Capricorn Birthday Party II: Clinton

Two friends - Quentin and Clinton - both had their birthdays on Saturday. Oh the delightful hijinx!

As you browse through, consider the following:

- Why is everyone wearing white?
- Why wouldn't you expect polyester granny panties to be incredibly hot?
- Why don't I roll in a Lex all the time?


Mika with Birthday Man... kiiiiind of looking like he's making a poo.


Headless Mika. Way hot!


This girl's crazy meter was reading white hot.


Word. It's me and Clinton drunkenly busting rhymes on the roof. Our biggest lament? The dearth of rhymes for '7'. It'll be a hard year for MC's... no joke.

Edit: So Clinton allegedly thinks I have a 'lame/bad girl rapper' pose in this photo. To which I reply - speak for yourself Mr. Taking-A-Poo-Or-Looking-Like-A-Camel-In-All-Your-Photos.


This was one of the tamest of a disturbing yet insanely hot photo series I found on my camera the next day. Yes, I fully support secret camera-borrowing.


The next two photos are from Joni's amazing flickr set and are such great photos I had to share them.


Tripping the light fantastic.


Probably the best party photo I've ever seen.



Gangsta rap? Lexus? Joni pretty much bleeds Cristal at this point.

Go, monkey, go!

There's really no commentary required here...


Check the amazing look he gives the camera at the beginning. Loves it!

Okay, maybe a little commentary.

While shopping for food for the black dog, Scott saw some monkey jockey footage on a dvd for dogs.

This is Whiplash, a 16 year veteran monkey jockey. This photo is obviously amazing.


So cute! It's like a tiny Charleton Heston!

Now obviously monkeys riding dogs are always going to be funny. I mean, what am I - made of stone?

Of course, I do feel obliged to mention that it's proooooobably not the best thing for either animal. Although they do look like they're having fun, what with the terrified shrieking and the hysterical dashing around the pen.

Animal Rights Florida certainly condemns the practice, saying that training-by-abuse is common. They include a mildly sinister quote from another pioneer in the business:

“I know what I've been through to train a monkey to ride a dog and if I can train a monkey to ride a dog, I can train a rock to do tricks."
- Tim Lepard

Creeptastic! I mean seriously - these guys are basically carneys with monkeys. Nobody wants to see that.


The monkey wears the shirt to hide all the bruises. Tommy Lucia, you monkey-abusing freak.

I really couldn't find anything around that fully explains the whole monkey jockey thing, but I did find a photo series that suggests it's not entirely a new phenomenon:


I particularly love the second contraption.

Ah, it's all so very, very weird.

Capricorn Birthday Party I: Deanna

So it was Deanna's birthday on Tuesday, and of course we sent her off into the next year of her life in fine form.

Lady D is hands-down one of the most inspiring people I know. She accomplishes more - hell, demolishes more - of her goals than Lance Armstrong, Tony Robbins and Steve Jobs put together. I'm only slightly exxaggerating here.

Anyway, I'm proud to call her a friend so... go D! Happy birthday!


For a forty-year-old, she's got a pretty nice rack!


Laugh while you can ladies. Soon it'll be.... still funny.


Beckstar and Steve. Good times!

Polish Circus Posterfest!

So, if I wasn't so ignorant and self-taught in regards to design, I might have known how significant Polish poster art is. Instead, I just go to Internet University and slowly drag myself towards enlightenment. So check it:

The Society of Polish Applied Art, founded in 1902, opposed foreign influences and composed posters with traditional historic forms. These earliest posters revealed Polish folk art, and were characterized by decorative color patterns and a rhythmic flow of line. From the outset, critics in Paris , Vienna , and Munich recognized their distinctiveness. Their approach to design – lightness in conveying the subject, the free manner of associating theme and image – is shared by their successors a half-century later.

Between 1919 and 1939, Polish posters were enriched by a steady stream of progressive European art movements – Cubism, Constructivism, Futurism, and Surrealism. The artists included not only applied graphic designers, but also printmakers, painters, architects, sculptors, and cinematographers. Warsaw became the noted center of poster art in Poland .

After World War II Polish society gradually began to regard poster design as an art form equal in importance to painting. On the one hand there were political propaganda posters drawn from the Soviet influence, and on the other were posters on cultural topics, particularly films as people flocked to the movies. Movie posters that evolved were unlike most in that a scene was rarely shown. Instead the artists tried to capture the essence of the film or use a visual metaphor to sum up the impression of it. This trend caught on and spread to other fields. Posters became an outlet for individual artistic expression.

The above is an excerpt from polishfilms.org, one of many good sites that discuss Polish poster art. polishposter.com also provides a very interesting history.

In any case, check these examples - all posters promoting the circus (or CYRK in Polish). They are absolutely outstanding. How awesome is it to have a poster with only four letters on it?


I only wish I could do work this awesome.

It's good to know Poland's good at something, isn't it? Just kidding Urs!

General Electric: Samurai

It's the new age of patronage.

Corporations are sponsoring amazing pieces of art, which have little/nothing to do with their product, in the hopes that they will be associated with the imagination/innovation that characterizes the piece.

We get more art. Artists get more money and artistic freedom. Television and advertising get more pretty.

I'm going to duct tape my cynical brain shut and call it a win-win.

So on that note, this is a completely amazing anime short, done for General Electric's Imagination at Work campaign. Enjoy!



It's a production of BBD and Green Dot Films, directed by Three Legged Legs, who include a great selection of production stills on their website.







Three Legged Legs have actually done many great little shorts - including the completely amazing one below, called Los Angeles Let's Be Friends



That last one is inspired by the also great work of artist/illustrator Jeff Soto. His stuff is cool enough to warrant a separate post though, so... stay tuned.

In the meantime: go samurai monster anime cuteness! Holla!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY R-KELLY!

A huge happy birthday to one of my personal heroes. A man who is ghettofabulazy to the ultimate degree. R. Kelly, I love ya.