Loaded Questions

SIDE Hotel, Hamburg. For work.

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 12:07:00 -0400

SIDE Hotel, Hamburg. For work.

The OECD Development Centre estimates that, measured in terms of real domestic buying power, the developing countries will have a larger share of the world economy than the OECD countries by the year 2012. By the year 2030, developing countries will have fifty-seven percent of the world economy, and the current OECD members, forty-three percent.

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:32:46 -0400

The OECD Development Centre estimates that, measured in terms of real domestic buying power, the developing countries will have a larger share of the world economy than the OECD countries by the year 2012. By the year 2030, developing countries will have fifty-seven percent of the world economy, and the current OECD members, forty-three percent.

Dear United States Postal Service: fuck you.

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:44:00 -0400

Things I’ve slept on: the book trailer for Super Sad True...

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:06:36 -0400

Things I’ve slept on: the book trailer for Super Sad True Love Story (which you should all read, by the way)

A Fieldguide to Typestashes, courtesy of Old Tom Foolery. via

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:45:42 -0400

A Fieldguide to Typestashes, courtesy of Old Tom Foolery.

via

Williamsburg Pool Parties to End

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:27:00 -0400

According to the NYT, the Jelly/OSA Pool Parties are done on account of Jelly didn’t pay its bills.

I want to get this out of the way up-front: I like music. I majored in it in college. I saw these shows back when they were actually in a pool. I read blogs and shit. I can namedrop and posture and reference and whatever.

So my reason for hating on the soon to be defunct Pool Parties has less to do with the music (or some cursory invective about those fucking hipsters in Williamsburg - where, technically, I am one), and more to do with land use: namely, the condo developments along the waterfront.

Back in 2000-something, when the city granted retardedly huge zoning variances for condos like the Edge and the Northside Piers, it was with the caveat that their footprints would have to include a certain amount of public greenspace. Except then there was a recession and the greenspace failed to materialize. In fact, the only major park - East River State Park - developed in the area was done so by the State, not the city.

Which is now where the Pool Parties take place. And as it happens, the organizers of the pool parties don’t like it when you a) look past the chainlink fence and see the music without paying, or b) use the park at all when there’s a show going on. So when a show’s on, the park is off-limits to all but ticket-holders and sponsors. There are public shows too, but that misses the larger point.

Here’s the thing: the ‘new’ Williamsburg waterfront - big condos and elaborate rock shows - comes at the expense of the larger neighborhood. The things that the city required of developers (namely, additional public space and anchor retail amenities like grocery stores and dry cleaners) have mostly failed to materialize. Meanwhile there’s been no accounting for increased load on public services (fire, MTA, traffic) or the semi-privatization of the public space that already exists.

Which, generally speaking, is counter to the purpose of redevelopment. What’s the point of having a neighborhood concert series that renders neighborhood amenities unusable?

So, sorry Pool Parties. I’m over it. I want my park back.

Things I’ve slept on until recently: Scraper Bikes.

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:53:57 -0400

Things I’ve slept on until recently: Scraper Bikes.

I’m in South Dakota.

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 16:59:41 -0400

I’m in South Dakota.

Celestial Soul Portraits

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:05:00 -0400

Celestial Soul Portraits:

Celestial Soul Portraits. By Erial Ali.

“How it works:

1. You contact Erial Ali - letting him know you wish such a portrait.

2. Erial has a phone consultation with you - where he finds out about you -
your interests, your passions, your fascinations, how you “see” yourself.

3. You send Erial a high-quality photo of yourself - an image that you feel is highly representative of “the real you”. An image that represent how you like to be seen. This will be Erial’s “starting point”.

4. Erial meditates and “tunes into you”, to “get your unique Essence”.

5. Once Erial really “gets who you are”, then, starting from the image you provided, he magically transforms it into a Celestial Soul Portrait of you!

6. Erial mails you a CD of this portrait. This CD is a very-high quality, very large and high-resolution digital image - enough detail to print out a VERY LARGE PRINT that looks magnificent.

7. You are then free to use that image on your website, print hi-quality photos of it, or even print hi-quality medium-size posters of it, which you can frame.
(Print shops can do this for you, or you can do it at home -with a nice printer and photo paper.)”

via

The Windup Girl

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:53:00 -0400

The Windup Girl:

Do yourself a favor and read it. It’s the best ‘big ideas’ book about the environment disguised as a sci-fi novel that you might ever encounter.

BoingBoing concurs.

Consider helping my buddy Adam fund his awesome/stalker-y start-up. Totally worth your ten bucks.

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:42:00 -0400

Consider helping my buddy Adam fund his awesome/stalker-y start-up. Totally worth your ten bucks.:

That is Sturgis, South Dakota, home of the country’s...

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:40:48 -0400

That is Sturgis, South Dakota, home of the country’s oldest and most venerable motorcycle rally (of the same name).

Pee Wee Herman will be making an appearance. Ditto Bob Dylan. Ditto the band Docken.

Next weekend I will be attending for work - consulting for Harley Davidson. Please consider being jealous, provided I don’t get stabbed.

Also, in September, I will be going to Austria for the European counterpart, Faaker See.

Over the next 40 years, demographers estimate that the U.S. population will surge by an additional 100 million people, to 400 million over all. The population will be enterprising and relatively young. In 2050, only a quarter will be over 60, compared with 31 percent in China and 41 percent in Japan.

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 22:03:39 -0400

Over the next 40 years, demographers estimate that the U.S. population will surge by an additional 100 million people, to 400 million over all. The population will be enterprising and relatively young. In 2050, only a quarter will be over 60, compared with 31 percent in China and 41 percent in Japan.:

David Brooks spits demographics.

Teagan White via

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:51:04 -0400

Teagan White

via

Adobe deserves your money. Also, everyone’s Facebook...

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 23:22:05 -0400

Adobe deserves your money. Also, everyone’s Facebook pictures just got a little better/fake.

The find adds to the case that chunks of matter got pushed outside the known universe shortly after the big bang—which in turn hints that our universe is part of something larger: a multiverse

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:59:32 -0400

The find adds to the case that chunks of matter got pushed outside the known universe shortly after the big bang—which in turn hints that our universe is part of something larger: a multiverse:

National Geographic on new evidence suggesting that masses outside the known universe are pulling galaxies towards its fringes.

Nice work, science.

Foreign Policy Magazine’s photo essay on International...

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:35:06 -0400

Foreign Policy Magazine’s photo essay on International Weapons Trade shows, like IDEX (the International Defense Exhibition and Conference), pictured above

Extreme obesity has reached ''alarming'' levels among children, according to a new study that looked at the weights and heights of more than 710,000 children aged 2 to 19.

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:35:51 -0400

Extreme obesity has reached ''alarming'' levels among children, according to a new study that looked at the weights and heights of more than 710,000 children aged 2 to 19.:

Fatties.

A Sharp Right

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:23:28 -0500

A Sharp Right:

Dear friends and occasional readers:

Although I mostly use Loaded Questions to post things of some tangential value to people in media, marketing, and design (things that make you go hmm), I have to apologize for the fact that I will not be updating it for the foreseeable future.

You see, I am taking three months off to write a book. And I’m currently in Mexico doing so.

The good news is, you can, and should follow my amazing progress at this other blog I’ve got set up called A Sharp Right. In fact, you may never come back here after you read it.

Sincerely,

Your buddy John

TypoFlat

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:38:55 -0500

TypoFlat:

Rad free typefaces, courtesy of designer Branislav S. Cirkovic