All Over Coffee by Paul Madonna

I just ran across this gem of a book this weekend. All Over Coffee is a collecion of comics by Paul Madonna. The book is a collection of sketches by Paul paired with comments or poetry.

Here is Paul's description of the works:

"All Over Coffee strips are time bombs, moments that on the surface appear meaningless or random, but later, while going about your day, trigger connections. The subjects are the details of life: city and landscapes coupled with observations, scenes and slivers of conversations. "

I had to buy this book just based on the artwork alone, but I also found the text to be rather interesting. Highly recommended. Published by City Lights.

David G: New sketch "theoretical"

Tonight @ 330 Ritch (Popscene): Foals!

Foals are playing tonight at 330 Ritch for Popscene. Their album "Antidotes" is amazing. Take the guitarist from Bloc Party, turn him into a robot, then add a few other robots to the mix. Finally toss in a cool lyricist and you have Foals. (Though to be honest I have no clue what their lyrics mean.) Apparently their style is part of the Math Rock genre. Highly recommended!

Ashley Wood's Bertie on sale today!

Ashley Wood's figure Bertie just went on sale today. Bertie is a recurring character in Ashley's comics including World War Robot, Zombies vs Robots, Zombies vs Robots vs Amazons. He comes in both Desert and Dirtie Deeds versions. The later is shown above. I had a chance to see him at NYCC and the figure is breath taking. I can't wait to get mine!

Order one at Bambaland

Tonight @ Mezzanine: The Presets, Walter Meego

Everyone,

Make sure you hit up Mezzanine tonight for The Presets & Walter Meego. The Presets album "Apocalpyso" is a 2008 favorite of mine, and I just heard the Walter Meego album "Voyager" on Amazon.com. (It's out next week.) Should be a great show!

www.mezzaninesf.com

Treasure Island Festival 2008 line-up announced

I'm kind of excited about the Treasure Island 2008 line-up!

Awesome!
- Foals
- TV on the Radio
- Justice
- Aesop Rock
- Amon Tobin
- Okkervil River
- Vampire Weekend

Cool.
- Fleet Foxes
- Hot Chip
- Tokyo Police Club
-

Chuck Palahniuk novel "Pygmy" in 2009!

"Snuff" by Chuck Palahniuk just came out today. While on his site I saw that Chuck has already completed his next novel "Pygmy." Here's the email that he sent to the Chuck Palahniuk.net site owner. By the way, his visit to SF hosted by Booksmith is sold out. Could anyone hook me up with a ticket?

"I've just finished the first draft of a novel called "Pygmy," a dark comedy about terrorism and racism. The lead character is a 13-year-old foreign exchange student sent to live with a suburban, white, middle-class family. Oh, and they're Christians. The visit is for six months, and he's one of a dozen similar kids, all shipped to America to live with typical families. The secret truth is that Pygmy is a terrorist, trained since infancy in martial arts, chemistry and radical hatred of the United States. He has six months to build a prize-winning project for the National Science Fair. If he succeeds, he and his project will go to Washington, D.C. for the finals competition -- where the project will explode, killing millions.

So far, Gerry Howard says it's the best book I've done. Fingers crossed for luck.I've just finished the first draft of a novel called "Pygmy," a dark comedy about terrorism and racism. The lead character is a 13-year-old foreign exchange student sent to live with a suburban, white, middle-class family. Oh, and they're Christians. The visit is for six months, and he's one of a dozen similar kids, all shipped to America to live with typical families. The secret truth is that Pygmy is a terrorist, trained since infancy in martial arts, chemistry and radical hatred of the United States. He has six months to build a prize-winning project for the National Science Fair. If he succeeds, he and his project will go to Washington, D.C. for the finals competition -- where the project will explode, killing millions.

So far, Gerry Howard says it's the best book I've done. Fingers crossed for luck."

Based on this description I am pretty excited!

Pattern is Movement music video by San Francisco fan

3.28.08 from pajamaparty in_a_hauntedhive on Vimeo.
I have been obsessing over All Together the new album by Pattern is Movement. I just saw on their site that a fan in San Francisco made a video for "Right Away" off the new album. I'm loving the footage and its pairing with the music. I'm rather bummed that I didn't know they were in town. All Together is a really f'ing good album. Also make sure to check out "I Should be Leaving" off their last album!

Sigg Oval Flask w/ Cup

I recently stumbled upon this The Sigg Oval Flask w/ Cup online. When I first saw it I assumed it was a fresh new design from Sigg. Little did I know that it was designed by Sigg for the Swiss army back in 1941. However, upon receiving mine this week, this sucker looks as modern as it gets.

Maybe it's just me, but their seems to be a trend of classic designs that I run across thinking they are fresh new modern designs. The Sigg flask, alongside my Lamy 2000 pen, Molesking notebooks, and somewhat my Jack Spade bag. These all seem to be very clean modern designs, but have all been around for a good while (though the JS bags are more influnced by classic bags rather than being classic.)

I want the new Jack Spade Crown Twill Haversack

I have had a Jack Spade Greene Street bag for about 6 months now, and I am competely obsessed with it. I carry it everywhere all the time. I was just at Service Menswear (my favorite clothing store in Austin) this weekend, when I ran across this new Jack Spade bag... the Warren Street Crown Twill Haversack. I would have bought it on the spot except for the following:

• It's about 350$.


• I already have a Greene Street bag.

Now I am debating which bag would be the better option... Here's are my thoughts about each:

Jack Spade Greene Street

• It's wide enough for a 15 inch Macbook Pro.


• It only costs about 175$.


• I like the two front zipper pockets, perfect for a Nintendo DS, sketch book, headphones.


• I like the small pouch under the flap. It's perfect for my train tickets.


• I like inner expanding pockets, which are perfect for my Moleskine.


• I don't like the pen holders. I don't want to put my Lamy 2000 in what is best described as a stretchy loop holder. It leaves the pin too exposed.


• I wish I had bought the version without the interior divider pocket. It just gets in the way.

Jack Spade Warren Street Crown Twill Haversack

• I love the grey waxy canvas look. It ages rather nicely.


• I love the waxwear bottom of the bag, though I'm not sure if I prefer brown over black.


• I like that the seams are riveted. More hardcore.


• I don't like that it's only 14 inches wide.


• I like the organizer system, which has a sheath for your pen (much like school backpacks).


• I don't know if it warrants the 350$ pricetag.


• I am not sure if I would miss the front exterior zippers or not.

Subtle: Exiting Arm

I love Subtle. Their albums "Yell & Ice," "For Hero, For Fool," are two of my favorite albums of the past year. Subtle is based out of Oakland, with rapper Dose One leading the group. They have just released their new album "Exiting Arm" which is the most pop oriented album of their's to date. However, the music is still rather complex, maybe analogous to someone like Thomas Pynchon for the literary space. Anyways, I can't stop listening to "Exiting Arm" and I found out that Subtle just launched a flash site http://www.exitingarm.com/ which tells more details of the story about Hour Hero Yes, the main character in Subtle's music.

Aliph Jawbone 2 about to drop?

It looks like Aliph has just completed a new version of the Jawbone bluetooth headset. I almost bought the original, and am glad to see I waited!

New sketch

A Skin, A Night

The National is a pretty damn good band. Vincent Moon is a pretty damn good video artist. "A Skin, A Night" is going to be pretty damn good. I just watched the trailer and already have goose-bumps.

"A Skin, A Night" is a documentary by Vincent Moon that chronicles the creative process that The National went through to create their profound album "Boxer." (It's still a hot item on my iPhone after nearly a year.) If you have seen La Blogotheque's Take-Away Shows (Vincent Moon's project) you know what you are in line for.

The movie is being released May 20 packaed with a National EP of b-sides and more.

NEW CHUCK PALAHNIUK BOOK "SNUFF"

Hell yes! My favorite writer has just announced his new book "Snuff" which will be out in May. It's about a porn star who attempts to beat the world record for consecutive fornications. Apparently the story is told from the perspective of a few guys "waiting in line" for their chance in the lime light. I can't freaking wait! I am time and again impressed by every book Chuck comes out with.

