I was a bit skeptical when I landed in Detroit. This is where Shinola, purveyors of everything from bicycles to leather goods to watches, calls home. Enough has been said about Detroit, from its slow decline amid the waning American manufacturing landscape, to its current prospects for revitalization and urban renewal. But in a relatively short period of time, Shinola has been both lauded and maligned for its relationship with the city. Supporters praise the company for its local hiring practices and support of scalable business models, while detractors cite everything from a skewed perception of American manufacturing
to ethically questionable marketing practices. But, before we get into those deeper questions, let’s first take a look at exactly what’s going on in Shinola’s brand new leather strap facility — via redwolf.newsvine.com
— via Buckmaster Images
HR Giger, whose biomechnical
artwork lent Ridley Scott’s film Alien much of its terror, has died aged 74 from injuries sustained in a fall on stairs, according to the Swiss press.
Following study in architecture and industrial design in Zurich, Giger began a successful career in art and interior design. He received an Academy Award as part of the visual effects team for Alien, after Scott saw his artwork Necronom IV and used it as the basis for the film’s murderous creatures. As well as the chest-bursting xenomorph
that is the film’s central focus, Giger’s designs, characterised by dark sexuality and cyberpunk energy, also inspired the derelict spacecraft and the masked gunner discovered on it.
Giger also designed iconic and controversial record sleeves: on Debbie Harry’s Koo Koo the singer appears with spears cutting through her face, while the poster insert for the Dead Kennedys’ Frankenchrist prompted an obscenity trial. He also designed the cover for Emerson Lake & Palmer’s 1973 album Brain Salad Surgery — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Visitors to the Philadelphia Zoo might want to beware of stray cats: A new enclosed passageway allows lions and tigers to roam outside their exhibits.
Humans, though, can safely gawk at the predators travelling along Big Cat Crossing. The protected, open-air path snakes above the felines’ habitat to an archway over the zoo’s main promenade and ends at a viewing spot along a lake.
The concept for the catwalk unveiled Wednesday stems from the increasingly common practice of animal rotation, which lets animals take in new stimuli while visitors encounter them in unexpected places.
It becomes much more of a safari-like experience,
said Philadelphia Zoo CEO Andrew Baker — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Constantine coming to NBC Fridays this US fall — via Youtube
— via piecomic
It’s 2150.
There are all sorts of Aliens living throughout space. Johnny is a Space Delivery Man who travels to different planets to deliver packages. Johnny is lazy and his only desire is to sleep in his autopilot spaceship. When the spaceship arrives at the destination, all he has to do is simply deliver the box. However, it never goes as planned. Johnny encounters strange and bizarre planets and always seems to cause trouble on his delivery route.
Will he be able to finish his mission without trouble?
How to Build a Time Machine – Teaser from Jay Cheel on Vimeo
How to Build a Time Machine is the story of two men, both inspired by HG Wells’ The Time Machine
, who have set out on a quest to build their own time machines.
When Rob Niosi decided to build a full scale replica of the time machine prop from George Pal’s adaptation of HG Wells’ novella The Time Machine
, he had no idea what he was getting himself into. The three month project is now in its eleventh year, and he’s not sure it will ever end. His perfectionist attitude and obsessive nature — cultivated by years of detail oriented, time consuming work as a stop-motion animator — has elevated his machine from prop replica to a true work of art. His goal? To capture the impression he had as a kid when he first laid eyes on the beautiful machine.
When Ronald Mallett was a young boy, his Father died unexpectedly of a heart attack. This event turned his world upside down. He became ostracised from his friends and family and found solace in science fiction. It was HG Wells’ The Time Machine that inspired Ron to pursue a career in physics. His goal? To build a time machine so he could go back and save his father — via Warren Ellis
Beware the tomes in the forbidden West Wing, lest you start down an adventure into madness — via Neatorama
Every friend I have with a job that involves picking up something heavier than a laptop more than twice a week eventually finds a way to slip something like this into conversation: Bro,1 you don’t work hard. I just worked a 4700-hour week digging a tunnel under Mordor with a screwdriver.
They have a point. Mordor sucks, and it’s certainly more physically taxing to dig a tunnel than poke at a keyboard unless you’re an ant. But, for the sake of the argument, can we agree that stress and insanity are bad things? Awesome. Welcome to programming — via Still Drinking
As a result of a special breeding program, two endangered Galápagos Tortoises have hatched at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Australia. The tiny tortoises emerged from their shells on 24 and 26 January — via ZooBorns
— via 1111 Comics
The English song for children of all ages, a spin off for the book about Sniffer and Tinni. Book release in Norway (in Norwegian) by the publisher Gresvik Forlag will be on Saturday, 3 May at Eldorado bookstore in Torggt, Oslo, Norway. Here you will meet both Torgeir, Berit and Tinni. The song is on Spotify, iTunes and most other streaming sites at the internet. And btw — it’s the author Berit Helberg singing all the voices — via Youtube
Who doesn’t want a secret door bookcase? We have a space in our living room that I’ve been planning to conceal with just such a door for 10 years, but I’ve kept putting it off because doing something like this has to be done well. I wanted the carpentry to be of high quality and the mechanism to be rock solid, and I finally got the time, resources and hardware to make it to the standard I wanted. This is a long instructable, because it covers not just the construction of the bookcase but also some other features — it has a unique locking mechanism based on a sliding book, multiple secret compartments inside the bookcase (aside from the big one behind it!), and it’s fitted with electronics that generate some geeky but fun sound and light effects — via Instructables
This is what I have to put up with when I’m practicing — via Youtube
Mondo has announced their new line of clothing called the Mondo 237 Collection, based on the carpet pattern outside room 237 of the Overlook Hotel in the movie The Shining. The orange and magenta pattern trimmed in brown, designed by Sal Giliberto will only mean something to those who know what it represents, but that may be enough to sell a bunch of sweaters, cardigans, scarves, ski masks, door mats, and rugs. The products can be pre-ordered through 10 May and will ship in August — via Neatorama
Klipspringer calf makes leaps and bounds in first weeks of life at Lincoln Park Zoo — via Youtube
The Egg Painter from Titus-Armand on Vimeo.
The Easter tradition of dying eggs is practiced by people all over the world, but in Ciocanesti, a small village in Romania’s northern region of Bukovina, this tradition has evolved into an art form. Exquisitely hand painted with intricate traditional designs, each of these eggs takes hours to create and is among the things the people here are most proud of. This docu-short offers a glimpse into the art and craft of egg painting.
A film by: Titus-Armand Napirlica
Egg Painter: Elena Craciunescu
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