1.02.2009

Beatles Action Figures Cost a Fortune, Are Not Magical



THINK SILLY commissioned Japanese toymaker Medicom to make these 1000% Kubrick toys. What that means is each figure is 1000% the size of an actual Medicom Kubrick toy. The height is 680 mm, which translates into something in the neighborhood of two feet tall. The costumes are from the 1964 release of the monster hit 'Can't Buy Me Love.'

So, if you have always dreamed of having 4 statues of the Beatles in their 'Can't Buy Me Love' regalia which stand around two feet tall, then all I can say to you is I hope you are rich because the set will run you $19,160.00 from THINK SILLY's webstore.

That's American money, in case you were wondering, I checked it like four times.


via hypebeast

Best of Cool Hunting 2008

So I have wrestled with how to successfully blog about the endless number of 'top ___ of 2008' lists, and I have not come up with an acceptable solution. Due to my mental inadequacy, I shall therefore link you to what are, in my opinion, some of the best 2008 recaps from one of my favorite sites, Cool Hunting. The top 5 buildings and green projects are my personal favorites, especially the Kraanspoor office complex (pictured below) and the recyclable nylon jacket from Patagonia.

To sum up, I am reposting a post which reposts the best posts from Cool Hunting in 2008.

FontStruct



After finishing up some recent work on Illustrator which included some lettering, I came to the realization that I am really sick of pretty much every font. Luckily, a friend of mine was around to show me FontStruct, a site with simple and intuitive editing functions and block templates which allow you to create your own fonts. Even if you don't have the time or inclination to design a full set, you can still mess around with the editor and browse other users' creations. Obviously, you can save, export, and do all sorts of other things one would normally expect to be able to do with an editing program.

I give it an unqualified 7/10 on the time wasting scale.

1.01.2009

Soft Sculptures by Megan Whitmarsh


These piles of cuddly refuse remind me of my bedroom as a teenager. Previously known for her Yeti and Elf drawings and embroidery (wtf?), Los Angeles-based Megan Whitmarsh produced these unique pieces from scratch after growing tired of painting and drawing.

I assume she grew tired of painting and drawing because painting and drawing Yeti is stupid. What is the plural of Yeti, anyway? I just assumed it was 'Yeti' and not 'Yetis.' Maybe it's 'Yetii.' I always wondered who decides which words get the double 'i' plurals. Radius = radii, octopus = octopii, but rhinoceros does NOT = rhinocerii. That last one has been a point of personal sadness for me for many years. Effing Latin.






12.30.2008

MAKE: Brings it to TV


MAKE: television Preview Reel from make magazine on Vimeo.

Coming to PBS in 2009 is DIY mag MAKE:'s foray into television instruction for the masses. Some topics for the upcoming season include making your own wind power generator, a burrito blaster cannon, and 'Maker' profiles galore. Check your local PBS listings for airtime, or check to see if your area is over on Gizmodo's list.

Best of all, episodes will hit the web in HD for your torrenting and streaming pleasures as they are aired, along with PDF guides for the featured projects. I will be checking this out regularly and posting any of the guides I deem worthy here.

via gizmodo

142 Fantastically Funky Modern Furniture Designs



From WebUrbanist, this collection of wild furniture pieces caught my eye. Follow the link to read the whole article and get a look at all these amazing creations. The red paint table and nautilus sink basin above as well as the hand grenade dresser below are absolutely awesome in my opinion.

New Year's Eve

Tomorrow evening, millions of booze-soaked heathens around the world will celebrate the fact that in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII decreed that the Christian world would adopt a new system of dates proposed by the Calabrian doctor Aloysius Lilius. The Gregorian Calendar, as it is now known, resets every year at midnight on January 1st, and for reasons unknown the hours leading up to midnight have become a time for raucous merrymaking and increased DWI enforcement across the land.

Some, however, celebrate the coming of January for other reasons: there are, for example, still churches in the world which celebrate the Gregorian New Year because it marks the day on which Jesus would have been circumcised after his birth on Christmas. Today, the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ would probably not be a real occasion for celebration given the Serious Times we live in, and therefore we look to ever more contemporary reasons to act foolishly.

So, I suppose now we should come to the point: I hate New Year's Eve. I hate the expectation that everyone heaps upon this most ordinary of days. I hate the fact that I can't go to my favorite restaurant because it is booked solid from 6 pm until 10 pm, at which time I will be charged an exorbitant cover for a complimentary glass of champagne and, if I am lucky, lukewarm appetizers. I am not cold, unromantic, or unsentimental; far from it. I have bought in to the Valentine's hype in the past... Mother's Day, Father's Day, Groundhog Day, Earth Day... they all have a place in the pantheon of days that occur only once per year.

In the end, we celebrate these things for the same reason we celebrate all annual events: to mark the passage of time. HOW we mark the occasion of the turning of the wheel from 2008 to 2009 is my issue, not WHY. Perhaps it is the close proximity with Christmas, or the need for those of us in the frozen north to have something to look forward to before three months of bitter, featureless, depressing winter nothingness... ESCAPISM, the real American addiction. I'm fairly certain I'm on to something there, but who cares? The motions must be made anyway. New Year's foolishness is as entrenched in the American way of life as the World Series and birth control.

Your time and your money are yours to spend as you see fit, as are mine. So with that sentiment in mind, I will tell you my plans: I will be sober, happy, and ready to hop in my car in order to bail my drunken, drug-addled friends and acquaintances out of jail for $100 a pop. If you need my contact information for that very reason, I would be delighted to provide it to you. Merry Christmas, and have a safe and happy New Year.


MUCH love, Newrosis