Allstate Mayhem

I think these Allstate commercials with Dean Winters are my favorite spots on TV right now.

Great music. Fun writing. And he's Liz Lemon's old boyfriend, Dennis. Nice job, Burnett.

BMW Flash Projection

Evolution in SoHo

If Charles Darwin and Danny Elfman opened a store together, it would be Evolution. I first discovered this place when I lived in New York in 1995, and I still visit whenever I'm in SoHo.

Their replica skull collection is my favorite. I love how these familiar animals seem like mythological beasts without their identifying skin and muscle. Someday, I hope to have one of these sitting on my coffee table.

Hippopotamus, $1349

Tarsier, $79

Pelican, $154

Manatee, $359

Giraffe, $649

Giant Chinese Salamander, $97

Projection Mapping

This technology is so much cooler than Laser Zeppelin at the planetarium.

ACDC Vs Iron Man 2 - Architectural Projection Mapping on Rochester Castle from seeper on Vimeo.

IIB: The True Size of Africa

This gem from Information is Beautiful.

Coke's Freestyle Soda Fountain

Read about these Coke dispensers in Fast Company over a year ago. But I finally got to try one at Pei Wei last week.

Only one spout for all drinks + ice, and one touch screen gives you over 100 drink options, from Diet Caffeine -Free Vanilla Coke to Peach Fanta.

And the machine's wired so all the data goes back to Coke's headquarters in Atlanta. According to Fast Company, "The machines upload data about beverage consumption, peak times, and popular locations. Coke can also talk back to the machine, letting it know if a particular flavor needs to be discontinued or recalled and causing it to stop serving the drink immediately."

"Boots" from the Killers, edited by Tanner

The video for "Boots," the new Christmas from the Killers.

Edited by my cousin Tanner Christensen. Directed by Napoleon Dynamite auteur Jared Hess.

Urban Star Wars

I found these urbanized Star Wars pictures by French photographer Cedric Delsaux onyawoot.com.

I love the dichotomy of these shots. Yet, the environments still feel like they have a lot in common with the original films.

I'd like to see someone do this with the Lord of the Rings. I'm thinking a balrog on the Golden Gate Bridge, hobbits at the Santa Monica pier, or orcs in the New York subway.

BBC Dimensions

The BBC has created a cool Google Maps mash-up called Dimensions that makes large objects and historic events even more relevant by allowing you to see them in relationship to where you live. Here is the flooded section of Pakistan compared to Dallas, Texas...

And while the current oil spill in the Gulf is the public outcry du jour...

It's nothing compared to the Pacific Garbage Patch that we rarely hear anything about.

Abandoned and Feral Architecture

This video was shot by Teddy Smith shows the state of Six Flags New Orleans after five years of Katrina-induced abandonment.



These are pictures of feral Detroit houses taken by James Griffioen on his blog Sweet Juniper.

Canon Pixma

Canon Pixma: Bringing colour to life, by Dentsu London

Canon Pixma: Bringing colour to life from Dentsu London on Vimeo.

Absolute eye candy.

Kent Rogowski's Bears

Kent Rogowski is a New York artist who takes teddy bears, opens them at the seams, turns them inside out, restuffs them and stitches them back up.

I love how the more gimmicky the original bear, the more the Rogowski-ized version looks like an escapee from Arkham Asylum.

Pallalink

Palla (aka Kazuhiko Kawahara) is a Japanese architect and photographer who plays with symmetry. He'll take a photograph like this...

And turn it into this...

Or these things...

Becomes these things...

I first read about him in Wired several years ago. I had a chance to buy the print below as a limited edition poster, and passed it up.

I should have bought one.

Oil & Water Do Not Mix Posters

Posters commissioned by a Belgian creative agency Happiness Brussels, and created by British artist Anthony Burrill using actual oil from the Gulf Coast spill.

OIL & WATER DO NOT MIX from Happiness Brussels on Vimeo.

A very cool idea. Why didn't any Americans see the connection and jump on it first?

Minimalist Star Wars Posters

Featured on flickr from JustinVG, and available for purchase on his imagekind page.

Justin Van Genderen is a Chicago designer. His web site is 2046Design.com.