I might be getting a little to old to be making sure i'm aware of who my favorite designer (er.. design firm) is. But alas, i have little control over my maturity.
So. As of today it is Paul Sahre (the office of Paul Sahre). I can assure you it as little to do with our names being only 2 letters apart. However, because these 'favorite' things are a lot like love, and i can't really explain why he's my favorite. it might be that the name/letter similarity plays a big part, I don't know. Some of you will know him as the guy who designed the cover for sex, drugs and coco puffs.
Either way for those keeping track. For a few months it has been Chermmayeff & Geismar (after buying the book Watching Words Move). Before them it was KarlssonWilker, and before that: Tibor Kalman (dec.), and before him Sagmeister (his jambalaya poster was in a studio at ISU).
Yes, basically. did you know back type on yellow is has the best legibility of any color scheme? Next is white type on green.
I've oft said (and tried to sell dan on) that i could start a 1 color design shop. and personally i'd probably put my 1 color on many bright colors, but i'd know that if it needed to get read, i'm gonna have to go with yellow (but i'd still try it on florescent pink first).
Oh... i thought this little connection between the designers was intersting too:
sagmeisters mentor (it seems) was Tibor Kalman, while KarlssonWilker were both interns at sagmeister. OOPS is in the same building as karlssonwilker. Chermayoff and Guismar are in there only cause of the yellow/black thing, though.
Man, i love charts, especially simple ones that establish correlations between things. They help me categorize things easier, and one of my favorite pastimes is oversimplifying things into too few categories.
For these reasons i love the blog indexed. And this is a video that it looks like the people (person?) at indexed made:
Genius. You could easily write 1,000 words explaining why each one of the Indexed blog posts would be funny. OR, just read the 2 or 2 dozen words and examine the relationships. Minimalism, logic, irony, and notecards -- all used effectively...
Winter refuses to quit around here. Last night (and into this morning) and ice storm rolled through the City of 'Wa knocking our power to our house and depositing at least half of our neighbors old oak tree in our front yard, back yard, roof, and most annoyingly: driveway.
When the power went out around 4pm yesterday I figured it was going to be a long cold night because we could see and hear the massive electric shock as the powerline broke just down the street from us. But about 2-3 hours into our candlelit Monopoly game the house lit up and the heat was back on and like a junkie to the needle we started plugging back in to modern life.
One lesson I have learned from the mess: get a battery powered radio. Or better yet, one of those nifty hand crank ones.
Erin kicked my ass. It was embarrassing. She contends owning the yellows is the key to winning and i cant say i disagree. Fucking Atlantic avenue.
An update: I'm at the office today... of course... and people are stopping in... apparently I'm the only person in the office with power. Sipes is out still too.
Thats what everyone get for moving to Coralville/North Liberty.
I found a neat little feature where i can send you emails... and since i never post anymore i thought this might be a good way we can stay in touch. I kinda miss you. You know?
Anyway... thought you might dig this poster. Its attached. Can you even open attachments? I guess we'll find out huh?
The highlights:
David Geffen made some comments at an Obama fundraiser in Hollywood.
“...I don’t think that another incredibly polarizing figure, no matter how smart she is and no matter how ambitious she is — and God knows, is there anybody more ambitious than Hillary Clinton? — can bring the country together."
So the Hillary camp demanded an apology cause they viewed this (and some other comments) as "viciously and personally attacking Senator Clinton and her husband."
And Then, AND THEN!!!! Obama's team answered with:
"It is also ironic that Senator Clinton lavished praise on Monday and is fully willing to accept today the support of South Carolina State Sen. Robert Ford, who said if Barack Obama were to win the nomination, he would drag down the rest of the Democratic Party because ’he’s black.’”
Which of course is kinda taken out of context... but it's still a pretty awesome come back. I bet his camp gonna play that card all the way to the top.
I bet somewhere along the line some republican is gonna say "you people always want to..." and obama's gonna be like "what do you mean 'you people", and then the other guys gonna be like "democrats", and obama's gonna have this scolding look on his face and say something like "sure you did." And then that person's political career will be ruined.
