May 20, 2008
Amerivespa 08
Dust off your old scooter or go buy one and join Chattanooga's scooter community in hosting Amerivespa. Amerivespa is the Vespa Club of America’s national rally so it's larger than the Hill on Wheels rally we've had the last couple years. The pre-registration and schedule is up and the days are counting down until Chattanooga is crawling with hundreds of scooters and 2-stroke smoke.
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May 16, 2008
muto video
This is great:
MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.
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March 28, 2008
design is dead
says Starck
Reading this article reminded me of Ecclesiastes:
The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless."3 What does man gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun?4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.10 Is there anything of which one can say,
"Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
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March 20, 2008
while family is away:
_replace batteries in old 1gen, and 3gen ipods
_replace fuse in car
_take kids to grandparents house
_install new keyboard and experiment with Logic Pro
_clean house
_apply new grass seed to yard
_fix scoot
_catch up on freelance work
_prep taxes
_pay bills
_catch up with old friends
_update blog with new entry
It's been a nice restful few days of running solo. I do miss the energy and enthusiasm of my boys greeting me when I get home. I look forward to seeing them in a couple days.
Recently added to flickr:
Sites that made me stop a while:
Reykjavik
American Graphic Design on flickr
wierd
Our Childrens Gorilla: skullcave
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February 1, 2008
new stellas
I've followed the return of the stellas. Here is a new ad I found mentioned on 2strokebuzz.
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January 31, 2008
momentum
2007 has left and now I find it's the last day of January. Fortunately everyone here at the Cooley casa has escaped the illness I've seen passed around at work or in other families. I'm so thankful that we have been able to enjoy Willem and jump into the new year with full of momentum without being set back in our health.
I thought I would take a few minutes and reflect on the wrap up of last year and the launch of this one.
Photography:
I uploaded new holga and other images here. I still have a few rolls left to scan and explore. Many of these need a bit more retouching or re-scanning. On the topic of photography check out this plugin for safari or firefox:
Film:
I found "Once" to be a nice inspiring piece of work, though after the second time through the sequence of events in the recording studio seemed a bit too magical.
My brother got me "Sigur Ros: Heima" boxed set for Christmas. This film exceeded all my expectations. It's great to watch over again or even have playing in the background while I work. There is just a rich creativity in their music that's instant inspiration to feed on.
Helvetica was also high my list of favorites. Great interviews, great topic, and wonderful type.
I suppose I could write reviews on Juno, Atonement, No Country... but that what film reviews are for which are written much better than my ramblings.
You might also want to check out this video Bjork and Gondry made called Declare Independence It's beautiful in it's strangeness.
Music:
Really, nothing stands out to me as much as In Rainbows in brilliance. I'm also hooked on npr music online. I've been exploring more mountain / folk music lately. Amber picked me up a mountain dulcimer for christmas. I'm sure our street is breaking some kind of record on the amount of dulcimer playing residents in a given population. I'm looking forward to spring when everyone ventures out on their porches with instruments in hand.
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November 16, 2007
burn
I burned my old beater guitar last night. I remember long ago when I picked it up at a yard sale for five bucks. There were many cracks and splits that wood glue would no longer hold together. Here are a handful of photos from the burn last night.
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October 23, 2007
motorola gondry
So Gondry was asked to do a short film based on his experience with the new razr phone. Here it is.
Like most of his other work it's very creative and imaginative. However, the main character seems out of place. Looks like she walked out of a pantene commercial onto the Gondry set. Something doesn't quite fit. Tip: I found if you download the high-res video you can see all sorts of creative goodness that you would miss watching it online.
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October 18, 2007
tricycle
This week I started a new job at tricycle I'll be filling in the shoes of Ben Horner and that of Widgets before me. I'm excited about the change and to work closely with Michael on the marketing and merchandising efforts of the company. Feel free to read more of what tricycle is doing via the blog: tricycleink
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October 6, 2007
mid-century chairs
A while back I ran across these chairs and had plans to re-upolster them with amy butler fabric and bring them back to glory.. but there is just no room in the scooter shed to store them and I'm ready for them to go somewhere else. Anyone interested in this project? They look mid-century danish to me, but can't find any information on them anywhere. I'll let them go cheap.
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September 25, 2007
crabtree farms event
Crabtree farms is having a barbecue, beer, and bluegrass event this Friday night. It's a family affair and completely worth the price of a family membership.
Coptix donated a letterpress poster and I was the the lucky designer that got to design/produce the poster. Thanks to Paul for use of his press and Evan for his time and expertise. It was a great project for a great event.
