threats

try out 23/6.com's "Swear To God Dude, If McCain Wins I'm Gonna..." O-tron...

sleeping in

i'm sleeping like the dead these days. this picture reminds me of a semi-recurring incomplete dream that's kind of like the war of the worlds version of those crappy 3D movie rides at universal studios where they jostle you around and pipe in water and jets of hot air. the dream is less disappointing than the ride.

once i wake up, though, things are more like a volkswagon commercial. or maybe like the new beirut song below. synthetic, metered, almost too bright, but not invasive.

DOWNLOAD: beirut - my night with a prostitue from marseille [mp3] (via igif)
LINK: photo by johannes kjartansson

thobias faldt [photography]

thobias faldt (faldt takes an umlaut) is a master of overexposure and the big flash - which sounds like a great title for a flasher's memoir - and his frames really do feel like individually wrapped moments. one flash. one shutter click. it's super when a photo can capture the essence of an evening or an event or a time period, but there's something to be said for a photo that looks like one exact blink from your memory.

LINK: vice fashion
LINK: he's editor and art director of Tromb

dragnet tehran [photography]

from the paris review:

In 2003 the first group of female cadets graduated from Iran’s police academy. Tehran’s police chief Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf—now the mayor of Tehran—had obtained permission from the country’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, to create the all-female police units, and these policewomen were the products of a three-year training program. Abbas Kowsari was allowed to photograph the academy’s graduation ceremony in 2005, a dramatic pageant, and a historical anomaly. “During Qalibaf’s time as police chief,” the photographer said, “policewomen performed many martial arts and chase routines, including climbing walls and jumping out of the windows of moving cars. But after he stepped down, that training was eliminated. Last year’s ceremony was limited to a parade, speeches, target practice, and the loading of revolvers by blindfolded policewomen graduates. No photographers were allowed.

LINK: buy the current issue of the paris review to see all the photos

oy!

i had to change some privacy settings on my flickr page! i doubt any living people will actually read this, but i'll have the pictures back up in a bit. sorry. ert.

married to the sea

not your grandpa's sunday comics.

siggi eggertsson [illustration]

siggi on siggi:

i was born in akureyri, a small town on the north coast of iceland, in 1984. my mother, who is an artist, raised me. my life was pretty normal; I played with lego cubes, drew turtles characters, played basketball and went to school.

that's deep. side note: i've been really preoccupied with the idea of trying to pixelate myself as a halloween costume. help?

elizabeth weinberg [photography]

elizabeth weinberg makes the most of every indian summer and she's been to all the music festivals you ever wanted to go to. clearly.

LINK: her blog (more photos, etc.)

the simple life

it ain't motorcycle diaries, but it's got impressionable me musing (as i am wont to do)... probably just been listening to too much horse feathers, trying so hard to pull off a rainy autumn tuesday afternoon mood in the goddamn foggybright subtropics.

LINK: Horse Feathers - Burden [mp3] (link fixed, scroll down to play)
LINK: this fits, too [via borntobenervous]

battles

VS.



obama is my new man crush. i've been holding out, but it feels good to have that off my chest.

in the name of objectivity, i tried and tried to find something mccain-themed, but there seems to be a dearth of creativity in the mccain fanbase. coincidence? there's this, which i suppose is sufficiently boring.

gratuitous battles video because i've been listening all day...



LINK: the guy's got a sense of humor.

superbrothers [animation]

.

superbrothers is craig adams' screen name. pun intended. don't quit it before the breakdancing.

adam hayes [illustration]

yes, new york is the center of my universe, which is why i constantly find things about it to paste up here despite my outlying proximity. today it's illustration by adam hayes, a london based illustrator who is at present creating toony kitsch to accompany the guardian's 'streets ahead' series. begun in july, 'street's ahead' visits and documents emerging neighborhoods in various cities - clearly they're a bit behind the curve on the williamsburg pick, but this is about the pictures, not the words.

BABL: BONER PARTY!!!

blame friday for this, but at least have a laugh (or a boner). in case you didn't know, kelly kapowski is the 2pac of boners, neve campbell is like the teddy ruxpin of boners, and prince is everybodys boner party. top shelf stuff boner party! thanks for all the memories.

field tested books

everywhere i go i find myself looking at what other people are reading, and it has often struck me to consider what a person is reading within the given context or location. there is food for thought in that relationship. while too-meticulously pompadoured bookworms will always huddle on the F train reading obscure, dog-eared eastern european tomes, consider the middle-aged arabic guy in the bodega reading toni morrison or the house marm reading philip k. dick on a beach in florida. field tested books tackles this topic from the viewpoint of those readers. among the latest of recent wave of books on books, ftb is produced by coudal partners, a design, advertising and interactive studio in chicago. ftb is an effort by coudal to

"(convey the) notion that somehow through experimentation we could identify how our perception of a book is affected by the place where we read it. Or maybe the other way around. Maybe it’s possible to determine how a book colors the way we feel about the place where we experience it."

ftb began as an online project, and, now in its third incarnation, has recently graduated to hard copy. all three editions of ftb are available online for free.
this idea makes a lot of sense to me. i could go so far as to say that i identify with most of my books with reference to the particular time or place in my life in which i read them. that's probably why my favorite thing about field tested books is the approach. admittedly, i'm not one to ask for recommendations when considering what to read next, but the pieces in ftb read more like personal essays than reviews, and while they're not always perfect or pleasant, they are well written and unfailingly honest. so, if you're wondering what to read on your next camping trip in the ozarks or flight to tucson, maybe check out field tested books. but you don't have to take my word for it.