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prior listings

 

• Adequacy.org 10/28/01 
  Description: News for grown-ups — a source of controversy — humor/satire site + discussion board.
  Comments: "There are a number of people who have opinions that don't quite fit the norm. Because of this, they aren't welcome many places. This is where they exercise their right to speak, where the dreams of tomorrow take flight today."  That sounds serious enough as I began reading the "mission statement."  But as I continue, and finish reading the next paragrah, I'm thinking "they didn't really say that, did they?" and feeling a little twinge in my neck, I keep reading.  "Aah... they were kidding" are my thoughts now and I'm thinking that was a well written twist — I tell myself "that must be the humor that Em mentioned" and giggle, heading back to the "front page."  I'm thinking about how I edited the description that Em submitted — when I see phrases that begin with things like "the web's premier..." in a site description, I get a little skeptical right off the bat and as I'm thinking about this, I see that an editor of one the entries refers to the site as "the most controversial... on the Internet."  Yikes!  Here's two of the editors (from a pretty long list) that have already gone for what I call the "big promo" and all I've done so far is read the submitted description and one entry.  It's dawns on me that the people in this community are rather enthusiastic — who cares about the big promo, anyway (hehe)?  I like enthusiastic people who get together via sites like today's pick.  Being highly controversial is something they're striving for and that does make for some interesting reading.  There's a certain tongue-in-cheek tone to many of the stories, but I think there's tons of intelligent points being made through it all — plenty of good discussions (and polls) going on and I like the way that posts are organized into "diaries."  The "Adequacy Shop" is a real gas, too — check the "meta page" for the special stuff like that.  "News for Grown-ups" — okay — I'll buy that...
   
• marywinn.com 10/26/01 
  Description: the art and design of Mary Winn (Flash)
  Comments: Version 7 of Mary's site followed a version she called "a big step" in her evolution as a designer — "it was the best of sites... it was the worst of sites."  In her comments about Version 1 in the "evolution" section, she explains that she had many sites before moving to her own domain — sounds like she's been doing this web stuff for a long time... Mary is 16-years-old.  She's actually on a bit of haitus from design right now — high school is keeping her busy and she warns that she'll be "working on projects rather than sites."  So, her "note out of boredom" written in August says not to "expect a new version anytime soon."  Geez, Mary — it's really okay!  You've put out 7 versions in the last few years and this one's really nice, so dontcha worry... do what you have to do.  In the meantime, we'll just enjoy all the nifty art and design in that portolio ("creation") of yours, not to mention "subliminal" and "the mind."  This is a classy visual site with personality — Mary's obviously overflowing with creativity and you can bet her temporary "goodbye" will eventually evolve into even greater accomplishments as a designer...  [elementum]
   
• Zen and Photography 10/25/01 
  Description: Unique site that examines the art of photography and its relationship to Zen.
  Comments: Today's pick, on one hand, represents a unique combination of talents.  Chris Greer, the designer, is just a few months away from achieving his Masters in Instructional Design and Technology.  John Greer, a student of Zen and Theravada Buddhism for 7 years, has been a photographer since he was 16-years-old and his picture tells me that's been a long time.  Lee Phelan, a film student at New York University, "has been an active photographer for over a decade."  On the other hand, today's pick respresents an interesting combination of disciplines — though they're not the first to recognize how the vision of Zen "has great relevance" to photography, they are obviously committed to driving the point home.  Their introductory content does an excellent job of explaining how they relate key concepts of Zen to the art of photography — it's definitely worth reading before you start viewing the many galleries.  They "had two goals in mind. First of all, [they] wished to find the magic and beauty in the ordinary. [Their] favorite subjects were objects and scenes that most often go unnoticed. Many of these things [they] walk past daily, without noticing the beautiful patterns and textures that they offer. Secondly, [they] wished to free [their] own eyes of preconception, and in doing so, produce work that enabled viewers to also see in fresh ways."  I think you'll be intrigued by this site, not only by the philosophy behind it, but by the photos themselves.  Leave your "baggage" at the door, if that's possible, and awaken your mind to the present — let the "magic of the ordinary" take over as you "focus on the moment" — that's something to shoot for, anyway...
   
