Posting this song in the hope that it will move on from my head

 Posted by on 26 April 2010  Music
Apr 262010
 

This morning, on the way to work, I happened to hear a great song on the radio. I thought I had heard it before, but I couldn’t place it. I got to the office and Googled the lyrics.

I listened to it a couple more times.

And then, it got stuck in my head.

I like the song, but it’s been on repeat over and over and over again for nearly 18 hours now. For a while, a clip of Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” in a TV show booted it out, but that only lasted about 10 minutes.

So I’m posting it here, in the hopes that sharing it with blog readers will allow the song to leave my head and to infect you. I realize that this is mirroring part of the plot of The Ring. So be it.

Enjoy — Duffy’s “Warwick Avenue.” It’s a sad, sad song, with a sad, sad video, but Duffy has killer pipes. It’s a couple of years old, and I’m sure I’ve heard it before, but Amy said it was new to her.

Don’t worry, high-fives can be easy

 Posted by on 26 April 2010  Modern Life
Apr 262010
 

Man, I love high-fives. No, seriously, I’m that guy. I’m also the “cheers” guy whenever I’ve got a drink (or anything) in my hand.

I remember watching some Saturday morning cartoon one time, where the characters were battling an alien invasion, Body Snatchers style, except because it was a kids cartoon, the body snatching occurred by lie a virus — and the virus was passed exclusively through high-fives.

It was devilishly perfect, explained one of the characters to another, since “No one can resist a high five.”

That’s kind of become my mantra. One of my officemates and I have awesome high-five rapport, and it’s a thrill to just solidly connect whenever she puts a palm up. Damn right.

So I laughed a lot at this video. Sure, it’s funny, but it also speaks to me:

This one’s for you, A-listen.

Music Mondays: Corinne Bailey Rae

 Posted by on 26 April 2010  Music
Apr 262010
 

Corinne Bailey Rae absolutely exploded onto the music scene in 2006 with  “Like a Star” from her debut album. It was a huge hit in both the UK and the States, and the Leeds native instantly became a critical darling for her sweet voice and soulful music.

Rae drew accolades and racked up an impressive amount of awards, but unfortunately her musical career was put on hold after the sudden death of her husband, Jason Rae. After more than two years absent, she has just released her second album this past January called The Sea. The album is a mix of acoustic-driven songs and funky, orchestral tracks.

In particular, I really enjoy her song “Paris Nights/New York Mornings,” an ode to those nights you spend dancing and falling in love, completely carefree. It has such a great beat, and makes me want to get out of my seat and dance, but is also really dreamy and wistful. A great song from Rae’s sophomore effort.

The ‘Twilight’ of an historic town

 Posted by on 25 April 2010  Modern Life
Apr 252010
 

I have never read the “Twilight ” series of books and never intend to. Normally, I would say that makes me unqualified to criticize.

But when fiction spills out into the real world, then, then I can criticize freely. And I would like to start off by saying that I think Stephanie Meyer and her legions of fans are wrecking parts of that real world.

In the series, Meyer chose to make the home of the vampires the real-life town of Volterra. Now, the town has found itself besieged by fans of the book (and the movie, filmed nearby) who want to see where Edward lived.

Der Speigel has a story about it, but in short, they’re whoring themselves out, with tours and tours and tours. Not everyone’s happy, and some in the town think they can bait-and-switch the girls, offering a little culture with the vampire schtick, and hoping that the culture is what’ll stick.

Who knows. But what I do know is that this line in the story made me very sad:

Since Volterra has no train station, they come from nearby Florence or Siena by bus and carve “Edward Forever!” into the walls while laughing giddily.

Sigh. I may have been just as obsessed with “Lord of the Rings” as any teen girl is with “Twilight.” But I don’t recall desecrating any druid burrows by carving my own runes into them at the time.

Conversation starter: What if the tea party protesters were black?

 Posted by on 25 April 2010  Modern Life
Apr 252010
 

Here’s a provocative question: What if the tea-party protests was made up of angry black people instead of angry white people?

It’s asked, with examples, in this blog post. In part:

Imagine that hundreds of black protesters were to descend upon Washington DC and Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Capitol and White House, armed with AK-47s, assorted handguns, and ammunition. And imagine that some of these protesters —the black protesters — spoke of the need for political revolution, and possibly even armed conflict in the event that laws they didn’t like were enforced by the government? Would these protester — these black protesters with guns — be seen as brave defenders of the Second Amendment, or would they be viewed by most whites as a danger to the republic?

