Predicting trends of any kind is a bit of a misguided move because, if you're in the spotlight, you will inevitably influence the trends you were merely trying to observe. With that in mind, I still quite enjoyed the FontShop Type Trends 2010 blog post. It runs through a number of typefaces that they foresee becoming more prevalent in the coming 365 days.

Personally, I hope I can break my undying leniency on slab serifs this year but if I don't.. I've got some great new choices to rely on.

Take a few moments of your day to peruse this whole Flickr set from Harry Kaufmann. The shots were all taken in China and show a surreal juxtaposition between some extremely up-and-coming urban areas vs somewhat desolate outlying suburbs. He's also got a real knack for capturing light and fog that really can't be denied.

Via Kate.

If you were unaware of it, LIFE Magazine has an ongoing series of photos called LIFE's Great Adventures; in which they compile various photos of similar nature into a slideshow. There are an incomprehensible amount of photos to stumble upon but I've found myself enjoying Daredevils' Craziest Stunts and Lion Tamers at Work.. to name a few. Spend some time browsing through as there is no way you won't find something of interest.

Via Jamie.

What do you get when you combine a mirrored light bulb, a square of glass, a threaded rod and a video camera? Turns out you can get very cheap 360 video. Be sure to watch these examples to see how the results turn out - and click / drag around to see the full impact of what's being done. It's not an entirely new concept by any means but the affordable DIY execution is something to be respected.

It would have been nice to stumble upon this Field Notes Calendar back when it was in pre-order status so I could get the full impact of its 2009 - 2011 goodness but better late than never. Much like the Field Notes notebooks it's extremely simple, clean design and pleasant on the eyes. Consider it ordered.

Matt Lehman, aka Invisible Associates, has done a quick portfolio update showcasing a bunch of his recent work. There isn't a single piece in there that doesn't inspire in some way - including the Maroon 5 and CMT pieces; subjects that take a bit more effort to make cool given their existing stigma.

Via Daniel.

Thanks to Bryan I've been enjoying a good deal of Joel Tettamanti's work. There are incredible photos from all over so it's tough to pinpoint the best place to start but I'd go with the Ilulissat / Greenland set and then just jump around from there.

If you consider yourself a diehard videogame fan I dare you to visit Consollection and attempt to name as many of the shown systems as you can without cheating. Personally I'm a far cry from a diehard gamer but I was blown away by the number of systems I'd never heard of before. The Pippin Atmark running an Apple OS? Digi Casse precursor to the Gameboy mentality? It's nuts how many of these there are.

I think it's safe to say that we're still feeling the impact of the work done by Martin Luther King, Jr and his supporters. If you've never seen the "I Have A Dream" speech - please take a few minutes to watch the shortened version and, if you can squeeze in the time, please watch the full version.

I think it's important to recognize why you get National Holidays with just a tiny bit of effort. So watch those videos, read the mans Wikipedia entry and maybe reflect on some social injustices that you're glad to have seen gone by the wayside during your lifetime - always remembering that we still have a ways to go.

Turns out my work week this week really hampered my ability to churn up vaguely nonsensical / absurd videos.. so the offerings are a bit on the meager side. I've got some additional content below that should tide you over. Playlist and the breakdown:

• WITI TV-6 - I miss old news show intros. This is epic in so many ways; particularly the music. Via Paige.
• Cheese Curry - the craziest / most incredible commercial I've ever seen. There's a whole series of them but this one captures the insanity levels the best.
• French Star Wars Danceoff - yea, awkward Star Wars videos are a dime a dozen but this one struck a chord with me.. I think it's the low budget outfits and the asynchronous synchronized dancing.
• Gray Gray Loves Ice Cream - I will not apologize for how much of a sucker I am for amusing animal videos. Cat head stuck in an ice cream container is endlessly entertaining, deal with it.
• Wes Anderson Acceptance Speech - as a Fantastic Mr. Fox character.
• Poochinski - failed pilot of a cop turned bulldog. Absolutely amazing. Thank you Paul.