• unapologetic 10/19/01 
  Description: my life and design, no apologies. law, music, design, and life in new orleans.
  Comments: "i collect things with an eye to someday using them in assemblage art pieces" explains Allen in a recent weblog entry about another site who said he is "generating his own found art" and called that "so postmodern."  What he actually says on his "about" page is that he "collects random junk in hopes of one day using it as found art" and I've got to agree that the "broken dishes, sticks, broken electronics, shells, foreign currency, scraps of paper, scraps of wood, scraps of metal" and other junk each do represent a piece of found art, not that Allen generated, but that he intends to use as components in new pieces of art.  So maybe they should have said "generating his own art using pieces of found art" which would have been more accurate.  Call me silly, but after reading Allen's intelligent entry and looking further, I found the issue rather thought provoking — I also found his weblog to be quite interesting in general after checking out some of the archives.  Allen's a lawyer who's redirecting his career towards web design and his site tells me he's making a credible choice. — bold color scheme with nice use of iframes and excellent table design.  Besides the weblog, he writes music reviews and has a "photo" section featuring "sets" from various places he and his friends have been.  The "portfolio is coming" and I'm hoping it will include some of that "found art" that he's collecting — and if not, no apologies needed...
   
• michael jang : photographer 10/17/01 
  Description: a pleasant surprise to most viewers of photographic websites (Flash)
  Comments: Michael Jang is obviously a professional, but his site seems more a showcase of his outstanding photography than it is a vehicle for promoting his business.  Sure — his "professional resume" with its impressive list of clients and celebrity photo subjects is a little on the business side of things, but since the extraordinairy content (and amount of it), beyond those shots he's taken professionally, is the prominent magic of the site and there are no sales pitches, list of services, etc., I'll consider it primarily non-commercial so you don't miss out on the magic.  I really like the photos and textual content of his piece about Cuba, and the gallery includes some interesting categories — cowboy, south, picnic, heroes, toxic, punk, premiere, jazz, and mix. Great photos and artistic presentation — this guy is good and his collaboration with artist/designer Jason Zada and several others has produced a real winner...
   
• nocommercialpotential.net 10/16/01 
  Description: an acknowledgement that the best parts of the web are those that will *never* make money and aren't designed to
  Comments: Today's pick comes from a "marginally employed graffickal design-o-tron" who actually owns a bowling ball.  What's really cool is that Phineas' favorite Barry Manilow album is mine, too, and we're both part of the same big army of designers looking for work in the "city of big shoulders."  Well — I was looking for work there until recently, anyway — I'm leaving "the windy" at the end of the month...  I guess I should say thanks to Bo for pointing to a new community for photographers in his news window — that's where I found out about Phineas' site.  If you want to understand a little about his motivation, his WTF page should shed some light.  If you doubt that he has a sense of humor, you may want to have a look at the consortium that owns him — I'm still trying to make sense of that most amusing sidetrack.  But if you like images — photos, collages, drawings, and sketches, etc., stay on Phineas' unprofitable webspace for a while because you're in for a real treat.  The "daily archive" of digital images goes back to beginning of May when he launched the site — looks like he hasn't missed a day — my kinda guy.  I also like the "easel archive" — an "experiment in recording the progress of drawings."  Phineas a/k/a Animus is super-design-art-photo-tron-tastic in my book — cya at the Copa...
   
• Ecce Lomo 10/15/01 
  Description: French website about lomography
  Comments: There's a picture in the "things" section of today's pick called "Hot Lines" that reminds me very much of a picture I took recently, both in composition and meaning.  His is a 200x136 Lomograph and mine a 640x480 photograph taken with a digital camera.  His shot is taken somewhere in France and mine, here in Illinois — both near our homes.  I hope he doesn't mind my linking directly to his photo to show the comparison — the meaning has to do with being connected and it appears we are.  He calls himself Ecce Lomo and his site is a nicely designed presentation of his Lomographic work — people, places, and things, plus a miscellaneous section where the pets live.  The "people" section shows family and friends and Ecce Lomo himself, while the other two sections provide his interesting perspective of the part of the world he resides in.  I think Lomography is cool and sites like today's pick make me wanna go out get a Lomo for myself...
   
• The BradLands 10/14/01 
  Description: an attempt to justify the time I spend online... an exercise in vanity... part newspage, part journal, substantially link-o-licious and definitely me
  Comments: Brad's outta town 'til the 17th, which is probably a good thing.  By the time he returns to find out his site was today's daily pick, the weekend will have passed and hopefully, he won't notice that he didn't get that much additional traffic from being linked here.  Though I pick a site every day, 7 days per week (now at 972 days in a row and counting), my traffic is much heavier Monday through Friday than it is on the weekend.  That's why I've been mentioning the weekend daily picks in the news during the week.  Anyway, you'll know that Brad's site was picked before he does — big deal!  Brad's entertaining personal site has around a long time.  I think he's one of limited number of web people who were "weblogging" before "blogger" and other similar tools became available (I could be mistaken on that).  Brad's a writer and admits that his site is not standards-compliant.  "If you are looking for cutting-edge web technology, please consider looking elsewhere. I am not a web designer, nor have I ever claimed to be."  That's fine with me, though, because I think he writes well — an interesting sense of humor and plenty to say about a number of things.  Check out the "Junk Drawer" to be amused — how many people do you know who actually bought a bottle of salad dressing for one of baseball's biggest stars?  I didn't think so.  And the "Words" section leads to some more of Brad's writing, though much of his work is not re-published on his site — "The rights to much of my feature writing, particularly for regional and national publications, are held by the original publishers and cannot be reproduced here."  Oh well — even without that stuff, there's ton's of content there for you — it's "Must-See HTTP://" ...
   
