 |
Since the start of 2008, Parry Gripp of Nerf Herder, one of my favorite bands from my high school days, has been creating short songs (about a minute each) about life on the Internet.
The place he chooses to publish these jems is, you guessed it, YouTube. There are so many great ones (see below,) but I think this jam, “Chimpanzee Riding A Segway,” is the frontrunner for my favorite.
Also see “Young Girl Talking About Herself,” “Wiener Dog riding Skateboard,” and “Soccer Ball (In The Face)”.
I think I need psychological treatment for my 90s sitcom addiction.
I literally just cursed Netflix for not having Brotherly Love for rent. Those Lawrence brothers.
This is how Steve Jobs answered a question about the rumored tablet-sized Apple product during Tuesday’s fourth quarter conference call. [AppleInsider]
It’s amazing to see a company so well known for its form (beautiful products and near perfect overall identity) reiterate the simple truth: form follows function. Not the other way around.
Last week when news was just developing about the suspension-worthy incident of Dallas Cowboys’ token troublemaker Adam “Pacman” Jones, Uwe Blog suggested 10 very funny and helpful hints that Jones might consider to occupy his time.
My guess is Jean-Luc Godard isn’t up Pacman’s alley, but you never know.
Clusterflocker Sheila Ryan offered a post last week that pretty much summarizes what I love about online writing: quirky, short posts that encourage specific mental images and half smiles.
Found
Today. In the cat’s litter box.
A chess piece. A white knight.
Over the last month, I’ve started watching a handful of new shows, including a few that have become significantly inspiring to me. One that stands out is PBS’s Spain… On The Road Again, the new travel/cooking show of chef Mario Batali.
With New York Times’ Mark Bittman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Spanish actress Claudia Bassols along for the ride, Batali treks through the countryside and coastlines of Spain stopping to eat local cuisine, cook the freshest of ingredients and chat with local growers, producers and cooks. One thing that makes it more PBS than Food Network is the amount of non-English dialog. There’s been lots of Spanish spoken throughout the episodes so far and it’s beginning to make this Texan more interested in learning the language.
About a month back, New York Magazine had a great preview/review of the show that motivated me to check it out. After only a few episodes of delicious (looking) meals and information on Spain, I’m totally hooked.
Also: Mark Bittman’s Bitten blog is a great read with daily recipes and information on some uncommon ingredients and how to use them. One of the recent post, contributed by Daniel Meyer, details how to cook for a dinner party with the limited budget of $20.
Graphic designer and type designer Mark Simonson recently detailed many the typeface accuracies and inaccuracies in AMC’s Mad Men. [Kottke]
From obvious type errors in the series’ title design and set designs to the small details of the yellowed plastic shields on prop typewriters, Simonson points out many of the flaws you might see if you’re looking for them.
I agree with Simonson’s statement that looking for these flaws adds just one more enjoyable aspect to watching this great show.
Also: Simonson’s post on type spec’ing is really fascinating and worth reading.
After a few very busy months of my life, things are starting to fall into place and hopefully over the next month I’ll have time to blog here more. I’ll use this post and a few to follow to share a handful of recent interesting web findings.
The last couple weeks of video blogs from Gary Vay-ner-chuk have been fascinating, informative and inspiring. On the 8th, Gary V. shared some advertising insight as it relates to web content producers. If you can look past the pretty wack ROI rap, you’ll find that his points are pretty dead on. The market might be (very) weak and will likely get weaker, but this won’t hurt online advertising as it will traditional media outlets. The comment on the long tail of niche blogs is something that I think smart companies will be learning as they try to thinly stretch their diminishing advertising budgets.
Another amazing Vaynerchuk post was his recent step-by-step template for producing a videocast. The big picture instructions of developing content and approaching advertising made it seem quite easy. Since the “rise” and fall of IndieInterviews, I’ve been thinking about what I’ll do next online. (Yeah, sometimes you need two years to just think.) Lately, checking e-mails and skimming Google Reader has been quite an accomplishment.
Maybe in the upcoming months I’ll start the long walk by taking a few steps.
![A few years back, some Banksy work was exhibited in downtown LA. Titled “Barely Legal,” the exhibit featured loads of pink stuff and this play on the Warhol quote, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” Photo taken by Luke Little. [France]](http://media.tumblr.com/Mj650wjNGd7t726nktihG1S3_500.jpg)
Oh poor, poor little Google Reader. I never meant to treat you so badly. As I saw you reach the 1000+ mark, it was as clear to me as the day is long that I had mistreated and neglected you and, in turn, all the nice internetmakers out there.
I sincerely apologize to you. I have seen the err of my ways and will work to make it up to you.
May we “Mark all as read” before too long. I miss you and hope you miss me too.
Garrison
![Using found objects and scraps around his studio, Boston illustrator and blogger Chris Goodwin created a fascinating series of bugs. The series was photographed and posted over the spring and early summer of 2007. [TheSkinny]
These are made from found objects. They are wedged, fitted, and puzzled together without adhesives. Because of this they are extremely fragile. Some of them are also quite dangerous to handle casually. I like to think of them as high maintenance, exotic pets. Ornamental and not for snuggling.](http://media.tumblr.com/Mj650wjNGciw0gqpGoedqmes_500.jpg)
Using found objects and scraps around his studio, Boston illustrator and blogger Chris Goodwin created a fascinating series of bugs. The series was photographed and posted over the spring and early summer of 2007. [TheSkinny]
These are made from found objects. They are wedged, fitted, and puzzled together without adhesives. Because of this they are extremely fragile. Some of them are also quite dangerous to handle casually. I like to think of them as high maintenance, exotic pets. Ornamental and not for snuggling.
![Photographer Michael Hughes has been taking photos of souvenirs visually replacing the actual landmark. He plans to release the collection as a book. [SwissMiss]](http://media.tumblr.com/Mj650wjNGcai6n4lHXWEMDo0_500.jpg)