Sunny Day Real Estate Are Back

Enjoy.

The Early Eighties Were A Simpler Time

Ah, the 80's. The Afterschool Special on ABC. They don't make them like that anymore.

Take a look at the pic - life was so much simpler then.

Taming Light: Kubrick Inspired Art Exhibition

Taming Light is an exhibition in Dublin of art inspired by the films of Stanley Kubrick. Wish I could go!

More here.

PS - the poster is awesome - click it for a larger version.

Rushmore Academy Site Is the Coolest

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The Rushmore Academy is the place where Wes Anderson fans can find information about all things Wes. It is also the place where you can purchase Team Zissou Adidas.

Amongst other cool things was a link to this painting, which is a spoof of Miguel Calderón’s artwork from The Royal Tenenbaums.

Everything about the new Anderson film, The Fantastic Mr. Fox is there, in all it's stop motion glory.

Buy My The Majestic T Shirt

Yes, there is an official T for The Majestic. If you buy one, I will laugh, and be very happy, all at the same time. I hope you enjoy it.

Buy one here.

You can select the size, color, style, etc.

Arial Vs. Helvetica Side By Side Comparison

Nice comparison of Arial (garbage) Versus Helvetica (brilliant) over at The RagBag.

Check it out here.

PS - Thanks Nubby.

Polaroid of the Week: the 80's Are Back and So Am I

For the first Polaroid of the Week, I've chosen one of me from back in the day. The early 80's were a good time - the Tigers won the World Series, The Clash were still together, the A-Team was on TV. On a side note, that couch in the background continues to live on in Madison, WI. though I have no idea where.

The title of this post is for you Jane!

Hello/Goodbye Old MCS

My good friend Doc sent me this pic he found of my old studio (the MCS) back in Madison, WI. It seems like a hundred million years ago. So much of who I am as an artist was formed in that space. It will always hold a place in my heart.

Thanks Doc - for sending all those memories in one pic.

Witness the Power of Helvetica

Mmm...Helvetica...pure graphic communication....

This Seems Like Sound Advice

This seems like sound advice...

The Language of Design Is Truly Universal

People often say that music is the international language, but now, in this technological, contemporary world, it seems that the visual language - the language of design - is the true visual currency.

Here you go.

One of My Favorite Movie Posters of All Time

This is a poster for 2001: A Space Oddity by Stanley Kubrick. 2001 is one of the greatest films ever made, so it fully deserved one of the greatest promo posters ever. Clever and aesthetically appropriate, this is too awesome.

Enjoy.

10 Common Type Mistakes: So Basic, But So True

Great list of commonly mistaken type problems. Read it here - it's a good reminder.

PS - here are a couple of cool ampersands. That is all.

UPDATE - For the first time ever, I beat Nubby to a link!

I Want this T Shirt

More good stuff to be found here.

Music Video of the Week: The Raconteurs

Salute Your Solution from Miky Wolf on Vimeo.

It's been awhile since I have posted a Music Video of the Week, and this one comes from the great great Jack White and his first sideband, The Raconteurs. Salute Your Solution rocks out in time to concise black and white stills in an almost stop motion style.

Awesome.

Parallel Lines Video Is Amazing

parallel lines from ricfortune on Vimeo.

The McMann Transfer Process Rocks

The McMann Transfer Process Tutorial from Tim Speaker on Vimeo.

Classic NME and Melody Maker Covers Take Me Back

Back in the wild and crazy mid-nineties, I lived in Mt. Pleasant, MI. The running joke about Mt. Pleasant is that there are no mountains, and it's not very pleasant. Basically it's a college town dropped in the middle of a cornfield. Strange days indeed.

Anyway, when I think back to those days I feel like I actually was living in the UK. I was totally immersed in Britpop and Britpop culture. I guarantee that I was the only kid in Mt. Pleasant with Ian Brown and Pulp posters, waiting for a new Suede B-side, or literally having trouble sleeping the night before the Echo & the Bunnymen comeback single was released. There were a couple of great record stores there (remember, this was pre-internet, so it was really tough to get your hands on English music) including the phenomenal New Moon Records.

I was in there all the time. They had a great used section, tons of vinyl, intelligent employees, and an awesome listening station. Mike, the owner, was into lots of late-sixties psych stuff - he got me into all manner of glorious weirdness like the Stooges and the MC5 and exposed me to Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa.

My friend Rod worked there too, and looking back, he was a huge influence on me. I met Rod on a bus going to Chicago, and I remember him and I hanging out at the Blackstone Hotel (where they filmed The Untouchables) the night that Allen Ginsberg died. We were both heavy into the Beats, and we were both pretty upset. Later Rod taught me my first chords on guitar - I'll never forget the summer night we both sat up playing "Down By The River" by Neil Young. He showed me those three chords - C D G - and I hammered away on them while he soloed for seriously, about 5 hours. He gave me the first four Echo & the Bunnymen records, The Smiths' The Queen Is Dead, New Order's Substance, and Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures. Essentially I was an Anglophile of the first degree, obsessed with Britpop stuff like Oasis and Verve and Suede, and he also was an Anglophile, but from the previous generation, thus he was into The Smiths and Joy Division and The Stone Roses.

So long story short, those were good days. And the other record store in town used to order both NME and Melody Maker for me. They were always a week late, but they were a lifeline to a world I could only dream of. Every week there was some new band that I'd never heard of and couldn't wait to check to check out - Blur, Manic Street Preachers, Boo Radleys, etc. I got a hold of a ton of great deleted British stuff from the cut out bin (do you remember the cut out bin?) like the magnificent first album from Geneva, and a bunch of out of print Echo & the Bunnymen singles.

Here is a large collection of mid-nineties NME and Melody Maker scans. Just seeing them takes me back. Enjoy them here.

Best Milk Packaging Ever...Yes, You Heard That Right

Wow - I've never wanted to buy milk for aesthetic purposes before.

WOW WOW WOW...

I Want the Falcon Bobber

Wow, this is sweet. Lots of cool stuff here at Falcon Motorcycles.

Cassavetes Was Right

“The most difficult thing in the world is to reveal yourself, to express what you have to. As an artist, I feel that we must try many things - but above all we must dare to fail. You must be willing to risk everything to really express it all.”

— John Cassavetes, 1959

Nestea Redesign Is Killer

The Neastea redesign is awesome.

That is all.

Movies In Frames Is Poetic

Movies In Frames is a cool site that breaks films down to four selected frames. Some of them are poignant, some whimsical, some poetic.

Take a look here.

Yes, The Motor City Is Burning

Many times I have written on here about my love for the city of Detroit. But it seems that 7 out of 10 murderers do not see justice in Detroit, and that the police force is in shambles. This article discusses the sad state of affairs back home.

Read it at your own risk.

BTW - for more of my polaroids of the D, go here.

Terrible Typefaces and IKEA's Big Type Mistake

Just read this article about the controversy swirling around IKEA's insane decision to change their official typeface from the classic, perfect Futura to the inane, clunky Verdana. Terrible, terrible, unthinkably bad decision. People are so incredulous about this decision that there is even an online petition about it.

The article also goes on to discuss other typefaces that make people angry. Take a read, it's good stuff.

Thanks again Nubby for the heads up.