Looking forward to this as well

W.

I love Oliver Stone, even though he goes too far most of the time. As usual, I'm likely to be disappointed by his latest, but I'm inclined to hope for the best. As usual.

“A vast variety”

Wow, I just cannot believe that Sarah Palin keeps walking into this Katie Couric buzzsaw. (And I also can’t believe I’ve just used the words “Katie Couric” and “buzzsaw” in the same sentence.) Like, what are the the circumstances behind this seemingly endless series of embarrassing videos? I can’t believe she keeps coming back, therefore, CBS must be doling this out in dribs and drabs.

In any event, I’m really looking forward to the debate on Thursday night.

Look out, Bandit!

Best. Opening. Sequence. Ever.

Back in the days of Mac OS 6 or 7, I had this sound file as my Mac’s start-up sound. It really got the day off to a rousing start.

Now, I certainly appreciate the many ways that Apple has improved the Mac OS, but a person really used to be able to get under the hood, so to speak, and play around with things using ResEdit or whatever. I miss those days.

Black dot illusion

I’d never encountered this illusion before I saw it on Ffffound! today. It’s really giving the black/white receptors in my eyes a workout.

Happy 3rd birthday, Whitey

My hair didn’t used to be as gray. Yours, however, remains white.

It occurs to me that the Antichrist, when he arrives, will be totally cute and everybody will adore him, until it is revealed just how evil he actually is.

Just sayin’.

The ultimate craft project

I blew by this a couple of times on the image blogs before Coudal mentioned it and I stopped to take a look, so I guess it’s Coudal FTW.

A 1:1 model of a Concorde engine, made of styrofoam, paper and glue, built from a maintenance manual bought on eBay. Beautiful.

From the press release:

Olympus is a celebration of the tremendous technological feat of Concorde and also a eulogy for the elegance and aspirations that died with it.

PostlerFerguson “explore[s] issues of technology, culture and economics through design strategies based on thorough research.” Lots more pictures on their site.

Some parts of the ’70s were beautiful

I’ll be the first to admit that, overall, the 1970s were a train wreck of bad clothing, bad hair and just plain bad taste, but there were moments of good design, especially when filtered through 30 years’ hindsight.

So Much Pileup is a superb blog devoted to the best of ’70s design. I’m not sure if it’s relatively new or why I haven’t heard of it before, but it no longer matters, because it’s now part of my RSS feed.

Little Muslim Girl

From a nice series on Ramadan at Big Picture.

Busy weekend

Two birthday parties and soccer practice and a bunch of other stuff mean not much time for blogging this weekend. Maybe later after things calm down.

I did get clipped by a five-ton moving van yesterday - two days after I got my car out of the shop. There’s gotta be some karma happening with that.

As accidents go, it was pretty benign - we were sitting still and the truck turned too tight behind us, wrecking the back of my car. The kids were a little traumatized, but no one was injured. Thank heavens.

His brisket is beyond!

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.
I just love the idea that there’s a campaign out there saying good Jewish kids should go to Florida and make sure their grandparents vote Obama.
(YesButNoButYes.)

Rich in history

Being up here in Canada, I don’t know how prevalent this commercial is south of the border, but this is the first time I’ve seen it, and I think it’s brilliant. Really, all brands that have entered the pop-culture pantheon as icons should consider doing something like this. But I suppose that’s a little harder to do if you’re, say, Union Carbide.
Hey, Luuuucy!
(via Darryl at Brand Flakes.)

Oh, that Anthony

(via Jim Coudal on Twitter.)

Starry, starry cake

Wow, whoever made this deserves either a genius grant or a court-ordered mental evaluation.
(via Cake Wrecks.)

“I will not be treated as property”

Thought of these guys today for no reason, and YouTube has a surprisingly good copy of their debut single.

I’m reminded of the part of The Filth and the Fury where Lydon/Rotten snarls “Nobody invented me!” (or words to that effect) in regard to Mr. MacLaren’s self-professed marketing genius.

Also, Jah Wobble was soooo cool. And, once he learned to actually play his bass, he was even cooler.

What he said…

Thank you to Jetpacks for crystallizing what I feel in a few short, sharp sentences. This is getting crazy.

Cathedral of Christ the Light

Wow! (I’m resisting the urge to say Holy [anything]! here) What a gorgeous building. I would pretend to be a believer just to get inside.
(Inhabitat via badbanana.)

