The Brilliance!

HTTP://WWW.THEBRILLIANCE.COM

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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Deep Thoughts

Wow been a while huh? I think too hard sometimes when I want to make a post. I forget to just have fun and talk about what I want. So without further ado…

-Anybody else check the Drudge Report on a constant basis throughout the day? I really like to keep up on news and Drudge is how I do it…but I think deep down inside I just love the times I go there and get to see the awesome Drudge siren up top. Makes my day. Silly sensationalism at its best.
-I’m about to go watch Mike Mills’ “Thumbsucker.” I hope it’s good.
-I’ve been listening to less hip-hop lately and a lot more Tortoise, Thelonious Monk of course, and M83. It’s a nice mix. Especially when I splash a little Matchbox 20 or Creed in there, or occassionally if I’m feeling crazy I get down with some Lit. Remember Lit? I liked them a LOT in freshman year of high school.
-Is it just me or is Settlers of Catan the single most enjoyable and fun board game of all time? Completely geeky, I know, but I was introduced to it by some friends and it is fun. Next up? Collecting Yu-Gi-Oh cards.
-Surprised we didn’t make a whole post about this but the new stuff Apple put out, not that this is news, but it’s terrible. That big iCinderBlock they put out…yikes. And those $100 leather cases? Fendi makes one that’s cheaper. Explain that.
-I recently got some Nike iD Air 180’s and they’re really comfortable. We never talk about shoes on here because, well, neither of us are really much about the whole sneaker thing, plus HypeBeast has it locked down anyways, but while we’re at it I’ll just say I endorse these 180’s, Adidas Sambas, flip-flops when it’s warm out, and anything Vans. I do not however endorse those Nikes that are sneakers but there’s a separation for your big toe. You know what I’m talking about? Are you thinking ‘Ha. Yes.’ ? Well you should be.

That’s that. It’s 2AM and I have to go to bed now because I’ve gotten awful sleep all this past week. Gnarly! Bye!

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Origami?

See I’m pro-positive. I don’t like stir up any amount of negativity. But I kind of felt like doing a quick write up on this new ‘Origami’ product Microsoft is launching. First of all, it’s really just not a good product…but that’s just an opinion. I mean, I think it does have a very innovative keyboard, the idea of using your thumbs while naturally holding it…good stuff…that’s about it though. What made me write this little ‘hater’ post is how they tried to shroud its launch in this really, really corny secrecy and talk about it like it’s the most innovative new thing. Honestly…nice try. It was such an obvious, but poorly executed attempt to copy how Apple or even Google launch products. Having Steve Balmer get all unprofessional and talk about ‘killing’ Google and Bill Gates talking about ‘defeating’ the iPod…then to turn around and just bite their whole style with a product that just isn’t innovative…not a good look. And seriously, its not innovative at all…and that’s no opinion you know? I guess its really just weird to see Microsoft not handle their business…it’s like they are officially too big to be considered agile anymore…which will of course be their downfall eventually. And what a dumb name…I can’t figure out how they associated ‘Origami’ with a big-ass ‘small’ tablet PC. That’s my nerdy haterade post.

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The Royal #7

Something new here…and I’m loving the cover you know? So the Royal Magazine is back, under new control, and heavy, heavy with content…good content. And honestly each page of the layout, it has this ‘stern’ look to it. Weird word to use though, right? But honestly, this is something I’m feeling. And as I was saying, I’m loving he content…here is a quick break-down: mickey avalon, hellovon,karborn, bijules nyc, blacksmith, scott langton, yoko devereaux, indian larry, plain gravy, 10 deep, burton, b-more lacrate, lmac, artful dodger, david choong lee, vault 49, visionary vehicles, monster children, tofer…and more. I’m feeling the Bijules write-up…I love what she does. And she is gangster! So yeah…check the little SVSV graphic feature, quality. The KDU is doing their thing. ***Oh snap, I got a shout out in the ‘thank you’ section too…OMG!! TTYL!

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I could not love The Office more… (Entertainment!!)

if I tried. I am in love with this show. Not the BBC version. I don’t want your emails about how it’s better, more original, whatever. I don’t care. I like the American version, it’s not up for debate. I love it and Ben loves it too, which means THE BRILLIANCE fully endorses and loves The Office on NBC Thursday nights at 8:30 Central Time. No, I don’t know anybody at NBC and no I don’t know anyone who is involved in making The Office, but I love it enough to plug it here. Did you watch last week!?! Dwight’s speech?! Are you kidding me? That was one of the funniest things I’ve ever watched in my life. And Pam - what are you doing?? Roy is walking all over you! You need to accept the fact that you love Jim! And Jim loves you! But at the end of the day it’s all about Michael Scott. That’s what she said. But for some reason, my favorite characters on the show are a tie between Toby and Kevin, although Creed and Daryl are pretty hilarious too…I don’t know. Anyways, this has worked before so maybe it’ll work again, if there’s anyone reading this who has an in with NBC or anybody who is involved with The Office and can help us out getting an interview with anybody, we’ll send you a surprise package filled with BRILLIANCE goodies. Which means we’ll send you an email saying thanks. If we remember.
RYAN STARTED THE FIRE!

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NoPattern X Reason Clothing!!

