c.t.overdrive - random thoughts since 2006
Welcome to the Randoms.
This is a a little collection of all the Random Thoughts for ... Friday posts I have ever made. I started it on a whim one Friday in MArch and since then it's been a staple of the site. It usually starts of with a ridiculous topic that's been bugging me all week. Then it lists five-six random links. Scan through the archives and hopefully you'll find a link you enjoy.
Random Thoughts For The Single Greatest Pop Song · Friday August 27, 2010
Okay, so you’ve probably all already seen this video.
But as a duty to the musical street cred of this blog and my love of everything Gnarls Barkley this double whammy of Random Thoughts starts off with Ceelo’s F**K YOU.
Oh Ceelo, If only this triumphant piece of mastery was around in the early 2000s.
First – An beautiful exhibition of eclectic skateboard designs in San Diego
Second – An interesting little story about Stock Photography from the view point of someone who was unsuspectingly used as the face of an unemployed generation.
If you’re like most people you might be asking what Stock photography is.
It’s a essentially low-cost license free images that any designer or publisher or web site can use on their sites. Two of the biggest players in the stock photography world are actually sitting in your own back yard (of course that’s if your backyard is in Calgary). So if you’re curious check out iStockPhotos and Veer.com to get a better understanding.
Third – I’m sorry, but Facebook humour absolutely kills me.
Similar to the link I posted in the last round of Random Thoughts, here’s the Facebook status updates of some major Historical events
Julius Ceaser: My Boys pulled together a lil’ get together at the casa tonight. It’s going to be killer
Brutus: Oh, it’ll be killer alright
Fourth – Everyone remember the incredibly story of Pat Tillman.
He was the star defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals that walked away from millions of dollars to go serve in Afghanistan, only to be killed in action… Well now, it’s being revealed that there is far more to the story that what was initially reported. And opening up soon is a heart-wrenching documentary which explores the controversy swirling around The Chomsky-reading NFL star’s death.
He emerged as a mixture of qualities that seem simultaneously liberal and conservative, all-American and heterodox. He was a football star and avid outdoorsman who read Emerson; an agnostic or atheist who read the Bible, the Quran and the Book of Mormon out of intellectual curiosity; a man who relished the high-testosterone simulated combat of sports, and excelled at it, while also maintaining an introspective personal journal he allowed no one to read
Fifth – A fascinating look at the quiet and secretive success of the Trader Joe’s Supermarket Franchise.
Sixth – Here’s some more music for my music starved friends. It’s the new track from The Thermals – I don’t Believe You.
Who from all accounts killed Sled Island this year.
Seventh – Shining Force and Streets of Rage are now available for the iPod Touch and iPhone
Holy Fuck
That’s all I’ve got to say on that. (thanks to dwarnott for the heads-up)
Eighth – Has there been a bigger bad ass in the history of man than this guy?
I’m sorry, but this guy looks like some sort of hybrid extra from a Punjab remake of Planet of The Apes and Blackhawk Down…
Ninth – Scott Pilgrim’ Versus The Unfortunate Tendency To Review The Audience. A great article on ever reviewer’s tendancy to analysis the audience rather than the movie. (via. musiccriticca)
Tenth – A fantastic post by Julien Smith entitled – The Myth of Behind.
Read it, think about it and start changing what you’re doing today.
Categories: The-Random, The-Music, The Blogosphere, The Calgary Vibe, The Craziness, The Humourous, The Inane, The Pop-Culture, The Southern Neighbours, The VideoGames
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For Steampunk · Thursday August 12, 2010
Have you heard of Steampunk? No?
You probably have seen elements of it, but you’re probably not really sure of what to call it.
Steampunk is a form of art, fiction or imaginary gadgets based the Victorian age design aesthetic fused with modern technology. Think the League of Extraordinary Gentleman or even elements of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. It’s an incredibly nerdy, but interesting sort of art form. It’s also a trend that is quietly growing and garnishing some popular culture references. Steampunk art is incredibly stunning art form, but as a fashion style it’s been sort of dominated by awkward nerds.
Anyways, I’ve become incredibly enthralled by it and for some reason, I decided to share it with you all.
So once Kanye bastardizes it, you call thank me later.
First – The Southampton Football club has banned media outlets from using their own Photographers to capture images from matches on Southampton’s home field. Instead, they are now forcing all media outlets to use their own sanctioned team archives. To combat this somewhat ridiculous concept newspapers and other teams have resorted to other methods to capture images from Southampton home games… Including drrrrrawings
Second – It’s been a couple of weeks, so I think I need to make an addition to my growing Chapeau Collection. And this sucker looks like a killer addition.
Third OMFG, A series of Facebook wall posts explains WWII. (My favorite post has to be Japan: TONIGHT we dine in PEARL HARBOR. (via. nscafe)
EPIC!
Fourth – The Oatmeal explains how to properly use i.e. … Subsequently, I now have to correct another massive grammatical mistake throughout four years of blog posts.
Mother fahk.
Fifth – I don’t know why I’m telling some of my readers this, because I don’t even live in the city at the moment. But the city of Calgary is running an incredible art installation until August 21st called River of Light. A British company has installed dozens of floating balls of florescent lights along the Bow River.
So if you want to see something utterly spectacular you might want to go downtown late this week (don’t worry suburbanites, no one is going to stab you, it’s fahking Calgary).
Sixth – Blame Mr. Rennie on this link, but 4/5ths of the Kids in The Hall cast reunited on my favorite t.v. show The Soup this week.
Seventh – I will always have a soft spot for Jones Soda and Buffy the Vampire Slayer as reminders of the early 2000s… But what happens when you combine both of them… MY HEAD EXPLODES… or you get custom Buffy inspired Jones Soda Bottles.
Eighth – A post of minimalist album covers. My wife hates this example, but I love it.
Ninth – OMFG, the cast of Jersey Shore has been caught up in uber-dramatic cocaine scandal. Why is society surprised by this?
Can I make a change to my stance of nuking Las Vegas from orbit? Can we get the cast of CSI:Miami out of there and just nuke the place from Outer Space? I think society would be so much better off if Miami was reduced to swampland.
Tenth – If you’ve got an iPod of an iPhone, you need to download this incredibly addictive retrogame called The Incident. I could explain it, but this video does a far better job than I could ever do.
(thanks to myownbiggestfan for the heads up)
Eleventh – After days (well, let’s be honest 36 hours) of Social Media vultures ripping a hole in JetBlue for not responding to the Flight Attendant incident, JetBlue has responded. And knocked it out of the park.
Categories: The-ArtWorld, The-Random, The Blogosphere, The Calgary Vibe, The Football, The Humourous, The Inane, The Music, The Pop-Culture, The Twitter-verse, The World
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For The Chairmen Screaming A Thousand Ingredients · Monday August 9, 2010
So for your early week pleasure, here is The Chairmen Introducing all of the secret ingredients from IRON CHEF: America in one single 3 minute clip. Only one word can describe this awesomeness… CHEEESE.
(via. Mr. Rennie)
First – A woman just recently discovered her own husband’s second secret marriage, by looking at his facebook wall.
While I do find that story incredibly humorous and entertaining, can the media just get to the point already. Now, I’m being serious, but can they just find someone to conduct a ‘study’ on what it really wants to say. Society would be so much better, if we could just get this over with and let the media run with an article for a couple of days that says in big bold 40pt type… STUDY SHOWS FACEBOOK WILL DESTROY YOUR MARRIAGE.
Can you imagine the witty pun on the front pages of every SUN newspaper in Canada?
Come on, wouldn’t the world be that much better off, if some nut job think tank just went out and proclaimed that? Maybe then, they could revert some of the resources from covering the ever popular Social Media ruined my Marriage story to something more productive… Like climate change or something.
Just a thought.
Second – It’s observations like this that make me wish I was still an innocent kid.
(P.S. Although the trailer looks pretty ridiculous, here’s a pretty decent little post why you don’t need to go off your rocker about it.)
By the way, you can all thank Ryan for ruining your image of Yogi Bear forever.
Fourth – I’m with Jason Kottke on this one, these are the types of storms I go running from.
Fifth – Not to harp on this web site specifically, but it’s posts like this that are ruining the internet – The 25 Worst Aging Actors in Hollywood.
Sixth – Michael Bay + Transformers + DC + A call for Extras = Hmmmmmmm
Seventh – My wife and I will be purchasing this hoodie and then stapling it to the wall of our living room. Maybe then we’ll finally understand how hawt 90 degrees really is.
Eighth – The trailer for The Social Network looks quite epic. Not only does this David Fincher directed flick send shivers down my spin, but the soundtrack for the clip is the always timeless cover of Radiohead’s creep by The Scala Children’s choir.
Ninth – I know I’ve sounded pretty cranky with this random thoughts and I do apologize for that, being bedridden for two days will do that… But between Michael Cerra, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Zac Efron and Aaron Johnson are there any actors for the Naughts generation that don’t look like complete ninnies? Seriously? Any actors?
