I'm not sure how this is on Vimeo (nor do I suspect it will last) but the full trailer for the forthcoming HBO series Angry Boys is available for viewing. If you aren't aware of Australian comedian Chris Lilley you still have time to familiarize yourself with his incredibly amusing catalog of works. I suggest diving into Summer Heights High and We Can Be Heroes at your earliest convenience. Angry Boys is the exact same format - a documentary following a number of ridiculous characters; all played by Lilley. The full trailer is actually incredibly long and may give a great deal away so you might want to stick with the short version if you're looking to hold on to your ignorance for comedies sake.

You may recall the video I posted a little while back that was done in collaboration for the Radiolab episode on Symmetry. Turns out, that wasn't the only bit of impressive collaboration they had up their sleeves. Jez Burrows did a bit of curating for the episode that resulted in some phenomenal pieces. If you've heard the episode you can immediately see their correlation to the topics discussed.. if not, you'll be tempted to check it out as soon as possible. I'd pick a piece that I'm partial to but I really enjoy all of them... find work all around.

Thanks to Aaron for giving me the heads up on the trailer for the forthcoming Miranda July film The Future. I think she's probably a bit of a polarizing filmmaker in that most people either really enjoy what she's doing or absolutely hate it - I tend to fall into the enjoyment category. It appears that the film won't be out until late July but, based on the trailer, I think it'll be worth the wait. Be sure to check out the great poster for it too.

I caught this image making the rounds on Tumblr the other day and just had to find out more. Turns out it is but one tiny piece of a large chunk of documentation of the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington state best known as Galloping Gertie. Constructed in 1938, the bridge was celebrated for being the worlds third largest suspension bridge but was troubled from the start. Basically, the wind from the Pugent Sound was able to tune into the structures natural resonant frequency; causing it collapse on itself.

Take some time to watch the footage of the collapse.. it is absolutely surreal to see a trusted structure bend, sway and distort the way it does. The upside to the affair? The remants of the bridge act as a natural coral reef.

Renaud steered me in the direction of Carousel; an OSX app that claims to be "The best way to experience Instagram on your Mac." Personally, I am partial to Inkstagram but I can't deny a well designed application with a super snazzy icon. So, if you're looking for a handier way to browse Instagram pics; this really could be your best solution. I've been 'complaining' lately that it seems that all of the quick n' easy solutions for applying a filtered look to your photos are mobile apps; not desktop solutions. Regardless of your thoughts on the over filtering that goes on with personal photography you have to admit it's quicker (and easier) to make something have a deep vignette with a high cyan overlay on your phone than it is in Photoshop. However, it looks like Flare might be just the solution I've been searching for. Now if only there were a Mill Colour batch of presets I'd be totally set. Heads up via Juan.

The big news this morning seems to be the new Music Beta service from Google; a cloud based storage system that allows for playback on all your devices. Sound familiar? It should. It is, as far as I can tell from the reading, the exact same concept as the Amazon Cloud Player. You put your songs in your Music Beta account and can then play them back wherever. Google does not have full compliance of the labels and is taking the same stance as Amazon: it's a file storage system just like backing up to another hard drive, not something that requires heavy licensing. The catch? You have to be invited and it's for Android enabled devices only for the time being.

So, with Amazon and Google both clearly in the race to win your music storage the heat is on. I've got a good feeling that Apple will announce their plans for something similar (aka their long lost LaLa acquisition) soon enough. Then all you have to do is decide where you want your songs.

Bjork has relaunched her site in promotion for her forthcoming Biophilia album. It is an HTML5 extravaganza of floating points in 3D space. From a technical perspective, it is impressive. From a pleasant user experience perspective, it's quite confusing. Apparently there is a news section but the only way I was able to unearth it was from someone emailing me a link to it. I'm not sold on the experience quite yet but I am curious to see what comes next.. as I've been hearing some very interesting things about this album.. so I imagine it will all make sense soon enough.

Daniel pointed out this great metric gathering site Statigram that investigates your Instagram account and then makes a rather pleasant layout of data regarding your account. It's a handy way to quickly see your Top Photos, Activity Over Time and what Filters you use the most. It's not really information you need to know but it's so well presented that you want to know it.

This quick writeup on the art of Jeremy Mayer pretty much sums it up:

I disassemble typewriters and then reassemble them into full-scale, anatomically correct human figures. I do not solder, weld, or glue these assemblages together- the process is entirely cold assembly. I do not introduce any part to the assemblage that did not come from a typewriter.

It does fail to mention that he creates a number of non-human figures as well. It's like RetroFuture SteamPunk for the Literary Vintage Set. And I mean that in the best way.

via Drew.

So, I've got a new release on the horizon for my little label undertaking and I have been doing a great bit of thinking about how I distribute the digital version via Bandcamp. While my goal has never, and will never, be to turn a profit at all costs (it'd be nice, but not necessary) I am curious about the mentality people have behind buying digital albums. Are you more inclined to buy an album if it's a Name Your Own Price with a minimum of $1? Or if it's marked as entirely Free? Imagine hearing an album you really wanted - what would your mental reaction be if it were priced at $5 just for digital files?

