Some time ago I mentioned that I needed to watch this lecture from Charlie Kaufman for the Bafta Guru series. I never got around to seeing the talk in its entirety but, fortunately, Eliot Rausch cut together this excellent impact cut of one of the finest five minutes. You need to hear it and, more importantly, think about the message within. Kaufman has a lot more to offer than just insightful, quirky scripts - this is some serious brain food for thought.
Some time ago I ran across a George Harrison bootleg called Beware of Abcko! that contained a great deal of demo's from the All Things Must Pass era. I've listened to it more times than I can count. I never thought I'd encounter more material of this nature but thanks to this officially sanctioned Early Takes Volume 1 I can likely look forward to loads more.
You can read a track-by-track guide to the compilation with Giles Martin over here that discusses why he picked the tracks that he picked. If you're a Harrison fan and find yourself enjoying demo recordings as much as I do, you really should procure this immediately.
MinimallyMinimal, aka Andrew Kim, took it upon himself to tackle the problem of Rebranding Microsoft. The project was a self-assigned task but an excellent design exercise none-the-less. All of the points he makes regarding the flatness of the current Microsoft campaign's, the awkwardness of their logo on flat objects and their impressive use of purely digital UI design ring true. His ultra-simplified solution is an interesting one. Better? Well, that's the debate isn't it?
I've been doing a terrible job of promoting all the new goodness that has made its way up on to the Summer Mix Series already this year and I'm going to make a legitimate effort to change that. There are, currently, sixteen mixes available for your streaming or downloading pleasure. I've listened to each one and, on the whole, enjoyed them all. Listing out particular favorites feels wrong as it plays favorites - and they all really are worth hearing. Once it's all wrapped up I may post my own Personal Can't Miss list but please dive in and create your own!
I told you about the Toynbee Tile phenomena last week and mentioned the film Resurrect Dead as a potential worthwhile undertaking to find out more about the specifics of the strange messages. I can now absolutely vouch for the goodness of the movie and the investigative work they do to find out exactly what the message means and who has been leaving them in hard-to-reach spots around the Northeast for the better part of three decades. The film is on Epix, Netflix and Amazon if you're curious to dive in yourself; I suggest you do.
It's been a short week (assuming you celebrated Independence Day) but that's no reason not to cut out early from work and continue to treat yourself. Right? Enjoy the playlist while you contemplate the notion.
Bill Clinton Plays M83 - I've probably watched this about 50 times this week already. It never gets old. Ever.
Cat Conflict - I should not enjoy this as much as I do but the cartoonish movement gets me every single time.
A Conversation with my 12 Year Old Self - in 1992, Jeremiah McDonald recorded a conversation with his future self . Now, in 2012, he responds. Conceptually this is great but I wanted more ridiculous footage of his younger self. Maybe there will be more of these in the forthcoming years.
MTV Night Videos 2012 - so many amazing MTV bumpers from Kungen & Hertigen. Love it.
Fireworks Fail Compilation - yes, San Diego won July 4th but it's always good to have a reminder that playing with fireworks can lead to looking like an idiot (And possible severe facial burns). Stay careful.
We're all familiar with the British sitcom The IT Crowd - featuring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, Matt Berry and created by Graham Linehan - right? Did you know there was a time when it was going to be optioned into a US version starring Joel McHale? Fortunately it was never picked up but I'd always wondered what the pilot was like. Thanks to the Internet, I don't have to wonder - it's available to watch immediately. Turns out, it's terrible. That being said, I still recommend checking it out because it's so bizarre to see McHale and Ayoade interacting.
Has anyone tried out this Gabi app? I assumed from the screenshots and reviews that it was, basically, a stylized Flipboard for Facebook. Then I looked at their blog and was honestly baffled by what I was seeing. Anyway, I know it only costs $1 but I'm not really even willing to spend that much until I know more.
The people of McAllen, TX should be extremely proud right now. They took roughly 125,000 square feet of abandoned Wal-Mart and turned it into the nation's largest single-story library. You can read more about the process here and here but you really should just dive into the official photo tour. They did a helluva job with the exterior and interior spaces. Let's hope this is a new emerging trend across the nation!
