The Credit Crisis: It's All About Risk

If moving pictures work better for you than text this infographic-style video will clarify the economic collapse. It all came down to reselling risky repackaged mortgages.

Where The Wild Things Are

Olympus's little 'carrot camera' official, and other PMA news

Late last year Olympus revealed this impressive little concept camera that uses a system developed with Panasonic called Micro Four Thirds. The MFT system blurs the lines between small point-and-shoot consumer cameras and big honking professional/prosumer DSLR cameras by combining a large image sensor and interchangeable lenses with pocketability and video recording. It's a magical concoction that promises the world, though the only MFT camera on the market is still bulky, expensive and doesn't record video. While the Olympus concept lacks a lot of specifics it may still prove to be a blowout in form and function.

Last week at the Photo Marketing Association trade show Olympus made the concept official and said it would be out some time this summer. No further details were announced, though a Russian photography site posted a rumor (translated) that this model will be named the M-100 and come with a 14-70mm kit lens (28-140mm 35mm-eqiv.). The kooky Russians also rumored there will be a larger version dubbed the M-1 that will have HD video recording capabilities. An interview with an Olympus official confirms that the M-100 will have image stabilization as well as a high speed electronic view finder (read a Japanese person's interpretation of the interview here). He notes the design is not final–the unit on display is the same mockup from last year–but the final package will stay true to the dimensions of the concept camera. If you look closely at this picture you can even see the mockup is getting a little dusty.

Anyway, keep your eye on it. Other notable announcements from PMA:

• Samsung will release a Micro Four Thirds camera series dubbed NX. It looks almost as appealing as the M-100 and seriously small compared to a regular DSLR. Few details and no price or release date were announced but Photography Bay put together as many facts as they could here.
  
  
• Epson announced the R-D1xG, a rangefinder camera that improves on their first model released five years ago. A rangefinder attached to a point and shoot camera allows for adjustable and clear focus on one's subject. This is great for photojournalists because the Epson and Leica digital rangefinder cameras are small enough for one-handed operation but still provide incredible quality. Unfortunately they're damned expensive.
  
  
• Panasonic showed off this little 'tough camera' that stands up to beatings and diving and keeps working while looking fine.

Cupid! by Kerry P. Talbott

Boston's police get reckless, treat Shepard Fairey and arts community as pawns

Shepard Fairey (designer of the iconic Andre the Giant, OBEY and Obama Hope campaigns) was arrested in Boston last Friday night just outside of and moments before the opening of his career-spanning show "Supply and Demand" at the Institute for Contemporary Art. The cops nabbed him on two revived warrants for various bits of graffiti, but what's notable is the timing and method of arrest. As they pulled up to ICA:

The driver slowed down to attempt to make the turn but still missed the entrance by just a fraction of a second and we passed it by a short distance. The driver tried to back up or turn around but the unmarked SUV directly behind us was blocking our path. Police officers quickly surrounded the cab, and one of them pounded loudly on the driver's window. "Boston Police, stop the car! Turn off the car!" The officer exchanged words with the cab driver, and one of the officers flashed a badge and asked us each to identify ourselves. When Shepard calmly said, "I'm Shepard," one officer commanded, "Everybody out of the car, now!" We quickly decided to OBEY.

In this account given to Wooster Collective by friends traveling in the cab with Fairey and his wife, it appears as if the Boston Police planned to 'ambush' Fairey at the door of the show in order to stir up the crowd or even provoke a riot but scrapped the plan when the cab missed the turn. They make the case by noting the Boston P.D. had two weeks to arrest Fairey but waited until the show in order to cause a media shit storm for the Mayor, who had been promoting Fairey's visit and feuding with the P.D. on wages and residency requirements. Hell, the warrants were issued the day after the Mayor and the P.D. finished negotiations!

Never forget, and if you're in the arts you may want to avoid Boston like... forever.

