Nathan Ota – Another Fine Artist
I’ve started following “Right Some Good”, the art blog of Kirsten Anderson . She writes about artists she likes, and I’ve found I agree on many of them. One recent recommendation is Nathan Ota, who illustrates curious creatures like robots, eyeless birds and monster tree trunks. His art often has a greenish-golden glow that reminds me of tarot cards. Kinda spooky in a fairy-tale kind of way.
Be sure to check out his site to see more of his great work.
Curious World of Toys
I’ve recently stumbled across a wonderful photographer and storyteller on flickr. Michael (aka “frogmuseum2″) has kindly given me permission to share one of his photos. As you can see here, his characters come to life with their own little oddworld personas. Since quirky is my favorite kind of art, this is right up my ally.
Check out more of his work at flickr .
Frozen in Grand Central
I want to be a part of something like this. I’ve followed their exploits after I first heard about them on “This American Life”. Ira Glass interviewed the organizer of a “stunt” where they picked a guy out at random at a bar and threw him a birthday party . They brought gifts, bought drinks, and called him Ted all night. He at first protested and eventually gave in.
After watching the video, check out some of their other uber-cool improv at their site .
Mathematical Chaos
I’ve been playing around with a very cool 3D rendering software called Chaoscope. It has some pretty mathematically intensive settings, but also a “search” function that randomly creates “viable” combinations. You can then tweak away at the criteria until you get the perfect imaginary universe. Here’s a few of my creations; (click to view large)…
And this series are of the same “universe” rotated in the 3D space.
Robot Art
Kirsten Anderson over at Right Some Good has posted some great art by fellow artist Brian Despain. His work has the sort of tone I love (a la steampunk/Myst) and features another geek fav – robots! What more could you ask for. I’d hang this on my wall.
Perhaps I should check into that…
Meanwhile, check out Brian Despain’s website .
Tiny Houses I Want
Wired.com has posted a series of photos of small modular houses sure to please the eco-friendly minded. But more than just environmentally conscious, these houses have a certain Zen that I want when I think about building a vacation house. I mean, how much more escapist can you be in a house sitting atop a column on a lake?
It’s hard to explain to the uninitiated what a modular home is when it comes to building it in nature. They either think I’m talking about those trailer houses with wood siding, or some funky-weird modernist glass box on the lawn. But these seem to commune with nature rather than clash. There’s something about the openness that and simplicity that doesn’t get in the way of the view.
Of course, I have to find a beautiful and semi-private place to build a house like these. My mom lives in the perfect part of Arkansas (north-central), but it’s quite an old-fashioned area (not too conducive to two men with no children moving in next door). But we’ll find the perfect place… it’s out there.
Strung out on science fiction.
Being a dork, I love all things sci fi – be it movies, books or technology. Browsing my newly-subscribed RSS feed, I read about the upcoming Indiana Jones movie, an interview with the horned-rim glasses guy from Heroes, a article lamenting the USA’s lack of futuristic vision when it comes to architecture, robots and maglev trains, and a review of fuels used in all the great sci-fi franchises. (Did you know the Battlestar Galactica takes Tylium in its tanks?)
This site definitely satiates my need for all things geek.
Thanks, Lifehacker !
Dutch Graphic Design from Around 1900
BibliOdyssey has posted some great examples of Dutch Advertising from around 1900. My first exposure to Dutch design was at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. I’m attracted to the simplicity and clean lines.
This particular example is especially interesting, since I worked for Holland-America in Alaska during my summer between high school and college.
Be sure to check out the other samples.
Old Time Christmas Radio
If you’re a fan of old time radio, or just wanna get in the mood for Christmas, then check out this selection of free public domain MP3s of radio shows over at OldRadioFun.com. From the classic 1947 “It’s a Wonderful Life” to the more curious “Batman Christmas”, it’ll get you in that nostalgic Christmas spirit.
In another life I worked many graveyard shifts while managing Circle K and used to enjoy early morning broadcasts of “The Shadow” and “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show”.
