Smile

From what some might think to be an unlikely place, I have found what may be my favourite photo of the Mona Lisa... well, not exactly:

Dianna Agron, who most will know as Quinn on Glee, is not only an up-and-coming actress with more TV or film credits than I was aware of (including guest spots on Veronica Mars?!) but also a photographer who has a lot of talent (and a very nice collection of cameras too!).  She took this photo for the same reason(s) that I would have: "I’ve never seen so many people (hundreds) taking pictures of a painting. ... I had to take a picture (don’t worry, sans flash, to counter the damage hundreds all around me might be creating) of all the people taking pictures. If that makes sense!"

Her blog is usually filled with excellent, random photos from wherever she is, music videos or track lists that she's enjoying at the moment and/or the detalis of a charitable effort that she's leading. Lots of positive focus here which is so nice to see.

» Found at: But You Can Call Me Charlie blog

Alignment

I haven't played D&D in a long time, but I do remember the whole alignment piece as part of the role play aspect of the game. Characters would be either good, neutral or evil and, crossed with that, either lawful, neutral or chaotic.  On the surface, these definitions can seem quite confusing, so rather than try to explain them here, I'll just link to wikipedia instead.

However, even without fully understanding the finite complexities of all this, you'll probably still find the above chart funny if you're a fan of The Big Bang Theory (like me).  The images selected and the quotes highlighted are all very appropriate.

If you get a kick out of this thing, the author of this chart has done up a number of other charts for shows like Mad Men, The Wire, Deep Space Nine.  There are also, as I learned, a large number of these things floating around the web from previous memes and such.

» Found at: MightyGodKing.com via Kottke.org

Quotes

Society6 is an organization that helps artists by producing, packaging and shipping their art out to buyers so they, the artists, can "focus on creating more art"  Something of a 'full service' eCommerce site for the arts community I guess.

Unfortunately, I don't remember where I found out about 37 Posters by Jerod Gibson, but he has a really great series of movie posters going which features an iconic silhouette of something (or someone) from the film, inside of which are a collection of memorable quotes.  Much like a word cloud, the more well-known the quote, the larger and more prominently placed it is on the poster.

Other than the one shown above, my favourites are probably: the Goonies and Ghostbusters.

» Found at: 37 Posters @ Society6

Who

These are brilliant! And really, not just this piece, but the artist has a whole collection of incredible, simplistic takes on popular movies as either Penguin Book cover art or character representation.

On top of all that, I love his Flickr name: "Under the Name". I don't quite know why, but it's awesome. I think it maybe reminds me of a Bingo hall caller? ("Under the Name, "Eric" - an "E").

Any how, Doctor Who is fantastic – both the new and old series; yes, including the 11th doctor even who has quite grown on me – so I just had to select this piece as the one to share here. Enjoy!

» Flickr: “The First Six Doctors” – uploaded by Under The Name

Wood

I like to think that I'm a pretty handy guy around the house. I have a respectable workbench in the basement (and garage) filled with tools. I've built a few projects in my time, including one or two semi-major projects (fences, large shelving, etc.)... but I've got nothing on Marc Spagnuolo, The Wood Whisperer himself.

I have no idea if I'd ever get around to building some of these projects, but like most shows on HGTV, I could sit here in front of my computer and watch his videos all day long. His video about making the hallowe'en bowls (see above) was what I watched first and, if it wasn't for my lunch hour only being so long, I'd have just kept watching everything else on the site.

There is a lot on the site that I still haven't looked at -- a 'guild membership' to help fund the site, a number of reviews and articles, etc. -- but it's all well put together. The video's have a great tone about them, with just the right amount of humour, safety advice and project guidance. I felt like there was enough information in the clip that I could have done the project myself, from raw pieces of wood to the final finish, which I don't always think is the case on other sites.

So, even if you don't plan on dusting off the ol' drill and rushing off to Rona or Home Depot for materials, check out these videos.

» Found at: The Wood Whisperer

Hybrid

A really quick post for a Friday afternoon...

