Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone Peace, Love & Understanding,

That's Right,

HMK

NPR Rocks!

If you're an NPR freak like I am then you'll totally appreciate the new NPR Mobile App!

Installation is wicked quick via the App Store right on your phone - you'll be streaming and bookmarking NPR stories in no time.

Really dig the bookmarking feature for both on-the-fly sharing and easy access for repeated listens.

Browsing through the 6 Main Menu features: Topics, Columns, Programs, Series, Bios and Music Genres puts you in complete control of most of your favorite shows. I say most because I haven't found Marketplace yet and I'm currently looking for the Station Finder Feature that I just read about... but I'm sure that's probably just a user error issue!

That's Right,

HMK

Thanks Gizmodo and NPR!

Mix Tape Portable DJ Mixer

Check out this sweet web exclusive from the cool kids over at Urban Outfitters. Now this is a REAL mix tape. The Mix Tape Portable DJ Mixer is a super compact mixing device that looks exactly like a cassette tape.


Featuring a smooth cross-fader, with dual 3.5mm stereo inputs, for use with iPods, iPhones, music-enabled cell phones, mp3 players or just about anything audio device.

Also includes a headphone monitor jack, perfect for cueing up your next track without missing a beat. Imported. Wipes clean.
Requires: 2 AAA batteries and it's Mac and PC compatible!

Sweet!

That's Right,

HMK

Que? Loco Por K!

Phil Patton has written a nice piece over at the AIGA Journal of Design called Krazy About K.

"Certain letters seem rare, like precious metals or noble gases. Such letters act as catalysts and have special properties—they may glow when “excited” by electricity, say, like neon and fluorine, the aptly named “lighter” elements. Similarly, some letters function in a special way beyond phonetics, often as logos and symbols, as signs of speech and phonetics.

The use of rare letters is a tool of the brand maker and the logo designer. Like the letter X, K allures with its angular edges and uncommon appeal. Eleventh in the alphabet, K is only the 22nd most common letter in English usage—worth five points on the Scrabble board. The letterform is descended from the Phoenician Kaph, which is thought to derive from the palm of a hand, with fingers split. In reverse, it became the Greek Kappa and the form we recognize today."

Ok, check out the whole thing: Krazy About K.

That's Right,

HMK

Today Is Friday December 19th, 2008

That's Right! Today is Friday, the 19th of December 2008, the last day to guarantee delivery before Christmas!

Go Here: Free Shipping! Perfect Gift!

And did you know that on this date in 1958...

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

That's Right,

HMK

Kinetic Illusions in Op Art

Ouch! This almost hurts my eyes... This is the Ouchi Illusion, a contemporary variation on the Ouchi pattern, by Kitaoka.

Scientific America has an awesome article on how art and neuroscience combine in creating fascinating examples of illusory motion. Check it out: Art as Visual Research: 12 Examples of Kinetic Illusions in Op Art by Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen L. Macknik.

That's Right,

HMK

Thanks to Design Observer.

Google + Life Magazine

Portrait of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs posing with Apple II computer. United States 1981, Photographer: Ted Thai

Wow! Google has teamed up with Life Magazine to digitize 95% of their image bank, most of which has never been seen by the public before.

That's Right, millions of photos stretching from the 1750s to the present day are available on Google Images.

Here are a few of my favorites so far...

Bikini clad actress Jayne Mansfield posing with shapely hot water bottle likenesses floating around her in her pool. Hollywood 1957, Photographer: Allan Grant.
Reproduction of painting in chapel of St. Thomas of octopus attacking a ship, reminiscent of the Norwegian mythological sea monster, Kraken. St. Malo, France, 1920, Photographer unknown.

That's Right,

HMK

Turntable Christmas Rewind!

I've been a little slammed this December with, you know, life, work and the usual, so this is kind of a lazy post - but a not so lazy post if you're new to Necessito La Music!

Back in 2006 through the entire month of December I posted some of my favorite and obscure Christmas gems.

If you missed it, fear not and behold the beauty and power of the blog!

Here's a day by day posting of last December's goodies all on one page - and like most things that proove worth while, you're usually best off starting at the bottom (of the page!)

Enjoy and Happy Chistmas!

Take Me Back: HMK Audio Stcking Stuffers!

Peace,

That's Right,

HMK

Gin The Dancing Dog!

Cheers to Kate Nichols and her genius 6 year old Border Collie Gin!

Awesome!

That's Right,

HMK

David Vissat Birdhouse

Check out this amazingly cool birdhouse I scored at Articopia this weekend!

It's a Christmas gift to our house by artist David Vissat based on the book "The Art of Smoking".

Artist Dave Vissat spends his days as a creative director for a Pittsburgh advertising agency. But for the last ten years, he has spent his nights creating one-of-a-kind birdhouses out of vintage books.

Vissat stumbled upon this idea when he was making a birdhouse for his mother. He ran out of wood, so he resorted to using an old book as a roof. Then he began incorporating interesting text and illustrations as well. Now, Vissat searches and scavenges flea markets and libraries for discarded and vintage books, then he scans the cover, makes a print and affixes it to the exterior of the house.

That's Right,

HMK

More David Vissat Info thanks to Alison Morris.
More:

Yulia Brodskaya

Dig these awesome cut paper illustrations from Russian illustrator and graphic desiger Yulia Brodskaya!

Sweet!

Mucho Mas: Yulia Brodskaya.

That's Right,

HMK

Gracias: Ffffound.

Articopia! Holiday Open House

Here's one of the latest HMK Archive projects, the invite and logo for this years Articopia, Saturday, December 13th from 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM at the Ursuline Campus of the Southwest School of Art & Craft.

The Ursuline Campus of the Southwest School of Art & Craft, on the National Register of Historic Places, is located on the edge of downtown San Antonio, on our awesome River Walk.

Seasonal offerings of copious holiday gifts for the home, the body, the spirit, designed by some of the country's most respected artists and craftspersons. Refreshments. Free and open to the public.

On this historic site, a convent was established in 1851, when seven Catholic nuns arrived in San Antonio to start San Antonio's first school for girls. The complex expanded throughout the 1800s under the architectural direction of Francois Giraud.

See you there!

That's Right,

HMK

Southwest School of Art & Craft

The Full Cold Moon: Friday, December 12th!

Don't miss this and tell your friends!

According to the always reliable Old Farmer's Almanac, this is the month when the winter cold fastens its grip and the nights become long and dark. The December full Moon is also called the Long Nights Moon by some Native American tribes.

This Friday night, December 12th, sky watchers and moon lovers alike will be treated to an exceptionally bright and large full Moon. In fact, this Moon is 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full Moons this year. Why? The Moon is both in its full phase and at a point in its orbit that is nearest Earth, called its perigee.

When these events occur together, the Moon is closer to Earth than usual. The effect? The Full Cold Moon will appear especially large near the horizon as the Sun sets.

Another cool bonus of this December's Full Cold Moon is that just about midnight it's almost directly overhead making it perfect for an awesome midnight stroll!

More Moon Info from: Old Farmer's Almanac.

Check it out - you'll be so glad you did!

That's Right,

HMK

Thanks to Old Farmer's Almanac

Flippin' Sweet!

This is an awesome lo-fi way to relive those special slices of everyday life. Now you can turn your video footage into a Bob Books Flickbook. Entertain yourself and your friends with these fun-to-use books, and create your own mini library of memories.

Creating a Flickbook looks wicked simple. It all happens online; simply upload your digicam or cameraphone videos onto the special web application, then follow the instructions to design how your flickbook looks from the front to the back cover.

Sweet!

Check it out: Flickbooks!

That's Right,

HMK

The Merriest!

Grab yourself a big fresh cup of Holiday Cheer, relax or get to work as we go back in time and listen to the classic sounds of the Holiday Season on the latest HMK Mystery Stream: Irregular Frequency: The Merriest!




Click Hear: The Merriest!
And back by popular demand - last year's episode: Holly Jolly!

And hey, if you're looking for even more - heres' a quick link to the awesome Holiday gems from Christmas past: HMK Mystery Stream Holiday Rewind.

Cheers, Happy Holidays, and Merry Christmas!

Peace!

That's Right,

HMK

3x3+1 Grid

"Ever wonder who came up with the order of numbers on a telephone? Ever wonder why it isn’t the same as those on a calculator, or a keyboard, ascending from lowest to highest? After all, adding machines and mechanical calculators were around for at least a few hundred years before the invention of the pushbutton phone."

"Turns out, the standard descending 3×3 (plus 1) grid we’ve grown up on might have been a lot different. The 18 options above were presented to various focus groups. They come from a report issued in 1960 by The American Telephone and Telegraph Company, just before pushbutton phones went mainstream.In addition to key arrangements, other categories of design features were studied, like force-displacement characteristics and button-top size/design."

Check out the rest of David Israel's concise but informative post on the 17 Pushbutton Configurations that Didn’t Make the Cut.

That's Right,

HMK