Archive for August, 2010
Light-Paint Piano Player from Ryan Cashman on Vimeo. His description of the project:
There are four more after the break. [via Neatorama]
We’ve just spent an entire week couped up in NYC’s Javits Center for the NY Gift Fair and, in a sea of mediocrity this was the one true standout item. The idea is pretty much what it looks like. Think scratch off lotto ticket meets world map. Every time you go to a new country, you get to scratch it off on your wall when you return. Back in the day, this used to be done with push pins of course, but this is a far more elegant solution, and an unusually pretty map to boot. It’s made by Luckies, a UK outfit who, as far as we know, are brand new to the American market and we haven’t yet spotted a place where you can pick one up in the US. If that’s the case, don’t be surprised if it turns up on our sister site, jailbreakcollective.com, real soon. In fact, we’re gonna walk on over and ask them about it right now.
So, here’s a ‘fun’ fact I never thought I’d have occasion to share with such a big audience: I happen to bear the dubious distinction of having been the very first person flown out of Burning Man in a medivac helicopter in 2007. (I’ll spare everyone the details but, when all was said and done, I left Burning Man with one less digit than I entered with that year.) And so, with Burning Man around the corner and a blog readership that almost certainly includes more than a few people who will be attending, this one comes from the heart; Have fun there but do remember to be careful and to look out for your friends too. If you click on the infographic above, you can see a much larger version. [via GOOD]
When we redesigned the Jailbreak earlier this year we scoured the web and viewed every single social media icon set that was available at the time. It seems like all that work may have been for naught because apparently we missed the best one. Just today, we stumbled onto these furry social icons by noupe. Sooner rather than later, they’ll probably be on permanent display in our right-hand column but we don’t want to monopolize them. So, if you happen to be looking for a comfy set of social media icons to spruce up your home(page), here you go. The icons were designed by Andrea Austoni.
It’s usually the very first glimpse you get of any country. After touching down at the airport and collecting your bags, it’s off to the taxi cue. You’re matched up with your de facto tour guide and then you’re off into the great unknown together. He becomes Exhibit A of this new culture.  More often than not, the exchanges are limited by language, so you sit silently in the backseat of his little world observing the world at large through the lens of the taxi. In this series of illustrations, Russian artist Andrey Gordeev perfectly captures that jarring sense of pure wonder mixed up with a dash of  ”where the fuck am I?”. In addition to producing fantastic eye candy, its obvious that Gordeev is a ridiculously keen observer. Each one of these illustrations overflows with minute details that double as spot-on cultural references. Each illustration really warrants a few full minutes of thought and inspection as you try to tie together why he included each little detail he chose to include because clearly nothing landed here haphazardly. My favorite recurring detail is the talisman hanging right in the middle of each windshield - the one object that sums up each different culture. So far I’ve been able to pin down eight and a half of the twelve countries definitively. From top to bottom, we’ve got France, USA, ______ , Italy, Alaska(?),  Japan, _______ , India, Mexico, _________ , Germany, & England. Anyone know the others? The rest of the illustration are after the jump. If you haven’t heard about it already, this ad for McDonald’s in France has been creating quite the stir back home in the US. Much to the chagrin of awesome Americans, like Bill O’Reilly, who more or less equated gay people to Al Qaeda in denouncing this ad, McDonald’s has actually gone to lengths to foster strong ties and a positive image with the gay community in France. Of course, back in the day, this would have been a non-story since it was much easier for a corporation to brand itself differently to different cultures but obviously the internet is making that a little trickier. So maybe McDonald’s USA is regretting the blowback from this little international incident but I’d like to think that maybe, just maybe, they’re also hearing all the words of praise and encouragement from Americans who give them props for breaking down a wall with grace. Besides being a corporate behemoth, McDonald’s is an American cultural icon and with this ad, I’d say they did us proud on this one. Progressives and McDonald’s may be unlikely bedfellows, but for today, they’re a good guy. In honor of my warm fuzzy feelings for McDonald’s I’ve posted a bonus video below. It’s their new Spaceman Stu commercial, which happens to feature fantastic animation and music.
Two of our very favorite things in the whole world were brought together into one unholy little action figure at the Star Wars Celebration V this weekend as George Lucas presented Jon Stewart with his very own 3.5 inch stormtrooper action figure. There are two heads too – one with a goatee and one without! (pictures after the jump) Apologies to those of you who are less rabid about Star Wars but the Celebration V has left us no choice but to fly our dork flag this week. For the record, we’ve been pursuing a license for a Jon Stewart action figure for years now. Seriously. And they just let George Lucas waltz right in and steal our thunder? [via Techland]
This shirt isn’t quite available yet but you can vote for it on Threadless. Caveat: I’m not quite sure that there’s really an ink that could glow quite so bright. [Threadless via Super Punch]
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