There’s an even larger collection available at archive.org. Thanks, Boing Boing
It’s Christmas, Why Not?
I’m getting a little bored with my old K2 based theme. I just upgraded to WordPress 2.blah blah blah and decided to take the opportunity to try out a canned theme. It’s kinda fun, so I think I’ll keep it until after the Holidays.
And then no more excuses… i have to design/implement that idea that’s been floating around in my head for 6 mos or so. Now, to find green grass this time of year…
The Road Ahead
Thanks to Jeff Pepper over at 2719Hyperion for sharing this clip from the 1958 Disneyland “Magic Highway USA”. You can read more background from his earlier posts here and here. Apparently, we aren’t as advanced as predicted. It would be cool to have my car wash and refuel itself.. I really hate stopping at the gas station.
I Just Like Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Not sure why, but I just like Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I can’t pinpoint a particular performance as an actor that impresses me (although Mysterious Skin was pretty good – and a little disturbing). I just think he’d be very cool to hang out with; like a regular guy.
And just for fun, here’s another one…
Thinking of Switching (again)
In my office I have a PC & a Mac G5. Even though I do most of my work on the Mac, I just can’t give up my PC for gaming and Quicken. But with the new Intel-based Macs, and Parallels , I can run Windows XP as a 2nd OS on the Mac (forget about Vista… I don’t want to run that POS).
So this video seems appropriate for my current opinion of the ole’ Microsoft.
SeatQuest Visual Ticket Finder
If you love shows and concerts, this is the best tool for finding tickets. It’s a visual map of the venue with available seats indicated as blue dots. Just find your seat and click buy.
This is the biggest pain I find with “other” ticket sites; I have to find the seating chart which is usually not very clear as to where the seats actually are.
The program is still in beta, but I hope to see it continue to develop. It’ll be my first choice for finding tickets.
Pseudo-Decay Becomes Decay, then Pseudo Again
Pruned has posted a series of photos (with commentary) about the curious and fascinating “Broken Column House”, built just before the French Revolution by François Nicolas Henri Racine de Monville, an aristocrat with lots of time and money on his hands. Built to appear as a decaying broken column, the house went through a period of neglect in which it truly began to decay. In the 1980′s it once again was restored to its original pseudo-decay state.
Located northwest of Paris in a wooded area, I’ve added this to one of the must sees when I finally visit France.
I also find the photo beautiful and creepy – perfect for this time of year. Wouldn’t you like to Trick-or-Treat here?
The Dragon Queen and The Wanderer
Wanderer of Space, Vargo Statten, 1950 Scion / Planet Stories, Summer 1941, Love Romances
I just finished reading Worlds of Tomorrow – The Amazing Universe of Science Fiction Art by Forrest J Ackerman. I picked it up at Half Price Books a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been trying to learn more about design and art from the 1800′s up through the 50′s, 60′s, and 70′s, especially involving predictions of the future.There are several magazines that were published in 30′s, 40′s and 50′s that featured science fiction shorts by sci fi greats like Isaac Asimov, H.G. Wells, and Robert Heinlein. They had titles like Wonder Stories Quarterly, Amazing Stories, and Startling Stories. The cover art was just as fantastic as the stories within. Worlds of Tomorrow features these covers and includes narrative about the history of the culture and writers that envisioned them.
If your a sci fi fan or a fan of sci fi art; or even if you are just looking for a good laugh, check out this book.
I shared these two because half-naked women were a staple of many of these covers. I just thought it was interesting to see half naked men for a change. I’m just not sure how practical a g-string would be for wandering space, or riding dragons. And how about the name “Dragon Queen”?
Simpson, Michael Simpson
What better for a Friday afternoon than to imagine myself a Simpson? (Not of the OJ flavor, of course).
You, too, can re-imagine yourself at Simpsonizeme.com
DCI 2007 Highlights
Just a few of my photos taken at this year’s Drum Corps Championships in Pasadena, CA. You can see them all, including scores, here.
