I woke up singing this. Must have been playing in my dreams. Off He Goes – Pearl Jam.
This is My Jam Today. Pearl Jam.
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door – Bob Dylan
On repeat…
Our Love Is Dead
Pet Shop Boys “Leaving”
Ugh I just love these lyrics so hard:
Our love is dead
But the dead are here to stay
They made us what we are
They’re with us every day
In darkest night
Their memory keeps us strong
And if our love is dead
It won’t be dead for long
I know when enough’s enough and you’re leaving
you’ve had a lot of time to decide on your freedom
but I can still find some hope to believe in
love
Pet Shop Boys, still dazzling after 30+ years. Can’t wait for the new record Electric next month! This and new Nine Inch Nails is gonna give me the shitty giggles!
PBS Beatmaking Lab Is Cool As Hell!
PBS Digital Studios is doing this thing called Beat Making Lab where they bring a backpack with some simple mobile sound studio equipment around the world. The results are absolutely amazing! It’s so cool to see people in Goma, Congo doing their thing.
Check out the videos on Beat Making Lab’s Youtube page.
Thanks PBS (and everyone who gives money to PBS) for putting this on. I love music!
The Making of John Mayer’s ‘Born & Raised’ Artwork
The Making of John Mayer’s ‘Born & Raised’ Artwork from Danny Cooke on Vimeo.
This video about David Adrian Smith‘s super inspiring work is just incredible and shows that oldschool crafts are even more appreciated in a digital age. Thanks to my buddy Mark at HipHopMakers.com for sending this inspiring video along.
Coffee Statosphere
This doesn’t happen very often, but somehow my coffee made these beautiful looking layers. I’d rather not know how or why.
2012 in Photos / The Atlantic
The Atlantic has posted its roundup of the photos that defined world events in 2012 and they are incredibly powerful, and some really beautiful. These really make me respect the balance of art, skill and luck that journalistic photographers have to have. Here are the photos in three parts: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
The 2000 Sculpture / Walter de Maria / LACMA
In case you were interested, I’m a fan of minimalist installation art and Walter de Maria is one of the best. The Stanley Kubrick show up now at the LACMA is pretty cool too. Wish I had more time to see everything.
The Music is Perfect
The music is perfect. And 30 million polygons is a lot of polygons. infime from Cut And Cook Studio on Vimeo.
Shining Light of God: Rad Photos by Boguslaw Strempel
Just discovered these awe-inspiring photos by Boguslaw Strempel of voluminous light, aka “the shining light of God” to people like myself who are hilariously atheist. :)
The Beautiful Watercolor Commercial Art of Kareem Iliya
You might have seen some of these gorgeous illustrations on a Louise Vuitton ad or the cover of The Great Gatsby.
I recently bumped into Kareem Iliya‘s work while searching the web for some images of watercolor washes. In love. Enjoy this.
Most Interesting Hurricane Sandy Photo, Click to Embiggen
I know some people are going through some tough events right now, but just stepping back in a journalistic way – this has to be the most interesting photo from the Hurricane Sandy tragedy. A parking lot full of yellow cabs is flooded as a result of superstorm Sandy on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 in Hoboken, NJ (Photo via Charles Sykes of AP). I took this from the Chicago Sun Times, which hilariously has the instruction “Click to embiggen” under the photo preview, as if it was written by Jebediah Springfield from the Simpsons.
Dew Ma!
From the brilliant Colossal Art & Visual Ingenuity blog: Macro Photographs of Dew-Covered Dragonflies and Other Insects by David Chambon
The XX Homepage is Minimalist, But Curious
The homepage for the band The XX is super minimal, just like their music, but it has just one beautiful interactive element over the X logo. I didn’t notice it at first until the oily rainbow coloring shifted slightly while I was reading the navigation options. Then when I hovered my mouse cursor over the X, it looked like I was disturbing a puddle of oily water and seeing the rainbow colored light refractions change. Well done to the designers of thexx.info. The album’s not so bad either. ;)
Oil Wars, The Post Carbon Institute
I’m just blown away at how beautifully done this animation is! Oil Wars, by Alexander Perry for the Post Carbon Institute.
Nirvana Nevermind
I can’t believe this came out 20 years ago. Been listening to this record today and thinking back to my early teens, feeling like oh well, whatever, nevermind. Swimming with the sheep.
My Late Father’s Old Guitar: Montaya F-70B
My father passed away 8 or 9 years ago while I was going to school at the Art Center College of Design. I never grew up with him, but regularly think about my own innate characteristics, which I saw in him during the summers that I spent as a kid in the Bronx with him and his family. He was introverted, creative, and for better or for worse, he had a complexity that I don’t think anyone will fully understand.
My younger half sister Madison, who shares the same father with me but different mothers, recently visited her mom’s house and managed to grab and mail me my dad’s old guitar. So I’ve been trying to find out more about it this week just out of curiosity.
There’s not much on the internet about it but I did find out a couple things. If anyone has any info on these Montaya guitars, please email me.
It’s made by a company called Montaya and was distributed by C.H.K. Trading Company. The model number is F-70B (according to the sticker inside) – this is what I used to search for info.