I feel bad for this generation… At least we had Freddie Prinze Jr when I was growing up…
Damnit.
Tenth – The new logo for the 2014 World Cup in Brazzzzzzzzzzil.
The best part of this article is that Gisele Bundchen was one of the judges. Although I’m sure Gisele has some amazing design insigh, couldn’t they get any other Brazilian superstars to participate? Like I’m sure Blanka and Pele weren’t that busy.
Categories: The-Random, The-Blogosphere, The Canada Vibe, The D.C. vibe, The Humourous, The Inane, The Pop-Culture, The T-Shirts
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For The Top 15 Wii Ware Games · Friday July 30, 2010
First off, in my dark video game addicted years (Grade 5-9) I was addicted to GamePro magazine. Who needs girls when you could read about the latest Genesis and Gamegear games? Right… Alright, well luckily I grew out of that phase and grew-up a bit.
So you can see my nostalgic surprise to find the magazine still kicking around some 15 years later. But even better is a recent article on the main page, which is a compilation of 15 killer wii ware games.
The reason why I’ve posted this little article, is because my wife and myself have truly enjoyed our Wii for the past three years.
Whether it’s a night in rocking out with our friends to journey or late nights finishing (and now refinishing) Super Mario Bros Wii, we love this machine. But like many people I know, there aren’t that many games that get me excited for the Wii. Being a dude and an ex-gamer some of the titles aren’t really for the hardcore gamers, but the Wii Wares titles do get me excited. Especially the old school Mega Man releases, Contra games and even Kid Icarus games. I think it’s an unexplored avenue of gaming that not many people take a chance on with the Wii and like you I’ve never been able to find the time to explore the vast majority of these games.
So happy gaming kids.
First – While I do enjoy a public stoning shaming over high priced millionaires at the hands of national media after a woeful world cup performance (ex. France and unfortunately England this year). The recent broadcast of a 6-hour public deconstruction of the ‘poor performance’ placed upon the N. Korean soccer team by their own government is a bit much.
Plus, I’m sure banishing your coach to the rock quarries is going to do great for foreign recruitment… On second though that does sound a bit better than dealing with the British Tabloids.
Third – Remember last week, I suggested you download the Class of 2010 Retreat sampler from GerryLovesRecords. Well if you did you would have discovered a hauntingly amazing frightened rabbit-esque track called Crank Resolutions by Meursault.
Well, in case you didn’t download the sampler, here’s a little look at the song live.
Fourth – My lord is there anything William Shatner can’t do?
From fighting for cheap flights, to covering the latest records on a splendid CD to appearing as one of the greatest Canadians at the Olympics to interviewing the D.C. Snipers.
This man truly is a King among men.
Fifth – A new study from ESPN has rated all of the Health Violations of all 150 or so major league sports stadiums in North America. Of the relevant information released, The Verzion Centre – home to the Capitals, Mystics and Wizards – is one of the top culprits with a 100% violation rate. The other major violators were all found in Florida… I subsequently blame Miami for all of this.
But an interesting enough tid-bit of information, was that Edmonton had the most violations out all the Canadian stadiums with a 25% rating. Although nothing was specifically mentioned, I would venture to say that errant Mullet Hair and outdated Beef Jerky were the most sited violations.
Sixth – Well now that the second worst kept secret in the Calgary Mayoral race has been revealed, I really have to side with Avenue Magazine and their article that Barb Higgins was actually going to announce she is pursuing a career as a professional Tango dancer. Because frankly that would have been far more interesting.
Seventh – And in other Social Media related news, Kanye West has jumped on the twitter bandwaggon, which in my opinion is the best thing to happen to the service since… Well everyone said Jeff Goldblum was dead.
Eigthth – Could this be the single greatest painting of all time?
umm… Without Question.
Ninth – Destiny’s Child vs. Justice… Dark and dirty track for the long weekend.
The Hood Internet – Lose My Waters Of Naza(b)reath (Destiny’s Child x Justice) by hoodinternet
Categories: The-Random, The-VideoGames, The Blogosphere, The Calgary Vibe, The D.C. vibe, The Flames, The Humourous, The Inane, The Music, The Pop-Culture
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For The Westboro Baptist Church vs. Comic-con Nerds · Friday July 23, 2010
You can thank my good friend Mr. Rennie for this link and his constant links about the ridiculous West Baptist Church.
Anyways, In case you’re not one of the billions of nerds down in San Diego right now for the world’s largest Comic Book Convention, you should know that it’s quite common for attendees to dress up in some outrageous costumes in support of their favorite Superhero.
… and in case you’re not familiar with the Westboro Baptist Church… We’ll they’re really twisted individuals. The type of individuals who have far too much money and far too much time.
So what happens when they clash… Nerdy Hilarity
First – Bad Ass Carebears
Second – From Cameron Chapman it’s The Saturday Night Live Feature film that never happened… Saturday Night Live The Movie... Confused? Read on.
Third – Now that’s a professor that even I would try and sleep with… you know for an extra letter grade… James Franco is set to teach a class at Yale this Fall. (via. lbourgon.)
Fourth – In a few weeks, the summer will be over and all of Calgary will be bombarded with campaign ads, brochures and mediaclips of the upcoming Civic election. But before everything kicks into gear, have a look at this intriguing little video montage by Cats, Chopsticks, and Rainbows on the 2007 municipal election costs.
Fifth – A letter from Tony Hirch to the employees of Zappos on the Amazon team-up – one year later
Sixth – Like many of you, I’m starting to lose interest in my current catalog of music, here’s some new music to check out.
The first comes from Calgary’s own The Fast Romantics, who have released a new EP after garnishing a slew of buzz in Toronto and even within the Pitchfork circles.
Seventh – Next is a label out of Scotland called Gerry Loves Records.
Gerry Loves Records is an indie label out of Scotland, that is releasing some great limited edition vinyl records. It also happens to have a fantastically designed site, by NonImage, a friend of mine from SXSW. The site also does a great job of leveraging some great elements from soundcloud.com and basecamp.com to promte the labels list of acts.
Update: Even better, Gerry Loves Records has released a sample of tracks called Retreat, which can now be downloaded.
Do it now!
Eighth – Last, but not least. If you’re in to Power Pop and something with a little more kick, please check out Ottawa’s goinggagarecords.com for some excellent punk rawwwwk or power punk records. If you want to check out some of their stuff on MySpace, they of course can be found there too.
Ninth – This post from Dooce has set back my wife’s incurable hatred for cats by about 15 years.
Categories: The-Random, The-Blogosphere, The Blogosphere, The Calgary Vibe, The Inane, The Music, The Pop-Culture, The T-Shirts
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For The RETHINK Alberta Campaign · Friday July 16, 2010
Last week I posted a letter I caught in the Washington Post regarding the Oil Sands project in Alberta. While I thought it was a nice little letter from my beloved home to a couple of homesick Albertans in D.C., the release of the RETHINK:Alberta project by the ironically named Corporate Ethics consortium, has reveled that there was some method to this madness.
For some reason, this campaign has got my knickers in an uncomortable twist.
Let’s not kid ourselves here though, work needs to be done in regards to the Oil Sands, but something about this has ticked me off. I’m not sure it’s the misinformed and misleading campaign or it’s the fact the entire campaign glosses over the entire mandatory reclamation industry in Alberta... Or maybe, just maybe I’m not a fan of someone getting in my proverbial hometown kitchen making spaghetti and criticizing our pasta sauce when they don’t know the difference between macaroni and angle hair pasta.
Or maybe I just feel that a misinformed and sensationalist drive-by attack campaign aimed at the wrong industry, isn’t a positive method to promote change.
Or maybe I’m just a wee bit homesick.
First – A sneak peak of Mr. Alanis Morrisette Scarlett Johanson as The Green Lantern. Me thinks this will be another Ironman type hit. (via. mikesbloggity)
Second – World War Two…. reviewed and written as it were another serial T.V. show like Babylon 5, Lost or even Greek.
I wouldn’t even mind the lack of originality if they weren’t so heavy-handed about it. Apparently we’re supposed to believe that in the middle of the war the Germans attacked their allies the Russians, starting an unwinnable conflict on two fronts, just to show how sneaky and untrustworthy they could be? And that they diverted all their resources to use in making ever bigger and scarier death camps, even in the middle of a huge war? Real people just aren’t that evil. And that’s not even counting the part where as soon as the plot requires it, they instantly forget about all the racism nonsense and become best buddies with the definitely non-Aryan Japanese.
This post has to be one of the top ten posts, I’ve ever read.
Three – Don’t worry kids. I maybe pretty busy, but I’ve still got my musical radar out for you guys…
The Hood Internet x Mishka – TRILLWAVE by hoodinternet
Well I personally don’t, but The HoodInternet sure does.
Fourth – The Golden State Warriors have unveiled a new branding/team logo.
The best part about this news, is that I bet 60% of you didn’t even know there was a basketaball team in San Fransisco/Oakland! Ha… Well I shouldn’t talk, I didn’t even know that the Warriors were NBA Champions in the 70s.