Gary gallery

Aaron Draplin, who’s kind of my obsession of the moment (gee, can you tell?) has created a gallery of logos inspired by Gary, his dog. They range from great to excellent.

Redneck Fire Alarm

And it’s delicious!
(via the sugar sheet.)

Free Wilco Dylan cover

Hey, Wilco’s giving away a free MP3 of them and Fleet Foxes doing Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.” Just go here and pledge to vote.
Photo by Richie Wireman from wilcoworld.net.

Wow, this takes me back

The GMC motorhome! Was there ever a more stylish RV? Even today, 30 years after production ceased, it still looks nicely futuristic. And, of course, it was Bill Murray’s Urban Assault Vehicle in “Stripes.”

Here’s a great article, with lots of pictures and links. If I’m ever obliged to buy a motorhome, I’m going to track down down one of these beauties and retro-fit it. To hell with those big white shoeboxes on wheels.
(via Coudal.)

In case of civil unrest…

Given that civilization seems to be on the verge of collapse, here’s a timely bit of street art from London.
(via Denver Egotist.)

Darth!

Oh man, this is so great.

My friends in the marketing department get a lot of promotional merch, and yesterday they gave me this amazing Darth Vader voice-distorting helmet and noise-emitting lightsaber set, from some long-ago Star Wars release. Seriously, you should have seen the dust. But I bet this promotional crap is built way better than the equivalent children’s toys of the era. (Maybe not by a lot, but still.)

Even so, my kids and I are having a blast with this stuff, so thanks retroactively, George Lucas!

King Cab

I’ve mentioned before (I think) that I’m a bit obsessed with surfing, even though my only experience of it was when I was six years old, one time, on a beach in Honolulu. But for some reason, the whole iconography and mythology of ’60s and ’70s surf culture really resonates with me.

So I was quite delighted to find the website of Jeff Divine, surf photographer. Really, really cool pictures, not just of boards and waves, but the whole lifestyle surrounding them back in the day.
(via Coudal.)

When Satan laughs, it sounds like this

Hi folks! Pondering suicide, but just need that extra push to dig out the razor or turn on the gas? Just watch this video, and I guarantee I’ll see you on the other side!
(v. SwissMiss.)

Blank cheque

I’m glad to see that there is a certain amount of outrage over the Wall Street bailouts. It saddens me that said outrage will amount to nought, and the fat cats will ultimately see the government cover their ill-advised bad debts, and that they will be able to skim off even more millions as they help the government administer the bailouts.

But it’s nice to see that at least some people are waking up to the fact that government today truly is run by the rich, for the rich, who write laws that benefit themselves, until they need to write other laws to save themselves from themselves. And then the rest of us end up paying for their greedy, stupid mistakes.

And that the average citizen can kiss their ass, or at least their comfy middle-class existence, good-bye. Sorry, folks, no money for universal healthcare, but there are trillions and trillions available to bail out the multi-millionaires at Morgan Stanley. Because campaign contributions don’t just donate themselves, you know.

This is such a joke that it’s not even laughable and if you don’t think John McCain and Phil Gramm aren’t up to their necks in this shit, then you haven’t been paying attention.

Meanwhile, Sarah Palin trots around New York, meeting Henry Kissinger and assorted tinpot world leaders, and the media isn’t allowed to ask her a single question. That’s some democracy going on there, baby!
(C-Span clip via Matthew Good.)

Groovy

This perhaps-too-subtle ad from Honda is actually a series of grooves in a road that play the William Tell Overture as your car drives over them. I have to admit this would freak me out if I didn’t have any advance warning.

And that sure doesn’t sound like the William Tell Overture to me. But still, interesting concept.
(NoName247 via Copyranter.)

Field Notes in Vancouver!

Sweet! Now, when I go through my current allotment of Field Notes, I don’t have to order them from Coudal or Draplin. Now I can swing by Paper-Ya on Granville Island, the latest Field Notes official outlet!

There used to be a press here

(Chris Norris via It’s Nice That via Monoscope.)

Pity the poor gas companies

I’m not a moron; I understand why gas stations need to raise their prices. Frankly, I’m glad they also lower their prices in response to supply and demand. Most industries just keep raising and raising. Here in BC, the quasi-governmental ferry corporation announced a temporary fuel surcharge a while back. Now, they’ve admitted they have no intention of rescinding it. I can’t even say that I’m worked up, let alone surprised. It’s hard to let go of that sweet, sweet money.

