Maniacal Rage

Music Purchases, November 2009

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500

Clangour
by Sin Fang Bous

Grand
by Matt and Kim

Sainthood
by Tegan and Sara

Transmitter Failure
by Jenny Owen Youngs

Colors

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:00:42 -0500

Me: Is this weekend the one where Sara is out of town, or next weekend?
Shawn Morrison: This weekend.
Me: I have no followup. I'm just asking people on IM random questions that I don't care about the answers to.
Shawn Morrison: Speaking of which, what color are your shoe laces?
Me: The most common pair I've been wearing lately is WAIT I SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING THERE.
Shawn Morrison: God, color names have gotten so artsy.
Me: Yeah, it's really hard to get that name across when I order new shoe laces over the phone.
Shawn Morrison: I know, I'm painting my living room STOP FOLLOWING ME CREEP I'M CALLING 911 IF YOU DON'T GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY BATHROOM which should be pretty sweet but I'll have to go in person.
Me: I love that color.
Shawn Morrison: Brisk without being maudlin.

I recently ordered some new furniture for my living room. Buying new furniture was, at least for me,...

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:54:46 -0500

I recently ordered some new furniture for my living room. Buying new furniture was, at least for me, a horribly stressful process because I’m a bit obsessive and just kept thinking I wouldn’t find anything I liked now that I would also like later (this is also one of the main reasons I will probably never get a tattoo).

A friend of mine suggested I look at Room and Board, because she thought they were very much aligned with my design aesthetic and she was right. Luckily, they also have a huge show room in SoHo so I was able to go and look at nearly every piece of furniture they sell.

I spent the first hour walking around completely overwhelmed. I brought with me a rough sketch of my living room with measurements jotted along each wall. I was carrying the R&B catalog around. I was sitting on every couch and touching every lamp. I must have looked pathetic. At one point I sat down on a couch and just stared into space for about five minutes.

Luckily, a R&B design consultant named Ryan saw me and asked if I needed help. I made it clear that I needed more than help and that I was replacing my entire living room so I didn’t know where to start. He suggested starting with the biggest piece and going from there—the sofa. Three hours later I had some fabric samples and starting points.

I took my sister back to the store the next weekend and we spent another two hours and finally chose the sofa and some chairs. Making other decisions was much easier after that. Ryan again spent all that time with us answering questions and giving advice.

Someone like me must be a nightmare for these guys. I have no clue where to start and I’m constantly changing my mind. I take suggestions but immediately ask 20 questions. Answer one and I’ve got ten more. And yet this guy stuck it out and spent a total of about four hours with me. All this, and they don’t get commission.

I buy nearly everything on the internet—I get my groceries delivered from FreshDirect, I buy my shoes from Zappos and almost everything else I need comes from Amazon or a handful of other stores. The only thing I have to shop for in a store these days is clothing, which I hate. I can never find anything I like. About an hour into talking with Ryan at Room and Board I realized why I hate shopping for clothing—there’s no one there to help me. Sure, clothing stores have employees, but they just walk around grabbing various sizes. They rarely provide useful input.

The key to the Room and Board experience was that I was receiving genuine help from someone who wanted me to be happy with my purchase.

acME(in the window) (via Derek Wood Photography) Another great...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:06:22 -0500

acME(in the window) (via Derek Wood Photography)

Another great shot from Phoot Camp.

Friedisms

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:02:00 -0500

Friedisms:

A new site collecting inspirational quotes from Jason Fried:

“I am Jason Fried. I say amazing and thoughtful things that are real. Get real by reading what I say while I’m getting real.”

So, so real.

"I don’t read fiction. I find it a waste of time. There are so many amazing things that are..."

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:57:13 -0500

“I don’t read fiction. I find it a waste of time. There are so many amazing things that are real; I don’t need to spend any time on a made-up story.”

- Jason Fried
This makes me sad. I appreciate Fried’s frankness, his passion and his ideas, but I will never understand someone who can simply swear off fiction so easily. Does he not watch films? Plays? Read poetry? Has he sworn off television and radio shows? Or is his anti-fiction stance limited only to books?

Can he not appreciate both true and fictional stories? Does he feel great novelists or playwrights or screenwriters have all wasted their lives?

Sometimes “getting real” can go too far.