Fifth – A nice little article from poploser.org on how Canada is on the verge of drastically improving it’s Soccer development and could one day make the World Cup.
Sixth – No seriously, I thought this nhlcupcakes thing on Twitter was a joke. I had no idea the Islanders are actually selling official Islander Cupcakes at all of their home games.
I’m gonna demand a cut of the profits, but Crave Cupcakes & The Flames make… it… happen.
Seventh – Now for a bit of House Cleaning and a quick update of things.
First, my amazing wife has launched her second blog. It’s called nonresidentalien.ca. After spending the last 6 months toiling as a non-resident graduate student, we created this little site for her to blog about daily life retain some semblance of sanity.
Eighth – I’ve updated the c.t.overdrive RSS feed , so make sure you pull the new link.
Ninth – If you haven’t been paying attention, yycApps.com is growing like a weed. We’ve added 29 apps to our list and we continue to get more and more locally developed apps by the day.
But more importantly, if you want to get on board with the project and help me write reviews, you need to get in contact with me. I’m swamped at the moment and need a hand from some kickass Calgarians.
Please… Pretty please… There might even be some Washington swag available for people who give me a hand writing reviews.
Tenth – This could be my new favorite magazine – The Impossible Projects Polaroid Magazine – Tickl
Categories: The-Random, The-Calgary-Vibe, The ArtWorld, The Blogosphere, The Canada Vibe, The D.C. vibe, The NBA, The Personnal, The Pop-Culture, The Site, The Southern Neighbours
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For A Hipster Romance · Tuesday July 13, 2010
This link comes directly from Mike’s Bloggity Blog. It’s a link for the new Bruce McDonald movie This Movie is Broken. It’s a Rock Show Romance which revolves around two long time and jilted friends who yearn for each other, but only come to terms with this secret love at one single Broken Social Scene concert.
It’s garnishing a tonne of praise and from the looks of the trailer, it will likely leave you blubbering in a pile of emotional and hipster goo.
Broken Social Scene + The Director of Hard Core Logo = Crazy delicious.
Now what are the chances this film gets a D.C. showing? … 10% … 5%?
Damn you indie Canadian directors.
First – One of my new favorite sites on the internet is Bad Ass of The Week – A massive collection of fictional, historical and amazing badasses. I founded while reading the most random article on the oatmeal and now I’m hooked. So for this week, here’s my recommended Bad Ass of the Week – Nikola Tesla.
Second – We saw advertisements for The Kin (Microsoft’s supposed iPhone Killer) on Hulu for two-three months before the big launch date. And although I was tempted to pick one up just to see how it worked, I was constantly inundated with nightmares about the windows software and the disaster that was my old Sony Mini Disc Recording software.
Well luckily for me, I don’t have to worry about it anymore. After only selling 10,000 phones The Microsoft Kin Mobile phone has been pulled.
Third – You know what’s really annoying… Cutting mangoes.
If you’re like me and really hate this task, this link will help.
Fourth – It’s a really shitty piece of trash local Fox News reporting, but the statistic that one in five divorces now sight Facebook evidence in the presiding is a pretty interesting stat.
Fifth – Prince Claims Internet Is Dead, Lady Gaga says – Hi. In other news, 14 year girls the world over ask ‘Prince’ who? (via. boalt)
Fifth – Of all the Twitter hilarity revolving around King James’ epic decision, I think Cobra Commander hit the feelings of every citizen in Ohio, right on the head.
Sixth – Best Alien Joke… EVAR.
Seventh – I love my city’s flag… No seriously, I absolutely love this flag.
Eighth – The Black Keys weigh-in on the Lebron James defection to Miami. By the way, the brothers Carney were born and raised in Akron Ohio, the same hometown of his majesty King James.
Ninth -With all the bad taste Maple Leafs jokes aside, you really have to commend Brain Burke for appearing in the Toronto Pride Parade last week in honor of his son.
Yes, everyone knows of Brian Burke as the loud-mouth-pudgy-Drunken-Irishmen General Manager of the Evil Empire, but from all accounts he is a pretty loyal and compassionate man. His decision to uphold his promise to this son and appear in the Pride Parade is an amazing display and he should be commended on it.
So a big kudos to him.
Categories: The-Random, The-Music, The ArtWorld, The Blogosphere, The Canada Vibe, The Craziness, The D.C. vibe, The Humourous, The Pop-Culture, The Southern Neighbours
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For A Happy Canada Day. · Friday July 2, 2010
Happy Canada Day kiddies… From your favorite Canadian Bloggers down south.
First This is a great article on the downfall of Las Vegas’ economy. Over the past five to six years, Las Vegas has been universally seen as one of the Golden boys of economic growth in America, but once the recession hit … all hell broke lose in Sin City.
Second – A neat little article from the Calgary Herald on the Web Sites of the mayoral and alderman candidates for this year’s civic elections in October.
Third – I won’t dwell on this, but at least our coach doesn’t eat his own… Well you’ll see.
Fourth – 25 Star Wars – De-motivational Posters... Luke Skywalker incest jokes + Motivational Posters = Win.
Fifth – To good to pass up.
Sixth – If the last video was too good to pass up, then this one is GUARANTEED FRESH!.
Spock, Kirk and the rest of the Red Shirts vs. Ke$ha.
Seventh – Holy F&ck vs. Robin Smith. Via the HoodInternet
The Hood Internet – Show Me Red Lights (Robin S. x Holy Fuck) by hoodinternet
Eighth – Even though it’s in Helevetica, I solely approve of this T-Shirt.
Categories: The-Random, The-Canada-Vibe, The Blogosphere, The Football, The Humourous, The Inane, The Music, The T-Shirts, The Twitter-verse
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For HWA · Friday June 25, 2010
H.W.A... ‘nuff said.
(via. rbclegg)
First – An interesting read about Yann Martel, the author of the best seller Life of Pi, and the backlash brewing against his latest novel.
The interesting take away from this article is that Yann and his wife live in Saskatoon. Which is awesome ‘ToonTown For THE WIN!
Second – And because I was perusing the Guardian web site yesterday, I stumbled upon this great little article about the evil Teachers of Ontario gobbling up the British Railway system. Which, would completely insane for the average Briton.
Like really, how could a Teacher’s pension from a province in Canada be one of the most powerful and wealthy entities in the entire world? Now that I read that statement, I do find find it quite funny that the Teachers are one of the most powerful entities in Canada.
Third – My new favorite shirt ….
Fourth – As far as athletes and acting goes, this little skit for the NHL Awards this week is pretty funny. And easily the best part has to be the Neidermeyer quote.
Fifth – If Atari Was Apple, And Had Done It All In 1977…
(via. jaydorn)
Categories: The-Random, The-Humourous, The Blogosphere, The Books, The Craziness, The Inane
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For A View To A Kill · Friday June 4, 2010
Tomorrow, I turn the dirty thirty. Because of which I’m working on another birthday post. But because I’m turning Thirty, I’m going to dedicate this Random Thoughts to my Irish cousins – for skewing my musical tastes for the past 26 years.
Enjoy.
First – Do you own Photoshop? Do you want some tools to make your pictures GO BAMMM? Then you need to check these amazing Photoshop Actions.
Second – JESS3 And South Arlington V.A. For The Win.
It looks like local Arlington design firm, JESS3.com has hit it pretty big with their new BP Cares Firefox plug-in. (via dlebray)
Third – I know only a handful of people are vaguely interested in the NBA, but a curious thing is happening during this years Free Agent frenzy.
If you haven’t heard, this year’s Free Agent list is a who’s who of the NBA, with Lebron, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh all set to walk away from their respective teams and go to the highest bidder. But instead of just making the decision on their own, these three superstars (who all happen to be managed by the same Agents), are supposedly planning to map out a collective strategy. Which will ultimately change the NBA forever….ever…..ever…..eva.
Luckily, for three people vaguely interested in the NBA, the National Post has synopsis of what will probably happen during these talks.
Fourth – The Oatmeal Striketh Again
Created by Oatmeal
Fifth – Alex Triebek is a national treasure.
Sixth – Good Lord, why didn’t I think of this!! Pride, Prejudice and Zombies the iPhone Video Game. (This statement also applies to the book)
Seventh – Haters Gonna Hate
Eighth – Robo-o-sarus-awesome
Ninth- Anyone who has the Kottke.org feed read has probably already seen this, but IF you’ve ever played a game of Sim City, Sim City 2000 or even Civilization you really need to look at this YouTube clip for the city of Magnasanti.
It is quite possibly the single most creepy and awe-inspiring video game achievement. Way creepier than the video of the kid finishing Super Mario Bros in 5 minutes.
Tenth – The 20 worst drinks in North America translated in to Fast Food.
Tenth – I swear this is the last public pimping I’d do for this, but if you didn’t know the corporation just launched it’s own customized Facebook Fan Page.
If you haven’t checked it out, please do. We’re already at 69 awesome, awesome friends and I really think you should also become our friend.
I swear it’ll be worth your time.
