Of Interest 01.30.2009 : Design

+ Photo Phun: Make tilt-shift photos (like those used on the Adult Swim bumpers) and Faux-alroids.

+ Want: British Design Classics stamps from the Royal Mail UK. The Mini Cooper! The London Underground Map! Penguin Books! The Anglepoise Lamp!

+ How To: a blog of instructional graphics of all types, updated weekly.

+ Coolest academic lecture posters EVER from the Biology Department at UNC. I would so totally steal these (after the lecture had passed, of course)! See all of the lecture posters done by The Merch here.

+ Project to do when I have a wall of my own: The Perpetual Photo Wall Calendar. I can start "collecting" the numbers now, and actually print and assemble later. (Oooo... possible blog/project for a month with 31 days?)

+ Want: Notecards by Jim Flora, especially the "Deluxe-O-Phone" set. I'm starting to collect little pieces like this to display as art.

+ Illustrator Christoph Niemann's love affair with coffee, drawn in "coffee" on napkins.

R.I.P. Shirt Corner

Yesterday was the last day of business for Philadelphia's Shirt Corner, located on the NE corner of 3nd and Market Streets in Old City. While I never actually shopped at the Shirt Corner (never really needing to buy formal or professional men's clothing for anyone), its closure depresses me greatly and again, hurts a little bit of my soul. I should have seen the end coming when Foam Land on 2nd Street closed a few years ago.

Before its slow, recent makeover, Old City Philadelphia was always just covered with a think layer of grime, enough dirt under its fingernails to give it a bit of character and scare off the bridge and I-95 crowds. In the late 80s and early 90s, the area between Front and 4th running east-west and Race to Chestnut running north-south was full of off-price discount stores, like the AMAZING Store, where I bought surplus Howard Johnson ashtrays. There were grungy bodegas, a few art galleries, Third Street Jazz and Rock, Food Tek, and a few bars. At night, the area was deserted except for around the Khyber Pass on 2nd Street, and Revival on 3rd. (Revival is loooong gone, but the Khyber is still alive and well.) What is now the swanky Continental was a gross, disgusting diner that even I wouldn't eat at. There were punk shows on the second floor of Nick's Roast Beef and strong margaritas at Mexican Post (which is still there, but not just gone downhill, but fallen off a cliff).

Not to romanticize too much, but there was a sense of ... something ... there that is long gone, now filled with expensive bistros and restaurants, not to mention guido and woo-girl bars.

Now, I'm not totally opposed to some of the changes that have come to Old City, especially the retail. There are some truly unique, independent stores along N. 2nd and 3rd, including Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, my regular comic store Brave New Worlds, and the clothing store Lost + Found. Some of the old-timers continue to hang on as well, like some of surplus stores that sell socks, hats, and other items in bulk to street vendors; also a few of the restaurant supply stores seem to be there to stay. However, there's also a Starbucks at 3rd and Arch, way too many martini bars, and three upscale Stephen Starr restaurants. And if the new owner of the corner block of the former Shirt Corner gets his way (and the building is not declared historic although it was built in the 1850s), there is a very good chance that it will be torn down (or converted) and rented to a large retail or restaurant chain.

I can see most of the Shirt Corner building from my office window. While some people feel it is an eyesore (check out the comments section of the story in the Inquirer), I've always loved the bold colors and huge, oversized lettering. It's completely different than some of these boutiques and bistros who just stencil their name two inches high in the bottom corner of their front window. This store leaves no doubt to what it sells (shirts and more actually) and where it's located (on the corner). I've always been a fan of buildings with signs painted on their sides. The few that are left in Philadelphia are disappearing daily. It's going to be depressing if I have to watch the Shirt Corner slowly be torn down and replaced with a California Pizza Kitchen or a Rainforest Cafe.

At least Suit Corner (SW corner of 3rd & Market) will survive... for now.


(Photos taken by me in February 2007.)

Stockholm Syndrome.