Papercraft Self Portrait by Eric Testroete (via...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:45:41 -0500

Papercraft Self Portrait by Eric Testroete (via waxy)

Eric’s costume has to be one of the most original and absolutely terrifying that I’ve seen in years.

Phoot Camp by Paul Octavious Cribb One of my favorites from...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500

Phoot Camp by Paul Octavious Cribb

One of my favorites from lots of really gorgeous shots taken at LBM’s Phoot Camp.

Halloween Plans

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:01:33 -0400

Me: Just realized I didn't ask: What are you doing for Halloween?
Me: Besides jerking off like always.
Shawn Morrison: Still thinking what I'm doing besides jerking off.
Shawn Morrison: Nope, that's pretty much it.
Me: I figured.
Shawn Morrison: You want details or?
Me: Hmm. Maybe not this time.
Me: I'm still having trouble sleeping from the last time.
Shawn Morrison: I don't blame you.

Banner Ads on Flies (via kottke) They’ll put advertising...

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:58:05 -0400

Banner Ads on Flies (via kottke)

They’ll put advertising anywhere these days.

levelandtap.com

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:03:59 -0400

Me: Did you get your Level & Tap stuff yet?
Shawn Morrison: Oh right, I forgot to tell you. Yes.
Shawn Morrison: It looks awesome.
Me: Nice.
Shawn Morrison: Totally flawless, the prints blew up perfectly, no noise.
Me: They exploded???
Shawn Morrison: Yeah, I mean, what do YOU use to enhance the explosion of dynamite, paintings????
Me: Not after this conversation!
Shawn Morrison: I wasted so much dynamite with stock photos from IKEA. Level & Tap is the real deal! KABOOM!

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Charlie’s Dating...

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:24:00 -0400

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Charlie’s Dating Profile

One of my favorite moments from this season.

(Sorry if you have to go through the Hulu login, but this is TV-MA and god forbid any children see a bunch of men with cleaner mouths than their parents.)

Ego version 1.6 I’m pleased to announce version 1.6 of...

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:43:45 -0400

Ego version 1.6

I’m pleased to announce version 1.6 of Ego is now available (iTunes link). This update includes a new widget type: Vimeo!

Vimeo is one of my favorite services. We use it for our sketch show, our short films—pretty much every bit of video we put online. Now I can track our plays, likes and comments, as well as subscribers right inside Ego.

Go get it already why don’t you?

Cyanide and Happiness: Decoy (via thedailywhat) Too soon? Or...

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:46:49 -0400

Cyanide and Happiness: Decoy (via thedailywhat)

Too soon? Or not soon enough?

Aziz Ansari Details a Night Out with Kanye West

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:37:12 -0400

Aziz Ansari Details a Night Out with Kanye West

koi carp jelly (via bananagranola) This woman takes amazing...

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:44:01 -0400

koi carp jelly (via bananagranola)

This woman takes amazing photos of the food she makes, much of which involves deserts and agar agar.

Rate iPhone Apps Friday

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:38:16 -0400

It’s that time again: Take 10 or 15 minutes out of your day today and rate/review some of the apps you use on your iPhone in the App Store. Most people have tons of apps on their phones, many of which they love, but we’re all guilty of forgetting or not bothering to review them in the store.

Today my ratings included iPhlix (4★) and AIM (2★).

"If you’re able to stay aroused when you look down and see this thing beneath you, you’re..."

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:11:00 -0400

“If you’re able to stay aroused when you look down and see this thing beneath you, you’re a better man than I. Seriously, there’s nothing that kills a boner faster than the self-awareness that comes from being balls deep in a piece of furniture.”

- Adam Frucci, Fleshlight Motion Review at Gizmodo
Also, watch the video review. It’s great (and, thankfully, does not involve Frucci actually using these products).

CH Live: Dan Gurewitch I had never seen Dan’s standup...

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:55:34 -0400

CH Live: Dan Gurewitch

I had never seen Dan’s standup before, but this is hilarious.

Depth of Field (via likeneelyohara) This is just perfect, and a...

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:03:28 -0400

Depth of Field (via likeneelyohara)

This is just perfect, and a much prettier way of saying the kinds of things I say over at my other blog, That’s Not Art.

The irony of this, of course, is that it is not only mocking crappy things people create to seem deep, but it actually looks better than nearly all of them. Talk about a major success.