shotgun stories

i haven't even seen this film yet and i'm putting the novel designs names behind it because it has one of the best poster/trailer combos i've ever seen. plus david gordon green is a producer on it. try to see it while it's still in theaters.

from the top of the mountain to the rock and sand

new addition to the novel designs hq wall space. by matt irving. this definitely evokes the pacific coast to me. all it's missing is a little dude wave sliding one of those gorgeous green blue yellow waves.

baby you can walk, you can talk just like me

had a laugh with dbsmith today about david byrne's idiosyncratic linguistic habits. novel designs should probably avoid referring to pitchfork, but these quotes of his that appeared in a recent article are just too good to pass up so i went about tracking down some other quintessential byrne quotes from his recent trip to LA. here are three favorites:



on the LA tar pits: as you approach the museum complex from the east, one of the pits is plainly visible — a small black lake can be seen just off wilshire blvd. a white statue of a struggling wooly mammoth sits within it. the animal is depicted lurching and crying out, so we can imagine the theoretical scenario.

on lionel richie playing while people eat dessert at an opening: afterwards, lionel richie, nicole’s “father”, takes the stage and sings about being easy like sunday morning. I head to the restrooms.

on silverlake: as we eat, the couple next to us are chatting while busy knitting. both of them! the coffees we have later at intellegencia are incredible. this seems to be common knowledge — the place is filled with hipsters waiting patiently to order.

update: flickr novel designs

added a few more photos to the novel designs flickr gallery.
higlights from this roll of 35mm:

happenings.

the MOCA is re-inventing allan kaprow's performance works from the late 50s and 60s in a series called "art is life". this weekend, "fluids" was recreated at sites across the city. you can check out kaprow's "environments" at the museum.

i actually happened to catch "drag" (see below) while at usc's campus a couple weeks ago. i assumed it was to raise awareness for some cause, but when i asked what was going on, the student said "it's an art thing" and wouldn't elaborate.

a shower with cold water. running. constantly.

the guys from human giant noted their favorite online web series and pretty much mentioned every one worth watching (with the exception of the wizard/genius ouevre).

the michael showalter showalter is always next level. here are two of my favorites, coincidentally, the latest and the earliest

the man in the green mask stars in tiny hands. in this episode nick swardson and david cross guest star and it's shot at the built by wendy store in nyc. in other words there's so much awesomeness in this one video you run the risk of an awesomeness overdose watching it:

AtomFilms.com: Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | Comedy Central

and i was so happy that i invented peanut butter

tomorrow night kicks off an excellent week of music in some unusual locations.

4/25: local fave no age and brooklyn's yeasayer will play the ukrainian culture center (located at the corner of melrose and heliotrope). stop by scoops around the corner to buy tickets and delicious vegan ice cream the night of.



no age - eraser

4/26: coachella. saturday's mojave tent should be pretty sweet: man man, mgmt, islands, and animal collective. will try to make it past 10 pm this year.



4/28: she & him at vista theatre


5/2: the dodos at the natural history museum

we yearn for brooklyn daily

and this doesn't help us feel like we're not missing out:


the brooklyn literary one hundred

the inevitable and inevitably on point nymag reaction

art-decko

hand painted, hand shaped decks by chris miller.

that does sound like the name of a pavement song.

pan tostado has contributed a hilarious post to madame lamb today which makes me want to go home and play with the blossoming novel designs record collection.

i am a particular fan of this one (anything with kris kristofferson is cool in my book)

hands down worst coupon ever

seriously?

malizoo

found by mollusk, these old school malibu surf vids are a blast to watch. soul surfing at its best.

sue the neighbours. i love you.

dan kennedy has been writing for mcsweeneys for years knocking out consistently brilliant material. he recently put out a book about working at atlantic records while the music industry scrambled to stay afloat. its a great read but nothing compares to what he's contributed online.

here are three of my favorite:

KIDS SAY THE DARNEDEST THINGS.

