You know what's weird? Having a national holiday smack in the middle of the week. It was nice to have a day off but really made for a Two Monday's kind of feeling, know what I mean? That being said, I'll take it!
Fireworks Fail: Oh Jesus - the most classic of Fireworks fail thanks to this terrified reaction turned celebration. Gets me every time.
The US National Anthem - VOX videos are always enjoyable and this take on the US National Anthem is no different. Insightful and amusing.
Feed Me Human - trained to do this? I'm sure. Again, don't care, it's a delight.
Trippy Rollercoaster Ride - There's a new GoPro camera that films this spherical manner and whoever thought to bring it on a rollercoaster was a wise individual.
Richard Swift - "The Bully" - Mr. Swift passed away this week. He was only 41. This song - paired with the next - has always been such a great summation of his talent. While there's not a video to see here, there's a hilarious story being woven. It's lo-fi, peppy and 100% enjoyable.
Richard Swift - "beautifulheart" - This is probably a bit of a bummer to wrap up Friday Videos with but this song always gets me and I thank Richard Swift for it. If you haven't given his solo work a spin, take the time to do so.
That's it. If you need some additional distraction this weekend, I recommend watching this guy play through an SMB hack that makes Mario look like Bob Ross. Pretty fun.
There's a load of great case studies in the portfolio of Peck & Co, a Nashville based design firm, but I'm particularly enjoying the pieces on the boutique hotel Noelle and the ice cream brand Halo Top. The former, is an exhaustive look through their branding, iconography, signage and art direction for reviving a hotel from the 1930's into something modern and respectful of its history. Overall, they did a stunning job.
The later is a much less intense client study but the marbled ice cream photography is a must see.
Natalie Rinn is an old co-worker of mine that recently launched a site for a documentary called Bushido. The story of the film is a fascinating one that spans generations. Her grandfather Jack Rinn, a captain of a US destroyer in charge a Japanese military base at the end of WWII, was given a samurai sword as a token of gratitude for the humane and pleasant treatment the US soldiers bestowed on the Japanese captors. Years later, Scott Rinn (Natalie's father), sought out Minoru Kohata, the rightful owner of the sword and returned it, sparking a new relationship between the families some 40 years later. A note from Natalie on the film:
Before my grandpa died in 1994, Kohata surprised him with a visit to Oklahoma. The two men who had met as enemies more than 40 years earlier even played a round of golf together. There's footage of them on a putting green, at sunset. Kohata is tending the flag while my grandpa puts and misses; they share a heartfelt laugh. Then my grandpa tends the flag for Kohata. It's the simplest moment shared between these men, but it's also profound. Symbolically, you're watching love and respect triumph over war.
Natalie transferred the film from its physical version to digital and has given the story a home on the web for anyone to enjoy, free.
The above teaser for the show SKAM Austin doesn't showcase much in the ways of plot or characters or really anything about this new show but I think that's largely because the shows format requires patience and investment to appreciate, something that's not easy to portray through a singular 30 second clip.
In general, SKAM Austin is a remake of a Norweigan series (called Skam) that looks at social interactions between high schoolers. Much like Skins before it, there's a bit of "race-y" subject matter, simply because the primary characters are teens. They talk politics, sex and the tumultuous social structure of high school.
Other notes of interest for this show?
The original music is composed by Will Patterson - aka Sleep Good - and it works very well as a bed to the drama unfolding.
Slate ponders if the show is an ad for Facebook? Given that it's exclusively available on FB Watch and features the protaganists largely interacting via Facebook; is it an endorsement for the services or an actual reflection of teens behavior?
Characters have their own pervasive Instagram profiles and other social media outlets; helping their drama extend beyond just the show.
I haven't watched all of the show yet but the episodes I have watched often unfold in a slow manner - possibly with a conversation happening in the background while the subtle interactions between other characters is more focused. It's an enjoyable approach, even if it does end up being deemed a Facebook ad.
The phenomenally gifted #RichardSwift died yesterday at age 41. He frequently collaborated with other artists, including The Black Keys, The Shins & Damien Jurado.
Here's a brief playlist of some of my favorite Swift songs, both solo and collaborations.
https://t.co/t6u5dEAhAV
my dude @thealphabetzero just put out a solid ambient record. in case you need some drones for your freedom festivities (you do).
https://t.co/c45xBnKybo
?? https://t.co/0rvs3Ji4dR
Nameless Fest IV did an inspiring job of juggling lots of important goals while also being a helluva lot of fun. The Spin has words and pics on sets from Dreamwave, Antifaces, @showmethebody, @JEFFbrotherhood and more.
https://t.co/scZxjGz7PU https://t.co/orT6a9Rs8Z
Gutted to hear you’ve left us, swift.
Dug up this old photo from a two week mixing project with @swiftswift a few years ago. I’d met Richard in the tour bus during the Sufjan tour - he… https://t.co/wvz5wexiKc
This piece from Vanity Fair (The Man Who Created the World Wide Web Has Some Regrets) is a nice bit of history on how Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web software and how he sees that its intent has gone wildly off course. The democratized, decentralized version of the web is slowly on the way out as a handful of companies control a lot of the web experience and users have less control over their data. The central question can be summed up with this quote:
Are we headed toward an Orwellian future where a handful of corporations monitor and control our lives? Or are we on the verge of creating a better version of society online, one where the free flow of ideas and information helps cure disease, expose corruption, reverse injustices?
While that may seem dramatic at first, I don't think it's inaccurate. The Internet really does have the potential to do wonderfully huge things for humanity, if we help it get there. It's an incredibly hard resource to protect (see: Net Neutrality Fight Volume 1 through 25) but absolutely worth it.
The article also speaks on Berners-Lee new project Solid, a "new eco-system" for the web that aims to give control back to users through proper data ownership. That may not sound like the best tool for fighting against an Orwellian future but every little step we can take away from that path is a good one.
