Little Fella is yet another excellent little animation from the geniuses at tokyoplastic. You really should watch this.

[via screenhead.]

Emerald Nuts is running a bizarre but fantastic ad campaign on TV and on the web. Basically they create completely insane phrases with words that start with the letters E-M-E-R-A-L-D–N-U-T-S. For example, “Eagle-eyed Machete Enthusiasts Recognize A Little Druid Networking Under The Stairs… Even Druids love nuts.” Then, they make a commercial out of the scenario. I know how this sounds. But trust me, it’s awesome. The TV spots are live action, but all the web spots are nicely animated.

Now, they are running a daily contest asking readers to create the phrases. The prizes are basically nuts. Actually nuts. Some of the lines are great.

This is my submission, wish me luck:

“Elven Mailmen Eagerly Row A Lavender Dingy Near Unfathomably Tumultuous Seas. Even elves love nuts.”

[via lowenhar.]

I want this simulator in my living room so bad.

[via digg.]

Family Guy is, of course, one of my favorite shows of all time. This clip of Stewie as a bookie is one of the funniest reasons why. I can’t stop watching and laughing at this. God, I love this show.

[via smit.]

Ron Burgundy, anchorman, auditions for ESPN, and it’s too fucking funny. This clip is on the DVD of Anchorman, but a lot of people have never seen it. Enjoy.

He was right by the way, “financial and cultural disaster.”

[via manny.]

Well, the time is finally here for me to move on. When I say “move on”, I really mean MOVE ON. I have quit my job and am moving to Dubai in the UAE in 2 weeks (in case you haven’t already heard). I’ll be there from 6 months to a year working on the website for Emirates airlines. Before I go, I need to say goodbye to my first love, pork, because they really don’t have very much pork in the Muslim Middle East.

So we’ll be having a big party at the Sunburnt Cow on Friday. It’s one of my favorite places, owned by one of my favorite friends, and we’ll be roasting pigs. That’s right, Portuguese Roasted Pigs. We’ll also be drinking until the paramedics have to come. Friday is my last official day at work, and Saturday should be free for most people to recover. (It’s better than Friday morning in a status meeting…)

EVERYONE is invited. I mean EVERYONE. Ask any of your friends, family, or neighbors (that like pork) to join you in the festivities. If I forgot somebody, invite them. If you have plans, cancel them. If you don’t show up, I will finally know how much you don’t like me. (The likelihood of me returning from Dubai with all my hands and feet (and head) are slim.)

Friday, February 24th

7pm until they haul me away

The Sunburnt Cow

Ave. C @ 9th St

View the official EVite here.

Viva la pork!!!

Man oh man,  I love this so much it hurts.  I’m prefacing it that if you aren’t from NY/NJ and more specifically the outer-boroughs it may lose something in the translation. (Note: language not appropriate for work)

This 12 year old (?) kid perfectly embodies the life of a Guido From the clubs to the E to eyebrows – its really scary how good he is.  I dont’ know whether to hug him or kick his ass.

Chris, you Drakkar stinkin, Z-Cavaricci wearing guido – I wonder how that schtick is going to go over in the UAE.  I don’t think Dubai is going to know what hit them.

Chris has talked about how stupid the RIAA is in a previous post (One of my all time favorite posts).

I, too, hate the RIAA (The Recording Industry Association of America), and I find a small degree of justification for my music thievery every time they turn up in the news with some new stupid thing they’ve done or said. This week, it’s the argument that you, the music buyer, should not be able to rip your CDs (yes, the ones you’ve bought and paid for) to your computer and on to your iPods. I’m just gonna post the link to the article, and go put some more of my stolen music on to my iPod.

Read it here.

Origami is the Japanese art of paper-folding.

Check out this gallery of the sickest origami art you’ve ever seen.
I don’t know if they’re all made by the same person or not, because the descriptions are all in Japanese. If anyone here can read/understand Kanji, a translation effort would be much appreciated.
And don’t go using no online translators, you non Japanese speaking honkeys.

These are my two favorites:

[via del.icio.us]

P.S.  This version of Wordpress isn’t fun.

Until a few weeks ago, all I knew about Dubai was the Palm Islands (that I saw constructed on the Discovery Channel) and the Burj Al Arab hotel where Agassi and Federrer played tennis. I knew that the city was nearly brand new, chocked full of oil money, and that’s about it.

Now, things are very different. I resigned my position as Director of User Experience of the NY office of Wunderman on Friday. I have accepted an offer for a contract position as a Technical Project Manager for the reconstruction of the website of a major international airline. The IA and creative is being done by a NY agency (that hired me) but the development is being done in Dubai by a number of different vendors, and I moving there in less than three weeks. You read that right. I am moving from NYC to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, on the other side of the planet, in just a few weeks.

This is very exciting news for me. One of the biggest regrets of my whole career is that I have not travelled nearly enough. I think I’m a smart guy, but I feel like an ass when I sit down and have conversations with well-travelled Europeans. In addition, this is a really meaty, really technical project where I think I can add a ton of value. I’ll be living in Dubai for 6 months to a year, depending on the progress of the project, and the client will be taking care of my accommodations. So, I’ll be keeping my NY apartment (though I will be selling my car) so I can move right back into my own bed when the project is complete. And, I’ll do my best to travel around the region when I get the chance.

Dubai is an unbelievable city. Probably 10 – 15% of the population is made up of westerners, Brits, Aussies, South Africans, Germans, etc. The city itself is doing everything it can to cater to the needs of these westerners to ensure they can import the right talent, and continue to build business at its incredible rate. That means they have air conditioning! and alcohol! and pork! and prostitutes by the truckload! and McDonalds! They also have indoor skiing, even in the middle of the summer when temperatures top 110 with 105% humidity. For residents, there is no income tax, though that won’t apply to me since I’ll still be getting paid by a NY ad agency. It is statistically one of the safest big cities in the world. There are beaches on one side, and desert on the other. It is literally becoming the center of the middle east, and a hub for travel throughout all of the region, including Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Australia.

So, not only will I be getting paid to work on a fantastic project, but I will be living in one of the most incredible cities in the world, and I’ll have access to travel to places like India, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon, all within 6 hours away. It’s an incredible opportunity for me, one that I could not turn down without risk of regretting it for the rest of my life.

I’ll be planning a ridiculous going away party for next week. EVERYONE will be invited, including all of the blog readers. I am just not sure where it will be yet. An invite is coming soon, so please look out for it, break up with your significant others, and generally make yourselves ready for a sick, sick time.

If you’d like to learn more about Dubai, try these places:
Time Out Dubai
Dubai Tourism
Go Dubai!
Dubai City Guide
Dubai.com

Remember 18 year old Tyson Ibele? (I wrote about him back in November…) Well, it looks like he’s getting even better at this “animation thing”, and this animated spec ad for Nike starring sporty robots is a fantastic reminder of his talent. He is going to be really, really big. I am a fan already.

[via screenhead.]

I don’t know what to make of this video called “Birds”. You’ll either love it, or hate it, or be indifferent about it.

[via the link collection.]