Democracy Day in America a Success for Minnesota

I don't like to get political on my internet space very often, but I feel it is incumbent upon me (no pun intended) to acknowledge the fine work that the sensible people of Minnesota did yesterday at the polls. While the rest of the world fixated on a race that was, quite frankly, never really in doubt in my opinion, the lords and ladies of the Land of 10,000 Lakes had other fish to fry:

1. First and foremost, we defeated a constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. Now, as rhesus monkeys and panda bears have yet to be given the vote, one can probably surmise that the goal of this amendment was to preempt any future attempts to legalize gay marriage. It should be noted that gay marriage is not legal in Minnesota right now, but you can bet your sweet ass that someday it will be. The purpose of this amendment was to pitch a taller roadblock on our way to the inevitable. Kudos to 51.3% of you, my fellow Minnesotans.
2. Another constitutional amendment would have required the presentation of government ID in order to vote, which would likely disenfranchise at least some Minnesotans. The goal was to prevent rampant voter fraud, which dilutes each Minnesotan's vote, according to proponents. Unfortunately, this rampant voter fraud (113 convictions after the 2008 election, mostly felons) failed to outweigh the potential disenfranchisement of over 215,000 people who do not have government ID that matches their current address.
3. #FourMoreYears. My Republican friends like to gloss over the fact that the banks collapsed under Bush, not Obama, and that the 44th President has overseen programs that saved massive American industries such as banking and those car thingys. He was dealt a shit hand and did the best he could. He also put an end to the war in Iraq and set a date for us adjourning from Afghanistan. Mitt Romney and his chameleon-esque election policies were never the answer, and despite his best efforts to fuck things up on that stage in Denver, the President of the United States remains Barry O.

So all in all, a hugely successful night for Minnesotans. The only black mark comes from the 6th Congressional District, where troglodytes and masochists conspired to give the good people of Greater St. Cloud two more years of representation from one of the most tragic caricatures in the history of United States politics.

Jesse the Body was an embarrassment at times, but he was OUR embarrassment. This clown epitomizes the failures of the Republican Party and its extremist offshoot, the Tea Party, as the parties of NO. Minnesotans are better than this, and we'll prove it in two years; yes, YES we will.

Nike "What the Max" Olympic Pack

So I missed the boat on this Olympic Pack of the venerable Nike Air Max line. The collection includes the Air Max 90, Air Max 2012 and Air Max 95 BB in Hyperfuse builds. I find it highly unlikely that anyone able to read this would not be able to figure out why it is called the Olympic Pack.

Rudimentary internet research has yielded the source of the shoes as a shop called mita in Japan. I swear I saw them for sale on one of my shoe sites, but I let this one sit on the back burner for a while and now I've gone all senile with the link.

Anyway, I did find the OG Air Max 90s here for the princely sum of $89. Quite a deal.

via EU Kicks

For My Faithful Readers: Random New Shoes!

Hey there kids, it's been a busy end to summer/beginning of autumn here on the internet. I have been getting paid to write (for actual American money) which, sadly, trumps my endeavors with regard to this blog at the moment. Rest assured, I am aggressively flogging this horse, and I'll get some good content brewed up for you before too long.

In the meantime, check out some new kicks from some of my favorite brands. Want more info? Learn to internet!

 

#SQUIRRELBOMB.

I take no credit for the photos, but telling you where I got them sort of ruins the scavenger hunt aspect of the whole affair, so suffice it to say I didn't take them, but I know who did, and they did a good job.

Neil Armstrong, Legend, Dead at 82

When people look back at the American Era in history, without question one of the grandest feats of the age will be the landing of men on the moon. Neil Armstrong, the first of those intrepid travelers to step onto lunar soil, has died today at the age of 82.

"Legend" is one of those words that has evolved into a bit of a watered-down cliche in modern times, liberally applied to athletes and people doing foolish things on YouTube, but make no mistake: the first man to set foot on the surface of a celestial body other than the earth is legendary.