Categories: The-Random, The-Music, The Adventures, The ArtWorld, The Blogosphere, The Humourous, The Inane, The Music, The Pop-Culture, The T-Shirts, The Twitter-verse, The VideoGames
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For Appearing in Your NewsPaper · Friday May 14, 2010
From last Thursdays Metro Newspaper….
I may be gone… but I’m still in your newspapers messing with your systems… bwahahahaha…
By the way the burnt bread/monitor smell thing is a totally different story. (thanks to bornbnid for the heads up).
First – The Top Ten Foursquare badges that should exist, but don’t at the moment (via NXNE).
My goal is to acquire the This Is Why You Are Fat Badge… I can hear the double down calling.
Second – For all you music lovers out there, my good buddy Nathan has released a podcast for Music-critic.ca. Each week he’s going to be reviewing four to five new tracks from new artists.
If you’re at all interested in good music, do yourself a favour and download his podcast.
Third – It looks like the good old Calgary Herald is just catching on to the disturbing trend of Social Media Douchebags… 2 years too late.
Fourth – Happy May the Four… teenth day?
Ok, ok, ok so that joke is pretty stale. But if you are interested, it looks like the comedy site JibJab.com just launched a new Star Wars Theme ‘insert your face in here’ site to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original movies.
Fifth – Ridley Scott Trades Russell Crowe To Tim Burton For Johnny Depp.
Sixth – I hate to say I agree with TSN, but I kinda do on this topic.
If there is one thing that the Toronto Raptors need, it’s a massive identity change … and it starts with their name.
By the way, of the big five leagues in North America, I still can’t get over how horrible the NBA is with team names. I know everyone makes fun of the Might Ducks, but the NBA takes the cake for ridiculous names. Why can’t they try letting relocated teams change their names for once. (see Utah (New Orleans) Jazz, L.A. (Minnesota) Lakers, Memphis (Vancouver)Grizzlies… I could go on and on about this one. Sure the Oklahoma Thunder changed their name from the Supersonics, but any league that has two magical references within their ranks has to be considered a joke.... right?
Seventh – For all you Mac owners out there, apparently this is pretty big news if you’re into gaming. Steam powered computer games are now available for the Mac. I’m not entirely sure what it is, but it looks pretty solid. (via. jaydorn)
Eighth – Mr. Rennie pointed me to this link and it’s too good not to share. It’s about an actual letter from one of Virginia’s Senators trying to rally support against the scary and ferocious Radical Gay Rights Movement.
Best line of the original letter:
Suddenly a dark-haired man screeched, “Delgaudio what are you doing here?” Dozens of men began moving toward me. I’d been recognized.As I retreated to my car, the man chortled, “This time Delgaudio we can’t lose.” Driving away, my eyes filled with tears as I realized he might be right. This time the Radical Homosexuals could win.
God bless Virginia and those horrible radicals with silky smooth skin and a love for show tunes.
Ninth – Threadless + Lost + Hoodie = Crazy Delicious. (via. mikesbloggity)
Tenth – The Story behind the Ironman’s custom Sheppard Fairey (Obey Giant) Poster in the new Iron Man movie – Iron Man 2: Iron Harder.
Eleventh – It’s been so long since I finished a proper Random Thoughts Post that I don’t recall the origin of this link. But either way, if you are looking for design inspiration and some great illustrations, please do check out John James/Erin Ignacio’s portfolio work. Absolutely stunning illustrations from a fantastic Calgary designer.
Twelfth – By the way if you are ever looking for some stunning, stunning wallpapers for your desktop, you have to check out David Lanham’s portfolio work. I absolutetly love his work, especially his newest piece thread troll.
Categories: The-Calgary-Vibe, The-Random, The Blogosphere, The D.C. vibe, The Humourous, The Inane, The Music, The NBA, The Pop-Culture, The Southern Neighbours, The Twitter-verse, The VideoGames
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For Smoking As A Common Commodity · Friday April 30, 2010
Okay, so now that I’m settling in, I’m going to talk about one of the biggest differences between The U.S. and Canada. And that is…
Smoking As A Common Commodity
Stay with me here. I know this isn’t an obvious statement, but smoking in the good old US of A isn’t nearly as regulated by the government as it is in Canada. That is obvious. But what makes everything different, is how much this deregulation makes Cigarettes a common commodity. They’re not hidden behind walls and they don’t have gnarly teeth and pregnant ladies on the packages. Rather they’re just products… Like bags of chips, chocolate bars, beer or bottles of Pepsi.
But because of this freedom of deregulation, cigarettes are very much like bars of Chocolate, Cereal and bottles of Pepsi down here.
This sounds ridiculous, but the concept of cigarettes as a commodity down here is one of the biggest culture shocks I’ve come across.
Because in the states cigarettes can go on sale. Cigarette prices can vary dramatically between stores. Cigarettes can be sold in a buy one get one free two month special. Cigarettes can appear for a limited time only. And more importantly, Cigarettes can have gimmicks in them … just like Captain Crunchberry, Crystal Pepsi and Autobot stamped M&Ms.
A good example is our good friends the Camel Crush cigarettes, which are pictured above.
(via. huberphotography)
See Camel Crushes, are cigarettes with a hidden menthol ball in the filter. At anytime during your trip to flavour country you can chose to add a Menthol ting to your cigarette – by simply Crush-ing the filter (and subsequently the menthol ball). I wish I was making this up… And I also wish it wasn’t my brand of chocie at the moment. (See my above points about on sale and two for one specials for this reasoning).
But think about that for a moment, the Camel Crush concept is definitely something that would never fly in Canada. Let’s just say, that I’d love to see Camel Crushes pass through Canada’s strict Smoking Regulations.
Anyways, enough of that let’s get back to the Random Thoughts … shall we.
First – Rouge, one of Calgary’s top restaurants, has made S. Pellegrino list of the world’s top 100 restaurants.
In other news, Tubby Dawg has released a statement saying… WTF? Where’s our respect.
Second – For all you nerds out there, TechCrunch is about to launch TechCrunch TV. Take that for what it is.
Third – Here’s a photo essay on what would happen if Soccer/Football jerseys were designed by Illustrators.
Fourth – An amazing collection of ‘Mod’ posters of your favorite comic book heroes. The Thor, Spiderman and Ironman ones steal my heart. (via. poploser)
Fifth – The Ze Frank chillout song … A song which apparently he wrote for a random young woman who was desperately trying to overcome some immense anxiety.
Very cool story.
Sixth – God, I heart this T-Shirt... If only it wasn’t $50.
Seventh – Everyone’s already talking about it, but you need to play the Mario Brothers Crossover game, where you get to Play the original Mario Brothers as the Contra Guy, Metroid or better yet Mega Man....
Eighth – This is the lamest attempt at publicity ever. It’s a cover of I’m On a Boat by some shitty mullet wearing puffters called Broadway.
Don’t get wrong, I love it when smaller bands do covers of popular songs, but way to miss the boat guys.
Ninth – That pun was intended.
Tenth – Now that the Caps and The Flames are no longer playing hockey, if you’re looking for a hockey fix, the place to look towards is Abbotsford B.C. Which is the home of the Baby Flames.
In thier first season in the B.C. interior, the Baby Flames have not only made the playoffs, but came back from a 3-1 first round deficit. Now they’re playing the Hamilton Bulldogs (the Baby Canadiens) in the second round of the playoffs and have opened up a 1-0 lead in the series. Lead by some great work from Flames prospects Wahl, Sutter and Backlund…
Plus if anything, it’ll be interesting to play the Will Jim Playfair Lose His Mind Again game…
Categories: The-Random, The-Southern-Neighbours, The ArtWorld, The Blogosphere, The Capitals, The Flames, The Humourous, The Inane, The Pop-Culture, The Southern Neighbours, The T-Shirts, The VideoGames
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For A Coffee Spitting Commercial · Friday April 23, 2010
I’m probably one of the few people in the world who missed this commercial, but it comes directly from Calgary’s own FuddyTv… It’s for True Credit and it’s priceless.
To be honest, the first time I watched it It caught me so of guard I spit coffee out on my desk. Freaking well done guys.
First: This is too good not to post, but it’s a set of unreal set of Zombie-fied Stationary
Second – I’m sorry, but this whole Steve Jobs thinks that the Android is for Porn makes me laugh.
First off, I think it’s a good stance by Apple, even if it kind of oddly goes against one of the key driving forces of the internet. Keeping porn out of the iPhone store gives it so much more trust and credibility. But there’s just something funny about how everyone is publicly supportive of the move, but I have to wonder what the reaction would be if Microsoft said the same thing? Remember what happened to Nintendo when they decided against gore and extreme violence in their video games.
Third – Have you noticed something different about c.t.overdrive (and armadillostudios.ca)?
Probably not, but try to and hover over one of the Twitter names that appear in my posts. If you do, you’ll notice that I’ve integrated @follow into all of these sites.
How is this possible? Thanks goes to Mr. Nonimage himself, Andy, for his amazing tutorial.
