While not exactly a feel good piece, this collection of found photos from Hiroshima has a pretty fascinating story behind it:
One rainy night in Watertown, Massachusetts, a man was taking his dog for a walk. On the curb, in front of a neighbor's house, he came across a pile of trash: old mattresses, cardboard boxes, a few broken lamps. In the heap of garbage he spotted a battered suitcase. He bent down and picked it up. He turned the suitcase over and popped open the clasps.
Inside he found a jumble of black-and-white photographs, some bent and broken, of devastated buildings, twisted girders, and blasted bridges - images of a ruined city. He snapped the clasps closed, tucked the suitcase under his arm, and hurried home.
Turns out, the briefcase full of photos was accidentally thrown away. The original images were taken by Lt. R. L. Corsbie as a part of a government issued documentation process to see the true effects of the bomb. You can see more of the images inside of this gallery or get the story with this video.
My drunk neighbor gets the hose - part of me is saddened by this interaction and another, larger, part of me is amused by this man's complete lack of reaction.
Spoon - Full Performance (Live on KEXP) - I mentioned this in full earlier this week but I can't recommend watching this as many times as your brain will let you.
I've been tinkering around with Milq the past few days - a service intended to "curate channels of culture." The pitch makes it sound a bit broad but it's maybe more accurately presented as "playlists for stuff." So, yea, it's just collections of videos but that certainly doesn't make it any less worthwhile. There are lists for Best Film Editing Sequences, Best Sneaker Commercials, Best Duels or maybe even Best Kinetic Typography.
It's not too far off from what the VHX Community site was doing but this is active and actively being developed. So that's a plus!
Recently, LP Marketplace launched themselves out into the world at large. At the heart of it, it's a marketplace for anyone to buy or sell their records in a rather pleasant website design. Beyond that, it seems to be a way for record stores or labels to place their items right alongside collectors and fans. Prices seem reasonable and the more people use it, the more goods there will be to unearth.
I recently watched Skull World - a documentary on the life of Greg Sommer, best known as Skull Man. He's an affable guy that co-ordinates the Canadian chapter of Box Wars - a fusion of LARPing and GWAR in which competitors create huge cardboard outfits and battle each other until they completely fall apart. The film itself is mostly a documentation of his efforts and wanting to grow the activity into something more.
Sommer embodies a type of person I've really not encountered before - the Compassionate Canadian Metalhead. Definitely worth checking out.
If it's a Sandwich video and it's about technology, I'm probably on board before the video even starts. Such is the recipe for Navdy - a slick device that creates a flip up screen to keep you hands free but still connected to mobile activities. I'm skeptical of any technology that relies on voice commands but the only way to improve the tech is to keep implementing it, right?
On the whole, it's entertaining and a fascinating bit of tech. It also seems far beyond the capabilities of its competitors. Another reminder that we live in the future.
Spoon's latest, They Want My Soul, is remarkably good (and continues their excellent use of hands for album covers). I'm already pummeling the album in terms of repeated plays but Mr. Chimero points out that the songs take on new life when played live. I'm three songs in and couldn't agree more.
I'm often torn on kits like this Ui8 Bolt Kit. It's undeniably well made and thought out but implementing it would lose sight of your own brand and potentially homogenize your app. Regardless of that, it's a nice place for some inspiration and a little bit of "common UX learning."
If this video on The Visual Microphone doesn't blow your mind, you're too far gone into pessimism. MIT researchers have used high speed cameras to capture the vibration of everyday objects and re-interpret those movements back into the sound waves that caused them. Basically, everything is a microphone and now they have a tactic to retrieve those "recordings." The results are, obviously, distorted but given the method of retrieval they are wildly clear.
John recently clued me in to the mysterious tale of Lewis - a 1983 recording artist who released a single album, L'Amour.
L'Amour is a true discovery of the blog age, uncovered in an Edmonton flea-market by collector Jon Murphy, passed on to private press fanatic Aaron Levin, shared on the internet and speculated over by lovers of curious LPs. There's almost no information about Lewis or the album on the internet. There's precious little on the sleeve: a dedication to Sports Illustrated supermodel Christie Brinkley, a photo credit for Ed Colver, the noted L.A. punk rock photographer, and credits for engineer Bob Kinsey and synth player Philip Lees. All that was known of Lewis is conjecture: a rumor that he was a con artist who fled after not paying for L'Amour's photo-shoot and a dubious theory that he was not actually of this earth.
The album has been speculated and praised by many - largely for its ahead-of-its-time atmospheric synths, overall hushed approach and complete lack of information.
Light in the Attic recently re-released the album (remastered) and unearthed a few of the mysteries, including a second album few even knew existed.
The album is a quiet listen (you can hear it on Rdio) - and worthwhile one - but the story may be what really draws you in.
Austin steered me towards this excellent NYT repository of Scratch Off Subway Platform Mosaics - made from ads. I'd venture to say 90% of these are not accidental but the layered results are no less interesting because of that intent. I tend to veer towards the simpler ones but occasionalyl there's an absurd one you just can't help but love.
Really enjoying this Google Font pairing experiment done with Aesop Fable text. It's always helpful to have someone comb through the massive Google font archive and find some lovely typefaces that work well together because there is a lot of crap to sort through. Excellent rundown to keep nearby.
