2DO Before I Die

"Where Do You Want To Wake Up Tomorrow?" - video

Fifty People, One Question: Brooklyn

"Interesting New Yorkers" - Short Video Profiles

Loved my recent visit to NYC - I had forgotten what a great city it is. Just came across this - some good short profiles of intriguing NYC locals...

Via Boing Boing: "A city guide website called Revel in New York makes great mini docs about interesting New Yorkers." Here is Josh Hadar, 'Bike Builder' - with a few more listed below.

Others from the same series:

The Pigeon Lady, an East Village pigeon fancier who's been stealing pigeons from prized coops for nearly a decade.

High Times senior editor David Bienenstock, who explains the different effects of different kinds of pot.

Molly Crabapple, artist and founder of Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School.

Tea blender Nini Ordoubadi, an Iranian born New Yorker who comes from a long tradition of tea blenders.

"Piano Stairs" - video

I would take the stairs a lot more often, if this was the rule not the exception...

Music by Birds - video

Composer Jarbas Agnelli was inspired by a photo in a newspaper of birds sitting on electric wires and decided to set it to music, using the birds as notes. Results below...

Bringing 'Where the Wild Things Are' To The Screen

"Spike Jonze is known for making videos and movies his way — fast, cheap and dirty — but adapting Maurice Sendak's classic book turned out to be slow, expensive and very complicated."

Click here for the full story in today's New York Times....

Learn Something Everyday

'Learn Something Everyday' is a new site dedicated to illustrating various trivia using Sharpie drawings.

Did you know that Shakespeare was dyslexic? Or that the space between your eyebrows is called the 'glabella'? How about that most cars beep in the key of F...?

Not sure how useful those facts are, but the drawings are fun...

Visual Effects - 100 Years of Inspiration

Just came across a recently collated collection of clips and making-of footage from notable visual effects films of the past century. Originally intended for educational use as an introduction to a classroom lecture, it represents  of a lot of time, work and imagination...

William Hoffman's "Moments" - Video

Directed by William Hoffman for Anyone Everything, here's a nicely observed, well edited series of moments - some exceptional, some everyday...

Playing the building...

David Byrne has just brought his latest installation 'Playing the building' to London's Roundhouse. Connecting a small organ to various parts of the building's structure via a series of pumps and automated devices, Byrne manages to turn the whole building into a musical instrument. The results may not be as catchy as some of his Talking Heads hits, but it's nice to see someone making music with girders for a change.

Below is a Wired video with Byrne explaining the original NYC installation, and click here to check out the full article on Creative Review.

Playing the Building is on show at the Roundhouse until 31st August.

Thinking 'Outside the Box' - video

It can be a challenge coming up with new ideas. Sometimes to arrive at a fresh approach, one has to come at the situation from a whole new angle... 

Daily routines...

Churchill dictated from his bed in the morning and took a siesta at 5pm; Designer Stefan Sagmeister kicks off his working day at the crack of dawn with a pot of coffee and a cigar; Barack Obama is happy to be working from home...

If you ever wondered about the daily routines of the great and the good, here's a site well worth checking out. The Daily Routines blog references interviews, news articles and auto-biography to bring you in detail the working patterns of such names as Darwin, Kafka, Marx and Thurber. 

Stephen King on the start of his day: "“There are certain things I do if I sit down to write,” he said. “I have a glass of water or a cup of tea. There’s a certain time I sit down, from 8:00 to 8:30, somewhere within that half hour every morning,” he explained. “I have my vitamin pill and my music, sit in the same seat, and the papers are all arranged in the same places. The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon."

"The World's Fastest Everything" - video

From cup stacking, to getting dressed, to running and more - a video compilation of (some of) the world's fastest everything...

"A Normal Day" - Video

Just another normal day in the life of Thomas & Sebastian (bet it took a lot of practice). Pretty impressive...

'This Column Will Change Your Life'

Oliver Burkeman's weekend Guardian feature "This Column Will Change Your Life" often hits a note that regular readers of this blog might appreciate. His is a sharp-witted, anti-fluffy approach to the tricky topic of self-improvement, with a healthy store of scepticism for the quick-fixes and miracle cures of the self-help industry.

In the past, he's scrutinized topics such as life-goal obsessives, the virtues of being ordinary and those suspiciously convenient case-studies featured in almost all self-help manuals. This week he looks at the twisted priorities of modern life, how being eager to please can keep you from your lifelong goals and the perils of sharing your ambitions with those around you. Click here to read the full article...

Image courtesy of plan59.com

"Civilization" - a trip through Heaven and Hell - video

Comprised of over 400 video clips, "Civilization," is an impressive video installation by artist/director Marco Brambilla for the elevators in the Standard Hotel in NYC. 

A trip from hell to heaven...found on Boing Boing. Play it large... 

More pix of the exhibition here.   

Civilization by Marco Brambilla from CRUSH.

'Into Africa' - The latest from the Metal Cowboy...

It's our pleasure to welcome back regular columnist Joe Kurmaskie to the 2DO blog with a brand new post of his adventures as Oregon's original Metal Cowboy. Good to have you back Joe!...

Summer is when we let the child inside us out to play. For me, the bicycle has always been the best way to show myself and others, especially adults, a path back to those carefree days that stretch out from June to somewhere late in September, and to help kids discover adventure and confidence atop saddles, on trailabikes and tucked into trailers.  

I know, I know, if there was a twelve step program for outdoor enthusiasts and two wheeled addicts, I’d have been tackled to the ground long ago.  

Thank God the only interventions I have to wrestle with are a few short-on-daylight, bitter cold days each February.  

I think of adventure cycling, especially the summertime variety, as a public service - channeling my addiction for a greater good; rescuing kids of all ages from the couch, reacquainting them with what their bodies can do, the simple mysteries still residing in the natural world and, in the case of hardcore desk jockeying adults rusty and brittle from seasons of striving, it’s my sworn duty to reunite them with their former selves or introduce them to the kid they never met.  

About those kids. The outer ones not the metaphoric variety 

First, it was my own sons I hooked on the open road. It started with rides to school, then weekend trips, graduating to an epic pedal across America by bike, followed by a madcap adventure across Canada with their Mother... along for the first time. Note to those who believe it’s folly to try to get your spouse onto a bike; mine's rarely been seen out of the saddle since, so it can work. 

13 Tips for Taking Photos in a Developing Country

Blogger, Photographer, and world traveler Brendan - aka 'Cashewman' offers 13 great tips on how to take good photos when traveling in developing countries. Here's his 12th tip: if in doubt about taking a photo, ask if it's ok: 

This is an important one for me. There are larger debates about photography etiquette and our responsibilities as visitors and photographers. I'll leave that for another time, but a golden rule is: if you're unsure whether to take a picture of somebody, then ask. In some areas, it's considerate to leave a small gift or amount of money as a thank you. Your call.

I missed one of the best shots I have ever come across, because I asked whether it was okay to shoot. Picture an old Senegalese grandmother, piercing green eyes within a face etched with thin white contours. Headscarf, clutched just below the chin with a flowing, boney hand. She was sitting in front of an earth wall with soft evening side lighting. When I asked if I could take a picture, she said no, with a subtle smile. I still wish I could have taken the shot. But she didn't want me to, so I'll just have to remember it instead.

13 Tips for Great Photography in a Developing Country (photo by Cashewman)

Director Guillermo del Toro on the Future of Film and Storytelling

Wired magazine interviews writer-director Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) and he has some intriguing ideas to share about the future of film and storytelling.   

An excerpt: 

"In the next 10 years, we're going to see all the forms of entertainment—film, television, video, games, and print—melding into a single-platform "story engine." The Model T of this new platform is the PS3. The moment you connect creative output with a public story engine, a narrative can continue over a period of months or years. It's going to rewrite the rules of fiction..."

Click here for the full story.

Eugene Mirman’s High School Graduation Speech - video

Great commencement speech given by comedian Eugene Mirman (video below). Especially liked his advice to the graduating students about how important it was to "follow your dreams - unless your dreams are stupid..."

"Either You're In, Or You're In The Way"

Hi, I am Mike's little sister, Margaret, and I just thought I'd stop into 2dobeforeidie today with a cool story that seems to fit the very essence of this blog.  

I went to a book signing the other evening to learn more about a recently published book called Either You're In or You're in The Way. I got so much more out of the event than I expected. The book is by two brothers about their experience writing and making their first film. The guys were charismatic, off-the-cuff, and unassuming; stories tumbled out of both of them and captivated everyone in the audience. They showed scenes from the completed film and signed books.  I haven't read a book so fast in years and I laughed out loud the whole time. Below is the story behind their film and subsequent book as well as a few excerpts from their book. The excerpts are not examples of the funnier moments, mind you, but they should give you an idea about what this is all about. They're showing the film at San Francisco's Bookstock on June 6th at AT&T Park, if you're interested in seeing it for yourself. 

"When identical twin brothers, Logan and Noah Miller’s homeless father died alone in a jail cell, they vowed, come hell or high water that their film, Touching Home, would be made as a dedication to their love for him. Either You’re In Or You’re In the Way is the amazing story of how--without a dime to their names nor a single meaningful contact in Hollywood--they managed to write, produce, act, and direct a feature film in under a year starring four-time Academy Award-nominated actor Ed Harris and a cast and crew with 11 Academy Awards and 26 nominations." (more at the 'continue reading' link below...)