DNS Changer Malware - apparently there's some malware floating around out there that really strikes an ugly chord on July 9th. Read more about it here or, supposedly, test if you're infected here or here.
IOS 6 UI Updates - find out what's new in the forthcoming iOS 6. Some good ideas, some bad... as usual there's always a term of adjustment.
Scaling WebText - automatically scaling text that fills the width of its parent. Could be super handy.
The work of Shotopop is impossible to encapsulate in a single image or video as their styles cover such a wide range. From this 3D Voodoo piece, to this incredible awards show opener, to these illustrations they're firing on all quality cylinders. I love that I'm only about a quarter of the way through their portfolio and my jaw is glued to the floor.
Congratulations to the folks over at Measured Voice for being accepted to participate in the first Code for America Accelerator - a program that aims to create useful software for government agencies across the US. Why is this something I would mention? Because MeasuredVoice is creating something good and particularly beneficial to government agencies. And Enabled Government makes for Enabled Citizens. Having up-to-date tools isn't something I think most government employees are accustomed to and I'm glad to see that a team of very able-bodied folk (MV) will be given the chance to help improve that realm. I look forward to hearing about their experience and even moreso to the tools that come forth from it.
Take a moment to browse the freshly relaunched portfolio of Joshua Hynes. He's done a great deal of UI / UX / design work via andCulture for the likes of Get Satisfaction and Adaptive Path (among others). Clean and simple designs without losing personality - always a quality combination.
Will Beckers is known as The Willowman in his home country of Holland. He's undertaken an interesting mix of simple living and earth-driven art with his Floriade 2012 project - a cluster of tree huts and sustainable living quarters. Even if the back-to-basics drive behind the project isn't something you have much personal interest in you will likely appreciate the surreal nature of the tree huts created from willow branches.
Hey, it's Independence Day! So, enjoy some slow motion fireworks (much more enjoyable than the regular speed) and don't forget about the spiral cut trick everyone should be trying out today.
The talented folks over at I Am Always Hungry will be releasing 40 new projects over the next forty days. There's plenty of great work to fawn over but I was particularly smitten with this Facemelt bumper created for Yes Yes Y'all. It's dirty, terrifying and beautifully engaging at the same time. My only complaint is that I want to see more of it.
Long story short - these guy are doing some incredible work so pay attention to the forthcoming updates over the next month.
This Icon Gallery has a load of inspiration within. It's particularly interesting that the quality level of an icon is not indicative of the goodness of the app. Some boring apps have great icons, some phenomenal apps have questionable icons. It's fun to click around and see the icons rather huge, as there are often details you'd never notice otherwise.
We all know it's wise not to get into political subjects on a blog because, frankly, opinions are opinions and civil discourse on the Internet is a rare commodity. So, with great hesitation, I point you towards this article Obamacare Explained - a non-partisan, factual rundown of what exactly is contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). I understand this subject can be a rather prickly one for some people but I think it's important to know exactly what's contained in the Act before making a judgement based on biased media reports (both liberal and conservative). For me, this was incredibly helpful and I don't really foresee the need to debate it in a heated manner.. I am just happy to have a better grasp on what exactly was contained within.
Have you ever heard of Toynbee Tiles? I certainly hadn't. They are small (roughly license plate sized) plaques consisting of linoleum pieces and asphalt glue that consistently carry the same message:
TOYNBEE IDEA
IN MOViE` 2001
RESURRECT DEAD
ON PLANET JUPITER.
The tiles are found in a number of major cities throughout the United States and even as far away as a handful of destinations in South America. It's never been made clear exactly what the message means and the Wikipedia entry hardly clarifies anything (though I do love an entry with that many Citations Needed).
There's a great NPR article from 2006 about their existence, their potential meaning and history and a heads up on Justin Duerr's documentary Resurrect Dead. I am, to say the least, quite intrigued to find out more.
Want a little Dieter Rams in your weather application? Try out WTHR - it's incredibly simple and no frills but quite beautiful looking. Granted, you pay $1 for the cleanliness but sometimes that's worth it.