To be clear, although I don’t agree with any tea partier I’ve seen yet, I support their right to protest until they drop from exhaustion. But have you noticed that the people who scream loudest about needing tolerance are often the people who are least tolerant themselves?

Pretty cool card trick

 Posted by on 24 April 2010  Modern Life
Apr 242010
 

I know how the hand thing works, though I do it a little differently. And I know the theory behind how this card trick works. But it’s still a darn impressive sight to see. And he does it through the whole deck!! when most people who do this trick do it just with the face cards.

Our incredible sun

 Posted by on 23 April 2010  Modern Life
Apr 232010
 

Launched in February, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory — the “Hubble for the sun” — has started to send back some amazing footage.

Take this image for example, which is a full-disk multi-wavelength extreme ultraviolet image of the sun:

The red spots are relatively cool, while the green and blue spots are much, much hotter.

One of the amazing things about SDO is that it is able to study the sun in its entirety, rather than small patches like previous observatories.

An objectives of SDO is to learn more about the sun’s relationship to Earth. From NASA:

Launched on Feb. 11, 2010, SDO is the most advanced spacecraft ever designed to study the sun. During its five-year mission, it will examine the sun’s magnetic field and also provide a better understanding of the role the sun plays in Earth’s atmospheric chemistry and climate.

…

SDO will determine how the sun’s magnetic field is generated, structured and converted into violent solar events such as turbulent solar wind, solar flares and coronal mass ejections. These immense clouds of material, when directed toward Earth, can cause large magnetic storms in our planet’s magnetosphere and upper atmosphere.

Another objective is to use SDO to predict when solar events are going to happen, probably in the hopes of avoiding the massive electronic damage a storm can cause here on Earth.

And for something related, but also completely different (which I saw on my friend Adam’s facebook) is a video called Black Rain created using raw images from the solar mission STEREO.

Kind of creepy, non?

What if Facebook looked more like Outlook — and it was awesome?

 Posted by on 22 April 2010  Modern Life
Apr 222010
 

In 2006, designers at iA worked with Facebook on a possible redesign. Facebook didn’t use their stuff, so now they’ve put some of their ideas up on the web, and they’re looking for a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down.

I saw thumbs-up. And here’s why — it looks usable!

Their three-column idea makes Facebook emulate the look and feel of an email client, so it’s familiar. And it looks much cleaner and more streamlined than the mess that is current Facebook . Here’s a screenshot:

Click on it to see it full-sized.

With your news feed down the centre, you can explore comments at your leisure, rather than two comments from each status update.

I like it. I wonder why Facebook didn’t?

Techcrunch has more commentary, and there is a little more at the iA site, too.

It’s not a game, it’s a mind game

 Posted by on 22 April 2010  Vintage/Retro
Apr 222010
 

Like Tetris? Sure you do. But you also hate it. Admit it: there’s a part of you that thinks the game is deliberately sabotaging you.

Well, wonder no longer — someone has programmed a game of Tetris to do exactly that.

Hateris is exactly like Tetris except in two important ways:

  1. It calculates the worst possible block to send to you each and every move; and
  2. It doesn’t drop automatically, giving you all the time in the world to think about each move.

I couldn’t get past three lines before the screen filled up. And even that was a fist-clenching victory.

Play it here — if you dare. And get ready to hate those S-shaped ones.

Awesome fire illusion

 Posted by on 22 April 2010  Everything Else
Apr 222010
 

Once again, I give props to people who are dedicated to doing things so I don’t have to!

I’ll add an interesting tidbit: this illusion is an example of anamorphosis, an object or picture that is distorted in such a way that the viewer has to be at a certain perspective in order to see it properly. A good example is the street art that makes it look as if, for example, there is a hole in the ground:

Very cool!

(via TDW)

So, you always wanted to be a satyr

 Posted by on 21 April 2010  Everything Else
Apr 212010
 

It is difficult for me to believe that these have never before been invented, but there you go — there’s something new under the sun.

Anyway, if you’ve ever dreamed of walking with reverse knees like a horse or goat, you can strap a pair of Weta Legs on, and go to ‘er. For about a thousand bucks.

(From Coilhouse, via BB)

The song from Mad Men

 Posted by on 21 April 2010  Music, Vintage/Retro
Apr 212010
 

Amy and I are finally all caught up on the third season of Mad Men, and we’re very excited about Season Four this summer. I’m still torn between watching it as we go, and waiting to buy the DVD set of the season, but I don’t think we’ll be able to wait.

So today, in a moment of randomness, I was Googling about it. Okay, I admit, I was looking for Season Four spoilers.

But before I came across that, I happened to find the original song that is used (in abbreviated form, in the end credits.

Here, in case you’ve never seen them, are the opening credits. They’re even better in higher-defiinition. Amy and I particularly like the nice touches like the splash in the drink, and the sparkle in the diamond.

The credits, in case you’re interested, are an homage. Says Wikipedia: “The titles pay homage to graphic designer Saul Bass’s skyscraper-filled opening titles for Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959) and falling man movie poster for Vertigo (1958)”

Anyway, the song they used is a shortened version of “A Beautiful Mine” by RJD2. Give it a listen.

RJD2 – A Beautiful Mine

And heck, just for giggles, here’s a Simpson’s parody of those awesome opening credits. By the way, I dislike it when people disable embedding.

Give your dad this tie for Father’s Day

 Posted by on 21 April 2010  Modern Life
Apr 212010
 

I know, I know, it’s not even Mother’s Day yet, and I’m posting about Father’s Day? But I just came across this neat idea for packaging that I think would make a great gift, some Sunday in June. Check it:

That’s right, Dapper Beer features a tie on the label, nicely, ahem, tying together two father-y stereotypes. Put a hammer on their other beers, and you’re set.

I’m not actually sure if this is a microbrew you can buy, or if it’s a one-off project for a guy making beer at home who happens to work at a design agency (it was designed by David Day and Associates) but I love the concept. They even have a six-pack box designed.

I could see different ties denoting different brews — skinny ties, paisley patterns, bow ties — and a whole line of beers that aim for a sophisticated look.

(Found at Lovely Package.)

Dear Facebook marketers, you can’t see me! nyah, nyah, nyah!

 Posted by on 20 April 2010  Modern Life
Apr 202010
 

When I first started getting into newspaper design, I did what any modern person would do, and I Googled it. Luckily, Google led me to a community of news designers called Visual Editors (it’s a non-profit, and also a social network).

Run by Robb Montgomery, I’ve leaned on the community for everything from niggly Quark questions to recommendations for New York City accommodations. Someday, I hope to give back as much as I’ve learned.

Earlier today, Robb posted a blog entry about Facebook, with this intriguing tweet to promo it: “Facebook invades [your] profile to sell you stuff. Try this tip to stay invisible.”

I had to read this post, and he’s got a point worth passing along: Facebook loves it when you list your interests on your profile, since then it can target more ads to you. How does Robb stay “invisible”?

Look at my listed interests.

“Wonder, Discovery, Passion, Belief, Balance, Delight, Diversity, Surprise, Story, Truth, Grace, Redemption, Beauty, Innovation, Insight, Perspective”

I am sure the Facebook customer data algorithm would prefer to know much more specific things from my profile like my favorite sports, travel spots, music, foods, clothes, etc.

By listing ideals instead, Facebook has no idea what kind of ad to serve up to a person like me. So I get generic ads that I seem to ignore and never click on.

I bet the Facebook geniuses don’t get many folks who list “wonder” and “perspective” as interests. Instead they entice you to give them valuable market research data for free by appealing to your ego.

Not only is he right that most marketers focus on concrete things that are, as he says, “bands and brands,” there just aren’t a lot of people who tend towards the abstract on their social networking profiles.

Read the whole blog entry here.

I keep a pretty sparse profile on Facebook, but if did list interests, I think it would be much more mentally healthy to list aspirations and goals, not necessarily goods I would like to consume.

Unfortunately, I think Robb’s method for Facebook invisibility will last only until marketers get wise. I can already think of plenty who would jump on that — anything health and beauty related, for example (how many deodorants and body sprays already have names like “Intensity”?), or marketers who appeal to the spiritual, like churches.

By the way, I have good luck hiding many Facebook ads just using Firefox and AdBlocker.

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