Because of the Wonderful Things it Does

via Hello Literacy

Hot on the heels of Google's rebranding of 'literally', another word has burst from its cocoon of standard usage to blossom into something new.  Behold 'because'!  Why because?  Because, bloggers?  Because, irony?  Because SCIENCE?

Because, as we remember from Schoolhouse Rock, is a conjunction, hookin' up words and phrases and clauses.  In its newly evolved iteration of 'because noun', it becomes a preposition that allows a user to convey meaning, opinion, scorn, approval, or absolute assertion all in the span of two words.  Why do I  love Tom Hiddleston?  Because velociraptor.  Why can't we have nice things?  Because Republicans.  Why is using because in this way so much fun?  Because reasons.

When You Wish Upon a Star Wars

Disney buys LucasFilm for Four Billion; Episode VII anticipated for 2015.

Just sit with that for a moment. It's a little scary.  Disney is the corporate behemoth equivalent of the Empire, amirite?  But then I read this part of the official press release, and I got really, really excited:

"For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” said George Lucas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucasfilm. “It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers." 

A new generation of filmmakers. This is a good thing. The last time George Lucas turned over the reins to someone else, we got The Empire Strikes Back.  Director Irvin Kershner delivered a dark, complex, emotionally resonant story that built on the Saturday matinee adventure of Episode IV and fully exploited the richness of the hero's journey trope.

Granted, there's a lot that could go wrong.   If it does, it will probably involve Jar Jar. Return of the Jedi could be reissued with all the Ewoks digitally replaced by Fozzie Bears (which honestly, would be kind of awesome).  But in the best case scenario, Disney utilizes the staggering amount of creativity already at its disposal - Pixar, the Muppets, and Marvel - and applies it to telling a new generation of stories set in the Star Wars 'verse.

If you're still not sold, I'll leave you with this:

Joss Whedon might get a crack and writing and directing a Star Wars movie. 

You just got light headed didn't you?  It's alright. You just go lie down and I'll bring you a glass of blue milk and a damp cloth for your forehead.  Then we can get to the serious business of fantasy casting the upcoming films. I think we all know who should play Han and Leia's son.

Fab dot com

Let me start by apologizing, to you and your bank account.  Because you're going to go to Fab.com and be powerless to resist their daily collections of art, fashion, jewelry, furniture, and home goods.  It's an electronic orgasm of what Eddie would lovingly call gorgeous, tasteful, little stylish little gorgeous things.

YOU'RE GOING TO BUY ALL OF THE THINGS.  

Like this, for example.  

Space Jam by Chase Kunz.  Currently hanging in my bathroom

Items tend to arrive when they arrive, but if you don't mind waiting, it's a minor thing.  It's like Christmas!  One day something you forgot you ordered just magically shows up at your door.  So far I've only had one real hiccup with an order when I received the wrong item.  The customer service reps I dealt with via email were very communicative and downright earnest in their desire to make right the mistake.  When they weren't able to replace the item, I got a full refund plus a $10 shopping credit.  Earnest like a fox.  A stylish gorgeous little fox. 

The Inspiration Grid

For a daily dose of arresting images, visit The Inspiration Grid.  This curated gallery presents new works in art and design from creators around the world.  It's easy to immerse yourself in these beautiful, amusing, and provocative pieces.

Some of my favorites come from the photography gallery:

Interiors of classical instruments, created by Mona Sibai and Björn Ewers for an advertising campaign to promote the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.   Photographer: Mierswa KluskaIf

Lips: Creative Photography by Nikos Vasilakis

The War Against Christmas, high speed photos of exploding Christmas ornaments by Alan Sailer

The Inspiration Grid

TARDIS and Browncoat Jerseys - Last Day to Order

It's hard to think about hockey when it's 4,000 degrees outside, and inside you haven't moved from the couch since Friday.  Also, you can suddenly speak with great authority about the nuances of a full twisting layout Tsukahara.  But!  Today is the last day to order one of these cunning jerseys from designer Dave Delisle.

You can customize the number.  9 is my Doctor

To me this is a form of cosplay, as many people opt to put a character’s name on their back. In my opinion this is sort of a fandom, where every design I post is usually for something I really love. I don’t see these as products but large personal billboards for things we like, be itGame of Thrones or Voltron or Zelda or what have you. I hope large companies see these as fan expressions, not infringing. 

