There's so much going on here in this photo. Two girls striking both the MySpace angle AND the Blue Steel. A photobombing celebrity (Is this a new trend?) Daniel Craig and his ''stache in the background.
The starting quarterback at Oaks Christian, a high school in Southern California, is Nick Montana, the son of Joe Montana. The backup quarterback is Trevor Gretzky, the son of Wayne Gretzky. One of the top receivers on the football team is Trey Smith, the son of Captain Steven Hiller aka Will Smith. The PTA meetings must be a red carpet affair.
New York Magazine dutifully sent a cameraman to record a casting call held recently at Yankee Stadium for aspiring models looking to be Victoria Secret's next "angel."
If police individualize their bulletproof vests similar to nurses and their scrubs, then their vests may look like these vests by Thomas McDonell.
To borrow the quotational vernacular of Carles at Hipster Runoff: Is Lady Gaga's recent performance of "Imagine" at the Human Rights Campaign's official dinner before the National Equality March in DC a "meaningful" and "poignant" moment for the gay rights movement? Or is it just good "public relations?" [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oGcio1OOfI&fmt=18]
Bret Stephens shares some food for thought over at the Wall Street Journal about why "far from being an aberrant choice, President Obama was the ideal one, Scandinavianally speaking" for the the Nobel Peace Prize. It's an interesting read about what the columnist states is a "much misunderstood prize." Stephens explains the prize's historical legacy whereby it's contextualized in a manner where the surprising selection of President Obama isn't actually so surprising.
"...most of the prize winners draw from the obscure ranks of the sorts of people the late Oriana Fallaci liked to call "the Goodists."Who are the Goodists? They are the people who believe all conflict stems from avoidable misunderstanding. Who think that the world's evils spring from technologies, systems, complexes (as in "military-industrial") and everything else except from the hearts of men, where love abides. Who mistake wishes for possibilities. Who put a higher premium on their own moral intentions than on the efficacy of their actions. Who champion education as the solution, whatever the problem. Above all, the Goodists are the people who like to be seen to be good."
Not sure if I agree, but it's a nice counter-point to the Twitter echo-chamber about this story.
[Via]
My preferred photo-hosting website and community, Flickr recently celebrated the upload of the 4 billionth uploaded photo to their website.
Owner Bernie Henry, 92, is selling his "Pepto-Bismol" painted four-story brownstone, which is located in my neighborhood of Park Slope, for $2.3 million. Henry explained to The New York Daily News that the pink color was an accident: "They sent me the wrong paint," he said. "It was painted this color accidentally."
[Via - Photo by Matt Carman]
I don't know what took the Internet so long to finally come out with this variation of the Three Wolf Man t-shirt meme which even made a cameo on a recent episode of The Office.
[Via]
I don't recommend this path for everyone, but for these people the whole not-needing a high school education thing kind of worked out.
- Dave Thomas - Founded Wendy's and SQUARE burgers. SQUARE!
- George Bernard Shaw - Playwright and curmudgeon.
- George Eastman - Founded Kodak, anonymously donated a crapload of money to universities, left a suicide note saying, "My work is done. Why wait?"
- Quentin Tarantino - Director and foot fetishist.
- Richard Pryor - Funniest man ever.
- Peter Jennings - Anchorman
- Peter Jackson - Director and God to geeks everywhere.
Politically vocal Chinese artist Ai Weiwei (previously) makes another obvious statement in this tripartite photograph "Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn" which depicts the artist dropping a 2,000 years old urn.
While the triptych gained notoriety as an iconoclastic gesture, it encapsulates several broader constants in Ai’s work: the socio-political commentary on the random nature of vectors of power; questions of authenticity and value (vis-à-vis the artist’s comment that the value of “Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn” has today exceeded that of the once-prized urn itself), and the cycle of creative destruction necessary for any culture’s survival and evolution.
This is what happens when you exile the dude's famous poet father to a labor camp during the Cultural Revolution. The sons gonna drop all your famous shit.
J.J. Abrams rejuvenated the Star Trek franchise with his reboot version this year which was solidly kick ass. Here's the (well edited) gag reel from the set. Who knew Abrams was a chronic beat-maker with the microphone? Tune in around the 2:45 mark. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12S7NQ0NZMs&fmt=18]
I won't go into the back story about how I obtained this (it's really not that exciting), but the point is I now possess an inflatable turkey. You?
Guy gets taken on an exciting adventure starting with getting chased through the woods by guys shooting at him. Watch until the very end for the payout explanation of what the heck is going on! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC-9SCmBOHc&fmt=18]
I forgot which TA pointed this out to me back in the college days, but can you spot the beer brand product placement in Manet's Bar at the Folies-Bergère? If you said "Bass Beer," pat yourself on the back and pour yourself a cold one. Picasso also incorporate the brand's symbol frequently in his pieces.
"Did you know...that 'abracadabra' is the only 11-letter word that you can type out on the left-hand side of the keyboard?"
[Via]
The cover for Lürzer’s 200 Best Illustrators Worldwide featuring Cuban artist Edel Rodriguez's (no relation) portrait of Chairman Mao Zedong wearing Louis Vuitton caught my eye today at the bookstore. Rodriguez's image was originally published as the cover for the June 27, 2005 issue of TIME Magazine, which resulted in a letter to the editor from the president of Louis Vuitton who complained:
We were surprised to see that the cover of your June 27, 2005, issue used a reproduction of our historic and highly recognizable registered trademark, the Louis Vuitton Monogram Pattern, without our knowledge or permission. Such use is likely to lead your readers to the mistaken impression that you are authorized to do so or that Louis Vuitton Malletier was involved in some way in its publication. The use of the monogram presents the potential for significant dilution of one of our core intellectual-property rights and is all the more of concern since it also appears on your website. Importantly, this use of our trademark in connection with an iconic Chinese figure [Chairman Mao] could damage the long-established relationship we have carefully built with China and its people since the opening in 1992 of the first Louis Vuitton store in Beijing.
I knew that Radisson logo looked familiar.
"Radisson/Picasso," by Serkan Özkaya.
I like this photograph more than the painting itself. It's so meta.
Grant Wood’s American Gothic subjects — his sister Nan and his dentist, Dr. Byron McKeeby — standing next to their iconic likeness.
[Via]
This item that I've been meaning to post is a little dated, but if you haven't seen it yet, I think you'll still find it somewhat interesting. After director Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland, an internal memo from an AP editor to a reporter was accidentally published online in various news outlets including the New York Times. The memo actually hints at a possible political motive behind the arrest, although I haven't seen this theory really getting much play anywhere so it may be nothing.
Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled program To Catch a Predator with Polanski himself (yes, the video is fake).