Yoshihiro Tatsumi
Posted: July 24, 2007

Everyone who knows me has a general idea that I’m obsessed with Japan. So lately I’ve been buying these graphic novel collections by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, who’s been called “the grandfather of alternative manga for the adult reader”. He has two collections published so far, The Push Man & Other Stories, and Abandon The Old in Tokyo, which contain stories that were published during the 60’s. Yoshihiro’s drawing style is very simplistic, but his stories are often very dark and disturbing, often dealing with violence, rape, abortion, and pornography.

What the stories really show is how the Japanese struggled through a time of intense change, trying to modernize and adapt to a renaissance in their culture. They didn’t know quite what to do, or how to act, everything was becoming incredibly difficult to process, and people felt as though their lives meant little, they were just one in a crowd.

I HIGHLY suggest reading these, especially if you have any interest in Japanese culture or history in general.

Bobby

Ramona Rosales
Posted: July 23, 2007

Check out the photography of Ramona Rosales, a California photographer who has a pretty good sense of humor.
The top image above is from a Small Paul ad, which is absolutely amazing! In fact, everything I’ve seen of the Small Paul advertising has been simply wonderful!

Bobby

Loophole by Yuki Okumura
Posted: July 23, 2007

Yuki Okumura is a Tokyo based artists whom I discovered through some of his photography, which you can check out on his Flickr. But he also has made a couple of videos, one of them is what you see above. Simply called ‘Loophole’, it’s the journey of a golf ball going through all sorts of different holes, pipes, and any other void space you can think of. Just watch it, it’s a fun little video.

Korehiko Hino
Posted: July 23, 2007

Ugh, so I totally stole this from Supertouch as well, but I couldn’t pass it up!
From what I’ve been able to find out, Korehiko Hino is a 31 year old painter from Japan, who paints pictures of himself and friends with really big, creepy eyes. The pictures to me look like what people would look like if they had anime/manga style eyes. And that they’re really amazing.

Be sure to check out his site as well for more images!

Bobby

Gravity Pods
Posted: July 23, 2007

BLAH! Just what I needed, another addicting little flash game!
This new one is called Gravity Pods, and it’s basically like an old school Atari shooter. All you need to hit the target… except you have to go around barriers, and then there are gravity pods which whip your projectile onto a different course.

I ended up getting to Level 19 on my first try, but it was pretty difficult. Go try it for yourself!

Bobby

The Making of Damien Hirst’s Million Dollar Skull
Posted: July 23, 2007

Supertouch has a really awesome photo essay of Damien Hirst’s progress through creating his diamond encrusted skull. As the article details, the skull was encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, as well as 2,156 grams of fresh platinum.
If you’re interested, you can purchase the skull from him for around $100 million…

Check out the pictures and story by clicking here.

Bobby

Jack Purcell + Bodega + Plaid = Hotness
Posted: July 23, 2007

I have to say that I’m fairly conservative with my choice of shoes. I tend to get simple, casual styles that go with anything. But these shoes are so rad looking, I couldn’t pass them up. Converse is teaming up with Bodega, the hot Boston boutique, to create this plaid and distressed leather beauty. It goes for $120, and of course, is a Bodega exclusive.

Check out High Snobiety for some more pictures!

Bobby

Jean-Pierre Jeunet To Direct ‘Life of Pi’
Posted: July 23, 2007

Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the incredible director of movies like Amelie, Delicattessen, City of Lost Children and his most recent, A Very Long Engagement, is in pre-production to direct ‘Life of Pi‘.

‘Life of Pi‘ is a book written by Yann Martel, that tells the story of Pi Patel, a boy who finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean on a 26-foot lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, all fighting for their survival. I personally believe that if anyone can make this story into a movie, it would be Jeunet. His visual style is so fantastic, and his creativity in his film making always shines through.

I also found this article with Jeunet who talks about preparing the adaptation of the script for the movie. It’s a couple years old, but it’s still a good read.

Bobby

The New Coke Can
Posted: July 22, 2007

I saw over at Daring Fireball that Coca Cola had redesigned their cans, and was curious to check it out.
Sure enough, they’ve completely simplified the look, taking out all the stupid bubbles, halftones and gradients that made it look so horrible and busy. The new can is simple red on white, with the “classic” text now in a nice sans-serif font.
Clean, simple, and easy on the eyes.

Bobby

Chip Kidd’s There is a Style Gland That Turns Malignant in Nevada
Posted: July 22, 2007

This is a really, REALLY fantastic lecture given by Chip Kidd at the 2006 TYPO in Berlin. I’ve always had a general idea of Kidd and his work, but wasn’t totally familiar with it. The video lasts almost and hour and a half, but it’s totally worth listening/watching.

Bobby

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