I don’t have big aspirations of turning this into a mega-business, I rather like the small scale we are currently at. I do hope geeky hockey jerseys become more commonplace eventually. 

If anyone had jerseys like these available I wouldn’t be going through all this effort. Maybe Reebok will take notice.

Check out Dave's site for more great designs.  Fandom jerseys from Dave's Geeky Hockey.  Tip o'the hat to Bruce!

Large Hadron Quilts

I'd like to imagine that when the scientists and engineers at CERN go to sleep at night, they tuck themselves up under one of these:

Inner Eye February 2010 Size: 120 cm square. Materials: Silk, synthetic fabric, pvc fabric and sequins.

Inner Eye February 2010
Size: 120 cm square.
Materials: Silk, synthetic fabric, pvc fabric and sequins.

Teacher and artist Kate Findlay was inspired by the recurring circle-in-square motif of the Large Hadron Collider and spent four years translating those forms into fabric.

Findlay used traditional patchwork for her three earliest pieces, “Breakthrough,” “Inner Eye,” and “Does the Dark Matter?” Because of the way fabric moves, this technique makes creating circles a fiendish feat. After six to eight weeks of sewing, and down to the final piece, she says, “My heart was absolutely in my mouth.” Until she finished, she had no idea whether everything would line up and lie flat.

Quilts by Kate Findlay via Symmetry magazine - February 2012.  Tip o'the hat to Bethanew.

Astonishing, Awesome, Beautiful, Seductive

And the ship's not bad either.

Each year at San Diego Comic Con there's a Starship Smackdown panel held to determine which spaceship is best.  Prior to watching this video, if asked, I would have naturally thrown my vote to the Millenium Falcon.

But Neil DeGrasse Tyson makes a very persuasive argument for the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701.

 

What matters is not what they look like now, but what they looked like to others at the time that they prevailed.  There is only one spaceship [in the bracket] that's earlier than [USS Enterprise] and that's the flying saucer from The Day The Earth Stood Still ... So, what matters here is what did that spaceship [points to USS Enterprise] look like at the time it came out?  Compared with anything that had been imagined before.  And when you consider that, that is the most astonishing, awesome, beautiful, seductive machine that has ever graced the screen. 

And everything else is derivative.

In other news, when the Wu-Tang Clan's GZA undertakes an album intended to convey the grandeur, energy, and chaos of the universe itself, who does he turn to?

Daniella Zalcman for The Wall Street Journal

Watch out, guys.  We've got an actual badass over here.

Starship Smackdown via

GZA on 'Dark Matter' album: WSJ

Geek glam

Captain America by Jangasara

Self taught artist Jangsara is about to make cosplay or just getting dolled up for a Friday night a metric ass tonne more awesome.   She makes being a nerd impossibly glam with her takes on Star Wars, The Avengers, and The Hunger Games.

I am left without words.  Just gasps and squeaks and now if you'll excuse me, I have to go buy ALL OF THE THINGS at Sephora.

Makeup your Jangsara via

Literary Composites

We all have a mental image of what the characters in our favorite books look like.  Brian Joseph Davis has gone one better, using law enforcement composite software to create a sketch based on the writer's description.  The results aren't perfect, and some hover on the edge of the uncanny valley, but others like Lolita's  Humbert Humbert seem pretty spot on.

He's taking suggestions.  Who would you like to see?

THE COMPOSITES via bookshelves of doom

Hula Cam

Have you ever looked at a hula hoop and thought, "oh, that could be a little more sonic heroic"?  London based artist Helen Buckley did, and the result is a trippy perspective that sends the world spinning.





Via

The Period Table of Awesome

Presented without comment because - other than an undignified "SQUEE!" -  what more can be said about The Boy Who Lived singing Tom Lehrer's "The Elements Song?"

The guest on the far right may be rolling his eyes, but you know Rhianna wants to muggle that.



via Nerdist

We are all made of stars

It's Carl Sagan Day! Happy birthday Carl!

The Kepler spacecraft site is featuring winning entries from their Sagan Day essay contest.

