Art
Joaquin's First School Shooting
This is one of the most biting commentary on school shootings I’ve ever seen.
Patricia Oliver lost her son, 17-year-old Joaquin Oliver, in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018. Since then, Oliver has committed herself to the cause of gun reform in America — and her latest effort involves this adorably horrific children’s book that depicts the events of the day in cartoonishly gruesome detail.
I love the idea of sending a hard copy of the book to your representatives to drive the point home, but I know where it will end up when most Republicans get it.
Ben Affleck on ‘Air,’ New CEO Gig and Those Memes: “I Am Who I Am”
Lexy Perez writes a profile of Ben Affleck. It’s not bad.
So if DC came to you now and said, “Do you want to direct something?”
I would not direct something for the [James] Gunn DC. Absolutely not. I have nothing against James Gunn. Nice guy, sure he’s going to do a great job. I just wouldn’t want to go in and direct in the way they’re doing that. I’m not interested in that.
I’m not 100% convinced he won’t direct a movie in the new Gunn-led DC movie universe, but then again he might not.
Paul Stanley and His Paintings
Jim Ryan, writing for Forbes, has an interesting story on Paul Stanley and why he started painting.
I really like his abstracts. I really hate his self-portraits, KISS-related paintings, and guitar stuff.
Handmade Jukebox of the Future
Designer Chris Patty took on a Christmas challenge and inadvertently created a business.
His family issued a challenge asking all Christmas gifts be homemade. He made a wooden mini-jukebox that plays songs by swiping magnetic cards for his Dad. It feels like something out of original Star Trek.
Unsurprisingly, his jukebox became incredibly popular on social media. So popular that he’s starting a fundraising campaign in order to sell these jukeboxes – now called Jook – online
The Most 2018 Photos Ever
Alan Taylor, in The Atlantic, has curated 32 photos designed to capture…
Not necessarily the top photos of the year, nor the most heart-wrenching or emotional images, but a collection of photographs that are just so 2018. From Gritty the Philadelphia Flyers mascot to Fortnite tournaments, from the airplane taken for a tragic joyride at Sea-Tac Airport to a caravan of thousands journeying through Mexico to the United States, from the mandarin duck to Knickers the steer, and much more. This is 2018.A great collection and one I had to sit back and remind myself that all of this really did happen in the last 12 months and not the last 12 years.
The Never-Ending Story
Amanda Hess in The New York Times has a piece that examines how nothing ever ends anymore in regards to intellectual property. Movies go on forever in sequels, prequels, and other adaptions. Cancelled television shows come back. The dead never stay dead.
We needed stories to end so we could make sense of them. We needed characters to die so we could make sense of ourselves.
It’s an amazing essay.
Do the Verb
Austin Kleon talks about titles versus doing the work.
So many people think you have to first call yourself an artist, know who you are and what you’re about, and then you can start making art. No, no, no. You do the stuff first, then you can worry about what it is, who you are. The important thing is the practice. The doing. The verb.His whole point is to forget trying to be a thing and just do the work that needs to be done. Doing the work gets you further than just wanting to be the thing.We aren’t nouns, we are verbs. Forget the nouns, do the verbs.
For me it’s saying I’m a writer, but haven’t really written. I mean, I have written and self-published some cool stuff, but I get that imposter syndrome sneaking in sometimes too.
Ultimately, I should just write and forget about being a writer.
You should do the verb too.
Like a Rolling Stone
I’m a sucker for redesigns and reimaginings of products and brands. This one from Rolling Stone is huge.
The old logo’s drop-shadowed, cross-hatched look is iconic, so making a change to a modern, flat logo is pretty bold. I think it works. It pops on the magazine shelf, but right now, it does because it’s this combination of familiar and different.
It’s an excellent evolution for a brand that plays a massive part in American culture.
This is Why You Should Hold Fast to Childish Things
John P. Weiss writes and illustrates his thoughts on leaving things undone and reacquaint ourselves with wonder. What do you call people who love good music, books, movies, stage products, company, and conversation?
Happy?