TV CARNAGE

I finally got my first taste of TV Carnage this weekend, and it was interesting, hilarious, freaky and disgusting all at the same time. I had put it on expecting to only watch it for a few minutes, but ended up watching the whole thing. I dodnt know which one I watched, cause it was pirated (sorry). I think I might order a few dvds. Check it out if you like weird stuff and watching old school ads on youtube.

The City On Film 'In Formal Introduction' LP

Hobbledehoy Records are stocking a limited supply of black/white swirl copies of In Formal Introduction by The City on Film. So glad there are a few good places to get cheap vinyl in Australia. I'm lucky to not hit the $30 mark half the time. Blueline 7" is coming out soon, too. I <3 Hobbledehoy.
buy it

Dungeons and Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax Passes away.

Sad. D&D is awesome (even though I havent played it in AGES) And the guys who made it had to be pretty smart (and nerdy) dudes.D&D has had a big impact on the world, just think of how many people it has converted to witchcraft! No really, who wants to join me on a quest this weekend? I'll look for my dice tonight.

Punknews.org | Dungeons and Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax (1938-2008)

Again(st) Me!

Are these guys ever not touring australia?Against me! at the forum (I've never seen a show there, should be fun) May 3rd. tickets on sale March 7th from Ticketek.

Against Me! :: upcoming shows

What the hell?

Nearly $200 for a fairly mediocre pop punk cd? Do people have too much money?
FRENZAL RHOMB (2CD) MEET THE FAMILY Bonus LIVE CD Punk! - eBay, CDs, Music. (end time 03-Mar-08 21:00:46 AEDST)

The people who work at the geelong apple store are always rude to me.

Do I look too poor to buy their products or something? I dropped 3k on a macbook and applecare there last year and have bought a bunch of other stuff from there over the last 10-15 years as have my family. I went in to ask about airport cards for mirror door g4s and the dude looked at me like I was asking where the videro ipords were.

At least there were nice and let me and my friends edit videos on their floor stock when I was in year 12, but still, what gives? I'm like supreme mac nerd and they up their noses at me. bitches.

Vinyl Collective is Awesome

I've been buying stuff from vinyl collective and Suburban Home for a few years now, and the shipping has always been cheap and the stuff gets here pretty quick. Ordering stuff online from overseas is a bit hit and miss, I've had things turn up only when I finally forgot they existed. Not to mention if I don't want to pay as much again for shipping I usually pick the cheapest option I can. Which usually involves it being tied to drift wood and kicked in the general direction of Australia, to arrive sometime this decade, if I'm lucky.

I've been waiting on a massive order for ages (2 months, I'm impatient, ok?), and was begining to get worried that maybe it had been sent and lost, or that it wouldnt be shipped for awhile and would get mixed up in my current moving house/change of address complications. I sent Virgil, the dude who runs vc, sh and a bunch of other stuff an email, expecting a reply in a few days or so. That's usually all I can hope for with most places, who also usually treat me like a nuisance if I ask questions (ebay, anyone?). Within maybe 15 minutes, I had a reply in my inbox explaing what was up, the package was shipped last week, and judging by when I usually get stuff, will be here next week or the week after.

I know it's hard right now for people working in the music industry, especially those running small labels. It's nice in the first place to feel like I'm supporting people who have an interest in helping the scene, and musicians getting their music out. But the fact the service is so awesome makes me really not bother with most other places these days. I really think Virgil cares about the people he is selling to, and the product he is selling, which is rare. He runs and awesome blog, and hosts a great forum on all things vinyl, and from the looks of things, works REALLY hard. So well done VC, A++++ Service, would pre order 50 colourways again :)

Go buy some hipster cred here.

Macbook paper

This is just about the cutest thing ever. I might print one out at work tomorrow. There's also a cute spoof video of the macbook air ad below:

12 Old mac ads

YouTube - 12 Old mac ads

Looks like Apple's strategy of "talk about how much pcs suck" isn't exactly new. But the songs have gotten better, at least.

Why Graphic Design is the Worst Brand Ever

Fascinating article. I think while "desptop publishing" and its ilk have done a lot of good overall, the availability of a burnt copy of photoshop and some free brushes have a lot to answer for. It saddens me how much bad design I see on a day to day basis. Or maybe before I learnt the rules I just never saw the problem.

