You can call me Al

Finally. Al is confirmed. Minnesotans finally get the 2 senators we're entitled to.Bloody well took long enough.

Christian Riese Lassen

Behold, the art of Christian Riese Lassen. More to the point, behold the web site showcasing the art of Christian Riese Lassen.

Tres Hombrrrrres!

Look, this guy ate the Tres Hombres gatefold!

Ruby tells me that we have to draw pictures, so here is a taco man:

James in Australia!

My friend James has now ridden nearly halfway around the world on his bike!

He's in Australia:

Made it to 240km but hit a wombat at 230km went flying over handlebars! Bit bruised n scratched but otherwise ok.

Dune: Behind the Scenes

DuneInfo.com is a pretty exhaustive archive of production stills, concept drawings, prop shots, and history focusing on the David Lynch movie, but really covering everything, from books to other artists' work to future projects. Some great stuff in here.

Because it was done: Howl's Moving Papercraft.

Howl's Moving Castle from Ben Millett on Vimeo.

I really like it when the cat "helps".

Nnenn Kills me again.

Originally uploaded by nnenn

Oh Hell no, dog. He did it again. Look at this thing. LOOK AT IT!
Epic spacecraft for epic wins, and I'm in love with building again. Thank you, Nnenn.

R.I.P. Michael Jackson♦

So sad.

Comics about video games: THE MOVIE

Is it just me? Am I just wallowing in this post-Michael Jackson malaise that I am beginning to find the consistently charming comics regarding video games to be a bit lackluster?? I mean every time I see a specific one, I find it to be darling or entertaining. Is it just the whole of it is getting to me? Am I too close to it?
What the fuck is my problem?

Puppy Squeezer

Mr. Pony's last post made me think of this photo I took a few months ago in the former Woolworth's on Balham High Street, now called simply '99p.'

It's kind of less disgusting than the pig, but also less educational. Not sure how clear the photo is, but it's full of little cartoon doggie bones. It says 'watch my bones float around my body!' on it.

Rubber Water-Filled Piggy Toy with Organs and Bones

Galspanic and I saw this at our last outing to Toys-R-Us. Its is a toy rubber piggy, with rubber organs and bones, filled with water. For some reason, Animal Planet has put its brand on this toy. It was marked down to almost nothing. So I bought it. It smells funny. I do not like it.

I would say that it walks the line between disgusting and educational, but the object itself makes a pretty good case that there is no such line. One completely defeats the other, and the piggy simply makes me uncomfortable.

One more thing. I left the pig in my office, on my two-week trip to NYC. You know who does like the piggy? The ants like the piggy. Goodbye, my Piggy.

Hollister in Ala Moana

This is a store in Ala Moana. Ala Moana is a big mall in Hawaii. The store is called Hollister Co. or something. I am guessing that based on the words written on the side of the store's façade. You know, what, though, I DO NOT CARE, because I HATE THIS STORE, because this store pumps a steady stream of cologne out of its doors, so that when you walk by, you are forced to smell the store. This is not a new technique. Other stores in the mall do it, to a lesser degree. I think it might have been pioneered by Mrs. Fields operations. The leather smell when you walked into Liberty House was fake. It was also, however, kind of subtle. This smell is not subtle. It is a high-volume particle cloud of sweet, musky stink that dumps out of these doors into a narrow passageway, and it is not subtle at all. You can practically see it.

I am all for using every possible trick to get people to come into your store, but the initial sensory response I get from this stench, Hollister people, is that someone DESPERATE just walked into the bar. Like, some idiot who thinks that since a little cologne can be attractive, then a LOT of cologne must be make me SUPER-ATTRACTIVE, and if I use the whole bottle, then maybe no one will notice that I have nothing interesting to say! DOWN THE HATCH!!

My secondary response is coughing.

Buffy vs. Edward Cullen

Sorry to expose you to my teen vampire obsession. It's embarassing.

Transformers 2 Review

Roger Ebert's review of Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is pretty funny.