So, back on topic, nice to see this video on Wooster Collective. Screw you, gas companies.
(Shame about it’s/its mix-up on the one poster, though.)

The Railrodder

Wow, this totally blew my mind when it was posted by the Canadian Design Resource blog tonight. And man, am I ever glad I decided to add them to my RSS feed after seeing this! Because I haven’t seen this since I was about seven years old.

Astonishingly, Buster Keaton’s last silent film was about a trip across Canada on a motorized handcart, and it was made less than a year before he died. I always thought this was commissioned by Canadian National Railways as a Canadian centennial project, but apparently it was put together by the National Film Board two years before the hundredth anniversary.

In any event, bravo to CDR for posting this, even if it is in three parts. My kids are digging the silent-movie gags, and I’m swooning in the nostalgia.

Futura Bold

Friends! Are you a fan of good, clean design? Then you can do worse than get your ass over to Draplin Design and soak up the ambience and ethos of its proprietor, Mr. Aaron Draplin.

I ordered a T-shirt and, if you can believe it, a pair of socks (the man buys socks over the internet!) The package arrived today and I am over the moon with delight: in addition to my purchase, he threw in a pen, two pencils, two copies of Field Notes, Gary’s business card, and a quick reference card with all of Gary’s vital statistics. Thanks, Aaron!

Seriously, folks, buy something from his site. Even the auto-response you get when ordering is freakin' awesome. Plus, he assigned me the nickname “Canadian Fury” when shipping it to me, at which point I basically lost all ability to resist.

Ingenious technology from the past

Check out this incredible bridge from 1908. Crazy.

You’re going where on vacation?

(via Coudal.)

Marble-ous!

This is “Sally” by Poly-Xelor. It quickly becomes obvious how it was filmed, but it’s still oddly compelling.
(via today and tomorrow.)

Flipcharts… of funny!

I’m a huge fan of The Daily Show, though I rarely get a chance to watch it. Something about having kids and needing sleep and not enough hours in the day, blah, blah, blah.

So while I’ve heard of Demetri Martin, I have no idea if this flipchart stuff is fairly typical or not. But it’s still pretty good.
(via Duane at Matthew Good.)

Cheese sculpture!

I was actually about to get bored and delete this when it suddenly got good. The best videos will do that. Sneak up on ya.
(v. Coudal.)

Come for the fish, stay for the rape

I always forget to check in with Get Your War On. It’s consistently spot-on.
(via Copyranter.)

Sir Ben Kingsley lip-synchs Minor Threat

Watching this reminds me that this was once the only kind of music I would listen to. And in a lot of ways I still love it to death, but I’m glad I’ve branched out and it’s no longer the only music I listen to.
(v. Coudal.)

Arr, yarr, whatever

I used to work with a guy who, along with his buddies, had created a whole pirates’ code, which amounted to set of rules on how to be as crude, sexist and obnoxious as possible. And they were oh-so-pleased with themselves that they were actually living this life of being secret urban pirates. Although when I look back on it now, I doubt any of them had ever worked up the nerve to approach a woman, so the sexism (y’know, “wenches, yarr” and that sort of shit) was pretty much in their own minds.

Which may be why Talk Like A Pirate Day consistently fails to move me. I can see why people like it; I’m just not one of them. I also think it’s funny and cool that Google adds “pirate” to its language preferences for the day. But still, not doin’ it for me.

So, out of all the pirate-related crap that I endured today (and believe me, it was a lot), only the above video aroused a smile in me. Thanks to the Reciprocal Crap Exchange, who are fast becoming my newest Internet sweethearts.

My next car, Part IV

I got a little thrill when I was scrolling through BoingBoing tonight and found this. As a kid, I was totally into this type of custom rod and I actually built the model of the Beer Wagon, which is in the forefront here. Man, I loved building those crazy models.

I’m speechless

At first, I thought this was fake, but I’m afraid it’s all too real.

Then, I wondered how I could not have heard about this at the time. My only conclusion was that I had requested that my memory be wiped, à la Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, because how could this atrocity not have made the front page of very newspaper in the land?

Finally, how could people not have suspected that Freddie Mercury was gay? Especially after seeing this?
(v. O!MSE!)

