Cool Olympic Promo by BBC Sports

A cheeky monkey would be a fantastic competitor in any battle of wit or endurance, but I’m not sure he;d make a good travel buddy – the whole flinging poo thing and all…

“The concept is based around Journey to the West, a novel published in the 1590s and considered one of the four most important works of fiction in China’s history. It follows a monk with several disciples, including a monkey, as they battle increasingly fierce demons on a quest to retrieve Buddhist scriptures for China.”

I love that the fellas behind the Gorillaz put their pencils to paper to create this.

It’s super cool — however, that said, I’m still disturbed that the global political voices against the Chinese occupation of Tibet aren’t as loud as they should be in the days leading up to the global games.

It looks like Journey to the West is an opera, too. Get the low down on the characters here.

The concept is based around Journey to the West, a famous Chinese novel, published in the 1590s and considered one of the four most important works of fiction in China’s history. It follows a monk with several disciples, including a monkey, as they battle increasingly fierce demons on a quest to retrieve Buddhist scriptures for China.

Arrr! I’m a Pirate, and I’m Sailing the Internet Seas!

Traditionalists are lost navigating the seas of the Internet. It’s far too easy to rip, burn and mix content today and “The Man” is terrified that you, I, and our Pirate friends will steal their well earned dollars by downloading music and videos and sharing it with one another.

Matt Mason’s book, The Pirate’s Dilemma investigates how the Net Generation (we’ll have to find a more clever and scary Pirate-like name for ourselves…) is causing a societal and economic revolution.

Check out the video. Matt even explains how America was founded on IP Pirates : )

Pretzles, Peanuts and Pilates

Only in San Francisco can you take a drop in Pilates class from a French contortionist named Pretzle while her dog Peanut scampers around the room weaving through the mats looking for belly rubs.

WTF man, this city is weird (in a good way).

The small warm, carpeted room was in a warehouse district named SoMA (South of Market) and filled with the smell of sweat, incense and a hint of dog urine… The people (approx 20 of us) were from all walks of life – strangers brought together through spandex, rhythmic breathing, and a bit of grunting here and there when Pretzle would help us find muscles we never knew existed.

It was beautiful.

I then hit up Fly Bar on Divisedero for the best nachos of my life (for real) and a few-ish Hogardens and met Micky. He’s a new friend who just might stir up some trouble at the Fillmore Jazz Street Fest this weekend with two turn tables and some stadium-sized speakers and amps.

San Francisco: Less About Rice, More About Cooking

I parachuted into San Francisco yesterday morning to start a new gig with Dealmaker Media (hosts of the Under the Radar conference).

I rolled outta bed at 4am to catch a 6:30am flight (thanks for the ride, Pat!) and couldn’t help but to be giddy at the thought of starting something new in a city where some of the smartest, most eager people in the world hang out.

San Fran is a magnet for people who want to change the world. Whether you’re a hipster, hippie or hot shot entrepreneur, people here seem to hold on to the belief that anyone can do anything. It’s inspiring.

Less than 48 hours after I arrived, I was at a party with some of the biggest players in the Valley.

Egos and success stories aside, everyone was more interested in telling me who I just had to meet or where just have to eat than about the latest acquisition (Powerset to Microsoft for $100M today, btw).

I freaking love this place. As Paul Graham says in his Cities and Ambition essay, “great cities attract ambitious people. You can sense it when you walk around one. In a hundred subtle ways, the city sends you a message: you could do more; you should try harder.”

What message does San Francisco send specifically? Paul says it’s “you should be more powerful.”

I agree, but I don’t like the choice of the word, “powerful.” I think he means powerful NOT in a grow-a-horrible-mustache-and-become-a-dictator way, but a how-can-you-change-the-world-for the-better way. And yes, maybe make $100 million while doing it.

Cool Beta Directory: MoMB

Looking to be the first to sign-up for the latest Web 2.0 community or test out the latest app? Be the first in the know thanks to Museum of the Modern Beta (MoMB).

This is seriously cool.

The site itself is in alpha but already listing some super cool alphas, betas and “graduates,” like BeFunky: Creative Ways to Express Yourself Online.”

Being the first to know about cool web shizzle on MoMB is almost the same as being able to say “dude, I listen to bands that don’t even exist yet.”

When Grotesque Meets Beautiful: Ads That Work

I came across this June 2008 WMF Knives print ad campaign that is fantastic and somewhat frightening. Slice and dice anything, I suppose.

Yet – they are beautiful photos.

The chicken and lobster advertisements are my favorites by far. They strike a sense of curiosity in me that forced me to stare at each one closely, trying to figure out how these creature’s mechanics worked while they were alive. 

Check out the ads in full size here.

 

 

Bonus: The ads (found in Thai magazines) aren’t scratch and sniff.

Tip: Not for use on humans (please and thank you).

Also check out the AIDES aids awareness posters that won the Cannes 2008 print ad awards… they too are grotesque and beautiful in a 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea kind of way.

 

What is a Meep Mop?

K, here goes:

When I was in high school (and even through college) I thought those of us who dealt in pictures and words rather than 0s and 1s were cooler than the D&D-playing programmer dorks in the corner.

To this point, my friend Douglas and I would make the sound “meep mop!” when ever something about computers came up.

It sounded robotic and dorky. Perfect.

Then one day I woke up and realized that I (and every GenX and GenY’er around me) was at the forefront of the internet revolution. Our leaders, however, were the dorks in the corner. They were Meep Mopping code that would make it easier for Egoists and Tech-Illiterate Cool Kids to create and share content online, too.

I didn’t realize developers were artists and that code (0s and 1s) is alive. Without a caretaker, code can slowdown; it ages and it breaks.

It’s now the “picture and word” people like myself who Meep Mop. “Look at me! I’m HTML-ing!”

It’s now I who Meep Mops (ie: fudges my way through) building websites. And those dorks? Yeah, they went off to do amazing things like, I dunno, build Google.

Here’s to nerds. I love you guys (and gals). You’re getting cooler by the decade, too. Some of you are even pretty sexy — hot tattoos, successful Web 2.0 companies and D&D game nites? Dang!

Mwah,

Jasmine

On Getting Un-Stuck

I’ve been wearing concrete boots lately.

Not the type mafia put on rats before tossing them overboard, but ones that have prevented me from stepping out of the Quarter Life Crisis I’ve been stuck in for the past year.

This blog is Step One in taking a chisel to these booties and moving on… 

Hello, my name is Jasmine and this is my blog, “Meep Mop.”

I promise not to write about what I ate for lunch (unless it’s whacky enough that it just MUST be shared). Instead I’ll blog about things I see in the world which relate to my passions: technology, the arts and media – and how they impact culture.

These are my opinions, and although I bruise easily, discussion and debate is encouraged. I know my Mom will be the only one to read this first post, but it’s a start and I hope to attract more eyes as time goes on.

Got anything cool to share? Email me at jasmineantonick(at)gmail.com or leave a comment.

Nice to meet you,

Jasmine