Sienna Stylish

Exit73 Studios / Chris Burns animated this amazing tribute to action videogames - COIN and it's easily on par with the intensity of Paul Robertson's Kings of Power 4 Billion % (though maybe not quite as crazy). If you grew up playing Contra, Bad Dudes, Double Dragon, Castlevania or any of the classic sidescrollers on NES there is no way you won't absolutely love this.

via Josh.

I love the work of animator Malcolm Sutherland. If you've not watched The Astronomer's Dream or Umbra - do so now! Then check out his amazing SWU scenes and TMNT tribute. Then you'll have all the ammunition you need to be as huge of a fan of his new blog as I am. It's great to see all the various doodles, sketches, ideas and experiments he's putting out there.

Great writeup on 20 Directors to Watch from the New York Times. I'm glad to see Terence Nance's An Oversimplification of Her Beauty on there - as it looks to be an incredibly engaging piece of work. Same goes for Andrew Bujalski's Computer Chess and Yorgos Lanthimos' "Alps", both of which I really need to see.

Link via Kate

There's no way you haven't seen the new Yahoo Logo and the unescapable backlash. The best critique I've read so far is this Oliver Reichenstein writeup - Logo, Bullshit & Co, Inc that delves into the differences between brand design and brand management. It also does a good job of calling BS on the writeup about "making the logo in a weekend."

Personally, I think Yahoo has been doing good things lately. They have taken many steps to improve their brand equity and, for me, it's been working. I've really been thinking of Yahoo as making a comeback lately but this kind of misstep makes me think they're still not quite the informed company I'd want them to be.

Admittedly, much of the technology discussed on the Art.sy Engineering Blog is above my head but, despite that, I'm still fascinated by it. How about a quick read on Normalizing GMail addresses? That's good insight no matter what! Same goes for The Perils of iOS User Agent Strings. What about an Easter Egg implementation with CURL? Geeky but kind of perfect.

Lots of nerdy reads throughout.. highly recommended.

I'm feeling quite sleep deprived and a bit loopy. Been a long week! Hopefully this week's playlist will entertain and, possibly, befuddle:

• The Lowdown Intro - as if the host and his room weren't fascinating enough we are quickly treated to some popping, some locking and a lot of lasers. Also known as The Greatest Combo. HT Jed.
• I Love Wiper - I love cat videos. No shame!
• Ylvis - The Fox - sometimes a video rides the borderline between completely stupid and legitimately entertaining. This music video tends to waver back and forth. You're loving it but you're hating yourself for it. Give it through the first chorus before you pass onwards.
• Vooza - Radimparency - Spot-on startup parody video. Usually I steer clear of these talking heads sort of humor but they really nail it.
• Colin Mochrie Goes to the Store - I don't know what it is and I don't want to know. Some things are best left unexplained. HT Paul.

Plenty more over here if you're needed additional entertainment. Have a great weekend. Get some sleep!

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It's been around for awhile but we fleshed out the VHX Shirt Shoppe yesterday - complete with a handful of new designs. I'm loving this Art Deco design and hope we get to use it in other forms further down the line. We also put up the classic versions if you're interested at all. I don't expect these to fly off the shelves but I love that there's a quality Shirt On Demand site to let us offer these up!

Hello Run is two things: an HTML5 powered game and, simply put, a good time. It's not overly difficult but it's still fun to play. And the technology running it is all native in the browser - awesome!

This article on The Unlikely Return of Vinyl Records, And How Indie Musicians Are Making Money On Them covers familiar ground to anyone active in the "indie" world of music. If not, it does a great job of explaining the basics of why musicians are choosing vinyl and just how much it actually costs. Most notably, Uncle Skeleton (aka Ross Wariner), is interviewed a bit in the article and mentions yk records. Love this quote:

Ross is attached to the longevity of physical albums in particular. “When I was younger, I had the poster and mobile from Electric Light Orchestra's ‘Out of the Blue’ on my wall, and still cherish that album greatly. I've had a dozen hard drives crash since those days, but that copy of OOTB is still sitting on my shelf waiting for me. It's not a copy of 1's and 0's, its the same record I used to sit and study chord changes and string arrangements from, and that is irreplaceable.”

Vinyl fetishization can be a bit overwrought at times but it's a good introductory article into that world and I'm happy to see vinyl sales continuing to grow.

I love speculating about television series - both in conversation with friends or through various readings online. LOST, Breaking Bad, Mad Men even Eastbound and Down, all lend themselves to great amounts of pondering. So, when I ran across this Mad Men Theory - Where Don Draper ends, DB Cooper begins - I was glued in immediately. I'd say there are spoiler alerts ahead but it's all theoretical, just potential ideas. And doozies at that. The comparison to D.B. Cooper - the mystery man who holds the prize for the only unsolved air piracy in American aviation - is fascinating.

I don't think anyone can guess what Matthew Weiner and crew have in store for the future of Mad Men but the case being presented here is solid, entertaining and pretty believable. If the show did end this way, I certainly wouldn't be disappointed.

ParticleMen

ArcadeFireSonovox

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I haven't had a chance to watch it yet but I'm rather excited to sit down and absorb "Ghost Stories", the first release from Late Night Work Club. The list of animators and sound designers involved is beyond impressive. Watch the trailer if you need a tiny bit of inspiration for the anticipation. Then, consider snagging the Deluxe Edition for download.

The browsing experience is less than pleasant but this Film.com archive of Every Movie Poster that Saul Bass Ever Made is a helluva reference archive to spend your day with.

Loving this reel of work from Christ Martz. All of the work within is rewarding in some way or another but I'm awestruck by this music video for Little People - Aldgate Patterns. It's absolutely bizarre in the best of ways.

Nashville's own Ponychase just released a new video / single for "Parade of Youth" that you can watch or download in anticipation of the forthcoming full-length that it stems from. I will admit that Ponychase is a bit outside the realm of the usual offerings I post about as it is firmly influenced by forelorn, heartbroken mid-80's love ballads but there's something about it that I can't deny. It's got a nice groove to it and, most importantly, it feels entirely sincere. I'm quite curious to hear what else they put out there.

new album coming in October. much more upbeat than previous.