November 22, 2009
It's time for the best-of lists, decade style this time. Oddly, for the bands I like I agree with the choice and order of the AV Clubs best of 00's list but in a great many cases would've chosen different albums by the same artists (eg Jay-Z, Outkast, Kanye, White Stripes, MIA, Girl Talk). And though the full thing felt a bit too Dr Feeljay for me, it's a solid list.
Please post other lists below as they flame your righteous indignation.
November 10, 2009
We missed it, but the AE definition of WAM was chosen as the Urban Word of the Day for 14 December 2006. [more inside]
July 18, 2009
I think you will enjoy this collection of artwork inspired by cult movies. You may also like artwork inspired by videogames of the 1980's.
May 19, 2009
A Field Guide to Highway Interchanges - which one is your favorite? I think Austin and Houston have a lot of the "stacked" varieties. Of course I had never seen this "frontage road" concept outside of Texas (except very limitedly)...I wonder if we could use more Lofthouses or Spooeys.
May 07, 2009
A friend from college makes some pretty cool robot art. Also, check out the link to Arthur Ganson's artwork.
April 14, 2009
Person from Porlock, a 200-year-old literary meme. According to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the poem Kublai Khan came to him fully-formed as he slept; but while setting it to paper he was interrupted by an unnamed Person from Porlock, and returned to his desk with only threads of the idea remaining.
Not a MacGuffin or a Proof in a too-cramped margin or an Alan Smithee, it hangs on either side of the fourth wall: outside it, an interloper who disrupts the author's flow, or within the story, a transient figure who acts to redirect events.
March 21, 2009
art is imitation of Platonic reality.
March 03, 2009
Bad Paintings of Barack Obama - Much has been made of how so many talented, young artists came out in support of Barack Obama. But Obama also inspired tons of amateurs and semi-talented hacks as well—he can’t help it. Witness Bad Paintings of Barack Obama.
February 19, 2009
I'm surprised it took me this long to hear about Layer Tennis. It's a "competition" where 2 artists play "tennis" with an image, sound file, or some other creative endeavour. Each artist gets 15 minutes to apply a new layer while in between there is live commentary from such internet luminaries as Gruber and Defective Yeti. You can follow tomorrow's match live on the site or with the twitter or of course later in the archive.
February 02, 2009
Grammar of Comic Book Lettering - learn about when to use crow's feet and the significance of the crossbar I. No mention of the Grawlix, Jarn, Phosphene, Squean, Nittle or Quimp tho
January 21, 2009
Rhetorical foundations of the Inauguration Speechifying - from Anaphora to Zeugma.
- Anaphora, "emphasizing words by repeating them at the beginnings of neighboring clauses" -- "For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth. For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh." ... Also, "That's not change, that's more of the same."
- Epistrophe, repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses or sentences. For example, the Yes We Can speech:
For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.
Yes we can.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can. - Antimetabole: "The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do."
- Signifying and a Dog Whistle all in one: "They're trying to bamboozle you. It's the same old okie-doke. Y'all know about okie doke, right?". The video is worth watching -- his speech really changes when he shifts into black preacher mode.
- Antithesis: "To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." (See also this analysis
- Merism (lots of this): "And so to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more."
- Couldn't find any chiasmus, hendiadys or zeugma (OK so I lied in the pitch.) -- can you?
Other literary notes on the inauguration inside. [more inside]
January 08, 2009
Jack Torrance's Book Finally Published - Axl Rose has got nothing on Jack Torrance (the author depicted in Stephen King's coming-of-age dramedy "The Shining"): his 31-year-in-the-making novel "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" has finally been self-published. There have of course been dramatic reinterpretations but no formal release until now. [via DF]
November 19, 2008
Who says video games keep kids from exercising? This one is pretty good.
October 29, 2008
Google and Book Publishers settle suit - GOOG gets to show snippets of books in online search results; pays to set up a copyright registry; can sell electronic full-text versions; gives 63c of each dollar it makes with ads or sales to the publisher&author. Sounds good to me, and if Lessig likes it then so do I. [more inside]
October 22, 2008
RIP Dolemite. Every history of hip hop counts 'Godfather Of Rap' Rudy Ray Moore among its precursors, and the trailer for Dolemite counts among the all-time greats. Though the NYTimes obit (among an unstoppable array of hilarious pull quotes) cites “The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism”, they are too shy to link to the Signifying Monkey (lyrics), but I'm not. Do I even need to say it? Anything RRMoore is NSFW.
September 25, 2008
Sharpie Basement - when you visit my house ten years hence, know that this is where I stole its design scheme from
August 28, 2008
Bubble chart of "Things to Say During Sex" - just spitballin' some ideas here. [waxy] [more inside]
August 05, 2008
Al Franken freehands a map of the US at a campaign stop. Damn he's good! Click around in that photostream to see it being worked on.
July 21, 2008
Everywhere Girl. There's a Weird Science to Stock Photos: Getty et al have to predict months in advance what people will want photos of. Some things are easy: more sprinters and swimmers in the last half of this year, more Hispanics and old folks in the last half of this decade. Some aren't: "We hadn't been studying biotechnology, and suddenly everyone wanted a shot of 25 sheep on a seamless white background." (Way to screw up their job, Vanalyn.)
And every once in a while... some random girl's photo shoot crystallizes the platonic form for carefree college girl: studious, spiritual, adventurous, jet lagged (or just sleepy?) Yup, it's Everywhere Girl!
June 17, 2008
100 things - get rid of all but. I'd love to do this, but think it's out of reach unless "hand tools", "computer" and "books" each count as one.
June 06, 2008
Pulitzer Photos (and more) - the photo Pulitzers came out recently, with two extraordinary photos taking first and second. That spurred a fascinating rundown over at the washpost chat house of recent past winners and what the pulitzer committee looks for. [so you don't have to wade through, photos embedded after jump.]
Jason Kottke links to this extraordinary slideshow of photos taken from RFK's Funeral train, narrated by the photographer.
Meanwhile, Bruce Scheier runs down the War on Photography -- this Guide to Photographer's Rights is well worth browsing through. Forbidding photography in a public place is almost *never* legitimate, and seizing film in the absence of an arrest or a court order is never permitted. [more inside]
May 16, 2008
Muto Wall Animation. Pretty fascinating animation created by the artist BLU in Buenos Aires.
May 13, 2008
Panopticist's Magazine Mashup Mishegas - I don't know how I failed to have previously linked the Panopticist's stellar magazine cover mashups. But now that Jezebel is picking up the slack with their Harper's Bazaar Index, please enjoy classic cuts like "The New York Review of Looks" ("Norman Mailer: `Kate Hudson's Too Thin'") the "Us! News and World Report" and "E!conomist" (`How the Housing Bubble will affect Desperate Homeowners`).