Jamie gave me the heads up on this HTML5 presentation from the Google I/O conference and Sports Illustrated. While I have zero interest in the contents of any SI issue, I do think their take on what HTML5 is capable of is pretty impressive. I assume the site is still in development (or was just proof of concept?) because I can't find an actual link to it from SI or The Wonder Factory - the team responsible for the design / development. Regardless, it's a promising look at large scale 'website as apps' and it's tastefully done.

The Danger Mouse / Sparklehorse / David Lynch collaborative project known as Dark Night of the Soul has been around for, at least, a year. Due to a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo between all the labels involved (every song features a different guest musician so I assume there was much paperwork) the album has never had an official release. However, it appears that everything has been sorted and the album will be legitimately available on July 13th. There's a deluxe box set that includes a 12" booklet filled with David Lynch photography - along with a 2xLP and 2xCD (album and instrumentals). Granted, I don't expect anyone to spend $80 on such a thing but it's nice to know it exists.

Along with that news there is a fully immersive Flash site to explore around and hear tracks from the album. It's rare that I spend much time on such sites these days but this one is done well - interesting aesthetic, easy to use, great music and lots of little things to interact with.

The album itself has been in fairly heavy rotation for me since its procurement a year ago and I really can't recommend it enough. This is probably old news to the majority of you but if you haven't gotten it yet, get it on the 13th. I wish they hadn't changed the cover art but that's a small price to pay for a proper release.

Thanks to Public School for the heads up on Matthias Heiderich and his series of photos - White Noise. They are a rare combo of creepy and elegant... there's just something about fog that has an undeniable appeal.

I had mentioned the existence of a new Sky 1 travel show featuring Karl Pilkington but I was just recently made aware of the proper trailer for it. It is, as you would assume, full of hilarious quotes from Mr. Pilkington. The series starts airing in August, so get your RSS feeds all queued up for incoming media as I don't think it will be shown in the US anytime soon.

The 2010 Webby Awards recently wrapped up and all of the winners were asked to make Five Word Acceptance Speeches - usually with incredibly amusing results. You can watch all the "celebrity" award speeches here or (for a slightly better interface) here. I recommend watching The Gregory Brothers, Jake & Amir, The Onion, Isabella Rosselini and, of course, Zach Galifianakis.

Journey of the Childmen is a 'road movie' documentary following The Mighty Boosh during their Future Sailors tour. It's safe to say that without seeing a lick of footage that I'm completely intrigued and curious to see it.. but since there's a great trailer to watch I don't even have to go down that path. It looks great through and through. The DVD isn't due until November and that may not even be in the States but I'm hoping there are alternative ways to see it.

Once you've watched the trailer I suggest reading through this great interview with director Oliver Ralfe as it has some amazing quotes.

MC: I love that moment where Noel is expressing his frustration about sandwiches. He’s sick of sandwiches. The film already had a sort of “Spinal Tap” vibe to it, but that just took it to the next level.

OR: I’m glad you liked that! I think they were a bit worried…they’re worried that the film is basically just them complaining about sandwiches.

MC: If you knew nothing about Boosh, you’d really think you were watching a movie about rock stars. A rock band. They’re treated like rock stars, they dress like rock stars - well, Noel Fielding dresses like a rock star. Julian dresses like -

OR: Julian looks and dresses like a very elegant coal miner.

I'll be keeping an eye out for it and I suggest you do as well.

Many thanks to Mikesell for the heads up.

If It Was My Home is an excellent tool for putting the BP Oil Spill in perspective. It transposes a Google Maps shape of the spill over your current location to give you an understandable comparison of just how massive the spill is. Admittedly, it doesn't really give you an idea of the scope of damage both environmentally and economically but you gotta start somewhere.

Via Jeff.

I'm loving the design of the Australian FOX Classics - great clean / grid layout with a big open area to let the rotating background feature show through. I can't say I've seen such a tactic used before and I'm rather enjoying it. The interior pages use the same technique with a little less efficiency but I don't mean that to say it never works - it does - just doesn't have the same impact as the homepage rotations.

Many thanks to Jamie for the heads up - quite the inspiring piece of work.

Daniel pointed out the Image Optimizer ImageOptim to me yesterday and it appears to work magical wonders on transparent PNG's - a filesize reduction of 35% - 44%. Turns out there are plenty of tools out there that do this exact same thing, I've just been ignorant to their existence. Sites like PunyPNG even do it for you online.

Am I a total maroon for not having known about these? Do most developers out there take advantage of these additional compressions?

The first trailer from Sophia Coppola's latest, Somewhere, is now online. While her choice in Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning is surprising they don't hold a candle to the "whaa?" feeling of casting Chris Pontius. Regardless, it looks good and I've no doubt she'll be able to make the unexpected cast turn out something legitimately moving in its own way.

Heads up via Courtney.

I had mentioned the next yk records release back at the end of May but it felt premature as I didn't have the physical product in hand. Now I do and I am beyond excited to remind you over and over that the second Uncle Skeleton album, Warm Under the Covers, is available in its entirety for both digital download and in high quality vinyl LP format. The album was conceived and executed as a piece of work intended to put to wax from the get go so, honestly, it's best experienced in that format but, as with all my releases, the point here is to get the music heard - so download it, pass it around and if you love it, order the vinyl. → Buy the Vinyl
→ Download the Album

A quick browse through the works of Andrew Bannecker and I think you'll be hooked. Great combo of simple & clean illustration mixed with just the right amount of texture and artsy. I love the Esophagus Series but there isn't something in every piece I don't enjoy.