Ice cream man

When did stores stop having soda fountains? Damn, I missed out. Now all I have is the in-store Starbucks. Oh wait…

The sign behind the soda fountain man reads “Better Ice Cream than you have ever known.” Oh yeah. And I will seriously wound anyone who says otherwise.

Stable Sasquatch

When BoingBoing first mentioned the image-stabilized version of the infamous Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film, I shrugged my shoulders, because, meh.

But then a couple of other sites mentioned it, so I clicked on the link, and it actually is pretty cool. I just can’t decide whether the image stabilization makes the theory of the existence of Sasquatch more or less persuasive. I’m leaning toward fake…

Zingers!

Here’s a link to a collection of sound files from the Hollywood Squares. I’ve listened to about half of them, and they’re pretty good, in a 30-years-old kind of way. The best are from Paul Lynde - man, that guy had innuendo nailed.
(via Coudal.)

Top reason to rename the Large Hadron Collider

In case you can’t read it, or don’t feel like clicking for bigger, it says “Large Hardon Collider.”

Wired is sponsoring a rename-the-collider contest.

Nothing could possibly go wrong here

…especially in our house where we’re all as blind as bats.
(v. Glark.)

Sitting in my tin can

Cat Power covers Bowie for Lincoln. Stupid, stupid and stupid.

Consider how far we have come

And how, in several other respects, we are so much poorer.

That’s it. I’m going to the Whippi-Dip.

(Schekman via Ffffound.)

Honey, where’s my checkbook?

Oh wow, this is so note-perfect, down to the echo-chamber voice-over. Thanks, Sarah.
(The Rude Pundit via Reciprocal Crap Exchange.)

Nonchaloir

John Singer Sargent

1911

oil on canvas

25 1/8 x 30 inches (64 x 76 cm.)

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

photograph courtesy Michael Weinberg Photography, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania

Searching for the source of the previous painting and I found this. Wow. I am such a rube.

Awesome: w/ extra duck.

Adding a rubber duck improves almost every picture. If you’re drunk enough.

The weird aspects of my header are the actual name of the Flickr set, which I also find quite charming.
(v. Coudal.)

Yummy 3G goodness

(Sci-Fi Hi-Fi via Reuben Miller.)

I dare you not to pay attention to this, Ben

Adam Kimmel presents: Claremont HD from adam kimmel on Vimeo.

Earlier today, Ben over at Thought Gadgets made an excellent point about how page-views are no longer the defining selling point when marketing on the web; it’s how much attention people pay once they arrive. Especially if they’ve got multiple media competing for their attention on multiple monitors. Ben cited the home-made content on Vimeo as a compelling site that might be stealing away the viewer's complete attention from the ad someone has paid for them to read.

Well, later in the day Coudal posted a link to an amazing short on Vimeo, showing two guys, Noah Sakamoto and Patrick Rizzo, longboarding down Claremont Canyon, about which I knew nothing until I looked at it with Google Maps (now with StreetView™! which is actually pretty cool; wish we had it in Canada). That is one hairy mountain road outside of Berkeley.

Perfect example of Ben’s thesis. I can’t stop watching. And not a logo in sight. Except Che. The best part is right at the end, after an epic run, where they just ride through the streets, burning off all the adrenaline they just accumulated.

PS. Just watched it full-monitor in HD on Vimeo. Ho. Lee. Fuck. Watch it that way if at all possible, folks.

Pedal to the metal

Nice collection of re-imaginings of our urban landscapes, from NL Architects.
(Dezeen via things.)

Calling Neighborhood Watch

Niiiice, the gallery of Suspicious Vans. Specializing in creepy ice cream trucks, horrifying clowns for hire, pedophile mobility units, and dump-the-body transportation.

Seen above, “Waiting for the Shipment.”
(via Coudal.)

Where does bacon come from?

You know, I could have called this post “Makin’ Bacon.” I’m showing remarkable restraint.
(via Super Punch.)

Gig posters

Lord knows, there are a lot of gig poster websites out there. And most of the ones I visit are pretty good, but they all seem interchangeable, if you know what I mean. So I don’t usually go around recommending them.

But here’s a nice collection of posters. I think it clicked with me because there is a subtle bias toward Canadian bands and venues.
(Stars poster by Dani Vachon.)