Bonus Videos

• Typophile Film Festival Opening Titles - some hand made type animating via stop motion. Really nice.
• Tiny Hands - Jon Glaser web shorts featuring himself as a man with tiny baby ands and a load of other great comics (H. Jon Benjamin, David Cross, etc). I've no idea how old this is but it's new to me.

Have a great weekend!

The NY Times has a nice narrated slideshow of double exposed works from Damon Winter. Apparently he's got himself quite a system for being able to shoot an individual image, remove the film and then double expose it at just the right time later. The Coney Island eating contest mixed with Grim Reaper is among my favorites.. go look for it.

Via Drew.

This Emergency Escape Plan poster glows in the dark with the proper directions of where our non-existent space pods will travel when we inevitably depart from this planet. For some reason the Russian Cyrillic writing gives it an air of authenticity (if you will) that would be lost if there were English writing on it. Worth a quick peek larger.

There is certainly no shortage of 'OMG WTF' material floating around in regards to the whole NBC vs Leno vs Conan debacle that's going on but this 10 at 10 segment Leno did with Jimmy Kimmel is absolutely brutal in the best way possible. Kimmel keeps it clean but doesn't hold back at all. It's actually quite entertaining, albeit just a bit uncomfortable.

I would divulge further into the debate but I'm fairly sure there isn't a single person age 15- 35 that isn't "Team Conan" - in fact, I'd say there isn't a Team Leno in existence at all, at least not on the Internet.

The Nashville Scene has posted a lengthy feature all about me and my yk records project. I feel a bit odd trumpeting such a thing but the article turned out quite well and I'm absolutely flattered that anyone even thought it was something worth writing about! The bits and pieces they write about the quality of the records I've been fortunate enough to put out there is probably my favorite part - as it's good to hear that other people like the music you feel strongly about.

Many thanks to Matt Sullivan for writing the article and not making me sound like a total maroon and thanks to The Scene for letting it grace your pages.

If you aren't familiar with the records I've put out, please take a moment to download the following - all for free - and let me know what you think.

• Uncle Skeleton - Pancho Chumley
• Codaphonic - Edison's Rival
• Uncle Skeleton - REMIX
• Shaboi - Curse Walk
• Slowmotions - Quick Potions

While I have no doubt that this will actually happen I find this article, Flash 11 should be a switch to JavaScript, pretty intriguing. It would certainly open the playing field up to a lot of established developers and probably be less intimidating to less seasoned newcomers. The author has even gone as far as to start a project, called $flash, that attemps to bridge this gap all his own.

There's also the Gordon project - an open source Flash runtime written entirely in Javascript.

Spent some time with the new site for Serious & Ly - a Richmond, VA design firm that has been doing a load of great work. The portfolio contains such greatness as Ser-vice and Need Supply to name a few. Head over there and browse through their offerings.. I don't think there's any way you won't enjoy it.

Jordan Gray added an exhaustive bit of branding / identity to his portfolio for a new Kansas City restaurant, Julian. You can view a ton of photos of all the small details that went into making it a total package here. I particularly enjoy the shirt and the bathroom signage - very clever and tasteful stuff. Good branding is often hard to come by so you gotta appreciate it when it's done as well as this.

At first glance the photos of Strange Worlds are engaging all on their own but, upon further inspection, you learn that each one is comprised entirely of a painstakingly detailed model. Each one is really a miniature created from various materials with lighting in a controlled environment. I'm sure there's a tiny bit of digital enhancement as well but there's no denying the creation of a tiny tornado, ice world or insanely detailed field of wheat. Definitely worth pouring over for a little bit.

Thanks to Joey I spent a good bit of time yesterday perusing the works of AJ Fosik. His official photostream is probably a good place to start but I'd suggest reading through this Fecal Face interview to really get into it. I dare you to deny the appeal of this bear.. I dare you.

• Google Blog: A new approach to China - basically Google is reconsidering operating in China (a huge market) if the government isn't willing to reconsider their take on free speech / information distribution. Much not come of it but the fact that their even discussing it publicly is kind of huge. The State Department even chimed in.. sort of.
• SynchTube - watch Youtube videos with friends in tandem. I'm not sure on the exact advantages of this but it is certainly an interesting bit of technology.
• Netflix coming to Wii - I hope Mario helps you sort through your queue.