Sleigh is down. Reindeer… all dead. Both Santa’s legs are broken. Santa’s… very sad.

via | FailBlog

A first grade teacher gave her students the first half of famous proverbs to finish…

Some of my faves:

• Strike while the …………………….Bug is close
• You can’t teach an old dog new…………math
• You get out of something what you………see pictured on the box
• You can lead a horse to water but……..how?

See them all >>

via | The Triumph of Bullshit

This guy dave on livejournal drew the teen version of himself and then a bunch of other people decided to submit drawings of themselves as teens (and some drew a comparison with themselves now). I guess that makes it a meme. Woo! Teen meme stampede!

There are sooooooo many. Here are some of my faves (click through to the original posts if some of the writing is too small to read here):

http://arambulo.livejournal.com/65346.html

http://georgeslymaniv.livejournal.com/119348.html

“lol so randumb” haha
http://seph-hunter.livejournal.com/4820.html

this one is brilliant, no?
http://monstro-draw.livejournal.com/8330.html

ah i miss contentedly oblivious, Yuko
http://dhio.livejournal.com/172525.html

Anyway yeah. Check them all out here >>

via | LiveJournal

Learn about the origins of beer, wine, champage, vodka, rum and more at Neatorama!

Seriously, I’ve been watching documentaries on whiskey and tequila and stuff on the History channel and Discovery and it makes you think about how much work it takes to get it into that bottle so you can pour it down your face. I guess I mean it just makes you appreciate it that much more.

via | Neatorama

Dear Fail Blog, you’re like the only thing that makes sense.

via | Fail Blog 

see more crazy cat pics

via | icanhascheezburger

in Berlin, click to see larger

via | WoosterCollective

original post on gawker >>

to me scientology is something that has their business model straight. you take a look at what christianity had to deal with, and be proactive about your litigation. and then you bank.

this video is being touted as “The Cruise Indoctrination Video Scientology Tried To Suppress”

i couldn’t embed. click through to gawker.com to check it out

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/02/05/illustrator-tutorials-best-of/

some of interest:

Gigposter Design: The New Sex
Learn how to create an impressive gig poster design with Illustrator.

Pixels and Vectors Tutorial
The gap between working with pixels and vectors in Photoshop and Illustrator is closing rapidly, thanks to Smart Objects. Derek Lea explains all while creating a highly textured yet vector-sharp masterpiece.

Intricate Patterns In Illustrator Tutorial
This tutorial will show you how to create intricate patterns in Illustrator super quickly. Stuff that would take you hours to draw manually with the Pen Tool takes just seconds when you use this technique. Video-version is also available.

link to post >>

I love this part:

The problem is, most Americans, particularly young Americans, seem to be fairly cognizant of the fact that these guys are both dipshits and are accordingly put off the entire political process. Luckily, both Democrats and Republicans seem to have found a way to engage the crucial 18-to-24 demographic; bring in a team of celebrities.

Now, I was a fan of the original Rock the Vote campaign in 1992, when George Bush the elder ran against Bill Clinton, the man who would become the pimpin’-est Commander-in-Chief ever. MTV brought various music celebrities out to stand around and look serious in well directed, moodily lit black-and-white spots. I mean, if anyone could get America’s disaffected youth to the voting booth, it was Ice-T. They didn’t endorse anyone, and they kept the message simple: Voting is important, even if the candidates are dillweeds. Not surprisingly, youth voting numbers went up following the campaign.

original post >>

all your computers are fake in here!

http://cameronmoll.com/archives/2008/01/overcoming_blankcanvasphobia/

“Staring at a blank canvas in Photoshop (or your preferred graphics program) feels the same way as standing at the edge of a cliff waiting to go over. You’re safely strapped in, but the idea of going from standing upright to lying on your back with feet planted on the side of a rock incline is terribly daunting. But once you’ve gone from vertical to horizontal, the rest is easy, and even thoroughly enjoyable.”

Some good pointers, some obvious ones. 1 thing is for sure though, blank canvases are daunting. He did leave one tried and true method of overcoming ‘blankcanvasphobia’ and that’s booze. Click the link to see the  7 suggestions from that blog post.

http://www.woostercollective.com/2008/01/graffiti_removal_hotline.html

original post on woostercollective.com >>

http://www.losvandales.com/2008/01/hello-kitty-ar-15-assault-rifle.html

Thx, Los X Vandales

http://inventorspot.com/articles/whats_future_dining_top_10_picks_10068

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=123247

Published: January 22, 2008 NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — As magazine publishers are being asked to prove that the advertising in their titles actually drives sales, little analysis has been given to whether the creative executions of those ads are working. Ads must not only target consumers, but also persuade them to move closer to a purchase decision.

Image, per se, can often be enough to promote the start of a sale. But brand/product image is not built with pretty pictures or attitude alone; over time it’s built on a brand’s perceived superior performance. And in today’s competitive marketplace, image and price often are the only real separating factors. So if you don’t have a perceivable differentiating benefit, you better work really hard on image.

About the purpose of copy referring to a Korean Air ad:

Copy’s job is to focus the target market on the brand’s positioning and benefits (again). It’s important to avoid talking about how great you are (patting-oneself-on-the-back syndrome) but rather how great the brand is for the consumer. To support “We provide only the best quality and services whether it be on-ground or in-air,” show me or tell me how. Give me some permission-to-believe rationale for the claims. Just saying it does not make it so.

pretty good article…

original post >>

’87 is my fave. I love Super Mario 2. And I love the player-piano soundtrack, this guy does it slow and cool:

http://greenville.craigslist.org/stp/530731516.html

Wanted: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You’ll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once before.

http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/creating_grunge_brushes/

 My recent tutorial about creating pattern backgrounds sparked some questions from readers if I could do the same for something that is referred to as “grunge”. The pattern tool is ok for repeating items but the grunge look gets it effectiveness just from the randomness I think. So I think it would be better if I show you how to make a grunge brush instead. I know several of those are available for download but there is nothing more rewarding then creating your own