Logos

You guys know I'm on the board of my Alumni group. We're attempting to redesign the logo. I'm curious to see if your opinions (as unbiased outsiders) are the same as the board's. This is the old one:



Looks like a maternity clothing label, doesn't it?
These are my attempts:





Those two are based on 'SC's logo.
Here's another one:



That one was based on a Picture Start frame, with a bit of tweaking. (Can't have any blue when we're sharing a city w/ Bruinfolk.)

The last few designs are based on the work of designer Saul Bass, who did movie credits and posters for directors like Hitchcock and Preminger. Here's an example of his work:



This would be the logo, as I imagine it:



This is how the logo could be incorporated into the website (which we're also designing):


Both designs, desaturated. It's easier to see the edges here. The graphics are supposed to look like paper cut outs:



An alternate logo incorporating the same ideas, this time using a Flash Frame. This would work well on screening flyers and whatnot:



Thoughts? Ideas? Does the camera look too much like a booby girl? That's NOT intentional. We are NOT smut peddlers!

We ASPIRE to be smut peddlers.

I Must Remember Never to Annoy the Famous...

...because they do not fuck around. Celebrities are gangsta.

Think about it: they've got posses, they've got guns, and if they shoot you -- even if they confess, and there's blood, and a murder weapon, and a witness....

They're still not going to jail.

Man, I can't wait till I'm famous.

(I promise not to shoot anyone that doesn't deserve it.)

:)

The Nutcracker

(photo copyright Mikhail Metzel)

Newseum.org

I bet you're already excited. Good. You'd better be. Because I just found the coolest site on the whole internet:
Newseum (TA DA!)
It's a museum dedicated to journalism, and their website is fantastic. Its best feature is a section that contains scans of newspapers' front pages from around the world. And they're not snooty; any paper can send a PDF scan of its front page.
Newseum is opening in Washington, D.C. in 2008 and I'm totally going. I will seriously book a plane ticket specifically to visit this place. Maybe I'll see the Capitol Building or something while I'm there, on the count of I haven't seen it since I was ten, but only if I've got time.
I've got to prioritize.
And now, a super-sized, super-geeky sampling of the wares (this is not for the faint of heart):

Beijing, China.

London, England.(UK)

The Guardian is a classic. I love the layout, the font, the close-up photograph on the front page....

Iceland.

The major statements are the photograph and the font of the paper's name. Both make me think of Bergman, a native of a neighboring Nordic country.

Beautifully designed. Our newspapers don't get that kind of attention, though a few of our non-glossy magazines do. Some of the papers below are just for fun, but I think it's interesting to see what was considered important enough to deserve a spot on the front page of the newspaper yesterday, depending on where you lived. It's also fascinating how people around the world prefer their news presented to them.




















The other papers' countries of origin, top to bottom:
Taiwan
Russia
UAE
Sweden
France
USA
Portugal
Japan
Canada
Brazil
Turkey
Bahrain
Iran

Where Babies Come From

"Fine, you wanna know, I'll tell you. But you're gonna wish you bought that stork bullshit."

(photo copyright Eugene Hoshiko).

Greenspan on "Meet the Press"

Watch his segment on NBC, but these were his answers for the rapidfire name-a-president section:

Who was the smartest?
Toss up between Clinton and Nixon. Once for a State of the Union address, someone put the wrong speech in Clinton’s teleprompter. I don’t know anybody who knew the difference, and I think that requires a degree of intellectual capabilities...

Who was the most profane?
Nixon by multiple quantities.

Who was the most normal?
Ford, one of the most decent people I ever met.

Who was the least knowledgeable about economic matters?
All were fairly knowledgeable.

Who put the most political pressure on you?
George H.W. Bush.

A choice quote from Greenspan’s Fox News interview on Tuesday? “Bill Clinton was the best Republican president we’ve had in a while.”

Republicans were pissed because they thought they were in a committed relationship with Greenspan when ALL THIS TIME he was getting some on the side with the Dems. But they still can’t go after him, because if this dude sneezes, the Market gets jittery. He’s the perfect supervillian and he’s totally wasting it. I urge Greenspan to demand sovereignty over a state -- one of the good ones -- while he’s still young enough to think up something ridiculous and amusing for his subjects to do.

Emmys

All I can think about are the film students who had to park 25 blocks away from campus all week.

SHCOOL

Where I Will Build My Next Fort

And you are all invited! (These dudes will guard the joint while we're away...)

Buddhist Monks to Rise Up Against Us if We Don't Stop Laughing at Them

And let’s be honest, we kind of have it coming. The trouble started when an internet nutjob claimed that a Japanese ninja defeated several monks from China’s famed Shaolin Temple in unarmed combat. The user posted, “The facts [sic] that the monks could not defeat a Japanese ninja showed that they were named kung fu masters in vain.”

In response, the monks’ lawyer sent a notice to the Beijing News clarifying that “the defeat is purely fabricated” and that “we demand the Internet user to apologize to the whole nation for the wrongs he or she did.”

Now I readily admit to being an ignorant American, but you have to have a pretty high opinion of yourself to assume someone ragging on you = someone ragging on The Nation As A Whole. Did the nutjob have to say “Japanese” ninja? Was that an extra dig? Given my elementary understanding of the history between the two countries and having absolutely no knowledge of either language, I would say yes, he was twisting the needle. But it was still really funny. Are there no funny monks? And how’d they find out about this guy, anyway? Does one of them have a Google alert sent to his inbox any time the words “Shaolin Showdown” appear on the internet?

Oh. Not in China, he doesn’t.