In a time when humanity applies its intellectual gifts to developing more technologically advanced ways of cramming advertising down the throats of consumers, or to inventing new ways to lustily suck every last drop of oil from the ground so we can burn it, it is good for us to remember that we used to shoot for the stars.

Godspeed Mr. Armstrong.

Nike Air Force 1 Wolf Grey

AF1s with tonal grey upper along with hot pink and royal blue accents. This shoe is murdered out and I'm buying it, so get your grubby mitts off. It isn't available anywhere at any price. GO AWAY I SAY.

via sneakerfreaker.com

Banksy in London for the Olympics

Banksy has just posted two pieces celebrating the Games of the XXX Olympiad.  Big fan of the javelin missile.

The Shard

A "supertall" skyscraper project on the southern bank of the Thames, The Shard, AKA London Bridge Tower, has topped out at 1,016 feet just in time for the opening of the London Summer Olympics.  It has 72 habitable floors and is currently the tallest building in Europe, although Moscow has three projects in the works that will surpass it, if completed.

The tower features retail space, restaurants, offices, a hotel, private residences, and four floors of observation deck.  The website is really well done, and I recommend a gander at the 360 panorama of London town (though the resolution is disappointing).

Designed by Renzo Piano--who is Italian, in case there was some confusion--The Shard is a really striking addition to London's generally underwhelming skyline (not due to a lack of interest in blowing up the skyline, simply because the London council want to preserve the old and blah blah blah).

I've been watching this one go up for years, and I'm really pleased to see it come to fruition.  While detractors may claim that its 1984 monolithic aesthetic is a bit cold, I really enjoy the contrast with the rest of London; a modern obelisk in a historic city.

On the down side, there's...this video.  What the hell am I looking at here?  Is this another Tron remake?  Am I supposed to be awed?  Inspired?  Terrified?  Because I'm none of those things.  Just disappointed.

Train Pieces by Aware

A spread by Aware from this month's goods on Art Crimes, who I will always love because they have not done a damn thing with their site layout since I started visiting in '99.

All artwork is copyright © 2012 Aware. Photos thanks to Jaber.
via artcrimes

Canon MR (Mixed Reality) System

Japanese electronics firm Canon has developed what could potentially be a huge breakthrough in industrial design: the Mixed Reality system.  For my scifi peeps out there this is halfway between the Gibson in Hackers and the setup at the precog unit in Minority Report.  If that doesn't help, allow me to explain a little further:

Virtual Reality, or VR, completely immerses you in an electronically created visualization.  Mixed Reality projects electronic elements over the actual surroundings of the user in real time and, as you can see from the images above, to manipulate those elements with a wand-looking thingamajiggy.  If that is still confusing, the diagram below probably won't help, and you might just want to ignore the fact that you started reading this post in the first place.

So practically speaking, as you can see from the pics, one theoretical application of the MR technology is for the design of automobiles.  Prototyping can be an extremely expensive part of the enterprise, and Canon aims to cut big chunks out of that part of the budget with this system.  Other applications mentioned are the layout of machinery in a factory for optimum efficiency and safety, and also virtual surgical procedures.

If it were up to me I'd wear my MR around the house and pretend I had lots of cool stuff like an indoor particle accelerator and a pet elephant seal.  Sadly, given the novelty of the technology and its intended markets, I fear I may be priced out of the bargain.

Check out the link here for a video, which Canon does not want me to embed.

The MR System is scheduled for launch in late July of this year and the cost will be determined by the breadth of the application the client is buying it for, or something like that.

via core77

Aftonbladet Mocks English Tabloids

Ahead of today's Euro 2012 match between Sweden and England, Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet provided this cover for its sports section.  Predicting a 5-0 win for Sverige, the paper also prognosticates on the potential covers of the most infamous of the English tabloids.  

Well played.