12.18.2008

Killer Kowalski

My father used to chase me, trying to claw me like this wrestler Killer Kowalski from when he was young. He told me about how this guy would get your stomach inside the 'claw' and wrestle his opponents into submission. I always remembered this story, and when Killer Kowalski died earlier this year, I thought of making a poster for my father. I finally got around to doing that today. This is from one of his most famous matches where he kicked the referee, boxing legend Jack Dempsey, who had to be hospitalized. The R.I. Auditorium was where sporting events were held until the early 1970s, when the Providence Civic Center was built.

12.15.2008

Ear magazine.

A few spreads from the magazine I designed for Magazine Design at the Corcoran.





12.11.2008

Lego Covers

The best thing I've seen in a while, some of these made me literally laugh out loud (stankonia and the diabolical biz). (click image)

nice retro cover

Cover of the Daily Telegraph's Sunday magazine (UK). Nice retro design...

12.08.2008

fuck yes.


...GIVING TO THE POOR from ABOVE on Vimeo.

white dog


I've never seen this film, just released on Criterion, though I've heard of it. The reviews aren't great; more interesting to me is that it's based on a memoir by French novelist Romaine Gary, husband of the actress Jean Seberg (from Godard's Breathless).

Sylvia Adams of the Evil Monito blog describes better than I could, "...in 1968, a German shepherd sauntered into their home. And in a strange twist of irony, the beautiful canine that graced their lives, on compulsion, viciously attacked the couple’s friends who happened to be black. It finally dawned on them that this dog had been programmed as a young pup by racist white policemen–a loathsome practice done behind close doors and a brutal reality of racism in America. When Seberg realized what transpired, she was heartbroken."

"...what made her so damn intriguing was her political activism; particularly her heavy involvement with the Black Panthers during the Civil Rights Movement. Her activities inevitably brought her under the scrutiny of the notorious J. Edgar Hoover and the Feds, who tried multiple times to slander her name in the public eye. Still she continued her clandestine meetings, held right in her Hollywood home; around the same time that John Lennon had famously held ties with Bobby Seale.

No one suspected this petite movie star with the face of an angel would be so strong in her political resolve. She fought valiantly against the racism that covered America like a heavy, wet blanket. Not the least dampened, she endured, even as the Feds leaked stories that she was impregnated by one of the Black Panthers, whose cause she fought for. When her child died at birth, she insisted on burying the infant in a glass coffin, to show the world their bald-faced lies."

She committed suicide at age 40. very sad.



Superstar 80

The Superstar 80's are being re-released. Classic.

11.28.2008

Criterion blog + Auteurs

Criterion's blog has a new look.

Also, Criterion launched The Auteurs, a 'virtual cinematheque'.

11.24.2008

iphone vs. storm

Article by Jeff Staple/Staple Design on iphone vs. BB.

Started out Friday in line for a Blackberry Storm, and ended it having switched from Verizon to AT&T and the iPhone. Very happy so far...(re: the article: we're not the only ones to be tempted by the Blackberry Storm, then go iPhone, Melanie.)

11.20.2008

Heartless


Heartless from kwest on Vimeo.

I like the Warhols on the wall.

11.19.2008

LIFE photos at Google

Google is hosting the archives of LIFE magazine. You can search their archives, for ex.: "muhammad ali source:life"

Spy Who Came in from the Cold

A new one from the Criterion Collection that I'd like to check out. It's based on the book written by John LeCarre, who also wrote The Constant Gardener (I recommend the book over the movie).

11.17.2008

Air Max 1

Yes, please.

The greatest gift of all.

11.16.2008

Picasso bombs.

11.14.2008

Bond book.

New James Bond collection by Penguin. Pretty smooth cover design.

Moleskine mods.

I'm a fan of the moleskine notebook even though I don't write; I just use it for random-ness. The moleskine hard drive is TIGHT.

11.13.2008

O in Obama

Spread that would have run in the Harvard alum magazine 02138 until it folded. Designed by Luke Hayman of Pentagram.

Stop Smiling #37: the DC Issue

Stop Smiling magazine has released an all-DC issue, with Anwan Glover and George Pelacanos on 2 cover versions.

11.08.2008

Molotov polo.

Oh wow. Polo re-done, with Molotov cocktail (by Morning Breath)...brilliant. Seen on Kitsune Noir.

reading list addition.

11.07.2008

great pens.

The uni-ball VISION RT is a great pen.

cover of the week/month

The colors and grid here are spectacular. The only thing I'm not sold on is how detached the 'Play miles davis' is from the rest.. since it's supposed to connect to the names that are 'playing' Miles Davis.

11.05.2008

Seen on Grain Edit.

14th&U at 1 AM


_DSC5031, originally uploaded by six.five.


_DSC5053, originally uploaded by six.five.

11.04.2008

manassas, va


va_crowd3, originally uploaded by six.five.

10.31.2008

geoff mcfetridge.

10.30.2008

new Obama poster.

This one done by Lance Wyman, legendary graphic designer who did the identity for the 1968 Mexico Olympics (one of my favorites), seen below.

Pharrell.

Pharrell, with the Brooklyn Machine Works fixie and the Kaws 'Family Guy' piece..oh, and that GIANT Warhol book too.

3 posters.

These were designed by Justus Oehler for the DEUTSCHE KINEMATHEK Museum in Berlin.

creepy halloween kids.

10.28.2008

hitchens on mccain/palin

There are a lot of times I've disagreed with Hitchens in the past, but he's on-point in this scathing piece.

"This is what the Republican Party has done to us this year: It has placed within reach of the Oval Office a woman who is a religious fanatic and a proud, boastful ignoramus. Those who despise science and learning are not anti-elitist. They are morally and intellectually slothful people who are secretly envious of the educated and the cultured. And those who prate of spiritual warfare and demons are not just "people of faith" but theocratic bullies. On Nov. 4, anyone who cares for the Constitution has a clear duty to repudiate this wickedness and stupidity."

BLOWWWW.

10.27.2008

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

I was reminded of this brilliant album by Too Shy To Stop today. If you haven't heard it, here's their description:

"Black Saint burns with anguish. Mixing the sounds of film noir with Ellington-esque orchestrated jazz, Mingus created a revolutionary tonal palette, one that captured the romantic alto of Charlie Mariano, bellowing timbers of tuba and baritone saxophone, and a stunning collection of muted trumpets and trombones."

10.26.2008

seriously.

(the sentiment is mine, not the design.)

10.20.2008

bridge to somewhere.