typefiend

If you're free this Friday night, come on out to Royal/T for the Poketo Karaoke Dance Party: July 10th, Friday 8 PM - 1 AM. I was invited to be a judge, so though you won't be hearing me sing, I'll be there doing my best Paula Abdul impersonation judging the crooning.

At Royal/T: 8910 Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232
Free, RSVP at rsvp(at)poketo(dot)com

IMAGE REMOVED

A Hong Kong vendor just sent me a link to this new product they're selling for editorial consideration on Unplggd.com. I politely emailed back and noted that this might be perceived as racist (or at the least horribly insensitive) here in the United States. Even without the racial overtones, I'm left wondering what the heck they were thinking combining a coin bank with a tissue holder with a KFC'ed Obama emblazoned on it. Are people in Hong Kong prone to get weepy and hungry for fried chicken at the mention of Obama, with this product conveniently providing them somewhere to keep their snack run money hidden away until needed?

*They replied: Dear Gregory, Thanks for your comments and reminding. We will take this care in such aspect. Thanks again. Regards,****

**Update: Brando.com took down the product from their site. A wise decision, and seems like a genuinely unintended misstep on their part due to cultural miscommunication/ignorance of racial stereotypes.

Got all CSI and shit with our microscope to take photos of two of the small critters that have been caught emerging from my laptop keyboard this morning. I believe they're some sort of mite, but I'm not sure; about the size of a period and move quickly, though not blazingly fast. Caught about 12 of them thus far and hope they're just some benign bug...computer bug.

My original Flickr photo.
Most people know how I feel about Urban Outfitters. I hate their political affiliations, their track record of putting out anti-voting "fashion" during election years, and their propensity of stealing artists' and designers' work with knockoffs. Little did I know my own work would be stolen by someone staffed by UO. It's a small thing, but I was notified today by a Flickr user that an old photo I snapped while in Paris was being used in the Urban Outfitter's blog from Paris with neither permission, but more importantly without credit. I'm not a permission fascist when it comes to my images and would have likely given them permission to use the image without any hassle if they asked since a fellow blogger is a brother/sister in spirit. But this wasn't a Creative Commons image, and the fact they didn't even link/credit me sucks smegma macarons. Come on, at least credit me properly...I doubt I would have been offended despite skipping out on asking my permission. I guess this par for the course when it comes to how UO handles other's work. Not even a nod.

I wrote them a firm, but polite email to try to get this sorted. If they're good about handling it, no spilled milk. I'll have to wait and see if their blogging team knows how to handle missteps like this quickly or if I get the run around or cold shoulder.


My photo as used by Urban Outfitters' X-Jen

**Update: UO pulled my photo...and the whole post without any response to my email. It would have been more pleasant if they just shot an email saying they made a mistake, they were sorry, "hey we liked your photo, would it be okay to use it?" and move forward. But by just yanking it, it seems more like they were embarrassed about getting caught and didn't have any excuse.

Our first 50+mpg average trip in the Jetta TDI; eventually ended up averaging 53mpg on the 2 hour drive from Silver Lake to Idyllwild. And without any hypermiling technique besides a steady foot on the gas. And how about diesel at 30 cents cheaper than regular unleaded. In the wise words of Flava Flav: YEAHHH BOYEEEE~

Here's where we eventually ended up after the scenic and efficient drive.

Quite enthused that both Scorcese and DiCaprio are trying a whole new genre. At the least, the sets and cinematography look exceptional.

via Saelee via toddoldhamstudio.com

More amazing work from Johnny Kelly.

Auto Tuning from Casey Donahue on Vimeo.

In the excited state of attempting to both show Emily this video and turn off the air purifier so she could hear the audio better, I inadvertently just ripped the crotch of my pajama pants wide open. My right knee was still pressed down onto the couch as my left leg swung over to move over to get up, resulting in a ripping sound so loud, our cat Eames ran away startled. Of course, I'm still wearing the ripped bottoms because they're still comfortable and it's now even easier to relieve myself. Enjoy the video...I sacrificed my favourite pj's for it.

Sisyphus Office is an exhibition organized by San Francisco based artist, curator, and co-founder of The Thing Quarterly, Jonn Herschend and based out of Skydive, a Houston, Texas gallery.
The artists involved in the project are collaborating with businesses and offices in and around Houston in order to highlight art as an integral and necessary distraction in our day to day life. The artists and offices involved in Sisyphus Office are working physically and conceptually with the notions of existentialism, capitalism, artistic romanticism and deadpan slapstickism as a means to examine the artifice that keeps us clinging to reality and distracted from the void. Sisyphus Office is about punching the clock, and then punching it again…but harder the second time. It’s about transcending the mundane through the beauty and absurdity of distraction. It’s about recognizing the comedy in the tragedy of the day to day… and then waking up again to do the same thing all over again the next morning.

David Fullarton's contribution is an installation in the offices of Houston radio station 90.1 KPFT entitled "What I do at work when I'm supposed to be working." It consists of a number of small works made entirely from office supplies, which are pinned up randomly around the office, in amongst the notices, flyers and memos that were already existing in the environment.

via Behance

via chiffonade

Here's my kalbi recipe I described to Sara-Kate for a post on the Kitchn.com. It's pretty straight forward, and I normally just create the marinade by taste, not by measured portion (I tend to cook like an old school grandmother than some young whippersnapper cook with their fancy "cups" and "quarter tablespoons"; I'm all about a dash of this or that). You can also add a half bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola to sweeten the deal if you're looking for a sweeter version, but the asian pear does the trick with the brown sugar too. But the most important thing is to spend the extra money and get quality meat. Sara-Kate hunted down some excellent flanken cut short ribs that made my job easy. The last big advice is to save any leftover marinade and use this as a last splash before taking the meat off the grill; sear on the hot side of the grill so the marinade leaves a reduced coating...the sweet char will drive men, women, and small carnivorous animals wild.

Dear Randolph Chabot Jr./Deastro, please consider touring in Los Angeles so I can hear your magical music in person. I rarely go to shows these days because of my aversion to crowds and annoying drunk attendees, but I'd weather whatever and whomever to hear Deastro in person.

And please keep making music that inspires me to create, relate and occasionally masturbate.

Sincerely,
typefiend

P.S. Just purchased your newest, Moondagger and it's the start of a good Sunday because of it.