Selected items of note
Newsy
- Comedian Lenny Bruce finally received a pardon from NY state Gov. Pataki - a mere 37 years after his death.
- They've just discovered the first possible case of Mad Cow disease in the US - right here in Washington state. "'This incident is not terrorist-related,' [Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman] said. 'I cannot stress this point strongly enough.'"
- Just in time for last-minute gift wrapping - beautiful paper boxes from the good folks at Kaliber 1000 (via Christina Wodtke's most excellent weblog, Gleanings).
- More paper-y goodness - lovely paper models of animals and motorcycles courtesy of Yamaha (!!) Motors.
- For you IA/user design lovers, here's a plethora of Web widgets and a bunch of interaction design patterns (thanks, xBlog), and some absolutely gorgeous typography. Oh, how I wish I were an actual designer.
- Pitchfork Media has published their annual review of the top 50 albums and the top 50 singles of 2003. As one of my friends pointed out, the review for the #1 song, Outkast's Hey Ya! is brilliant: "You can approach pop music as cynically as your indieness mandates, but 'Hey Ya' is a monument to the idea that a really fucking great song will blow up because it's really fucking great. Mind-blowing, then, when the track sounds very much like a home recording by a guy with a couple guitars and keyboards." Well played.
- While you're gathered 'round the Yule log, check out the newest release from 8bitpeoples - Christmas songs created using the music from classic video games.
- Harold von Braunhut, creator of Sea Monkeys and X-Ray specs, died on Sunday (via Boing Boing).