I blame computers for a lot. I am much more a graphic artist than a graphic designer, as I chose to become a designer cause I "liked drawing" and it was the closest career I could find to sitting around drawing all day when I was 14 and needed to pick my electives for the following year. I barely used computers for my highschool folio, and feel now like my folio suffered because of it. Which is sad. Even the institutions that are meant to be teaching proper design are more interested in flashy computer generated work than hand drawn type, and understanding of things like colour, balance and positive/negative spaces - which are all important parts of traditional art, but can be fluked or avoided altogether when using a computer. (That said, I did get interviews at all the universities I applied for, even without any prior knowledge of illustrator, so not all hope is lost).

So many students in my classes seemed to know all the right filters to use, the right styles to copy and the right magazines to read to make their work "cool". I always felt my work didnt match up cause I played by my own rules more and always took a creative stance over following trends. However, I saw that many designers used the wrong fonts, set up work terribly or had constant problems with the printers. I'm not trying to sound high and mighty, I was learning as much as anyone else, but there was a strong theme of trying to make stuff look cool rather than take them time to build a strong design from what was taught in class.

At the end of the day, its too easy for people to design work that is "good enough" which only actual designers will realise is not good at all. Are the public educated enough about design to know the difference between a company that spent thousands on an identity and the one who got their in-house junior to create a new logo on the cheap? Do people care? Can you make them care? Its still a shiny logo at the end of the day or a cool pic that stands out. Here and now, it doesnt make a difference. It's "easy" to make something "look good". How is a well done classic design really relevant today? Everything in our culture is disposable and cheap and nasty. Why wouldnt design follow that pattern?

Are we fighting a losing battle?

Pocket Sized Guitar Hero Arcade Game

I never caught on to the guitar hero craze, (real guitars are way more fun, in my opinion), but this thing is really cute/cool. I wonder how long it will take for them to be added to the list of highschool contraband?
Via Chip Chick

Interview With Joshua Smith Hydro74

I'm a big fan of Hydro 74's work and found this interview quite interesting. I'd always wondered where he had gotten such impressive clients, and his explaination/reasoning makes a lot of sense. I find it hard as a designer to have concrete goals, I know where I want to be but I'm not sure how to get there (I'm really interested in design in the music scene - posters, cds tees and other promotional material, as I think there are more creative opportunities there rather than with some other types of design. Perhaps the best solution is to just be more proactive! What's also exciting for me, is that he is 10 years older than me, and the idea that most designers with the right attitude and enough talent can get quite far at a young age. Anyway, chekc the interview out here.

Replacements' Twin/Tone Catalog Reissued, Expanded

The Replacements are one of my favourite bands, and I think one of the post influential bands when it comes to the whole country/punk crossover genre. It weirds me out when someone doesn't know who they are though, they seem like a pretty accessible band; Hopefully the fact the catalogue is going to be re-released (starting with their twin/tone stuff) will mean more cool kids will realise that yeah, that against me song, Bastards of Young, is actually a cover.

From Pitchfork

Jason Das

I found Jason's work on the page a day site, thought it was awesome. I'm really digging his sketching style.
Check it out here.

Thing-a-day.com

I'm going to try to draw a pic every day and post it on Thing-a-day. I used to try to do a journal page every day awhile back, I eventually stopped though, and I need to try doing something creative again.

Nintendo Hero

Awarded for Bravery in the face of ducks in turtle shells.
Console Wars I

King of Kong Australian Release.

Last year I went through a stage of watching a while lot of documentaries, I downloaded The King Of Kong on a whim after reading the rating it had on rotten tomatoes. For a movie about old school game nerds, it's an amazing documentary that really pulls at your heartstrings and makes you feel real empathy for the people whose lives you are following.

Now it looks like it's finally gotten an Australian release date, looks like it's only showing at a few cinemas acroos Australia, so I'll have to head up to melbourne to see it, but it will be worth it to finally get to watch it on the big screen.

The King Of Kong, Australian site.

Vans Finger Fracture

So apparently Vans are making a game for the iphone to promote their shoes, this is awesome. Hopefully this is the start of a new direction for companies; using the iphone's technology for advertising and promotion. The game reminds me of a cross between playing with a tech deck, and the controls for Skate.

FromNOTCOT

Free Wallpaper - Burning Aces

I made this for a friend yesterday, but some other people liked it, so I thought I'd put it up for download. I might be making a widescreen version soon.

Photon Light Skateboards

This has got to be one of the coolest things I've seen in awhile. Glow in the dark skateboards would freak out and annoy people even more than regular skateboards, plus you can skate at night! I want one. Here's a vid of them In action.