My main goal has always been to get great music out the masses. To me, that means distributing the music for free because there are people out there that won't even spend a dollar on music they enjoy. Should I continue trying to reach the masses or just reach those that care enough to spend a tiny amount? Not making any changes, just curious on your thoughts.

yvynyl pointed out this great article from the LA Times about the Library of Congress facility for Audio-Visual Conservation. It contains 90 miles of media packed into one building. Quotes like this certainly blow my mind:

The long hallway also can spark images of the closing scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," although it's not a single airplane hangar-sized room full of crates packed with who-knows-what treasures. Instead, the second-floor hallway leads past 17 vaults, each of which yields shelf after shelf filled with platters of vinyl, shellac or wax or magnetic tape in various formats: open reel as well as audiocassettes, four- and eight-track tape cartridges and digital audiotapes. There also are a good number of vintage wax cylinders as well as metal master discs.

I can't imagine the process involved with preserving all the different formats since the beginning of recorded music. The facility is looking to get a lot of the public domain works online - currently only 14% of the eligible works are available. Regardless, I would love to see more photos of the place, it sounds impressive at the very least.

Loving this repository of Subtle Patterns. It's always good to have a resource of such things handy, especially when they're of this quality.

via Will.

There's an abnormal amount of animal related videos in this weeks playlist but I'm not ashamed. I am entertained.

• Fat Cat Struggles to Lose Weight - not exactly hilarious when you know the back story but the image of the overweight kitty pacing on the treadmill is undeniably absurd. I do recommend muting the sound.
• Nu Thang - apparently this kid is a lawyer in Phoenix now so he's definitely overcome his shortcomings as a performer.
• Beatles Fan Club 2011 - the caption for this video reads "Yet another reason to hate young people." I find this to be hilarious.
• Black Cat - if you can make it through the verse you'll have the chorus stuck with you all day. via Mixel.
• Ultimate Dog Tease - sometimes there really is such thing as the perfect overdub. This is a prime example.
• Bunny Jumping Show - if this didn't have the soundtrack paired with it that it does I wouldn't be so into it.. but because it does, I am.
• Osama's dead, baby. Osama's dead. - when you heard the news that Osama bin Laden was killed did you immediately jump on your four wheeler, attach an American Flag and shoot guns wildly into nothingness? You probably should have. via Paul.

BONUS

• Inception Folder - the movie Inception as told by folders on your Mac. Surprisingly accurate.
• Hambuster - ridiculous short film of an animated hamburger on a rampage.
• Yo Yo Ducks - everyone loves a yo-yo.. even ducklings. via Falfa.
• Popping Balloons - flipbook style animation made by popping a ton of balloons. The animation style looks strikingly similar to Don Hertzfeldt, though I've no idea if he was actually involved or not.

That's it! Have a great weekend.

The Daily Beast has a rather informative, and engaging, Situation Room Slideshow that takes a little closer look at the recent image making the rounds taken during the Osama bin Laden operation. Some of the insight consists of fun factoids like the kind of coffee they drink or, even more compelling, the Burn Bag that sits in the corner for highly classified documents. Neat!

via Soup Soup.

Thanks to some good pals I was recently introduced to the BBC program Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle. Not being aware of a BBC Comedy series is excusable but how I was not already keeping up with StewartLee in general is a damn shame. If Louis CK is the quintessential US comedian, I'd venture to say that Lee is the quintessential UK comedian. He's got that perfect balance of dry, absurd, incredibly brilliant and just a tiny bit of goofy. Long story short, track down some episodes of Comedy Vehicle.. I don't think you'll be disappointed (don't let that above image fool you, it's silliness is in dire contrast to his actual style).

Recently, Flickr welcomed the San Diego Air & Space Museum to their service. Over 5,000 pages of images from their long history are available for viewing online. I suggest investigating by set to give yourself some context. I'd also suggest keeping an eye out for some of their more progressive experimental aircraft as well.. very neat.

via Jed.

I've got a busy day today and not a lot of links stored up so I'll just leave ya with this - Voyager: Humanity's Farthest Journey - a nice little mini-documentary about the ongoing mission of the Voyager satellite. I've long been fascinated with this undertaking. The Golden Record cargo that the craft carries is equally amazing and ridiculous but, moreso, it just boggles my mind to think about a human-made object reaching out as far as the Voyager has.

I am of the thinking that there is no such thing as owning Too Many Icons. So, when I ran across Symbolicons I was intrigued. It's a huge set of imagery and it's quite stylized. Aside from that, the content of representation is impressive. How often do you run across a "Vegetable" icon set? Stylistically they may not be right for your current project but they certainly may be down the line.

via JXNBLK.

I am always grappling with what is the optimal camera type to own. Devices like the Canon 7D take gorgeous photos but I know it's too physically bulky to keep on my person at all times. The iPhone camera is quite good and has the convenience in size but not exactly a ton of options. So, I'm often keeping an eye out for devices such as the Fujifilm Finepix X-100; a mid-range sized camera with a ton of options. The body design is, as advertising, quite Classic looking but they didn't seem to hold back on any features. Whenever I see infographics such as this I am instantly convinced that the product in question is Super Pro. Marketing works!

Back in late 2009 the fine folks at Invisible Creature launched a brand new site and it was great. Now they've re-launched the same site but without any Flash present. And it's even better. Why is this significant? Because a year ago it seemed that Flash was still an essential part to making a site have all the clever bells and whistles - not so anymore. This is, to me, proof positive that HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript are the way to go.

If you don't care one little bit about the technology used to build a site you should still keep up with Don and Ryan's work because, frankly, it is phenomenal.