Although the cover is a bit overwhelming, Tamye Riggs’s Typeface is filled with beautiful typographic visuals, unique character highlights, and a bit of history. It’s a perfect coffee table book to look at and to be inspired.
Even though Dan Auerbach’s voice is too thin and girly for my ears, I really enjoy the productions on The Black Keys’ latest release Turn Blue. Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton plays a key role in those sounds. The Bo Diddley beat, forceful riffs and feedback on “It’s Up to You Now” are so damn addictive. The “Fever” groove is also captivating. Even the slow-burning album starter, “Weight of Love,” is sensation. Listening to this album makes me wish Burton and Norah Jones reunite for another collaborative project.
The first part of Kenya Hara’s Designing Design devotes to redesign projects of daily products. For example, Shigeru Ban turned a round roll of toilet paper into a square roll. In term of functionality, a square roll creates more resistance than a round roll; therefore, it reduces usage. In addition, square rolls are easier to stack and fit easier than round rolls. The book features dozens of case studies that focuses on design thinking with fascinating visual examples. An eye-opening and beautiful read.
Shakira. Shakira. What else can I say? Whether it’s her exotic physicality, stunning choreography or musical eccentricity, everyone wants a piece of Shakira. In her tenth release, she gives back to everyone a little something.
For the club heads, “Dare (La La La)” is an instant party starter. I played the track this morning and my two-year-old Dan is already hooked on it. We put it on repeat all the way to daycare and Dao (my five-year-old) asked me, “Why does he say Lego?.” I explained, “I think he said leggo.” According to Urban Dictionary, leggo is “The most unintelligent way to say ‘Let’s Go.’”
For the country heads, she pulls off the hillbilly vibe in “Medicine” with the help from Blake Shelton. Their vocals blended strangely well together. She has something for the rockers (“Spotlight”), ska shakers (“Nunca Me Acuerdo de Olvidarte”) and ballad lovers (“That Way”) as well. The album is surely all over the place, but Shakira could weave them together with her uniqueness.
What is Shakira’s uniqueness that make her an international pop phenomenon with a musical career that is still going strong for 25 years? Again, everyone has something different for Shakira. Beside her visual, something about her singing that is bizarre yet irresistible. In “Empire” for example, the way she moans at the end of each bar seduces me. Who can resist the temptation with weird lyrics like, “Shake off all of your sins and give them to me”? Better yet, the chorus that goes, “And the stars make love to the universe / You’re my wildfire every single night,” before she screams from the pussy, “And you touch me… And I’m like… and I’m like… and I’m like… Ooh… ooh…” Now that’s some fucking orgastic pleasure.
The box set of Miles at the Fillmore captured the four live sessions of Miles Davis and his all-star band played at the New York venue in June 1970 in thier entirety. Even though same tunes were played in different sets, listening to them back to back reveals how the band stretched out the pieces from night after night. Miles’s solos were powerful and focused. In contrast, Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea pushed their instruments beyond their limit to create organic, chaotic soundscapes. While Dave Holland anchored down the pulse, Jack DeJohnette and Airto Moreira went buck wild with the rhythms. Steve Grossman was also at the top of his game on the sax. From the opening, charging “Directions” to the impressionistic improvising “Bitches Brew” to the hypnotizing “It’s About That Time,” Miles and his men made history on the spot.
In the past two weeks, dropping off Dan has been easier. He must have realized that’s he doesn’t have a choice. As long as Ms. Ali was there to greet him, he would be fine. This morning she was not in yet; therefore, he refused to go into his class. Dao took Dan’s hand and said, “Let me show you where you can join your friends.” Dan didn’t cry as all when Dao led him to the table where his friends were sitting.
As we waved goodbye to Dan, I took Dao to his class. I gave him a hug and kiss and said to him, “Remember…” He replied, “Listen to my teachers.” I said, “And be nice to…” He responded, “My friends.” We weaved goodbye and he joined his friends. Not a bad morning at all.
Như Ý’s sixth release kicks off with an alluring rendition of “Mưa Trên Biển Vắng.” Sadly, the rest of the album featured catchy but forgettable pop songs. It’s a damn shame to hear such a seducing voice is being wasted. Then again, she only spent two months putting seven tracks together.
With his unique Korean-Irish background, Steve Byrne championed jokes on stereotype. From Black, White, Asian to gay, Byrne spares no races and genders in his latest stand-up special. Champion is available on NetFlix for some energetic, comical pleasure.
This is not a brag, but a celebration. I was surprised to learn that I have received an A+ for my graduate course on Professional Design Practices. It’s the first A+ I have ever earned in all my academic life.
Even though grade matters, I didn’t care much. In my undergrad, all I ever hoped for was a C. I had to drop two classes (U.S history and literature) and made them up over the summer at community college simply because I couldn’t even get a passing grade. Those were the embarrassing moments. Needless to say, my undergrad GPA was just a bit above average. Fortunately the type of work that I do don’t require high GPA. I focused most of time building my portfolio to land me a job. It worked out well for me.
When I started the graduate program, I didn’t expect much either even though I put tons of effort into my projects. My grades have been good so far, but A+ was the first time ever. With Professional Design Practices, I knew that I have many weaknesses even though I have a strong portfolio. I came in to learn presentation skills, how to best present my work, how to speak up and state my opinion. It opened up my door for me to be more confidence.
Alexander Lawson’s Anatomy of a Typeface is an informative historical study of classic typefaces starting from Goudy Text and the Black-letter Types. Each typeface was designed to serve a particular purpose and Lawson explores the reasons behind it. It’s on my re-read list.