Sponsored by Kepler and the SETI Institute, the contest honors, and was inspired by, Sagan's work and legacy.

At the site you'll find original music composed for the day, a remembrance by son Dorion Sagan, and the winning entry by Professor Renee James who shared this personal observation:

Carl Sagan was not an inspiration because he left everyone behind as he explored the farthest reaches of this universe. He was an inspiration because he invited us to accompany him on his journey, so that we could all get a small glimpse of that great cosmic ocean. And he convinced me that being a cosmic tour guide is as important as exploring a distant corner of the universe.

Image from Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener's  Atomic Robo & The Shadow From Beyond Time #4 

Ten-Ten-Ten

       A most auspicious day

Heather Champ is encouraging people to document today, 10/10/10, in photographs.  Your pictures can be shared at the tententen flickr group; you have 10 days to upload them and join in the tengasm with the rest of tenopedes.  Random images will also be displayed starting tomorrow at her site - here.

So what's so significant about today, other than a randomly cool symmetry that won't happen again for another gigabillion years?  Well, if you look closely through your lens, you may just discover the meaning of life.

Heather Champ via laughing squid

It's funny because it's true

Presented without comment ...

via

A book is a dream that you hold in your hands

This is National Library Week in the US, and Neil Gaiman is serving as the honorary chair.  Euan Kerr of Minnesota Public Radio interviewed the writer and self described "feral child of librarians" about his love of libraries. His thoughts on their importance warms the heart of this librarian, and will likely ring true to any lover of the printed word. He reiterates the point that the institution and its stewards are more relevant than ever, acting as trusted guides through the wilderness of digital information. They're also stalwart and hysterical defenders of freedom of speech, and the privacy rights of patrons.

Highlighting the issue of censorship, the American Library Association has released its list of the ten most frequently challenged books for 2009.  There are both new and classic titles on the list, and the most frequently cited reasons for requesting their removal from shelves are offensive language, sexual content, or religious viewpoint.  “Protecting one of our most fundamental rights – the freedom to read – means respecting each other’s differences and the right of all people to choose for themselves what they and their families read.”

I recommend exercising your rights, and picking up a copy of a challenged book.  Or you can join One Book, One Twitter, a "big read" project that aims to use the power of social media for good, and get people reading and talking about the same book this summer.  Vote for your favorite from Wired's list of ten candidates.

Take me out to the black

200 miles up, and armed with an 800mm lens, astronaut Soichi Noguchi is able to capture amazing, abstract views of the Earth from his vantage point on the International Space Station. The station only got web access this year, but Noguchi is taking full advantage, posting his pictures to Twitter several times a day. Think about that the next time you're updating your foursquare location.

Follow him @Astro_Soichi. photo: Arabian sand dunes

Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School

At the intersection of studio art and cabaret you will find Dr. Sketchy. These twice monthly salons give artists the chance to exercise their life drawing skills and become part of the show. The models don't just pose - there are skits, dancing, and contests throughout the evening. It's life captured in ink and paint while it's happening. The focus is on the models, talented performers from the burlesque and drag stages, and other beautiful people with "unusual physiology, insane costuming, or extreme physical skills". Dr. Sketchy is headquartered in NYC, and can be found in 80+ cities worldwide.

photo credit: Andras Frenyo / NYT

An insouciant little minx

This is just brilliant, combining as it does a Betty Page-esque pin-up, colorforms, and booze. The 2007 Drink'n'Stick by Australian winery Some Young Punks features a plastic sheet of peel off clothes that can be used to customize the bottle.

Outside of Australia, SYP wines are distributed in Austria, Denmark, and Canada. In the US, you can find them at Vine St. Imports in Philadelphia. Otherwise, you may have to do some online sleuthing, or sweet talk your local wine shop into special ordering a case or two for you.

via

Hark! A Vagrant

In a recent xkcd entry, it was suggested that if I wanted historical accuracy from my web comics I should be reading Hark! A Vagrant. I'm hooked. It's not history as you know it, but history as it probably happened.

Instant conversation starters

Learn Something Every Day is a fanciful new community art project. Submit a fact (truthiness optional), and if selected, the fine folks at Young will render it in poster form. Part of the fun is trying to decide which tidbits of information are real, and which are just made up.

via