Let's be real, I know nothing about sports. I mean, I know they exist and the basic rules of the games but if you asked me what was special about March in terms of sports, I'd give you a blank stare for a little bit. I'm not hating, I'm just ignorant!

That being said, I'm loving this Logo Madness 2014 breakdown from Daniel Box and Austin Gray that puts different team logos head to head. In all honesty, it has almost nothing to do with sports and is largely just a funny read through of head to head designs.

You may not know the name Jordan Lehning but I've spoken highly about several of his projects over the past years. His involvement in such bands as Eureka Gold and The Non-Commissioned Officers have proven to be high on my list of repeatably enjoyable. He's also done a lot of songwriting and production work for the likes of Caitlin Rose, Jasmin Kaset and a ton more. The man knows his way around some songwriting and the results are always enjoyable.

So, when I saw that he had a solo record out, Jordan Sings, I immediately hopped to the usual destinations - Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Rdio, Spotify - to hear it. Turns out, those are all dead ends in this case. He's only put the album up for download from sources like Amazon or iTunes. I realize this is against the norm these days but I can't insist enough that you go ahead and procure it regardless. If you're a fan of pop music drenched in Beatles influence, a dash of melancholy and a serious understanding of songwriting, you won't be disappointed.

Update: Either I'm an idiot or this was posted after my original review but you can listen to the entire album right here. Enjoy!

I don't think I would personally use it but I do enjoy the idea behind Cloak, a mapping application that shows your Facebook and Instagram friends locations so you can actively avoid them. Obviously this only works if your friends are the type to check-in often and geotag just about everything but, like I said, I think it's more the idea of it than the actual usage. Anti-Social Networking is on the rise I suppose.

via nevver.

downloaded and consuming asap

I can't say that the idea of another social network is all too appealing but the manifesto of Ello is enough to make you consider it's possible that a more altruistic gathering of folks could be something you'd make room for in your life.

We believe a social network can be a tool for empowerment. Not a tool to deceive, coerce and manipulate — but a place to connect, create and celebrate life.

That is a lofty goal, particularly when paired with the notion that they are anti-advertiser. It's also borderline overtly pretentious but optimism can go a long way if you let it.

via Miles.

Have you heard of Kcymaerxthaere (Ky- MAR-ex-theer)? No? Well, according to curator Eames Demetrios, it's a fictional parallel universe that he exposes to our own world through various placards, false ceremonies and other such undertakings. It is, without a doubt, a huge art project. This article sheds a lot of light on the goings on behind the undertaking but I suggest educating yourself through browsing the markers to see where these parallel events have taken place.

Ever been to Chupacabra Territory? Or seen the Sale of Manhattan? That's just a tiny toe dip in the well of Kcymaerxthaere - well worth a full immersion.

via John Baldwin.

What happens when you put the MIT Media Lab, some dedicated GIF enthusiasts and a quest to define emotion via animation together? GifGif is what happens. The homepage is a Hot or Not style selector to help determine what emotions are properly being captured and the Search is a triangulated undertaking to help you hone in on just what you're looking for. Or you can just browse the amusement results and be delighted.

Fun project, plenty of smarts and tons of GIFs. It's a delight right from the start.

via Black Cat Belle.

Reading through this Diana Kimball piece on No More Forever Projects really struck a nerve with me. It's short but it touches on the idea that we start projects with the idea of them running forever - not because they've proven their worth to last forever but as a means to commit ourselves to them. This can quickly cause burn out and a feeling of being overwhelmed. Why not approach projects from now as a encapsulated? Timelines create brevity and scarcity, which can often lead breed interest and passion.

All and all, it's not a black and white statement to follow - maintenance, iterations and improvements are important as well but I like the simple idea of No More Forever Projects. Not a terrible mantra.

via Andy McMillan.

Loving this introductory video from Jacqui Stockdale talking about her new show, Super Naturale. The portraits are such a great mixture of creepy, whimsical, surreal and compelling. I'm sure I could never afford it but I would love to hang her work in my home.