Antique maps of New York City

Here's a map of New York City from 1847. Notice that there are, of course, no bridges and all river crossings were done by ferry. The Greenpoint area of Brooklyn was known as Williamsburg (thus the Williamsburg Bridge). Straight roads dominate except for a few bended streets in the oldest section of lower Manhattan. Half of Broadway was called Bloomingdale Road, and the Harlem Railroad ran all the way downtown.

Here's a map from 1879 that offers way more detail. The Brooklyn Bridge opened four years after this map was drawn and it's marked as "Suspension Bridge" (it was officially named Brooklyn Bridge in 1915).

Finally here's a Google Maps view of New York City today. Notice the dominance of highways and tunnels, the reclaimed areas on the west side of Manhattan's tip in the Financial District, the reclaimed docks on Brooklyn's industrial shore, and the various holes in the Lower East Side where roads were closed off for housing developments. The Peter Cooper Village—Stuyvesant Town on the East Side at 14th St. and 1st Ave. is the largest. It was built in the mid-40s over the former Gastown District (where coal gas was processed) as a postwar housing project.

Also notice how the area around the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridge landings in Brooklyn reformed the streets. I was researching this old photo of the Daily Eagle Building a while back and had trouble figuring out if it still stood because the street in the photo no longer exists.

Coffin Shelf

Threadless Sale!

Threadless is running a mad sale through Sunday, June 8. Most shirts are down to $10 or $12. I bought more than seems reasonable.

Guy's medium by remaining stock.
Girl's medium by remaining stock.

The Energy Show coming July 5th

On July 5 Pale Horse Graphic Design Studio in downtown St. Petersburg will host The Energy Show '08: The Elements of Skill featuring graffiti artists from around the world. The opening reception goes from 8pm until 11pm. It's a small gallery space so I assume it'll be packed. Here's the blurb:

The Energy Show is a large group of international graffiti artists who have each obtained a mastery of their own style. They have each gained respect and admiration in the underground world of graffiti. Now they have joined together to bring their flavor to the more mainstream world of gallery art. Spectators will view paintings based on the technical and colorful letter styles of artists such as Waf from Aalst Belgium, Cern from Brooklyn New York, Center from St. Pete Florida, and Akut from Berlin Germany. There will be paintings from over 30 international graffiti artist on display. The Energy Show warns attendants to be prepared to witness massive skill and unique forms on display. In 2007 The Energy Show was created to organize elite graffiti artists and give them an international stage to present their artwork. The outcome was tremendous. The Energy Show visited galleries in St. Pete Florida, Naples Florida, Brussels Belgium, and Antwerp Belgium. It was even featured as a part of The Meeting of Styles the world’s largest organized graffiti events group. Each turnout was amazing and the fan base grew quickly. This has allowed the Energy Show to flourish, creating its own little niche in the world of gallery art. The Energy Show is fully prepared to make this year an even more memorable experience. The creators have searched the globe for the most original, cutting edge, hardest hitting graffiti artists around. They have hooked up with some of the coolest galleries available. They have linked with some awesome sponsors. They are prepared to make history again in 2008.

There are links to the individual artists in The Energy Show's friends list.

"GO!" @ The Ritz Ybor, "Warriors" @ VItale Studio

Last Saturday there were so many conflicting events going on in the Tampa Bay area it was maddening. These two art/fashion/music shows were happening at exactly the same time, one in St. Petersburg and one in Tampa. I managed to attend both.

Warriors: Come Out And Play

Warriors was held at Vitale Studio in Pinellas Park (north St. Pete). The show was loosely tied to the upcoming anniversary of the 1979 film of the same name. Vitale is a print and design shop, so the show area was a bit small but when I got there about an hour in the crowd was big and people were still streaming in. The DJ (I don't know which one of the three scheduled) was cutting up some very cool hip-hop and people were milling around the stage, bar, and art pieces and spilling out into the parking lot. I didn't stay long enough for the fashion show or take any photos but Alexis Ziritt of Calavera Comics has a photoset over at Flickr, looks pretty wild.

