Culture update: Smithsonian Portrait Gallery

So one thing I love about DC is being so close to these museums we can go into for free. Today I went to the Portrait Gallery that's off of the Chinatown Metro stop and saw this great exhibit on hip-hop culture. Some of the exhibit:

B&W Photography by David Scheinbaum These photographs were really powerful. He plays with light and shadows really well, but my favorite one was the movement seen by the crowd and DJs...I thought these captured the energy and excitement at clubs when these artists were performing.




Portraits by Kehinde Wiley. These were commissioned by VH1 for the Hip Hop Honors in 2007, but I think they were amazing. The Three Graces, below, takes classical themes and relates them to hip hop with bright colors and the elegant decoration shows the flashiness of the style. Definitely check out the rest of these on the web site.

Olympic Commericals: United

Every 'big event' one company usually stands out as having the most interesting, or at least intriguing commericals. For the olympics, the United Airlines videos have caught my eye the most:









I was really impressed with the sequence of these. They start with your typical, traditional United video, i.e. the Raphsody in Blue music played to a fun, light cartoon of sea animals. It introduced fun illustration and imagination to the traditional soundtrack.

The next two videos, of the man on the street and woman in the air, takes more variation on the soundtrack but keeps a more traditional narrative. Finally, the last video drifts the furtherest from the iconic music as well as in its illustration concept. It's more about the colors and lights, with no real plot, just beauty.

Why I like these videos is even though the four have their own individual task, they flow together nicely. They came out gradually over the course of the last two weeks, and I believe that the first few help the viewer become 'ready' for the more abstract videos toward the end. Also, it's just gorgeous illustration

Proof Design and Swimming do mix...

TV Guide what were you thinking? 

Found here

So for you non-swimmers out there, this photo might seem perfectly fine except when you realize:

1. Goggles OFF while swimming?

2. He casts no shadow! He's a vampire!

3. I know he has the torso of a 6'8" man and the legs of a 6'0" one, but in all of the lovely graphics NBC showed off last night as he won the 200 IM did they say he had the head of a pigmy.

Top Five Reasons I love the Olympics

1. The Slate Twitter updates: (hysterical!)

2. Um.....water polo is AWESOME? I wait four years to see this being played on TV...

3. My DVR. Finally technology has caught up to my dream of watching every sport at the speed it was meant to be shown...volleyball? Over in 2 minutes...Michael Phelps' 400 IM? Replayed to see his crazy backstroke-to-breaststroke turn...Mens' Water Polo? Slow Motion Replays, my friends.

4. No matter how much I whine and complain, I secretly love to see the Americans beat up on the French. Especially if it's by a fingernail.

5. Did I mention the abs on those water polo players? SLOW MOTION REPLAY MY FRIENDS!

I'll see everyone in three weeks. 

A moment of zen..

Yeah, I'm pissed Suede's still on Project Runway, too. At least you have new blogs to read!


Charles Dickens Haiku
(because I was bored and this idea is too good to pass up)

Fun with Rollovers...

Nothing helps Monday go by faster than Photoshop rollovers...

JCrew: Usually you try to hide your Photoshopping...not point it out so obviously.

And this was shown to me by our now-former intern: 

Glenn C. Feron for hours of celebrity retouching fun...

...come on, he can transform Nina Garcia into a Eva Longoria-Parker!