Vimeo finally starts catering to the next generation of video comfort. For all of us that love to sit on our couch and not get up as often as possible (see. VLC Remote for iPhone), Vimeo introduces their new Couch Mode. Taken from Vimeo’s site:
Couch Mode is a special new section of Vimeo that allows you to watch collections of videos (such as Staff Picks, your inbox, your videos, etc.) completely uninterrupted like a TV channel. Just press play and grab the popcorn.
That’s not all. You can still do many of things you already do on the site today: like clips, add them to your Watch Later playlist, and get more information about videos and other users. We’re extremely excited about the potential!
Couch Mode is optimized for Google TV and will be available in the Spotlight section soon. Don’t have a Google TV? No worries, Couch Mode will work on your desktop too. However, we use a lot of HTML5 and CSS3 technology for this (no Flash!), so at the moment it will only work on Chrome and Safari.
First FP mixcast! I hope to have many more of these, I already have another with the songs collected and am sure I’ll be raring to go after the BreakOut West festival this weekend here in Kelowna. This mixcast is a bunch of songs that have pleased me over the summer/fall and that I have really gotten into, hopefully you enjoy them as well. Future mixcasts will likely have more of a common theme element in them, so look forward to that! This mixcast I feature:
Feel the Wave Pt. II by The Bird Day
One, Two … One by Say Hi
See What I Care by Datarock
Make You Mine by The Drums
Tusk by Fleetwood Mac
Brutal Hearts (feat. Coeur de Pirate) by Bedouin Soundclash
Tomokazu Matsuyama’s work is similarly influenced by both the austerity of post-war contemporary art and the rough extravagancy of popular culture. An upbringing split between Japan and America spurred the questions of national and individual identity that figure prominently in the style and subject matter of his paintings – attempting to parse the “natural chaos” of our social environment, Matsuyama pushes viewers to confront their conceptions of cultural homogeneity, which seems to contradict notions of Japaneseness.
Joshua Liner Gallery
Matsuyama, born in 1976 now lives and works in NY. As a contemporary artist, he exhibits his work internationally showing in galleries and in institutions in cities from Tokyo, Osaka, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, and Vancouver to institutions such as Asian American Arts Centre.
There is something wonderful and exotic in the work he does, a world you hope to get lost in. At once surreal and vibrant, I love the palettes and shapes he uses.
The Limits of Control is a 2009 film by Jim Jarmusch (whose recent credits include Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Coffee and Cigarettes, & Broken Flowers) and is worth checking out. This movie is an example of a perfect harmony of music and film. Jarmusch’s films often carry the intention of creating a form of world cinema that synthesizes European and Japanese film with that of Hollywood. This slow-burn aesthetic takes its time getting where it’s going but oozes stimulating visuals all along the way.
It should come as no surprise then that Jarmusch is and has been a musician on the side when you learn who all he’s collaborated with (Tom Waits, Neil Young, RZA, GZA, Iggy Pop, the White Stripes…) and hear the soundtracks from his film. He’s even committed his own psychedelic ambient landscape to The Limits of Control through Bad Rabbit, a band he and two others created for the movie.
Sometimes I find music I love and will listen to consistently and then after a few months I forget about only to re-discover later on. The Republic Tigers are this kind of band, they filled some of my favourtie fall memories from 2008.
One of my life’s pursuits is that of the perfect bow tie. A bow tie can be elegant and mature, it takes a certain type of man (or woman) to wear one without looking like a total goof. A bow tie is like denim, whether you’re going with something plain (black, a personal favorite), or something more out there, it can dress up or dress down an outfit and be a great way to express yourself.
As we approach Awards Gala/Christmas Party season, one’s thoughts may wander to one’s outfits and personally I want a bow tie that will pop. I like that you can throw together a simple black or grey suit and shirt and then just have a wicked bow tie and call it a night; currently, David Hart & Co. out of New York City are at the top of my list for their impressive Scottish wool bow ties, pictured above. A close contender, Hickey contains some of the more non-traditional bow ties such as the two pictured below, a skull & crossbones and hemp leaves make a definite impression on those around the man rocking these.
Another option available, take an old shirt or scarf you loved and make your own bow tie for a boutique, one-of-a-kind look you know no one will be able to rip off. One can only hope to wear it as well as Tom Davis of Brooks Brothers.
After what seemed like far too much time away from recording, Uffie released her debut album in June (it’s downloading on my iTunes as I type this) and recently released the video for ‘Difficult.’ It sounds like a slight departure from her previous work, which I’m okay with since the style, attitude and sound was ripped off by Ke$ha last summer.
I have to admit I had nearly become a detractor, wondering how she could spend four years riding on two and a half songs but ‘Difficult’ is a big middle finger to all naysayers, myself included when she sings, “don’t worry if I right rhymes, I write cheques.” Well played, Uffie.
La Boca is an independent design circus based in Portobello, West London. They specializing in art & design for the film, music and fashion industries, all industries I’m really excited about but it’s their work on limited edition vinyl record sleeves that I have especially enjoyed.
The Story Beyond The Still is the first ever user-generated HD video contest where photographers become filmmakers. It started in March 2010 with The Cabbie, a short commissioned by Canon USA to launch the nationwide campaign and was the first of 8 chapters. There were few rules involved in the contest, things like all film entries must be shot in HD (720p or higher), about 2–4 minutes long, and each entry must begin with the still image concluding the previous winning chapter otherwise it was pretty open. The Cabbie was awarded Silver, Gold and Bronze Titanium Lions at Cannes in 2010.
I followed the first couple of shorts and they were enough to make me want a Canon 7D for my next new toy, I’ve included the first four and a link to the Vimeo group so you can catch the rest if you’d like.
1. The Cabbie
2. Job Security
3. The Beach
4. Allison
The neat part is they post the four runner-up videos along with the winners, so there is tons to get lost in when you arrive at the page.
“Vancouver City” music video is an artistic collaboration between Innerlife Project and TimeLapseHD. These time lapses are shot with 12 mega pixel Nikon digital single lens reflex cameras which makes the original resolution 6 times better than high definition.
How great is this? This makes me want to move to Krakow, Poland to live in the headquarters of RMF Radio. You’ve got domes, portals from each dome to each other, air conditioning (key!) and probably wonderful neighbors (probably deer, in this case, but still acceptable). This architecture is amazing.
CT is 25 years old, hails from a little town on the hills near Torino, Italy, and has a modern take on Graffiti art. While his work looks infused with Illustrator vector work, he claims to be computer illiterate and does all his work old school with a pen and paper.