One-shot

I guess I’m a bit of a moron, because I never realized this opening shot of “A Touch of Evil” was one continuous shot. And I actually own it on DVD. Now that I know, it’s even better.

Collapsing New Buildings

Murderface left a comment here in which he referenced Einstürzende Neubauten, and I thought, wow, I haven’t thought of those guys in almost 30 years.

But then I realized that though I had always admired them in principle, I had never actually bought any LPs by them. Maybe a single 45, but memory fades. Hey, I was buying a lot of records at the time. Just not them, okay?

So I went on YouTube to bone up on my Einstürzende Neubauten. I always thought they were sort of on the industrial/noise side of the music scene, a genre which I salute heartily but rarely listen to. But this is the second track that I found and it is nothing short of beautiful: a slow and dreamy number. I’m going to assume this is fairly atypical.

The band played here in Vancouver at Expo 86, which was an interesting choice for the world's fair. I worked the night shift that entire summer, so I missed pretty much all the musical acts. Though I did see Kid Creole & the Coconuts, who are sort of the exact opposite of Einstürzende Neubauten, wouldn’t you agree?

Image of the day

Laughed out loud when I saw this on Gawker today - yes, why not take your kid to the sex-toy shop?

Ill-advised dance moves

Cool! I’m gonna teach my kids to do The Duck!

(Watch it all the way through to see for yourself that at no time does Jackie Lee humiliate himself by dancing like a waterfowl.
(Baikenange via PCL Linkdump.)

Ninja Cat

Oh, she's good. (I think it’s a she.)
(v. Neatorama.)

Update: Now with Jaws soundtrack!
(via Super Punch.)

My first two Simpsons mini-figs

Probably not my last, though!

I’m worried - either I was incredibly lucky to get Homer and Marge the first time out, or Homer and Marge are so incredibly common that I’m going to fill a room with them in my quest for the rest of the series.

I just did some math, and it turns out to be a little of both; maybe too much of the latter. The odds of getting a Homer, Marge, Lisa or Bart are about eight percent, Apu Nahasapeemapetalon about four percent, Duff-man at about two percent and Bumblebee Man at one percent.

Jeez, odds favor the house, much?  But actually, the Apu-led 1-in-24 group does contain several characters of whom I would happily assemble armies: Wiggum, Smithers, Fat Tony, Sideshow Bob, BARNEY! Those are my guys.

Fart Trek

Oh, Glark. Your obsession with farts is a never-ending delight.

Annals of stupidity

Too long for a tweet, but not very interesting:

My wife is watching "Rumor Has It" while I peck away here, and it’s just reached the part where Jennifer Aniston’s character realizes that her parents may be the inspiration for the novel upon which “The Graduate” was based.

So she has her boyfriend go to a video store to rent a copy of the movie so that she can look at the cover to see that it’s based on a novel by Charles Webb. Like, if it’s a book, why not go to a freakin' bookstore? Or a library? And I’m not going to mention the Google, since this movie came out in (gasp!) 2005.

Just saying!

Tiny video of the moment

Nostalgia only applicable to Canadians of a certain age. Everybody else can remain mystified.

Ruins of the city

Wow, the great Baltimore Fire of Ought-Four must have been pretty huge, but I had never heard about it until Shorpy started running images. Way to rally, Baltimore! You’re almost back! A hundred years and more!

Something’s afoot

Sometimes, Draplin is so cool, it makes me wanna die. This is an image from a Flickr set they’re about to upload, and I’m drooling in anticipation, even though I have no idea what it’s about.

They bombed in West Philly

Wow, I was pretty blown away the other night when Gunslinger ran this picture of MOVE founder Merle Africa being escorted away from the first (year-long) blockade of their headquarters in 1978. That whole picture is so 1970s.

Seven years later, the second blockade would result in the destruction of an entire city block and the deaths of 11 people, including four children. I’m not sure why I’m responding to it so viscerally now, although I suspect at least part of it is from having read an amazing article about the whole affair in the Village Voice (the title of which I have scammed for my post) which is at least one of the reasons why I got into journalism.

There's no doubt that MOVE was a cult with some pretty odd beliefs, and I’m sure the neighbors often wished them the worst - lord knows, I would have, given their horrible behavior - but it’s also pretty universally accepted that the Philadelphia police went just about as overboard as a police force could in responding to the problem.

If you’ve never heard of the MOVE incident, it’s well worth reading about. The wiki link above has some great external links, though sadly not the VV article.

