Jensen Button Wins Aussie GP (Image courtesy GPUpdate.net)
Wow! What a change this weekend proved to be in Formula 1 racing! Some wet weather at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne really opened up the race…there were passing and lead changes galore for once. Man, if they could bottle this recipe, Formula 1 would again become the most exciting racing to watch, instead of the shadow of its former greatness it has become.
Sebring 2010
Sebring 2010 Spotters Guide
We’ve got some racin’ goin’ on this weekend… Saturday in fact. It’s the 12 Hours of Sebring, guys! This is probably the toughest race, physically, on the sports cars themselves. The Sebring circuit is notorious for its bumpiness and it is a severe test for the cars just to hold together for the entire 12 hours. And with a great grid lineup, (Aston Martin, Peugeot, Dyson, and Patron LMPs, Corvette, Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar, and BMW GT2s) this is a must–watch race!
To help with your car spotting/viewing enjoyment, the fine folks at SpotterGuides.com and andyblackmoredesign.com have come up with this great, printable, full–color car guide detailing the cars, liveries, and even the helmet designs of the drivers of each of the cars. And it can be printed BIG due to its 2500 x 1618 pixel resolution. The detail is great when printed at 11 x 17. I printed out one for my (almost) 4 year old son Mikey, and he loved it! (One is on my office wall at work, too. 😉 )
Tune in the 12 Hours of Sebring on the Speed channel (HD of course!) beginning 7:00 am Pacific Time, Saturday, March 20.
Now that the race has been run, congrats to Risi Competizione for winning the GT2 class at Sebring for the 3rd time in the last four years! And it did so against an extremely tough field, including the very fast Rahal/Letterman BMWs.
2008 Dodge Challenger…As Sgt. Fury once said…WAHOO!!!
(Photo courtesy of allpar.com)
Oh…My…God…For those of you who remember the muscle car era, feast your eyes on this. An all–new remake of the 1970 Dodge Challenger, for the 2008 model year. For an in–depth look at this new car, see this article. AWESOME!!
Original 1970 version
This was one of the most fun projects I’ve ever worked on. I was given complete creative freedom to do the cover and book design for a WWII non–fiction book called “Will They Return.” This is a terrific true story, with the names changed, of a young sergeant leading his buddies through harrowing battles in northern France and southern Germany towards the end of the war.
The author, Gilbert Rivera, was an amazing man, someone I am privileged to have known. He had some truly amazing (and harrowing!) experiences as a staff sergeant in Company A of the 71st Infantry Regiment in the U. S. Army in France and Germany during the last year or so of the war. Unlike many “war stories,” this book is written from the viewpoint of the common soldier, what he experienced on a day–to–day basis, the hardships, the horror, the camaraderie, the lighter moments. It is all there. If you are at all interested in World War II history, and specifically the war in Europe, go to LuLu.com and buy the book. You won’t be disappointed!
Famous Lockheed “Skunk Works” Projects
I like planes and aviation in general, and have a particular fondness for some of the famous Lockheed planes such as the WWII P-38 Lightning and that mach 3 wonder jet the SR-71 Blackbird. This illustration of Lockheed “Skunk Works” projects, in typical Popular Mechanics style, is very cool. This comes from an excellent article on Retro Thing about the famous “Skunk Works”. Read the full article here.
Remarkable and mesmerizing Flash motion graphics by Jim Bumgardner of coverpop.com. These animations are a digital realization and homage to the early work of John Whitney, famed motion graphics pioneer of the 1940’s through the 1990’s. Amazing!
And while we’re at it, take a look at coverpop.com…What an amazing interface! You can spend some serious time browsing through just a few of these great magazine and book covers! This guy really knows his Flash actionscript!
Jim Bumgardner is an amazing guy. His website, krazydad.com, is filled with a bunch of Flash–based games and “software toys”(his term)…my kind of guy! His mazes (in his Fun and Games area) and “springy titles” are awesome! He is also the author of my favorite screensaver ever…MetaScope! It is a virtual kaleidoscope on your pc that searches the internet for images of your choosing, automatically creating a kaleidoscope on your desktop. If you thought those fishtank screensavers were cool, what until you see this…totally mesmerizing!
Trix are for Kids…Not!
“Who’s Roger Bradfield, you say?” Anyone who has eaten Kix, Trix, or Wheaties cereals should know! He created the great graphic art for the cereal boxes in the 1960’s, among many other projects. For a great blog post on Mr. Bradfield, see this article by Dan Goodsell. Very cool. Gimme some Trix!
Amazing Spider–Man #14
The Green Goblin!
In addition to the Marvel Masterworks website I mentioned in a previous post, here are a couple more must–see websites for Marvel Maniacs.
Sadly, the “Silver Age Marvel Comics Cover Index” link is no longer valid. I do hope that the author brings this site back as it was a tremendous resource for Marvel fans. If anyone has an update for this, let me know and I will gladly update the link. Great news! The link to the Silver Age marvel Comics Cover index is back. Thanks a lot, Rand.
The first is the Silver Age Marvel Comics Cover Index, which is a great resource giving you examples of every Silver Age Marvel cover in a great month–by–month format. So, for example, if you wanted to see every cover for the month that Spider–Man #14 (July 1964, 1st appearance of the Green Goblin, by the way) was produced, you can. Very cool! Incidentally, this was the first Marvel book I remember owning and reading as a 5–year–old kid. I read this baby until it was in tatters. Nice one to start with, huh? I’ve been of fan of artist Steve Ditko, Spidey, and the Green Goblin ever since!
The second is a companion website that lists all of the great Marvel Bullpen Bulletins that were such a huge part of Marvel comics and their fans. Inspired and mostly written by Stan Lee, they are written in his cool, breezy style that made all of us feel as if he were writing directly to us. Awesome, “didja know!”
Dr. Seuss
Advertising Art
Yes, Virginia, Dr. Seuss was a genius even before he wrote his books. Take a look at his wonderful advertising art on display at UCSD. It will definitely make you smile! (In his list of clients is Stromberg Carlson, which was a well–known speaker maker. I remember the sweet sound these babies had from my dad’s hi–fi setup…Nice!)