Fourth – @poploser has launched an interesting new project called lofi/hifi, in which he will be donating all 3,000 records in his vinyl collection to be turned into custom furniture. I only own 40 vinyl records and I know I’d be in tears if I knew they were set to be destroyed. So kudos to him for that.
Fifth – These are the companies in your neighbourhood
This isn’t really a tech company, but this is awesome new for Knife-nerds. (I’m kinda of a closet knife nerd), But Calgary’s Knifewear are now selling their own brand of Calgary designed/Japanese built cooking knives (via. @myownbiggestfan).
This is awesome, awesome news.
Sixth – This will probably induce seizures… But it’s .gifs of Popular Rapstars the Tumblr Blog (via. @davidaustin).
Seventh – If you remember my post from last week about the Three Wolf T-Shirt, this will make you laugh.
Eighth – By the way, if you’re curious about how the Formspring.me experiment has been going, lets just say it’s been a pretty cool success. So please, take a gander and fire-off any business (or apparently flames) questions you may have.
Ninth – I think ever every metro hetrosexual male in the world can get behind this campaign.
Categories: The-Random, The-HomeLand, The Blogosphere, The Calgary Vibe, The D.C. vibe, The Inane, The Pop-Culture, The T-Shirts, The Twitter-verse
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For A Great I Got A Feeling Parody · Thursday April 15, 2010
I’m a huge fan of a good parody and a border-line fan of College Humour (albeit I like their second incarnation as a cooler YouTube in Vimeo, much better). So stumbling upon this great parody of I Got A Feeling made my week.
Especially, the c.t.overdrive-esque spin on the parody. If I had a nickel for every time I found a kite in my living room.
Enjoy the weekend kids.
First – I’m not much of a flag waver.. or least I wasn’t until earlier this year, but this Gelaskin is pretty deadly.
(thanks to both louderthan10 and my wife for the link)
Second – For those who are afraid of Public Speaking, for what it’s worth Tim Ferris of the Four Hour work week fame, has posted his personal notes and suggestions on how to prepare for speaking engagements.
I highly recommend this read
Third – Remember the Three Wolf T-shirt? No? Come on really? Okay, here’s a reminder
Anyways, here’s the story about the guy behind the first post that started it all.
Fourth – For all those fans of Riggins from Friday Night Lights fame, here’s some big screen news for everyone. Looks like Riggins is set to star in the long awaited big screen adaptation of John Carter of Mars.
Just to give you a bit of background information, John Carter from Mars has been on the shelf since 1937... Yes, that’s not a typo. 1937. It was suppose to be the very first animated movie of all time, ahead of Snow White and those pesky Seven Dwarfs.
It’s also the story of a civil war veteran who gets transported to Mars to help save the world from Aliens…
I really wish I was making this shit up.
Fifth – These are the tech companies in your neighbourhood
This kinda fell on my radar late yesterday, but it seems to be a cool app that is making some news. It’s from ASSN.CA, a local dev team out of Calgary and their new iPhone product Cardinal.
I’ve only been playing with it for a couple hours, but I have to admit for Music lovers it’s a pretty genius idea. It essentially makes it even easier to share the music you love on a variety of social media web sites straight from your iPhone/iPod Touch. It sounds simple, but the interface is great and it’s a fantastic little app. PLUS it is free for the rest of the week.
So support the community. I’ll have a review of the app on yycApps.com shortly. (or just follow @yycapps)
Sixth – This comes courtesy of @davidaustin, but it’s news that STEP UP 3 is going to be in 3D... Which ultimately means that this 3-D Revival needs to die a quick death.
Seventh – Okay, if Hipster Puppies has a book deal, then A raptor stalking Michael Buble is due. (via. @Chronotope)
Eighth – The Liberian NHL Jersey Phenomenon explained and now with pictures.
I have an honest confession to make, when I first read that link, I thought it was going to be totally different. I honestly thought it said Librarians…
Ninth – Last, but not least today is Foursquare Day. So if you’re into foursquare make sure you check-in so you can pick up the specially designed badge.
Also if you think it’s pretty pompous for Foursquare (@foursquare) to declare today, Foursquare day, the truth is that it was a grass roots user movement that the company realized was a good idea and embraced.
Now, that’s a solid way to build a community.
Categories: The-Random, The-Humourous, The Blogosphere, The Calgary Vibe, The Inane, The Music, The Pop-Culture, The Southern Neighbours, The T-Shirts
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For Being A Sucker For Cross Promotions · Friday April 9, 2010
Since arriving in The District, one thing has become quite clear….
I’m a sucker for product gimmicks. Without question, I’ve spent more time perusing the grocery isle’s looking for the cheesiest cross-promotions in the city. Case in point… Washington Redskins Approved Breakfast Blitz Cereal…
Anyways, for the next couple of Random Thoughts (unless I can think of a real gooder), I’ll be showcasing some of the gimmicky gems I come across in my daily travels.
Enjoy…
First – Here’s an eye-opening look at the atmosphere surrounding Hockey in Russia and the mysterious KHL. Apparently it’s going to be a feature on Hockey Night in Canada this weekend and really it sounds like it will be well worth a viewing. (via. Elliot Friedman)
Second – Mr. D.A. brought this to my attention earlier this week, but the Review Crew also seemed to have snagged a link. Anyways, for your 8-bit enjoyment here is The Megaman Hoodie. (via. Gadget_Guy).
Third – Local Graffiti artist and mini celebrity, Kid Belo has launched a new Web site. It is really great to see a local artist making an impact in a community which tends to encompass only larger metro areas.
But better yet, spend five minutes looking at his collection of work. See if you’ve come across a few of his pieces. I know there a couple that I love that I didn’t know he did. (i.e. The Art Central Building).
Fourth – Okay, if the new iPad App could realistically gave me the time and ability to start re-reading Marvel Comic books again… that would be the tipping point to purchasing one.
Fifth – These are the companies in your neighborhood
I wrote about this in more depth on The Corporation’s Blog, but a big congrats goes out to iStockPhotos which turned the big 10 this week.
Congrats guys.
Sixth – This appeared in my inbox earlier last week and I thought it was too cool, not to pass up. It’s a new car commercial from Mazda… That was shot entirely, by using remote control miniature replicas … Including the helicopter.
Seventh – Score one for non-douchebaggy men all over Calgary! It looks like Midtown condos has finally removed their douchebaggery ad campaign from all urinals across our fair city.
Eighth – A collection of popular tourist postcards altered to showcase an imaginary (I hope it’s imaginary) invasion by aliens from the Star Wars Universe. (via. Laughing Squid)
Ninth – It’s been a while since I did this, but here is my new favorite band … for the moment. They’ve toured with Andrew W.K., so that’s all you need to know about this band.
They’re called Fang Island and they are Team Gong Show approved. (thanks to Kurt & Andy for the heads up)
Tenth – Apparently, The Review Crew is on fire in regards to t-shirt designs this week... (via. mikesbloggityblog)
Eleventh – Not nearly as hysterical as last weeks’, A Raptor Stalks Michael Buble web site, but Awkward Family Portraits is pretty funny. Especially this post, entitled Learning The Hardway. (Thanks to BailingBucket for that one)
Categories: the-dc, The-Random, The ArtWorld, The Blogosphere, The Calgary Vibe, The Humourous, The Inane, The Music, The Pop-Culture, The Southern Neighbours, The T-Shirts, The Twitter-verse
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For Landing In The District · Friday April 2, 2010
Well kids, that is officially one week of the overdrive in the District. I’d love to say I’ve been scouring the area for all the coolest places and hot spots, but the truth is I’ve been holed up in our lovely apartment churning out emails and projects. So I don’t have anything over the top exciting to tell you all. But in lieu of the big move to DC, I thought I’d share a song that Professor Rennie sent me before I left, that is all too fitting.
It’s The Magnetic Fields’ Washington DC.
First – Techcrunch breaks news that the Fake Steve Jobs Blog (which apparently has a TV show coming) is being shut down... The big news in this article to me, is that there is even a Fake Steve Jobs blog running.
Second – Sometimes a picture is worth a 1000 words and this definitive rings true.
Forget People of Walmart and Unhappy Hipsters, this is the awesome new tumbler blog you need to follow. (via. Darcybross)
Third – An awesome new Dilbert comic (yes, i just said that), which was passed on to me by a client.
Take that for what it means.
Fourth – Okay, I’m still not a 100% convinced that this an April Fools joke, but Here’s a stunning redesign of Dunken Donuts brand for their 60th Anniversary... This is way too good to be an April Fool’s joke…Right…right?
Fifth – These are the companies in your neighborhood.
Okay, he’s not really a company, but he is a fantastic designer and his name is Cam Hoff. He runs a stylish little site called worksonpaper. He recently posted a nice little post on why you need to hit up Twitter. But what turns out to be an ultimate compliment, he added the old overdrive as a local to follow. Which is the ultimate compliment and I’m extremely humbled, even with the slag on my Marlboro man status. (j/k man I loved it)
Sixth – Sexy time for all you music lovers at the Headquarters, Sled Island just released their schedule for 2010 and it’s off the HOOK!..