I've always wanted a Gibson Firebird V guitar... something about them just looks so bad-ass. I've seen Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) playing them before, which adds to their bad-ass credibility, IMO.

I've also recently thought that getting a mandolin to play would be pretty cool. Fun for hanging out in the backyard and/or noodling about on around the house and such. But that's probably the influence of Old Man Luedecke and the Elliott BROOD rubbing off on me... which is awesome, 'cause these guys are making some great music.

So, since I'll never likely be able to afford a real Firebird V axe, why not combine these to 'wants' into one awesome hybrid? Enter the Epiphone Mandobird VIII!  (No idea if I'd really want this, or if I'd rather have a mandolin that looks more like 'it should', but when I found this today I just had to post about it!)

» Found at: Epiphone's website

Tiles

This can get filed under the 'awesome' category. Have you ever wanted a texture to place under (or over) another layer in Photoshop to add depth or realism?  Ever wanted a background for a webpage that you could tile easily? Ever wanted a solution like this for the low-low price of FREE? Now you have it: tileabl.es

I stumbled on this site via Cameron Moll's quick link-list he'd posted last week, prior to his leaving for a conference, so many thanks to him for this. To be honest, I haven't even opened up these .zip files yet for a closer look, but according to the site:

This pack consists of 20 [type of texture or pattern featured] textures at various detail levels. Included in the download is your .PAT patterns file which can be imported into Photoshop. You also get the layered .PSD file so you can edit each pattern to your liking. Grab your copy today!

That's pretty cool in my books. Not only do you get the textures, but also the source files? Very nice touch. There are currently five 'sets' available: lines, paper, rust, fabric and wood ... and, to be honest, I can't think of what they'll release next! But, in the meantime, if you need some great looking, seemless textures for a project, maybe this is the site for you.

» Found at: Tileabl.es

Carnival

These are some really impressive images from a photographer named *brynne. She (and a friend) went through the abandoned Six Flags park in New Orleans last year, four years after Hurricane Katrina passed through the region. 80% of the park was demolished; only one ride was considered salvageable.

I was impressed to see that she has a number of other sets like this -- abandoned buildings -- as well, until I read her profile, which says, in part:

If I controlled the world, it would be cloudy every day at 67 degrees and I would be allowed in every abandoned building on the planet. I'm an aspiring stormchaser, urban explorer and future horror fiction novelist. I love to read, learn about new things and I am very well known as a trance music fanatic.

The post-processing on the images is quite good; be sure to check-out the silhouetted images of the park at the end of this set as well.  [Found via daringfireball.net]

» Flickr: “Six Flags New Orleans 228” – uploaded by *brynne

Notepad

Notepad++ is an advanced, tabbed, text-editor that I have been using for a number of years now. It's always really impressed me and I don't think I've ever been left wanting for features (except for a Print Preview option; I don't need it often, but I do wish they'd add it in). What it does have is: more syntax highlighting options than I've ever seen; super-quick load time; easy-to-use, uncluttered work environment; macro capibility, etc.

The small team that puts together this product have just last week released a new version of the program (v5.8.3) and had over the summer opened a new website as well (previously, it was hosted as part of the SourceForge empire I believe).

If you're looking to do some hand-coded (x)HTML/CSS work, plan some SQL scripts, write some C# code or whatever, consider this program. It's 100% free ("as in 'free beer' or 'free speech'" according to the website) and gets my stamp of approval.

» Found at: notepad-plus-plus.org

Shread

 

I don't quite remember how I stumbled on this image this morning, but it's one of a series of three images created by Rethink, a Canadian ad agency, for the Vancouver-based Sparrow Guitar company. If the design company's information page is to be believed, "in 2009, more Guitar Hero guitars were sold than actual ones." That's a pretty scary claim, but I don't know if I believe it... whatever the case, it's a pretty solid ad campaign in my eyes!

According to the website, members of Pride Tiger and You Say Party are using Sparrow guitars.

