I’m not big on man jewelry (save for wedding rings on married men, of course). But this gear ring by Kinekt is pretty darn cool:
Girls looking for a regular (or wedding) ring for your favorite gear geek…don’t miss this one.
Click the video link on the Product page to see how the gears move. It’s awesome!
Just the name stirred my excitement: The Journal of Serendipitous and Unexpected Results. I’m eagerly awaiting the inaugural issue.
The Journal of Serendipitous and Unexpected Results (JSUR) is an open-access forum for researchers seeking to further scientific discovery by sharing surprising or unexpected results. These results should provide guidance toward the verification (or negation) of extant hypotheses. JSUR has two branches, one focusing on computational sciences and the other on the life sciences.
In a society where drug companies often have more say over publicized research than scientists, it’s nice to see a forum that will showcase anomalies. All too often we fall victim to confirmation bias; a convenient, comfortable killer of creativity.
Shake it up, boys and girls! Thinking outside of the box makes fantastic new boxes.
In addition to Robots and Monsters, I also came across the Crewest Gallery Valentine’s Day Card project, designed to provide a handmade card for every child in the Childrens’ Hospital, LA.
I’d really like to organize something like this for one of my local hospitals. Maybe not even for a holiday. Just because.
Original call for artists
Source (with participating artist list)
…if he really wishes he could fly.
Bodies can be so cumbersome.
I like these pin-up collage pieces from Dutch artist Handiedan:
She uses yellowed sheet music, old fashioned playing cards, retro pinup art, bits of filigree, doodles and miscellania to create these playful twists of sophistication.
These little imagery amalgams exists outside of time period and style constraints…
Robots and Monsters makes me so happy. I think more artists should join forces for projects like this one.
RobotsAndMonsters.org is a charitable art project that matches goodwill and charitable giving with custom-made commissioned cartoon and pop art. Giving just a little bit gets you an original drawing of a robot or a monster of your specification sent to your door – and in the process, you get to sleep better at night, because you know you’ve just helped out a great cause.
There are currently 14 participating artists, but they are on the lookout for more. I’m not much of a painter, but I’d gladly submit something if they would accept plushies or multimedia art.
Current proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders to help Haiti. Great work, great idea, great cause.
Artists like Nick Gentry make me feel justified in keeping hundreds of broken old blank CDs. For some reason, I have trouble throwing out obsolete media storage because in the back of my mind I’m thinking “One day I’ll turn this into an art project.”
However, I’m the first to admit that mine would not be this stunning.
Gentry incorporates floppy disks into his artwork (sometimes using a grid of them as a canvas itself, sometimes painting on and around them).
We are indeed undergoing a cultural shift in which personal identity moves steadily toward the intangible. We are represented on the Internet, little blurbs in a seemingly infinite sea of information. But at one time we had to preserve our information in physical form.
From the artist bio:
Each floppy disk used in the paintings has a history and story of its own. It represents the increasing pace of the modern life cycle, where objects are created, used and disposed of quicker than ever. To challenge this notion, as these personal artifacts of life are cast aside, the obsolete are now given new life and a renewed purpose by using them as a medium for art.
See more of these amazing pieces here.
Today I had the pleasure of seeing a truly lovely claymation film: Mary and Max.
Based on a true story, Mary and Max chronicles the friendship of two unlikely pen pals; an eight year old Australian girl, and an old Jewish atheist with Asperger Syndrome.
The film was accompanied by a Q&A panel put together by the Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism Association.
Although showing this movie is a wonderful way to expand awareness, it is in no way didactic or clinical. The main character has Asperger Syndrome, but the condition integrates with pathos and humor while remaining delicately informative. The story achieves a balance of innocence and purity without naivety.
Mary and Max is, above all, a movie about being human, “warts and all.” The quirks, insecurities and foibles of the characters are common. It’s the story of a personal connection with all of its ups and downs as life goes on.
The cast of peripheral characters is small, but each has depth and dimension. From Mary’s father, a tea bag factory worker obsessed with taxidermy, to her “wobbly” mother who tells Mary countless lies about her shoplifting and alcohol habit, to the veteran amputee and pompadour-sporting neighbors…everyone has a story implied in a glance.
Mary and Max was done entirely by hand, beautifully designed, constructed and animated without any CGI. There is heart and soul in every scene, engaging the viewer from the first frames. I highly recommend this movie if you ever get a chance to see it. I rarely purchase DVDs (thanks to Netflix), but I will definitely buy a copy of this when it’s available.
I give much credit to The Manchester Morgue for catering to some of my more obscure horror, soundtrack (and comedy) needs. He’s really outdone himself now. This may be the greatest mix CD title I’ve ever seen:
NARCOLEPTIC SORCERER IN THE HOUSE OF EVENTUAL DOOM
I think I’d listen to a CD recording of raccoons fighting, providing it has a genius title and cover like this.
See the tracks and get the mix here.
The talented Trey Ratcliff of Stuck in Customs was lucky enough to visit the private studio of composer Hans Zimmer.
This room takes my breath away. Something about this dark, velvety aesthetic always makes me feel at home.
Put me in there with some dark chocolate and a good book…I may never want to leave.
SheWalksSoftly 