Lords of Dogtown

Some new spec work for Orijen Dog Food. More to come shortly.

Stop Motion Madness

Dutch techno collective Nobody Beats The Drum spent what appears to be an inordinate amount of time with colored and nicely lit wooden blocks to create this stunner of a stop-motion music video.

In a testament to the creation process - as well as a cheeky take on addiction recovery shows like 'Intervention' - they made a behind the scenes video as well.

The music isn't really my bag - kind of a hyper, less cerebral version of SoulWax - but the visuals and sense of humor are spot on.

Keep your eyes peeled for Rogier van der Zwaag, the director and collective member in charge of visuals, in the very near future.

Writer's Paradox (via Conrad Lisco)

Just when you thought it couldn't get worse...

Augmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo.

How's that for brand ubiquity.

Did like the suggestions for the tea though.

next up, full brain interface

Here we see Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry of the MIT Media Lab present their Sixth Sense user interface at the TED Conference here in Long Beach last year.

To break it down quick - it's a mobile interface that uses a cellphone, a camera and a projector to turn any surface into something that can interact with a networked device.

Think about that for a moment.

While this made the rounds last year, I have yet to hear anyone talking about how the future of mobile applications belongs to who really who nails the interface. Technology doesn't mean squat unless you can use it with an almost childish simplicity. Check out a case study of the light switch for greater detail.

If Sixth Sense gets to that point, I think even the touchscreen gets tossed.

Apologies, Mr. Jobs.

beauty is the flavor of quark

When I’m looking for a culture arbiter, it’s typically not science that springs to mind. However, after digital media took over my old print world, I've been paying attention to technology. Stuff like this next article.

Writing in the January edition of Vanity Fair, Kurt Andersen writes about the Large Hadron Collider currently beginning testing and research at C.E.R.N. on the Swiss-France border.

Basically the Large Hadron Collider (L.H.C.) is a giant particle accelerator and the largest single machine constructed in human history. But despite the huge scientific gains presented by the project, Andersen presents the research as only the beginning of learning about the universe:

One of the paradoxes of physics is that as knowledge has dramatically grown—thanks to particle physicists [continued research in particle accelerators], and to astrophysicists measuring the distances and movements and energies of stars—so has our awareness of the vastness of our ignorance.

The funniest part comes later in the article, when after hearing a lecture by Stephen Hawking and not understanding about 80 percent of it, Andersen quickly figures out that the limited knowledge of these physicists is pretty substantial:

I realized that the physicists with whom I’d been speaking all week had been radically dumbing down their explanations so that I, a functional fifth-grader, might achieve some tiny glimmer of understanding.

Even with only a model covering four percent of an understanding on how our physical universe behaves, the L.H.C. – at a cost of $9 billion and employing half the particle physicists in the world – could provide insight unheard of previous to its discoveries.

Or it could be a giant art project.

But would that be so bad?

“We have dreams,” L.H.C. physicist Fabiola Gianotti says.

“It’s like art. Is art useless? Yes and no. The concepts [of particle physics] are so beautiful in their simplicity. And they answer the most fundamental questions. Physics and art are two forms of the same wish of human intuition, to understand nature.”

Food is the story

Telling a story is important. Doing so in a captivating manner is better. Now make food the medium, and shoot for intense emotional reactions. Chef Grant Achatz aims for this every night he opens his restaurant Alinea in Chicago.

Achatz has been noted as one of the best chefs in the United States. Many journalists point to him among the vanguard of modern fine dining - a process of cooking with an implementation of science and technology commonly called molecular gastronomy.

What's profound is not only Achatz' attention to science and technology in his cooking, but the use of it for a better construction of the story he tells with food. His use of science creates drama and unexpected delight. He shatters his guests preconceived notions of the media he's working with.
Good goals to aim for when you next look to create something.