Drinking Fountain from the Past

Hey, anyone remember this drinking fountain from the Honolulu Zoo, a long time ago, near the bathrooms by the snack bar? I saw it on the street in NYC. It was probably not the same one.

Revenge of the Nerds

John Hodgman - "I'm a PC" and occasional Daily Show contributor - gave a speech at the Radio and TV Correspondents' Dinner last Friday, slightly roasting Obama. Hail to the Chief Nerd.

postlithic cave art

Since I began working at the offices of B_____ in 20__, I've wondered about a mysterious graffito in the stairwell. It always looked to me like an antelope done in the style of a caveman wall painting--its bloody red color added to that impression. Until recently, though, I never gave it much thought. It was just a friendly little beast I'd always acknowledge when I happened to take the stairs instead of the elevator. But last week I started to wonder: was this antelope a deliberate drawing, or just some accidental Rorscach, squirted on the wall from a head wound or an exploded marker?

I asked a coworker, one Brian L______, if he had seen the antelope. He responded, "Oh you mean the Lascaux cave art?" This was heartening. But I wanted to get the opinion of some visual artists, so I enlisted Mr. Pony. He had never noticed the antelope before, so I sent him a picture. This one:

Mr. Pony said that it looked more like a woman's torso to him, and suggested that I post it here on Pieces to get your opinions on the matter. A capital suggestion, I thought, thinking nothing of his torso remark--just another bit of Pony thick-headedness/provocation, I wagered.

Then my mind was blown. I sent it to another coworker, an accomplished animator, one Del A_____. He, too, suggested that it was a woman's torso! What the hell were these people talking about? I grabbed a few other coworkers to take a look at this thing, and Mr. L_____, the very same who orignally referred to the piece as a Lascaux cave painting, pointed out that it was in fact a woman's torso! What I had taken to be the antelope's proud, out-thrust chest was actually a bepantied butt. The antelope's tail was her tummy, its head her back. Of course! I was the asshole!

Still, I'm curious to know what your first impressions are. If you still don't see the antelope, perhaps this mockup by another artist working for B_____, one Demian J______, will help you along:

Lest We Ever Forget Dr. Druid

Oh wait, he's dead.

Combination Pizza Hut And Taco Bell

Galspanic, you may need to hear this. Listen. By Das Racist. REMIX by Wallpaper. Via Annietown.

Spidey Meets the Yeti

I couldn't help but look for Gwen Stacy falling off the Brooklyn Bridge in the panels bordering the action. No such luck.

Happy summer solstice!

I was at Stonehenge this morning at sunrise, it was neat! I had to escort small children up to the stones through heaving crowds of drunken college students and druids (I think they were, they had cloaks)

Hey, look what the Internet sent me!

Why the Hell Twitter

There's a common thing I hear about Twitter, and that's this: "What's the point; Why bother?" I don't fully get it myself, but I know people who do, and I respect them, so I'm interested. In this TED talk, Clay Shirky talks about social media and microblogging and texting and the current apotheosis of these techniques, Twitter. This was recorded last month, in May, before the thing in Iran.

On the other hand, I have been using Twitter to detail imaginary conversations with magic spirit animals in order to cure my cold. So, you know.

Figured er' oot.

I hope. You must go here to make your blong email address!

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Now I am just being a silly

And offensive.

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Testing the stuff

Hello. Hi.

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

"this aft 3pm @ the bastille"

Peggy Noonan, reacting to demonstrations in Iran, speculates on what the French Revolution would have been like with Twitter.

Redneck tank top

Since we are being offensive, I offer this photo and commentary my brother forwarded to me:

This was taken in front of the Gardendale,
Alabama Wal-Mart, where the young lady was
shopping at the Flea market.

Look at it closely.

Now I ask you...
Who stands and looks at a pair of men's briefs and says hmmmm...I can make
me a nice summer top from these!!
On the other hand...$6 for a three pack is a good price!!
But what if they weren't bought new? That's redneck recycling at its best.
Don't throw out yer feller's drawers when the skid marks don't wash out no more.
Just cut the crotch out and wear 'em.
How very Green!

