This hydra like mess is the NOKIA 10 In 1 Cell Phone USB Charging Cable (Black) from the Cellular Factory. While some make get a kick out of being able to charge any phone known to man, others will find carrying around all these extra adapters that you’ll never use to be really annoying. I wonder what would happen if you plugged in all 10 different cell phones at once.
I’m starting a new category called “Art under my bed”. I’ve been collecting art prints for several years now, mostly Shepard Fairey prints, but also of various other artists. Because framing the prints is much costlier than the prints themselves, I am placing them for now in a flat portfolio under my bed, a place where no one will ever see them. Until now. I thought that I would start showing off my collection- a little museum from under my bed. I do plan to frame a lot of them over time or trade some of the pieces for others that I want.
Here’s my latest piece. Shepard Fairey’s Compassion (His Holiness The Dalai Lama) print. This is something new, a silkscreen, not an offset print based on one of his larger stencil collages. 
The closeup detail is pretty amazing. It’s definitely one of the best Shepard Fairey pieces in a while. I think I’ll try to get this one onto the wall sooner, rather than later. 
UPDATE: See bottom of entry
Is this art? I saw this piece Train Landscape, 1952-53 by Ellsworth Kelly during a recent visit to the Art Institute of Chicago. It’s three colored panels that are connected together.
link to: The Art Institute of Chicago Train Landscape, 1952-53 page
Granted, my cutting and taping job is a little crooked, but if I spend more than 30 seconds doing it, I might be able to get everything lined up better.
I believe that many things can be considered art, but to me good art needs to show some skill in its creation.
UPDATE: Thanks to Visualingual
for the correction of the name Ellsworth Kelly. Perhaps I was a little too simplistic and quick to judge so I Googled an explanation
of the painting.
Another ongoing catalyst for Kelly is Cézanne’s use of color
to create form. Cézanne endeavored to capture his sensations of nature
directly, through color, rather than constructing an illusion of
reality, with the painting as a sort of window onto the world. In Mont
Sainte-Victoire Seen from Les Lauves, Cézanne divides his canvas into
three bands of color, effectively flattening the deep perspective of a
mountain view and bringing it right up to the picture plane, with dabs
of color that sit directly on the painting’s surface. As if boiling
Cézanne’s painting down to its essential parts, Kelly’s Train Landscape
consists of three monochrome horizontal panels, joined together to
create an effect of space and surface similar to the Mont
Sainte-Victoire. Kelly first conceived of Train Landscape while looking
out a moving train’s window onto an expanse of mustard growing in a
field, but his process of painting is less about representing a
landscape in a recognizable way, and more about being true to his
perceptions of nature. Kelly’s planes of single colors take Cézanne’s
sensation to an extreme conclusion, and in turn help us see Cézanne’s
painting in a new way. Through Kelly’s eyes–and those of all the
artists in Cézanne and Beyond– Cézanne’s work continues to reveal its
complexity, richness, and, most of all, its relevancy.
Here’s Cézanne’s piece: Mont Sainte-Victoire Seen from Les Lauves, 1902-1906
Here’s Ellsworth Kelly’s piece: Train Landscape, 1952-1953
I believe I understand what Ellsworth Kelly’s idea is, a minimalist representation of a landscape view from a train, but even knowing this, I still find the work to be pretty weak.
I do like the Cézanne, though.
From CNN.com: Young job-seekers hiding their Facebook pages
There is no hiding from the internet. If it’s embarrassing, you probably don’t want it anywhere near your Facebook account, even with privacy settings.
I am a little surprised at the stuff that I come across, especially from my younger friends.
One of the nicest things about the banana is that it comes in a neat, self contained, biodegradable package. But, what happens if you can’t finish an entire banana?
NANA SAVER to the rescue!
Of course, you’ll have to carry this dolphin like thing in your pocket for the banana that you may or may not finish.
CNN.com: Fatty foods may cause cocaine-like addiction
“We make our food very similar to cocaine now,” he says.
Coca leaves have been used since ancient times, he points out, but people learned to purify or alter cocaine to deliver it more efficiently to their brains (by injecting or smoking it, for instance). This made the drug more addictive.
According to Wang, food has evolved in a similar way. “We purify our food,” he says. “Our ancestors ate whole grains, but we’re eating white bread. American Indians ate corn; we eat corn syrup.”
This may explain why losing weight is one of the hardest things to do. People often have the desire to lose weight, but lack the will.
CNN.com: NYC’s new landmark: The Apple Store
New York City’s five most photographed landmarks are:
Empire State Building
Times Square
Rockefeller Center
Grand Central Station
Fifth Ave. Apple Store
I’ve been to NYC a bunch of times and the only thing that surprises me is that the Apple Store beat out the Statue of Liberty which is listed only 7th.
Besides being an Apple Mecca, The Fifth Ave. Apple Store is very distinctive and pretty much begs to be photographed. Here are some pictures that I took when I was in NYC this past summer.
After hearing that Guy Fieri of Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives had filmed a segment of his show at Virgil’s Cafe in Bellevue, KY, we decided to head on over and check this place out for ourselves.
I wouldn’t describe Virgil’s Cafe as diner, drive-in, or dive which is OK, because many of the restaurants featured on the show don’t fall exactly in those categories either. What the show does feature are distinctive local restaurants in a city with a passion for creating food. These restaurants have dishes that stand out because of their uniqueness or the meticulousness of the preparation.
Virgil’s Cafe is a quaint little restaurant with the perfect ambiance for a dinner date. The interior is warm and cozy, though there are a couple of somewhat creepy clown paintings on the wall.
My girlfriend had the Homemade fresh pasta with Seasonal vegetables, wild Mushrooms in Burre Blanc. A simple looking pasta dish, but you can really taste the freshness of the ingredients. It was delicious.
My sister had the Fennel, apple, gorgonzola with citrus vinaigrette and pistachios salad. I’m not a huge fan of salads, especially as meals but it looked nice and she enjoyed it.
Overall, the food is presented nicely, is tasty, and is reasonably priced. Rather than having a very unique menu, it looks like Virgil’s Cafe was chosen by Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives for the quality preparation of the food. Which ultimately is the most important thing. I’ll definitely be back to try out dinner. Having your own business means getting lots of solicitations from companies that want your business. I guess custom pens are a big business because I am often sent pen samples even though I have never purchased any.
Last week, I got a pen sample unlike any that I’ve ever gotten before.
Dear Morris Tsai,
I designed and produced the enclosed full-color
sample especially for you.
It was a labor of love, and I hope you
agree it looks terrific. Actually my whole company is buzzing with
excitement for you. Everyone who saw your pen loved it! I took the
liberty of producing this custom-designed sample to make a dramatic
statement and to demonstrate to you how important your account is and
will be to my company and me. I’m sure you’ll agree you’ve never seen
anything like this before. My patented graphic process is creating a
real
buzz in the promotional pen industry!
…
I understand that the image we created for you may not be exactly how
you want it. NO PROBLEM!(bold, my emphasis)
Here’s the pen:
and the other side:
Nothing says incompetence more than having a pen that says it.
If a sample pen was damaged during production, wouldn’t you just make another to send instead of sending a pen that said that the original pen was damaged?
Copy of the letter:
