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These Are Those Things

Make Your Life A Little Better in 2010

Maybe I am easily satisfied, but I have to say it brightens my mornings to find the various email blasts I subscribe to sitting in my InBox each day. Sure there are the usual ones, like the NYTimes headlines and the various film industry trades, like Variety and HollywoodRptr, but the other services of a much indiosyncractic nature are a real pick me up. You might want consider giving permission to a few of these folks to clog your box too.

Word Of The Day: There are four that I subscribe to and I would gladly add four more. I suppose I get my most pleasure from Wordsmith as they provide the most extensive over view of the choices. Dictionary.com & Merriam-Webster are also fun, but MW is bit too commonplace in their selection though (don’t they know it’s more fun to learn new words than remember some for the crossword puzzles?). And then there is the Urban Dictionary for slang kicks and litmus of your hip factor.
WebUrbanist – billing it self as “Alternative Art, Dynamic Design, Visual Culture & More”, WebUrbanist is incredibly well curated site.
Listverse – The diversity of their lists is outstanding. The research and curating is great. Subscribing to their email list will help you come up with several new film ideas this year and certainly increase your base of fun odd knowledge. Bone up on it before the next party, and you won’t run out of anything to say!
Viral Video Chart: what useless things are popular on the interwebs? Nothing defines a culture more than what it likes to watch for free. Each week a new peak into the mindscape of our world.
Alternet Top Stories: a survey of alternative news services, delivering a “best of the week”
The Cool Hunter – okay, if you ask me anything with “cool” in its title can’t be, all irony aside. Still though, I am sucker for stuff that seeks to push the design envelope. I love to look even when I might be hesitant to touch. These folks do a pretty swell job at sourcing the forward looking spectrum.
VeryShortList – this tip sheet seemed less about the sell before NewYorkObserver, but it still sources a good number of worthy discoveries.
I would still like to find some new tip sheets though. Music? Comics? Art? Crafty? Philosophy?
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These Are Those Things

Some Of The Reasons I Love The Internet

I can wake up, drink my coffee, and have great videos curated for me — videos that change how I feel about the world.

Marc Schiller hipped me to this fan created video for Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks” awhile back and I have been meaning to post it. How great is it that Gabe Askew made this for all of us?!!:

Two Weeks – Grizzly Bear from Gabe Askew on Vimeo.

And before that I finally caught up on Girl Talk’s “Feed The Animals” . Culture changes so fast, thankfully. I love that this is 100% samples and the juxtaposition of stuff is a hoot. I had no idea which video to post but I picked this one in honor of Babe Ruth.

Another reason is you can find curators of interesting stuff and ideas. The forementioned Marc Schiller being one of them. Check this out (if you didn’t already when I twittered and blogged about it):
http://marcschiller.posterous.com/

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These Are Those Things

Once We Thought TV Could Be Different

Mark Pellington created BUZZ for MTV back in 1990. Syd Mead, Hackers, Bladerunner all in a collage mash up.

A lot has gone on for Mark in the years that have gone by. His latest video breaks my heart, but many thanks are given.
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These Are Those Things

Movies I Have Wanted To Make #1

I have a list. Okay, I admit I have many lists. And there are subsets of those many lists. And occasionally some of those subsets even overlap.

On the list of True Stories I Would Like To Find A Movie To Make Incorporating Some Of That Truth In is a small subset incorporating those true Sports stories. There’s also one that incorporates true Drug tales. And yes, as you might have guessed, there is more than one crossover between the two of those subsets.
Now I also admit it did not occur to me to turn those over to animation. I am glad someone did have that inspiration — even if they did beat to it in terms of portraying one of those key moments of intersection.
The animated documentary is quickly becoming one of my favorite film forms too: Waltz With Bashir, Ryan, I Met The Walrus, Chicago 10, and now this:

Thank you James Blagden and No Mas TV!

And thank you J. Max Ruschak for the tip!
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These Are Those Things

I Love Procrastination

Procrastination is surfing the internet — and finding things you love. Procrastination is putting things you like on your blog about the things you like.

John Kelly brings a lot of joy to procrastination.
Thanks to booooooom.com for all the great curating!
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These Are Those Things

In A World Of My Own Design, Buskers Would Be Superstars

A couple of weeks ago, I was reminded of this video from a friend’s Facebook posting. I wrote about this video awhile back; the video successfully went viral (14.5M views!) and I love how social media keeps the good things coming back.


In a world of my own design Buskers would be Superstars. Along with: Pranksters, Benevolent Conspirators, Babysitters, Curators, Public Artists, Teachers, Puppeteers, Community Organizers, and Stop Motion Animators. One day, one day….

I really appreciate how that friend’s FB posting lead me on a tour through several covers of “Stand By Me”. I didn’t discover this song via Ben E. King, which will always be my definitive version. But it was John Lennon — who still has taught me more through his music than any other pop star. And will always rank as one of the great rock vocalists in my book. But I am sucker for this tune when anyone sings it. I have posted it other incarnations, and suspect I will well into the future.
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These Are Those Things

The Blackheart Gang: Beautiful Creepy Animation!

Wow. I love when I get to see great new stuff. Double thanks to booooooom.com whom do an awesome job curating and led me to this. Wow. Watch on full screen.


The Tale of How from Shy the Sun on Vimeo.