Husband-Hunting Bra

Offensive Post #1

New Ways to Post to Pieces

Two new ways to post!

1. FROM YOUR CELLULAR TELEPHONE, VIA TEXT MESSAGE!!
   This works. I have tested it. Send me your telephone number via diplomatic backchannels, and I will add it to the list of approved numbers.


2. FROM YOUR SMARTPHONE, VIA EMAIL!!!!
   
   This also works. Contact me and I will give you a special email address to which you can post stories.

This is wonderful news, intrepid reporters. Go forth into the world!

Mobile post test #3! this will destroy the status quo! Fear fear!

Mobile Post Test #2

Good afternoon.

Japanese Commercials with American Actors

Random internet stuffs

Natalie Portman


Ahnald

Ben Stiller


Nick Cage

There are only a few posted now on youtube, but lots more at japander.com.

Shockingly False Advertising

Always worried about whether I'll offend someone with these posts or if someone's already seen these before. My friend at the Mac store showed me this site. I think I almost cried laughing. But then again...such is my humor. Again, my apologies if this is not your thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDNtzMUy4vs&feature=channel

Things collected from the internet this week

000. 59-foot Gundam, now lit up.

001. For all you drawerers: Kongregate, the guys who've given us a ton of great flash games, is calling on you!

010. In about two weeks, this kid is going to wake up with super powers. At the very least that scar should be an instant get-out-of-jail-free card for pretty much anything.

011. Useless Superpowers crossover time!

Summon Ice Cream Cone

100. Choose your own adventure with Dinosaur Comics!

101. This movie always depressed the hell out of me. I like this better.


110. And finally, monkeys.

Spider-Man: Threat or Menace?

There's a guy who plays Spider-Man in the giant Toys-R-Us in Times Square. He plays the part in a way I've never seen before--instead of striking all kinds of signature Spider-Man poses for the cameras, this guy kind of plays it for realism. You don't get the sense that he's agile at all until he's doing something that requires agility. He crouches up on railings and jumps around quite a bit, sure; but when he walks from one place to another, he just walks, like a regular guy. This is pretty weird, given the fact that he's wearing a Spider-Man costume. In fact, it's kind of creepy. On top of all this, he does a lot of clowning around, just like the real Spider-Man (that's right). He doesn't crack jokes, but he does all kinds of physical gags, dropping out of frame when customers are trying to take his picture; tapping people on the shoulder, then twisting out of their line of sight; and so on.

I think this guy understands the source material really well. Furthermore, he made me, a long-time reader of the comic, finally realize why everyone in Spider-Man's New York, cab drivers, newspaper editors, and even his own aunt don't really want to share a city with Spider-Man. Spider-Man is kind of annoying!

Axe to Grind

Taken at the corner of 72nd and Amsterdam.

Solid Gold

Ladies and Gents, I present you with the best of Solid Gold Season 3, vol. 1. Enjoy!

The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9

notPr0n

Here is an old Internet puzzle that you will remember if you are old. Not super-old, though. Medium-old.

Click to play.

"Punctuation Rebellion", or How I Stick it to the Man

For a while now, I've been refusing to put trailing punctuation inside of quotation marks, unless the trailing punctuation is an integral part of the thought delineated by said quotation marks. That rule about keeping the punctuation inside quotations is stupid and blunt and I hate it. Right on, this article.

Professional writers, what do you think about this? Are there rules that YOU would break for the greater good of all humankind, if you weren't so terrified of being reprimanded for insubordination?

Ca plane pour moi

slow


fast

Civilization

Video installation by Marco Brambilla for the Standard Hotel in NY. The journey from Hell to Heaven plays as you ride the elevators. Video and interviews here.

