This Blog Is Retroactive

So, I finally got my “feed” set up in Google Reader. My God, there is way too much awesome content out there. I can’t keep up. RSS readers help a great deal though. Now that I’ve got my feed set up, at least I can find all of it in one place.  It’s like I’ve got my own little corner of the internet, corralled inside my RSS reader.

Most of the blogs I read seem to have the obligatory, “These Websites Are Cool, Go To Them” post.  This is mine.  If you ask me, all of these sites are worth visiting daily, if you’ve got the time.  Their content is updated constantly.  I know this is one of the best things any blogger can do to keep people interested.  It certainly works on me and it’s something I strive for with this blog.

ISO50

ISO50 is the pseudonym of artist and musician Scott Hansen.  Scott is truly a modern renaissance man and his beautifully designed blog is almost exactly what I envision mine becoming.  I’ll admit it.  I have blog envy.  The ISO50 blog is the perfect platform for Scott to share his brilliantly expressive art and design, to show us what inspires him, to share the music he loves and creates, and to describe in detail the technology he uses to produce all of these things.  He even has a line of t-shirts.  His blog appeals to all of my most cherished interests.  Scott’s friends and colleagues also contribute regularly on topics pertaining to their respective areas of expertise.  For example, his manager Jakub is responsible for posting the majority of music you’ll hear on the blog.  I really admire everything Scott’s doing with his work and his blog, and I also admire how he’s recruited others to contribute to make his blog even better.

Kanye West Blog

Kanye West is a jackass, no doubt. However, he’s also an innovative and prolific creative force, and his blog consistently features some of the coolest, freshest, most cutting edge music, videos, art, design, fashion and architecture you’ll find anywhere.  I’m not sure how he does it.  Kanye seems like a pretty busy guy, and the sheer volume of content is huge.  I suspect he may not be the sole contributor to his blog, but it doesn’t really matter.  It’s obvious all of these things are inspired by or inspiring to Kanye West.  I think of his blog as a tiny window into the constantly churning insides of a colorful, overblown superstar personality.  Check it out, but be careful.  Nestled among all this cool stuff you’ll also find some rather risque girly pics and maybe some images that are very artistic but nonetheless NSFW, like this series of photos by Erwin Olaf.

Film Drunk

Movie news with a hilarious and profane twist.  Vince Mancini (wasn’t that the guy in Godfather III) will inform and entertain you with his irreverent commentary and insights into the film industry.  Pretty much anything film related is fair game, including interviews, red carpet openings, scripts in development, funny videos with movie stars in them, trailers and, of course, the movies themselves. His opening night review of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull had me and my friends in tears.  Vince is also good at cultivating further absurdity among his legions of Film Drunkards.  His “Comments of the Week” contest awards one random prize or another to the commenter with the most nominations that week.  I think the real prize is bragging rights though.  The comments on Film Drunk are among the funniest you’ll read anywhere on the web.

Gorilla Vs. Bear

Local boy Chris Cantalini serves up some of the best music you’ve never heard of.  Chris’s taste in music is varied, to be sure, but includes a lot of ethereal lo-fi shoegazer stuff, backpacker hip hop, and blog house.  I know it’s not cool to say “blog house” anymore because it’s “slipping under the weight of its own ubiquity” and all, but I don’t know what else to call this subset of electronic music.  Plus, I think Gorilla vs. Bear was at the beginning of the curve.  Seriously though, people’s taste in music is subjective, but I think Chris rarely misses with his recommendations.  Some of my current favorites that I never would have heard of if it weren’t for Gorilla vs. Bear: Yeasayer, White Denim, Cut Copy, Weird Tapes, Air France, Santigold, Neon Indian, The Cool Kids, Dirty Projectors, Harlem, Panda Bear.

Everything is Terrible

This blog is devoted to unintentionally hilarious and strange found footage.  With a little creative massaging these videos become bizarre comedic masterpieces.  I instantly loved the name of the blog, and I love their motto:  If everything is terrible, then nothing is.  Somehow it is at the same time bleak and encouraging.  They also have some pretty awesome “Everything is Terrible” t-shirts, sporting some cheesy, early 80’s aesthetics.  Highlights include Wanna Lose Fat, Complete Guide to the Future, and I know I’m biased, but EIT Takes Texas is one of my favorites.

