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.

sightings

i want to go. i found out about these 'ufo houses' - a part of a failed resort complex from the 70s - north of taipei last year but never got there. most of the extant information about the resort seems to generally coincide, though none appears definitive - rumors range from bad business deals to poor building materials to haunting. my renewed enthusiasm hails from a fairly recent series of ripped off/spawned blog posts here, here, here. the most interesting link is probably the one at the jump. all i know for sure is that it's on this island and i'm on this island.

LINK: [amazing] also rans...

F

[i can't fucking believe obama's favorite book is song of solomon.]

metronomy

metronomy is mostly one guy, but sometimes it's three guys, but mostly really only one. see, joseph mount writes and records music using the name metronomy, but he needs extra hands when he goes on the road. regardless who's present, metronomy makes nodders and danceables [think hot chip/battles/cut copy/dead or alive]. metronomy's latest, nights out, just came out. if you find it, you'll find your toes tapping. and for the love of all that is synth rock, watch the radio ladio video.

LINK: interview...

it's been WEEKS since i've been this happy!!!

[click for video]

LINK: AND!

you don't want this

[repost]


Hi Every​one,​
PBS is doing​ one of those​ instant online polls​ to ask "​America"​ if they think​ Sarah​ Palin​ is fit to be Vice President.
​
The GOP has launched a successful​ all out blitz​ to get Republicans to go on the site and click​ "Yes." As a result right​ now it looks​ like 50% of "​America"​ think​s Palin is qualified.​ The Republicans are going​ to be milking this for all its worth​ in their​ press​ efforts.
​
We need to drive​ more Democrats and those​ opposed to Palin​ to the site to click​ "​NO." Let'​s not give the GOP another easy weapon to put in their​ PR arsenal!​ Here'​s the link:​ http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html You don'​t have to enter​ your email​ address or anything.​ Just click​ "NO." Done.

REPOST!

the voynich manuscript

the voynich manuscript has been a fascination of mine for some time though i don't think i've ever had an actual conversation about it with anyone, not unlike your 12-sided die or that miley cyrus cd that you only play when you're in the car by yourself. the voynich, named for the man who discovered it, is an anonymous medieval text that some have seen fit to dub "the most mysterious manuscript in the world", which seems about right, though finnegan's wake and the story of the vivian girls still merit mention in that conversation. the manuscript is handwritten in a cipher that has few if any connections to any known languages and dates from sometime between the 15th and 17th centuries, depending on whose references you prefer. most interpretations are that - if it's not some elaborate, 800-year-old hoax - the subjects of the manuscript are multiple facets concerned with the study of alchemy. there are indications of astrology and physiognomy, and the whole text is illustrated with mysterious plants, almost none of which actually exist. i could go on about this at length, but i'm no expert. hit the links at the jump, get your head around it, and maybe we'll have an actual conversation about it.

LINK: one voynich opinion
LINK: gallery of voynich illustrations
LINK: related? oh, henry!

all bets are off

it's friday and i don't have anything to do, so find below a few (debatable) video best-of selections...

best fight scene ever?



[from Undefeatable]

best devo video ever?



[*note: i apologize for the horrendous quality, but, rather mysteriously, this video has virtually disappeared from the internet in the past few years. as you can see, this rip was taken from some haggard video or beta. if you can dig this, seek out some klaus nomi, prince of new wave falsetto covers.]

best 11 seconds of cat ever put on film?

BABL: Arch Daily

[I've decided I'm going to feature a blog every now and then, which is why this post is entitled BABL (acronym... Blogging About BLogs).]

While sore necks quickly subside for new New Yorkers, those folks do still look up, and it's not always just because they've been in a city rut and nearly forgotten what it's like to go Central Park. Often, it's for reasons like this. For those of us who don't live in New York, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, etc., there's Arch Daily. Arch Daily is a wildly shiny but not-too-big-for-its-britches architecture blog that previews skylines-to-come and dream houses too angular to have actually dreamed about (at least in my dreams, which could be why i'm not an architect). There's little news available about who these guys actually are, but they appear to - most obviously - be architects with some skilled writers in tow. That is to say, read the words, too. I'm no design buff, but I could gawk and puzzle and wonder at this for entirely too long. Maybe shiny is enough for me. Maybe it's enough for you. Take a look, you don't even have to crane your neck.

Infart

Yes, Infart sounds like something sixth graders snicker about; it actually takes the name from the collective of artists that organizes it. And yes, I'm a couple weeks late on this, but seeing as I can safely say that I don't have (m)any Italian readers, I'm calling it still relevant. On September 6th and 7th, Infart turned Bassano del Grappa - a city of some 40,000 in the Veneto region of Italy - into the self-proclaimed "Street Art Capital of Europe" for the third year running. For this year's Infart, Bassano del Grappa was opened to 80 graffiti, sculpture, video, and music artists. Bassano del Grappa, which dates to the 2nd century BC, chose to open the old section of the city to the competition, which appears to include a number of courtyards, playgrounds, plenty of stuccos and garages as well as numerous alleys. Despite being mostly in Italian (spliced with just enough charmingly poor English for effect), the website is easy to use and a great reference for a whole range of amazing artists. Flickr links after the jump.

LINK: Garage Nardini
LINK: Zellaby

YOSTED!

Finally. I'm sad about the Brewers.

LINK: Doomsday (Sporting News)
LINK: Hope? (JSOnline)

(David Foster Wallace 1962 - 2008)

Pervasive endnoter and verbose weaver of Everest-scale ironies, author David Foster Wallace was found dead of an apparent suicide Friday night. Wallace, a writer who challenged readers by challenging conventions of culture, word choice, and syntax, is to be sorely missed in this, the most scattered generation of literature in history. Infinite Jest, Wallace's most acclaimed work, is a 1,000+ page tome focused on a pastiche of cultural musings and post-postmodern (sic) society that takes place in a hypothetical present and near future in which years are referred to by names given by corporate sponsors (think "Year of the Whopper"). Wallace was also a contributor of thought-provoking non-fiction rhetoric both brazen and skeptical, his essays appeared everywhere from Harper's to Rolling Stone to Science, and covered topics ranging from tennis to politics. If you aren't familiar, he's worth a look, and if you are, he's worth reminding yourself about. Links below.

LINK: Tense Present (Harper's, April, 2001)
LINK: Good People (The New Yorker, February, 2007)