A yellow spot on the horizon slowly approaches the coast. People have gatherd and watch in amazement as a giant yellow Rubber Duck approaches. The spectators are greeted by the duck, which slowly nods its head. The Rubber Duck knows no frontiers, it doesn't discriminate people and doesn't have a political connotation. The friendly, floating Rubber Duck has healing properties: it can relief mondial tensions as well as define them. The rubber duck is soft, friendly and suitable for all ages!

The always insightful Michael Bierut has published another worhtwhile article, Everything I Know About Design I Learned from The Sopranos.

The article is chock full of truisms, including this nugget:

On commitment:"I came home one day, shot her four times. Twice in the head. Killed her aunt, too. I didn't know she was there. And the mailman. At that point, I had to fully commit."

I heard this back in design school, and I still forget it every now and then: if you're going to make something big, make it really big. If you're going to make it simple, make it really simple. Or really small, or really fancy. If you're going after a project, if you're trying to win a competition, if you're serious about getting the job done, don't bother unless you're willing to fully commit.

Demonstrate your patriotism this 4th of July by joining MSNBC's Keith Olberman and demanding the resignation of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.
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It is nearly July 4th, Mr. Bush, the commemoration of the moment we Americans decided that rather than live under a King who made up the laws, or erased them, or ignored them—or commuted the sentences of those rightly convicted under them—we would force our independence, and regain our sacred freedoms.

We of this time—and our leaders in Congress, of both parties—must now live up to those standards which echo through our history: Pressure, negotiate, impeach—get you, Mr. Bush, and Mr. Cheney, two men who are now perilous to our Democracy, away from its helm.

For you, Mr. Bush, and for Mr. Cheney, there is a lesser task. You need merely achieve a very low threshold indeed. Display just that iota of patriotism which Richard Nixon showed, on August 9th, 1974.

Resign.
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Make your own!

Keempa has this really fascinating story up about the practice of hiding old text adventure games on some of the records released in the 70s and 80s.

Most of these hidden games were written for the Sinclair Spectrum home computer, which is probably why I never experienced the Thompson Twins game first hand. To play the game you had to record the proper section of the record onto a tape and then use a tape recorder to load the game into the computer.

[via Kotaku]

Losanjealous comments on last Sunday's LCD Soundsystem show.

We are the cyclists.

Hmmm. An idea for Burning Man 2008 perhaps?

It was only a matter of time before the original got knocked off. Shame. Lame.

With the notable exception of Apple's WWDC announcements, which you can read at myriad other sites, the one thing that caught my eye today was this beautiful italian commemorative edition of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea designed by Paolo Orsacchini. It's printed on waterproof paper and enclosed in a clear pouch filled with real sea water. Collectors can either bust it out of its original packaging, dry it under the sun, and enjoy a classic read, or they can preserve this limited piece in all its designed glory. Unfortunately the links over at Core77 didn't work properly, hopefully they'll fix them soon so we can all find out more information.

And if you were wondering, yes, last night's LCD Soundsystem show at the El Rey was uh-mayz-ing...possibly even legendary. Aside from James Murphy's ability to completely rock it while recovering from a nasty cold, I've never, ever seen an LA audience so into it. I don't think there was a single person who wasn't chanting screaming along with LCD's well-known mantras. Yeah, yeah, yeah, ya-ya yeah yeah yeah!

Ah, what would we ever do without all those enterprising young hackers out there? The latest goodness unleashed upon the world is MySpaceMP3.org, a site whose simple purpose is to let you put in a My Space artist and download all the songs listed on their page as MP3 files. The bit rate and sample rate of the downloads is hardly stellar, at 96k and 22,500Hz (same quality is listening on the artist's page), but if you really want a song and if you can ignore the site's popunder ads, this might just be for you.

Today is officially Judge Michael T. Sauer day. Justice has been served.

Likeness courtesy of Plasticgod.

Sony Tokyo's R&D group recently showed Music synchronized artistic expressions for Ferrofluid. The artwork, by Yasushi Miyajima and Sachiko Kodama, consisted of a dome filled with ferromagnetic nano particles suspended in a treacly black oil. Using a combination of voltage-regulated electromagnets and metadata added to music beforehand, the nanites appeared to react to the music, assemble themselves in line and form a stunning tree-like display on a central metal pillar.

I never get tired of looking at the moving sculptures of artist Theo Jansen.

I'm a sucker for good color, and Pantone knows I'm not the only one. In addition to notepads, bags and all sorts of other branded accessories, you can now order Pantone USB flash drive. Available in 13 Pantone Colors, these compact and portable external drives are Mac and PC compatible and feature capacities up to 4GB.