» Found at: Rethink Canada

Giraffes

Nothing like a silly bet with a friend to get a website going, eh? It seems that Norwegian Ola was bet by his friend Jorgen that he couldn't collect one million giraffes; seems Jorgen was wrong. Ola did collect them (and seems to still be collecting them) on-line.

Unlike the (original) Million Dollar Homepage, which also started out as something of a word-of-mouth internet phenomenom, this project was done for fun, not financial gain. That said, considering that the MDH was created back in 2005 -- before the days of Facebook, Twitter and the like -- it's still quite the accomplishment.

Any how, I just thought this was a fun, bright, playful site to feature here. An example of positive crowd-sourcing at it's best. So, if you like giraffes, go check it out!

» Found at: One Million Giraffes

Winner

Last night the 2010 Polaris Music Prize was awarded to Karkwa for their fourth album Les Chemins De Verre. I haven't personally heard much from this band; only what is available on their CBC Radio3 page. From the Polaris site, the album is described by Philippe Papineau (Le Devoir, Montréal) as:

Killer melodies, intelligent lyrics, and the impression of a group in total communion. This is especially apparent during the hymn Marie Tu Pleures, recorded in one take in a old French manor house. Singer Lous-Jean Cormier usually pushes his gritty voice into the low octaves, but here he dares incursions into the higher range to great emotional effect. Think about Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, The Beach Boys; even good old Quebec prog music from Harmonium.

I think this was a very strong year for the Polaris Prize; the short list had at least six or seven very strong albums on it. If Karkwa isn't your cup of tea, be sure to check out other bands on the short list, such as: Dan Mangan, Broken Social Scene and/or my pick for the year, the Besnard Lakes.

» Found at: Karkwa's official home page

Games

I'd heard something about this previously, but recently someone linked to a review in The Toronto Star about the newest coffee shop in the Toronto Annex area: Snakes & Lattes.  To quote the article, since I probably couldn't explain this better myself:

Castanie and Peynet moved to Toronto from France four years ago. The idea for the cafe came to them when they were browsing a game shop in Chicago. For the last two years, they have scoured the Internet, Value Village and toy stores to create a collection of 1,500 games, including obscure classics like Fireball Island, and other delights like Mall Madness and Settlers of Catan. For $5, customers have unlimited access to the collection and Castanie’s expertise.

 $5 for access to 1500+ board games? That's pretty awesome in my books. Frankly, I think this is a really excellent idea for a coffee shop. I'm not one much of a 'coffee shop patron', but I'd visit just to see that wall of board games (see photo, above) in person!

What other creative coffee shops are out there that I haven't heard about?  I have previously heard of the Indie Coffee Passport for the Toronto area; anything else?

» Found at: Snakes & Lattes (official website)

Soap

Adam Sidwell has challenged himself to create a new illustration of a "bad dude" each week in 2010. These range from video game villains to movie baddies to television evil doers. Regardless of where the inspiration comes from, the artwork itself is top notch.

The image above is from Fight Club and, if you've seen the movie, you'll notice subtle clues that connect the two images ... which tells me that the artist doesn't just grab any ol' scoundrel and draw them up; there is some good thought put into each piece.

» Found at: 52 Bad Dudes (Tumblr)

Droids

Sure, these movies might have come out 25-30 years ago, but it doesn't mean someone can't create beautiful art in honour of them. Illustrator Andy Helms has created a trilogy of posters for the original Star Wars trilogy of movies and I think they're just incredible, especially as a series of three posters. As if the artwork itself wasn't enough, he's selected the perfect title for each image:

• You're Our Only Hope (Star Wars: A New Hope)
• Never Tell Me The Odds (The Empire Strikes Back)
• Fully Armed and Operational (Return of the Jedi)

Each poster is/was available for purchase through the artist's Etsy store (click on the titles above for ordering information and a closer look at each poster).