Pachinko parlors from outer space

Pachinko parlors are generally regarded as seedy, dirty, noisy places. Today’s PingMag has a feature on Tokyo Odyssey, a company that’s building gorgeous futuristic halls across Japan. So many beautiful pictures - it was hard to decide which ones to gank.

Pixelhaus

Darryl at Brand Flakes found this awesome pixel building in Austria. So cool. I want to live there.
(v. Sub-Studio.)

A critic does what critics do… criticize!

Roger Ebert has a nice little rant tonight about why Sarah Palin shouldn’t be a vice-presidential candidate. He makes a point which has been percolating in my mind for a while: why is attendance at the finest schools in the land suddenly considered a sign of elitism? Shouldn’t we be demanding of our potential leaders that they have travelled and studied and gotten as many degrees as they could? At the best possible schools?

Can you imagine them trotting this out against Bill Clinton if he was running this year - because they would have, believe you me - “Oh, he went to that elite school where they have plummy accents, and they sit around and debate (snigger), instead of preparing for battle?”

When did we decide to elect people who were more like us (ie. lazy, self-interested, at best aware of some stuff but probably not all of it), instead of smarter, more successful, leader-types who could, y’know, lead? No wonder this place is going to the dogs.

Those French have a different word for everything!

In this case, “piles” means “batteries,” if my 14 years of French lessons are of any use.

Anyway, Jules Vernacular is a large and gorgeous collection of French typography that is well worth a look.
(v. Coudal.)

Wilco for Obama

Well, that seals it as far as I’m concerned.

I read an opinion piece the other day, possibly by Richard Roeper, about the paradox wherein celebrities such as George Clooney are reluctant to come out openly in favor of their preferred candidate because it could backfire as right-wing commentators sneer about out-of-touch Hollywood liberals and the like. So you end up with the most well-known and well-liked people in America, if not the world, feeling that they have to censor themselves out of fear of Limbaugh and O’Reilly and Hannity. Why are they afraid? It’s insane.
(Pitchfork via DDC.)

Scan toaster

Holy cow, when I first saw this, I figured it had to be a joke: a USB toaster that burns words or images into your bread. What an awesome and hilarious idea!

But it’s apparently real, though only a concept at present. C’mon folks, let’s all e-mail Electrolux and get them to put this baby into production!
(Slash Gear via Monoscope.)

Street signs by artists

Here’s a really nice collection of European-style street signs done by artists and posted all over Lyon, France as a sort of outdoor exhibit. Some of them are great.

One of my favorites is the one by Tokidoki above. I’m currently a bit obsessed with Tokidoki and I can’t get over the fact that he’s Italian and not Japanese. The local store where I buy my soft vinyl has a Tokidoki soccer ball that’s absolutely gorgeous and I’m going to ask how much it costs next time I go in, though I’m afraid to find out the answer.
(v. Coudal.)

Droplet

A happy image to round out the night. Plus I’m trying to clear out old links.
(v. Ffff.)

Your time will come, Klaus

Just browsing the image sites tonight, and I laughed out loud when I saw this one.
(v. suwaowa.)

Can somebody loan me three million bucks?

Okay, this has been featured on about six of the sites in my feed, so I’m sure a lot of folks have already seen it, but this portrait of the world’s most obsessive record collector (and I thought I held that title) is crazy. And just beautifully filmed. Beautifully.

I feel so aliiiiive!

Wow, I had no idea that there was a band named Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head and that their video features some crazy retro video effects and that, most importantly, the song, “Sophisticated Side Ponytail,” is actually a pretty good song, in my stupid opinion.

(Do you wanna see Shamu with me? Yes, I do! I love Shamu!)
(Second Coudal credit tonight. Sorry, I’m down in the basement, cleaning up old links.)

Drivin’ around Hamburg

Here’s a really nice animated short cobbled together from a ton of still photos about a couple of guys driving around Hamburg. I don’t know what it is - possibly the cool soundtrack which I listened to on headphones - but I really enjoyed this.
(v. Coudal.)

Songs for little Maoists

This is all kinds of awesome. Check out the song titles! “Criticize Lin Piao and Discredit Him Completely!”

(v. D&R.)

No Last Name

“December 1908. Dillon, South Carolina. Johnnie, works at Maple Mills. 8 years old. Said "Ain't got no last name" when asked for it. Beginning to "help sister spin." Photograph and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine.”

