Capn Design

January 2009

This month I posted 20 entries, crafted 25 tweets, listened to 363 songs, watched 15 videos, bookmarked 6 sites, took 7 photos and favorited 6 things.

Video: Backflip on a Big Wheel

Holy jeebus. That ruled. [via bb gadgets]

Riding the Shark

Posted January 31, 2009

Tonight, after dinner, we discussed the ridiculousness of Frogurt and other Lost minutiae. The more we talked the more it became clear how close Lost has come to jumping the shark.

The back of my brain turned on briefly — it does that from time to time — and spouted out this gem, "riding the shark". If the graph of a show's quality were to peak right before it went off the deep end, that would be the the shark's dorsal fin and Lost is right on top of it.

To be clear, this is a good thing. Success definitely plays a role, as riding the shark is kind of a fuck you to less successful shows. "What, you don't have a smoke monster or warm-weather polar bears and you're only pulling in 2.3 rating? Watch me move this island, pussies."

Like the rest of the world, I'm nervous they won't be able to keep their balance until the end of season six. Once you commit to life on the back of a shark, getting off means you're in the water with an angry beast with three rows of teeth. You've got to ride that shark all the way home or be prepared to die trying.

The Most Effective Debt Collecting Email I Ever Wrote

I think we need to appeal to human sensibilities a lot more in business. I'm not saying we all have to hug it out, but there's no reason to avoid honesty and openness.

How the Yellow Line is Created in NFL TV Coverage

Gearing up for Super Bowl! [via kottke]

Video: Cadbury Eyebrows

Two funny looking kids and their dancing eyebrows. Occasionally, I wonder how the world would have received these fantastically insane videos 15 years ago. This is one of those times

Kayne's Sneakers from the Future

Posted January 26, 2009

Kanye's Shoes

Kanye is working on a new line of sneakers in conjunction with Louis Vuitton and I've been following the releases on Sneaker News. These newest sneakers, which were leaked yesterday, feel more like the McFly 2015s than anything else that's come before.

I also have a strong suspicion these shoes were created at the same time as my favorite song from the new album, "Robocop". If I close my eyes, I can see Kanye wearing these shoes and a Tron helmet while eating a bowl of buttered popcorn and listening to "Robocop" at full volume. Love hurts and time (travel) heals all wounds.

The Atlantic Yards Plans Now Look Hideous

Brownstoner posted the original plans versues the current ones. I was once thoroughly excited for the new Atlantic Yards and their fresh design, but these are flat out boring. Brooklyn does not need this.

Bacon of the Month: Vande Rose Farms

Posted January 22, 2009

BOTM: Vande Rose Farms

As a wedding gift, Jori and I were given a subscription to Grateful Palate's Bacon of the Month Club. Sure, the internet is overrun by bacon, but that doesn't make it any less delicious. In other words, we were excited.

BOTM: Vande Rose FarmsEach month you get a package of bacon shipped to you with a card that explains the bacon's flavor profile and its producer's origins. This card also had quotes from Danny Meyer and David Chang, extolling the virtues of Vande Rose Farms' bacon. Danny said, "My Favorite. Lovely appearance, exquisite balance, remarkable meat. All this needs is a fork and knife. 4 oinks."

Personally, I found the bacon to be delicious. It was salty, flavorful and super smoky. I also enjoyed the thick cut, which let you feel like you're really eating a piece of meat. My only complaint would be that it was a little too fatty. It made it tough to cook evenly. I don't know what scale Danny Meyer is using, but I'd probably give it 4 oinks out of 5.

Here are all the pictures I took of this batch and I'll be adding photos each month to this photoset.

Melt-in-the-Mouth Cookies, a Family History

A man retells his attempt at finding the origin of a favorite family recipe in explicit detail. This is the kind of detective work I enjoy. I'm sure they'll be a CSI spinoff of this nature soon.

Ben Hoffman Yucks it Up at CES

CES was boring this year. Ben's report for Current provides a few laughs. [via BB Gadgets]

Henceforth, I Shall Call it the Feast of the Circumcision

Posted January 19, 2009

As I enjoyed my days off around New Year's, I wondered why the first of January started the year. It turned out this happened to be the day two Roman counsels were appointed and it stuck. I didn't realize this wasn't fully adopted until the 18th Century.

It shouldn't be surprising that the date went back and forth in the Western world as a result of religion. The Wikipedia entry for New Year's Day explains England's new year's history, which puts a different spin on why January 1st is the first day of the year:

Most countries in Western Europe officially adopted January 1 as New Year's Day somewhat before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. The Feast of the Annunciation, March 25 (9 months before December 25), was the first day of the new year in England until the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752. The March 25th date was called Annunciation Style; the January 1 date was called Circumcision Style, because this was the date of the Feast of the Circumcision, being the eighth day counting from December 25.
Access Your Protected Feeds Using the Netflix API

There's a whole lot of copying and pasting, but I'm super excited about having access to these new feeds. Time to write some Action Streams plug-ins.

OMG It's a Hamburger Bed

My first born child will sleep in a hamburger.

Feltron's Annual (Personal) Report for 2008

Every year, this is fabulous. At this point I just want to see how he catalogs all the data. Lemme see the system!

NBA Basketball Team Heat Maps

The maps graph wins over losses, as well as the strength of the win or loss, over 5 years. At the bottom of each season it shows the team's most used players. [via infosthetics]

Things Our Friends Have Written on the Internet

Two guys, Ben and Russell, printed their favorite blog posts from 2008 on broadsheet newsprint. You can request a copy here.

The Fall's Title Sequence

This is breathtaking and I just added it to my queue as a result. While I'm add it, here's the title sequence for Ginger Snaps, one of my favorite horror movies.

How Porsche Hacked the Financial Industry

A well-told explanation about how Porsche made $10 billion on a short squeeze. [via give me something to read]

New Year, New MT

Posted January 2, 2009

After an embarrassingly long period of time, I updated Capn Design to MT 4.23 tonight. It was tempting to jump straight to the latest Motion beta, but I decided one major change was enough for now. Of course, I did get Action Streams set up so I can start collecting data. This is step one and two in my plan for world domination.

Writing this notice reminds me that I never told you, dear readers, that I've been an employee of Six Apart since last April. I was with Apperceptive from November 2006 until 6A acquired us a year and a half later and we became Six Apart Services. I could wax poetic about how awesome it's been and how the 2002 version of me would be incredibly giddy, but this is a news post; I wouldn't want to sully it with any kind of emotion.

So what am I going to be up to this year? Last year was predefined by my wedding, but this year's completely open and I'm excited by that. I'm looking forward to tackling lots of small projects, with this site being one of them.

Buzzwords of 2008

The words alone are enough, but the typography made it a must-post.

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