I've the hearing (in the media mostly) that "the chinese symbol for crisis is the same as the symbol for opportunity." i think the colbert report even said this. I've never really believed it, so today - as i avoid doing work - i looked it up. And.... they are not the same word, at least not according to Victor H. Mair,professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Pennsylvania. I found this essay, here's a little exerpt from it:
Those who purvey the doctrine that the Chinese word for "crisis" is composed of elements meaning "danger" and "opportunity" are engaging in a type of muddled thinking that is a danger to society, for it lulls people into welcoming crises as unstable situations from which they can benefit. Adopting a feel-good attitude toward adversity may not be the most rational, realistic approach to its solution.
I've compiled a little list of the shows i'm interested in this spring (thanks, pollstar). Judging by the amount of indie rock shows on this list, it may spell the end of the watching indie rock live. I say this cause every indie rock show i go to is worse than the one before in this complacency laden town of Minneapolis. God, the shins show sucked. thanks for that link, Eric.
So here's the list:
Thermals 2/27, Triple Rock The Reverend Horton Heat 3/05, First Ave TV on the Radio 3/15, First Ave Of Montreal 3/16, First Ave Neko Case 4/07, First Ave Ted Leo 4/25, First Ave M Ward 5/06, Orpheum
Also, Gogol Bordello is touring with flogging molly in Australia, that would be awesome to see.
And, there's a chance I'll catch Lightning bolt, on 3/31 in Chicago. they're skipping Minneapolis, cause i think they'd make the kids here cry.
Nick said,
I like indie rock shows. Paul and I have been discussing them quite a bit lately. I nod my head and that's as much as I feel I need to do at a show. Anyway I'm actually planning on going to a few of those shows as well.
The Rev. Horton Heat 3/5, First Ave Cold War Kids 3/6, Varsity Theater Of Montreal 3/16, First Ave
I'm going to be out of town, but people should check out The Apples in Stereo at Varsity Theater on Saturday (24th) if they like power pop/idie stuff.
I think the Tossers will be opening up for the Rev. They're an Irish folk/punk band from Chicago and are a drunken good time. I recommend you check them out.
The Tossers rule! I'm excited to see Murder By Death -- also playing witht the Rev. The few songs I've heard by them are great. I have several friends coming in from out of town for this show.
ellen said,
middlepicker's opening up for the thermals, so i will most definitely be there because i can get in for free. The other show i was thinking about going to is the Tokyo Police Club show at the varsity 3/6. I guess the cold war kids are playing with them that night, too, but who cares. :)
I’m sorry to say that I’m not familiar with a lot of the groups everyone is listing for upcoming shows. It just proves that you gotta love the twin cities because there’s something for everyone. These upcoming shows have caught my eye as ones not to miss. Let me know if anyone is interested in going.
Valient Thorr 3/09 Triple Rock The RX Bandits w/ Gym Class Heroes 3/18 First Avenue Against Me! 4/3 Triple Rock Los Straitjackets 5/3 Turf Club Dillinger Four w/ Naked Raygun 5/5 Triple Rock (Extreme Noise’s 13th anniversary celebration)
Nick said,
I forgot about a show I am planning on going to in April.
The Little Ones & The Walkmen April 21st, @ Tracadero
I've never been to the venue so if anyone has let me know what you think of it.
Carrie said,
I'm up for Neko. Anyone else? This will be occurring exactly seven days before my 26th birthday. Or is it 25, 27? I lost track.
i really hate not being able to sleep. what i hate more is that i don't realize it until i lay around for a few hours, and now it's 4am and you know tomorrow is gonna suck. i wish unison had a 'lite' pill that worked for only 4 hours. or maybe i could knock myself out with some ether.... where do you find ether?
Dr. Eric prescribes warm milk, a double shot of NyQuil and 3 ounces of Bicardi 151. After that you should be counting sheep (or in a coma). Warning: Dr. Eric is not a real doctor. Dr. Eric's prescription can cause liver damage, incontinence, and general lethargy and/or beligerance.
This post is about the webcomic Achewood. I could try to explain Achewood to you but I think Wikipedia does it better. When I first read it I didn't really think it was that special, but after I took the time to sit down and go through some of the story arcs and understand some of the characters and their personalities it all clicked for me. It gets updated almost every day and I make sure to check it as often as possible. Sometimes when I get bored I'll go back and read some of the arcs for a good laugh. But you don't have to take my word for it (duh-duh-DUH).
I've been sitting on this cause i didn't want to judge too quickly.... But here it is: I don't like the way it looks. Overly rounded corners, the sorta bubbling over edge treatment... even the overall proportion of the thing. Having not seen it in person i really can't say for sure... but i think it's just a little to busy. It's not as streamlined as i would expect and desire from apple.
But if you look back at rev. 1 ipod that thing was pretty clunky - so maybe the next version might clean things up a bit.
Busy? Not as streamlined? The only thing that might be considered busy about the design of this phone might be the actual user interface. Which, even then, isn't even busy as most cell phone interfaces. This thing is so streamlined that it doesn't even have buttons.
Might i be able to consider the mixing of metal and black busy? what if i consider the space between the screen and the top and bottom edge busy because they are more complicated than simple rectangles? what if i consider a reflective metal around an already glowing screen as busy? Also, what if i consider the thick border on the face to be busy cause it creates 2 borders (an inner and an outer) instead of one? Also, i kinda think it's too fashion-y. There was something pedestrian,simple, and approachable about the ipod.... more human than sleek & sexy. This is considerably more sleek & sexy. Which is fine if that appeals to you. But i like it less.
Also, the iPod mixes metal and black...is that still too busy for you?
You just said you wanted something not as busy and more streamlined and now you say you don't want something that is sleek and sexy. Make up your mind.
NASA's website has a cool little java applet. You can view an interactive diagram of the more than 900 satellites orbiting our planet. Very interesting.
The recent drama associated with astronauts begs the question: How exclusive is the 62 mile high club? Christopher Beam probes the story for Slate. One could assume that no privacy, Tang breath, and adult diapers fail to set the mood for carnal delights.
Prince is the next musician in my exclusive TackleAction Guitar Hero series. Since he is best known for singing, songwriting and producing, I would say he is an underrated guitarist. Here he is jamming at the George Harrison induction ceremony into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I'm sure most of you caught his super bowl halftime show, which is another great example of his performance skills.
This is a fine testament to Prince's straightness, and also brings light to how he obtained such a spectacular list of bedded women. (go to the bottom of the page.)
Nice clip Ryan. I love how Prince knocks down the light post towards the end. Very Iggy of him.
There is debate here at work over Prince's halftime show performance. People I work with are convinced that he was not playing guitar but "finger synching" with a prerecorded guitar track.
It's near impossible to prove, but I think he was playing. It think the sounds were consistent to his motions
I don't know at what point an electric guitar will fail due to moisture. The coils inside are basically an electromagnet powered by a wireless transmitter he was wearing... Has anyone out there played electric guitar in the rain? How about on the wind swept steppe? Maybe on a craggy peak?
This little Apple patent filing answers one of the questions i've had with the iPhone model: How are you supposed to condense your 20 to 60 gig collection into the mere 8 gigs the iPhone offers?
And in my humble opinion (formed by looking at the bottom right of the above pic) they're gonna do it with centralized content servers! So you buy rights to music/movies/etc, and then keep it on an external server for you to access from home/work/phone. That seems pretty cool as long as there is a way to get that music locally so you can copy it to a non-internet device.
Old news.... but this little quote i found on the cnn homepage is ridiculous:
Attorney General John Grossman called the light boards "bomblike" devices and said that if they had been explosive they could have damaged infrastructure and transportation in the city.
Seriously? I have no idea what a real bomb looks like. But i do know that just about anything bigger than a ipod nano could be a bomb. The unabomber sent letters as bombs. Quick, arrest your mailman.
And IF they would have been explosive? what if all the staplers had bombs in them? what if planes were dragons? What if I was/am a bomb? (where would my fuse be?)