World’s largest robot

I’m fascinated by the DARPA Urban Challenge - the idea of scientists building robot vehicles that can autonomously navigate a simulated urban landscape is very cool.

Last year’s challenge was almost won by TerraMax, a 15-ton giant amidst the dinky SUVs entered by other teams, but it hit a building and broke a couple of other rules as well.

Well, this year, Carnegie Mellon has teamed up with Caterpillar, and they’re going to enter a 700-ton behemoth in the challenge. This should be awesome.
(via Danger Room.)

Follow the box

This is such a fantastic idea, I’m surprised anyone hasn’t thought of it before: BBC News has put a GPS inside a shipping container and they’re going to follow it on-line for a year as it makes its way around the world.

It’s not just a stunt box, either - our rectangular hero is going to be earning its keep, picking up various cargos in ports along the way and swapping them for other loads at the next port down the way.

What a nifty way to explore the interconnectedness of world trade and the ubiquity of the shipping container! If The Box comes to Vancouver I am totally going to try and get a picture to send to BBC News.
(v. BoingBoing, but it’s so cool I’m linking to it anyway…)

Cool iPhone app of the day

Pak|Sound1 is like a little Tenori-On-type interface for iPhone, and, at 99¢, probably about a thousand times cheaper than an actual Tenori-On. My kids are in love with it, and so am I.

My only beef with it is that I can’t save any of my crappy electro-disco compositions.
If you decide to get it, spare yourself the grief that I went through: the character after the “K” is a shift-backslash, not an “L.” I mean, it’s obvious here, but it isn’t on a lot of sites.

From the frozen north

I’m not sure why I haven’t added this to my feed yet, but it’s there now: the Canadian Design Resource blog. There’s some great stuff here, new as well as old. I’m partial to the vintage stuff because it reminds me of my childhood.

Help! Help!

A black man in the elevator! Aaaaagh! Run for your lives!
(v. today and tomorrow.)

Are they made of asbestos, the miracle mineral?

I actually saw this a few months ago, but today, when new friend o’ the blog Subtle Rudder linked to it, I watched it all the way through, and the single male outfit at the very end blew my mind! Not only is it right out of Flash Gordon, but the dude has a wall phone mounted in the middle of his chest! Talk about portability!

Interesting article in today’s Times mag about social media. Given my relative newness to it all, I find myself in agreement: There seems to be no point in broadcasting the minutiae of your agonizing IKEA line-up until you actually do it and one of your friends replies “Get me one of those 99¢ ice cream cones!” and that totally breaks up the monotony and holy cow what a great world we live in where somebody on the other side of town can make a guy laugh out loud in the line-up at an IKEA.

Juicebox Hero

If you’ve got a young son or three, you will definitely get a larf out of this one.
(v. GeekDad.)

The galaxy, in glass

One of the first weeks of PingMag I ever read featured this stunning representation of the Milky Way, etched by laser into the center of a glass cube. Oh man, I (almost) literally drooled into my keyboard.

Then, today, PingMag launched an on-line store, and when I saw that the glass galaxy was being offered, my heart soared to the skies!

But wait! The price. Holy cow, about $900 after shipping!

So, if I do want to buy this, it ain’t just another random Internet purchase. It’s a big decision. I have to think on it.

Galaxy Quest Update: I have rolled up $495 from my coin jar. Maybe I’m going to buy this sucker, after all!

Garbage Gobbler

Wow, I just about fell out of my chair when I saw this on Ffffound! When I was a kid, the highway rest stops in B.C. all featured trash cans painted to look like owls, and the government distributed these bags to motorists. I think the intent was to have kids browbeat their parents into saving up the trash until a rest stop presented itself, rather than just throwing it out the window. Yes, children, there was a time when people thought nothing of chucking their trash out the window of their speeding car. (And there was no social stigma attached to, not just drinking and driving, but drinking while driving, but that’s a matter for another post.)

My brothers and I used to scan the roadside for these horrific creatures, then scream in delight when we saw them. Given that I am now driving around three shrieking yard apes, I can see why my father preferred to take the wheel with a scotch-on-the-rocks in hand.

The heavy, heavy monster sound

Man, that is some crappy lip-synching…

Sweet link at MetaFilter to all of Madness’s music videos. I selected the original, classic One Step Beyond. It’s hard not to love that song.
(v. TMN.)

