Ready To Friday

The end of May is bringing us closer to the summer months, and we can all feel it. But I don't really want to talk about the weather. I've got a lot on my plate this week, but so did the rest of the world. Maybe you caught wind of some; maybe you didn't. Which is why I will not rest (really) to bring you your five course meal of culture and easily disregarded facts and figures.

So sit back, relax and get RTF.

The Edit

These here are the specific interests and perks of the weekly adventuring. Everything from tunes to articles or almost-lost files can be found below. Hopefully some of it will be recent, whereas some of it will be less so. But all of it I think is worth sharing with you; which is my gamble that you'll like it as much as I did.

Starting off the info-train: the Delux paint company has started an interesting project that may look familiar to some, where assorted volunteers travel about the world with hundreds of cans of paint, coating drab walls in various neighborhoods with bright colors. While this looks very pretty and is bound to improve the aesthetics of the area, but it's also somewhat concerning to me, since projects like this happen regularly in Singapore without the consultation of the residents who live in the blocks being painted. Which makes this cool, but also worrisome. Moving on.
Oh man. Oh. Man. Man. Oh man. Oh man. Yellow jeans. #fuckingawesomespringwear
The importance of a navy sportcoat is not often underplayed by many people who own one. But if you've ever needed pictorial persuasion to get one yourself, this is your stop. Other uses for those fantastic photos: inspiration for the proper wearing and combining of a sportcoat or blazer you already own. PS: They're big in Japan.
To wrap up the fashion things that you're not interested in, the folks over at A Continuous Lean have profiled a newly opened shop in downtown New York City, devoted to Gant's Rugger line of designer clothes. Other than the beautiful "I had that when I was younger and wish I still had it" motif, the store itself is inspected in all its incredible detail. Truly a enviable location.
And for a stop of national (United States) educational concern, I'd like to take a moment of your time (in a sea of other taken moments) to remind of something we may not think about too often, but is still of major importance in this country. As most of us may know at this point, that when it comes to schools, because of the size of the market in Texas, the standards for all the major subjects in distributed textbooks must conform to the opinions of the Texas State Board of Education. And despite that this already sounds bad, that same board is, and has been for years, dominated by very religious-minded figures who are determined to favor their principles over scientific accuracy. This is wrong, and I believe most would agree. So if you've been concerned about this for a while now, or are new to the concept, and would like to do something about it: I have a petition for you. Even if you don't sign it (which I sure most of you won't, for reasons), it's important to be aware of the way our education system is run and that there are still significant issues with it today that need addressing.
Speaking of education, designer Yves Béhar has crafted some very cool glasses for mass production in Mexico for students who are unable to learn at their fullest because their families cannot afford corrective eyewear. Both customizable and durable, these free specs are an excellent success story, but I get the feeling it would be deemed "socialist" if tried here in America (man, that sounded negative of me).
So that volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, that erupted in Iceland and ruined everyone's vacations to Europe (and probably upset a few people who actually live in Europe too) is now old news. And if you're distinctly against the old, then feel free to move to the next segment. But me? I'm all about old news, and in this case: old photography. So if you haven't grown tired of exciting eruptions of fire, caustic smoke and lighting, check out this collection of arresting pictures from the recent events.
Does anyone remember the streetcar? I've only been to a few cities in my life where there were still some active, and I never was never too inclined to try one out. Personally, I can always handle another walk to where I'm going if I must. But it seems that Columbus, as well as 21 other cities are looking into streetcar travel again. This indicating I'll be seeing any change in my parts soon is unlikely, since what we're seeing now from the Federal Transit Administration are just grants. But, nevertheless, as a resident of Columbus, I find this pretty interesting. So as a question to any other Columbus readers (or from any of the twenty-two listed cities), what are your thoughts on the possibility of another flavor of transportation.
Sometimes the least interesting things in the world can become a little more interesting if you put a lot if related objects together. I'm not talking stamp collections here, folks (well, not specifically). A little blog called A Collection A Day, 2010 is where you'll find artist Lisa Congdon showing off one of her many assortments of vintage objects every day. Laid out beautifully on white, obsessive compulsive habits never looked so fascinating.
Sleep is Death Sleep is Death Sleep is Death Sleep is Death Sleep is Death Buy it.