Besides, the much talked about Girl Talk headliner, you’ve got the Thermals, Built To Spill, F**ked Up, The Bronx (Who played a great SXSW show) and a slew of other great, great bands.
Buy tickets kids, so I can live vicariously through you.
Seventh – I wrote about this on the Armadillo Studios blog, but I have a feeling GoWalla is actually going to over take Foursquare as the geo-locational site to be on and this link from Techcrunch on the addition of Adobe, Chipolte and New Jersey Nets to the growing GoWalla catalog of participating companies.
Eighth – Probably the best April’s Fools day prank online comes from Groupon.com (which is a service that really needs to be ported to Calgary), with their new elite service called Groupoupon, where you can get such elite deals on faceless watches and walls o’money.
Ninth – If you’re into puzzle games for the iPhone, you need to download Tarot’s Misfortune which has now been ported to the iPhone.
Tenth – Also for all you indie mash-up lovers, here’s The xx vs. The Notorious B.I.G from waitwhatmusic. Check it out, it’s a dark, dark take on the Biggie’s best tracks over the latest xx album.
Eleventh – Why the eye rolling and we all know attitude that came with at Ricky Martin’s big coming out announcement, was a good thing.
Categories: The-Random, the-dc,
c.t.overdrive
SXSW10: Random Thoughts For the Midway Point Of The Month · Friday March 19, 2010
Today marks the midway point of TURNERS MONTH OF MADNESS TRAVEL. Because today is the prep day before my road trip back to Arlington, VA with all of Team Turner’s possessions.
As always, I tried to blog as much as possible in Austin; but if you saw me walk off the plane, you’d know why I didn’t get a chance to post any riveting content. Two 5:00am flights, three time zone changes, 9:30 panel discussions, coupled with 2:00am parties and all the BBQ Brisket you can imagine will do that to you. Actually, it’ll knock at least five years off of your life.
That being said, I think I’m already starting a count down to next year. Because really, TeamGongShow needs to smoke Leave Your Job, Start An Agency Part 2.
So to kill two birds with one stone, here are my random thoughts for this week, but all based on random observations from Austin Texas.
First – Here are some excellent pictures from a great DC Design team Jess3, on potential SNOWMAGGEDON T-shirts.
Second – Some great post from Rhett and Tyler about the chaos that is SXSW.
side note: I take some of the credit for Rhett eating BBQ far too much. Every time the poor boy asked me what I was doing for dinner it was my default rebuttal.
Third – I went to the Milwaukee Beer & Brats party and here are two awesome observations of about the land of the Brewers. One, Milwaukee is for Wicked Beards. Two, the Milwaukee Brewers Secret Stadium Sauce is to die for.
Hell, I may even join their Facebook group.
Fourth – The strong Calgary contingent of trade show company’s down in Austin (iStockPhoto and Veer) both had the best T-Shirts and by far the best swag.
Fifth – If you’re curious who won the big Geo-Locational Battle of SXSW 2010, between Foursquare and GoWalla….
I’m going to have to admit that GoWalla won. I’ll write about this for Armadillo soon, but you all might as well abandon Foursquare and switch on over to the dark side. (photo via Dean Terry)
Sixth – In regards to panels I attended, by far the most entertaining panel of the week was Chris Brogan and Julien Smith’s talk I don’t trust you one stinkin’ bit. While they didn’t really touch on anything ground breaking from their book, I can’t stress enough how important it is to read Trust Agents.
If you are in business or dabbling in new media, you need to read Trust Agents. Like seriously go out and buy this book.
Plus, the fact that Julien dropped more F-bombs than any other panelist at the conference, easily made this panel a real treat.
Seventh – As much as I make fun of uber-entrepreneur Gary V by over abusing his catch phrase CRUSH IT!, he really is a solid, solid guy.
Here’s a recording of someone prank phone calling him at 5:00am at SXSW and his reaction. When you listen to the clip, ask yourself if someone phoned you at 5:00am, how would you react.
The best part of the conversation is when Gary wakes up and sounds all sleepy and then pops in to Vanyermode. Very cool. Much respect.
Eighth – The “game” to play on your buddies who are using geosocial devices is to find where there mother lives and become the mayor. So for example you have a good buddy called Doug, you find out where his mother lives and you become the mayor of Doug’s Mum’s House.
Ninth – If you’re curious as to one of the more technical panels I attended, I have to say that Samantha Warren’s discussion on Web Typography was excellent. There are many more, but in terms of changing how I look at a web site, I think one takes the cake.
If you’re interested in this sort of thing or just curious about the idea, check out her slides below.
Categories: sxsw-2010, The-Random,
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For Living In The District · Saturday March 13, 2010
Well, my first week of living in The District, as the locals like to call it, has come to an end. It’s been a rather slow and quiet week, as I have been given a crash course in the American experience… With all the good and bad that comes with it. Needless to say, we only got hooked up with a steady stream of internet on Wednesday, so you’ll have to forgive me for not blogging for the past week.
It’s been great to finally see my wife and even better to finally put a place to the stories. DC is going to be a great two years and a fresh start. It’s sad to leave everyone in Calgary, but at 29 (24 of which in Calgary) this is going to be a nice little change. I honestly can’t wait to be back in DC in two weeks and to hit the ground running.
But in the mean time, I’ve got 5 days of geek madness in Austin to make it through. If you’re in Austin for SXSW, make sure you hit me up with an email or follow the cto_sxsw twitter account. As usual I’ll be blogging about everything going on here and professionally at the corporations blog.
Enjoy the ride kids and see you in 5 days.
First – Threadless knocks another T-Shirt out of the park, with this awesome Type T-Shirt
Second – More T-Shirts, but at least this one isn’t courtesy of Threadless…. For once.
You know you want to purchase it.
(via. Duncan Kinney)
Third – Ah fahk it, let’s just make this a T-Shirt and Design Random Thoughts. Here’s another nice shirt from Threadless, albiet it’s a bit of the over done Joker variety.
Fourth – I’m not sure when this happened, but all of a sudden I find anything IRONMAN related extremely cool. Sorta like these killer skins for your keyboard and mouse.
Fifth – I think we have to admit that Mad Men has officially jumped the shark… Barbie set to release a series of Mad Men Barbie Dolls (via. Laughingsquid)
Sixth – This comes from the Twitter world (and I can’t remember the source), but if you’re going to run for congress, we know that not many people watch Hockey in the States, but at least do a bit of research
Categories: The-Random, the-dc,
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For Virginia Is For Hustlers · Friday March 5, 2010
Nothing in the entire world could be more fitting, because today my friends, Virginia is indeed for Hustlers.
Today kicks off TURNERS MONTH OF MADNESS TRAVEL. Yes, today I fly to DC to finally see my wife. Remember the one who I married a couple of months ago, but then got accepted to a Masters program in Washington DC/Virginia. Yes, that one. I get to see her. I know, it’s kinda awesome.
But also, it means I get to go back to being a full time web design hustler. Freelancing, pixel pushing and coding for a living.
So yes, Virginia is indeed for hustlers.
First – Adding to their cannon of incredibly amazing T-shirts, is this gem from Threadless.com
Bomberman FTW!
Second – For all of you who dig Polaroid cameras…………… Okay the two people who read this that are really in to Polaroids as much as I am, here is some interesting news. It seems that Polaprieum, the company which has been selling the remaining Polaroid stock out of Switzerland, has now fully moved over to the Impossible Project. (via. splorp)
Third – This is a technology move that doesn’t sound like much, but in a year will be critical to every image that you submit to the Google Overlords. Anyways, it seems that online photo editing software Picnik has been purchased by Google. For all you Flickr and Picca fans, this is huge news.
And if you’ve never tried Picnik before, you really need to give it a whirl. It’s essentially a free online version of Photoshop.
Fourth – If you love music, and really who doesn’t nowadays, you need to check out Gerry Loves Records our of Edinburgh. Yes, Edinburgh the same place that’s responsible for my favorite new band, Frightened Rabbits. It’s also a side project/label of a friend of mine, who has exceptional taste in music. So it’s guaranteed to be quality stuff.
Fifth – I didn’t get a chance to take this talk in last week, but if you’ve every been interested in PodCasting and how to get started Third Tuesdays Calgary has a full list of valuable resources to get started on creating your own PodCasts.
Sixth – Fun news for all you people looking to help curb your Olympics Hangover, vinyl toy store nation has a selection of vinyl reproductions of the Vancouver Mascots.
Categories: The-Random, the-dc, The Blogosphere, The Calgary Vibe, The Humourous, The Inane, The Music, The Southern Neighbours, The T-Shirts
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For Rocket Skates · Friday February 26, 2010
So this random post is two weeks coming and clocks in at 13 separate ideas, which probably breaks a personal record of some sort. While I initially had something a bit more dramatic to dedicate these random thoughts to, I’ve thrown that out the window. Instead these random thoughts go out to Rocket Skates.
