Wednesday, April 29, 2009

more. random. stuff.

well, it's that time of the week (more like month...wait that doesn't sound so good), where i post all the random pictures i've been finding to take as my own in the city, universe, interwebs, etc. in reality, it's so i can just clear them from my inbox/desktop. let's get right to it then, shall we?

let's get this party started with a classic cover for a classy guy. way to go, Mr. J:



since none of these posts are complete without SOME homage to Lunchbag Art, let's just get it out of the way early on:

these felt appropriate since my Star Wars consumption has recently gone up with my late discovery of the CG "Clone Wars" cartoon (i had to follow "the Wire" with something a bit more fun). who's the cute girl? SHE'S A TEENAGER (so get your head out of the gutter, she can read your mind via her Jedi mind tricks).


this just looked cool. a[n] (incomplete) sketch of a bridge to nowhere (something to do with Oz, i think):



while we're looking at some pretty artwork, see what i scoped out last time i was in my former neighborhood (Eden Park) in Cincinnati. waitaminute...that guys in the GL shirt stole my look. RAMAN SMASH!!!


...so what's this about? more can be found here.

coming soon (hopefully), to a city near you:

saw this outside of the office in the city (a 24/7 mail weighting/drop center), and was happy to find that perhaps the fine men & women of the USPS were finally just getting out of my way + letting me do it myself.


Lego Taj Mahal. OFFICIALLY. i was impressed:


that's right kids, for just $400, you can build one of the 7 wonders of the world in your living room. and they wonder why kids aren't into Lego's anymore (i'm tempted to buy it for my mom to see if she builds it...i wonder if the little lego men come with turbans...and have NO HANDS).


it's been several weeks since i had to bid adieu to my good friend "BSG" (sniff!), but i always liked this spread of biblical proportions (ha!) - it's from a print ad promoting the final season...i think this is still hanging in an oversized frame in my old house (though it would be similar to see a similar one for "the Wire"...the other most awesome television show ever...MAKE IT HAPPEN HBO):

...and i did finally see the Caprica pilot, which was decent (3.5/5...the returning series shows promise)


MOST AWESOME T-SHIRT EVER (and, the newest addition to the Raman wardrobe). quite dope, i know. and NO, it's not from Threadless. i hope to be the only kid on the block with it, because it is pretty much THE AWESOME.

...coming soon to a trendy club/event/gathering near you (where i am, as usual, woefully underdressed)

MOST AWESOME TRUCK EVER:



MOST AWESOME INDIAN RESTARAUNT NAME EVER*:

*(if your name, or your dad's, is Raj):


(while we're on the indian theme) can you find the Blue Boy in this picture?

seriously. go BUY THIS BOOK already. my (blue) boy Rakesh (Satyal) wrote it. it's about a little kid in southwest Ohio who thinks he's Krishna. KRISHNA. as in THE GOD KRISHNA (that lots of newage hippies think is cool). i started it last night, and am very, very, entertained.


aaaaaaannnnndddd finally...

...that's a wrap. so let's just end it with an awesomely appropriate* SP pic (which you should also buy and read...after BB of course...before the movie comes out, so you can say "shyea! the book was sooo much better).

*appropriate, as it pretty much connotes what i just did in the way of
(once again) avoiding writing a meaningful blog post (remember those?)

Monday, April 27, 2009

Blue Boy.

i'm not going to tell you to buy this book, but you really should go buy this book (comes out tomorrow):

Blue Boy is written by friend Rakesh Satyal, who also happens to be the younger brother of my friends Rajiv and Vikas.

it follows a young (indian) boy in southwest Ohio who thinks that because he's different (gay) he must be the reincarnation of the god Krishna. and yes, it's "somewhat" autobiographical. while i can't speak for the book (yet), i've always found the brothers Satyal to be both intelligent and amusing, so i expect Rakesh's debut novel to deliver much of the same (and if my endorsement is not enough, have no fear, it's already received a number of rave advance reviews).

for a quick preview/reading, head to MTV Iggy after the jump. but go buy the book already!


Wednesday, April 22, 2009

blackout.


so for the past few weeks, i slipped slowly into an experiment of sorts. i went on a social media blackout.

this is something many of us will oft claim and consider, and perhaps for my reasons below, or while on holiday to a faraway, strange place (but ultimately never commit to thanks to the growing # of internet cafes).

sitting in the local airport on a sunday, staring at my phone, i decided to simply stop. engaging or paying attention, whether it be via my own updating, or reading anyone else's thoughts anymore (Levar Burton and MC Hammer alike). with little exception, (some official "WIR" administrative stuff) i even let my Facebook consumption drop to practically nill. and to little/no surprise, i quit writing/reading my blogs (sorry Google Reader). casual email and IM stuck around, because, well, i've been on those since i was 13.


did it it help that i spent a week for work in my recently-departed hometown? or that i decided to view EVERY episode of the Wire (which is another post completely)? or that an out-of-town friend came for a NY visit? perhaps. but such things have hardly stopped me in the past.

did the world fall apart while was gone? no.

was i any less in the know? maybe (my mom DID get an iPhone).

did any of it matter? not really.

so then why did i do it? as social a person as i can be, it just became too much. when i first started using Facebook years ago, there were relatively small communities, where i could converse, share, and comment in a deferring, delayed manner with a handful of people that i cared about. but before long, more people i knew joined, added me, and it quickly became a broadcast medium for all.

my habits quickly shifted away from Facebook to that of Twitter (though thru linking the two i allowed the prior to see what i was doing on the latter), and i found a small crowd of mine that had migrated over, and the informative, entertaining, but oft-indirect conversations continued. i was soon also following the tweets of the Onion, the New York Times, Darth Vader, God, Mashable, MC Hammer, and yes, Levar Burton (Geordi!). and then everyone ELSE joined. and everyone was broadcasting again, rather than talking to eachother.

i guess i just got tired of the inconsequence of it all. so i stopped.

so during the "blackout," did i read more? write more? draw more? work more? no to all of the above. i just carried on with my life as i had once done before. i still talked to friends. shared things. made plans. i cooked dinner and did the laundry. i even started riding my bike around again.

i'm sure i'll inevitably jump back into the bandwagon of the next big thing in the "social media" sphere...to some extent, it's part of my world (professionally), but even THAT has me begging the question of if i even belong there.

so what's the lesson learned here? none of this social media stuff really matters. the social stuff, sure. people matter. but when the media/medium/technology goes too far (it does have it's place...i feel that it's simply overstepped it's bounds), it becomes a crutch, for something that was already meaningful enough.

we'll see what happens from here.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

indeed mssr grimm. indeed.


gearing up for some training i was flown back to give tomorrow. lets hope my esteemed colleagues find that it was worth the "business trip" back to Cincinnati...


Monday, April 06, 2009

super fantastic dinosaur menace!

not just because it sounds like the winner of 1981 Kyoto Film Festival, but rather it's a Monday (and not snowing in Cincinnati)...





and that's for REAL. believe it!
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