Ben did a post not long ago about my new site and the updates I put up at NoPattern. So, because I can, here’s another one! I recently collaborated with Reason Clothing from NYC on some shirts and some bandanas. The bandanas are my favorite part. I based the whole thing off the NP logo and the Reason logo and it turned out great. Yup! However - don’t just check out Reason Clothing for my collaboration, wait until you see the rest of the Spring 06 line they have coming out…some VERY nice stuff. Reason is the line that did that ‘Diplomats’ shirt, the Ramones spinoff…Good stuff for sure. Check out the Reason Clothing site, looks like they’ll have more soon… Alright well that’s all, sorry for the self-promo here but…I gotta do it! You would too if we let other people be news editors, but we don’t, so too bad. I’m rude. Sorry, I owe you all a piece of pie from Baker’s Square.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

For real?! Who knew we could last a year?...well, actually I was pretty sure we would. So yeah, we are 1 year old today. THE BRILLIANCE!! It’s honestly been so much fun…takes like 2 minutes of my day, if that…just something fun to do you know? I never thought I would get to connect with all these amazing people we have interviewed, chatted with over email, met in person, etc…who knew? I believe we have made about 400+ posts…and if you read us even every once-in-a-while you know the topics vary like crazy (and my grammar/spelling is terrible!), and that’s what has made this so much fun. So yeah…here’s to another year of goofing around on the internet and acting like everyone is interested in what we like. Obviously a huge ‘thank you’ to Chuck…and all the people who threw positive comments our direction as well as hate, we love everybody. THE BRILLIANCE! Diamonds are a trend’s best friend.

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Jazz - the only music worth listening to.

Bold title, I know. But at the end of the day, the only albums I feel like I cannot exhaust to the point of being tired of them are my jazz albums. Specifically Thelonious Monk. I have been a Monk fiend lately. I cannot stop listening to him. I’ve been noticing heavy influences from jazz in my art lately as well, and that’s fine by me. I’m no jazz expert and I’ll be quite honest, my love of jazz does not go back very far, it is actually fairly recent, within the last 2 years or so. But I cannot for the life of me think of any better music to work to than jazz, especially if you sit at a computer all day. I don’t know, is it just me? I could listen to Monk’s “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” or Coltrane’s “Like Sonny” on repeat for hours and probably not get bored. This goes hand-in-hand with my love for bookstores too…just the most relaxing thing to me, bookstores and jazz. I know it sounds super artsy fartsy but whatever, I can talk about whatever I want on here and you can’t stop me. What do you think about that, huh? Well anyways, there’s not much of a real point to this, except to maybe encourage some people to check out some new music. And that’s that. Link below to my favorite album…

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Saab AeroX!

We have all seen concept cars…almost like…who cares, you know? Like, wow, another car that is way over-priced and will never come out. But for whatever reason, I got a different vibe on this one. First of all, I absolutely love the Saab brand. This will be my third post about them…the main one would be the credo for the ‘born from jets’ campaign. So this new Aero X is honestly amazing. It really just exudes the Saab brand at every end. Truly a car that mimics the styling of a jet. Few quick facts…it has a V6 biofuel (I love this!) engine that produces 400bhp, LED head-lamps that suggest the color of ice with day-running LED lights hued in a slight green, wheels that mimic the pattern of a jet-turbine while pulling heat away from the brakes, and then there is the ‘cock-pit’ which is just surreal. Check these pictures or the site below to see it in action. Can you even imagine hopping into this thing?! Too much, but not too much, right? Seriously, the whole design of this Saab is brilliant…such a muscular stance, aggressive lines, the wheels (!), etc…what more can I say…check the pictures. And if anyone who reads this has connections with Saab please get at us, we would love to connect for an interview or something with their design team. I think I really want this car…in white. Thanks to Ryan on the link for this one…

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Krownlab!!

I found out about Stefan and Nicole Andrén in the latest issue of my favorite magazine Dwell. Quickly - Dwell is a beautiful magazine you need to read if you don’t already. Anyways, Stefan and Nicole work for Nike and Wieden+Kennedy respectively and live in Portland, Oregon. They moved there and found the condos to be too overpriced, and as Dwell says, they were inspired by defeat. So they took it upon themselves to create and design their own place on a sloped hill in the woods. The result is an absolutely beautiful home they call Skybox. So first - you must read the whole article in Dwell. One of the most important and commendable aspects of the project was to use affordable materials. Lots of IKEA, lots of basic things from Home Depot that were customized…simple, efficient, practical thinking that resulted in a masterpiece of a home, if you ask me. Then there is Krownlab, which is their architecture and interior design studio. You must check out Krownlab and the Dwell article asap. Go ahead, get off your futon and stop looking around the internet for funny pictures to post on your friend’s MySpace. Ok?!

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Fernanda Cohen!!

We get a lot of emails from people submitting their sites or news but truth be told, we are both very picky about what we choose to post. 90% of the time we post about things we find on our own. However, on occasion, we get a gem of a submission and have to post it. Ben and I both felt that Fernanda Cohen’s work was deserving of a post and are also considering doing an interview with her. We love her work. As an artist myself, I can’t say enough how refreshing it is to see something different, original, and just fresh. Fernanda is definitely doing her thing in every sense of the phrase. The illustration style is her own - I have not seen many others do work quite as nice as hers. Check out the stuff for Target and Flavorpill specifically! And doing windows for stores in Times Square is nothing short of major. The ‘Personal’ section is full of beautiful pieces too. I’m rather speechless, I just really love her work. Much respect to you Fernanda - you’ve got some new fans here at The Brilliance.