photo by Mike Koozmin/Special to The Examiner
Check out the above video. It’s a new viral campaign from News3Online.com. The technology allows you to embed a video on any site with any name (Al Kaholic?). The effect is great and looks pretty realistic on quite a few scenes. It definitely fooled me the first time I watched it. No email or personal info is required, simply go to http://www.news3online.com/spread.php and insert your name under the “Step 2, pass it on” header. Thanks Brian Kolme for the link.
Created using a mix of pen and ink, then scanning and vectorizing, then printed up and painted using a cheap watercolor set from Target.
cross posted from DrownRadio.com:
We Like Chess from Karim Amara on Vimeo.
A few weeks ago Irina, AllAboutGeorge, and myself recorded individual verses for the WuChess Rap Contest. Shortly after, George laid down a beat and we re-recorded our vocals. Then we headed down to the big chess scene on Market Street and shot the video. Between takes I managed to fit a few games in and even made some money (for serious). Irina thought I should feel guilty about taking some old drunk guys money after I beat him. Fuck guilt, I don’t have time for that shit… I gotta make my money.
After we finished shooting, we rushed the video to our friend Karim for his editing skills. I love what he did to it. The purpose of this video was to help promote the WuChess video contest, so if you get a chance check out the videos and maybe enter your own. Afterwards, come and find me on RedHotPawn.com and we’ll play a game.
2008 has been a good year for dorkumentaries. Along with the dvd release of King of Kong, we’ve also seen the premiere of not one, but two docs about nerdcore hip hop (Nerdcore for Life & Nerdcore Rising). If you just can’t get enough retro gaming and quirky music, be sure to check out Blip Festival: Reformat the Planet, a documentary that focuses on the first annual Blip Fest, a four day chiptune extravaganza in NYC. The documentary covers the history of New York’s chiptune scene, as well as plenty of live footage and interviews with video game musicians from all over the world. The film has many great moments, but one of my favorite parts was hearing Glomag (Chris Burke) comparing chip music’s usage of Gameboys and other gaming devices to the musical re-appropriation of turntables in hip hop.
For the next few days, you can watch Reformat the Planet in it’s entirety for free, courtesy of Pitchfork.tv [link]. The film is really well put together and very interesting. I’m hoping they’ll release a soundtrack sometime, but you can currently grab tons of free chip music (including the film’s title track) from the fantastic 8BitPeoples website. You can also see a interview with the film’s director and live Glomag footage on Epic Fu.
On a similar note, Nerdcore Rising has recently released their film’s soundtrack which features music from the film and tons of live MC Frontalot performances. The cd is available on their site and will also be available at PAX.
I’ll be at the San Francisco ROFLthing (an offshoot of MIT’s ROFLcon) and I’ll be selling some of my crafts. I’ve actually made a batch of LOL-lets just for the special occasion. These LOL-lets were made with vintage yellow upholstery and vinyl (in either red or brown). There is no leather. I’ve posted a small number of the red vinyl LOL-lets in my shop. Check them out here.
I’m so excited about the event and hope to see you there. Oh yeah, and I made this video for it:
I’ve just finished a small batch of coffee cozies and added them to the crafts section of my shop. You can see them here.
As many of you know, it’s been a really long time since I’ve made any of these beauties, that’s because of the amount of time it takes to make them. I estimate it takes just as much time to make one of these cozies as it does to make a wallet. Since my costs are similar, I can’t really afford to spend the same amount of time making cozies and selling them at 1/3rd the cost of wallet or iPhone case.
Recently, I’ve been toying around with the idea of working with some local manufacturers, but I haven’t been able to find one that can work with my denim scraps (from the jeans that I have tailored for Self Edge), so they will be from newer denim supplies.
I still love the look of the selvage denim cozies, so I made this small batch and raised the price a little (to $11) to make it a little more worthwhile to spend the time on. These cozies are totally worth the price, just throw one in your back pocket and forget about it until your next coffee stop.
This morning I dropped off [redacted] unicycle at Pirate Cat radio when I got into a conversation with the girl working there about her new messenger bag. Apparently, the bag is Puck’s old Zo Bag that he had while he was on The Real World. She said it was a gift from her friend Charles who collects Zo Bags. Ironically, it was [redacted] unicycle I was returning.
The bag was in great condition for being at least 15 years old (and spending most of that time with Puck), but Zo’s bags are well known for their long lifespans. It even came with a note. I believe Puck may have been only half kidding when he said “urine and S.F. street funk included for free.”. Although it looked pretty clean, it definitely could have used a wash.
As I mentioned, the bag was in great shape, without a rip or a tear anywhere. I really dug some of the patches it was embellished with including an old Lightning Express patch. The bag’s owner (I can’t believe I already forgot her name) also pointed out that in the left hand corner was an angel patch that was mysteriously embroidered over a pot leaf for some strange reason. It sort of reminded me of when someone covers up a tattoo they aren’t particularly fond of with another tattoo… but usually people just seam rip patches… not cover them up.
[redacted][redacted][redacted][redacted][redacted]
Like making arts? Can’t get enough Dr. Horrible? Nom nom nom? Then come hang out with me and some friends this Sunday at Zeitgiest Bar (11 am till 1 or 2) for bloody mary’s, brunch, and singing blogs.
I’ll bring some watercolors, paper, and brushes for anyone to use, but folks are encouraged to bring their own art/craft materials too. Maybe we can get a mix of different mediums going, anyone wanna try making a Dr. Horrible doll? Anyone is welcome to hang out (you don’t even have to draw), but you haven’t seen the Dr. Horrible Sing-Along Blog podcasts yet, check them out at DrHorrible.com
On a side note, Zeitgeist has a new cook named Jess and she seems like a cool girl. She asked me to tell my friends that she’s bringing back the breakfast menu on Sunday’s, so this is how I’m doing it.
Another piece made with those cheap watercolors I’ve been writing about.
