Saturday, January 26, 2008

Hair Plugs Never Looked So Good.

When I was about six years-old, I remember one Friday night, goin’ to the Sev with my dad to score some blue and red lensed classic 3D glasses. Tons of people were there on the same mission—all getting glasses for some 3D version of King Kong or something like that on television. That was my first 3D experience and luckily it wasn’t my last.

The National Geographic production of U23D premiered at Sundance this year and we had the chance to catch a showing last night. With tickets for the best seats in the house in hand, we sat down with high-tech grandma-style glasses in a giant IMAX theater. As soon as the opening credits appeared off the screen with beautiful typography floating right before our eyes—I knew this was going to rock.

Now I’ve been to my share of U2 concerts, but this was something else entirely. This was like being at a concert except you’re in Buenos Aries, as part of the audience, and at the exact same time you’re on the stage, and you're in the band. There’s definitely a major audience draw to this film due to the sheer spectacle of the 3D experience, but we’re not talking about Terminator 3D at Universal Studios—there’s something far more emotional going on here.


Seriously, when the Edge shoves the neck of his Gibson Explorer right in your face, or when Bono sings about drying tears then reaches out to dry yours—trust me—you feel something. Granted you get a hi-def glimpse of Bono’s plugs, but frankly it doesn't even matter, you’re just lovin’ it all anyway.

The real star of the show is in all actuality the concert-going, Argentinean audience. Somehow, someway you’re joined to them. At times you’re one of them—wishing that chick in front of you would just get off that dood’s shoulders. Other times you’re right in their face sharing in their excitement, passion, and at times, frenzy. Let’s just say South Americans know how to party, crowd-style.

I’m not going to give away everything, but I can confidently say that for anyone who likes movies, music, (or typography in motion)—U23D is without a doubt an absolute must-see event.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Struckin' NYC.

So I just got back from an NYC new biz trip. Check out some photos from my MoMA trip with the sibs, here on the Struck Blog. Thanks for the good times you guys!

UPDATE: A comment on my post came in on the Struck Blog in regard to the correlation between Braun and Apple design with a link to this Gizmodo article. Check it out, great stuff!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Gotham Garage.

My padre—let’s call him, Normality—is considering the addition of a BMW 1 Series to his automotive repertoire in the next year or two. And apparently he was fairly impressed by my garage that, thanks to the former owner, now sports heavy-duty lighting, serious amounts of insulation, and an industrial heating unit. Now he’s considering amp-ing up his own garage in preparation for a possible new play toy.

There are a couple of cool garage solutions out there, such as a sweet FLOR arrangement or a classic tile deal. But it wasn’t until recently that I discovered the ultimate garage set up. In the preview for The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan’s up and coming sequel to Batman Begins, we catch a glimpse of sexy, modern carport-like-none-other. Now we don’t know where this “garage” actually is just yet. It may be part of the Batcave—but to me it looks more like it’s some secret location for the Batmobile—perhaps beneath Wayne Enterprises.

What we do know is that the art direction and production design for The Dark Knight is off the hook. Talk about attention to detail. Obviously, Heath Ledger’s makeup is sick, which in this case means awesome. And though “The Tumbler” version of Batmobile hasn’t really been updated for this installment—the coolest new addition to the Bat’s arsenal seems to be the Batpod.

Word on the street is that at Macworld this year, Jobs is going to announce that the aforementioned Batpod will apparently play both mp3's and movies.