Sunday, January 25, 2009

Video: Stephen Colbert remixes himself

His own Remix Challenge results in Stephen Colbert remixing himself into a video with glowsticks and laser lights.

Stephen did not -- not -- want you to take his interview with Lawrence Lessig and remix it with a pumping k-hole groove. But you did it anyway. Stephen says, " I don't know what makes me angrier, here, the copyright infringement or the fact that those beats were so jaw-droppin', ear-poppin' fresh. "

So what's a guy like Stephen to do in response? He made his own, of course. Hahahahaha! Check it out: he busts out some hilarious dance moves.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Aretha Franklin's Hat:

I'm having fun with Aretha Franklin's extra special President Obama Inaguration Day hat.


Birthday greeting for Emmy-winning friend Shannon:

Happy Birthday Shannon!


DJ Adam Freeland wears it well:



Hedgehog Ms. Appa Pricklesworth isn't so sure.

Download the hat file here. The psd file has a transparent background for your own Photoshop play. Check out the Flickr gallery Aretha Franklin's Hat for inspiration.

Coraline: movie trailer v.2

Neil Gaiman says, "It's the first Coraline trailer I've liked ." This new trailer is much creepier than the earlier one. Love it!!

Related: I learned a new word today thanks to SlightlyNorth. His self-portait should be avoided by all koumpounophobes.

Coraline opens in theaters on February 6th.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

O is for Obama

Happy day! I ordered this shirt back in November and saved it for today. It is designed by Alex Ross.
Yeah, I know Obama will not be perfect and he is not a superhero, but hell, I am happy he's of new generation who GETS today, the future and the opportunities ahead of us. And not afraid to call b-shit on b-shit. Hope. Engagement. Passion. Many are waking up from hibernation induced by despair.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Travel: a feast day for animal blessings

Today is Feast Day of de San Antonio de Abad in Mexico, which explains why there were lots of animals with the christmas trees and nativity scenes. This feast day is a religious holiday during which the Catholic Church allows animals to enter the church for blessing. I wonder how many of the many many dogs are brought into the church for an annual blessing today.

A couple of small towns were setting up carnival kiddie rides in their central town plazas on Thursday. I'm guessing the Feast Day is a community event and marks the end of the holiday season in Mexico.

I loved walking around the ordinary life spaces in the small towns and getting a sense of place and local people. This is sort of travel I value most.

animal collective





nativity

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Video: Daft Punk vs Freeland - Aer OBAMA

Just in time for the Jan 20th inauguration, directing team GOLD has released a fun video of Adam Freeland's Aer OBAMA track. The video is a stop motion multimedia piece featuring alt toys designed by Dalek, Bill McMullen and Kubrick. Freeland's Aer OBAMA is a remix of Daft Punk's Aerodynamic, mashed up with other tracks plus a speak-n-spell saying "Say it...O B A M A...You are correct!" OBAMA. Correct!



Less than 7 days remain in the Bush-whack administration. Finally, finally.
I'm counting down in Mexico at the moment and will be back in Seattle in time for inauguration festivities.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

A Twitter Marriage Proposal

Text messaging is so old school. Be all high-techie-like and propose marriage via Twitter. Ultimate geek!
Grant Robertson proposed to his girlfriend Christina Warren today using Twitter. With 1,221 and 4,248 followers respectively, it was a risky move. However, they already have a ring picked out, so I suspect they had a previous private discussion. See the public tete-a-tete on grobertson's and film_girl's twitter pages.

p.s. I don't know this couple. I do, however, know a few people who live in Atlanta. Poor things.

little bird

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch: It's Real and It's Bad

I heard just a little bit last year about the enormous island of garbage in the Pacific Ocean and I furrowed the brow for a second, but it took a random appearance of the Patch in a dream last week to prompt me learn more about it.

The following is part 1 of a video series documenting a research voyage led by Charles Moore, leader of the Agalita Marine Research Foundation. Charles Moore discovered the garbage patch in 1997, and has since devoted his life and family fortune toward research of and education about the Pacific Garbage Patch. The images are astounding.


(source)
I suspect there are lots of people like me: we care, we reuse/reduce/recycle yet aren't "environmentalists" hardcore. We're aware that plastic is bad for our planet, but thought that buying fewer plastic bottles and recycling was enough to absolve us of personal responsibility. I think not.

I'll be changing more of my consumer habits and deliberate actions as a result of learning about this mess. I'm not sure exactly how, but I do know I don't have to turn into a one-note environmentalist in order to have impact.

Thomas Morton, a member of documentary video crew provides an insightful and revealing commentary on his transformation as a result of the voyage:

All the journalism I’d read about the patch had carefully danced around physical descriptions of the trash, leading myself and the rest of the shooting crew to fanciful visions of a solid, Texas-size barge of discarded Coke bottles and sporting goods. The idea that people had managed to fuck up a part of the world that nobody even visits, much less inhabits, and on such a monumental scale struck me as interesting and, to be honest, slightly awesome-sounding, but at the end of the day the impact of the mess on the rest of the world failed to register. I mean, sure, sea birds choking to death on deflated balloons and sea turtles whose shells have been completely deformed by soda can rings (click here for a picture of this if you want to ruin your day)—all this definitely sucks, but so do a lot of things, you know?

Needless to say this whole journey ended up overturning my expectations about the Garbage Patch, as well as just about every misconception I’ve ever held about the sea, environmentalism, consumption, knots, pollution, humanity, and myself.
(Thomas Morton)

Learn more: Wikipedia, video series

Monday, January 5, 2009

Mother's Cookies Circus Animals to Return


frosted animals
Originally uploaded by JeanineAnderson
Like Oreos, Mother's Circus Animal cookies are a staple of my childhood and of my parenting years. So sad to read in early October that Mother's Cookies closed abruptly and filed for bankruptcy. Although it's been years years since I bought these cookies, they were always there on the shelf just in case.
Anyways, Bonnie spotted some bags at a Grocery Outlet (she calls it "the used foods store") and bought some for me. Nom nom yum!

Good news for Mother's cookies fans: in early December Kellogg announced that they have acquired the trademark and recipes from Mother's Cookies. We could be seeing these little pinks and whites back on the shelves later this year. Yay!
Check your used food store in the meantime, or get this t-shirt to let the world know about your cookie love.