You know how Andre 3000 demands that you “Shake it like a Polaroid picture” in the song Hey Ya? This guy did just that, 207 times. You see boys and girls, you used to have to shake Polaroids in order to get the chemicals to even out and the film to dry. Frankly, I think it didn’t help. But it was fun to do. According to the Universal Record Database, Matt Stangler set the record for most Polaroid shakes, and the feat was documented in this video. This is the kind of thing people do in Williamsburg.
Herschel Stanley and I are at Books-A-Million at Dupont Circle. My cleavage is also here. Boobs and books and puppies! What are you waiting for, DC? Come over now. Thanks. Bye.
They go great with a glass of milk! You can buy your own here for a mere $500. (via Ben Sisario)
What’s with all the floppy disk nostalgia? I guess they’re becoming kind of nouveau pop-art icons—hello, cassette tapes!—but I admit that I don’t really get it. And, um, weren’t they square? Feels wrong to let the iPhone dictate the shape of the floppy. Even if this is an iPhone case. The floppy came first!
(via EgoorEngland on Etsy)
Via Gizmodo:
“From 1979: A source “close to the matter” claims this document outlines a future Audio format that would utilize a tapeless design, and *snort* use lasers as some sort of record needle. Sounds like Bullshit to me.
First of all, a laser is going to burn up whatever it touches, so, like, do you listen to it once and then throw it away? That sounds like a great idea if you’re one of those guys who made us buy 8 tracks and now want us to repurchase all our favorite songs on cassettes again. I’m not even going to get started on the potential fire hazard here. And last time I checked (the movies) lasers shoot out, they don’t shoot back in, so its not like a laser is a good replacement for a record needle. Sure, it wouldn’t wear out these magic laser records like vinyl and physical needles do, but that’s because said disc would be make believe. And if even real, be on fire.
Sheesh. Nice try, rumor fakers. Never going to fool an expert gadget blogger. —Brian Lam”
1979 Rumor: Leaked Docs of “Compact Disc” Audio Format Using LASERS - CD - Gizmodo
A library in a phone booth! Kind of like opening up a Blockbusters inside of a beeper store.
New UK Library Fits Within a Phone Booth
(via libraryland)
I did this little piece that ran today in The Washington Post’s Book World. (OBSOLETE actually started out as a cover story in The Washington Post Magazine last year.) Books and newpapers and magazines are, of course, both subjects in the book. Tumblr isn’t. Think about that for a moment. Or don’t. Or think about this: does the spelling of “Tumblr” mean the beginning of the end of the letter “e?”
As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I’m going to be in DC tomorrow at Books-a-Million in Dupont Circle tomorrow from 5 to 7. Obama may or may not be there. I love that construction: may or may not be there. Really, doesn’t it apply to everyone all the time? Hell, I may or may not be there. I will or will not be there. I am or I am not writing this blog post. I may or may not be in desperate need of a nap. Please excuse the sound of my forehead hitting the keyboaefopiaefaefji;a.
Take a trip back through the 2000s through the lens of the dregs of some guys gadget collection. You know all the old stuff you find that you’re like “I should keep this because maybe it’ll be useful or valuable some day or I’ll make it into an art project or a YouTube video?” And then you throw it out? Or you do keep it and don’t create anything on it, even though, like my friend Alex’s dad, you are sure that that collection of five broken vacuums would make very cool wall sculptures if only your walls weren’t hidden by stacks of newspapers?
Well, this guy is smarter than you. Or crazier. One or the other. Also: he is probably a worse videographer than you. Still, taken all together, I dig it. Obsolete Gadget Videographer Guy —yeah you, the guy with the hands!—you, sir, give hoarders a good name.
This is from a couple of years ago but it’s news to me: Dude releases 74-minute album on a single floppy disk. Now there’s a surefire business plan! You reading this, Wharton?
Dear Barack and Michelle,
I’m going to be at the Books-a-Million at DuPont Circle on Thursday December 3rd from 5pm to 7pm. Why don’t you come on and by and say “Hi!” Great. See you there.
xo
Annie
1999, as envisioned in 1968. In their vision, the woman shops and the man pays. Now, women use this kind of technology to shop AND pay. Men use it to look at porn. Yay progress!
No fewer than five people today sent me this article about how Cormac McCarthy is auctioning off his old Olivetti Lettera —the typewriter on which he’s written all of his highly-praised MacArthur-genius-grant-worthy novels. I’m touched that all these people thought of me—they are good folk—but when people tell me I MUST read a certain article or book or pamphlet on safe sex, there’s a part of me that bucks. Don’t tell me what to read, dammit! I will not be put in a box! Besides, I know what happens: there’s nuclear fallout, everyone dies, the son eats the father (Viggo Mortensen!) while watching I Am Legend and then Wall-e shows up and develops a new language based on the symbols found on an odd object stamped with the word Lettera. Then Clive Owen arrives just in time for London to explode and it all ends with everyone singing songs from Hello Dolly. As the credits roll, we see an old man at the Genius Bar asking for a bourbon, neat, with a MacBook Pro on the side.
Does this mean goodbye, three-pronged outlets?
![I want one. They’re $175 a pair. Who wants to chip in for the second one?
Own a Piece of History: New York Subway Memorabilia
(via Apartment Therapy New York)
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I want one. They’re $175 a pair. Who wants to chip in for the second one?
Own a Piece of History: New York Subway Memorabilia
(via Apartment Therapy New York)
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Thanks to advancing technology and shifting mores, the amount of change we experience in our lifetimes is truly exceptional. Objects and practices that are commonplace can very quickly become outmoded. This witty and informative collection of short essays takes a thoughtful look at what everyday apparatuses, ideas, and behaviors are quickly disappearing--or else have already left the building. (Abrams Image, September 2009).
MEET THE AUTHOR
Anna Jane Grossman is a New York-based freelance writer specializing in lifestyle and entertainment features. Her work has appeared in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Salon.com, The Washington Post, Elle, and Fortune. If she could have one super power, it'd be the ability to stop time, like Evie in Out of This World.
MEET THE ILLUSTRATOR
James Gulliver Hancock is an internationally acclaimed artist who crosses as many mediums as he does borders. James is constantly on the move, having been involved in artist projects and residencies in Indonesia, Austria, France, the U.K. and America. He is currently located in Los Angeles and works on projects in Europe, America and Australia. His work is as varied as his travels, encompassing editorial illustration for magazines, commissions for music group artwork and animations, work with disabled children on logo designs, creating gigantic set illustrations for performances and TV.
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TAKE A PHOTO, GET A LIMITED EDITION OBSOLETE HOTEL KEY CHAIN!
Just snap a picture of your copy of OBSOLETE along with something obsolete, and email it to obsoletethebook@gmail.com (or submit it by clicking here) along with your mailing address.
