December 2010
44 posts
Atmospheric Disturbances and Wind-Up Bird...
Once I read this book.
Then I read this book:
Except it had this cover, which seems designed to aid you in associating it with a Murakami novel.
Not that “Atmospheric Disturbances” is “Murakami-esque.” But there is something wonderfully complimentary about these two novels. It was sort of like if I had watched an episode of “90210” with only Brenda,...
We can't make declarative statements?
In pop culture dystopian novels about the future, like “Feed” and anything by George Saunders, people have a curious habit of ending declarative statements with question marks.
Example:
We broke up. But it wasn’t my fault? I was just kind of busy working on myself? Like going to the gym and Breeze Tan? So I didn’t have time to notice that he was on too many...
k3wl
"Awesome" has become a super-signifier
I took a class about semiotics once and it was really boring. I spent most of the time making up codes in my notebook, with which I took notes that I could not decipher come study time. But I remember learning that there is something called a “super-signifier,” a sign (or word) that orders other signs. Now, I might be using the term wrong, but like I said, the class was boring,...
Best Movies of 2010
5. Toy Story 3
There were probably better movies this year than “Toy Story 3,” but I haven’t seen them. “Blue Valentine,” “The Kids are All Right” - a quick perusal of Important People’s Best Of lists showed that I haven’t seen 90% of the films that dominated this year. Nonetheless, “Toy Story 3” was less-than-objectionable, even...
Best Albums of 2010
The shittiest year in music in some time produced a few decent albums. Here were my top ten:
10. Toro y Moi “Causers of This”
The closest I got to liking chillwave. This album is pretty good booty music.
Best track: “Blessa”
9. Das Racist “Shut Up, Dude”
Things shorty says you look like [abridged]:
Devendra Banhart
That dude from Japan’s art, you know that dude who did...
Tao Lin and Hipster Consciousness
If you are not in the mood to read much, skip the background and go right to the list.
Awhile ago I bought and read Tao Lin’s novel “Richard Yates” because the characters were named Dakota Fanning/Haley Joel Osment, the cover had a vagina-like seashell in front of a guys’ face and the back of the book looked like a cubic egg. I thought, “This looks marketed at...
tweets brought to you by jordan
Jas: “all you talk about is food and cats.” Jordan: “food and dick and cats.”
“I want that young spring feeling.” -Jordan, talking about how he’d prefer to eat a young person, if eating a human.
“let’s get away from this and go to nature. Do you like nature? Like trees and grass and fish?” -Jordan
“I kinda have this fantasy if...
w3rld
Rosalina Hung
Site
moodboard
i really want this
this is an embroidery
yellow isolation tape
What I Learned from Groupon's Leaked Copywriting...
I wrote this for the Zeus Jones blog
I recently wrote a post about how to make your writing not about nothing. But now that I have read the leak of Groupon’s secret copywriting guide, I feel like I might have wasted my breath. I’ve mentioned that Groupon emobodies the best practices in copywriting, and now we have their secret Judo patterns of success! But you don’t have to read the actual...
blockbet font
I made a block code in iFontMaker because I’ve always wanted to visualize different ways that phonetic systems could be organized. This one is into blocks, with vowels being blank blocks and consonants designated into quadrants. Here is some sample text, which explains the plot of “Lost.”
it kind of looks like a city map. just in writing, it was kind of easy to tell where I...
Watch@MPLSTV is also essentially a music video production house, thanks to these people.
Blown away
Coolest illustration/design work I’ve seen in a few weeks, at least.
By Chateau-Vacant, suggested by Banquet Hall
keeper of katz
noghostshere:
this holiday season i’m glad my roommate, my boyfriend and our cat all get along so well.
WatchI made the animation for this and my boyfriend did the sound. Make sure to check out our content on MPLS.TV!
Coding for the Masses →
I think eventually coding will become as easy as blogging. Someone will create an interface that translates between design and functionality to code, and then the world will get super crazy awesome as everyone starts contributing their ideas. I heard Google’s App inventor isn’t the ticket, but it’s a start.
It’d be great if programming became part of the curriculum, but that...
loaf comma ham
noghostshere:
Blizzard dinner with roomies!
WatchHere’s the video I made a couple weeks ago for MPLS.TV using Brushes on my iPad. If you look closely, I accidentally made it say “spicy hot charity.” The song is by The Chelsea Boys.
“Avoid wearing too much denim. Keep dental floss in your purse. Do not scream...”
– How to Make Friends and Convince Them You Are Someone Fun and Not Insane and Worth Inviting Next Time « Thought Catalog (via interweber)
New posts for ol' Zeus
Design Watch! Featuring Katie Bingaman-Burt’s rainbowtastic wish list, iFontMaker, and these awesome illustrations:
When I get paid I’m throwing down $8 for that font app. Here’s some fonts made using it:
Plus, tales of a disgruntled copywriter: Copy as a narrative
Read this:
WatchMPLS.TV’s latest skit is awesome. Also, I think the guy who plays Chuck Schuegen works at The Apple Store uptown.
p.s. make sure you come to our events next week for Minneapolis Supported Television Week.
Help MPLS.TV with our Full-Body Patdown of 2010!
The apocalypse is in just two years, but who’s going to assess the recent Loko-pocalypse? Who will praise the lewdest of Wi-Fi network names, the hair-whippable-est of underground bands, and the iciest of ice storms? Us, that’s who! Who better to review the year that brought us rape gaze than your local taco-chomping, camera-rolling media punks, MPLS.TV? But we’re a creative collective, and...
How to Make Your Writing Not About Nothing
I wrote this on the Zeus Jones blog today:
If you’re like me, you hate reading people’s tips about writing. They’re too often about finding your spirit, reaffirming yourself, and taking a chance. In essence, they’re about nothing – and not in that cool way that “Seinfeld” is about nothing. My whole life, one of my biggest enemies has been the flurry of messages that are actually about...
That Wikileaks guy is probably gonna get in some...
I’ve been following this news about Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, all day, and I think it’s fucking weird. He was arrested today in Sweden with a charge of rape, which was initially called “surprise sex” and turns out to involve condom dishonesty, or something.
Not to sound CRAZY, but I can’t help but wonder if there are larger forces at play....
Wikileaks guy accused of "sex by surprise" →
And in London, Stephens told AOL News on Thursday that the offense under investigation isn’t rape at all, but rather something called “sex by surprise,” which he described as a minor — and uniquely Swedish — offense that carries a 5,000 kroner fine — about $715.
“Whatever ’sex by surprise’ is, it’s only an offense in Sweden — not in the U.K. or the U.S. or even Ibiza,” Stephens said. “I feel...
Someone needs a rebrand...
I was perusing brand tags yesterday at work and it came to my attention that no one knows what Campari is. If they know that it is an orange type of Italian bitters, they don’t particularly like it.
Observe:
Nope, it is not camping or calamari.
I bought Campari once because both GQ and Rachel Ray happened to sing its praises on the same day. It tastes like pine trees, but not in...
5 Things Winky Sad Face is Looking Forward to...
Hi, I’m Winky Sad face. Here are the top 5 things I will be winking and frowning at this month.
1. “Black Swan”is about how ballerinas feel immense amounts of pressure, competition and inadequacy to the point that it can sometimes implode their entire being. With lesbian stuff, amiright?
2. Egg nog
Christmas sucks. Get me my motherfuckin’ nog. Make it strong and...
