THIS IS SO AWESOME.

Massive Attack's "United Snakes" music video, made by United Visual Artists

THIS IS SO AWESOME.

Star Wars in 2D

Forget Star Wars 3D, paper animations are a labor of love. Eric Power, creator of the above video, loves to animate video games, but he may have out-nerded himself with a paper animation condensing the Star Wars trilogy into a 2:40 video. It’s actually a music video for Jeremy Messersmith, but the animation could easily stand alone. 


So, for all of you OT (that’s original trilogy) fans out there, here's a lo-fi song played to a very 2D music video.

Star Wars in 2D

pool party?

There was another heat wave this past weekend in London. Guess it's Summertime!

Which naturally brings to mind pool parties. Although, they were hard to find.  


Only this year, if you do find a pool party...firstly, let me know, and secondly, you need to take your pool-party atmosphere up a notch...the iPod sitting 75 feet from the water isn't cutting it.

You need The Wireless Waterproof MP3 Speaker, a sound system that doesn't mind getting a little wet.

Basically, this is the boom box that Aquaman would bring to any pool-related function thrown by the Super Friends. It's wireless, it runs on batteries, and it packs a 12-watt subwoofer and 3-watt tweeter range (that's Circuit City talk for "It sounds great").

So picture it: a backyard pool party festooned with attractive people in very little clothes, inflatable lounge chairs and some miscellaneous pairs of water wings. You show up with this audio game changer, connect an MP3 player to its transmitter and set the main unit a couple of feet from the pool ladder. Suddenly your Party Jamz compilation is turning that pedestrian game of water volleyball into a rousing match of chicken. Or at least Marco Polo.

And in the course of entertaining the undressed masses, should a particularly full cup of beer be dropped on top of it, it will keep playing songs, since it's waterproof.

pool party?

Hello Brooklyn

Typography geek Greg Solenström recently paired black and white photos of Brooklyn with Akzidenz Grotesk font and Jay-Z and Lil Wayne’s “Hello Brooklyn 2.0″ for a fan made tribute that I think could work as an official video...Check it ouuuuuut! 



Jay Z - "Hello Brooklyn" from Gregory Solenström on Vimeo.

Hello Brooklyn

5 things YOU can do to make a difference in the gulf oil spill

1. Join more than 10,000 others and make your voice heard. 
Tell President Obama and Congress to restore the full moratorium on new offshore drilling in federal waters.
   http://www.surfrider.org/nodrilling
2. Join thousands across America on June 26th as we come together to take a stand. 
On June 26 we are coordinating a nationwide event to oppose new offshore drilling. It’s called Hand Across the Sand. It will take place in all coastal states in the United States.
   http://www.handsacrossthesand.com/
3. Stay up to speed on spill details on the Surfrider blog: http://www.nottheanswer.org 
Stay tuned on the latest news, ways to participate in our Not The Answer campaign, and join the conversation about the disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico.
   http://www.nottheanswer.org
   Tweet! Related, a few relevant Twitter feeds to add to your mix are: @surfrider @envirosurf @bpglobalpr @skytruth @jimmoriarty


@chadenelsen Tweet about oil spill using #oilspill
4. Volunteer in Florida and Gulf. If you live in the Gulf or Florida regions you can document what you see and find with our Spill Tracker here:
   http://oilspill.skytruth.org
   If you’re in this area and have never connected with a local chapter, now is a great time to do it. Find the local dozen chapters in the Gulf and in Florida:http://www.surfrider.org/chapters.asp



5. Support alternatives. Engage. 

The United States has 3% of the world’s oil and uses 20% of the world’s oil. We cannot drill our way to national security. We need to find alternatives. 70% of oil is used for transportation. For one thing, we need use less fuel. If you drive a vehicle getting low MPG, think about that choice and what it means. If you can use make a phone call, Skype or video conferencing instead of flying, understand these choices save massive amounts of fuel. If you hear about local, state and national governments looking to invest in alternative energy solutions… pay attention.
   http:///www.oceanamps.org

5 things YOU can do to make a difference in the gulf oil spill

Volcanoes Can be Arty Too

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

Eyjafjallajökull's ash started flying all over the place again recently, but has settled down. Meanwhile, while everyone attempted to scramble away from Iceland, Sean Stiegemeier flew over to be right where the action was. After 8 days of flight/weather drama, he was able to capture this stunning footage of the volcanic hellion and its smoke-stack spews. A Sigur Rós’s Jónsi track accompanies the time lapse, but here’s a Mastodon song you can play along instead. 

Volcanoes Can be Arty Too

Blasting Tunes like it's 1904

Fridays are about doing crazy things and looking really ridiculous and recovering in time for brunch on Saturday.  And Saturdays tend to be about the same thing, but recovering for brunch on Sunday.

So it's appropriate that today, after what I hope was a fabulous weekend for you all, I introduce to you the iVictrola, a new handmade iPod dock that combines a vintage Magnavox phonograph horn and your love for retro electronics, now available.

First of all, I will make it clear: it's not electric. At all. There's no outlet, no plug, no fuss.

Just like the phonographs of old, the iVictrola uses a giant metal horn to capture the music coming from your iPod and crank it out with a touch of historical flair (I'm guessing the RCA dog would be just as mesmerized by this).

All you have to do is drop your iPod or iPhone into the open slot on the hand-constructed walnut base, make sure your volume is up, and the dock does the rest. Ta-da! Sound is caught by the bottom of the horn and reverberates up the cone via the natural conductivity of metal—and the resulting quality will be eerily similar to the kind flappers and hip-cats danced to back in the Roaring '20s.

This may be the best way to finally introduce your grandmother to Jay-Z.

Blasting Tunes like it's 1904

Gelato, Sorbet, and Fro-Yo on a Stick!

If you're in New York, there might be an excess of licking in the West Village this summer. 


The culprit: a new form of popsicle-ized gelato/sorbet/frozen yogurt called the PopBar, sold at a new shop dedicated to popsicles (5 Carmine Street, at Sixth Ave). Eat them plain or dipped in nuts, biscotti, brownies or chocolate. 

All of this will be familiar to anyone who’s been to Italy’s various Stick House locations, but owners Reuben BenJehuda (an Italian who has worked in fashion for the past decade or so) and Daniel Yaghoubi (a German record producer) are making it a point to use hormone-free milk, real fruit (lemon, blood orange, mango, berries, peach, etc.), and no additives. And one last thing may help them stick it to the competition: Their coffee is Stumptown.


Even if you don't eat them at all, be prepared to buy them for friends in sundresses.

Gelato, Sorbet, and Fro-Yo on a Stick!