Postcards Of The Hanging

Yao Ming Basketball Portrait

Michael Darling — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:36:29 +0000

In tribute to the semi-recent retirement of basketball player Yao Ming, Hong Yi decided to paint a portrait of him. Rather than use a paint brush or other traditional material, Hong Yi used a decided to paint Yao’s portrait using a basketball. Watch as Hong Yi dribbles and rolls the ball to create this detailed portrait of the Chinese basketball star.

Oscar Gold

Michael Darling — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:15:40 +0000

Well, yesterday saw the announcement of the Academy Award nominations and there’s already a bit of a backlash against the Best Picture nomination for Post-9/11 drama Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close. In fact, with only a 48% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s the worst reviewed picture of the last ten years to receive a Best Picture nomination. Some critics have accused this movie of being exploitive, cloying and “a naked ploy for an Oscar.”

So, in the spirit of this blatant (and frighteningly successful) piece of Oscar bait, here’s Seth McFarlane’s take on the kind of movie designed especially for Oscar gold, as featured on American Dad. Seriously, if this were real it would certainly be a winning card in “Oscar nomination bingo.”

The Sandwich Artist

Michael Darling — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:39:22 +0000

Brittany Powell thinks food is an art form. Well, more specifically, she creates sandwiches based on the works of famous artists. Powell’s playful sandwiches feature works inspired by Piet Mondrian, Georgia O’Keefe and other legends of modern art. Personally, I think my favorite is the Christo and Jeann-Claude sandwich. Check them all out over at Powell’s blog, Low-Commitment Projects.

Totally 80s Cell Phone Promo

Michael Darling — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:25:25 +0000

The following post was written in the mid-1980s:

What’s up dudes, have you heard about cellular phones? Apparently they’re the latest thing and they’re totally bitchin. These portable-yes, you read that right, portable-phones have all the convenient functionality of one of those fancy car phones, but you can take them anywhere! Gnarly! Like, check out this rad looking Motorola phone which only weighs 30 ounces. Seriously dudes, it looks like it can fit in your backpack or purse. But I think it’s too big to fit in your fanny pack. Bummer!

Now, I know it might take a bit of time for some of you to get used to these “cell phones,” but as this promo reassures us, “seeing someone using cellular phones may seem as common place as someone checking time on an electronic watch, figuring on an electronic calculator, or programming on an electronic computer*.” Ya know, in like 50 years they’ll probably even have watches on cell phones.

Trust me guys, I’m as stoked for cell phones as I am for Van Halen with Sammy Hagar. I bet President Reagan’s already got one!

*Note from 2012: I like that they had to specify “electronic computer.”

Movies Cover Lionel Richie

Michael Darling — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:49:29 +0000

Today we bring you, courtesy of Vimeo user ant1mat3rie, a clever mash-up of various film clips arranged so that the dialogue forms the lyrics to Lionel Ritchie’s creeper R&B hit “Hello.” It’s a fun clip, but really that’s not what I want to talk to you about.

I want to talk to you about censorship. If you’ve been on the internet today, you’ve probably heard about SOPA and PIPA, two bills currently working their ways through the United States Congress that are allegedly designed to curb internet piracy. On the surface, that all seems well and good, but if these two bills pass it could lead to the censorship of the internet. Websites could be fined or even forced to shut for posting or even providing links to “copyrighted content.”

Now how does it effect you? Well, did you watch the goofy “Hello” clip yet? Did you enjoy seeing all those copyrighted film clips combining to form that copyrighted pop hit? Well, if SOPA and PIPA were to pass not only would that magically stupid clip be illegal, but vimeo; this blog and wordpress.com would all have performed illegal acts by featuring that video.

In conclusion, if you enjoy all the strange, goofy, creative, entertaining and magnificent things I post on this blog, it is your duty to voice your opposition to SOPA and PIPA. So, join Google, Wikipedia, Reddit, myself and hundreds of other websites in protesting these careless bills. Go to Google now to join the fight against internet censorship.

Molly Raush’s Postage Stamp Paintings

Michael Darling — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:05:52 +0000

The postage stamp is perhaps the most commonly available, and cheapest, work of art known to humanity. For just under fifty cents, you can acquire your very own miniature masterpiece. Well, New York artist Molly Raush has taken the idea of postage stamp art and literally expanded on it. For her clever paintings, Raush affixes old stamps to paper and then paints a watercolor scene that expands upon the image seen on the stamp. Raush’s scenes include an expanded Monopoly board (right), a Washington DC garden near the Capitol Building. or a tribute to Laura Ingles Wilder’s Little House On The Prarie.

Check out all of Raush’s paintings over at her website.

DaVinci’s Handbag

Michael Darling — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:49:10 +0000

The hottest new designer of the year 2012 has been dead for nearly 500 years. At left you will see a leather “Pretiosa” hand bag produced by the fashion house of Gheradini and designed by Leonardo DaVinci. The limited edition handbag is based on sketches found in DaVinci’s Codex Atlanticus. Gheradini has produced a limited run of 99 DaVinci “Pretiosa” bags. They are scheduled to be available at Gherardini boutiques starting in March and will surely sell out in no time.

For more information on the making of this ultra-vintage handbag, visit the History Blog.

Breaking Bad Valentine’s Day Cards

Michael Darling — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:31:59 +0000

Well folks, we’re just a little over a month until Valentine’s Day arrives with its candy hearts, greeting cards and the like. So, to get you in the spirit, the wonderful Beth at the “Butthorn” tumblr has created a set of unique Valentine’s cards based on that most romantic of television shows, Breaking Bad. The initial batch includes loving phrases from the likes of Jesse Pinkman (at right), Walter White, Walter Jr. and Hector Salamanca. I’m sure we all know someone who will be delighted to receive one of these delightful cards.

Beth says she’s working on a second batch, which will include the best attorney in the world; Saul Goodman, but in the mean time check out the other cards here.

Barack Obama “sings” “Born This Way”

Michael Darling — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:02:02 +0000

Those of you with a long term memory of internet ephemera may recall a clip that went viral a few years back featuring Barack Obama speeches remixed so that it sounded like he was covering Rick Astley. Now, just in time for the 2012 election, the mighty internet has struck again with another remix of the president’s speeches. This time around President Obama’s singing a little bit of Lady Gaga’s 2011 hit “Born This Way.” Could this be a subtle reflection of the president’s “evolving” position on gay marriage? Only time will tell.

The Anchorman Prank

Michael Darling — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 08:09:50 +0000

A key moment in Will Ferrell’s comedic masterpiece Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy comes when it is revealed that newsman Burgundy will say anything that he reads on the teleprompter. This makes for a pretty funny scene, but surely no real news anchor would blindly read something off the teleprompter, right? Right? Well, a few of the staffers at Green Bay, Wisconsin’s NBC26 decided to put a line from Anchorman in the telepromter script and see whether the local news anchor would say it. Watch the results of this experiment here, and be glad that they didn’t make the news guy say “Fuck you, San Diego.”