As mentioned previously, I am an unabashed IKEA fan. The design, the products, the names, I've been in love the the total IKEA package for twenty years, since signing the lease on my first apartment. I'm lucky enough to live within short driving distance of two fairly new IKEA stores, and never consider "going to IKEA" as a tedious chore, like "going to the Home Depot" or "going to the grocery". (Of course, I avoid going on weekend afternoons, when it does have the tendency to descend into one of the inner rings of hell.)

This past weekend Mom asked me if I could stop at IKEA and pick up some rolls of their heavy-duty plastic shelf liner, RATIONELL VARIERA, before I visited her. (Actually, did the whole "I don't want to bother you, but maybe, someday, if you're driving past IKEA and maybe have some time, you could stop in and pick me up some of that shelf liner if it's not too much trouble, but only if you're going to be out that way..." spiel. Master of Guilt, stop pulling my strings.) I drive past one of the local IKEAs on the way home, so it is never a problem. Plus, it gives me an excuse to go and poke around the "Marketplace" area and see if any of the products can be hacked for other uses.

After snagging five rolls of RATIONELL VARIERA, I wandered around the Marketplace, browsing for IKEAhacks and other ideas. I couldn't resist picking up a small serving tray printed with elephants (dad collects elephant-related items), and checked out some of the marked-down storage boxes, new fabrics, and cheap dishes. Since I was in a hurry (and trying to save money), it was a fairly frugal trip, but I couldn't resist two additional items.

The first item was something the company should have invented many, many years ago. (Perhaps they did, but I just discovered it now.) It's the $1.99 TORX multi-tool, which consists of six different sized Allen wrenches and screwdrivers. While I usually do keep at least one Allen wrench in my toolbox, I'm less likely to misplace or lose track of something larger like this. Now, when the hell of moving time comes around, no longer will I be sweaty and crying and cursing that I can't find the #$%& Allen wrench to take apart the desk. (But I'll most likely be sweaty, crying, and cursing over something else moving-related.)

IKEA has sold their own branded line of food for many years, in addition to having fairly decent (and cheap!) cafeterias in the stores. Now, not only can you eat like a Swede, you can smell like one too! When I entered the Marketplace, the first thing I saw were large bins filled with brightly colored packages of various soaps, shampoos, conditioners, shower gel, and bar soaps. They didn't have any sample bottles opened for olfactory inspection, all the packages were hygienically sealed, and none of the bottles listed any sort of scent. However, for $2.99 I was willing to take a chance on the shower gel. The packaging is so detailed and pretty! I still haven't removed the protective seal to discover what it smells like. Swedish meatballs? Wood? Herring? The very essence of Ingvar Kamprad? Will I feel as if I am in an Ingmar Bergman film, scrubbing away my very soul and watching it spiral down the drain with the excess foam?

And since this is a post about IKEA, it gives me another chance to post open-source songwriter Jonathan Coulton's "IKEA" song, which I sing every time I drive past one of their stores:

Grab Neko's new single and help the fuzzy-footed (and the feathered)!

Neko Case's new album Middle Cyclone is due out on March 3, but you can download the first single "People Got a Lotta Nerve" now!

Also, if you have a blog, like Neko, and love animals, you can help out the Best Friends Animal Society by posting a link to the song download on your own blog. For every blog that posts a link to the download (or the imeem player widget), Neko and Anti- records will donate $5 to the Best Friends Animal Society.

Here's a link to download "People Got a Lotta Nerve".

And here's Neko saying "thank you!", with kitties! And puppies!

Now Available:SYNDICATE PRODUCT 14:SYNDICATE CONSUMPTION 2008

Now available in the SPCHQ Etsy Store!
From the introduction:

After publishing reading logs in 2005 and 2008 under the title "Time Enough At Last", early in 2008 I began logging all my media consumption completely as possible. When December arrived, I faced an organizational conundrum.

Much like WALL-E debating where to place the spork he collected (With forks? With spoons?*), deciding how to arrange this consumption log was fraught with struggle. Should it be arranged by type of media consumed or date it was consumed? If by type, where do graphic novels go - books or comics? What about graphic novels that are collections of previously published comic issues? Is watching a movie on DVD the same as watching it a movie theater? What about movies on broadcast television or cable? Are television episodes on DVD still television? The ways the collection could be divided was requiring more analysis than really necessary.