It’s probably from the late 80’s or 1990 and made by a Korean company that ripped off popular guitars like Fender and stuff. This one was a knock off of a Fender acoustic guitar, hence the model number starting with an “F”. The company got sued and they may have gone out of business in 1990, so they ended production. When they were out on the market, they were pretty cheap guitars – maybe $50-100 (i saw this price on a forum, but i dunno what model it was referring to). Apparently they were pretty good sounding guitars – they just happened to be Korean knock offs of larger American or European brands.
Anyway, it’s pretty neat to have it and see the places where it’s been worn and damaged. It’s more meaningful than I thought it would be. I’m considering getting it restored, but half of me thinks it’s kinda cool in its fucked up condition. Again, if anyone has any more info on these Montaya guitars, please email me.
Reminiscent of Brothers Quay
This is cool and creepy. The weird motion reminds me of some of the Brothers Quay animations that they did for His Name is Alive, not the stuff they’re super well-known for. (M+A) – “My Super8” (dir. Rino Stefano Tagliafierro)
Finishing Ming & Ping’s Album with Mariqueen
The other day we had a couple of super talented and extremely spicy ladies over to finish recording the last song on Ming & Ping’s upcoming album, “The Darkness of Night”. Here’s a photo of the brilliant artist and painter Brooke Reidt plus spice icon Mariqueen Maandig Reznor, from How To Destroy Angels. Mariqueen provided some vocal parts for the song “Chinatown,” which is definitely one of my favorites from the upcoming record. It was a true honor. <3
Nothing Compares 2 U / Gavin Castleton
My friend Mariqueen sent me this video a couple of years ago and it was brilliant then, but recently its been relevant because I’ve been doing a lot of live looping in my own songs and songwriting. This is one of the most beautiful renditions of one of the most beautiful songs.
Gavin Castleton covering “Nothing Compares 2 U” written by Prince and originally performed (also beautifully) by Sinead O’Connor. <3
Yosemite Range of Light by Shawn Reeder
This is so beautiful. I wish I could download it and loop it all day on my screen. Watch it in its full 1080 HD glory. <3
I <3 LA!
Human Face Video Mapping
We did some tests for this with Ming & Ping a couple of years ago but it turned out awful. Well, here’s someone who did it right. This is just… magnificent! Cheers to Oskar & Gaspar, who are also twins. :)
Writing Beautiful Songs
I’ve had a lot of words used to describe my songs, but one day I’d like to write a “beautiful” song. There are a lot of better and more memorable songs out there, but this one seems so unplanned, as if it just spewed out the way great songs should. I usually find myself bursting into tears when she says “These are the contents of my head.” No other line could have been more honest and vulnerable and beautiful at that point. <3
[divider type=”line”/]
[dropcap char=”Why” type=”text”/] by Annie Lennox
How many times do I have to try to tell you
That I’m sorry for the things I’ve done
But when I start to try to tell you
That’s when you have to tell me
Hey… this kind of trouble’s only just begun
I tell myself too many times
Why don’t you ever learn to keep your big mouth shut
That’s why it hurts so bad to hear the words
That keep on falling from your mouth
Falling from your mouth
Falling from your mouth
Tell me…
Why
Why
I may be mad
I may be blind
I may be viciously unkind
But I can still read what you’re thinking
And I’ve heard it said too many times
That you’d be better off
Besides…
Why can’t you see this boat is sinking
(this boat is sinking this boat is sinking)
Let’s go down to the water’s edge
And we can cast away those doubts
Some things are better left unsaid
But they still turn me inside out
Turning inside out turning inside out
Tell me…
Why
Tell me…
Why
This is the book I never read
These are the words I never said
This is the path I’ll never tread
These are the dreams I’ll dream instead
This is the joy that’s seldom spread
These are the tears…
The tears we shed
This is the fear
This is the dread
These are the contents of my head
And these are the years that we have spent
And this is what they represent
And this is how I feel
Do you know how I feel ?
’cause i don’t think you know how I feel
I don’t think you know what I feel
I don’t think you know what I feel
You don’t know what I feel
Jess Iglehart
This is my friend, Jess. He’s a brilliant artist with an unmistakable style. You can find his website at jessiglehart.com and see one of his stunning animations, A Little Bottle of Tears, for which I created the musical score.
We had a nice dinner tonight and a great time talking about being alive, being creative, and being human. Thank you.
Holy Divers, Batman!
It gets really beautiful if you let the creepy Poser human intro part pass.
Beautiful Things: Love Play
I’m in love with this song right now. Definitely a top 3 on the new SVIIB record. I love that bittersweet subject matter and the punishing bass synth + ethereal guitar beds.
Love Play – School of Seven Bells. <3
Here’s my crazy talented friend, Charlie Becker
[image align=”left” width=”358″ height=”197″ border=”yes”]http://baovocreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Screen-shot-2012-03-01-at-4.08.08-PM.png[/image]Here’s a new video about an amazingly talented sculptor, Charlie Becker, creating a piece using SS White dental tools. It’s pretty cool, check it.
Flying Girl in Downtown LA
Flying Girl in Downtown LA from Bao Vo Creative on Vimeo.
i have a nice view from my office in downtown los angeles. today a girl went flying and i managed to get some footage of it. :)
Beautiful Things: I <3 LA
Coming back recently from a great trip to Reno, I managed to snap up this gorgeous view of the 110 Freeway heading to downtown LA. Cel phone cameras are the best!