Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013

Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013

Mariano Good Bye

Last night the greatest closer in the history of baseball, Mariano Rivera, played his final home game at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Ever since I can remember, he has been their closer. It was an emotional night when he realized he wouldn't be back on that mound anymore. I came up with a little piece to commemorate that moment.

Check out this MLB video for yesterday's Bronx sendoff.

3-Sweep

Want to recreate an object into a 3 dimensional rendering? You can pay someone to do it OR just take a picture! Yes, now all it take is an image and a sweep. Well, a little bit more but not much. Check out this demo video from the 2013 SIGGRAPH computer graphics conference. 3-Sweep  researchers are: Tao Chen, Zhe Zhu, Ariel Shamir, Shi-Min Hu, and Daniel Cohen-Or. Video via Daniel Cohen-Or. Link via Petapixel.com.

9/11: 12 Years Later

A day that will never be forgotten. A lot has changes since September 11, 2001. On this day, one can take a moment and reflect on that very change via Gordon Donovan's images taken that day and compare them to what they look like today. "Yahoo News photographer Gordon Donovan returned this week to the scenes of many memorable images taken on September 11, 2001, closely matching them with images from today." - Yahoo.com. Click here to see more of his images and the full gallery.

Loop Around Manhattan

"A driver with a real lead foot and both a nickname and video to back it up is under arrest and facing charges Friday.

The man's record-setting 24-minute joyride around Manhattan went viral, but the NYPD has put on the brakes thanks to some detective work. Police on Thursday arrested 30-year-old Christopher Adam Tang, whose nickname is Speed Racer. Police also seized his 2006 BNW Z4, which reportedly goes from zero to 60 in just 5 seconds.
Tang looped the island, starting at East 116th Street and heading south on the FDR Drive around to the Henry Hudson Parkway, in 24 minutes and 7 seconds" - NEW YORK (WABC). Check out the news coverage here. I would plead it was an moving artistic installation! FREEDOM OF SPEECH! JK. Though it is a mesmerizing video.

Blogger Down

We all have been there. Trying to please a client who has no idea what you do. Check out Ricepirate's
 video, Graphic Demise : Blogger Down. Written, animated, & voiced by Mick Lauer. "After dropping $500 on some marketing webinar, a potential client calls about getting a blog." - Ricepirate.

KAPTN - "Ricky Ricardo" Review

Normally I don't do this but I wanted to comment on a little ditty I heard a few weeks ago. KAPTN - "Ricky Ricardo" is a catchy tune from the L.A. based rapper/songwriter. The use of a famous name and catchy dance beat reminds me of Duck Sauce's hit "Barbra Streisand". While "Barbra Streisand" was just a dance hit, "Ricky Ricardo" states a story. A story that may not be so flattering. The first verse goes like so:

Lucy. I'm home. Where you been? 

Oh, I know. You been conga dancing? Well me too. 

Now you got some splaininnnnnnng. To do. 

This ain't about me, It's about you. 

Everything you sayin' ain't true. 

I never trust a B in apartment twenty-three, 

cause she's fucking the dude in twenty-two. 

Got hands all in her gato.

Hot sauce in her taco. 

Turned her face to Picasso. 

Hey, this is rittatto. Boom. 

So he catches his girl cheating. Then he "Turned her face to Picasso"? Maybe I'm looking into it too much but is this referring to domestic violence? He goes on to state that he "went Ricky Ricarco".

Baby, I went Ricky Ricarco.
But you be loosey goosey,
when you be on that bottle.
Say you wanna leave me,
cause you caught me cheating.
Baby, I ain't worried, worried, worried.
I know.

 I know it's only a party song but I don't know whether to be more offended with the domestic violence issue or the fact he used a famous fictitious Latin name to describe it. We can start to argue over the stereotype that Hispanic men are known to abuse of their partners but the point may be moot.
Sadly, there are rumors that Desi Arnez, the real Ricky Ricardo, may have engaged in this behavior.

I'm sure people will probably just take the song at face value, not ponder and try to decipher the lyrics. Overall, it's a catchy tune. But what is it trying to say? I'll leave it up to debate. After all, maybe the song is just "... rittatto. Boom."


One more thing, check out the song that KAPTN sampled.

Midtown

No city in the world is as alive and fast-paced as NYC. Director Drew Geraci has showcased just that in his stunning, two-and-a-half trip past some of New York's most iconic landmarks. His piece is titled, "Midtown". Enjoy.

MIDTOWN from Drew Geraci (District 7 Media) on Vimeo.

Street Photographer Jamel Shabazz

"Jamel Shabazz: Street Photographer is the the latest film from Wild Style director Charlie Ahearn. The aptly entitled documentary offers a glimpse into the life of Shabazz, a notable photographer who’s well known for his unique stylings of subjects and the access he was able to achieve while documenting old school NYC street culture." - Andy Cush. Jamel Shabazz: Street Photographer will screen at BAM Rose Cinemas Aug 2-8. Link via Animalnewyork.com.

Circular New York Subway Map

"Mapmaker Max Roberts has created this incredible "circular map", which uses a Tube-like style but with the 90- and 45-degree angles ditched in favor of radial lines emanating from the Upper Bay." - Boingboing.net. Clean simple design can make the most complicated problems to simple easy to read visual solution.

Button Sculptures

Check out these marvelous Button Sculptures. I couldn't find their source of origin but smashinglane.com has posted a few more images of these colorful works.

Gif-fiti

Creativebloq.com has posted an article about graffiti artist INSA. According to the post, "INSA blindly animated the wall in four different stages over several days to achieve the effect you see." You can see more of INSA's work on his blog, insaland.com. Gifs via creativebloq.com.

NEW NYC Parking Signs

Ever sit there for minutes trying to figure out whether you can park on a certain part of NYC street? 9am to 9pm? Monday, Wednesday, Friday? What day is it today? We all have. "The NYC Department of Transport has revamped its notoriously complex parking-rules signs, so that they're slightly less cryptic. It's a very nice example of good information design!" - Boingboing.net. I must agree. A great layout design can simplify our already hectic city life. At least of a little bit.

3Doodler

3Doodler is a pen. But not any ordinary pen. A 3-D modeler pen! "3Doodler, a high-tech pen that essentially allows you to create real plastic sculptures out of thin air." - techeblog.com.