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Six Weird Videos - May 9th, 2008

* Stick with it, it gets more and more infectious. Via Jodi Faye Bullock.
** I sorta think this does more harm than good.
*** As if Alf wasn't weird enough already, that new voiceover makes it even stranger.

It should also be noted that Jumping Into Pants is making the Internet rounds currently and this Cracked.com Internet Party is actually pretty funny.

Have a great weekend.

Herb Lubalin

I spent a good bit of time going through this Tribute to Herb Lubalin. The mastery of type from graphic designers of his era blow my mind - particularly given the tools they had at hand to execute such greatness. simple logos, extruded text, printing press layouts are all great examples but I can't wrap my head around the fancy type treatment that occurs throughout. So good. Link via Jessica.

Surrounded by Bad Blood

I posted a new mix for everyone to download entitled "Surrounded by Bad Blood" - which is really just an 'eerie' reference to the fact that the first and last tracks share the same name. The basic idea behind the mix was that I wanted something more upbeat and rockin to listen to.. a lot of what I've been encountering lately has been very drawn in singer songwritery and it was getting to me. I can only take so much of that.

Unfortunately I had to dig into the archives a little bit to flesh the tracklisting out but I think it makes for a nice balance since some of the tracks are a bit more familiar but still every bit as enjoyable.

So, enough with the talk.. here is the rock. Go download it now and let me know what you think.

Miscellany Worth Clicking

I mean, links are almost always worth clicking, right?

• Space Station Animation - it's amazing to me the amount of modularity that must go into designing something meant to reside in space, since all the pieces have to be transferred bit by bit from Earth.
• Coexist Microagency - I don't know what a "microagency" means beyond "we don't have a ton of employees so you get more love and attention" but the design of the site is great. Lots of intelligent uses of Flash used throughout a primarily HTML friendly site.
• CSS Homer - Homer Simpson drawn entirely with CSS. Nerd fest galore.

Out in the Lobby

These Telephone Sheep are comprised entirely of parts of telephones - the handset feet, the cord body, the receiver and probably a ton of glue. They appear to have actual phone wire running from them as well, which I really hope means that they are hooked up to a service somewhere that can make them ring.

James Jarvis Original Drawings

I've been attempting to browse through the 50 page gallery of original drawings from James Jarvis but there is just too much to see! Illustrations like "Don't Mess With Ludwig" have so much going on that it's a shame to just quickly click past it. However, if you're not in the mood for an in-depth look at the works there are plenty of easily digestable pieces that are every bit as good.

Brendan Canning - Something For All Of Us

Arts & Crafts announced yesterday that the next installment of the Broken Social Scene presents... series will be the solo release from Brendan Canning, entitled Something For All Of Us. The album should be available on July 22nd but you can snag the first released track, "Hit The Wall" right now. From the few listens I've given it I can say it sounds a lot less chaotic than the Kevin Drew record and much more in the anticipatory building up Broken Social Scene style.

Green Porno

Green Porno is a series of shorts by Isabella Rossellini where she explains what life would be like if she were any number of different species of bugs. The lo-fi production values and "do it yourself" special effects are perfectly done. Some of the content is probably NSFW if you're boss isn't into things that happen in nature constantly but seeing her explain the way a bee colony works is completely worth the risk.

Josh Smith Portfolio

I realized recently that I've been seriously remiss about posting worthwhile design sites / portfolios. That's mostly due to the fact that I don't really see that many that grab me enough to share with anyone. However, the site for Josh Smith Portfolio really caught my eye - as it's a Flash-like execution using all HTML / Javascript. Not only does this make it 300x better for SEO compatibility but, from a nerd perspective, it's just that much more impressive. I'd love to see SWFAddress implemented for easy to find permanent URL's on everything but aside from that, no complaints. It's a fun site to browse around on and a pretty good bit of work to look at as well.

URLesque

If you find yourself in need of additional Internet distractions do yourself a favor and bookmark Urlesque - a new site dedicated to "exposing bits of the web." Basically it's a trickle down depot of all the weirdness making its rounds on the web at the moment.

