Educate Yo'Self!

"F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, 'hot chicks are not like you and me'". Check out the latest Target Women with Sarah Haskins - Current TV

I have had my daily dose of money envy after looking at these photos of the Paraty Houe - Contemporist via Apartment Therapy

Check out these photos of Hemingway's beautiful home. I especially love the exterior shot - Lost by Vic

Roller Derby is one of my favourite things in life, so I was a little apprehensive about Drew Barrymore (of all people) directing a movie about it. Turns out it's not that bad, and maybe even a little sweet... phew? - Salon

As someone who lived pay to pay for years, I can say with confidence that being poor is not fun, and those fetishizing financial struggle because their investments took a hit last year can go shove it - Jezebel

John Lee Anderson discusses his latest piece on the gangs in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro in this affecting audio slideshow - The New Yorker

Educate Yo'Self!

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Poor Stephen Colbert has his heart broken by Glamour Magazine and their whorish readers - Colbert Nation

Don't go to the Huffington Post for medical advice - Salon

'Getting Over It'. A rape survivor's take on the Roman Polanski arrest - Feministe

I think I would like this Tim Burton spread more if it wasn't like almost every other thing he has done. So, boring! - A la Mode

Correlation is not causation. Phil Plait discusses media coverage of the death of a schoolgirl shortly after receiving a vaccine against cervical cancer - Discover

Benjamin Hubert Studio's work at 100% Design. Wow - Apartment Therapy

Educate Yo'Self! Weekend Edition

If I was the designer of this US$125 dress, I'd be less worried about the vagina dentata, and more worried about the fact that it is fucking ugly - The Consumerist

As part of his 'The New Cult Canon' series, Scott Tobias watches Napoleon Dynamite for the first time and comes out a little empty - The A.V. Club

Super excitement! Arj Barker is performing in Brisbane almost every night for two weeks this December. Maybe I'll go twice. Live in Australia? Check out his tour dates to see if he's performing in your town or city.

I really don't know how I feel about these cocktail forks (possibly negative) but I like this take on them - Nerd Approved

'The truth about child vaccination in Australia'. Or, to put it another way, it's free and saves countless lives, so shut the eff up and stick the needle in the kidlet already - Young Australian Skeptics

 A heartwarming car ad? Say it ain't so - Trend.Land

Fonts and Kerns and Ampersands, Oh My!

Typography is, as our good friends at Wikipedia explain, "the art and technique of arranging type, type design, and modifying type glyphs". In other words, it's making cool fonts and arranging words on a page (or screen) in a way that looks good. Typography designers and fans are passionate folk, and fair enough - once you get around the shallow view that "eh, it's just letters and shit", there is a lot to appreciate in a well-designed typeface.

To kick things off is a true heavyweight on today's type scene, Alex Trochut. With clients ranging from The Rolling Stones and i-D Magazine to Cadbury and even British Airways, his work is eclectic, eye-catching and thoroughly modern:

On the other end of the spectrum is the divine Yulia Brodskaya, whose painstaking paper creations are a prime example of what can happen when great art and great type collide:

Sigh, so pretty! However, my favourite graphic designers at the moment is Jessica Hische. She creates creates enchanting typefaces and designs by hand and computer. Take a look and try not to fall in love:

Some Type Of Wonderful is an annual celebration celebrating the best of international typography. While the STW10 prints are yet to be unveiled, this is an example of last years' lovely work (featuring Jesse Hora, Hellovon & Luke Lucas) :

 

And finally, to further whet your appetite for some quality typography googling time, here's an incredible video produced for the 5th Typophile Film Festival. It's CG-free and probably and best 3 minutes 41 seconds you'll ever spend watching a video.

Further links:

• I Love Typography blog
  
• Flickr Type Pool
  
• Typography on the Behance network
  
• Typophile Film Fest 5 (with more amazing videos)
  
• Typography Served ("fresh works from leading creative professionals")
  

Educate Yo'Self!

This video is everywhere lately, and no wonder - there are kids in it and they are acting all cute - Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

My adoration of Micheal Ian Black goes back to when I was a kid and Ed was one of my favourite shows - I loved all the fast talking. Apparently Abraham Lincoln is (was?) a fan too - Michael Ian Black

This is my favourite dress from the Emmys - Go Fug Yourself

This is a brief selection of my least favourites - Hips McGee, If you're taking red carpet fashion tips from Brian Boitano, something is wrong, Stumpy Milkmaid

Sarah Palin gets paid $300 000 dollars to give her first speech on fo'rain soil, surprises no one by having it closed to the media - Jezebel

Alex Wodak discusses the failed experiment that is drug prohibition - The Age

Summer of Colour!

As dust storms paint the entire city an ugly shade of rust, I'm going to take it upon myself to brighten things up with a cornucopia of colour! So, to start things off...

Shoes! Irregular Choice is responsible for some rather, uh "quirky" creations, but these are hands-down bitchin'. I'm a sucker for anything retro-space-age and these are no exception. I found these via makeup mogul Doe Deere's blog, which is worth a look if you enjoy feeling pangs of envy. In all honesty though, Ms Deere is a sweet slip of a gal who can rock pretty much any colour combination with her flaming red hair. Behold:

She is just lovely, no? I'm a bit wary of mixing too many colours at once, but she makes it work.

The only thing better than watermelon? A colourful slice of Watermelon pie. Fun summer dessert indeed!

Innovative beauty photography by Iain Crawford featuring every hue imaginable, courtesy of TrendLand.

This poptastic Massachusetts apartment (thanks, Apartment Therapy) is so rad. Especially loving the plush red chair and wall of Pez!

This restaurant fitout for Mezzoart Cafe by Prv Commissions is officially amazing. The decals, the screaming colour, the Louis chairs... perfect.

Dear Yayoi Kusama:

You are magical.

Sincerely, me.

(Images via here, here, and here.)

And as a final colour explosion, I shall leave you with this video from the Horrors. Enjoy!

So this is weird...

H/t to Michael K

Happy Things

Feeling kind of depressed tonight due to a particularly soul destroying day at uni, so instead of the post I planned to write about a really fantastic photographer (coming tomorrow, probably), I've put up some YouTube videos I've been watching to cheer me up. It's pretty much all Arj Barker stand up.

Ladies...

I watched bits of the Melbourne Comedy Gala on Monday night, and while I was pretty underwhelmed by a lot of the acts - Jason Byrne in particular always leaves me cold - I thought Arj killed it, as always. I saw him perform at the Brisbane Powerhouse a few years ago, and would definitely recommend going to see him next time he visits your town. During his set, my friends threw a pair of huge granny panties (on which they had written love notes) on to the stage and he dealt with it quite well despite being visibly concerned for their mental health.

So, the videos:

"Then you've got a bunch of depressed amputee bees swimming around the ocean..."

"I can't go any faster I'm wearing walking shoes!"

"For years, Arj Barker was high on life. But eventually I built up a tolerance."

Arj deals with a heckler without resorting to "I'm fucking your mutha" insults. Makes me love him even more.

That is all for now. If you want more, check out Arj Barker's blog, which, while it hasn't been updated in AGES (grrr), has lots of hilarious archived goodness.