I kept the log chronologically during the year, so therefore this zine is arranged monthly. The only exception is "Television", which has its own section.

Notes on nomenclature: All comics, graphic novels, minicomix, and collected books of individual comics are all labeled "S.A." for "sequential art". The term "sequential art" was first defined by Will Eisner as "...the arrangement of pictures or images and words to narrate a story or dramatize an idea" (in Eisner’s Comics and Sequential Art, 1985). "Film" is used to label motion pictures viewed in a theater, on DVD or videotape, or through coaxial cable. "Music" includes live, recorded, and streaming forms.

Hopefully you'll find some reading, listening, and viewing recommendations. Follow my media diet at Syndicate Consumption.

* After some deliberation, WALL-E placed the spork between the individual containers holding the fork and spoon collections.

Resolved. (Updates)

There has been an appalling lack of posts here on SPCHQ since the beginning of ’09. I’ve been dedicating all of my non-work time to the next issue of the zine, SYNDICATE PRODUCT 14: SYNDICATE CONSUMPTION 2008, which will be available by the end of the week.

So, for lack of any better subject, here’s an update on Resolved:

(1) Stop reading blogs and Twitterfeeds of people who irritate me. (More difficult than you would think it would be! Doing this one day at a time.)
UPDATE: For the most part I’ve been keeping this resolution. This past Saturday I did slip up and look at an irritating Twitter feed, but it was largely unintelligible since they use Twitter as an instant messenger, not as a microblog. However, I haven’t looked at any actual blogs on my “Stop reading this because it irritates you” list yet.

(2) Floss. (I say this every year, and usually do it until about February.)
UPDATE: Haven’t been doing this as much as I should.

(3) Create one mix a month, even if it's just a themed playlist for the MP3 player.
UPDATE: Ideas scribbled down as I listen to my collection on “shuffle”. Seriously considering a variation on Noel Murphy’s Popless project from 2008, in which he didn’t listen to any newly released music all year, but instead worked through his hard drive from A to Z. I don’t think I could get through a year without listening to any new music, but I am considering an intensive trip through the 100+ GB of music I’ve collected over the years. He estimates that he listened to between 700 and 1000 songs a week, but I don’t have anywhere near that many tracks.

(4) Work on reading through the book backlog that's been building up for years, thanks to library sales, trash picking, and swapping services like Bookmooch. (Not like it will keep me from library sales, but still...)
UPDATE: Small inroads toward this. Currently reading Schulz and Peanuts, which I purchased last year, but was waiting for the right time to read. However, since January 1 I’ve already purchased one new book with a gift card (What Is It? by Lynda Barry), and Bookmooched another (The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon).

(5) Instead of bolting from town as soon as it hits 5PM, stay around for a book reading, art opening, or lecture at least once a month.
UPDATE: Stayed in town once last week, and may hit a reading of Yes Means Yes at the former Robin’s Bookstore later this week. It’s been too cold to really hang around much, and things are still slow from the holidays.

Resolved, additionally:

(6) Get back on the @#$&damn treadmill. I never lose any weight, but I sleep so much better when I use it, and my sleep has been the shit lately.

(7) Scoop the cat box on odd-numbered days to keep it from developing into a Superfund Cleanup site. I’ve been good this one as well.

OMG!! das Kätzchen!!

And OMG!!! The cat has fuzzyboots! Hi, Sargent Fuzzyboots!

I found the answer!

To life, the universe, and everything!

Plus, a corollary!

Resolved.

(1) Stop reading blogs and Twitterfeeds of people who irritate me. (More difficult than you would think it would be! Doing this one day at a time.)

(2) Floss. (I say this every year, and usually do it until about February.)

(3) Create one mix a month, even if it's just a themed playlist for the MP3 player.

(4) Work on reading through the book backlog that's been building up for years, thanks to library sales, trash picking, and swapping services like Bookmooch. (Not like it will keep me from library sales, but still...)

(5) Instead of bolting from town as soon as it hits 5PM, stay around for a book reading, art opening, or lecture at least once a month.