I think the light boards were "Holiday-light-like" devices, and if they had been in the shape of santa's face they could have spread love and cheer throughout the city.
UPDATE: Video of the perps talking about hair. Hilarious:
I'm gonna pull that quote, cause that's too f'in awesome.
"In a news conference, Rich told reporters he had advised his clients not to discuss the incident. Stevens and Berdovsky took the podium and said they were taking questions only about haircuts in the 1970s.
When a reporter accused them of not taking the situation seriously, Stevens responded, "We're taking it very seriously." Asked another question about the case, Stevens reiterated they were answering questions only about hair and accused the reporter of not taking him and Berdovsky seriously.
Reporters did not relent and as they continued, Berdovsky disregarded their queries, saying, "That's not a hair question. I'm sorry."
This is a pathetic attempt for the govt to save face for ridiculously overreacting to something anyone under 30 could see was a just a clever sign or ad or whatever.
"As soon as Turner realized the Boston problem around 5 p.m., it said, law enforcement officials were told of their locations in 10 cities where it said the devices had been placed for two to three weeks: Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Philadelphia."
Pathetic. Shows you how ridiculously ineffective our defensive strategy against real "terrerists" will be when it counts.
I don't think it has to do with age or anything. I think it's just an overreaction, and irrational fear of something unknown. We've been bred for generations now to fear everything from the commies to the drug lords to the terrorists. And when something even slightly aligns itself with one of those fears, a lot of pent up emotion comes out.
"Shows you how ridiculously ineffective our defensive strategy against real "terrerists" will be when it counts."
Um Dan, we have wiretaps on the terrorists. I think the fact that we didn't know about what these things were was proof enough that they weren't bombs. Because if they were bombs, then we would have known about them, and they wouldn't be there.
Do you see where i'm going with this? Your safe because you are so unsafe the we are doing everything we can to make you safe. habeas wha?
I think age has a lot to do with recognizing the potential danger in this situation. Most people over 30 (especially the elderly) understand the rational fear of robots breaking into their home and stealing their medicine for fuel. You whippersnappers with your Dan Fogelberg music and your Pac Man video games would probably run to embrace any kind of wire laden blinking light box that you could strap to a brick of C4. God bless America...
The more I read up on the city's responses on this, the more I want to write or contact the officials and tell them what total idiots they are and how much more ridiculous they are going to look by trying to drag this out further by prosecuting these two innocent stoners.
i have a theory. The city realizes it looks crazy stupid. So the city told the two guys to be jerks on tv so the city will remember them as the jerks that did this. this is also in their best interest because they become pop culture hero's to their demographic. meanwhile grandma thinks the gov't is doing a great job getting kids like that in trouble. everyone wins. i don't think we'll ever hear about this except for in a few weeks when we'll here the city has dropped it's case.
After watching that video on ABC's website that Paul posted, there's a poll asking who's at fault in the scare, and I noticed the results are at over 50% that think the authorities in Boston overreacted...which makes me feel better. If only Boston authorities would realize this.
although the people that voted in that survey might be skewed toward the 'informed' side. since that site was linked from boing boing - and no doubt every other blog that's talking about this.
This whole event has been rolling around in my brain since yesterday, and I can only come to one conclusion: this is frickin' surreal. The event involves an irreverent cartoon, guerilla marketing, terrorism, a media circus, national security, and 70s haircuts.
I think this misunderstanding says more about "factionalized" marketing and specialized niche audiences than bomb scares. The niche audience was specificly targeted in a way that the message was lost and the method misinterpreted, causing scorn for the the project, product, marketers, and ultimately younger generation audience that would appreciate or respond to such marketing.
I don't think this mooninite represents some marketing-fueled inter generation resentment.
if that was some sort of abstract blinking light the scare would have been just the same. and if it were santa, or fred flinstone, i still think the over-reaction would have happened. it was the fear of the unknown but impending.
I think this says a lot more about our fear level than anything. I think this also shows how the terrorists have won.
Blogging about blogging about how blogging sucks... um, well... really 
Sweet Heart by Nathan Sawaya. Come on guys... feel the love.
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