End of the world girls
Bugger Ipods. In fact, bugger MP3 players in general. Who needs them when you have your own party mix going 24/7 inside your head. If only there was an on – off switch. Life would be so much … quieter. But I digress. I came across a wonderful quote on creativity during the week by Nietzsche that sums up that tumultuous whirlpool of great invention, a journey surely pitted with danger. ‘You need chaos in your soul’, he said. ‘To give birth to a dancing star’. And so you do. Look at the lives of Cobain, Burroughs, Coleridge … seared by inner-passion; but driven by inner-demons. Yup. It’s a heady path putting your work out there, subjecting yourself to the scrutiny of the masses. But the world would be a very dull place if it weren’t for the daring grandeur of self-belief. Which is where ego can play a big part. And some, of course, are blessed with bucketloads of the stuff. Norman Mailer, for instance, once famously remarked that he was locked in a heavyweight title fight with Ernest Hemmingway for the distinction of being the greatest American writer of the twentieth century. Heck, if you threw William Faulkner and Saul Bellow into the ring as cornermen, you wouldn’t be far off the mark. But that’s another novel altogether (and I put my hand up now for first publishing rights). The point is that you’ve just gotta do it. As Edward De Bono acknowledged, ‘It’s better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all’. As worthy motto as any for these conservative times. [illustration by Biddy Moroney]
Also by ZOLTON
Maths explains the origin of superhero characters
I love the colours and simple reasoning in this clever series by Scottish illustrator Matt Cowen, which uses basic maths equations to explain how certain pop culture icons came to be. Read more
Star Wars Uncut: a fully crowdsourced version of Episode IV
The project of creative technologist, Casey Pugh, this full length version of the George Lucas masterpiece was created from multiple 15 second segments recreated from the original movie and submitted by thousands of Star Wars fans, which were then spliced together by editor Aaron Valdez to form the final product. Genius, as both a commentary on contemporary pop culture trends (there are references to LEGO, stop motion, memes and the like) and on the power of tapping your audience for quality material.
Filmmaker creates LEGO stop motion to propose to girlfriend
Now, this is one for the ages: back in 2010, Atlanta film-maker Walter Thompson created a jaw-dropping LEGO stop motion to propose to Nealey Dozier, his girlfriend of four years. The video took 22 hours of shooting and some 2,600 pictures to splice together, a small sacrifice to pay for years of happiness together. Right? Right! Oh, and she said yes. Bonus.
YOU'RE SAYING (3)
Zolton said | 12 August, 2006
thanks!
Andy said | 13 August, 2006
As in the Edward De Bono who introduced the world to lateral thinking and the six thinking hats? That’s a great quote from an amazing guy. I’ve studied some of his papers and theories – what a creative mastermind. He made the world a better place. Without him, many organisations wouldn’t place the emphasis on creative thinking they do today (or – we wouldn’t be aware of the lack of emphasis they should be applying). Nice little parallel there Zolton – I enjoyed reading it mate.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Something Awful just posted some genius mock ups of what iconic rock albums might look like had they been put out on No Limit Records. My favorite is David Bowie’s Diamonds, Dog. Read more
OK, so who said ice cream had to be boring? First we had the Hoffsicle, now comes this brilliant range of mini ice cream busts from Russian advertising agency Stoyn, who developed these popsicles based on iconic characters such as Marilyn Monroe, Donald Duck, Mario, and Che Guevara. They’ve got the competition licked. Read more
Artist David Shrigley’s animated music video for Blur is so simple, so sweet, so perfect. I don’t know how many times I’ve watched it, yet it still makes me cry every time.
Lookie here! A bike path in Seoul that plays music as people ride over it. The path is made of planks of wood of varying lengths that trigger little hammers when people ride over them, creating little percussive notes. Happy fun place yay!
Monique Easton runs a blog called Baby Got Framed where she cataloges barely remembered evenings and cute hipster zombies. Read more
Killola is three boys and one girl, making rock music out of Los Angeles, California. The band’s style of garage pop (often described as ‘Blondie for the 21st Century’) has received more than 1.5 million MySpace plays from over 80,000 friends, many of whom add the band’s ‘K))’ symbol to their screen names as a show of allegiance. The band recently self-booked its own UK tour — 12 shows in 12 days — and American Tour — 27 shows in 32 days. Oh, and their latest album is available for free download. Viva la independence!
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Quiksilver, the surfing apparel company, has just released what is being considered the world’s first eco-friendly watch. Made of sustainable ebony wood and running on automatic movement instead of batteries, this limited-edition watch is green down to the shipping of the raw materials. Every raw material used in making this watch is recyclable (the aluminum, the steel, and the mineral crystal are all 100% recyclable), and it also includes solvent free links and is shipped by sea rather than by air. The Ray has a five-year warranty, meaning that it has a longer life than normal watches.
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Benjamin Edminston’s psychedelic heads seem to have some fearful wisdom behind their blissed-out eyes. Read more
Christoph Niemann illustrates a nightmare flight
New York Times illustrator Christoph Niemann has created a brilliant visual diary outlining the peril and pitfalls that beset the everyday passenger based on his recent experience flying from New York to his home town of Berlin. Read more
Baltimore Mural by Josh Van Horne
My friend Josh Van Horne, a local Baltimore artist, did this amazing mural in our neighborhood that depicts the history of this warehouse-laden area.
Matthew Dear’s Black City album totem
Our friends at Ghostly International are releasing Matthew Dear’s Black City album as a limited edition ‘totem’. A what? A totem – a limited edition metal bar used to access a private music chamber. Cool! Read more
Pencils made from recycled newspaper
The problem with awesome things like these pencils made out of recycled newspaper is that you almost don’t want to use them.
This pendant by Portland designer Stephanie Stimek hangs from an eighteen inch 14 carat gold chain. Made from a Japanese quail egg, the entire shell has been coated in plastic for strength and is available for purchase through the Lost At E Minor store. Read more
If you have a Twitter feed that focuses on cool pop cultural things and you’d like to swap Tweets with Lost At E Minor and other like-minded Twitterers, drop us a note (with Tweet Swap in the title). We have a system in place and we’d like to have you in on it! [illustration by Brad Fitzpatrick]
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angeles said | 11 August, 2006
nice website