Everyone loves a good Reddit AMA but they are, honestly, a cumbersome task to read through if you're not frantically keeping up with them as they happen. Enter Interviewly - a site that takes those AMA's and makes them somewhat more readable and, thus, enjoyable. You still get the sense that the questions come from all over and don't have much of a through thread but that's to be expected given the original content. So, next time there is an AMA, wait a few days and just read it on Interviewly.

It's been going for years now but I'm just now catching up with Panhandle Skateboards latest offerings - mostly due to these Ferris Plock stickers and Victorian tee but had no idea they also offered a David Cook deck! I'm not even prone to owning skatedecks but I would absolutely make an exception in this case.

https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000073806080-6idqbt-large.jpg?e76cf77

playlist from BBD for road travels. Listen

I've been out of town all week and done almost zero browsing - so I have no bevy of videos to share! However, this video about nothing should be a nice, appropriate, placeholder. It's a long one but I suggest sticking with it for the duration as it gets a bit weirder as you go along.

Back to normality next week! Hope all is well.

Joey Ciccoline has a long history of creating entertaining videos but once he put out his short film 88:88 I knew he had stepped into a new era of creation. Now he's undertaking his newest project, Eidolon and it looks to be another huge step forward. He is again collaborating with Makeup and Vanity Set for the soundtrack and I've no doubt that it will be a beautiful, compelling, maybe even somewhat thrilling, piece of work.

However, he needs a few more funds to make it happen and has turned to Kickstarter to raise money and awareness. He's got a solid cast of people to work with - including Blake McClure for cinematography work - and certainly has the skills to make it happen. $25k is no laughing matter in terms of desired funds but I know every penny of it will be spent on an end result that will be worth it.

https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000073405557-9sdcma-large.jpg?e76cf77

I'm still out in SXSW land but couldn't wait to share some news that I'm over the moon about. VHX has relaunched with a brand new homepage and I couldn't be more proud. We're also open to the public, no more "Beta" mode for us - we're 100% open for signing up and using our service. Oh, and we also dropped our revenue share pricing to be even more friendly to filmmakers. You can read all the fine details right over here.

The entire team worked super hard on the new look and we got some great help from Erica Gorochow to show off our diversity.

Long story short, please go have a look, it's a fine piece of work all around.

Enjoy the playlist, there's some true gems in there this week.

• Oscars Graphic Montage - in case you didn't watch the Oscars, take a moment to enjoy these animated posters that showed during the nominee readings. Great stuff.
• Hahahrawrrahaha (Jeff Goldblum Laugh Remix) - this is what happens when you take Jeff Goldblum's laugh from Jurassic Park and turn it into a song. I heard this on Soundcloud last week but the added video made it too absurd to not post. It's definitely somewhat of an endurance challenge.
• Hawk Attacks Water Balloon - hawks hate water balloons!
• LIVR App - this thing teeters between being clever and aggravating for the duration. I'm still not sure where I stand on it.
• Obvious Child - Pee Pee Missiles - really hoping I can see this during SXSW this year.
• True Detective - Yellow King Theory - one clever YouTube'r seems to have figured out the Yellow King from HBO's finest.
• True Detective / Law & Order Mashup - yes, two True Detectives in a row. The series ends on Sunday - enjoy these things while they are still pop culture relevant!
• Jumping Fitness Gone Wild - wait for it. I've watched this no less than 25 times this week and I show no signs of slowing up.

Have a great weekend!

It's officially that time of year again - SXSW is underway and VHX is down there for the Interactive and Film portions of the conference. I'm also going to stay a few extra days just to see friends and take in some music. Posts will be infrequent on the blog but hopefully more frequent on the Twitter, Instagram and sidebar.

Every year SXSW gets more and more ridiculous. In the years that I've been going it's gone from semi-large gathering of musicians hustling to full-on outrageous conference where Lady Gaga plays inside a Doritos Vending Machine. Seriously.

If you're down there and want to say hello - shoot me an email (michael [at] yewknee.com), I'll be walking around with VHX shirts to pass out!

I would post about Tim Horton's Curated Anthology of Donuts based on the name alone. However, the content and design are surprisingly compelling. It's very clean and simple overall but it's educational and hunger inducing. I could eat "The Sprinkle" right now.

via Brian.