Mighty Sparrow sounds mighty uptempo when he sings the sad story of little Laika the Russian astronaut puppy.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
The Old Man and the Sea Animation
This stop motion short by Marcel Schindler beautifully documents this epic clash between the fisherman and his quarry. The design is by Hagen Reiling - fantastic and evocative artwork - and the music provided by Awolnation and their song Sail. Altogether a wonderful twenty first century version of a classic of the 1950s.
Via Kuriositas
Friday, March 30, 2012
Easter Meatloaf of Lamb
This little agnus dei is truly incredible. Ground meat is baked in a vintage aluminum lamb cake mold and adorned with mashed potatoes and frozen veggies.
Link Via Laughing Squid
Link Via Laughing Squid
Why Did The Mother Cat Cross The Road?
To get her kittens to the other side, of course! This happened in New York City in 1925. Traffic was stopped for a cat to carry her kittens across a street. Reporters, having arrived after the cat had finished her task, took the kittens back across the street so they could snap some pics.
Via Miss Cellania
Via Miss Cellania
Roadsworth’s Beautiful Recycled Bottle Installation
Montreal artist Roadsworth created this installation of recycled materials using 13, 750 plastic bottles thrown away by customers at the Eaton Centre in that city.
3 Things You Can Do With Old Pennies
Canada’s penny was killed by the Conservative government in their 2012 Budget yesterday. The Royal Canadian Mint will stop pressing the coins this fall. Whatever will you do with those gazillion pennies you've been hoarding in jars?
Here are a few suggestions:
Here are a few suggestions:
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| Tile your floor |
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| Make art |
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| Turn them into souvenirs at a press a penny booth |
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Drawing Mental Illness: Artist Bobby Baker's Visual Diary
When performance artist Bobby Baker was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder in 1996, followed by a breast cancer diagnosis, she set out to capture her experience and her journey to recovery in 711 drawings that would serve as her private catharsis over the course of more than a decade. In Diary Drawings: Mental Illness and Me, Baker makes, at long last, this private experience public through 158 drawings and watercolors — poignant, honest, funny, moving, shocking — spanning 11 years of mental, physical, and emotional healing.
More at Brain Pickings Via Blort
Dudes Look Like Old Ladies
My friend Mike The Writer Guy put together this charming video of Lara Logan interviewing two little old ladies. I loved it. You will too.
Andy Warhol paints Debbie Harry on an Amiga 1985
I fell for the hype and the Amiga was my first computer. I never did figure out how to do much with it.
Via Retronaut
Via Retronaut
Metro Cuffs
Metro Cuff series helps locals and tourists alike feel comfortable navigating the subway system with an inconspicuous gesture, just like checking a watch. The subway lines, numbers, and streets are embossed into the surface of the metal.
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| London Tube |
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| Paris Metro |
shop here Via Laughing Squid
Canadian Music Translator
The 2012 Juno Awards take place on April 1st. Here's a guide to Canadian music for my non-Canadian friends.
(I have to admit I had never heard of Billy Talent)
CBC - Via
(I have to admit I had never heard of Billy Talent)
CBC - Via
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
A Completely Edible Cookbook That Bakes Into a Lasagne
What a great idea (until you have to flip back because you missed something).
Via Laughing Squid
German firm Korefe designed The Real Cookbook (Das Echte und Einzige Kochbuch), a special edition edible cookbook that is made of fresh pasta and can be baked into a lasagna.
Via Laughing Squid
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Vochol — Huichol Art on Wheels
The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian celebrates one of Mexico's indigenous communities with the unveiling of "Vochol: Huichol Art on Wheels"
The museum welcomes the 1990s Volkswagen Beetle named "Vochol®," decorated by indigenous craftsmen from the Huichol (Wixaritari) communities of Nayarit and Jalisco, Mexico, using more than 2 million glass beads and fabric. This one-of-a-kind vehicle is presented in collaboration with the Association of Friends of the Museo de Arte Popular and the Museo de Arte Popular in Mexico City, the Embassy of Mexico and the Mexican Cultural Institute.Link Via bookofjoe
An eagle, a fox and my cat all getting along fine on my porch
This wonderful video was taken in Unalaska, Alaska in the Aleutian Islands. I would love to see these guys in my back yard and would definitely invite that fox in for a cup of tea.
The Death Penalty In 2011
Amnesty International has released its annual survey of capital punishment worldwide. Although I don't like to preach here this is an issue I have always felt strongly about. The number 5 position of the US on this list is disappointing.
The United States stayed in its dubiously bad place on this fundamental human rights issue. The U.S. was the only country in the Western hemisphere or the G8 to kill its prisoners, and was responsible for the fifth most known executions in the world, behind China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. (As an independent country, Texas would have ranked 7th, between North Korea and Somalia, with its 13 executions in 2011.)