SILLY THINGS MY 3-YEAR-OLD SAID THAT I'M CERTAIN THE REST OF THE WORLD WOULD FIND SWEET AND CUTE.

TRULY GROUNDBREAKING ADVERTISING IDEAS.


addendum:
i think this is my favorite mcsweeneys internet tendency entry of all time. sadly not by dan kennedy. but worthy of inclusion:

HOW I ENVISIONED MY ADULT WORKWEEK WHEN I WAS 6 YEARS OLD.

novel designs flickr update

posted some new pics on the flickr gallery

we're into bands that don't even exist yet.

get to know:




crystal stilts are apparently blowing up, now getting the pitchfork sign of approval

cap cracked an egg of knowledge all over your face about these guys not so long ago. classic novel designs move.

"Neither a Rat Pack-styled slickster on crutches nor a Devendra Banhart tribute (that I know of), "Crippled Croon" is a song by Brooklyn band Crystal Stilts, who pour a ton of reverb over rudimentary girl-group drums, surf-inflected guitars, and post-punk's haunted aloofness." surprisingly little mention of joy division is made.

they're made of flour, milk and, uh, whole eggs.

lest ye forget, this earth is 70% water, so i celebrated earth day by surfing. for those unfamiliar with this sport and its equipment please refer to the informational video below. special guest appearance: 0:48.

earth day now!

happy earth day readers. here at novel designs, we celebrated by taking a trip up to topanga

the marshall brothers (aka boys behind gonz) celebrated earth day (and "no rules sunday") by taping a radio show with special guest travis graves from mt.egypt and frequent appearances by their mom. enjoy!

throwaway lines often ring true.

the new york correspondance school

the documentary "how to draw a bunny" recounts the mysterious suicide of ray johnson, an artist whose work helped launch the pop art and mail art movements. in 1962, johnson founded "the new york correspondance school," encouraging recipients to add to his artwork, often collages incorporating found art. he chose to kill the school by mailing an obituary to the new york times in 1973, but later reincarnated it as the "buda ray university."

celebrate record store day.

crown royal, good idea

ha lf ha lf

certainly one of the coolest, most straightforward lomoblogs out there.








this guy is somehow connected to the venice mollusk crew as shown by the presence of bandito brett

art-decko

western edition. painted ladies series.

i wrote a joke too...well, um, i read it in a book

a '95 letterman interview with harmony korine and an '83 interview with david byrne. its fascinating to imagine harmony writing the film "kids" not too long before this (not to mention larry clark picking him out on the street and asking him to do it). even more so i am intrigued by the similarities between these two interviewees. harmony is awkward and nervous so he stammers and speaks candidly (mclovin'-esque voice cracks?), but db's a full grown absurd human being. (there's also the not unlikely possibility that they both made nice with mr. frosty prior to taking the stage). makes me look forward to "mister lonely" and further pondering a byrne-korine connective thread of some sort. watch for the finger point and preemptive hand shake harmony tosses out at around 4:45. special.

i will go somewhere and mail you something from there

this is pretty much the job description of david horvitz, who lives at 99 vernon ave #1 brooklyn, ny 11206. he is a 25-year old blogger/artist/world traveler. and he needs your help. from april 19- may 3, he will be putting on a exhibit (location tba but somewhere in los angeles) called "to a sunset in palos verdes." i coached a lacrosse game in palos verdes this past weekend and it seems to be an excellent sunset-viewing spot.

david has a bunch of other on-going projects. for example, he plans to take a picture of the sky every day for the rest of his life, and as part of this effort he will send you a photograph of the sky for every day in 2008. you can also subscribe online by sending an email with the subject "subscribe to a photograph of the sky everyday in 2008" to hikarusaru@gmail.com.



he's also been documenting bands such as xui xui, sunset rubdown, and handsome furs as part of his polaroid project and picture disc series:




here's some other stuff he's up to. and his flickr page.

what else? well, for the bargain price of $100, he will go to the small Okinawan island called Taketomi and send you an envelope filled with star-sand.