Thursday Minute
A few things for you to chew on today.
First up, and most importantly (at least to me), today Dominey Design launches a brand new web site for the Budweiser Lowcountry Blues Bash -- a phenomenal two week festival of ‘the blues' happening in historic Charleston, South Carolina. Instead of featuring ubiquitous blues heavyweights everyone recognizes like BB King, Keb Mo, or Buddy Guy, the Blues Bash features out-of-the-way, sometimes unknown independent artists. Gary Erwin (the presenter) favors independents and relative unknowns in the genre. He has on more than one occasion found artists deep in the back alleys and small towns of the south, and has helped launch the careers of a number of people throughout the festival's history.
As for the web site, it's simple and to the point, with a late 19th century, slab-serif vibe going on. Now I'm on to making the print goodies (t-shirts, fliers, posters, etc). I'm hoping to make a t-shirt of the cover page.
For some Mac OSX fun, be sure to download the excellent World of Aqua 3 icon set from The Iconfactory, featuring 37 gorgeous original icons. They even whipped together the new iMac in just a few days. Very nice. If you haven't used OSX before, you truly can't appreciate icons like this unless you blow them up full size. I never keep them that large, but they sure look purty.
Oh, and this is purely a random thought, but I watched the season premiere of HBO's Sex and the City the other night (yes, I'm a guy, and enjoy the show), and couldn't help noticing that something was very...off. I'm not sure if they're using different lighting, cameras, or a new director, but the show had a distinctly different visual feel and rhythm. The colors were very clear, bright, and very accurate, leading me to believe they updated their equipment (or something). But beyond face value, the writing was very weird. Lines that were supposed to be jokes fell flat, Carrie was yelling, screaming, and flapping her arms around in a very uncharacteristic manner, and the snappy rhythm of the show felt slow, and oddly aggressive. I sure hope the rest of the season finds it's groove again, ‘cause they're certainly not living up to their recent (and up to this point deserved) "Best Comedy" award.
Last night I stumbled across the American Music Awards, which yet again proves how screwed up popular music is these days. Clive Davis' darling prodigy Alicia Keys is a rolling hype machine, scooping up every award in site, and is dangerously close to a backlash (if it hasn't happened already). Too high, too soon, too fast. And then there was good ol' Michael Jackson, winning...or rather receiving, get this -- the "Artist of the Century" award. Oh wait, as Chris Tucker said, make that the "The Artist of the Century Award for this year." Mmmm...run that by me again?
Besides the fact that the AMA's invented this thing for Jackson, what is this for? Thriller? Come on. It seems like every time I turn around, another award show is inventing some bullshit award to give this guy. Hell, I believe it's MTV that has an award named after MJ, that's given to other people each year. Despite the fact that I was involved in the radio industry for a number of years, and learned more than I wanted to know about music promotion and publicity, I have never figured out the Jackson love-affair.
Comments
I noticed the lighting/color change -- especially in the early scene where they are at brunch. Carrie's coloring is really soft and smooth. I assumed there had been a makeup artist change.
Posted by: Mena at January 10, 2002 12:50 AM
That would be the Micheal Jackson Video Vangaurd Award, Given every year to an artist who has contributed greatly to the art of music videos.
And, no, I'm not ashamed at all that I know this.
Posted by: Ryan at January 10, 2002 3:23 PM
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DATE: 01/10/2002 03:34:48 PM
Posted by: Anonymous at January 10, 2002 3:34 PM
Nice site. What's the typeface?
Posted by: timo at January 10, 2002 4:17 PM
Congrats, Todd - the site looks fab.
I really wish I knew which awards show it was, but I was surfing a couple of days ago and came across Michael Jackson performing that single that I can't remember where the video stars a creepy Marlon Brando... man! That guy (Jackson, not Brando, though I suppose it applies to him, too) is stuck in the 80's so bad it's painful. And yet he looks more and more like some screwed up skeleton... very disturbing.
Posted by: Neil at January 10, 2002 7:53 PM
Jackson is indeed beginning to look rather skeletal. But nothing about Jackson can really surprise people these days, and it's actually been this way for quite some time. Not even his family can deny it. I saw his brothers appearing on a morning talk show several months ago. They love him to death, but there's no getting around the fact that he's, well, plain weird, man.
Like the Blues Bash site. Good job.
Posted by: Jacob at January 11, 2002 5:42 AM
Looks like Trebuchet to me......
Posted by: bobbychild at January 11, 2002 8:22 AM
If the "what's the typeface" question was about the Blues web site, the slab-serif face is Giza from Font Bureau, and the script is Radio from Thirsttype.
Posted by: Todd at January 11, 2002 11:37 AM