More at Amnesty International USA Blog
Monday, March 26, 2012
The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook
With The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook, you can take your first step into living out the life of Don Draper and company. It features over 70 recipes that will drop you smack dab in Mad Men era NYC. From the old-school drinks to the dishes served up at some of the swanky restaurants the cast dinned at, it’s all ready for you and your power suit to enjoy. $12Via Cool Material
Tom and Hettie
"Tom" Clarence Ashley was an American banjo player, guitarist and singer. Several folk revival singers in the 60s and 70s cited Tom as an influence. I used to sing several of his songs myself but not very well.
Clarence Ashley, known as Tom to his friends, married Hettie in 1914. He was 17 and she was 14 years old. In the Tennessee mountains where they lived it wasn’t unusual to marry young. Tom was a fine banjo player and made recordings with groups like ”The West Virginia Hotfoots”, “The Blue Ridge Mountain Entertainers”, and “The Carolina Tarheels”. Tom also recorded as a solo act. The first known recording of “House of the Rising Sun” features Tom on banjo.Read the rest of their story at Shrine of Dreams
Noisy Jelly
This jelly takes playing with food to a new level. It is a game where the player creates jelly with water and a few grams of agar agar powder. Once solidified in a mold the jelly shape is placed on the game board and the gamer activates different sounds by touching the shapes.
The game board is a capacitive sensor, and the variations of the shape and their salt concentration, the distance and the strength of the finger contact are detected and transformed into an audio signal.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Karl Lagerfeld in 24 Hours
My life is so different from Karl's. Maybe that's why I found this article so fascinating.
I never have lunch, but when I do, I ask them to bring it to me in the house. I actually have two houses. This house here, it's only for sleeping and sketching, and I have another house two-and-a-half meters away for lunch and dinner and to see people, and where the cook is and all that. I don't want that here. Even if the place is huge, I want to be alone. If I want something, I call them, and they're next door, they come. The studio is next door, the office is next door. If I have guests and butlers, I don't want them in my house. Everything is next door.More at Harper's BAZAAR
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory took up the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors of the Asch Building. Under the ownership of Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, the factory produced women's blouses (known at the time as "shirtwaists"). The factory normally employed about 500 workers, mostly young immigrant women, who normally worked nine hours a day on weekdays plus seven hours on Saturdays.
On this day in 1911 one hudred and forty-six garment workers, most of them women, died in the space of 18 short minutes. Some perished in the fire, others jumped from a fatal height. This tragedy brought issues of women’s empowerment, labor rights, and immigration to light.
Link to encyclopedia article
Anatomical Heart Vase
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Life-like heart designed by Justin Parker has ventricles for flower stems.
5" tall.
Purchase at ESQUE SHOP ($504.00)Via
Write On Map Wall Sticker
Perfect for world travelers or aspiring world travelers. Just stick it on and start dreaming!
Home Interiors
Via Fancy
Home Interiors
Via Fancy
Secret Agent Cat
I wonder if Joyce would like to pursue this career.
Acoustic Kitty was a CIA project launched by the Directorate of Science & Technology in the 1960s attempting to use cats in spy missions, intended to spy on the Kremlin, and Soviet embassies. A battery and a microphone were implanted into a cat and an antenna into its tail. This would allow the cats to innocuously record and transmit sound from its surroundings.Read more atMark's Scrapbook of Oddities and Treasures
Kintsugi: Repair It With Gold
The Japanese art of kintsugi, which means “golden joinery,” is all about turning ugly breaks into beautiful fixes.
Designer Lotte Dekker sells DIY kintsugi kits for 24 euro.Via iFixit
Thanks Bruce!
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Alejandro Cartagena - Car Poolers 2011
Alejandro Cartagena lives and works in Monterrey, Mexico. His projects employ landscape and portraiture as a means to examine social, urban and environmental issues.
Thanks Bruce!
Shoes That Let You Walk Like An Animal
Canadian artist Maskull Lasserre designed shoes that leave animal tracks in urban areas.
Via Laughing Squid
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| Wolf track |
David Lyle's Revisionist Art
Procuring photos from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s through garage sales, e-bay auctions, and flea markets, David changes history by adding some modern elements, often spoiling the innocent nature of the more mundane times.
Artist's Website Via The Queen Is Not Amused...
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Mad Men: the Game
The Fine Brothers have created an 8-bit “choose your own adventure”interactive game based on my favorite TV series Mad Men.
Via Neatorama
Via Neatorama
Top 10 ‘Mad Men’ Essentials
I know I'm looking forward to the new season of Mad Men. Are you? Collectors Weekly will get you in the mood with 10 Mod essentials, circa 1966-ish, to smarten up your workday and make you feel worthy of Roger Sterling’s approval. I love that Smith-Corona Cougar!
Meet Carol Kaye
Carol Kaye (born March 24, 1935) is an American session musician. She played bass on Phil Spector and Brian Wilson productions in the 1960s and 1970s and anchored what many consider to be the Beach Boys' best album, Pet Sounds. See the wide range of her experience in this trailer:
Walking Across America
I love to walk but I don't know if I'd be up for a walk across America. From August 8th 2011 to January 20th 2012 Andy Lambing walked from Charleston, SC to San Diego, CA. I wonder how many pairs of shoes he went through.
See more of his favorite pictures here
Thanks Bruce!
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| I like this one because it has my name on it! |
See more of his favorite pictures here
Thanks Bruce!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Golden Tiger Loose in Paris
This is lovely. French art studio Le3 used video projection to create the illusion of a tiger running loose in the streets of Paris.
Cuddly Robot Pillow Will Hug the Snoring Right Out of You
The Kabe Group at Waseda University are developing a “robotic pillow” to help ease the symptoms of sleep apnea sufferers. The teddy bear pillow has moving arms that reach out to gently nudge the sleeper onto his side when his breathing is interrupted or his snoring becomes bothersome.
Via Gadjits
Via Gadjits
A Brief History of Merlot
The oldest family-owned winery in California, Gundlach Bundschu, has created A Brief History of Merlot, a fun 3-minute short that gives their take on merlot’s “comeback”. It stars winery president Jeff Bundschu and his dad, Jim Bundschu.
Via Laughing Squid
Debunking TV Crime Shows and the CSI Effect
Shrine of Dreams calls bullshit on TV crime shows. Read the post. It's a good one.
Don’t believe any of that stuff you see on TV. If you’re watching a show for the characters and the drama, fine. Just treat it as fantasy. The “scientists” are really magicians who can wave a wand or chant a spell like “Enhance!” and reveal the truth. Oh, and those shows where lawyers are the main characters? Nothing that you see has any resemblance to anything remotely like genuine legal practice. Period.I have to agree. Some of my favourite crime shows take place in bucolic English villages where two murders occur in each weekly installment. How preposterous is that? At that rate the entire would be wiped out in no time and a national emergency declared.
Cakes in a Jar
When Mr. Nag and I visited Treviso in Italy's Veneto we came upon a food fair where food was served in canning jars. Risotto with radicchio, pasta fagiole, tiramisu and more (all served with prosecco of course). Closer to home Karen Solomon, author of Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It: And Other Kitchen Projects, bakes cakes in canning jars; these portable single-serving desserts are great for gifts or picnics.
Here is the recipe for Karen's cakes.
Via CHOW
Here is the recipe for Karen's cakes.
Via CHOW
Monday, March 19, 2012
Unicef Urban Population Map
Click here and hover over circles to see the percentage of urban and rural dwellers. You'll see we live in a very urban world.
Thanks Tom.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Doghouse Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright designed hundreds of landmark buildings and homes during a prolific career that spanned more than seven decades. But in what is widely considered a first and only for the famed architect, Wright indulged a young boy's humble request for a dog house in 1956 and sent him designs for the structure.
12 year old Jim Berger wrote his request to Wright and offered to pay him out of the earnings from his paper route. Berger later realized that this was a great story and has made a documentary featuring the doghouse among other grander structures designed by Wright in California.
Link Via Notcot
Saturday, March 17, 2012
The Chieftains And Ry Cooder Tell 'San Patricio' History
During the Mexican-American War of the 1840s, a group of disaffected Irish-American conscripts led by Capt. John Riley crossed the border to fight with the Mexicans. Riley put together a battalion named the "San Patricio," deserted the U.S. Army and joined the Mexicans to fight on what he saw as the side of justice.Listen to more at NPR Via Metafilter
In Case Vase
This vase by Sara Ebert is ingenious: "Were an intruder to attack, the vase can be smashed and turned against the aggressor. The pattern creates optimal shards to aid in your protection."
While awaiting the attack you can stick some pretty flowers in the vase. You couldn't do that with a shiv.
Via bookofjoe
While awaiting the attack you can stick some pretty flowers in the vase. You couldn't do that with a shiv.
Via bookofjoe
Mind-Controlled Dress
The Mechapolypse Dress, created by London designer Nange Magro, is a mind-controlled wearable piece of technology that allows its wearer to change its shape and appearance with nothing more than concentrated brainwaves.
Trekkie Ties
Paul Villinski's Beer Can Butterflies
Paul Villinski creates beautiful birds and butterflies from crushed beer cans found on the streets of New York.
The butterflies operate symbolically, and I try to develop a conceptual unity between materials, process, and imagery: metamorphosing littered beer cans into flocks of butterflies mirrors the act of transformation and rebirth that butterflies symbolize across all cultures.
--Paul Villinski
Thanks Bruce.
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