Mike Industries: “The ad shows a man and a woman, presumably about to have sex, with four other men at various levels of undress looking on. There’s no denying that the ad is extremely racy and people are well justified to be offended if strikes them negatively, but from a design perspective, I’m interested in *exactly* what elements of the ad push it over the line.” (via Corey Spring)
Month / March 2007
Ice Ages Are a Great Sartorial Motivator
New York Times: “If people first became nudists 3.3 million years ago, when did they start to wear clothes? Surprisingly, lice once again furnish the answer. Though humans may long have worn loose garments like animal skin cloaks, the first tailored clothing would have been close-fitting enough to tempt the head louse to expand its territory. It evolved a new variety, the body louse, with claws adapted for clinging to fabric, not hairs. In 2003, Mark Stoneking, a geneticist at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany, estimated from DNA differences that the body louse evolved from the head louse about 107,000 years ago. The first sewn clothes were presumably made shortly before this time.”
Who Knew That Mike Judge Was Into Leet?
Hands-On Science
The Sun: “Masturbating an elephant in the cause of science isn’t an easy job – just ask wildlife expert Dr Thomas Hildebrandt. Just touching a jumbo penis – they measure more than 1.5metres when aroused – can have painful consequences as German scientist Dr Hildebrandt reveals. He said: ‘One guy I know got a black eye from being hit by an elephant’s penis.'”
Can’t Miss Panel at the L.A. Times Festival of Books
The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is going down the weekend of Coachella. I won’t be there. (And I won’t be at Coachella either.) But if you can make it, Tod Goldberg is moderating a panel about books and blogging featuring none other than Carolyn Kellogg, Ron Hogan, and a gentleman by the name of Andrew Keen, who has written a book called The Cult of the Amateur, which describes “how the democratization of the digital world is assaulting our economy, our culture, and our values.” And here I was thinking that the fault could be leveled at the Bush Administration. But no matter.
This promises some serious fireworks, particularly with one of the Goldbergs at the helm.
As it so happens, I have obtained a pre-pub copy of Mr. Keen’s book and I plan to devote a future post on this subject.