Better yet, the first single from the Deftones new disc which is called Rocket Skates.
Yes, kids, a new Deftones release is big news in the world of the old c.t.ovedrive. So talking about TEDxYYC and everything else will have to wait till next week.
First – Sick new shoes from my favorite little European Pixel Pushers.
Second – Ah, well now we can all officially get our knickers in a knot about locational based apps like Foursquare, Britekit and Gowalla. As noted in this nice little article about the new shock web site PleaseRobMe.com, we are all going to be robbed enmass because we don’t use common sense on Social Networks. (via. mastermaq)
Update: Foursquare has responded to PleaseRobMe.com controversy.
Third – Have you ever wondered what your favorite Social Networks would look like if it were reinterpreted like a retro 1960s-era paperback novel? Okay, probably not. But here is a cool list of “what they could possibly look like if that was done“http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2010/02/how-the-internet-looks-as-vintage-books/. (via. poploser)
Fourth – Another great little article on TEDxYYC and the evolution of Calgary
Fifth – (Please note that I do understand the irony in this next random post). But Holy Toledo, there are a lot of This is what Canadians are articles popping up due to these Olympics. Have a look at this one in the New York Times or even better the 15 Signs You’re Talking To A Canadian (via. lydyzze)
Sixth – This is what happens to all broken Lego figurines … They face the Lego Grim Reaper...
Seventh – Last Wednesday the Ministry of Awesome (or a Ministry of a similar name) in England finally reveals decades of information regarding potential UFO cover-ups.
In completely unrelated news Robert Stack has risen from the grave. He’s pissed and he’s prepared to do Unsolved Mysteries Season 14.
Eighth – You all probably saw the horrible list of new baby names in Alberta last week. Unfortunately, most people were too preoccupied with the fact someone named their kid Ericlindross to notice that someone in this province named their kids Choas, Morpheus, Epic, Fury, Fyre, and Mystique.
If there’s anything I’ve learned over the past 30 years, is that in 20 years there’s either going to be a handful of weird strippers out there or a group of devious super-villains.
Ninth – The Dali Lama is now on Twitter. Which in the end really just means that we can all look forward to more people retweeting even more catchy pockets of peace and harmony.
Tenth – Darth Vader can let the beat… drrrrrrrrrop?
(via. jbristowe)
Eleventh – A fantastically gorgeous site called They Make Apps. Which essentially works as directory for iPhone App developers… except you navigate it like a video game. Very, very cool. (via. nonimage’s blog)
Twelfth – Jay Dorn does a better job explaining why The Thermals are awesome then I ever could.
Thirteenth – An Irish company has completed a 1200 pound robotic replica of my worst freaking nightmare.
My sleep patterns thank you.
Categories: The-Random, The-Music, The Blogosphere, The Calgary Vibe, The Canada Vibe, The Humourous, The Inane, The Pop-Culture
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For the Start of The Olympics · Friday February 12, 2010
This could be the single best comment I’ve heard about the Opening Ceremonies tonight…
Hmmm, I wonder when the Opening Ceremonies are for the Olympics? I can’t remember after watching the Super Bowl this past weekend. (via. Pagal4321)
First – Let’s get into the Olympic spirit with this beauty. Apparently, a small time newspaper in Poland ran an image of the Vancouver 2010 Mascots to promote the games … Unfortunately, nobody told them that Pedobear wasn’t an official mascot. (via. Mr. Rennie)
Second – A pretty cool find from Poploser, it’s a site called My City vs. Your City. A little app which lets you compare your cities musical tastes with another city.
Interesting enough Calgary easily out triumphs Washington.
Third – Bet you didn’t know that Hienz has reworked their Ketchup Packages. I must say it’s a pretty brilliant design.
Fourth – Oh rats… It looks like my epic Unicorn fighting a whale over a cliff with lighting raining down in the background tattoo will have to wait a couple more years… Calgary Health authorities close down 7 in-home tattoo parlours
Fifth – These are the companies in your neighbourhood
Crazy, crazy, crazy news for local publisher and Art Central main stay, UpperCase Gallery. Turns out they have be selected as one of 16 finalists in the annual Society of Publication Designers’ Magazine of the Year Awards. While being selected to be a finalist is pretty common, as there seems to be hundreds of awards out there, this one is huge. It means that Uppercase is in competition with magazines such as Wired, GQ, Time, Blender and the New York Times Style Magazine. (thanks to lbourgon for the heads up)
Unreal and congrats to them. That is fahking impressive for a husband and wife duo.
Sixth – More Calgary-based news. Here is a neat article on the draw of artists to Calgary’s downtown core neighbourhoods (via. TerryAtCADA. Which as we all know is the concept of Gentrification kids. Which in the grand scheme of things isn’t a bad, bad, bad thing. It’s actually the basic life cycle of a thriving city.
See …
- A city grows.
- Artists gravitate to the city and establish themselves in the cheapest ‘hoods.
- They set-up and build culture.
- Developers and yuppies get wind of this and start developing upscale projects to leverage this new culture.
- Artists can’t afford rent anymore, so they move to another inner city neighbourhood with cheaper rent. The cycle begins again.
All this means is that in 5-10 years the neighbourhoods the next article will be written about will be Montogmery, Bowness, Bridgeland, Lions Park, Ramsey, Ogden etc., etc.,
The world will be fine people. Gentrification is actually a good sign for the city. It means that we’re attracting the creative class.
Seventh – In honour of TEDxYYC here is a list of 5 key TED presentations on Social Media (via. darron)
Eighth – Not to put a damper on the day, but this is a rather stirring and emotional video clip. It’s from a poetry slam in Austin Texas by Gabrielle Bouliane about life called Don’t Waste Your Fahking Time.
… This was her last public performance.
Gabrielle was diagnosed with Stage Four Cancer shortly before this video was filmed. She died in January 29, 2010 surrounded by family and friends, and apparently her passing was in a very quiet, peaceful room full of love and affection.
And for those shocked and in awe… Yes, I did just post to a poetry slam clip.
Ninth – Last but not least, here is the latest in a string of tumbr blogs showcasing Hipsters in funny photos… It’s Hippster Puppies
(via. sarahblue)
Categories: The-Random, The-Pop-Culture, The ArtWorld, The Blogosphere, The Calgary Vibe, The Canada Vibe, The D.C. vibe, The Humourous, The Inane
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For The UrbanDictionary.com Meme · Friday February 5, 2010
So, if you’ve toiled on Facebook for the past couple of days, you’ll have noticed that some people are posting the definition of their name based on what ever appears on UrbanDictionary.com. (Which happens to be a hysterical site… albeit somewhat crude). It’s gaining momentum and to be honest I find it pretty hysterical. (Check out the old definition of Connor, while all of these are very true. #5 is probably the most likely. #1-#4 aren’t really age appropriate definitions).
Anyways, my point bieng, is that I want to congratulate the marketing guru or who ever is responsible for starting this meme. You, good sir are an absolute genius.
Thousands of new hits to a stale site and even more new visitors, all due to a simple idea which leverages our human instinct to be cooler than everyone else. It’s genius, funny and it probably didn’t cost UrbanDictionary one single dime.
Well Played! Very, well played.
First – Rhett and one of his friends, (whom I actually think is imaginary) have launched a new site called Today For Lunch. It’s a series of letters between two friends detailing what they eat and in a weird Knowledge For Thirst kinda way, it is pretty darn funny. (via. bailingbucket)
Second – Ah Foursquare. How I really need to stop writing about you… But this was too good to pass up… Anyways, did you know that Foursquare has a DoubcheBag badge? Bet you didn’t know that.
I’m just curious, which bar in Calgary has been bestowed this great honour? Melrose? Metropolitan Grill? The new Mercury? The Owner of Nellie’s?
Third – I think I wet myself.
Sega to release a cheap classic console system this summer. It will only play vintage Sega games on a Wii like interface.
Fourth – Continuing on from the last point, I just want to reconfirm to anyone who reads this that I don’t really pee myself or wet myself as much as it may sound. I’m just easily excitable by old school gaming and T-Shirts.
Fifth – This is very cool news for a local developer. Terry Stasiuk is getting a fair bit of exposure for his great iCheer app. If you’re heading to the Olympics, download the app and help out a local developer.
Sixth – For those times when only a good old Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! will do. (via. myownbiggestfan)
Seventh – My wife is in the middle of what has been called as the 2010 Snowpocalypse of D.C.. Apparently, it’s estimated that 1-11 inches of the wet fluffy stuff is set to land in Virginia/D.C. this weekend.
Now before we all laugh at the ridiculous nature of this weather warning, especially the people for Saskatchewan, please note that this is the same area of the world that doesn’t have a Winter Semester. (via Chronotope)
Eighth – I’ve already forwarded this on to a few others, but it looks like Ales Kotalik has one fan … With Mad MS Paint Skillz and some love for trashy Euro dance music. P.S. make sure you turn down your speakers, before clicking… or you’ll be in for a shock (via. jbristow)
Ninth – By the way, you should all do two things this weekend. 1) Read the corporations article called a Tale of Two Bars 2) Head down to The District pub (where the old Fox and Firkin used to be)… Trust me both are well worth it.
Tenth – I’ll sneak this one in at the end. If you are in Calgary and at Art Central, make sure you check out UpperCase Gallery and their latest exhibit – A Showing of Letters. Very, very cool stuff.
Categories: The-Random, The-Blogosphere, The Beverages, The Calgary Vibe, The D.C. vibe, The Flames, The Personnal, The Twitter-verse
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For Post Number 800! · Friday January 29, 2010
So as c.t.overdrive enters it’s 5th year of existence, it’s time to celebrate the 800th post on this crappy little blog.
Yes, the old c.t.overdrive is at big 800, which is twice as large 400. See kids, that’s the sort of Math you learn after 6 years of university.
Anyways, like I’ve said before thanks for sticking around and I hope you enjoy the ride.
First – Interesting news from the world of Photography, an award-winning photo dubbed the lone wolf was recently revealed to be a fake (via. russic)
…. Ah … so many jokes lone wolf jokes … so little time.
Second – Have you seen Sherlock Holmes yet? If you have you probably remember the stunning Opening and Closing credits? (I haven’t seen it, so I’m not sure how stunning they really are) Anyways, are you interested in how they were made?
Well … There’s an article for that
Third – The Fantastic Four issue #26 parlayed into Donkey Kong For the Nintendo.
Fourth – There is so much wrong with this. The Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL are having a Girl Scout Night to celebrate, what else but girl scouts. This is only creepy, because this is the same team that had a +21 night and also has Prison Night in honour of corrupt Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. (via. j3r3mjf).
Nice unis guys. Nice unis.
Fifth – These are the companies in your neighbourhood
No feature this week, but I will let you all in on a secret. iPhone users and iPod Touch users take note!
Sixth – In a long list of nightclubs in the city that have died a quiet death, the Warehouse and Underground are no more. My memories are fuzzy, but the Wizard Beer Tap at the Underground still sends shivers down my spine.
Seventh – An amazing article by Wired on the affect (or is effect) of the Madden Football Franchise on this generation of pro football players.
Eighth – Zappos.com, finally unleashed a redesign of their web site. Which sorta, almost makes me want to buy shoes. P.S. Please don’t tell my wife about this redesign.
Ninth – c.t.o’douls and wintr at last nights yyc4Haiti event at Flames Central. (For those curious it was a fantastic tweet-up).
Tenth – Last, but not least.
I’ve started reading Julien Smith’s blog InOverYourHead.net, since his talk at Calgary’s Third Tuesday meet-up. Julien is writing some brilliant stuff about media and human relationships. His book Trust Agents is a definite pick-up for those interested in this stuff. One of his latest posts Why Twitter was Inevitable is a great look at the basic concept of the network.
Well worth the read if you’ve got a moment.
Categories: The-Random, The-Site, The ArtWorld, The Blogosphere, The Calgary Vibe, The Humourous, The Inane, The Pop-Culture, The Twitter-verse, The VideoGames
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For Sweet Memories Of The Wedding · Friday January 22, 2010
This made my day… It’s Don’t Stop Believing by a bunch of New York School Kids. (you can thank my cousin in-law Lyndsie for that link)
The last time I heard this was at our wedding … At least these kids kept their pants on.
First – From the CBC ten bands that are expected to make it big in 2010... And by expected, I mean might. We are Canadians after all and making bold statements about success really isn’t our thing.
Second – The Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno feud… explained by Intense JAPANESE 3D ANIMATION…. Conan O’Brien as The HULK and some other dude as Capt. America. (via. Jaydorn)
Third – This might come as a shock to some, but Matt Good (of The Matthew Good Band fame) is increasingly becoming one of the most interesting celebrities on the Internet.
Yes, you can judge his political stances, his opinions on government influences, his opinions on his fans and the music industry; but without question the way he’s using the Interwebs to connect with fans and stay in the online consciousness is really impressive. Recently, he announced that he was going to switch to a subscription fee model for his site … But that disappeared and now it looks like they are taking a different approach … maybe … Something about pubic hair.
Either way, it’s interesting and he’s pushing the concept of a personal brand in to a whole new realm.
LOVE IT.
Fourth – To be honest, I haven’t watch late night television since my Jr. High years, but this whole Conan vs. Leno feud is highly entertaining.
Watch as Conan does what every jilted employee would love to do and spends his last few days of employment blowing the company’s expense account.
Fifth – These are the companies (sorta) in your neighbourhood.
I’m going to go off the charts for a bit and got to the home of one of my best friends… That’s right. We’re running to Saskatoon.
Anyways, at the Digital Alberta event on Tuesday I ran into a member of team ZuLabs an interatctive company out of Saskatoon that has done some great media campaigns with large Canadian companies. During our discussions, Stephanie mentioned that their team has broken into the iPhone App market in a huge way with their TimmyMe App http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=49621.
Yup, an app that allows you to find the nearest Tim Hortons. Genius, eh?
Well it’s also a pretty simple and slick application, with a well designed interface. It’s already made a wave on the market, but I thought I’d give it a shout out. It’s a great idea and it’s a simple way to get a product out there. Plus it’s free.
So congrats to ZuLabs & TimmyMe.
Sixth – I just wet myself… My man-crush Damon Albarn is back in the studio again. This time it looks like Gorillaz are gearing up for a new album to coincide with their Cochachella Show.
Seventh – I choked on my coffee twice reading this week’s edition of Poploser’s Amusing Myself to Death... The first choke was during the Gamer synopsis and the second… Well, you’ll just have to guess.
Eighth – From Kermitology … It’s a series of Star Wars branded Adidas shoes.
Yeah, I’m freaking serious… They even have STORMTROOPER shoes.
Those would look killer with my Star Wars cufflinks.
Ninth – Also, for all you entrepreneurs out there make sure you read Duncan’s work with local serial entrepreneur Ken Bautista. If you’re curious as to how to get your idea of the ground in Canada, make sure you get on board with this series of stories.
Tenth – Last, but not least as apart of the High Performance rodeo in Calgary, The Uptown is showing Art & Copy. A highly regarded documentary on Advertising.
Categories: The-Random, The-Future-Turners-Wedding, The Blogosphere, The Calgary Vibe, The Canada Vibe, The Corporation, The Humourous, The Inane, The Music, The Personnal, The Pop-Culture, The Twitter-verse, The World
c.t.overdrive
Random Thoughts For The Political Moshpit of the 21st Century · Friday January 15, 2010
Say what you will about Ben Affleck Keith Obermann’s overindulgence in the English language and his tendency to provoke the extreme left-wing radicals; but holy shit does he sure knows how to beat down the extreme right.
Watch as everyone’s favourite Celiac pwns Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robinson on their inhuman comments about the Haiti disaster.
(via. Mr. MusicCritic)
First – Without question, Mark Ecko rules...
Second – A fantastic letter of inspiration from the creator of Ren & Stimpy to a 14 year old fan in the late 90’s. More people at the top of their game need to do these types of letters and help spread their knowledge.
Third – An interesting, but leg crossing article by cousin in-law Lyndsie Bourgon on the topic of circumcision.
Fourth – A stunning, stunning article about deceit, lies, adultery, egomaniacs, a self-destructing family, but more importantly it’s showcases the slow demise of the Democratic Party’s golden boy – John Edwards. (via. Kristen Lester)
Fifth – These are the companies in your neighbourhood.
This comes from a little collective called BIG NERDS IN DISGUISE who recently released their first iPhone Game called OWN THIS WORLD….
Own this World is sorta like Foursquare, but with Tanks and Armies and Kamikazee attacks in attempt to own real property all over the world. You create armies and try to steal other portions of your own city… Which is a genius, genius little idea. It’s already a huge hit on “CalgaryPuck”: and it’s picking up some steam. Plus at $0.99 it’s definitely worth downloading.
If you have an iPhone, give these guys some support. They are an up and coming Calgary company and one you should definitely get behind.
Sixth – The Cancer Bats cover The Beastie Boy’s Sabotage... And this is the nail in the coffin of my musical memories.
Seventh – A huge round of applause needs to go out to the yycTwits that made the finals of the 2009 North American Film Racing Awards... They didn’t win, but they put out a solid performance and created something special for Calgary.
Congrats guys!
Eighth – I’ll just get this out of the way so nobody has to read the Editorial column in the Sun for the next week, but how come City Hall can campaign to become the number 1 city in Canada, but can’t clear out my snow or build a bridge that doesn’t look like a Chinese Finger Trap? Grumble, grumble, grumble
(end of my sarcasm rant)
Ninth – Great product design for Samurai Vodka
(via. imjustcreative)
Categories: The-Random, The-Southern-Neighbours, The Blogosphere, The Calgary Vibe, The Canada Vibe, The Humourous, The Inane, The Pop-Culture, The World
c.t.overdrive
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