Back to the story:

Though China and Japan are certainly Not BFF, they’re old neighbors and seasoned forces on the world stage, so surely both nations immediately recognized the ridiculousness of the situation and chose to ignore it. I mean, why get upset over an item so silly I kind of wish I’d made it up? And they all lived happily ever after…

Elephant on the Junk, Did not Stash it in the Trunk

If you lead an elephant to water, he will drink. But if you drug an elephant to make him more “manageable”, then abandon him in the jungle with a raging heroin addiction, I hope you drown, you heartless, evil bastard.

Italians to Strike. French Figure They Might As Well, Too.

On September 13th, Italians will be going on a pasta strike to protest recent price increases. To combat the inevitable withdrawal symptoms (most Italians eat pasta at least once a day), strike organizers will set up emergency stands offering free bread and milk in all major Italian cities for those in need of carbohydrates. The 11% of Italian families living at the poverty line were overjoyed to hear the news, telling this reporter that they wished there was a strike every day.

One man said, “Pasta isn’t so great, if you really think about it. It needs butter or sauce to even taste like anything. Now where was that stand you mentioned?” While another commented, “Milk is better for the bones. I am completely Italian, in case you were wondering.” The prime minister has condemned the protest, mostly because it has called into question the appropriateness of his new vacation home in Turin, which has been dubbed the “Mani-cottage” by the English press, as it is an English-style hunting cottage constructed entirely out of manicotti. The opposition party has repeatedly pointed out that none of their members possess edible dwellings of any kind, but this has done little to tip the polls in their favor, and may only be making their constituents hungrier.
When asked for comment, the Italian army surrendered.

Karl Rove Comes Out of the Closet, Declares His Undying Love for Barack Obama. Still Won't Vote for Him in 'O8.

"He doesn't have the foreign policy experience," Rove said, shrugging his shoulders. When asked to confirm the report that Senator Hillary Clinton had approached him with an offer of drinks and light salsa dancing, Rove refused to comment. But he was more than willing to talk about Barack. So what attracts him about the distinguished senator from Illinois?
"He's very...dashing. He smiles and it's like this invisible fist squeezes my heart, y'know?, and warm syrup comes out. And it coats the inside of me to my fingers and toes....I'm sorta hungry, do you have anything to eat here?"
"No sir."
"What were we talking about?"
"Uh...Barack Obama and warm syrup."
"Right. Of course the sexually that man is is a prime specimen of a Grade A Brahma Bull..."
"(interrupts)We don't need to talk about that."
"Listen, son. This is my interview. I will say what I want. Now. Take all those things. You got yourself one hell of a man. (laughs) But the thing that attracted me most to Barack was his...innate goodness. (sighs) My last relationship...well, it was a little different."
---
KARL ROVE'S CAR ATTACKED BY PRANKSTERS
Photo: Ron Edmonds

Article

Hilary Duff receives a positive review in the NYT

Has the Grey Lady gone insane?

Not quite. The gist of this piece is, "Wow. She didn't suck as much as I thought she would. She could've just shown up and glistened at us for two and half hours, but she didn't. Kudos."

Taking swipes at a second-tier near-irrelevant pop singer? Why?

This feels desperate. Has the NYT always been this catty?

British Teen Claims He Was Framed for the Murder of Richard Kimble's Wife; Vows to Find the Real Killer

Jack pulls up on a motorcycle outside his girlfriend's flat. A devil and an angel appear on his shoulders.

DEVIL JACK: Right. Here it is. Just pop up for a bit. Don't even have to put it on, really.
ANGEL JACK: What d'you mean? 'Course he does.
DJ: The time that it would take to get it off the bike...
AJ: ..it's his HAND.
DJ: Not like he needs it. His girl doesn't miss it.
AJ: What are we supposed to do with it if he doesn't wear it?
DJ: Nothing. We can just leave it here.
AJ: In the street?!
DJ: We'll be gone for ten minutes. It'll be fine. Who's going to steal a prosthetic hand?...
----
Did you see the foreshadowing?

Someone nicked the hand.

Which means...a lucky Bristol man or woman (but probably teenage boy, let's be serious) has, in his possession, a top of the line, fully-functioning, LUXURY pre-owned prosthetic right hand!

Critics say the two-handed would find the device useless. But in fact, it has a multitude of alternate applications:

-- Bulb planter
-- Home run baseball holder
-- spare (just in case!)

The list goes on and on!...

ARTICLE

French Person Slightly Less Attractive Than We Thought

PARIS MATCH airbrushed French President Nicky (I call him Nicky, we're buds) Sarkozy's love handles out of these photos. Rival publication L'EXPRESS found out about it and printed both pictures. Paris Match claimed they'd tried to "adjust the lighting in the picture" and that "the correction was exaggerated in the printing process." If you go to the BBC website, you can see a funny animation where the non-doctored photo morphs into the beautified one.

In light of all this, I personally think he should step down and let that hot socialist take over.

LOST: ONE PAIR, BINOCULARS.

If found, please return to: 2518 Beanstalk Terrace -- Penthouse. REWARD.

Chiat/Day Building Facade
340 Main Street
Venice, California 90295

Designed of course by crackophile Frank Ghery, who can't say no to a dare.

Ukendt (Igloo)

Pretentious Art World Blurb: "IGLOO perverts hot and cold, tropical and arctic to create an experiential phenomenon in a time of rapid flux. An icon of cold weather for a hot Los Angeles summer."

Absurd. But don't let that stop you from enjoying it:








It's all glowy, like a low-tech Sci-Fi Channel Spaceship. I kind of want to have a themed slumber party here. (Alien Invasion -- The Night Before? ... I'll work on the theme....) There's a liquor store across the street, so people would just need to bring food and pajamas.

UKENDT (IGLOO)
1619 Silver Lake Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

IGLOO is a new installation by Anja Franke, with John Southern and Nicholas Blake.