GO! A Square One Art, Fashion and Music Showcase

I spent most of the rest of the night at GO! held at The Ritz Ybor (previously The Masquerade) and hosted by Square One, an artist collective (I think). The Ritz has held art shows like this a couple of times over the past few months and each time they've grown in size. This one was huge, taking up every square inch of wall space with local and regional artists. The place was packed, and I came in around the middle of the second fashion show with its spectrum of colors strobing over sexy models in tight-fitting clothes. There was also a stage for bands to rock out, tables of hors d'oeuvres and several bars to lubricate the socialites.

I met up with some friends and made an effort to see every artist's display. Left to right, top to bottom on the collage up above are my favorites: Carolina Cleere, Ryan Prado, Jedd Lancaster, Art Damage (Melissa Oraath), Deuha (Dana Robinson), Justin Sancho, Nancy Brown, and Alison Ware. Steve Downing has a huge photoset over at pbase.com and a few more tidbits about the show.

Cover Art: Stereo Dynamics! To Scare Hell Out of Your Neighbors

(click for larger version)

Somerset
SF-11400
No year listed.
No cover credit.

Excerpt from the back:
"STEREO DYNAMICS! To Test Your Stereo Equipment or Scare Hell Out of Your Neighbors."

This came without a record inside, which isn't so bad since the selection is all classical. (Track one is "Adolf Hitler" excerpt from Edmond De Luca's Conquerors of the Ages by The London Philharmonic.)

Radiohead @ Ford Amphitheatre

Along with 17,500 people I got to see Radiohead last Tuesday at the Ford Amphitheatre. Luckily they managed to get the place built before I got there. Even standing in the cheapo area on the lawn the show was incredible to watch. This was the second US show this tour, and they were generous enough to do not one but two encores. Here's the setlist:

Set: All I Need, There There, Lucky, Bangers and Mash, 15 Step, Nude, Pyramid Song, Optimistic, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, National Anthem, Idioteque, You and Whose Army?, Reckoner, Everything in Its Right Place, Airbag, Bodysnatchers, Videotape

Encore 1: The Gloaming, The Tourist, Just, Faust Arp, Exit Music (For A Film)

Encore 2: The Bends, House Of Cards

(thanks Coventry!)

If you could harness the power they had to please the crowd you could probably pull a V For Vendetta. I tried to take some pictures but the sheer distance (330 feet!) made everything blurry even with vibration reduction going at the highest ISO. I tried to take some videos too but the microphone on my camera is terrible. They didn't allow video cameras into the show, but some people got point-and-shoot videos. Check them out on YouTube.

The most amazing part of the show was the lighting. Instead of regular stage lights they had seven rows of hanging LED bars, four rows of LEDs above the stage, projected lights, fog, and an LED wall below a five screen display showing video feeds of all five band members. They mixed up the LED bars with wave patterns, skittering stripes and really beautiful star patterns. They played with the video feeds too, Thom had a camera on his piano so he could look larger than life during "You and Whose Army?"

Anyway here are some of my photos, but I'd recommend you check out GogDog's set (which includes the photo up top):

Putting my money where my money is

My two friends and I were in a home design store the other day and we came across this interesting wallet that holds cards in a plastic cartridge with a retracting lid. It didn't look like it would be very convenient or I would link it here. Anyway this got us talking about wallets and I realized I've seen lots of cool wallet designs. Even though I have a simple leather one I did at one time consider the Wallet 2.0 or the Jimi.

Wallet 2.0 is made of soft silicone and comes in green, blue, white, black and red. It uses unique clear inserts to separate bills, coins, cards and other items and each insert has a cool little motto on it like "most idealistic people are skint." It has a couple of holes on the side so you can attach a lanyard for keys or tie it to your belt, etc.. The $35 cost is a little high and I've heard the hole on the front lets in deritus from your pocket, but it's a cool design nonetheless. The only colors left on the site are blue and black.


