Sunday, January 26, 2014

2013 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster















New York Times - "What I Discovered on My Flash Drive"


"...the half-million-dollar beast of a sports car...resembles a growling alien insect.

I’ve mostly owned rusted-out Jeeps and Volvos, the nondescript Carhartts and Levi’s of the automotive world. I’ve long assured myself that I don’t really care what I drive. But then I put Hattie, my daughter, into the Aventador’s passenger seat and we roared home along the roads of rural western New Jersey, where we live. At the tap of the gas pedal, the landscape turned into a smear. So this is what a 691-horsepower engine feels like. The sensation was akin to (as another writer has put it) horizontal bungee jumping.

...

The automotive press has fallen hard for the Aventador in both of its iterations. Motor Trend said the original was “the friendliest V12 supercar in the world.” Car and Driver called the roadster “the best Lamborghini ever.” The guys on BBC’s “Top Gear” didn’t just name the original Aventador the best supercar of 2011, they raced it down a runway against an F-16 fighter jet. (The car won.)














Airliners take off at 140 to 180 m.p.h. It’s not a joke to suggest that this car, which does 200 m.p.h. without thinking hard about it, could get airborne.

The Aventador is an intuitive monster to drive. I got the hang of it almost immediately. It has paddle gear shifters on either side of the steering wheel. The all-wheel drive grips the road the way a lizard grips the side of a tree.

...

It gets about 12 m.p.g. in combined city-highway driving. A 2013 survey found it to be the most fuel-inefficient car on the planet. The annual gas bill was estimated at more than $5,000.

...

I’d never own one, even if I could. But I miss it already."

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Spike Jonze's Reddit AMA



















Reddit - "Long time lurker, first time commenter. Spike Jonze here, ask me anything."

"D.A.F.T. was a collection of music videos from their first album, and I directed the first video from that album, and it was "Da Funk." And it was amazing because when I met them, they were probably 22 years old, they made the album in their bedroom (their first album was "Homework"), and they just were so fully formed and knew who they were. They knew they didn't want to sign a major label deal that gave away all their rights to a major corporation. They have always kept control and the rights to everything they've ever done, and followed just what interested them. They are very genuine and sweet men, and obviously musical geniuses."

"Someone asked and deleted their comment "If you had a portal into someone else's head ala Being John Malkovich, whose head would you choose and why? ..." I am curious what it would be like inside George W. Bush's head. I find him kind of sweet and sad. Have you seen his paintings? 15 minutes would probably be enough though."

"The mustache and the name Theodore and the pants came from the idea that oftentimes fashion and naming children and style goes in cycles, and having elements from the 1920's come back in style seemed like an interesting way to create the future. And Theodore and his mustache came from Theodore Roosevelt. Sarah Vowell loves Theodore Roosevelt and talks about him a lot."

"*Lastly, what are some of your favourite animated movies?"
"The first one I thought of was WALL-E. Who Framed Roger Rabbit, probably most of Pixar's stuff, Pixar's an amazing company, where creative really comes first. It's really unique to see a company that big whose decisions are driven so creatively."

"I'm not sure when I will do any more acting but thank you. And yes, definitely, I learned from Scorsese even though I was only there for a day. The way he shot was he had a plan for the day but then was willing to throw it all out and move very effortlessly. That movie has such a balls-out energy and the way they got there was that exact process of how they made it, which was incredibly loose and incredibly confidently improvisational as a director. I think I would be too nervous on any movie to be making decisions that big in the moment. Very inspiring."

Hero-Glyphics





































































More by Josh Lane.

Ranking the Best Players in Super Bowl XLVIII
























According to Mike Sando and Matt Williamson of ESPN Insider.