Apparently Will Arnett and Jason Bateman have teamed up to form Dumb Dumb, a comedy enterprise set to create long form commercials with digital distribution / marketing expertise from CollegeHumor.com. I'd be lying if I didn't say that is one of the oddest undertakings I've heard of in some time.

However, if the first video, Prom Date, is any indication of the quality to follow I'm all in. It features Arnett, Bateman, Aubrey Plaza and Rachael Harris in a ridiculous prom setup that only Orbit gum can save them from. Like I said, weird but it works.

Via Falfa.

I'm not so much into iPhone cases for myself (seems sort of redundant - like a Car Bra) but I can't deny a great idea when I see it - such as these Bamboo iPhone Cases - laser engraved with art from a number of recognizable artists; Amy Ruppel, Nando Costa, Ryan Bubnis, etc.

The craziest part about the cases is that if you aren't into the Artist Series you can just put your own art on there; any (reasonable) image engraved right on to your own unique case. Check the Customer Examples for some great usage of this option.

Thanks to Drew I'm starting off my week with Pentagram's What Type Are You? - a four step process of personality insight that results in a typeface that best matches for you. Or, rather, a typeface that matches your perceived personality about yourself. My result was Courier - not exactly a stand out piece of work but it's solid.. I'm fine with the result. What type are you?

Yea, the playlist looks short this week but there\'s a few quality Bonus videos down there for you to enjoy so it should all balance out.

• Ultimate Warrior Anti-Smoking PSA - how is devouring a ton of cigarettes sending a message to not smoke?
• Better Call Saul: Badger - 1) If you aren\'t watching Breaking Bad, you are missing out completely. 2) Spend some time with Better Call Saul; so many great Bob Odenkirk-isms.
• Jerry - how in the world did I not know that Donald Glover (from Community) got his start with his own Sketch Comedy? There are a bunch of these.. watch them all.
• Yacht Rock Finale - I\'ve never really watched the Yacht Rock series but this finale is perfect; even without the proper context. Love it, especially Giorgio Moroder. Via Ryan.

BONUS

• Skateboarding Trick Goes... - extremely lucky and awesome capture.
• Dancing Alone to Pony - why do people do this? how are there pages and pages of people filming themselves? I\'m entirely baffled and somewhat entranced.
• Creepy Watson - poor videogame programming or intentionally creepy?
• PURE - absolutely impressive compilation of action movie sequences cut into one big long mega onslaught. Hard to imagine the time it took to do this so well.

There\'s not even a common thread tying these together.. just various links worth taking a peek at.

• CD / Vinyl on one physical release - CD on the bottom, etched vinyl on the top. I\'m not sure how much time is available in a top etched CD but I\'m guessing its about the perfect length for one song. Via Courtney.
• Octocam - live video feed from inside the Octopus tank at the Hatfield Marine Science Center.
• Infographic: Land/Sea - from the highest peak to the deepest ocean trench.. this is easily the tallest infographic I\'ve ever encountered. It\'s also interesting and informative once you get past the slightly baffling top portion. Via Daniel.

Last night I had the extreme luck of being able to make my way into the Third Man Records performance of Conan O\'Brien and his \"Legally Prohibited Band.\" I, along with 350 other people, had the pleasure of seeing them tear through a bunch of classic Rock n Roll songs, a White Stripes cover and a ridiculous Radiohead cover. Conan started the evening with this:

“Six months ago, I was the host of The Tonight Show, the greatest franchise in the history of television. Then I started a live tour, going from small theater to small theater. And tonight I’m pressing a vinyl recording. I’m going back in time! Next week I’ll be on vaudeville. Then I\'ll be a steamship captain.”

Obviously, he was every bit as enjoyable in person as you\'d think from seeing him on TV for so many years. I look forward to actual video of the event showing up online.. I\'m sure it won\'t be long. Many thanks to TwentyFourBit for the summary and, of course, my friends that enabled me to experience such a crazy event. I really was extremely lucky to get in.

I fully admit that I shouldn\'t love this Today Show story but I can\'t help myself. The video of elaborately dyed dogs to look like Tigers and Pandas is undeniable. And I know all about the Poodle Dying that has circulated for awhile but there\'s something slightly terrifying about those that this Tiger or Terrier story manages to avoid.

Via Daniel.

Dolan posted a link to a pretty interesting article forecasting the death of the web and the rise of the App. It sounds a little extreme in headline format but the article does a good job of stating its case. I have sensed similar rumblings lately and think we\'re entering a new phase of the Internet. It\'s going to be a slow build but we\'re definitely going to start seeing a lot of significant changes in the next few years. Personally, I don\'t think it\'s going to be as polar extremes as some predict (i.e. The Death of :hover) but I do think we\'re going to have to slow down in terms of content onslaught in order for anyone to keep up. That will come with how the content is delivered - possibly in a more digest App-y format.