software to Apple) to the new 7.0 there have been a surprisingly small amount of drastic changes. Everything has been subtle and more about tightening things up.
10:30 AM » [ Comments (0) ]

September 14, 2006
Coming Zune
» Coming Zune is the teaser site for the Microsoft Zune player - supposedly their iPod killer - which features two videos of some great animation but no actual information about the device. The rumor is that sometime today the site will launch with actual specs on the goods.. we shall see.
10:47 AM » [ Comments (5) ]


bin laden beard
» Gary Weddle won't shave until Osama Bin Laden is caught! That's basically like saying he's never going to shave. The teacher has not trimmed a hair since September 11th and plans to keep it that way until Osama is caught.
10:28 AM » [ Comments (5) ]


Wii
» Looks like the official Wii site (the next Nintendo gaming system) has some videos of the controller in use inside of the built-in Wii "channels." The Mii builder and the Forecast channel are the most appealing but how close are these people to their screens? What's the range on that controller? How straight do you have to hold your arm? Still so many questions to be answered but it's great to finally somewhat see that controller in action.
10:25 AM » [ Comments (3) ]

September 13, 2006
The Human Camera
» Stephen Wiltshire is The Human Camera. A camera crew flies him over Rome and asks him to redraw what he has seen. Amazingly, he is able to recreate a large aerial view of the city with incredible attention to detail - down to the number of windows on buildings.
01:37 PM » [ Comments (2) ]


Stache Art
» Have you seen the Jesse LeDoux letterpress collection The Secret Stash? A four-piece set of stachified images grouped together in a matchbook style portfolio. Granted, the price tag is a bit higher than the average Tiny Showcase print but it's four pieces! So it should be.
01:35 PM » [ Comments (2) ]


Conan / Theremin
» These two videos are completely unrelated in both theme and tone but I find each of them to be completely entertaining and engaging. Hopefully you feel the same.


Theremin Lydia Kavina

1864 Conan (Classic)

01:24 PM » [ Comments (0) ]


Music recommendations
» I've encountered a few artists over the past few weeks that I'd like to suggest checking out but haven't purchased a full-length disc from quite yet so I'm not sure how things will pan out.

The Explorers Club - these guys are included on the latest mix and I seriously suggest checking out their harmony filled, good-time indie pop.

Ecstatic Sunshine - two guitar instrumental ambience. Actually ambient doesn't really even do it justice, just some great harmonics and vague dueling.

Husky Rescue - I don't really even like this band that much but their site is pretty cool so it's worth taking a peek at.
01:20 PM » [ Comments (2) ]


Weird
» Nothing makes me wish I had a dog more than seeing pet costumes. I mean, the chance to embarrass my sidekick by dressing it up as a box of fries is just too good to miss out on.

Baby Octopus - clip from a Japanese TV show that, once again, proves that the Japanese are capable of weirdness that Americans couldn't even begin to comprehend.
01:17 PM » [ Comments (2) ]


theFeatures
» Local rag The Nashville Scene ran a cover story on local band The Features. On the whole, nothing too enlightening to be read if you are already familiar with the band but it does spell out the process of what went down that got the band dropped from the Universal Records roster.
01:13 PM » [ Comments (0) ]


YouTube Redesign
» Congratulations YouTube for redesigning your player skin once again. I will give you some kudos for making this iteration cleaner and easier to use (unlike the last one) but I'm going to have to deduct points for those incredibly beveled buttons. Subtle is key and there is no reason for that. I still wonder why the player was ever reskinned from the first version, which was obviously the most minimal and effective.
01:09 PM » [ Comments (1) ]


Bush holds talks on Ali G
» Check this headline: Bush to hold talks on Ali G creator after diplomatic row - yep, the leader of the Free World (and apparently the not so free but needs to be freed world) is going to sit down with the leader of Kazakhstan about Sacha Baren-Cohens character Borat and his upcoming film which wholy depicts his country in a poor light. Aside from the fact that this is the best publicity Ali G could receive for a film I have to wonder why this is even coming to the table? I mean, it's a huge joke. It's obviously tongue-in-cheek and so over the top that anyone that takes it seriously is an idiot. Which, in the end, I guess is the concern for American audiences that probably won't get that it's satire and think it's just some awkward foreigner doing his thing.
12:45 PM » [ Comments (0) ]

September 12, 2006
Work Antics
» Ironic that for the majority of last week I had plenty of free time to post to this here blog and now that I'm back at work, and online a lot more often I have absolutely no time at all. Clients have crawled out of the woodwork asking for updates to their sites. Which is great, but means that my time outside of Flash or Photoshop is slim.

With that in mind, keep an eye on this live coverage of the new Apple media event as they announce new iPods, new iTunes downloads (movies), and more. I'll have more for you later.
12:13 PM » [ Comments (2) ]

September 11, 2006
BELIEVISM!
» BELIEVISM! If you can believe it, you can achieve it. Brought to you by The Church of Absolute Certainty. Made as part of the 48-Hour Film Project.


Believism

11:25 AM » [ Comments (1) ]


Ruell and Miniature Peoples
» You need some art to brighten your day. Let me see if I can help:

Filet-O-Fish, Filet-A-Fish - a McDonalds commercial directed by Aaron Ruell - better known as Kip from Napoleon Dynamite. Very minimalistic approach and quite odd. Sort of like a bad 1940's comedy sketch.

Little People is "a tiny street art project." And when they say tiny, they mean tiny. Very very miniature people set into regular size public areas. I think Paddington Doorway or Spare Some Change? may be my favorites but every single one is clever and well executed.
11:13 AM » [ Comments (2) ]


Goodbye WOXY
» Wow, it looks like WOXY is going to have to pull the plug on their station as of September 15th due to lack of funding. Even listener memberships and on air advertising isn't seeming to make the cut in terms of covering their costs. This is rather unfortunate as the station has always had quality programming and their Lounge Acts program on Fridays almost always yielded some sort of great performance from a great band. I suggest if you're a fan of live, unique, fun recordings you scour their archive and snag what you can - while you can. Goodbye WOXY - we hardly knew you.
10:50 AM » [ Comments (3) ]


Banksy vs Paris
» I'm sure that word has spread far and wide about the big Paris Hilton Banksy prank (viewable here). I mean even SPIN knows about it. I give major kudos to Banksy just for the sheer volume of replacements and the technique used in making the switch.

But the REAL prank that people should be paying attention to is this one. Banksy sneaks in a miniature Guantanamo Bay prisoner (complete with hood) into Disneyland right inside the Rocky Mountain Railroad ride. Banksy has always seemed like he could take on bigger targets than someone as inconsequential as Paris Hilton (though I understand that celebrity is a bigger issue than most people care to acknowledge). Hopefully with Banksy's LA show right over the horizon I hope that more and more of these type of things start to pop up.
10:30 AM » [ Comments (0) ]


Flash related nerdery
» I've been hearing many good things about the Moses Supposes Fuse Kit for those of you into Flash related nerdery. Basically it takes the Laco tweens and the built-in Adobe tweens and updates them to be even better. Supposedly. The examples are great and it looks quite robust.

On a Flash related note, has anyone ever used scrollRect for easy "masking"? I have not but I'm curious if it works on groups of movieclips created via a for or while loop.
10:18 AM » [ Comments (0) ]


Diebold Voting Machine Hacked
» I think it only appropriate that today, the 9/11 anniversary, that we take a moment to appreciate how easy it is to hack a voting machine. And no, I'm not making light of a situation. I am, however, trying to bring to light an issue about a bit of revisionist history that is coming to light in the form of an ABC docudrama. Basically the film tries to make the point that 9/11 could have been avoided if the Clinton administration had acted faster and swifter. Despite the fact that the Clinton administration had weekly meetings about Al Qaeda and dealing with terrorist threats (Bush had none prior to 9/11) they are still pointing the finger at them. I could go off on a rant about how 9/11 is not such a black and white issue and should not be made out to be one but I'm going to hope that you already know that.
10:14 AM » [ Comments (4) ]


Home Again Home Again
» Home again, Home again. It feels good to be back but I certainly had a great time out of town. My first visit to Seattle was absolutely a success. The city itself is fantastic - the Space Needle was absolutely worth the $14 elevator ride, the Central Library is every bit as gorgeous as I hoped it would be, and Pike's Place was a treat in and of itself (especially Ivar's). I hit up Bumbershoot while I was there and while I didn't see a ton of music I did some loads of quality time at Flatstock taking in all the amazing graphic design (more on that later).

I was also fortunate enough to meet up with Madrid, Jesus, all of the great guys at Asterik, and some quality locals. The food was great, the accomodations were free, and the time was engaging and fun. What else could you want from a city?

San Francisco was the most work-based trip I've had yet. Lots of time spent in the office with the boys. I did manage to squeeze in some good time with the other locals that I know and that's always a treat.

Both cities also seem to offer up much more fine cuisine than Nashville has to offer. I had incredible greek, indian, and mexican food while I was out there (not to mention those Fish N' Chips). Nashville needs to step it up! Not that I didn't know that already.

Regardless, I am back and have a bunch of links back logged for sharing. So you'll be in good hands. I even worked on the tiniest redesign for the site but it has yet to come to fruition. Maybe someday. Thanks for being patient.
09:55 AM » [ Comments (3) ]

September 01, 2006
Out Of town - Labor Day
» I suggest everyone pace themselves while reading yewknee today, as I will be out of town for the next week and my time to post to the site will likely be next to none - as I'll be enjoying the wilds of Seattle, San Francisco, and the Denver airport. Granted, once I get to SF I'll be behind a computer but I may not be posting much.

So, in the interest of taking care of you, my readers, I've posted a ton of links today and even put up the new mix for September - downloadable here.

Enjoy yourselves, have a great Labor Day weekend, and I'll be back before you know it. Oh, and if you know anyone looking to buy a house, let me know... I've got one for sale.

Update: Hanging out in San Francisco now with the crew. Hoping to see some other people tonight. Just FYI, Seattle is a fantastic city and I look forward to going back. Oh, and huge thank you's to Arlo and Madrid for letting me crash at their places.

Friday Update: If you're reading this, you're luckier than I. Apparently Dreamhost is having yet another issue with the servers and crap is going down left and right. I've stood by these guys for a long time, referred lots of people to them, and continue to host other peoples sites on their servers, but this is sort of the last straw for me. Moving to another host would be beyond difficult but possibly worth it at this point. Sure the Dreamhost deals are cheap but you get what you pay for - in this case, super shoddy hosting, relatively no tech support, and no end in sight for them to turn things around.

Out Of Town

02:35 PM » [ Comments (13) ]


Hale Links: Volume 30
» Hale Links: Volume 30
Cartoon Character Skeletons - not just illustrations of the skeletons but actual three dimensional creations of them. The server was being a bit slow for me but it is absolutely worth the effort to get them to load. The Bugs Bunny skeleton is particularly incredible.

Wind-up Robot Sharpener - it's two rewards at once. One, your pencil gets sharpened. Two, the robot is now wound and advancing upon you. Smart.

Armor of God PJ's - I actually caught this on the Daily Show but it's still baffling. If it weren't so steeped in over the top religious brainwashery I'd say they were pretty cool looking.

Swiss Army Knife Extravaganza - One Knife, 85 tools. It weighs 11 ounces, is almost 9 inches long, and costs $1,200 (custom made to order). But you'll never be without a flashlight or 4mm allen wrench in the same convienent spot ever again.

SafariPod - hand crafted wooden iPod stands from Kenya. Maybe it's just me but there seems to be something intrisically wrong with a group of people who may or may not even have access to running water sitting around carving stands for iPods. I mean, sure I'd love a rhino shaped dock for mine but the whole concept sort of bugs me.

Giant Praying Mantis 360 Quicktime VR. Not an actual bug, but rather an enormous mechanized parade creature. Reminscent of Royal de Luxe but not quite there.

Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games - new video from Of Montreal. Love the illustration style (not to mention the song) but I'm really wanting to hear their reduxed version of this that they did for Outback Steakhouse.
02:09 PM » [ Comments (1) ]


The Prestige
» The Prestige is the latest film from Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins) starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman as rivaling magicians. On the surface that sounds pretty ridiculous and somewhat lame but after watching the trailer the film looks like it could fairly intense. The notion that Christian Bale isn't involved in mere slight of hand adds an element to the film that could quickly take it into ultra-cheesy or toss it straight into supremely fascinating. Either way, you gotta admire Bale's facial hair configuration.
01:35 PM » [ Comments (4) ]


InnerTube
» Doesn't it seem like there are a crapload of YouTube tools these days? PodTube, TubeSock, and now InnerTube - an external application that makes browsing YouTube more like browsing the iTunes music store. I've not used it but from the looks of it I can see several people desiring it as an alternative. Especially coupled with the ability to save the video to their computer / iPod.
01:32 PM » [ Comments (0) ]


Annie Lennox Site Design
» Seeing as how I spend the majority of my time browsing hitting up blogs that are based on pre-made templates and the like, I don't really see a whole lot of sites these days that impress me in terms of design and functionality. The new Annie Lennox site is a bit of an exception to this. While I don't think of myself as a fan in any regard, I still browsed the site for a good amount of time. It's a simple concept, easy motion, and lots of content. I believe Group 94 was responsible for the build.. not surprising given that their portfolio is filled with quality sites.
12:30 PM » [ Comments (1) ]


Where Do Babies Come From?
» Where do babies come from? - In case you didn't know, this is it. The secrets revealed in full color childrens illustration style. I'd say it was work inappropriate but it's the miracle of birth, how could that be frowned upon? I'm still trying to figure out exactly who the book is for - adults or teens? Because the illustration style is a bit too kindergarten for either.
12:19 PM » [ Comments (2) ]


Happy Birthday Codaphonic
» Last night I was able to catch an extended set by Codaphonic and really enjoyed it. They've got a ton of new songs but the old ones still hold strong. Looking forward to that EP coming out soon.. I'll let you all know.
12:16 PM » [ Comments (0) ]


P:ANO
» P:ANO - personal note to self to check more of this band out at a later time. From what I've streamed so far I've enjoyed it. Plus, the use of a colon instead of an "i" is strangely self-indulgent and compelling at the same time.
12:13 PM » [ Comments (0) ]


Out Of 5
» Out Of 5 - a weekly themed mix consisting of ten songs picked by ten individuals. Great concept, great cover art (as far as I can tell) but no archives.. so stay on top of it and make sure to check back regularly.
12:12 PM » [ Comments (0) ]


Mark Burrier
» The illustrations of Mark Burrier are great. Reminscent of Kozy N Dan, Harvey Pekar / R. Crumb, and a slew of screenprinting artists I enjoy.. all while still being unique. Love this one.
12:11 PM » [ Comments (1) ]