Hearing Things

For my own reasons, I've decided to process the music appreciation of my weekly culture bomb into its own section. Hopefully this means you won't miss out on whatever I feel like highlighting here. But it also means it will be much more obvious when I don't have any musical suggestions.

Last week, I gave a vigorous stroking to LCD Soundsystem that was probably not worth much to many people, but I felt it was worth it to point out what was an entire album worth of great new music for my readers to try out in their ears. This week, things aren't much different. I have another full album for you, this time it's from The National, who's single was highlighted by me two weeks ago. They're an incredible band that's doing more for conceptual rock albums than anyone out there right now. As it should, their new album, High Violet, caught the attention of the New York Times where they featured the entire set for streaming purposes as you read through their insightful piece on the band and their habits.

If you liked them last time I mentioned them, I see no reason why you shouldn't jump on this right now. Beyond the anxious loneliness of the track "Afraid of Everyone" that I've already endorsed, "Runaway" and "Lemonworld" are both devastatingly powerful in lyrics and melody. They strike me with the kind of lost hopefulness that really is at home with homegrown Americana, which is very hard to find in this flattened planet, and even harder to fake. Where I can understand anyone who might not sync up with LCD Soundsystem; The National are undeniable in my opinion. At least not for any graceful reason.

High Violet is coming to stores May 11th. I think these guys might be worth the purchase (if you even do that kind of thing anymore).

Tumblr that Mattr

Assuming you scour the minimal blog oasis less than I do, here are my picks for the most bizarre, relevant and clever Tumblrs on the web. Satisfaction is not guaranteed.

My spotlight here last week focused on The Impossible Cool, where Sean Sullivan runs his little photo Tumblr focused on portraits of cool individuals. This week, I'd like to mention his second address for cool A Conversation on Cool, where he muses on the idea of coolness, while filling the page with terrific people and their own answer to the question, "What does it mean to be cool?" Perhaps an impossible search for the right way, but this is the closest you'll get to a map.
But if you're not interested in what cool is, Enthusiasm Documented has you covered for things that simply are cool.

English Language of the Week:

This segment is based around my personal love of the modern english language, where, each week, I'll nominate my favorite phrase, sentence or paragraph that I have personally heard spoken in that time.
Initially I was worried I wouldn't have anything for this section this week, but, as always, at the last second I was graced with spontaneous excellence. And it's language like this that allows me to applaud great writers for crafting such handsome phrases while simultaneously being disappointed in them, for reality is far more beautiful.

And so –

It's like falling into myself.
It feels the way my body should feel.

On Your Way Out

A month of RTF has come to pass, and I'm pretty confident that this will be a fruitful experiment for me. Not only am I keeping my eyes and ears more alert on a daily basis, but that information I'm gathering for you enhances me too. I'm more attentive naturally, as if my mind has been exercising and has grown more fit.

I hope, perhaps, seeing these baskets of weekly information creates an urge to thirst your own insights as the week toils on, as well. Maybe you're listening more closely to others talking, hoping to catch an example of language elegance. Or even keeping up with the recent events in the world so that you might be able to contribute more to casual conversation. It's my hope that I'm not creating a passive lethargy in your want for investigating the world around you, but, instead, enhancing the urge to learn everything you can.

But, more likely, the things I do here aren't creating that much of an impact on your lives. Though the chance it has positively affected anyone at all, no matter how insignificantly, is enough of a reward to keep going with my Friday ramblings. So RTF will continue, and it might even improve in the future. Which mean, dear reader, meet back here - same place, same Friday.

Have a great weekend.

Oh, and I almost forgot. Did anyone ever watch "Dinosaurs?" I didn't, but…

I'm gonna fuckin cry.

-stg

Friday, April 30, 2010

Ready To Friday: Saddest Ending Ever