Also, he is doing a tour for "Snuff" and will be stopping by San Francisco!

Wednesday, May 28 – San Francisco

7:00pmBooksmithInterview, Q&A, signing offsite @Sundance Kabuki Theater

1881 Post Street (at Fillmore)San Francisco, CA(415) 863-8688

http://www.booksmith.com/*Interviewer: TBD

Lastly, he has posted various viral adds that are essentially "trailers" for the movies starring the porn star from Snuff.

http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/

Interpol "Rest my chemistry" video

Aaron Koblin of Blip Boutique has created a video for Interpol's "Rest my chemistry" which is probalby the best track on Antics. Did I mention that Interpol is my all time favorite band? (No pretty much qualifier there.)

Apparently the video is created from technology that Aaron created for his company and is supposed to stand on its own as a piece of art rather than a music video. Interpol apparently likes it though!

Justice versus Aphex Twin

justice stress (official video)
Uploaded by 75_prod

Just saw the new Justice video for "Stress." It's a great video, but let's be realistic here. A gang of child-sized Richard D. James could seriously kick the Justice gangs ass. By the way, Gaspard from Justice is my long lost French look alike.

Risk: Black Ops

I always wanted to own/play Risk whe I was a kid. Looks like Hasbro is about to launch a new "black ops" version of the game. I would love to try this out / own a copy. Chances are I'd never have time to play it though.

Cardboard Spaceship "Derailed" show

Cardboard Spaceship, based in Santa Cruz, just had the opening for an art show of custom mini train cars. All in all the cars look rather nice, but the custom by Motorbot just blew my mind! Such ingenuity to take a train and turn it into a caterpillar. Amazing!

Kenn Munk: Antlor series 2 freebie

Kenn Munk has just finished up Antlor series 2. If you browse my history, I posted about Antlor series 1... which I have completed, but haven't started my customs yet. Anyways, he created a special Antlor for Nude magazine, and has the PDF available as a free download on the Antlor site!

Download the new NIN album "The Slip" for free!

Nine Inch Nails has just posted a new LP "The Slip" online, and it's a free download! Trent once again is trying to push the music industry in new directions.

San Francisco (my home) in Hi-Def

Here's a scrollable & zoomable panoramic of San Fransico at night. Sadly, my apartment isn't in the pic. Oh well.

Web 2.0 Company Names: 2.0 times more useless

I have been complaining to my friends about this for a while, so I thought I'd go ahead and blog it! I don't understand the current trend with Web 2.0 company names. I certainly am able to appreciate some of the cool services being offered, but I just don't understand how these companies choose the names that they do. IMHO, a company name should convey what their service or site does, or at least hint at it. I think I can convey this best with a list of intelligent company names, and pretty much useless company names. Please note that my comparison is 100% based on name only, and I am in no way speaking to their actual services. (Not all companies are necessarily Web 2.0.)

Intelligent company names:

• Sleevage: A site that discusses visually impressive album sleeves.
• Muxtape: This one is tricky as it is about "mixtapes" though I am not sure why they changed the name from mix to mux. Is it because of the clean UX?
• Amazon: The Amazon river carries the largest volume of water of any river. This is analogous to Amazon's product offering service.
• Reddit: This service helps users tag interesting information. I "read it" and feel you should to. Nice!
• Digg: Similar to Reddit. I "dig" this article, and you may to.
• Facebook: This is a book (or directory) full of faces (or profiles.) Aha!

Useless company names:

• Hulu: Is this a Web 2.0 hula hoop?
• Meebo: Something to do with "me," though I know not what.
• Tumblr: Do you sell rock tumblers? Gotta polish all my cool pebbles.
• BrightKite: People making their own brightly colored kites?
• Fubar: Not sure what they offer, but I bet their site is F'd up beyond repair. :)
• Vimeo: Cool videos, worthless name.
• Pitchfork Media: I read it daily, yet still have no clue where the name came from.
• Twitter: All I know is that my phone doesn't twitter, though it does vibrate and ring.

How about we start a Web 3.0 revolution. Comanies named after their service. People might actually start using services if they know what they are!