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August 28, 2007
home
In the last seven years of marriage Amber and I have moved 6 different times. Each time we have enjoyed the uniqueness of each space and enjoyed making it home. When I watched the following ikea ad something resonated with me. The audio and soundtrack combined with rotating vignettes into different lives tell the story better than any paragraph I could write. Director: Martin De Thurah
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August 19, 2007
hill on wheels
Enjoyed being a part of hill on wheels this past weekend. Highlights included the ride through Sequatchie Valley and the Karaoke Cruise aboard the Fat Cat Ferry late Saturday night. Check out more photos here.
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August 16, 2007
east Main
ahh, the morning air often filled with the smell of koch's processed chickens while stepping over broken glass and weeds, listening to the sounds of construction/renovation... the progress... the morning walk to battle academy with the boys... and my camera in hand...
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happy accident 01
from a scan + typography, made from torn business cards and generic envelope
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May 6, 2007
ongoing mess
The drywall is up and primed. Ready to paint and put the flooring in. I'm looking forward to completing this project so we can finally settle in our new home. By the way, anyone need 3 extra sheets of drywall?
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February 19, 2007
update
I thought I would write a quick update on things that I decided to write about but never got around to posting...
uploads:
I scanned some junk from my past in hopes to throw out and clean out things objects that I'm tied to, but don't want to store:
This is an old Fingerhutt flyer from our old days playing shows at Lucy's Record Shop. Yes, good times...
Photos from a trip to Italy back in 1999
involvement:
Enjoyed playing a role in this. Props to Allied Arts for stepping up.
Amber made more of these cool hand bags.
film:
Pan's Labyrinth was a great film. Read the review here.
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October 26, 2006
Havalina
Alright, think back to summer of 1995. Cornerstone Music Festival, finding all sorts of new music, finishing up high school, enjoying the summer... and stumbling on to Havalina Rail Company.
What I remember:
Is it lounge? is it surf meet folk meet spy music? Crowd on stage. Tons of instruments, mixing styles.. Then there was Orlando- upright bass player, stylish, remember being next to him at times at hardcore shows. Nice guy. Matt Wignall seemed cool, nice guitar... I remember thinking they were very original, so yeah I was an instant fan. Later saw them at Rocket Town in Nashville, had photography/art for sale along with merch.. yeah, good show... hooked. I also still have an old t-shirt with Havalina mispelled. It looks like a picasso bull.
Now and Then:
For a few years now I've tried to follow them but at some point lost track, lost my cassette tapes, moved on... but would do random internet searches when they would cross my mind. Earlier this week I discovered that Matt has released a good bit of the tunes for download here. He states: "Free downloads because we record music that should be listened to."
Matt, thanks for the tunes and I hope your new project takes off!
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October 22, 2006
cardboard props
Thursday night I caught the a showing of The Science of Sleep since I'm a general fan of all things Gondrey. The cardboard props from the movie were great.
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September 12, 2006
Album nostalgia with the new Itunes
Apple just released a few new updates and products today. The shuffle looks quite elegant as well as the new Itunes update. They managed to improve on an already successful interface. One of the new features is the artwork viewer. The top half of the browser features an interactive widget-like scrolling window that flips through your album covers. This is the first time a digital interface has even come close to restoring that feeling of flipping through vinyl records or cd's at record stores. My brother and I spent countless hours growing up flipping threw used music and finding out new bands. A few of my favorite places in Nashville were the Great Escape, Phonolux, and Tower Records.
I love how the artwork has been restored to the music on my playlists. I'm finding all sorts of new music I had in my library just by browsing the album covers and hahaha, it's glorious.
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August 17, 2006
Rally
The following video is why I think scooter rally's are a blast! Don't forget Chattanooga's own Hill On Wheels Rally this weekend!
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July 28, 2006
PJ's Ramble
This is one of the best paint job's I've seen on a Stella. This is PJ Chmiel's Ramblin Man. His trip is very inspiring and I look forward in meeting him in person when he stops in Chattanooga. Check out his plan of action here
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June 23, 2006
Metal
One of the best documentary's I've seen in a while. Here is the site http://www.metalhistory.com/
It's great how Sam Dunn tell's the story and explains Metal while studying the style and culture in a scientific approach. I think it's true that if you ever once really enjoyed metal your kinda hooked for life and "you get it". Otherwise it's fine if other people don't understand it. Regardless, this documentary reveals the love Dunn has for metal and brings a good bit of explanation behind the culture.