I made this with animoto, the best slideshow generator out there. You can upload your own photos or import them from photo sharing sites like flickr. You can also upload your own music you pick from their library. animoto then generates the video complete with effects. The free service is limited to 30 second videos, but you can create full-length videos for $3 each or $30 unlimited for a year.
I Guess I Love LA?
Well, we made it back from our LA trip, and I must say that aside from the smog and traffic, I loved LA. There’s some great architecture and the weather can’t be beat. We really explored the area and got a flavor for the city as well as the beaches and burbs. Here’s what we saw:
Downtown, the library, Disney Concert Hall, the very cool Westin Bonaventure, Sunset Blvd, Hollywood Blvd, Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly and Wilshire, the walk of fame (smelled like urine), the Oriental Theater, Capitol Records, The Hollywood Sign (drove almost too it, afraid we’d get arrested if we hiked further), Griffith Park, Griffith Observatory, Santa Monica Pier, the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica (twice), Malibu, West Malibu, Topanga Canyon, other misc canyons and mountains, drove Mullholland Drive (until it became a fire trail… it’s a DRIVE on the map!), Pasadena, Disneyland (fun), Knott’s Berry Farm (disappointing), Riverside (Rich lived there as a kid… found his old house), the Mission Inn in Riverside (interesting old hotel, looks like a mission), The Grove and LA Farmer’s Market, Long Beach and the Aquarium (eh… Shedd in Chicago is better), Pacific Coast Highway, and last but not least, The Abbey (where we hung out with some fascinating and fun people).
So blah blah blah… vacation… slides… you know the rest…
Rosetta Project – Download Vintage Children’s Books
I find I’m more and more interested in vintage design, having recently purchased a few vintage books containing some beautiful illustrations (more on that later).
Thanks to Lifehacker and Wendy Boswell for sharing a great archive of vintage children’s books at childrensbooksonline.org. It’s a huge collection of downloadable books, some including audio and multimedia. It’s a volunteer-driven site, so if you appreciate what they’re doing and are so inclined, please donate for their efforts.
It’s nice to see that though the physical books will one day return to dust, they will live on in the cybersphere.
Plan59.com: 100% of Recommended Daily Retro
I’ve been looking more and more lately for vintage ads and illustrations to satisfy my new-found love of design from the turn of the century (the last one) through the 60′s/70′s. My most recent find is Plan59.com, thanks another of my favs, Paleo-Future. It’s full of vintage images well organized into categories like “cars”, “space” and “old ads”. What’s even better, is that you can order poster-size prints! I can already imagine the possibilities for my future-retro media room when we finally get our house built.
The only thing that’s missing is newsfeed capability (since I’m a google reader addict.)
You Won’t See This in the US
This would most likely start a boycott of Guinness in the US.
So of course, I love it!
Where Do I Sign Up?
I want one of these… remember Tom Cruise manipulating graphics in The Minority Report?
The Paleo-Future is Here (or not)
There’s a certain class of design I’ve always been attracted to; I find it fascinating to see how the past saw the future, either the one that has come and gone, or is still yet to be (or not to be). My favorite sci fi reads are those heavy with scientific speculation on the big questions… faster-than-light travel, moving stars, encountering bewilderingly advanced species. But I also enjoy classic sci fi like Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein. More than just the plots, I love to see how the greatest scientific imaginations of their time saw the future. It often comes out as a mix of new ideas blended with now outdated ones; like a man traveling home from work in his self-driving car only to be greeted by his wife who meets him at the door with a cocktail, a back rub and dinner on the table.
I also love to explore design from yesteryear looking forward. Interestingly, this often comes back to Disney’s Imagineering. But thanks to great finds like Paleo-Future, I can finally get my fill of this odd attraction. And what an apt name for something I’ve been unable to easily define.
So here’s to the Paleo-Future and the future that never was! And to commemorate the occasion, here’s a great sample, “Transportation Exhibits at the New York World’s Fair (1964)”