• jimmyowenns.com 10/5/01 
  Description: the work of Jimmy Owenns — artist without sexual identity (Flash)
  Comments: Thank a coolstop visitor for today's pick.  His name is Travis.
  
  
  
  "I've recently discovered a 20 years old French artist who literally dazzled me.  This young girl is truly talented. Her work is of a rare sensitivity and sensuality.  Her videos and photographs are splendid. One of her videos (Peau Nue) still haunts my spirit.  But perhaps you know already this artist.  She [is] known under the name of Jimmy Owenns and [her] last multimedia creation [is] enormous and really extraordinary!  It's a photographic diary with sensitive staging."
  
  
  
  Travis is right.  The video he mentioned is an interactive and emotive look at human form and expression, and another video called "Self-Portrait" is one of best studies of facial expression I've encountered.  And that photographic diary is as good as Travis made it seem — see the entry for 9/11 — though you'll need to wait for over 800k to load, the photos and presentation are well worth it.  Now that I've barely scratched the surface as to what you'll find at today's pick, do go there.  The site is available in English or French and Jimmy's work is profound.  Thanks Travis!
   
• GroupC 10/3/01 
  Description: installations exploring experimental interaction with images, reactive electromechanical sculpture, high resolution digital prints, and screen-based interactive software
  Comments: Today's pick features the work of Casey Reas, a recent Masters graduate of the MIT Media Laboratory, Aesthetics & Computation Group.  His major was Media Arts and Sciences and his work is highly academic on one hand, while simply visually pleasing on the other hand.  His installations have been exhibited at a number of places, both offline and online — some of his most recent stuff is currently featured at singlecell, which just happens to have been a daily pick back in July.  Simple machines, living organisms, biological systems, synthetic neural systems, behavior, and movement are the types of things that Casey looks into rather deeply — great colorful graphics, showing interesting variations in form and space are what I see, pure and simple.  Art and science seem perfectly combined in Casey's unique studies of media...  Newstoday®]
   
• the pixel-lab 10/2/01 
  Description: interactive web art, you can control (Java/Shockwave)
  Comments: Today's pick adds to the list of search results for the word "pixel" — if you're a regular visitor who reads this silly stuff, you know I'm collecting "pixel" sites.  So — now, a search for "pixel" in the portal cool zone will give you exactly two dozen sites to choose from — yeah, baby!  In today's case, the word is in the name of the site — so is the word "lab" and it's certainly appropriate.  A guy named Elout de Kok, living in Amsterdam, is behind today's pick and serves up an enormous assortment of interactive web-art pieces, using Java and Shockwave.  You'll have to be prepared to use your [back] button a little, though there is navigation back to the main page on many of the pages with smaller, non-resizable pieces.  Many of the pieces are scalable, so Elout does need to fill the window with them, the lack of navigation is understandable — my guess is that's he being sensitive to users who like to stay in one window, so his design choice, as far as navigation goes, does make sense.  If you like interactive color and motion, you'll like this site — you're in control and the diverse collection of "experiments" will keep you playin' for a long time.  There's also some great links and Elout even provides several simple Java applications along with source code for those who would know what to do with it.  Have fun... 
   
• Curious Media 10/1/01 
  Description: Flash 5 playground; toys, animations, experiments.
  Comments: Today's pick is a "Flash 5 playground" from a guy named Randy Jamison.  As far as Flash sites go, this one's superb — I've never seen a navigation menu like Randy's — the way your mouse uncovers the menu choices, literally pushing the cover up and out of the way is quite unique.  The "art" section is clearly my favorite.  Randy's both an artist and designer — his use of color and illustrative style is wonderful.  I also like the way you can zoom in on some of the pictures — nice touch.  In the "animation" section, there's a piece called "stick man" that's cool — seems the little guy lost his head, but in the end it's back in place, squarely on his shoulders — very simple and cute.  There's plenty of other stuff and it all adds up to being rather "curious" — just like the name implies...