» Found at: Sparkwood & Twenty-One (LiveJournal)

Entangle

I blame Jason Kottke for this one (as usual).  He linked to this wonderfully addictive web-game the other day and I've spent far too much time playing it recently. It's similar to those "Pipe Dream" games of yore, but with something of a twist. There is no time limit, just a bit of chance and a bit of luck. As you keep playing, you'll start to develop a bit of strategy as well (and know just how likely you are to get back out of a corner).

Seriously. Do not click the link below if you have anything to do in the next 30-90 minutes.  And yes, the image above shows my current high score: 77 85.

» Found at: Entanglement

Octopus

Sometimes you see something and it makes you smile. This is one of those times. I don't need any more websites or portfolios (as it is, I'm not updating most of them), but this one has some really talented people using the service and such a great, colourful, fun website to boot.

The sign-up buttons are my favourites ... "Sign-up for Meh." and "Sign-up for Whoo!" (complete with unenthusiastic period for "Meh." and over-the-top exclamation mark for "Whoo!"). Perfect.

I don't know anything about the company, but if you're looking for a nice, simple photo/art/video portfolio site, perhaps you should check this one out.

» Found at: Carbonmade.com

Emotion

I've been a fan of Jonathan Harris' work for some time now. Years ago I seem to remember linking (somewhere) to his 10x10 project; I think this might have been what originally introduced me to him. In his own words, Jonathan "makes projects that reimagine how humans relate to technology and to each other. Combining elements of computer science, anthropology, visual art and storytelling".

This particular piece, his most recent effort, is actually a physical book titled We Feel Fine: An Almanac of Human Emotion. The result is based on "a database of more than 12 million individual sentences collected over 3 years from personal blogs on the Internet" that he's compiled; it's a visual look at human feelings, emotions and expression. The link (below) takes you to the project page on his personal website where you can view other pages from the book.

I encourage you to have a look at this piece, as well as the other work he's done. Be sure to check out his photo-a-day collection as well; there are some simply amazing shots included here.

» Found at: Number 27 | Jonathan Harris

Scott

Author Bryan Lee O'Malley took a bunch of "behind the scenes" photos during the filming of the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (which is, obviously, based on his series of graphic novels).

This image shows director Edgar Wright, apparently, moments after he ever-so-briefly sat in his director's chair. The one (and only) time he ever did. Edgar also did his own 'photo a day' thing while filming the movie; it's also worth checking out.

The movie, SPvtW, opens today. It's getting great reviews, especially from the gamer/comic fans.

» Flickr: “38. (ON-SET) Chaos Theatre” – uploaded by radiomaru

Graphite

I found this through the MyExtraLife forums today and my goodness is it impressive.

In case you don't realize what you're looking at right away, this is a carving done on the tip of a (construction) pencil! The handle of the saw is carved from the pencil wood; the blade is from the graphite. The artist, Dalton Ghetti said,

At school I would carve a friend’s name into the wood of a pencil and then give it to them as a present. Later, when I got into sculpture, I would make these huge pieces from things like wood, but decided I wanted to challenge myself by trying to make things as small as possible. I experimented sculpting with different materials, such as chalk, but one day I had an eureka moment and decided to carve into the graphite of a pencil.

This artist has done a number of other pieces; in fact, on the linked article (below), he has a 'graveyard' of sorts of pieces that broke just before he finished them.  I can't find a website specifically for this artist, however, a quick Google returns several articles (all with the same images, text, as I've linked to); I'm sure this won't be the last we hear of him.

» Found at: Odd Stuff Magazine article

Letterpress

Although this photo has very little to do with the article, I think it's representative of the overall look of the set. I love this airy, old, washed out, intimate, shallow depth-of-field look that these photos have.

There are also some black and white photos with the article and just this past weekend I was commenting on how much I love good b&w shots. Well done.

» Found at: Grain & Gram: The New Gentleman's Journal

Costumes

Wow. These guys know how to do hallowe'en costumes. Yes, I realize that we're not even close to this costumed psudo-holiday right now, but ... just look at these. Incredible.

What actually brought me to this guy's site were his "Victorian -era renderings" of Star Wars characters. Equally impressive.

Mr. Greg Peltz, you are quite the talented artist.

» Found at: Greg's Blog

Hello

The iPhone 4 was announced yesterday at one of Apple's major press events, the WWDC. I think my next mobile phone will have to be an iPhone ... or, if my old 2nd generation iPod Nano dies, maybe I'll get an iPod Touch. Either way, this platform becomes more and more impressive with each OS release or product upgrade. Beautiful design inside and out.

» Found at: Apple

Tractor

Great retro design. Great overall package design. Great, clean summer beer (a lagered ale, to be precise). Beau's All Natural Lug-Tread. Look for it in the LCBO this summer. Support local craft breweries.

» Found at: Beau's All Natural Brewing Company

Park

I would love to get outside and experiment with this sort of long exposure (e.g., no flash) photography. There is a misty, 'summer evening' feeling to this shot that wouldn't have been possible otherwise.

» Flickr: “Untitled” – uploaded by frydpacz

Mix

I really don't know what to say about this. Words cannot describe how beautiful this packaging for a mix cd is to me. So professional. One day, some day, I'll attempt to do something like this.

» Found at: Chris Glass' website

Tour

I just learned today from i(heart)music that the follow-up to the Ketch Harbour Wolves wonderful ep, Dead Calm Horizon -- still available for free on their website, I might add -- is coming out shortly. Their first full-length will be titled, Anachronisms.

i(h)m had this to say about the new release:

I can say, without any kind of hyperbole, that Anachronisms is everything I could've hoped for and then some. Not only do Ketch Harbour Wolves capture everything that made Dead Calm Horizon special, they go even further and show that they're capable of much, much more than they showed on their sophomore EP.

Seemed only fitting that I grabbed one of their excellent tour posters for inclusion here today.

» Found at: Ketch Harbour Wolves offical site

Kittens

This is really just a test of Flickr's "Post to Blog" feature. And, since I needed an image, "kittens" seemed like the perfect search term to test with. Who doesn't love kittens?

» Flickr: “I Know You're There” – uploaded by Fernando Felix

Tree

Two things: (a.) omgosh, this is awesome and detailed and colourful; (b.) I have no idea how the artist, Yulia Brodskaya, does such intricate work with paper. Outstanding.

Many more samples at her website, along with other her other works.

» Found via: kottke.org

Jetpack

Sometimes, simple is good. Simple words, simple images.

» Found at: Exploding Dog

Tokyo

An example of high dynamic range (HDR) imaging. I'd seen this before, but didn't know what it was called. By total coincidence, kottke.org posted a funny chart that referred to this today.

Wikipedia, of course, has more information about this type of photograph.

» Found at: Gizmodo blog

Seattle

I could save just about every image/post that ISO50 (aka Scott Hansen) posts to his blog. He has an amazing collection of stuff and, to give credit where due, is probably a strong inspiration for me starting this random collection of images, etc.

In this case, the 'art deco' style (is that even correct?) always really grabs me. I would love to produce images in this style. In this case, these travel posters are the work of The Heads of State.

» Found via: ISO50 Blog

Tardis

This isn't going to be so much of a 'writing' blog as it will be a 'collecting' blog. I'm hoping to get some sort of "auto-post" widget for Firefox so that I can just dump stuff here for reference, later review, fun 'n such. There won't be any real order ... it will be the chaos of the web, thrown here, as it comes.

I will do my best to link/credit whatever I do 'collect' here in case you want to see more of it, or just see where I grabbed it from. Ideally, this seems like something I should be doing with Tumblr or Dropular or Zootool, but one is blocked at work, one is still in private beta and one has a sketchy sounding ToS written in German only. I work with what I can.

Feel free to comment on whatever you see here, but please don't be offended if I don't write back (or at least not in a timely manner). I have no idea how often I'll be checking in or reading comments.

Hope you enjoy this -- hope I do as well.