The Brilliance!

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We’re really internet and we’re really back. A website about things Benjamin , Chuck , Virgil , and various friends & guests think are interesting. Little-to-no specific focus, a bit odd, speling errors, and incredibly culturally relevant.

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Pop Music! Madonna, Kanye, and Pharrell…

“Get down, beep-beep, better get up out of your seat…” I think Virgil and I were talking about the idea of ‘pop’ music a while back…about how we kind of wish ‘pop’ music was truly popular again. Like, what happened to jams on the radio? I mean, they do play jams on the radio…but the majority of truly ‘good’ music isn’t really played on the radio you know? Its more just been the cookie-cutter radio single stuff. Anyway…this track “Beat Goes On” by Madonna with production from Pharrell and guest feature Kanye is literally perfect. This is music EVERYONE can enjoy…anyone can dance to this, you know? It just sets the perfect tone for a good time. But beyond that…its really, really good music from really, really great iconic artists. That like…true pop music right? No flash-in-the-pan stuff on this track. Anyway, take a listen on Kanye’s blog below. ***And yeah, for the people who’ve emailed us, it is really awesome to be linked on Kanye’s blog…ha. Check out Ibn’s and Don C’s blog as well.

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Powers of Ten from the office of Charles and Ray Eames!

“The picnic near the lakeside in chicago is the start of a lazy afternoon…” Kind of weird that I haven’t posted this before…I actually watch if often when I need some inspiration or when I need to juice my imagination. First off…this was created in 1977. 1977!! Brilliantly done with the lack of pretty much 99% of the technology we have today. So cool. And, perhaps more important, its from the “office of Charles and Ray Eames…what more can be said? Multi-disciplinary and multi-visionary designers…this video is proof of the fact. The video itself, which you may have seen in High school, is just flooring to me…it never, never ceases to amaze me even after multiple watches. Needless to say, our universe is literally beyond comprehension. This video/film does such an amazing job of making the incomprehensibility of it somewhat comprehensible. The narration is great and the music…is just awesome, composed by Shawn Lane. Actually, if anyone has access somehow to the score/music from this film PLEASE hit me up…I’ve been trying to find it forever. So yeah…whenever you need a creative boost just zone out on this video for a while. It never seems to disappoint.

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Michael Bastian, get to know him!!!

The light bulb just went off in my head…these designer x “insert asseccible brand here” is whats really going to elevate American stand of design/fashion/style to European or Asian level. Michael Bastian to me is the next Ralph or something. The former mens fashion director turned designer is on his way to becoming a household name. Those are the designers I like to watch, the ones that don’t go to school for it, but have the knack for it. A fresh perspective he actually gave me. Super nice dude amazingly talented, fresh outlook on real American fashion. His last Fall collection says it all, traditional silhouettes with a modern Pop thing going on. He’s relaunching Bill Blass and still has time to knock out some amazing shirts for the Gap. Check them out. Its rare I’d get this excited over a dress shirt but I think thats my taste changing. Modern-western shirts…I am all in.

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Virgil is: still in Tokyo via NYC!!!

Its been a crazy string of fun events, I have no clue what day it is and what time it is back home, all I know is I left Chicago, bags fully packed and I have enough clean clothes to last me till tomorrow. Packing is half the battle. This work trip started out with a gang of fun at the Murakami art opening in Brooklyn. Highlight of that was seeing the bootleg ridden chinatown Canal Street leading into the actual building since Murakami’s print is the most bootlegged LV print…so cool seeing $3,000 bags on the ground. I appreciate seeing a huge brand like that have fun with their image in a satrical way. The event was fresh, seeing who could grab the most placemats after dinner was even part of the excitement. Next stop Tokyo…we landed and went straight to the Worldwide Bape Show. NER*D ripped the stage. Their double drummer and perfect energy makes for a super cool set. Their next album is gonna be something serious! Much of this week has been spent working day ‘n night. We did break away and eat dinner at Nobu. The food definitely lived up to the expectation, toasting Nigo with the same wine that Bape celebrated their grand opening with was something special too. Flickr time.

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Benjamin is: in NYC for the week!

For a little business and a little fun. It’s been a while since I’ve been in Manhattan. I don’t think it’ll ever get any less impressive…so immense. I’m actually at Gotham Hall right now as I type this. What a beautiful space. Yeah, so hit me up if there is anything interesting going on that I should know about…don’t really have any plans. That’s my post.

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Netflix: Rome: Engineering an Empire!

I rent documentaries from Netflix often. True story. I’ve taken quite an interest in Rome lately…figured I’d polish up on what I’ve forgotten from high school. While I’m no ‘buff’ on the topic, I thoroughly enjoyed watching “Rome: Engineering an Empire” last Sunday while enjoying a cold Coors Light. It’s pretty much unfathomable that these unbelievable structures were created so long ago, so precisely, so beautifully, and so quickly. I had no idea the Colosseum was built in 8-10 years. Thats just insane! The hospital they’re building up the street from me is going to take 4 years to complete. Now, granted, we don’t use slave labor of any sort, its pretty amazing that without any modern technology or modern tools…or even producing any pollution (!!) that something so massive could be created that quickly…and still be standing today. The stuff they cover in the DVD is pretty amazing…from the rise to the ruin of the Roman empire. I can’t say I find even 50% of what they did as a culture to be acceptable…quite an in-humane group of people…but wow, just amazing what they accomplished. Made me really want to visit Rome. So yeah, if you’re a Netflix user you should throw it on your queue instead of Beowulf. ***Ignore the negative nerd reviews…

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Pitchfork.tv launches!!!