Elite Laundry

What a beautiful shot.

Think your kids are special/smart/tough? Meet Randsey…

January 1909. Apalachicola, Florida. “A young oyster fisher. Randsey Summerford says he starts out at 4 a.m. one day, is out all night in the little oyster boat and back next day some time. Gets a share of the proceeds. Said he was 16 years old and been at it four years. Lives in Georgia and is here six months a year.” Glass negative and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine.
(v. Shorpy.)

Who’s the gang on your block?

Photo from Piff City Bangers (Bang Bang Smash).

Here’s a really cool list of the gangs of London. A surprising number of them have Facebook, YouTube, or other social-media hyperlinks, some of which are incredible. The site’s owner posits that as the world’s population becomes increasingly urban and immigration-based, we will see more people’s loyalty go less to their country of residence than to the apartment building where they live.

This is really fascinating- the social media aspect, not the micro-patriotism, though that alone is pretty wild, and possibly more important, but not as new - and I intend to think about it all some more at a later date…
(v. TMN.)

“Though the dog barks, the procession moves on!”

Here’s a nice collection of North Korean propaganda posters. I’m a big, quasi-ironic fan of communist propaganda posters, especially from China and Russia. The North Korean product has always struck me as a bit more heavy-handed, though I guess we are really dealing in degrees of badness at this point.
(Via Coudal. The Cal Lit Review site also has an interview with a Kennedy assassination conspiracist who makes an interesting case.)

Ella & Dinah

I can’t help grinning from ear to ear when I see this - they are having so much fun! At about the 5:00 minute mark, they hit a groove together… oh, yeah! Don’t stop watching until you’re heard that glorious final note…
(Guardian via Coudal.)

Never ruin a shirt again!

Wow, this is almost as good as the collection of condiment packages: 600-odd pocket protectors!

When I first saw this on ISO50 yesterday, I wondered why Coudal hadn’t picked up on it for their MOOM. Then today, they beat me to it! Aaaargh!

Suddenly, I'm scared of the Moon

Holy crap, check out this time-lapse from APOD and tell me the Moon doesn’t look like a huge, menacing piece of dead rock that could plunge in and kill us all at any moment…

Never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach

…because you’ll end up eating oysters, rutabaga and cake.

Okay, seriously, it’s clear that Mrs. Slinkman shouldn’t be sending her brain-damaged husband to shop by himself.
(Mental Hygiene via MTLB.)

Ghostly

Big Picture continues to amaze with some of its shots, including this one of a C-17 in an Iraqi dust storm. They’ve also got a gorgeous feature of London from above at night.

In a world of bad “In a world…” jokes, one man…

There’s not much I can say about the late, great Don LaFontaine that hasn’t been said better in a million other places. So here’s The Voice in self-parody action in a nice, short Geico commercial.

Helicopter String Quartet

Oh, Karlheinz Stockhausen. You nut.
(v. today and tomorrow.)

Sharpie Lamborghini

What’s a Lamborghini Gallardo worth? If you had one, would you draw all over it with a Sharpie? If it came out like this, I guess I would.
(v. Scott Hansen.)

Skylarking

Nice collection of car logotypes at Delicious Industries. I was disappointed not to see the Pontiac Strato Chief logo, because that is one of the most gorgeous of all time, but this Skylark logo really took me back, because Buick Skylarks of a certain era hold a special significance for my brothers and me.

(v. Coudal.)

Keeping up with the Kremplers

Classic VW commercial. I’d heard the radio spot, via CBC Radio’s superb Age of Persuasion show about advertising and marketing. Ben, Bill and Darryl, you really should check out his streaming audio. Sadly, they still have issues to work out before they can launch a podcast.
(v. Egotist.)

The Shipping Container Garden of Eden

Wow, astonishing HDR (is that's what it’s called?) shot of downtown Chicago(?) shipping containers.
(v. Ffffound!)

Top o’ the World!

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day is great for your RSS reader: one picture a day, usually of a galaxy, but often not. You can view it once, appreciate it and discard it, or save it to your hard drive to use as an awesome desktop picture.

Yesterday’s was a stunner: a 360° panorama from the top of Mt. Everest. Some enterprising person should stitch this together in QuickTime VR. Do they still have that?
(Click through to APOD for a larger-res version.)