For the Facial Hair-Challenged

I don’t really know what to say about this—except that it’s hiiiiiiiilarious. And, funny ranks high on my criteria for successful design. If you should need a crocheted beard, do call on Ms. Tara Duff of North Logan, Utah.

Connected!

Web Comic Book Nook

In this week's cozy recommendation corner, I would like to point you towards one of my favourite webcomics, namely "Shrub Monkeys" by KT.
The artist is a young animator who casts herself and her two siblings (Shagster and Hes) as the main characters in order to share... her life? Her daydreams? Random thoughts? Probably a healthy mix of all three - and then some.

I am always first in line when there's self-deprecating humour to be had, and Shrub Monkeys excels at that. Plus, the artist's style is nice and loose, communicates well, and the colourscheme strokes my soul.

Off to Shrub Monkeys!

Having a Field Day

So, the studio took a field trip to the mothership of 3D Feature animation, otherwise known as Pixar Studios.

The place was—and I am going to use a phrase that has not tumbled from my lips since I left adolescence behind me—made of win. Look no further than the “Grape Soda” Badge on one of the cars in the employee lot.


Well, actually, do look further, because the main building is quite beautiful on its own, but the development artwork that can be found throughout made strolling around a real joy.


Am I rambling? Perhaps. But that artwork really was amazing, and seeing the models and paintings up close proved to be very educational. Alas, those were all behind a sign politely requesting that no photos be taken, so you will have to trust my gushing on this. Getting your hands on a copy of “The art of UP” would be a nice alternative, though. A book I warmly recommend.

Sadly, the legendary cereal bar has been cut down to half its original size quite recently. The folks at Pixar now have frequent access to 10–15 different kinds of cereal. Right next to the water cooler, so to speak. Makes the 40 cent Coffee at my Academy look like a rip-off, if you ask me.

I also caught a glimpse of some work for an upcoming film as it was swiftly carried through the hall (and by “caught a glimpse” I mean I impolitely craned my neck like a circus attraction for longest possible full exposure), and I'll tell you a secret: It looked awesome.

After setting up a dork-tastic shot of myself and Luxo Jr (as seen below), all is now well in the world.

All that’s left to do is thank Kat for making time in her busy schedule and sacrificing her lunchhour to allow this giddy, wide-eyed intern to traipse all over her workplace. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it.

Does Retro times Retro make Retro squared?

The idea of taking retro films (at least they are retro to ditzy twentysomethings like this humble blogger) and creating even more retro book covers leaves me with a bit of postmodern whiplash.

But that time I was at the receiving end of a guy crashing into the tail end of a traffic jam sure didn't feel quite as good as looking at these designs. Actually, that felt awful. Moving on.

The graphic designer behind the blog spacesick creates an ever growing collection of brilliant book cover designs for the good, the bad and the ugly in film history, reminding me that the best work can come from projects you do "just because".

Okay, "Shaun" is not retro. It's just awesome.

It also turns out that the the designer is merely a year older than I am.
If you'll excuse me, I'll go play in traffic now.

Someone once told me

Today, I would like to share a few findings from one of my other favourite Blogs.
At someoneoncetoldme.com, people spread the word about wisdoms, insults, and oddities that have stuck with them. The format of presentation is always the same: words written (or painted) on a white pad, framed within a black and white photo.

The result, however, varies from the ridiculous over the attention seeking to the wonderfully profound. Or the wonderfully simple.

The fact that every statement is a multi-leveled self portrait makes browsing through the blog a rather inspiring experience.

Tim Bret-Day

After graduating from London College of Printing, Tim has photographed numerous rock stars, high-end fashion shoots, and large-scale advertising campaigns. He has a talent for composing these symphonic scores of wall-to-wall flesh—entertaining with an underlying sense of humor. Who cares where Waldo is with all these beauties laying around?

Tip of my hat to ya, Tim.

Estevan Oriol’s Thug Beauties & Beasts

A special treat for all of you this week: Last Friday, we participated in the Lower Hater Art Walk, met some very cool people, and saw some great art. On Saturday, Melissa shared with you the first artist we saw, Kristine Reano. The second artist who grabbed our attention was Estevan Oriol. (Please imagine the photo below at 5 feet long by 3 feet high).

Yeah, I know.

While we didn’t have 5G’s to drop down on it, we were able to walk away with a deck of playing cards, 52 images, for a mere 15 bucks. These cards feed the inner cholo in me—without the risk of gunshot wound. Now, I can dream of a thug life, while playing Go Fish. Here’s some of our favorites. . .enjoy.


Estevan Oriol is a Mexican-American photographer based (guess where) in Los Angeles, California. His work has been featured in dozens of magazines worldwide including Mass Appeal, The Source, Details, Vibe, and Rolling Stone. He is affiliated with Soul Assassins, and has directed music videos for groups including Eminem, Cypress Hill, D12, Linkin Park, Blink 182, Paul Wall, P.O.D., and Xzibit. Click here to see more of his work.

Please stay tuned this week as we are saving the best for last! One artist was spray painting his piece outside a gallery wall during the walk. His work is incredible. . .

Never Gonna Give Your Teen Spirit up

Don’t really know how this video fell into my lap, divine intervention or by the efforts of an internet geek’s love of things pop-culture and quintessentially 80’s. The answer it seems is that I had been "Rickrolled"... don't know what that is? Someone needs to start surfing the nets and catch the Rick Astley tidal wave.

Rickrolling is an Internet meme typically involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song “Never Gonna Give You Up”. The meme is a bait-and-switch: a person provides a web link that he or she claims is relevant to the topic at hand, but the link actually takes the user to the Astley video. The URL can be masked or obfuscated in some manner so that the user cannot determine the true destination of the link without clicking. When a person clicks on the link and is led to the web page, he or she is said to have been “Rickrolled” (also spelled Rickroll’d). By 2008, it seems that more than 18 million Americans had been Rickrolled.

Source: wikipedia

Rickrolling refers to the original Astley video, but I appreciate how these two music videos /songs—which could not be further apart from each other—could mix together so well in this video. Click here to see more work by Thriftshop xl, creator of the Rick Astley mashup video.

Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization

Cover story from adbuster #79 by Douglas Haddow. Die you rock, punk, disco, hiphop, metal, grunge, alt-rock, emo, mash-up hipster scum of the sub-cultural waste basket!! I *heart* you.

Click here for article

What do you guys think?

"Mesmerized by the Machinery of Fate"

An interesting article and accompanied slide show from Holland Cotter (New York Times) on Mao, the image vs the man.

Article:
The Power of Mao, Multiplied

Slide Show:
Mao and Pop Culture