audioscrobbler/last fm have updated their look again. the bitching has already begun. i’m not a big fan of the new layout - too clunky and there are things that just aren’t that neccesary. i don’t need my “library” near the top of the page. i don’t like the fact that i have to scroll down to see the charts(which is my main use for the site anyway). apparently, the charts are updating in real time now. which i guess is kind of neat. but aside from that i’m not seeing much of a benefit from the new look. i suspect this’ll be another case where they don’t really listen to the users and do what they want anyway.

apparently, grace jones is coming out with a new album. the video for what i guess is the first single is one of the best videos i’ve seen in a long time. check it out:

this is pretty cool. a site devoted to cuban poster art. some very cool stuff here. it’s sad that today’s poster art is often, well, boring. via everlasting bort.

this person got a little more than they bargained for when they bought an old woman’s collection of books. some of which were hollowed out with secret stashes of polaroids. not quite safe for work, in case that matters to anyone.

looking through taiwan ebay last night i ran across this vintage ad for fuji featuring yul brenner:

i didn’t buy it, but the image deserves to be shared with the world. i couldn’t find an actual commercial featuring yul, so maybe it was just a print ad.

i’ve been trying to remember a husband and wife team of artists i’d learned about in college. all i could remember was that they were from washington state and did installations. luckily, the chawed rosin wrote up a very nice piece on seeing some of their work in spokane years ago. and now i know it was the keinholz i’d been thinking of.

this is pretty interesting. a tribute to famous photographs using toys to recreate them. i wish they had a side by side comparison, but even without that it’s worth checking out. via filmwasters.

some interesting new music releases i discovered via beta-lactam ring records. part two of edward ka-spel’s dream logik is about to be released. initial copies come with a book and a bonus disc. i really enjoyed part one so it’s just a matter of time until i pick this up. nurse with wound have a disc coming out that comes with a 220 page book. something else i’ll definately be picking up. a few other things that look interesting that i won’t be picking up. a severed heads vinyl box set and an spk vinyl box set. both look like they contain rarities and early album releases.

somehow, i missed this, or maybe i heard about it and forgot somehow. lydia tomkiw of algebra suicide died in 2007. there’s a nice remeberance of her here. very sad. and youtube has one of my favourite pieces by the band:

edit: weird, youtube says that video is no longer available, but you can watch it on their site.

edit update: looks like i was trying to embed a video that didn’t allow that option. should work now.

i usually don’t like to buy cameras in taiwan as they are often very overpriced(especially second hand ones). it’s not unusual for someone to ask twice the asking price for what it’d cost to have the same camera shipped from the states. i’m not sure if anyone is actually stupid enough to pay so much, but i sure hope not. of course this doesn’t stop me from checking out yahoo auctions from time to time to see what’s up for sale.

this lead me to finding this little 110 gem:

yes, a 110 hello kitty camera from 1976 i believe. kinda cute until i saw that the buyer was asking around 400 u.s. for it. there were no bids and i’m pretty certain it didn’t sell.

minutes after stumbling upon that i found this camera:

apparently the flash model from the same year. except this time the seller was asking around 3,000 u.s. dollars for it. i doubt it sold either. are there actually hello kitty products that fetch these kind of prices?