weapons of massdistraction

As intended we saw - and enjoyed - the near future sci fi thriller Inception the other night. And yesterday this video of “Things Being Destroyed Very Slowly” reminded me of my favorite aspects of Inception. Sure, I love the epic big bang boom explosions, but the float-y slo-mo gravity-defying shots were extremely satisfying.

Also on the horizon (and in the here and now):

• “China to build ginormous buses that cars can drive under” - whoa China, really? That seems like a good idea why? I’d be a-scared of getting smushed. While China seems to be thinking BIG Japan is thinking small. “Living Large In Really Tiny Houses” - doing so much more with less. Stunning.
• Speaking of BIG and small, Rebekka’s new series, Excess, showing small children with BIG BIG food items, is fabulous - “a tongue-in-cheek reflection on how those of us fortunate enough to live in privileged parts of the world have far more food (and other commodities) than we need, or can indeed consume.” And not photoshopped! “As with the first picture, nothing is faked, and a great deal of trial and error went into making the food in giant proportions.”
• Speaking of food, let’s talk popsicles - “Some Pretty Cute Food” and the next big thing? I’ve been talking them up for a while now, since Helados y Paletas La Chiquita brought their amazing popsicle flavors to my neighborhood last year like lime, tequila, horchata, mango chili, pineapple, piña colada and more.
• If/when things slow down some I have some new books to add to my reading pile. In no particular order: The Things That Keep Us Here, an apocalyptic novel about an avian influenza pandemic recommended by Mimi Smartypants; Justin Cronin’s The Passage, another epic about a virus that nearly destroys the world; Patton Oswalt’s upcoming Zombie Spaceship Wasteland; and, hailing the victorious parasol once more, Gail Carriger’s Blameless.
• Looking to the past Isabel Samaras ponders who “invented” (or defined) the concept of pornography and creates an amazing painting in the process.

David Byrne visited the Twin Cities recently for a session about Cities, Bicycles and the Future of Getting Around. I enjoyed reading his favorable report from the Heartland. Makes me think back to tooling around White Bear Lake on my brother’s hand-me-down BMX knock-off…and to long for another BMX or cruiser of my own. But my son has yet to learn how to ride a bike. If only we had the time/money/energy for that endeavor. Alas, summer camp has exhausted all three resources. And it’s already drawing to a close next week. But we have an intensely busy weekend ahead before then. He’ll be seeing his grandmother for the first time in nearly a year while I’ll be in sharyn shoots mode. Catch me if you can!