I can't wait for this one...recently premiered at Cannes and directed by Anton Corbijn, Control is a biopic of Ian Curtis, the troubled lead singer of Joy Division, who died at the young age of 23. View trailer

I have 3 invitations to the new Spock people search engine beta. If you want one, just email me with the name of your 5 favorite songs of the moment...I'll pick the top 3 and send the invitations out. Good luck!

According to Pitchfork, one of our favorite acts, Simian Mobile Disco is about to tour stateside. Check the article for more locations and dates.

09-21 San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine
09-22 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex

Just when you thought t-shirt designs couldn't get any more fun, along came Justice's D.A.N.C.E. Directed by Jonas & Francois. I love it!

Also, for those of you in San Francisco you might want to check out Friday Night at Harputs Market. This week, in exchange for the somewhat steep cover charge of $75 you'll be treated to an evening of wine, art and entertainment including music from The Nice Device. There will also be raffles for some sweet designer clothing and accessories.

Perfect for spring riding, DWR is now offering the new line of Biomega AMS bicycles. Each is beautifully designed, and features a cardanic shaft drive which eliminates greasy chains and greasy trousers.

For all our friends in the EU, Modular Records is throwing down this weekend with a triumvirate of party goodness. Check the cities below for details.

Friday, LONDON - Modular Weekly @ Ditch Bar, 145 Shoreditch High Street with Sinden, Tramp! (Manchester), Nightmoves (Nottingham), FACT Magazine DJs, Baseball Furies and Modular DJs. ONLY £5 from 9pm - 4am. 2 for 1 beer before midnight.

Friday, PARIS - Modular Paris Party @ Showcase - Good Shoes (live), New Young Pony Club DJs, Herve, Fred Falke, Modular DJs and special guests. Free before 11, 10 euros after and from 10pm to 6am.

Saturday, BERLIN - Modular Berlin Party @ Rio- New Young Pony Club DJs, Sinden, Kavinsky, Modular DJs, VICE DJs, Rio Allstars. 10pm to 8am at RIO CLUB.

If you're stuck stateside, just roll west to San Francisco where Modular will be kicking down the beats with the Radio Soulwax Tour:

Friday, April 27
Radio Soulwax Tour featuring:
Soulwax Nite Versions Live
2 Many DJs
Muscles Live
DJs JDH and Dave P (Fixed NYC)
DJs Jefrodisiac and Richie Panic (SF)

Mezzanine
444 Jessie Street @ Mint 9pm
Advance tix $20

But the San Francisco fun doesn't stop there...might as well pitch a tent and create your own version of San Franciscoachella Sunday and Monday with shows by Digitalism, Joakim and LCD Soundsystem. Yeah! It's all at Mezzanine

...and finally, mark your calendars for this, also at Mezzanine:

Joseph Kosinski's new commercial for the Saab Blackbird (Aero X). View a high resolution QuickTime version here.

A grim vision of the future painted by Britan's Ministry of Defense includes: Information chips implanted in the brain. Electromagnetic pulse weapons. The middle classes becoming revolutionary, taking on the role of Marx's proletariat. The population of countries in the Middle East increasing by 132%, while Europe's drops as fertility falls. "Flashmobs" - groups rapidly mobilised by criminal gangs or terrorists groups.

Art imitates commerce; some NYC street artists take the idea behind the groove tube to the public realm with their pixelator project. Check their website for videos and instructions on how to construct your own.

Awesomeness. The New Dance Show (Circa early 90s) featuring Daniel Bell

Nikon's Universcale is like Powers of Ten for the Internet age; it puts 40 magnitudes of measurement at your fingertips.

Supertouch offers us a preview of WK's show in Paris at the Adict Galerie which opens tonight.

Re: Friday Night Videos. Should deux (Agglomerat, France, 1983) be feeling ripped off by Anton Corbijn and DM (Mute, England, 1987)? This wouldn't be the first time.

News from the City of Angels, our favorite purveyor of high-design, All Purpose has joined with Cyberoptix TieLab to illustrate the concept of James Dean's 1955 car crash "Whiplash" intricate prints of auto part schematic illustrations repeated and mirrored into complex, twisted patterns. I'm sure Ms. Bethany or Mr. Doyle will be posting more on this soon.

Until then, enjoy our Friday Night Video tribute to all things French (Videos de Vendredi Nuit?)

Rare cold-wave par excellence
Another French rarity (from 2003)
Even the fake french are fabulous
But we still love North America