The Jimi and the JimiX are built of a clear recycled plastic shell that gives them an advantage over the Wallet 2.0 by being able to display an ID without taking it out. It's very thin and holds four cards, as well as one card and three folded bills on a detachable money clip. There is a hole for a lanyard as well. The JimiX has the money clip on the outside in case you like carrying huge sums of cash. It comes in nine colors and costs $15. Considering that it's enclosed I would probably pick this over the Wallet 2.0.

tinymeat is a designer wallet/case production house based in Portland, Oregon. They get contributions from artists such as Miss Kika and Mikeatron and sell their wares through Etsy. Their wallets are usually simple single-folds with a variety of functionality. Some of my favorites are The Wallet, Pegacorn, Thriftycuts, Yeticorn, Doodle wallet, and Love Me Soup. They're either printed on vinyl or suede, I can't tell. Most go for $15.

The Australian-designed dosh is made of "hi-tech flexible Desmospan© TPU material from Bayer MaterialScience" whatever the hell that is. It has a more traditional single-fold design with a pocket for bills and slits for cards. dosh comes in black, white, brown and orange and costs 60 bloody dollars but is only sold online from one California shop.

Cool Hunting did a post about wallets designed by Martin Margiela to look like a folded wad of cash, either Euros or Dollars. They cost an insane £195.

Style site Refinery29 did a four page post about designer wallets including this one made out of old cassette tapes, my favorite.

Mywallit.com carries a multitude of wallet designed in many color combinations, though their catalog isn't very browsing friendly.

...

Lifehacker wrote about a couple of wallet tips to organize and backup your wallet. The idea of photocopying your wallet's contents is something I hadn't thought of, and you know the risks of having your credit cards stolen and maxed out.

Instructables user RTourn came up with this guide for making a change card. Basically it's a rectangle made of cardboard that holds a dollar's worth of coins to keep in your wallet. Easier to carry than loose change and makes it convenient to have exact change if, say, you need to take a bus or use a picky vending machine.

That's about all I could come up with on the subject, but if you find anything else interesting feel free to post it up in the comments.

Earth, you beautiful whore you!

So today being Earth Day I thought I'd post a few random Earth-related things...

Terra Grass Chair

This chair frame can be planted in your lawn, filled with dirt and seeded with grass to eventually grow into a seat. The frame is biodegradable and I think you could probably build one using paperboard since the set is a bit expensive (the only one I found for sale is $100). The curves would be hard to copy but you could experiment with the shape. Amanda (who grew the one to the left) says she had to cover hers with sod using some long staples when the seeds failed to blanket it, but I think St. Augustine grass would work well enough.

(via TreeHugger)


Bio Bench



In a similar vein is this bench made of biodegradable cardboard tubes covered with seeds using a cellulose adhesive. Not sure if it's actually available but it was designed by Julian Lwin. I think the shape may make it hard for seeds to take hold but cool idea none the less.

(via Inhabitat)


How To: Build and electric car

My first car was a MKIII Toyota Supra, white old and busted. I always loved the design though and I wished I had the skill to rip out the gas engine and throw in an electric one. TreeHugger came up with a small but very cool guide to building your own electric car recently, and while it would just barely work with the 3,500lb Supra if this design could be tweaked you could make something as cool looking as the Tesla Roadster. Now if we could just get past all this coal-based electricity...


The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

I noticed World Without Us at the bookstore and picked it up because I liked the premise. Imagine that all of humanity suddenly vanished, what would happen to the planet as the traces of our existence sink into the maw of time and decay? Weisman starts in New York with subways flooding, roads collapsing, and all manner of structure deforming and crumbling overcome by wild animals and vegetation. He travels to old growth forests, the Korean DMZ, abandoned cities in Cyprus and Ukraine, and petrochemical plants in Texas to show how all things man-made eventually succumb to nature. If you want to read about environmental degradation from a completely new perspective I really recommend this.

You can watch an interview with Alan Weisman on The Daily Show or hear and interview with him on NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday. Here's a pretty cool little timeline to see the progress (regress?) of the earth without humans.