Evening Telegram » Pop Culture & Memes

mapping america’s netflix rentals

Nikhil — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 04:39:41 +0000

Great interactive graphic from the NYT mapping the top Netflix rentals of 2009 to various zipcodes in major metro areas. New York is predictable: Manhattan watches artsy crap, Jersey and Westchester County watch crap they heard was sophisticated from people at the last wine tasting, and the outer boroughs watch action flicks and minority-targeted fare.

DC is predictable, too, but the patterns are far more distinct. One can actually make out a dividing line between the more affluent, mostly white suburbs (MoCo, NW DC, Arlington/Fairfax Co) and the areas with higher minority representation (NE/SE DC, PG Co, Alexandria). The dividing line seems to be along I-295 and I-395, bisecting the beltway.

Minneapolis is very, very white. But you already knew this.

meshugene men

Nikhil — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:47:01 +0000

Promo for the Purim show at 92Y Tribeca*, via Design Observer:

*-I’ve never understood why they keep the 92Y branding. Tribeca is nowhere near 92nd. The geographic center in my brain hurts.

bollywood chutzpah

Nikhil — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 11:21:59 +0000

A Hindi film titled Ghajini is set for release over here this weekend with an exciting plot: a man with anterograde amnesia tries to hunt down his lover’s murderer(s). Oh, wait: I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that plot before. It’s not that I’m particularly surprised by the cinematic plagiarism—Hindi films haven’t come up with an original plotline since about 1977.

No, what gets me is that Aamir Khan, the lead whose primary contribution to the film is having spent six months in solitary confinement in a gym, can say with a straight face that the movie isn’t a ripoff. Except it might be, but only of the Tamil movie of the same name. “Amir said that…storyline, screenplay, direction and everything is totally different. You watch both the film and you realize how different the two films are.” Yeah. One is among IMDb’s top 25 movies, and the other takes one of IMDb’s top 25 movies and drops it into a fecal bucket of song-and-dance and poorly choreographed fight sequences. That’s a pretty big difference.

saved by zero, the movie

Nikhil — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:10:42 +0000

If you watch this commercial, you will DIE.

Savedbyzero! Savedbyzero! Savedbyzero! [via Design Observer]

literal “take on me”

Nikhil — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 03:43:26 +0000

A parody of A-Ha’s “Take on Me” in which the lyrics are literal. Band mont-aaaaaaaaage!

(via, yes, Kottke)

social networking and cross-dressing

Nikhil — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:16:45 +0000

Dear Don Draper, Do you have any views on men using Facebook?
Yes, the same ones I have of men wearing brassieres.

– What Would Don Draper Do #91

wes anderson and jason schwartzman shop for CDs and DVDs

Nikhil — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:09:12 +0000

YouTube – Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman Shop for CDs and DVDs. Pretty sure I’d be deep in debt after such a shopping trip.

how good is the detail in Mad Men?

Nikhil — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 03:28:58 +0000

Well, here’s the cast out of costume:

And here they are in costume. Crazy.
(via Daring Fireball)

objectified: the new film from gary hustwit

Nikhil — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:33:26 +0000

Gary Hustwit, the documentary filmmaker who brought us the most excellent Helvetica, has a sorta-sequel: Objectified!

Objectified is a documentary about industrial design; it’s about the manufactured objects we surround ourselves with, and the people who make them. On an average day, each of us uses hundreds of objects. (Don’t believe it? Start counting: alarm clock, light switch, faucet, shampoo bottle, toothbrush, razor…) Who makes all these things, and why do they look and feel the way they do? All of these objects are “designed,” but how can good design make them, and our lives, better?

One reason that I’m delving into the world of objects in this film is that I, admittedly, am obsessed by them. Why do I salivate over a shiny new piece of technology, or obsess over a 50-year-old plywood chair? What does all the stuff I accumulate say about me, and do I really need any of it in the first place?

The film is set for release in early 2009. As a side note, I was going to post this when I received the email announcement through the Helvetica email list. But then I was scooped by a half dozen different design and tech blogs I subscribe to within THREE HOURS. Moral of the story: I need to cut down on my RSS feeds and post faster.

tony on ted

Nikhil — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:39:19 +0000

Anthony Bourdain, in a new post about driving recklessly and hanging out with Alice Cooper and The Nuge:

It was inevitable, if you think about it, that I should make television, eat BBQ and play with large caliber automatic weapons with Ted Nugent. It was, I think, only a matter of time. In fact, midway through shooting a scene at “The Nuge’s” ranch, I got a text from Mario Batali — inviting me out for drinks or some kind of mayhem. I texted back that I regretted being unable to join him as I was currently unloading a belt-fed M-60 machine gun at Ted Nugent’s place. His totally unsurprised response was ” Of course you are.”

I didn’t seek Ted out, by the way. I was summoned. He called a while back, said we should make television together – -and then told me exactly how. When the Nuge says jump? You ask only “How High?” and “How much ammo will I need?” In TedWorld, by the way, it all makes perfect sense.

He’s a rocker; he rocks out. With The Nuge, no less.