Archive for February, 2009
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »KOMS.ru – Inspired Russian Flash Animation
[ 3 Comments ]Posted on February 20, 2009 by admin in Popular Media
Friday, February 20th, 2009I’ve always been intrigued with the amazing possibilities for new media that Flash offers, and a little disappointed that most things you see created with Flash are annoying ads or clever games. We’ve mentioned the eerie creations of Han Hoogerbrugge before, but yesterday I ran across a fantastic collection of Flash work, some interactive, some [...]
I’ve always been intrigued with the amazing possibilities for new media that Flash offers, and a little disappointed that most things you see created with Flash are annoying ads or clever games. We’ve mentioned the eerie creations of Han Hoogerbrugge before, but yesterday I ran across a fantastic collection of Flash work, some interactive, some not, at KOMS.ru. The screen grab at left (I couldn’t find an embeddable clip) is from the dark and macabre CHEVENGUR, an animated video based on the work of dystopian Russian writer Andrei Platonov , and featuring the music of one of my favorite composers, Arvo Pärt. There are many more clips at KOMS.ru, who describe themselves as a “non-commercial community of artists, which presents the new wave of russian flash-animation” adding ” This is not a sequel of flash junk-collections located all over the world, which don’t have any system or ideology. We want to introduce you intellectual flash-animations made of different styles: gothic, urban, vanguard, neo-psycho, etc.“. I love this kind of hip bad-assness in Russian pop culture. I haven’t seen anything this cool since the controversial Russian pop act n.A.T.o.
Discovering “Disfarmer: A Portrait of America”
[ Comments Off ]Posted on February 19, 2009 by admin in Popular Media
Thursday, February 19th, 2009A fascinating and amusing story about an enigmatic photographer
I have an amusing story about how I became familiar with the documentary Disfarmer: A Portrait of America, which is the amazing story of how the work of depression era photographer Michael Disfarmer was discovered. One of his photos captured my eye on a Turkish link site, of all places, and I made a mental note to take a closer look later. Later that day, while looking at the artwork of an old friend (Hava Gurevich) I noticed that of all the odd coincidences, she was involved with the very same project. Although I’m not an active photographer at this point, I’ve loved photography all my life. I had a Kodak 620 camera when I was six; just ask me for samples of my work…that may have been the apex of my career! In any case, I’ve always just sort of laughed off the question of whether or not it’s “art”; just look at work by bigger names like Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Edward Weston, or Hiroshi Sugimoto, and it becomes a moot point. That’s why it was an incredible pleasure to stumble upon the work of Michael Disfarmer. I’ve always been fascinated with depression era and WWII photos of the sort you might find on the Library of Congress’ Farm Security Administration site or the FDR Library site, but Michael Disfarmer’s photos capture an incredible inner something in almost every single subject. They’re powerful, magical, and many other words that won’t begin to do the images justice. The clip featured here is a one-minute teaser for the film that is slated for release this fall; you can catch another trailer and a 20-minute preview on Vimeo.
Bernie Madoff “Smash Me Bernie” Doll
[ Comments Off ]Posted on February 18, 2009 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009It’s the latest in Piñatas
You know times are bad when Donald Trump files for bankruptcy and Warren Buffet loses 25% of his fortune in a single quarter. And to add to our woes, the banks we bailed out are lobbying against us, the war that bled us dry was making U.S. Military officers rich, and there are more stories than I care to link to about all the other ways that bankers have enjoyed the high life while we lose jobs, homes, and hopes. So where can a person turn to express some of the anger and frustration? Why, a Smash Me Bernie Madoff doll, of course. In their words, “This wonderful action figure capturing Bernie in the ‘I am about to stick this poker right up your ass and take the spare change out of your pockets’ position can be yours for just $99.95” You might want to order a few, because for a while they’re offering the doll with a limited edition hammer to smash it with. The only hope we have otherwise is that since Greenspan’s been so wrong in the past, his proclamation that the recession will surely be the longest and deepest since the 1930′s is dead wrong as well.
The High Cost Of Cheap Electronics
[ Comments Off ]Posted on February 17, 2009 by admin in Technology
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009High Tech Misery in China
 Chicken feet. It’s what’s for lunch |
Having a bad day at work? Next time you sit at your computer keyboard, typing e-mails to friends about how much your job sucks, pause for a moment and ask yourself if that very keyboard was assembled by people who get payed 40 cents an hour, and get 15 minute lunches to slurp down milky-colored rice gruel (Friday bonus: chicken feet!). High Tech Misery in China is a project created by the National Labor Committee to investigate the abusive labor conditions at a Chinese factory where keyboards are manfactured for American computer retailers like Dell, HP, and Lenovo. I’ll let you take a swig of your Coke while you ponder that, and then read about Colombia’s other Coke. That really puts a new twist on the phrase “dying of thirst”, doesn’t it? At least those keyboard factory workers appear to be getting paid, unlike the Chinese slave labor that builds the bricks that build the factories. Okay, quietly back to your cubicle now.
Monday Demotivators: The Presidents Day Edition
[ Comments Off ]Posted on February 16, 2009 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
Monday, February 16th, 2009Funny, he looks remarkably like his prehistoric ancestors. Although all you bankers out there have the day off anyway and don’t deserve any Monday Demotivators, we’re sticking to our tradition of doing our best to make you waste time and be late for work on Monday morning. Why DO they call it President’s Day, anyway? [...]
 Funny, he looks remarkably like his prehistoric ancestors. |
Although all you bankers out there have the day off anyway and don’t deserve any Monday Demotivators, we’re sticking to our tradition of doing our best to make you waste time and be late for work on Monday morning. Why DO they call it President’s Day, anyway? It should be called “No Banking For You ‘Cuz All The Lazy-ass Bankers Have The Day Off Day” or something. Anyway, in keeping with the holiday theme, let’s rob a bank. Although robbing a real one might be fun, let’s stick to pretend bank robbing with The Bank Robber, which took so long to load and had so many instructions that I didn’t actually try it. Let me know how that worked out for you, it looks pretty clever. For the more brain-dead (like me) here’s a simple shoot ‘em up bank robber game. You just, well…shoot ‘em up. On a presidential note, you could always revisit the glory days of Bush Shoe Tossing , or de-evolve ex-President (man I like the sound of that) Bush with Darwin’s Devolve Me. And for some completely unrelated random fun, try Shopping Cart Hero. Yeah, downhill shopping carting is all fine and dandy until someone LOSES AN EYE or something. And lastly, in what seems to be common theme with Flash games, shoot some cute, helpless Roly-Polies with a cannon.