It’s things like this that we love at The Brilliance. Nice site design, good quality videos (YouTube? Gonna catch up soon on that…??), good content, nice execution, and videos of Radiohead with Thom Yorke on drums. Pitchfork Media is notorious for its reviews and its year-end lists (Hey Nigel - think either of us will end up on the “Worst Covers of the Year” again here in 08? Ha…) but Pitchfork.tv seems like a fantastic extension of Pitchfork Media that can put any of the wits of the 0.0 reviews aside and focus on great content. Live performance videos, interviews, and behind-the-scenes looks at all sorts of amazingly talented acts. I LOVE that when you click the links in the top navigation row it keeps your video playing and slides the content sections over. Very smooth… I was watching this Liars video, wanting to look around the site more and thought I’d have to go back to the video to navigate back to where I was before I clicked away but really enjoyed that it just kept it there. Such a nice little touch. I love that good ideas are flowing strong in web design today. It’s great when media-rich sites are simple, good looking, and friendly to use…I don’t think that’s an easy thing to pull off by any means. And it doesn’t hurt that they kicked off with Radiohead, Liars, and the Pixies either…Anyways, well done Pitchfork. I’m impressed.

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Urban, 3D, farms!

I guess all farms are ‘3D’ by nature…but it makes the title a bit more interesting right? An interesting article on the Web Urbanist blog prompted my posting of this…the article talks about the concept of having actual farms in dense urban areas, but instead of the typical land mass that a farm today requires these ones would require very little by simply going up. Skyscraper acres if you will. Wow, I just came up with that…you heard it here first, ha. If anything, its just a fun concept to think about. And the pictures in the article certainly jog the imagination. The idea of a 100 story building that essentially doesn’t have walls and each ‘floor’ is an acre of corn, or soy bean, or potatoes, or lettuce, etc…with all sorts of clever ways to get the plants sunlight, water, etc. I love thinking about it just from an engineering standpoint. Lots of interesting potential benefits too: job creation in distressed urban areas, less transportation from the ‘field’ to the market/store, and fresher air maybe? All sorts of good stuff. Plus, doesn’t it seem like that would get us back into the ‘village community’ style way of living a bit more? The farms and the town all in one area…and in a much denser area. Seems like we could leave more of the earth ‘unspoiled’ by concentrating things a bit. Hmm…it sure would look crazy. Half the skyline of a city would be farms…ha, quite the the thought. It’s interesting, the first time I ever considered ‘stacked’ fields was during a conversation with my brother-in-law about how production of E85 fuel might prompt engineers to figure out ways to get more from an acre than just an acre…naturally stacking things comes to mind. Anyway, interesting article…interesting thing to think about. ***I can just see like a whole new genre of those city-hipster-hippie types…farming plays so well with their aesthetic, you know? Like, now you can have a loft AND be a farmer. Skin tight farmer overalls are about to be the next big thing, ha.

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A great Reference Library!!!

I am not gonna lie…I need to step up my interior design game. The ability style ones place it just as fun as styling oneself. But I am still standing by my excuse that I am pretty much never at my place for more than quick stints of time. That’s still a lame excuse, I know. This realization is all stemming from this cool blog I stumbled across called the Reference Library…and that it is. A bunch of cool vintage pieces that I would never think to search for. I am super jealous of anyone that can use ebay effectively like this. This guy has mastered that vintage aesthetic that can take traditional or modern decor to that other level you always see in the magazines. I love everything about this blog, the typography, the voice its written in, the nostalgia. It’s funny cause if you look at my taste “Vintage/thrift store-dusty” stuff isn’t necessarily my thing, but nostalgia definitely is.

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Muxtape! 2 things.

Like this app needs anymore press you know? Sheesh, everyone is vouching for this thing…like everyone. 2 things. #1 - Love the concept and execution. So simple…I love simple things. How many times have you been like ‘hey, I’ll throw a mix tape together for you’ and then you never follow thru with it cause you actually have to get a CDR, etc…or you have actually throw everything in a folder and send it over via senduit.com (my favorite). Those are nice, and then you have the music…but, what about house parties, etc? You don’t have all your music with you, so just make a couple ‘Muxtapes’ and pull them up when you get to the house or whatever…you know? I probably could of thought of better examples than that, ha. Whatever, its a really, really great app…works well. And I like it. #2 - The design…is awesome. Really, really beautiful and simple. Like Jason from 37signals said: “you-can’t-mess-this-up design” or something like that. It’s just dead simple…an example of form following function. I seriously can’t get enough of sites that work/look/feel like this. Give me more! #3 (bonus) - Muxtape made me realize how much it can suck to have DRMed music. I couldn’t upload like 75% of the music wanted to because I bought it on iTunes. What the hell is going on with the “music industry” right now…honestly, 18 months from now, where will we be? Anyway, enjoy the Muxtape I made below. ***I love, LOVE, how it doesn’t have some goofy flash embeddable player…or an embeddable player of any kind. I just don’t like them.