Snuggler (8 Bit)

In all honesty, I'm not a huge fan of Tim & Eric - they have moments of greatness but on the whole I'm not that into it. So, I was pretty skeptical of the level of quality involved in their just released Awesome Record, Great Songs!. Skeptical until I heard "Snuggler 8-Bit" and then every nerd bone in my body shook with glee and I was won over. At least for that one track. Go snag it.

Choke: The Movie

If you did not know it, the Chuck Palahniuk book "Choke" is being made into a movie. It's set for release on August 1st, was directed by Clark Gregg and stars the likes of Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Houston. You can watch a clip of it here or watch a mini "behind the scenes" version here (both contain NSFW concepts) but I warn you, it's pretty mundane. Maybe I am comparing it to the greatness of Fight Club or maybe I'm just biased because I remember enjoying the book but the trailer presents itself as a schlocky low budget made for Spike TV movie. The music during this clip plays a big part in that but whatever it is, lets hope they get corrected before its final release.

Oh yea, Links...

I have a lot going on at work these days and posting regular links is going to become more difficult. Here's two that I received from various sources that you should enjoy for a moment:

• Word Clock - all possible times of day expressed through words through a screensaver. I pretty much love it.
• Nightmare Playgrounds - there is much to be said here but, honestly, the pictures say it all. Extremely creepy, inappropriate and hysterical playground goods.

Flash on Flash - insight?

Anyone have any experience layering Flash over Flash and not having the Safari cursor freak out when a button is encountered? I've been doing research all morning and find lots of old materials about making sure the wmode of the movie is set to transparent, yadda yadda yadda - I got all that going just fine but Safari really doesn't seem to jive well with interactive Flash content overlaid on interactive Flash content. I'm not looking for a solve, just looking for any ideas anyone cares to throw out.

Money != Taste

Downtown Mumbai is currently home to the world's first Billion Dollar Home - $2 billion actually. Sadly, and unsurprisingly, the home is an eyesore. The home owners insisted that no two floors be alike - in plans or materials. I guess consistency is out the window? Oddly enough the photo that goes with that article reminds me a whole lot of the pixel art tower - almost to a T.

Travel Challenge

TripAdvisor put together this little Flash Quiz that attempts to find out "How well do you know your world?" - basically a point and click test in which you need to prove you actually know where Sydney, Australia or Shanghai, China is located, not just the general country it resides in. I did better than I thought I would but I certainly made some seriously erroneous mistakes. I challenge you to take the quiz and compare results.

Link via Nick.

Just The Right Time

I'm sure the Internets have a million repositories along the lines of Pictures Taken Just At The Right Time but that doesn't make this one any less of a quality distraction for the time being. The plane exploding pic is phenomenal and should be seen by all.

Movie Roundup: My Winnipeg

While it didn't overtake the slot for my favorite of his work I did thoroughly enjoy the screening of Guy Maddin's latest My Winnipeg; a fictionalized depiction of Maddin's growing up in the Manitoba town. His visual style is so unique to see these days that even if the film wasn't hilarious and a treat to watch you'd be engaged none-the-less.

I think IFC is planning on putting this out sometime this summer and I recommend catching up on his previous works between now and then for a full appreciation of what you're seeing. Start here.

Movie Roundup: Iron Man

I went to see Iron Man this weekend and it really struck me how it seems like people are finally starting to get whatever it is that makes a good comic book adaptation. Robert Downey, Jr. was the perfect casting for Tony Stark but it shouldn't be overlooked that the rest of the cast was also incredibly well chosen - I mean Jeff Bridges as an antagonist seems like an odd choice but it worked.

The effects were incredible not because you noticed how incredible they were but because there was never a time that their legitimacy came into question. Everything looked real and there was never a reason to doubt it because of some shoddy or weird texturing (see: anything from The Hulk movies).

Common consensus can't always be wrong. Rotten Tomatoes rates the film at 94% approval rating, the highest rated movie of the year for the site.

If you've not seen it yet, be sure to stay until after the credits for a nerd treat.

PS - as much as I liked the movie I'd love to see it re-made entirely with this guy.