Mobile Post Test

Secret Leaders of the Rebellion

I refer to this document a lot, and I finally remembered to post it. Or maybe I've already posted it, and couldn't find it. Anyway. Using new information in the Star Wars prequels, the author, one Keith Martin, reinterprets the original trilogy--most interestingly by suggesting that R2-D2 and Chewbacca are the ones really running the show. Excerpt:

Chewie persuaded Han to do business with Jabba the Hutt so he could make regular runs to Tattoine, where Chewie could pass messages between Kenobi and Organa. When R2's urgent message came through only days before, the only way for Chewie to get back to Tattoine in time was to make the "mistake" that forced Han to dump his cargo to avoid capture. As a down side, this led to Solo's getting a death mark out on him from Jabba the Hutt. Chewie was a bit upset about the need for that but figured they weren't going to be dealing with Tattoine for much longer.

En route to Alderaan, R2 and Chewie play stop-motion chess. This is the latest in a series of games they've played over the year in the back rooms of space stations and cantinas across the galaxy, but this is the first time they've done it in front of their respective straight men, so they put on a big show.

Lose You..

New Peaches video

A few things collected from the internet this week

I wish I had the strength of will to fact-check this myself

This, is a fucking awesome walrus

The Perry Bible Fellowship

School lunches from around the world!

I believe the story for this was a guy asked his girlfriend to draw what happens during her period


And the title of this one is apparently "Rebel Rebel"

Have a good weekend, P.o.T.!

Mrs. Brisby vs Mrs. Frisby

From today’s Times

Editorial
Gene by Gene
Published: June 5, 2009

Over the years, scientists have developed many strains of genetically modified mice, many of which incorporate human versions of similar mouse genes. But there is something different in a recent experiment performed at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. Scientists there have created a strain of mouse that contains the human variant of a gene, called FOXP2, associated with several critical tasks, including the human capacity for language.

What makes this different is how fundamentally human — and unmouse-like — language really is. Something essential to us, something defining in our species, has been implanted in a rodent.

FOXP2 happens to work pretty well in mice. Those with the new gene in place do in fact communicate differently with each other, by using slightly lower-pitched ultrasonic whistles. The nerve cells they grow in one region of the brain are also more complex than those in unaltered mice. These may sound like modest results, but they are striking. They help clarify the function of FOXP2, and, in doing so, they help scientists better understand what constellation of genes produces the capacity for language in humans and, thus, how we differ from our nearest primate relative, the chimpanzee.

What takes some getting used to is the idea of exploring what humanness really is — how complex and how little understood — by transplanting our genetic signatures, gene by gene, into other species. And there is another question hovering over this experiment: Just how alien to themselves do these transgenic mice become? To that question, scientists are bound to find no answers, until, perhaps, mice can speak for themselves.

Original article from Cell. A bit dryer and less enthusiastic about the possibility of a live action remake.

This is my pencil. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

This is a site by Niklas Jansson, a Swedish game designer/artist/enthusiast. This guy takes his work seriously. I find his takes/renditions/upgrades on classic games to be refreshing and inspiring. He has many game retcon projects. I wish game companies would take him up on these retcons. I hope you all enjoy this guy as much as I do. Check out his blog here!

Note: Litcube may be interested in what he has to say about Masters of Orion. I think it resonates.

In keeping with the Star Wars awesomeness theme...

AT-ATs

These At-ATs are so cute that I had to share.

Since we're on the subject, & Happy Birthday Heeero!

Here's Danielle ate the sandwich, which the GF and I have watched a bit as of late. Both of us. Promise. Ever since we stole my grandmother's ukulele (sorry for the noise, Panic. Good thing you're deaf already).

Just replace Brandon with Heeero. Happy birthday, Heeeeeeero!

Buildman is neat!

I honestly don't know how I found these. I think I was searching out Micronauts toys, but they look really groovy. I love modular construction toys! Someone quick buy thirty or forty of them and post pics! From the look of the site and the blog, these guys have been around for a while now. How is it that they've gone under my radar? Support Buildman! bring back modular toys!