the theological implications of this move seem pretty huge.
Dusdin has been preaching the goodness of Owl Foreigners photostream on Flickr for some time now. It’s now time I shared it with the rest of the world. The guy has an inimitable eye for found images. It reminds me a bit of why’s what a quiet stiff but more religious, literary, and European. Also, he occasionally provides some great commentary such as the insight I’ve included here.
In case you didn’t know, Mexico’s in the middle of something like a civil war. President Felipe Calderón declared war on drug traffickers in early 2007. 6,836 people have died in drug-related violence since then. 640 of them died in Northern Baja (listen up San Diegans!).
Why am I talking about this here? Because I just discovered an admirable piece of Internet journalism at the LA Times called Mexico Under Siege. Pay attention to the animated map of Mexico as the page loads. It’s too bad you can’t replay it or jog through it.
Worth noting:
Above average information graphics
A useful interactive map
Tons of pictures and videos
Excellent presentation of related reporting (includes articles, videos, and other media—sortable by date, byline, dateline, taxonomy, and media)
There are enough UI hang-ups to keep this thing from winning any awards, but kudos to the LA Times for effectively combining reporting, photography, and data to tell a very compelling (and harrowing) story. Hopefully their bankruptcy reorganizing will shift some more power to their interactive whizzes.
Sean Michaels just clued me into one of his other online projects, Inside the Frozen Mammoth. In my mind, it is to Montreal what 50ft is to San Diego. They use more words though. Also, they do interviews with local artists, which I might try to do on here. Go take a gander and be jealous of how awesome everything is in Canada.
Der Trincker - A broadside warning against drunkenness
with an engraving showing a man sitting and drinking at a table next a large wine barrel, out of which four animals are emerging, above and below with engraved text.
Anon. broadside engraving, Germany, 1610 (circa).
Dusdin clued me into Kintzertorium’s flickr stream, an astounding archive of historical “engravings, lithographs and etchings.” I could spend all day in there.
Turns out there’s a musician (and maybe artist) in San Diego doing things that I like. His name is Nathan Williams, but he goes by Wavves and his 35 minute album is described as “lo-fi beach punk anthems…beautiful timeless melodies on top trash can guitars and blown out drums.” Have a listen on HisSpace. Heavy stuff!
Also, he has a blog called GHOST RAMP that I’m probably going to subscribe to.
Helvetireader is a userscript that pares down Google Reader to what [its author] consider to be the essentials. In particular, it’s made for looking at feeds in the expanded view, using Keyboard Shortcuts instead of on-screen buttons.
They describe it as “All the music news, MP3s, and discussion you need—brought to you by the top music bloggers.”
I like everything about the blog so far, particularly the “Hit ‘Tab’ to search this site” trick. I’m starting to get anxious about the time when highly readable sites go out of style.
Yewknee made a mix for winter called Stay Indoors. It looks good, especially since it features Animal Collective’s “Brothersport,” which is the PEVZ track of the year.
Also, if you’re smart, you’ll subscribe to his blog.
Computer art has not been found out yet. Let us find it out for ourselves.
Traditional art trade, criticism and art history have not yet built walls around this kind of art. It is in our hands how we will shape their future relations.
(The task of sensible criticism would be to measure pieces of computer art by the measure of art. Artistic quality should be decisive and not the label “computer-made”.)
These pictures have not yet been bid for at auctions. We should realize that it is not the prime objective to transform these works of art into marketable goods.
Censors’ attention has not yet been so clearly focused on these works of art. Why should we be censors of ourselves? Why should we build barriers in our own minds?
The right form for exhibiting computer art is unclarified so far. The solution to this problem also lies in our hands.
…
Artists’ responsibility is the responsibility of those who create signs; the signs we leave behind will make people of the coming centuries know we have lived and thought.
I watched Journey to the Center of the Earth on a plane the other week. I didn’t listen to it though; I was listening to Lindstrøm’s epic Where You Go I Go Too.
As I watched and listened, I decided that Lindstrøm is probably the best possible person to create an album that synchs perfectly with Journey—à la Dark Side of the Moon with The Wizard of Oz. Lindstrøm’s spaced-out-zero-gravity-didgeridoo-twinkling-star-laser-balearic-disco vibes were a perfect match for the movie’s ice-blue glowing finches, floating boulders, lava, giant venus fly traps, waterfalls, laserfish, makeshift kite/sail boats, and glowing subterranean dusk.
Now, having watched the trailer for Journey to the Center of the Earth, I’m even more convinced that someone should do this, so we can enjoy the movie’s ridiculous/awesome visuals without suffering through its ridiculous/inane script.
Last week, I noticed this picture of T-Pain as I read USA Today over a fellow plane passenger’s shoulder. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
I mean, where do I begin? I was at a total loss. Hip hop, no matter how mainstream and auto-tuned it can become, still hasn’t betrayed its legacy of absolutely relentless innovation and reinvention. I love it, even if I rarely get it. T-Pain makes some pretty terrible music, but I’ve got to hand it to him, he’s created something remarkable. Plus he’s really rich now, right?