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April 13, 2006
IKEA Dream Kitchens
Ok, it's no secret Amber and I have been Ikea fans for a while having visited the stores in virginia, maryland, chicago, LA, and now atlanta... so when I discovered this Dream Kitchen demo it was just what I needed for the day.
http://demo.fb.se/e/ikea/dreamkitchen/site/default.html
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March 16, 2006
A New Ride
Here's a new family member. I sold my vintage bike to a good friend and skillful craftsman Andrew Nigh. I'm just noticing I haven't posted anything in a while. To keep up with my real life go here, otherwise go buy your own scooter here.
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February 12, 2006
like father like son
Aidan is enjoy time on my desk. I'm amazed at how fast kids can control a mouse and keyboard. Anyone have any suggestions on learning software I can get? Otherwise I'll have to start teaching him how to set type in illustrator or create playlists in itunes.
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February 2, 2006
vader controls
My son Aidan enjoys dressing up like random super heros. A few days ago he noticed he was missing the controls to complete his darth vader suit. It's the first time he has asked me to make something so specific. Seems to be the best thing I've designed all year. Enjoy
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January 11, 2006
say it clearly
Digging through some old files from a couple years back I ran across this photo with this handwritten statement on it. I vaguely remembered the context from which I pulled the quote. It was taken from a Bruce Weigl poem titled "The Impossible." The content is actually written about a child abused by a pedophile. The idea is that even the most disturbing events when told clearly and poetically can become beautiful. I suppose that's why I stuck the statement on this photograph. Even a mundane loading dock attached to an old building can be beautiful if shown in an interestingly clear way.
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January 10, 2006
Old film, New tools
I updated my flickr account today with a few older holga shots. One of these days I'll get all my film scanned and posted. Click on the above photo to see more.
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January 5, 2006
la bella yard sell guitar
While cleaning out a section of my basement over the weekend I discovered an old guitar case ruined by dampness. Within the case was an old envelope containing a La Bella nylon string.
There has been alot of mystery surrounding this guitar and case. I orginally bought the guitar for 5 bucks at a yard sale in a suburb of Nashville, TN. The bridge was off but I quickly repaired it with wood glue. It's been a great throw around guitar with a deep edgy sound. Lately, much like the case, it's been abused. There is a large crack from the warped wood on the face and the neck has bent a bit causing the strings to be quite far from the fretboard. The inside label says "Sucesor de Satutnino Montalbo" and "Gral Franco 157-El Ferrol". I haven't researched the instrument because I like the mystery of not knowing it's story. I picture a soldier during World War I visiting a small music store in Spain and purchasing it, or a local spanish boy saving his allowance to one day own the guitar. Regardless, nowdays Oliver enjoys slapping and strumming the fretboard whenever things get boring around the house.
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December 12, 2005
Things found in a winter jacket pocket
Every year when it's time to dig out those winter coats I find it exciting to discover what past treasures can be found deep within the pockets. Like small time capsules mixed in deep with pocket lint and coins, these items flood back memories of the past year or years. Last night I found two things. A receipt that had the old order number stamped in red from Ankars downtown. It was back when they only accepted cash. I remember collecting these tags since they were somewhat nostalgic of old resturaunt days before debit cards and electronic cash registers. Regardless, I love the randomness of the numbers, much like holding on to a fortune found in a fourtune cookie.
Along side the order tag was a bank deposit slip dated in January 2003. Instantly it made sense! On a lunch break from Johnson Group a few years back I ate at Ankars then walked down to the bank to make a deposit. Or was it the other way around? Hmm, regardless I experienced the whole time-lapse memory within seconds while standing in our entry way about to leave the house.
So I ask any readers reading this, what have you found in your winter coat pockets?
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November 28, 2005
Through Louisville
Over the Thanksgiving holidays we took a trip up to Greensburg, Indiana to visit family. On the way through Louisville I experimented with open shutter effects to kill some time. More can be found here: Louisville Light Abstract
On the return trip home everyone in the van caught a stomach virus except for Amber. It was somewhere around Louisville that we decided we should find a hotel to recoup since it was Abel's second time vomitting all over himself and the van. We found rest in a town called Cave City. It was a restless night being sick, but in the end the stop was well worth it. Too bad we didn't have a chance to see this:
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October 25, 2005
RedPlastic
Are the days of RedPlastic type over? I encountered this sign in South Haven, Michigan this past weekend. Michigan seems to have this time capsule quality about the small towns.
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