While the demise of The Books is an unfortunate turn of events it has yielded multiple great things in its wake. First, obviously, is the rise of Zammuto - a highly worthy Books substitute. Secondly, a box set is in the works of The Books releases, b-sides and more. Go ahead and put me down for one. And, lastly, Nick Zammuto has been blogging some really insightful / intriguing / enjoyable blog entries on the background behind some of The Books songs. He's posted a great read on the bands, prologue and their first track, Enjoy Your Worries, You May Never Have Them Again. While I enjoy reading about the history of the band I'm equally entranced to find out what each sample is from and to hear new layers of sound that I somehow missed before, for instance:
If you listen carefully you’ll hear my voice slightly ahead, doubling the text, which I recorded by speaking each phrase as a loop until I ran out of breath. I isolated each ‘out of breath’ phrase and reassembled them to match the original so that it sounded as if I was constantly running out of breath throughout the entire rant.
Long story short, start reading the Zammuto Blog if you aren't already. You'll enjoy it.
There are plenty of apps out there that let you make animated gifs in one way or another (for example: the fine Giffer) but I'm really taken with the results that come from Cinegram, as they are derived from short movie clips, not individual stop-motion animation style photos. It makes for a much cleaner and intriguing end result. This makes sense given that it's all a big take on the original Jamie Beck / Kevin Burg Cinemagraphs.
Aside from the actual images being made from Cinemagram, I can't really recommend it. It's obviously trying to cop the Instagram social network thing but it's all kinds of sloppy, confusing and poorly done. Just get it for the camera portion, don't even mess with the rest.
What a week! Hopefully you've got big plans for the three day weekend and will start it off right by enjoying the playlist for the week. Maybe not the strongest in the history of Friday Videos but there's some sincere entertainment within:
Boys Night In - what's a little innuendo between friends? some NSFW language / actions but quite entertaining. via Chris.
Pretty Celebrities Turn Ugly - just stare at the cross and get some awesome, natural, facial distortion going on.
Happy Food - the folks at Yum Yum London make some great animations; this is a prime example of such.
Woodkid - Run Boy Run - if you've not seen the video for Iron yet, watch that first. I believe they're all connected in some way. Both are, without question, fascinatingly epic. Love the Krampus creatures.
Lambada - Computer Dance - Every time I see a movie clip from this era involving computers I am completely baffled. Who thought this was a good idea? Ever. via Paul.
With Moonrise Kingdom being released just around the corner it seems appropriate to take a little time today to listen to this NYPL chat between Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach. Topics include How 'Bottle Rocket' Bombed, The Cousteau Connection with Life Aquatic and a load of other topics. Maybe you've seen it (it is from 2009) but it can't hurt to refresh yourself on the world of Wes Anderson.
Just saw that Indie Game: The Movie has an official world-wide release date of June 12th. You can pre-order now and get it the instant it is available. If you haven't seen trailer, I recommend you do so right now. It looks fascinating. Oh, and the cherry on top? The direct download option is powered by VHX; yet another notch in their "Doing Awesome Things" bedpost.
LIFE online recently published a series of rare photos from the 1955 Atomic Bomb tests out in Nevada. I find this time in our countries history to be a fascinating one - so many huge technological leaps forward but with creations of destruction. LIFE sums it up pretty well:
With conversations about nuclear tests (both theoretical and real) so very much in the news these days, these pictures from more than half a century ago might serve as a quiet reminder of just how horrific and insane the very notion of nuclear warfare really is.
I can not begin to express my enjoyment of the BAFTA 2011 Best Short Animation The Eagleman Stag from Mikey Please. The stop-motion animation tale of Peter Eagleman's life is captivating on every level. Once you watch the film, which I suggest you do immediately, you can see how it was made, find out more on the director and support his next short. Best thing I've seen in some time, please enjoy.
Surely at this point in your Internet'ing career you are familiar with the work of Heads of State. They do phenomenal work. The latest example of their ability to conjure goodness is Pilot & Captain - an "exclusive collection of city-specific t-shirts and posters with more locations, prints, and products just around the bend." I love the prints (especially the travel tags) but shirts are blowing my mind. The designs are compelling and tasteful in so many ways - typeface choices, layout, color combos, etc. It's safe to say I'm highly recommending you embrace their wares fully.
I haven't used it myself (yet) but this Dragon Brush app looks like it could be pretty entertaining for the kids. The character design and illustration is top notch and, for those looking for the indie angle, it's got original music and narration from members of The National. You can watch a preview to get an idea of what it offers or just go straight ahead and pick up a copy.
Based on the demo video, I'd say that the LEAP motion sensor is a little peak at the wave of the future. "Hands Free" device controls, much like the Kinect, are likely where we're headed for our entertainment centers. I'd love to see an actual working demo of the Leap because it appears to be incredibly responsive and accurate; a trick that could be faked for the video. Hopefully that's not the case because I'd love to control my Mac Mini from the couch free of a wireless mouse and keyboard.
Andy Baio and Andy McMillan have joined forces to create the XOXO Festival, a conference celebrating "disruptive creativity." Basically, putting the DIY mindset on a, rightful, pedestal through the likes of craftsmen, hackers, musicians, filmmakers and other artists. They're raising funding via Kickstarter and appear to be pretty close to their goal already - unsurprising given the thinking behind the conference, the great list of guest speakers already confirmed and a long list of additional events going on around the city. Oh yea, it's taking place in Portland; so it earns extra cool points just for that. Anyway, watch the video and I'm sure you'll be convinced of the worthwhile nature of the conference.
This Tambour Table from Michael Bambino is a little slice of brilliance. If the fact that the desk itself is wired for electricity through one of the legs wasn't enough, it also has the ability to shift and store items within it without creating an awkward rectangular jut into whatever wall may be behind it. Watch the video and it'll all make sense.
Sadly, I haven't been able to churn up much on Arizona photographer Michael Chow (is this his?) but what I do know is that he was able to capture this photo of the recent Solar Eclipse while in Papago Park, Phoenix, AZ. Something about the color scheme, the subject matter and the overall composition makes me think of it as some long lost relic from the 1920's. There's a timelessness to it that I can't quite get over (in the best way). You can read more on the process of capturing the image here or here.
You can see more great, non-Michael Chow, eclipse photos here.
Take some time to browse through the photostream of Hengki Koentjoro to see some absolutely gorgeous and surreal landscapes. This Borobudur Temple is a shining example of an image that makes you stop and wonder if you're seeing an actual earthly destination or not. It's a wonderful question to ask.
Paul Thomas Anderson's last film, There Will Be Blood, was released in January of 2008. So, it's been a few years since we've had new goodness from him. From the looks of this trailer for his forthcoming film, The Master, the wait will be well worth it. The plot is, apparently, loosely based around the story of the foundation of Scientology but you don't get any notion of that from the above 2 minutes. It's just a tension filled chat with Joaquin Phoenix that couldn't make me more excited to see the whole thing.
The New York Times has a great article on DIY - the San Francisco startup aimed at getting kids to make things, not just document their likes and interests. They have a storefront in San Francisco and a phenomenal looking website. The next time you think about the vapid self-indulgent nature of the Internet, remind yourself that sites like DIY are out there empowering kids to be creative and crafty - a positive influence we could all stand to have in our lives.
I am sorely behind on my mixes. For that, I apologize. Fortunately, Jeremy is much more timely with his deliveries. For instance, he just posted MAN Mix, nineteen tracks of song titles containing the word "Man." It's sitting in my download folder now and should probably be in yours as well. Go nab it.
While I don't love everything in the portfolio of Antony Micallef, I do find myself incredibly intrigued by these particularpieces. They definitely qualify as "creepy" but I love it nonetheless. It appears he has some color versions in the mix as well - something I'd like to see a whole lot more of.
There's been a good bit of buzz going around lately about the impending release of Coda 2. I've been stuck in a rut with my current set of development tools and have been looking to try out a new, potentially more efficient, workflow. The Diet Coda add-on looks like it will be one helluva partner tool for previewing code as you go. It appears that both pieces of software will be half-priced at launch for the first 24-hours so it'd be wise to act swiftly when it is released on Thursday.
Matthew DiVito does a good bit of motion graphics but I'd say he's definitely making a name for himself with his animated gif blog Mr. Div. The looping images are mesmerizing in a way that you don't really associate with animated gifs. I can't stop staring at the likes of this or this.
