Winding Down

Midway through Friday, I’m thinking calming thoughts to try to stay grounded at my desk. A video of a Zimoun sound sculpture came across my Tumblr dashboard, and was simultaneously mesmerizing and soothing.

Just in case you can use a bit of grounding, too – enjoy.

Fingers crossed for clearer skies in Boston this weekend!

video credit: Zimoun | hat tip: leighmccoy

Dear America,

In honor of the launch of online shopping for the US, fashion giant Zara compiled a photographic love letter to our 50 states.

Featuring 50 images by 50 photographers, Zara’s collection depicts each of the 50 states. Perhaps it was the distinct chill in Boston’s air this morning, but scrolling through the selection of photos left me nostalgic for summer – and reminded me of the more beautiful aspects of winter. Included here are just a few of my favorites shots.

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Friday Fancies: Learn, Move, Eat

Okay, so we’re on a video kick – but the three quick flicks that comprise our fancies for this Friday are well worth a look. Released just two days ago, the videos have already garnered quite a bit of attention. I’m so glad they came across my Tumblr dash today. (Hat tip to single malt scotch for sharing!)

Rick Mereki, Tim White and Andrew Lees travelled through 11 countries in 44 days, capturing nearly a terabyte of footage to compile these three short films exploring concepts of movement, eating and learning. I watched Learn first – and it gave me goosebumps. The entire triptych made me long for the thrill of travel, because the films capture so well that joy of discovery that is so dear to Jack and me in our adventures.

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I Dream of Eames

This video about Eames furniture is lengthy, but lovely. We’re big fans of Eames – and we’ve previously paid homage to the duo in our (yet to be perfected) Charles To My Ray cards – so when this crossed our screen today, we had to take a look. Enjoy!

The Story of Eames Furniture: Marilyn Neuhart with John Neuhart – Interview from Gestalten on Vimeo.

Crayola Calculations

 

Infographics are fun things; one that is well-designed can portray complex data in startlingly simple terms.

We enjoy a good infographic, and we certainly have expressed our love of crayons here before. Data Pointed’s Stephen Von Worley helps bring these disparate affinities together with a visual history of Crayola’s colors.

It’s true, this chart is not brand new – Von Worley’s pseudonymous friend “Velo” created the chart in early 2010, matching Crayola’s published lists of colors with hues to be displayed chronologically.

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Ace in the Hole

We’re headed to Shakespeare on the Common tonight (this year, All’s Well That Ends Well), and while our band of merry theater-goers waits for the show to kick off, there will almost certainly be some cards played.

Stegosaurus of Diamonds

So, when Tang Yau Hoong’s playful takes on playing cards crossed my path this afternoon, I couldn’t help but look through the whole collection.

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And We Didn’t Even Melt

Last weekend, Jack and I headed to New Hampshire for our annual Mt. Washington adventure.

Turns out, it was hot. Very hot. Perhaps not quite as hot as Boston, and certainly cooler at the summit, but the first hour or two of our hike was undeniably melt-worthy. (And yet, a good time was had by all.)

Despite the dramatically cooler climate so far this week, memories of Friday’s hike are still fresh in my mind; it is with these thoughts that I happened upon the Melting Ice Pops series of Meredith Allen, and had a chuckle.

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At the Touch of a Button

Of course, it’s not that simple – not quite.

We’ve recently discovered the Roomba Art Flickr group, and have to admit – it’s pretty fun.

Using a dark room, a very lengthy exposure and a Roomba vacuum (or a fleet of them) with colored lights mounted to the top, artists map the course charted by the robots in shining neon glory.

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Reimagining the Lightbulb

By now, it’s likely that all of us have begun replacing incandescent bulbs with more efficient (but less lovely) compact flourescents in at least some parts of our homes. There have been all sorts of design attempts to make new CFLs look and operate more like their watt-hungry older sibling, but until recently little attention had been paid to the outgoing style.

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Santa Marta Shines

Back in June, we shared a few images from the Rio de Janeiro favela of Santa Marta, as the artistic duo Hass&Hahn set about working with residents to create a colorful mural spanning several buildings surround the central square of the neighborhood.

Today, CNN picked up the story of Santa Marta – and has included some additional imagery with their update. See some of our favorite images from the CNN story below, and be sure to visit their slideshow for more. For a refresher on other, similar street art projects in Brazilian cities, check back in with our original Santa Marta post here.

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