31 July 2011

Facebook Failbook

Tonight I deleted my personal Facebook in an attempt to utilize only my Almost Colossus page for (ugh) social networking purposes. Since said page was apparently linked indefinitely to my personal account, it is gone with the few friends and followers of the page.

I'm not quite sure how to create on Facebook only a page without any sort of personal account. Maybe I should just throw FB to the wind and focus on Twitter and Google+.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Shoot me an email.

Peas.

23 July 2011

I Want to Get High But I Don't Want Brain Damage

Awesomely terrifying new video from psychedelic workhorses The Flaming Lips accompanied by noise enthusiasts Lightning Bolt. I personally love how gleefully Wayne Coyne has taken to waving the freak flag for the modern generation. Wave it high and proud, brother!



Here's the tracklist for the collab album via Mr. Coyne's Twitter. I hope other bands are taking note of The Lips exclusively EP output this year.

Almost Colossus Loves the 90's

So that whole 20-year cycle of retro chic you've been passive-aggressively complaining about for the past, oh, 20 years, Gen Y-er? Well, seems it's come back in your favor.

First, Nickelodeon's got a strategy for giving the [Adult Swim] programming block some competition with re-runs of SNICK classics. The following clip for The 90's Are All That mentions Double Dare and All That while Wikipedia reports All That, Clarissa Explains It All, Doug, and Keenan and Kel will be featured in the initial lineup. Just about everything else is set to follow, with the exception of Three Angry Beavers. I guess Mel Gibson cornered the market on goofy narrated beavers.



So what's more exciting than seeing Ren & Stimpy, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, and Salute Your Shorts on the boob tube again? *heh heh, heh heh* Boob.


All. New. Episodes. That clip could have come right from the original series. As much as I love the appropriately deriding Jersey Shore commentary, I'm hoping for primarily music videos, and preferably older ones. The original Beavis & Butthead introduced viewers to everything from Primus to Morrissey to Ministry back in the day. But, all in all, looking good.

Next up... MST3K, anyone?

[edit: The 90's Are All That airs now Tuesdays through Saturdays for a two hour block starting at midnight with an encore from 2 - 4 AM. So far MTV reports Beavis & Butthead is set to return this Fall. I'll get better at this stuff; I promise.]

21 July 2011

Special Brewings

I'm working on some new designs, specifically the official AC logo (not the one gracing the Facebook page) and some logos for a good friend's organization. I also have some writings in the works, primarily music, including my Best So Far of 2011 list. After all, what's a blog without a list? And I'm definitely looking forward to jumping in the comic book blogosphere with regular reviews starting on some of DC's New 52 titles.

Batwoman: one to watch
Until then, I'll try and be more frequent with postings of design work past and random cool shit I find lying about the internets.

20 July 2011

Mobility // Lullaby

Yeah, I'm still doin' this thing. The lack of updates has been due to work and weather; it's just too damn hot in this apartment. I'm posting a test run via the Android Bloggeroid app from the chilly confines of my air conditioned bedroom. [Edit: I had to make a few html corrections. Bloggeroid doesn't take so well to code, apparently.]

Hit me up if you've got this artists' credits
Anyway, electronic artist Flying Lotus has leaked two new jams on his Soundcloud and this is reason to celebrate. FlyLo has been one of my favorite artists since inadvertently listening to his iconic [Adult Swim] bumps back in the day. Since then he's been releasing forward thinking electronic jams that bend the spectrum from J Dilla to Coltrane (he is his nephew, after all) to Radiohead.

The latter's influence is on full display on "Lullaby." With its jazzy hand claps and subtle atmospherics it sounds like a release from the current King of Limbs remix series, which makes total sense since he's been rumored to be releasing a remix of the complete album. Both tracks are a bit of a departure from Cosmogramma 's heavy orchestration and back toward the low end grind of Los Angeles.

Check out both tracks below:



  Flying lotus - heave (n) mix2 by Flyinglotus
posted from Bloggeroid

15 July 2011

14 July 2011

WHO DID ST. VINCENT COVER NOW: Tom Waits - Big Black Mariah

I once considered naming this blog Remixes and Cover Songs and it's versions like this that remind me why. While I was battling Warped Tour traffic on my way to work this morning, Europe's Raindogs Revisited tour features the lovely St. Vincent covering Tom Waits classics like this:


More graphic design-ness tomorrow, folks; I have comic books to catch up on.

13 July 2011

Spider-ball

What is up with this suit? Is it just me, or does it look like the costume department pieced this together out of poorly spray-painted remnants of busted up basketballs? It seriously looks like Spider-man is now sponsored by Nike.

Original image courtesy of Geek Tyrant

I'm really weary of Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-man, not that I have anything poor to say about the director or the choice of Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield was great in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and The Social Network.) It's just that suit, the immediacy of re-franchising, and, frankly, the decision to cast Emma Stone as a blonde Gwen Stacy rather than the obvious Mary Jane.

I guess I should get the frustration out of my system so my indignation is atrophied when they decide to flip Batman in 2013.

The Forbin Project

Looks like album art from the Warp Records roster. Don't be surprised if I draw heavily on this for an upcoming logo.

Good Company


This is the first in a sort of series of mixes I made four years ago and continue to make for my then girlfriend and soon-to-be wife. Good Company was the fastest I've ever produced a mix from conception to end result and it still remains my favorite. The tracks are upbeat, head-in-the-clouds new love foggy, mostly obvious, and feature a couple inside jokes and one of our two wedding songs.

I didn't use a standard CD template for the art; the image folds to fit a slim jewel case. I wish I could say the images were original; both are borrowed. Chris Appelhans' "Dancebot" is so whimsical and childish. It had been sitting in my Pictures folder for years awaiting some sort of use. I'm pretty sure it guided this project.

Image credits:
Chris Appelhans, "Dancebot"
sputnikk, "Exit the System"

12 July 2011

Poster Perfect


Manifest d'oh!

I'm not quite sure to what means I intend to reach in this, my own little bubble of introversion. Certainly I intend to utilize this space for my own creation: surely some sketches, hopefully complete works, poorly edited musings on music and other media, and most certainly in-cohesive ramblings on life and varied interests.

Ever the perfectionist, I intended on some grand unveiling, but as I sit here, hot, sloshy, and tired, I'm thinking, this is it. Honest. Bare bones.

So here it is. It's not pretty. I do plan on decorating.