1. Peyton Manning, QB, Broncos
2. Richard Sherman, CB, Seahawks
3. Earl Thomas, FS, Seahawks
4. Marshawn Lynch, RB, Seahawks
5. Demaryius Thomas, WR, Broncos
6. Percy Harvin, WR, Seahawks
7. Michael Bennett, DL, Seahawks
8. Russell Wilson, QB, Seahawks
9. Brandon Mebane, DT, Seahawks
10. Kam Chancellor, SS, Seahawks
11. Wes Welker, WR, Broncos
12. Bobby Wagner, MLB, Seahawks
13. Julius Thomas, TE, Broncos
14. Terrance "Pot Roast" Knighton, DT, Broncos
15. Russell Okung, LT, Seahawks
16. Louis Vasquez, G, Broncos
17. Cliff Avril, DE, Seahawks
18. Eric Decker, WR, Broncos
19. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB, Broncos
20. Red Bryant, DE, Seahawks
21. K.J. Wright, SLB, Seahawks
22. Max Unger, C, Seahawks
23. Orlando Franklin, RT, Broncos
24. Golden Tate, WR, Seahawks
25. Doug Baldwin, WR, Seahawks
26. Chris Clemons, DE, Seahawks
27. Manny Ramirez, C, Broncos
28. Tony McDaniel, DT, Seahawks
29. Bruce Irvin, LB, Seahawks
30. Knowshon Moreno, RB, Broncos
-----
33. Champ Bailey, CB, Broncos
52. Matt Prater, K, Broncos
53. Jermaine Kearse, WR, Seahawks
55. Steven Hauschka, K, Seahawks

Esquire's "1860s-Style Portraits" at the Sundance Film Festival

























Anna Kendrick
Mark Ruffalo
Kristen Stewart
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Flea
And more by Victoria Will


Monday, January 20, 2014

The Return of the Dunk Contest?




CBS Sports - "Pacers' Paul George hasn't declined dunk contest, wants competition"

LeBron?

Richard Sherman



"People are like oh man the best corners man; nobody throws to their side. You're not the best corner if no one is throwing to their side. Because the best corners get picks. And they get picks because the bait quarterbacks into throwing to their side. Showing them exactly what they want to see. They want to see a picture of me closer to the number 1 receiver or the number 2 receiver. I will give them that at the snap. But, the time the ball comes out I'll be where I intended be. So I given him what he thinks he sees and he throws it and he's like you sneaky sneaky."

Deadspin - "A Guide To Richard Sherman, Your New Favorite NFL Player"

Saturday, January 18, 2014

The Retrospect and Return of Outkast





















Pitchfork - "Atlanta to Atlantis: An Outkast Retrospective"

Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik
ATLiens
Aquemini
Stankonia
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Idlewild

"You can spot their influence across contemporary music: Kendrick Lamar, Cee-Lo, Curren$y, B.o.B., Big K.R.I.T., Janelle Monáe, even Tyler, the Creator. Andre defined the idea of the eccentric genius for a generation. Yet OutKast is inimitable. There is no blueprint or trail of crumbs. You listen to their records and wonder how they did it. It’s like visiting the pyramids and concluding that they had to be the handiwork of aliens."

















Billboard - "Outkast Announce Tour of Over 40 Festivals"

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Favorite Movies of 2013 (in some order)





















































A good year for movies. Apologies for not having seen:
Frances Ha, Nebraska, Fruitvale Station, Lee Daniels' The Butler, Captain Phillips, Blue Jasmine, Before Midnight, All is Lost, Mud, Dallas Buyer's Club, The Act of Killing.

Previously,
Favorite Movies of 2012 (in some order)
Favorite Movies of 2011 (in some particular order)
Favorite Movies of 2010 (in no particular order)

Mrs. Wolf of Wall Street (from Australia)















New York Times - "Acting Tips From Mrs. Wolf of Wall Street (Hint: Get a Flask)" 

"Ms. Margot Robbie, who auditioned several times to win the part, worked with an acting coach to rid herself of her initial dislike of the character. As written, “she seems like a gold-digging slut, to be honest,” Ms. Robbie said. But her coach, Nancy Banks, helped her out of her judgment and into a proper outer-borough accent."

"She also met with the real-life inspiration for the character, a former model named Nadine Caridi, and other women who followed the same trajectory. “Had I not met them, I would’ve thought that the character I was doing in the film was so melodramatic and so unrealistic,” she said, “but then once I meet them it’s like, ‘Wow, I’m doing a dulled-down version of this.’”

The U.S. Alcohol Politics Chart






























Washington Post - "What your beer says about your politics, in one chart"

Worldwide Scotch Consumption






















Quartz - "Who’s drinking the world’s Scotch whisky"



Neighbors



May 8, 2014
Directed by Nicholas Stoller
Starring Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Dave Franco, Rose Byrne

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

The NHL Winter Classic


















105,491 hockey fans watched the Detroit Red Wings play the Toronto Maple Leafs today at the University of Michigan's Big House in 13 degree weather. The world record largest hockey crowd.

Deadspin - "The Winter Classic Looks Awesome As Always"
ESPN - "Leafs drop Wings in shootout in front of record 105,491 at Big House"

















The New York Times Dialect Survey

















New York Times - "How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk"