Big Ben Takes A Holiday

The London landmark is undergoing maintenance work ahead of its 150th anniversary in 2009.

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- The "bongs" of London's Big Ben stopped on Saturday for up to six weeks as the clock's chimes were shut down for maintenance work.

At 8 a.m. (0700 GMT) the bells of the landmark Westminster clock tower were silenced for the final phase of a program of work ahead of the clock's 150th anniversary in 2009.

An hour later, Londoners and tourists saw the unusual spectacle of workers abseiling down the south clock face to clean and repair it. Both hands of the clock were turned to 12.

An electric system will keep the clock moving while work takes place on the mechanism.

The stoppage will be the longest suspension of Big Ben since 1990. There were previous stoppages of both the hour and quarter bells in 1956 and 1934.

The 96 meter (315 ft) clock tower of Britain's parliament is popularly known as Big Ben, although the name actually refers to the 13.5 tonne Great Bell inside.

The awesome shot of Big Ben at Dusk is from the amazing eye of Adam Cathro.

That's Right,

HMK

One In A Million!

The Bridge Of Stolen Bicycles - Amazing videos are here

Just as an experiment, I'm trying to get a million people to watch this super short video, The Bridge Of Stolen Bicycles, I put together for the Grammy nominated Best Alternative Album 2007 for the amazingly talented John Dufilho.

C'mon, be One In A Million!

Thanks!

Warning: This video might stick with you for a while...

Bonus Video!

That's Right,

HMK

The Bento Box

Here's a cool alternative to the usual lunch box - although you can't nuke anything in it, I'm still digging the Bento Box from Plastica.

That's Right,

HMK

Thaks to Core 77

The 25 Best Typographic Title Sequences You've Ever Read

Part One:


Pssst. Hey, got 19 and a half minutes to kill and soak up some type awesomeness?

Well, grab some Milk Duds and enjoy!

Mark Klaverstijn and Roel Wouters have put together a 2 Part, best of Typographic Title Sequences that are sure to inspire you to either come up with some great new typographic ideas or perhaps take a long lunch and go check out the new Bourne Ultimatum movie.

Part Two:


Shhhh. the movie is fixin' to start...

That's Right,

HMK

Thanks to the Design Observer.

Selling A Concept With A Song

Here's a cool article about developers in New York saying they're better able to convey the vibe of a particular building by commissioning or licensing (or illegally using) music for their Web sites and sales offices.

The concept of using music as an effective way to announce a building’s intended demographic without ever saying a word is a great idea.

“Certain types of people generally have an affinity for one type of music more than another,” said Shaun Osher, the chief executive of CORE Group Marketing, which has worked on a number of music-infused campaigns.

Read the rest over at The New York Times Real Estate Section.

I'm doing the same sort of thing with the covers of my weekly HMK Mystery Stream podcasts.

Click Hear if you're interested in what the above illustration sounds like...

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HMK

DO NOT CLICK!

Get It Together!

Here's a great way to start your week - get yourself organized!

The smart folks over at Mashable have a nice beefy resource list of 30+ Productivity Tools.

This online productivity toolbox is sure to help you get things done.

Although I still prefer the old school pen and notebook, I'm really digging the cool customizable start page, iGoogle.

That's Right,

HMK

And thanks to J.S. Wright for the cool photo.

Barry "BALCO" Bonds

San Francisco's Barry BALCO Bonds tied Hammerin' Hank Aaron's home run mark of 755 last night against The Padres.

Yawn.

I read this morning over at Sports Illustrated that Bonds drew a mixed reaction from the crowd at Petco Park after he homered off Clay Hensley. And it's no surprise to this baseball fan that several fans held up asterisk signs and Bonds was booed as he headed to left field at the end of the inning.

On a more postive note - the real baseball news of the day happened earlier when NY Yankee Alex Rodriguez hit his 500th home run, becoming the youngest player to reach the 500 mark.

I was playing with some anagrams for Barry Lamar Bonds and found it interesting that these almost sound like headlines...

BAN BARRY. ARM SOLD.

BORN A SLY DRAB ARM

BARNYARD ARM SLOB

DRAB BARRY SALMON - Yeah, there's something fishy about that guy...

LARD MAN BARRY - SOB

It's also interesting to note that Bonds hit the tying homer off a former Giants draft pick who was suspended in 2005 for violating baseball's minor league steroids policy. Perfect. I can hear Bonds now claiming that since he was hitting against another cheatin', drug usin' liar that that should cancel out any fowl play. Nice.

Aaron considered his career record for total bases, and not the home run mark, the best measure of him as a ballplayer.

Go Hank!

As Hall of Fame slugger Reggie Jackson put it "I guess you can call him (Hank) the people's home run king."

I think one of the posters in the crowd put it best: "Babe Ruth did it on Hot Dogs and Beer!"

That's Right!

HMK

And by the way, Padres won 3-2 in 12 innings and the Red Sox have the best record in baseball right now with 67 wins.

Journal da Tarde Newspaper: Circle

Click To Enlarge.

Smart stuff from Leo Burnett, Brazil. Creative Director: Ruy Lindenberg Art Director: Paulo Areas Copywriter: Guilherme Facci

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HMK

Thanks to: Ads of The World.

La Bibliochaise

Man, I really, really want these chairs.

La Bibliochaise comes veneered in oak tinted wengé or black, with a wax finish and leather cushions with removable covers in a wide range of colours.

Holds 5 metres, or about 16 feet of books.

Have a great weekend!

That's Right,

HMK

Belkin N1 Vision

I've been researching routers for my studio for a few months now and I stumbled upon one of the coolest looking (not to mention flat out smart!) new products I've seen since, well, the iPhone.

Dig the Belkin N1 Vision router. Easy on the eyes and it only takes a quick glance at the large digital display or using the large button to navigate through its quick screen that displays everything from your speed, upload/download usage, devices connected, and even the date and time.

I think I've found my new router!

That's Right,

HMK

Thanks to the smart folks at NotCot.com

100 Tips To Improve Your Life

Ok y'all, this one's a keeper - bookmark this!

Not just because it's bursting with tons of great insight, which it certainly is, but because it's something I'm sure you'll find yourself refering to as often as you share it with others.

Behance is collaborating with a group of fourteen established blogs, all very different, but all with a shared interest in helping people increase productivity (among other self-improvements). They're calling this collaboration LifeRemix.

The Behance team sees this as a great opportunity to share tips for productivity beyond the creative professional community.

Collaborations between organizations with different backgrounds often result in great realizations. To kick off LifeRemix, their group of bloggers collected a list of our 100 best "tips to improve your life." Leo Babauta, author of Zen Habits and member of LifeRemix, compiled the list.

Enjoy and Share: 100 Tips To Improve Your Life.

My favorite so far is What Google Can Teach Us About Self-Image.

That's Right,

HMK

Thanks to Josh Spear.

Come Fly With Me!

SAS Scandinavian Airlines: Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

This is an awesome visual vault of stewardess uniforms from around the globe. More than 640 different stewardess uniforms from 292 airlines courtesy of the Uniform Freak.

Click Hear: Ladies and Gentlemen...

Enjoy your trip!

That's Right,

HMK

And, just so you know, today is the 213th day of 2007 with 52 Days Until the first day of Fall.

Watchmen Poster

Warner Brothers have revealed the first teaser posted for their big 2009 release WATCHMEN, which is being brought to the screen by 300 helmer Zack Snyder.

The amazing Jackie Earle Haley will star as Walter Kovacs, aka Rorschach; Malin Akerman is Laurie Juspeczyk, aka Silk Spectre; Billy Crudup is Jon Osterman, aka Dr. Manhattan; Matthew Goode stars as Adrian Veidt, aka Ozymandias; Jeffrey Dean Morganis Edward Blake, aka the Comedian; and Patrick Wilson will appear as Dan Dreiberg, aka Nite Owl.

The film is set for a March 9th, 2009 release.

That's Right,

HMK

De Post Transformation

The UK Design Council has posted a nice case study on how Belgium's postal service, De Post, turned to design to help it make the transformation from outmoded institution to flexible service provider.

De Post embarked upon a wholesale, design-led reinvention, appointing Fitch:London to help transform it from an out-dated institution into a sharper, more customer-focused retailer.

Many of the changes were designed to improve relations between De Post and its customers - an area crying out for attention according to market research undertaken by the organisation before and during the redesign process.

Better security systems meant Fitch was able to remove the traditional glass barriers and replace them with lower counters for staff to sit behind, making the retail environment far friendlier and the staff seem more approachable.

In addition, a warm palette of colours was introduced to each branch, as well as quirky, large print photographs, designed to further enhance the customer experience.

More Info: De Post Transformation.

That's Right,

HMK

Thanks to the smart folks at Core 77

Do it Anyway

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

- Mother Teresa

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HMK

Recently Sited

Can you spot the theme in these three smart ads? I love the simplicity of the set up with the ''punch line" and payoff consisting of just a line of copy and the logo. Nice stuff.

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HMK

Vintage Paperback Covers

Check out this mongo huge collection of vintage paperback books covering a wide range of publishers, all categorized for easy indexing. A nice reference for layouts, vintage type and some nice eye candy.

Visit The Book Scan Database.

That's Right,

HMK

Vintage Chinese Public Health Posters

Click Image To Enlarge.

While researching Chinese imagery for a poster I'm working on I stumbled upon The National Library of Medicine. They've got a nice collection of health posters from around the world focusing on the History of Medicine.

The above image, from 1933, explains how the ear is like a telephone and the eye is like a camera. More over here: Chinese Posters.

Have a healthy weekend!

That's Right,

HMK

Packaging Flashback

Click here to launch the Packaging Flashback Slideshow!

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HMK

Shazbot!

Are you prepared to take an amazing Nano Journey?

Nano Journey is an interactive tour into the worlds of the micro- and nano-cosmos. Three different tours let you scale down into the human arm, into a computer processor, or into the LED of a car's headlight to discover the smallest dimensions of our universe.

The latter journey is part of an information campaign by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research to inform the larger audience about the research and everyday impact of nanotechnology.

Amazing stuff.

That's Right,

HMK

Thanks to the smart folks over at Core 77.

Get A Better View

Man, with the construction I've got going on both to the left and right of our home, I could really use a couple of these right now.

This is a blackout roller curtain called the Better View.

Light seeps in through a perforated city view. Currently available are views Shinjuku, Tokyo and Kallio, Helsinki. Each piece is custom made by hand.

Nice stuff: A Better View

That's Right,
HMK


Thanks to: The Cool Hunter

This Day In Type

Here's a cool little collaborative project for all you type freaks out there.

Get your daily typography fix on This Day in Type, a “designer generated” calender where every day is presented with a different typographic twist.

Designers are invited to submit their own creations for a date of their choice.

Since there are often numerous submissions per day, public voting decides which work will become part of the the calendar.

Nice idea, check it out: at This Day In Type.

The above image was created by Horton using the sweet new font Cutiful.

That's Right,

HMK

Happy 3rd Birthday That's Right + Scrapblog Rules!

Ok, this is probably one of the coolest, most totally Tiki Bongo posts I've shared since I started this blog on my wife's birthday, back in July of 2004, 3 years ago this month. This is post number 657, wow.

That's Right!

Introducing Scrapblog! A perfect name because it simply does what is says and says what it does.

It took me all of just about 20 minutes to set up my first Scrapblog page, a sort of visual link portal.

You simply pick a template or create your own using your pictures, your drawings and your movies to create YOUR own cool online scrap book!

What's really cool is that when you check it out live at HMK Links, not only are the images clickable, taking you to my various other musings online, but it's soooo amazingly user friendly and wicked easy and fun to set up!

Now go set up your own!: Scrapblog!

Have a great week and thanks for reading and commenting!

Happy Birthday Chrissy!

That's Right,

HMK

Thinking About Three

Ok, tomorrow is the 3rd Year Anniversary of That's Right, which has got me thinking about the number three...

According to Michael Eck, in our minds we break concepts into three parts to understand whatever it is we are thinking about. We use threes to define systems. We use the third or middle point with regard to the extremes to define a point of view.

Yadda yadda yadda.

If that's a little too deep for you at the moment, it is for me, here's 3 of my favorite tracks by The Sandals from one of my favorite movies, Bruce Brown's Endless Summer.

Whether you're looking for the perfect wave or the perfect parking spot, you'll dig Lonely Road by The Sandals from the official 1964 Endless Summer soundtrack.

And the intro to this one makes a perfect ringtone for all your party buds, in fact, the Pope even has this killer Sandals gem, 6-Pak! in his Vatican Togo Party Playlist...

And, because the most interesting things always seem to come in sets of threes, like waves, holiday weekend days and Canadian rock bands, here's one more from the Sandals, the tropical-spy meets beach-party ditty Jet Black.

And if you're in need of any more fresh audio, Click Hear!

Stay Tuned Y'all!

That's Right,

HMK

Bad Spock Drawing

Lots more: Bad Spock Drawings.

That's Right,

HMK