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prior listings

 

• operatique 1/23/03 
  Description: each eye has its share of secrets
  Comments: There's a few links to pop-up visuals on the splash page worth checking out, but when you enter the site from there, it may seem dark and mysterious to you, as it did to me.  Alex a/k/a Betablocker would call it melancholic.  The cursor (in IE) adds to the mystery but mouseover effects help expose where the links are.  The content is artistic and includes both static images and Flash pieces.  There's an easy-to-miss link to another of Betablocker's sites with even more excellent visual content.  Cheers to the twenty-something designer in Montreal behind the site...  
   
• ningen.com 1/17/03 
  Description: llustrations, photos, and wallpapers from humankind
  Comments: The name of the site means "humankind" and each time you visit the main page, a random illustration of a face appears.  The designer/editor of the site, Chigono, is one of six "ningens" and I'm guessing that the other 5 are content contributors.  There's over 150 personal photos in the "ningens" section alone.  The "bob" section of the site has tasty daily images going back to April, 2001.  The latest photographic feature to be added to the "pix" section showcases 50 photos taken in China.  That section also has 161 photos taken in Tokyo plus more from the US (Chicago), Korea, and Thailand.  Excellent navigability and presentation and the background sounds are a nice touch.  It's only human...
   
• WRDSNPIX 1/9/03 
  Description: It just gets bigger...
  Comments: Steven's journal has archives going back to May, 1998.  The black & white photo accompanying the words of auld lang syne got my attention immediately and sent me looking to see if there were more photos.  Back to the root directory and bingo!  In addition to more recent shots, there's two series of photos taken in New York City, all in 2000, and they are really good.  Not that the journal wasn't good – I like Steven's writing.  A recent entry, which was really a major rant ("what the hell is the matter with you people?") takes its shots at several things, one of them being weblogs.  I'll preface it with the last sentence of the paragraph.  "Not that there's anything wrong with that."  With that said, I feel his comments about blogging are probably true in more than a few cases, but not in the vast majority.  Nevertheless, I find them totally amusing.  "First off, there's all you slackers who've lapsed into blogging.  You went from some real writing to basically cutting pictures out of magazines and sticking 'em up on the classroom bulletin board.  You lazy bastards are climbing your way sideways into imposterity..."  In the same entry, he also rants about door-to-door salesmen and talks about how much disclosure on one's site is safe.  "I ain't chicken, but I ain't stupid either. The woods are full of wardens these days."  I found other entries equally thought-provoking, as I did this quote from his "bio" page – "Whatever you may be sure of, be sure of this -- that you are dreadfully like other people."  By the way, if you see a guy on a black Harley with camera gear somewhere on the West coast, it just might be "the mainguy" behind today's pick...
   
• vegasqueen 1/7/03 
  Description: an interactive exhibition of the creative work of lesley keen (Flash/Quicktime)
  Comments: "All mysteries will be uncovered in time..."  Graphic artist Lesley Keen graduated The Glasgow School of Art in 1975 and, over the next 15 years, produced a number of animated films.  The site is intended to "bring together [her] creative work" from those years.  Web meets pre-web work and makes sense of it.  "Putting all the pieces together for the first time in this hyperlinking catalogue or interactive exhibition, the stylistic progression and interrelatedness of the work can finally be seen..."  The result is an engaging website that provides not only the creative work, but interesting background information on each piece as well.  Referring to "burrellesque," one of the films in her catalogue, Leslie writes "this is the last animated film I ever completed. I was aware the film represented the end of a journey, although at the time I simply thought this meant it would be my last film to be done by conventional means, without using a computer."  Creative spirit captured alive, right here on the web... 
   
• Popelevator 1/2/03 
  Description: experimental, interactive lounge and lab of Finnish graphic designer Juha Siirilä (Flash)
  Comments: Usability.  Forget about it (at least, for today) but don't forget to bring your Flash.  You'll have to figure out how to ride the elevator and once you enter either the lounge or the lab, you'll still have to be in explore mode.  I ended up first at a thing called "peeping tom" and what it said at the top was intriguing (in a tabloid news kinda way).  "Insert yellow coin..take a peek at some of my friends secret lifes.."  So, I had to go find the yellow coin.  I saw a blue one on my way in, but where's that yellow one?  I find it, then figure out how to activate the thing with it and I'm in!  Darn!  I click to learn more about "line_boy" and it tells me to "come back later."  Oh well.  I still enjoyed going for it.  Further explorations led me to the "font-o-matic" and the "design diary."  The discovered visual goodness keeps me busy for a while and I think to myself, "Gee, that was fun..." ;~))