Tebe Interesno

This blog might be hard to understand, because it’s in Russian, but Tebe Interesno’s art speaks for itself.  If you’ve ever been to Worth1000.com, you’ll have some idea of the kind of images Tebe creates.  His, however, are much more fun and, I think, more expertly done.  Tebe appears to have an amazing aptitude for painting light and shadow, which he utilizes with the utmost efficacy when creating these wonderful, otherworldly images.  I’m guessing that Tebe has found inspiration in certain Japanese cartoons in the past, specifically Spirited Away and FLCL, which I love. It’s no wonder I get so much enjoyment from his artwork.  He doesn’t update every day, but there’s enough content in there to keep you coming back for weeks.

Pink Tentacle

This blog refuses to be be pigeonholed.  At Pink Tentacle you’ll find page after page of wonderfully strange art, science and fantasy.  I know nothing of who writes this blog or what motivates their interest in all things Japanese, Sci-Fi and whatever weird stuff falls in between, but what does that matter.  Go to Pink Tentacle to see amazing illustrations of traditional Japanese folk monsters, or black velvet paintings of cheesy Japanese movie monsters from the 60’s and 70’s. Maybe videos about the latest advances in robotics, automobiles and personal computing devices are more your cup of tea, like this one about a real life “Power Loader” suit straight out of the sci-fi classic, Aliens.  While you’re there, check out these stereoscopic 3D images of 19th century Japan, or perhaps an original illustration of the Starship Enterprise circa 1975.

Motionographer

Motionographer is the end all be all online collection of the latest in creative, ground-breaking animations and motion design.  If it moves and it moves you, it’s probably on Motionographer.  It’s also a great place to keep abreast of what’s happening and who’s doing what in the world of visualization and motion design.  Many of the posts are used to showcase a new reel and/or portfolio from promising motion designers or videographers.  Take this post about Dvein, a studio based out of Barcelona.  Their 2009 reel blew my mind and is a prime example of the kind of amazing work you’ll see featured on this site.  Motionographer also serves as a fantastic resource for those wishing to participate or work in the field of motion design.  They have articles, forums, a job board, and links to tutorials and other inspiration sites.

Abduzeedo

Abduzeedo, very simply put by it’s creators, is “a collection of visual inspiration and useful tutorials”.  Well said.  Abduzeedo is a blog about design, founded by Brazilian designer Fabio Sasso back in 2006.  It was originally just meant to be a back up for all his online tutorials and inspiration but has since grown to be one of the most popular web based resources for designers all over the world.  The art featured on Abduzeedo runs the gamut from photography to illustration to digital painting, all of it amazing.  The tutorials are thorough and informative, and the Daily Inspiration posts give the readers of Adbuzeedo a chance to participate and contribute to the content on the site.  Adbuzeedo features contributions from many authors, all of them fully immersed in the fields of art and design. My only complaint about the blog is sometimes the inspirational art posts suffer from a little TLDNR.  I like the content, I just don’t like having to scroll through a post for ten minutes to get to the next one.

Smashing Magazine

If Motionographer is the end all be all online resource for all things motion design then Smashing Magazine is it’s web design and development equivalent.  This is a great website for people at all levels of web design, especially fledgling bloggers, like myself.  There are dozens of photography and web design showcases, which will show you even more sites allowing you to learn new things and acquire free resources to help you become a better web designer.  Smashing Magazine also features posts that let you detach, so to speak, from the world of web design, and encourage you to seek inspiration elsewhere, like this one about “Offline Inspiration”.  I thought it was just called inspiration, but whatever.  I really enjoyed that post and I think it dovetails nicely with the one I posted back in February.  Again, while I really enjoy and appreciate the design showcases they have on Smashing Magazine, some of those can be a little overwhelming with regards to the amount of content in one post.

I’m new to blogging, but what I’m realizing is that if you want others to participate in your blog, you’ve got to participate in theirs.  It might sound like a chore, but it’s actually a lot of fun.  I’ve discovered that if you want to have any kind of web presence, then you must participate with and become part of the online community, or the Social Web, as the kids are calling it these days.  In this virtual community your blog is your house, or your mothership.  You’ll be spending a lot of time in your blog house (haha), constantly improving it, and you’ll want to engage your visitors with things they also find interesting.  Most importantly,  if you want to have visitors on a regular basis, you’d be best served by returning the favor.  Go to other peoples houses regularly and talk with them about the things they’re sharing with you.