Dailies

In a world where everything is doing digital and we talk about "paperless work environments", it's kinda to see something kinda retro like this. It seems like a perfect match for the on-the-go, rush- rush- rush world we choose to live in these days. Say "Hello" to the Little Printer:

I love the idea of a personalized, daily mini-newspaper being printed for me. And not just something that I could have randomly generated, but daily news headlines, a schedule for my day, perhaps a to-do list or a list of contacts that are attached to my calendar entries for the day. Cool, fun way of putting this together. And, while I think re-printing the face every time is a waste of paper, it is also somehow very cute.

For a better understanding of what this is all about, I strongly suggest that you check out the introduction video they have released. It shows you, in a very Apple-y way, how you use your smartphone to set everything up, send messages, etc., etc.  And, again, I love how they encourage sticking things on the fridge or sharing clips with others. There is also something so nice about it being all black and white... colour isn't always necessary.

Although the list of companies the service is working with right now seems limited, they're still in (what I would assume to be) an alpha phase, so that's to be understood. I'm sure that this will come out at a price point way beyond what I would ever consider spending for something fun like this (not to mention the need for, I'd assume, special paper rolls)... but it was still too cute not to share.

» Found at: Little Printer/BERG Cloud

Plumber

Wow. This is pretty freakin' amazing.  As someone who was/is a big fan of the classic NES game Super Mario Brothers, this video (see link below) is a real trip.  Someone, namely Freddie Wong, created this vision of what it would have looked like for Mario to actually run World 1-1.

Very cool to watch. He's got a whole bunch of other stuff up on his YouTube page as well including a bunch of live-action SFX-filled videos. Certainly someone to keep an eye on!

» Found at: First Person Super Mario, World 1-1 (YouTube video)

Angry

I've never played Angry Birds – heck, I don't even have a device able to play the game – but I know this is a pretty solid homage to the game. I'm a sucker for this sort of inked, scripted, coffee-stained, weathered, faux-classic colour plate style. However, this isn't the only piece of art that Shane Parker has done; it's certainly worth your time to check out his Flickr stream if you're a fan of geek pop culture such as Team Fortress 2, comics and classic video games.

It was his Overlook Hotel kids placemat that drew me to his site via a link I found on Daring Fireball today... but it's worth sticking around to see what else is there.

» Found at: Zero-Lives blog

Thunder

Earlier this week, via Twitter and an official press release, we got our first look at the new Thundercats. I'm not personally 100% sold on the new look, but I'm not disappointed either. 

I've caught a few of the classic episodes on Teletoon Retro recently and they don't hold up as much as I'd have liked them to. GI Joe seems to have a certain campy appeal to it, and Transformers a little less so... but the Thundercats episodes I've seen were kinda weak. To be fair, however, I think they were all really early episodes, so perhaps it got better as it went along; I remember being much happier with the post- Season 1 plotlines involving the 'new' Cats (Bengali, etc.) who were found to have also escaped from Thundera (e.g., the made-for-tv movie/mini-series). Actually, looking at the wikipedia episode guide, I think it may have been the number of five-part plot arcs that made it better; racing home from school every day for a week to see what would happen next.

Whatever the case, and my previous, childhood series -bias aside, I'll be keeping an eye out for this new show. I don't imagine that I'll have the same attachment to it as I did some twenty years ago, but it might be fun to watch for a bit. What do you think of the new look? Were you a fan of the original series? The comics?

» Found at: Thundercats Lair forums

Somewhere

Jason Kottke beat me to it (indirectly), but the annual IMP (Internet Movie Poster) Awards are almost here; nominations will be announced next week. Along with this annual mini-event, a few "best movie posters of 2010" lists have appeared as well. Both First Showing.net (which I read a few times a week) and Mubi (a site I'd never heard of previous to Jason's post) have published their lists now and, while different, showcase some nice eye-candy.

The poster I've selected above may not be my favourite of the year -- I don't imagine I have one; I don't follow movie posters all that closely, but as you can see from this site, they do seem to catch my eye often enough! -- but the retro, lomo -feel of Sofia Coppola's Somewhere poster is really impressive I think. I don't know what else to say about it really, but I love the balance, the general feel of the image, the way the building is poking over the trees, the font treatment... it's just really caught my eye (and I don't know the first thing about the film!).

Regarding top-10 lists (a follow-up):
I realize that posting about a new set of top-10 lists within a week of my previous linkage to an editorial about how top-10 lists are silly seems bizarre, but like Matthew's comment to my previous post says, how else can we weed through the incredible amount of data (numerical, graphical, audible, etc.) that is out there in today's world without having someone point us in "the right direction"? Now, your "right direction" and my "right direction" may be two totally different directions, but if I know that I like a lot of things that you do, then why wouldn't I want to know what else you like? And, if I don't have time to explore everything else that you like, why wouldn't I want to know what you like best?  And second best?  And go from there? 

For anyone who has ever (seriously) made a top-10 list of their own, about something they're passionate about, you know that it takes far more time and effort and consideration that one might think looking only at the end result. Yes, in the end you have a list of ten items, preceeded by the numbers one-to-ten written out, but you've likely considered tens if not hundreds of items (and all the nuances of those items) before settling on this final list. Same goes for making a quality mix-tape/cd; in the end you have ~20 tracks grouped together, but you've likely pulled those songs from a collection of hundreds, if not thousands, of potential songs.

Should everything be distilled down into a top-10 list? Obviously not. But do they have their place? Certainly I think they do... and I'm both a supporter and an author of such things.

» Found at:  IMP Awards for 2010

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

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

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