Glockenspiels, graphic patterns on Pyrex bakeware, the Work in Progress Society, cardboard sculpture, and foxes! Fine company for an article I wrote for the fifth issue of Uppercase Magazine – a visual survey of the design and aesthetics of DuPont’s marketing of synthetic fabrics from the 1920’s to the early 80’s. The history of the development of synthetic fabrics is a fascinating nexus of science, industry, design, advertising, fashion and culture. In turn, the same goes for focusing specifically on the promotion of the fabrics themselves. It is a rich core sample of prevailing trends in design, typography, advertising illustration and photography, etc over the decades…
Uppercase Magazine? Let me say again – The clue to what distinguishes Uppercase Magazine lies in its motto “A magazine for the creative and curious” It’s the “curious” – It accounts for the joyful, inclusive sense of collaboration and sharing that pervades the whole shebang. The magazine reads like a conversation between like-minded folk riffing on the impossibly cool thing they’ve drawn, thought, photographed, collected, discovered, etc. No lofty curatorial snobbishness or hipster veneration of the mindlessly shocking or willfully ugly for these cats – just a democratic spirit and a celebration of beautiful things.
The magazine, as a project and physical object, is the very embodiment of what it celebrates. It works on a collaborative publishing model, and is designed and produced with great care and craft. Feels great in the hand. The covers so far have been stunning. The whole Uppercase venture, gallery, books, blog etc… seem of all of a piece. Well worth it. Explore here. Subscribe! Subscribe!
Hey, remember that movie Space Camp, where the kids get accidentally launched into space? Well, I came close to that cinematic glory on my recent vacation to Florida, when I went to (watch) the Space Shuttle Atlantis launch in Cape Canaveral.
It was the perfect experience for an ex-Space Camp Nerd-turned-writer, and a sad send-off to the space program. Needless to say, it was an incredible day. The viewing area was set up about 6 miles away from the Cape Canaveral launch site at the Kennedy Space Center, so we entertained ourselves with Astronaut Ice Cream, flight simulators and IMAX movies about the Hubble Telescope while we waited for the countdown. There was also a “Rocket Park” filled with to-scale models of nearly all the aircrafts throughout NASA’s history, including a replica of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, as well as one of the Mercury capsule, Freedom 7, that sent Alan Shepard to space in a compartment about the size of a bathtub. (FACT: did you know the outside of the space shuttle is made out of silica tile that can be safely handled at nearly 2000 degrees Farenheit, only ten seconds after removal from a high temperature oven?)
The launch itself was really impressive, and the day was so clear that we not only got a great view of the shuttle as it went up, but also got a glimpse of the external fuel tank as it fell off the shuttle, and the after-burners diminishing into space. It was pretty cool to be able to simultaneously watch the flight video on a large flat screen, hear expert commentary, and watch the actual shuttle taking flight. NASA has obviously created many checks, balances, and procedures that go into such a large, complex, and carefully choreographed production. Enjoy some of my own photos of the venue and the launch below. (The shuttle photos were taken with a telephoto lens–click on them to get a larger resolution.) Or for some really breathtaking ones of liftoff, check out this photo gallery.
I have to say, even as I get older, space exploration (like dinosaurs and costume parties) really doesn’t get any less mind-blowingly awesome.
The Launch:
This screen showed the different steps to Countdown, and then video feed of the launch:
it’s like Woodstock for aerospace afficionados:
Zoomed out photo of the stream of smoke:
The Venue:
“Astronauts” attached the roof of the Kennedy Space Center:
The Rocket Park:
To give you a sense of the size of these rocket boosters:
The best photography advice I ever heard: Take more pictures. Google Streetview’s got us all beat there. While I’ve yet to edit the shots from my friend Mitch’s 30 birthday at the Russian restaurant from 2003, they’ve got about a gazillion photos sorted and geotagged. Sigh.
Jersey has clearly taken over the airwaves. Flip through the channels long enough and you’re bound to come across a sea of spray tan orange or a troop of juicehead gorillas. It almost reminds me of the Australia craze of the early ‘80s following the release of Crocodile Dundee, when outback jackets and leather vests were all the rage. (Maybe that was just me.) I do think it is fair to say that “Everybody loves The Situation.” was easily the “That’s not a knife. This is a knife.” of 2010.
But I digress, back to Jersey. After being forced by my wife to choose between Dancing With the Stars or Jerseylicious, I reluctantly chose Jerseylicious solely on the grounds that I don’t understand how you can be a man and a good dancer, and therefore, I am threatened by Maskim. Roughly 20 minutes in, I got to thinking about this whole Jersey fad. Where did it come from? Why does it fascinate America? What exactly is “battling” and how is it not cheating?
I think I’ve traced Jersey’s recent reign in the spotlight back to Southern California and a boy named Chino. Here are the series of events that led to our love of animal prints and table flipping:
The OC airs on August 5, 2003
MTV’s Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County airs September 28, 2004
(This, of course, also led to the eye-bleeders The Hills and The City — maybe The Meadowlands is next.)
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs March 21, 2006
The Real Housewives of New York airs January 22, 2008
The Real Housewives of New Jersey airs May 12, 2009
The Jersey Shore airs December 3, 2009
Jerseylicious airs March 11, 2010
Jersey Couture set to air on June 1, 2010
One has to wonder how far will the Jersey thing go? And, will it spread to South Jersey? Will we ever see shows like Mullica Hills, 08062 or Girls Gone Wildwood? One can only hope.
Just a beautiful documentary by the good folks at Mother NY, in partnership with their client Stella Artois. It’s so nice when something like this gets made just because it should, and the agency and client both get it. Doesn’t need to be anything more than that.
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