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Just saw Moon with Sam Rockwell. Just as awesome as I had hoped. I was very much anticipating the movie already — almost simply because everything Sam Rockwell does is gold. Then I found out that the movie’s director is non other than the son of David Bowie! This, of course, made it a must see.

Check out the video below, an interview with Rockwell and the film’s director Duncan Jones:

(via scifiscoop)

FOUND Magazine’s Denim and Diamonds Tour 2009! last night at ICE in lower Manhattan, was quite enjoyable. Though I had heard of the concept of Found and seen an issue here and there, I did not know quite what to expect. If you’re unfamiliar, Found is a yearly published magazine whose content is derived solely from material that is discovered almost exclusively by accident. That crumpled piece of paper blowing down the street, the receipt someone carelessly discarded, perhaps a fax sent to the wrong number. Maybe it’s a love letter, maybe it’s someone begging for forgiveness, maybe it’s a ransom note.

While the prospect of riffling through the detritus of someone’s personal life seems appealing in isolation, turning pages in a magazine, what could possibly happen in a live show? It turns out a lot. Davy Rothbart one of the geniuses behind the magazine, also has This American Life credentials and an excellent stage presence. His knack for recreating a sense of discovery while reciting, on stage, found items, really exemplifies the joy that is embodied in the magazine and is bottom-line entertaining.

To wonder about the origins and stories behind some of the lost love letters & to-do lists is part of the wonder of reading them and Davy extols that virtue. But the point isn’t only to wonder, but also create. Davy said, “I love to get the first reactions people have to found items.” Some might be one liners but Peter Rothbart writes songs. Peter is Davy’s brother and for part of the show performs some songs, on guitar, based upon found items. For the third act, The Story Pirates actually acted out — in full costume — two sketches based upon found notes.

I talked with Davy after the show and what we seemed to connect to was this idea that there is a real joy to be open to the idea of discovery, but an even greater one to create new work out of it. Though this article I’m writing is a kind of work unto itself, I think I’ll consider it more of just a gut reaction.

If you get a chance to see FOUND Magazine’s Denim and Diamonds Tour 2009! absolutely take advantage!

Living in New York, one’s mind might be lent to wonder about the legality of street advertisement. They are literally everywhere. I’m not just talking about billboards (though their omnipresence is also very hard to dismiss), but on every barricade, construction site (New York has many) and even just on empty walls.

According to this article on Rocketboom, most street ads are totally illegal. A group called Public Ad Campaign decided to do something about it. They reclaimed visual space with white paint and put wonderful street art in place of the ads.

Video Below:

What the hell is going on here? Hrrrthrrr posts a Tumblr linking back to what is seemingly a one off from davidhorvitz. A simple query to google turns up this article which just brings me further down the rabbit hole.

Watch this TED talk video:

That lady is crazy. Also. Not only is this thing actually happening on Flickr but it seems to pop up all over the internet. Now I’m not only part of the meme but I feel as though I’ve uncovered some sort of secret society like the mob or the illuminati.

My head is cold, now, though.

Jason Santa Maria lays out some very interesting queries here, but seems to lack answers. Here he speaks to why visual appeal is very much alive in print media, but lacking in online layouts. He argues some pretty compelling points about things that work for and against both mediums but seems at a loss to explain why more attention isn’t paid to design online.

Interesting discussion if you design for the web.

(via konigi)

I’m amazed that it’s possible to be more meta than a Quentin Tarantino film. If for some reason you thought that Tarantino’s movies dragged or could have used faster cutting, this mash-up is for you. Simply a must-see.

It’s from Eclectic Method who has also fashioned a remix for 30 Rock, a Fraggle Rock remix, and a remix of the Colbert Report.

(via Popped Culture)

Though I’m sure it must be an incredibly difficult job for only the top in the field, I can’t shake the impression that the people who work for the New York Public Library, must sit around coming up with truly nerdy things to do and then execute them. Take this as evidence. It’s a very thoroughly researched Google map of significant literary spots in the west village. It must have taken hours to put together.

I hope they do this on the clock. It’s marvelous to think that someone gets paid to be this nerdy.

(via NYPL Blog)

Take some practical tips about writing by the illustrious Mark Twain. The secret is to share your work with a large cross section of people (listed one by one in this video), then, if a book fails to please, burn it.

For some reason this video is also narrarated by John Lithgow, which makes me a little giddy.

(via The Book Design Review)

Wow. If you like Nintendo and public transit you must see this video about subways. ExciteBike references, among many other old school NES games abound in this informative video about world transport systems.

(via good.is)

Somehow makes Katie Kouric more bearable. I love how terribly done the green screen effects are also. If you watch only one remix of news clips this week, let this be the one!

(via Jordan Harper)