FYI
Taking a break from posting for the next week. Need prep time. We will be back with something very exciting this coming Tuesday, August 25th. Mark it down. Remember it. Dream it.
FYI, art, design, drawing, words
In more-people-stealing-my-ideas news: the people at Sing Statistics took the idea of publishing stories and ilustrations together and took it to dizzying new heights with We Are the Friction. An eyebrow-raisingly impressive list of contributors makes this collection look like a must have for the small-press collector/fiend in your life. The Brits done did it again.
Annalemma, FYI
I hired Jen O’Malley to lay out the new issue. We’re at Stardust working on it all day today. I would tell you to come over and say hi, but we’re very, very busy and must avoid all distractions. So please leave us alone. Sorry, you can come chill with us if you want to.
Costumes, FYI, art, design
Dear friend and fashion guru Jen O’Malley unveiled a new bunch of headbands this week. Dunno of she’s selling them yet (UPDATE: She is!) but if you’ve got a special lady in your life this would make a pretty sweet gift. And if you are a special lady you might wanna get your hands on one before one shows up on the noggin of Bat for Lashes or Joanna Newsome and by then you’re behind the fashion curve. Which is undoubtedly a fate worse than death.
Annalemma, FYI, Orlando
Got a little bit of ink over at the Orlando Weekly. It’s the best and only award we’ve ever recieved. Check it out here. I’ve always been a fan of the Weekly’s “Best of Orlando” issue. For one it occasionally turns me on to some previously unheard of spots around town as well as highlighting some of the cooler aspects of the city. Also I find it really funny when the editor’s picks contrast so vastly with the reader’s picks.
Best subs of 2009:
Editor’s pick - Philly Style Hoagies and Deli
Reader’s pick - Publix Supermarket
Chicago, FYI, art, design
Dunno if any of the remaining Chicagoans who read this blog (close to 60 of you!) are still interested in buying books, zines and other shit for weirdos. But if you are, I would reccomend heading on down to Golden Age on the lower west side-ish area. I ain’t never been there, looks like they opened right when I left. But the place looks dope. If you go you should take some pictures and talk to the peeps who run the place and maintian an overall interest in the operation of brick-and-motar art/book/art book stores.
FYI, Fun
Got this email from Bryan “Bear” Soderlind this morning:
So I just wanted to inform you guys about the amazing new camera that will be available to rent to only my closest of friends. It’s called the BLUE cam and it is packed with lots of high tech features starting but not ending with the fact it shoots on Hi8 tapes. I’ve rented it a few times to action sports cinematographer Jeff Raley and he has gotten some great results. Let me know as you get projects and need to put the BLUE on reserve. Thanks and great shooting.
-Bear
Check out the stunning resolution here as Bear’s video interview with Josh Letchworth goes horribly awry.
FYI, words
I mentioned Stephen Elliot’s newest book last week for BBCDW and also touched upon the cool project surrounding it’s marketing, but just to recap:
Stephen is circulating copies of his new true-crime memoir to anyone who would care to read it. All you do is email him, prove that you’re a real person, he sends you the book, you get a week to read it and when that week is up you send it to the next person on the list. Pretty cool buzz-generating idea that I will most likely steal in the forthcoming months. So I signed up and just finished it last night and I’m glad that I did.
Not only is this a great book, but it’s a cool thing to be involved with. It’s not too often that the general public not only gets to read advance copies of books but also gets to be given the chance to by the author himself. Which, I think, is the way it should be. You should be able to reach out to these people and have them reach back to you. That’s what creative writing is all about, for me at least. To connect with people. And it really bugs me when authors are reclusive, don’t do interviews, don’t do readings, don’t really make any sort of effort to engage their audience outside of publishing. So it really pumps me up when you see a talented author getting in the mix and reaching out to people.
Anyway. I think this thing is still going on and you should sign up for it so you can be a part of it too.
FYI, art, design, words
I was going to wait about a week to get to this, but I couldn’t wait.
Stephen Elliott’s been circulating pre-release copies of his new book, a true-crime memoir, as sort of a DIY marketing buzz generator. The gist is you email Stephen, ask him if you can read his book, convince him that you’re a real person, he mails you the book and you have a week to finish it, then you mail it to someone else. Sounds like a really cool idea, no? I thought so too, so I emailed him. He sent me the book and I’m reading it right now and I’m pretty blown away by it so far. But this isn’t a review of the contents inside the book.
(Disclaimer: This is kind of a soft edge image that’s supposed to be used for wheat pasting I think. It was the highest res image I could find. You get the idea. I’ll post a sharper one next week.)
The cover graphic for The Adderall Diaries has all the elements that make a stop-you-in-your-tracks image. Loss, abandonment and confusion are conveyed with a few colors, a few layers and a healthy dose of taste. What else do you need to know? Simple, beautiful, creative. Well done.
P.S. The project is still going on if you want to read the book. Click the link above or right here if you’re lazy. Highly recommended.
Annalemma