Joanna Smith Rakoff just started as an assistant at Harold Ober Associates in 1996 (who was J.D. Salinger’s literary representative) and one of the tasks she has to do was take care of Salinger’s fan mail.
The rules were to NEVER give out Salinger’s phone number or address and give them the standard form letter as a reply.
Some of these letter writers wanted something specific from Salinger—his permission to make a film version of one story or another, often—but most simply wanted a letter back from him. For the most part, they knew that Salinger didn’t read his fan mail—in fact, he’d insisted that nothing, not one letter, be passed on to him—but each was convinced that his letter was going to be the one that was so moving, so brilliant, so funny, so perfectly aligned with Salinger’s interests and sensibilities, that we, at Ober, would pass it on to him. And that Salinger would then, of course, recognize the writer—the teenage girl from Japan, the World War II veteran in Kansas—as a kindred spirit and write back. Though the authors of these letters varied in age and nationality, there was a theme common to nearly all the letters: Salinger was the only person who understood them.
Vapur is a portable refillable collapsible attachable bottle.
The Vapur Anti-bottle ($9) is a reusable BPA-free, foldable bottle that you can roll up when empty and stash back in your bag. There’s an integrated carabiner to help it hang around, you can freeze it full of water and it will even go into the dishwasher on the top shelf. It has a small label allowing the bottle to be personalized with the user’s name. Perfect for outdoor using. Priced at $8.95 each, or $29.95 for a four-pack. (via LikeCool)
Daria is coming out on DVD Spring of 2010!
This has been in the works since last summer, but there is now an official teaser trailer by MTV.
The current plan is to release Daria as a “reasonably priced” complete series set, which will include all five seasons of the show and both television movies (Is It Fall Yet? and Is It College Yet?). The studio also seems committed to including as many worthwhile extras as possible, such as Daria talk show appearances, Sarcastathons, informative specials and perhaps the unaired pilot! (via)
Johnny Kelly is a stop motion animator who mixes stop motion
with drawing to create these wonderful & funny videos. The Seed and Procrastination are my favorites.
The Seed :: 2008
A two-minute animated voyage through nature’s life cycle, following the trials and tribulations of a humble apple seed. The film was kindly funded by Adobe, produced at Nexus Productions and features a soundtrack by Jape. It was made using a mixture of stop motion papercraft and 2D drawn animation. Watch the making of here.
Graduation film for MA in animation at the Royal College of Art. An investigative and exploratory hands-on gloves-off study into the practice of putting things ‘off”. Sometimes the only way to get something done is to do two dozen other things first. Sound design by Mike Wyeld, with a voice over by Bryan Quinn.
Skiing on the street.
I’ve actually done something like this with my friends but sledding, in a rubbermaid bucket, pulled around the back of a 4-wheel-drive Subaru by a rope, on an iced over street. It was awesome.
Meet Sluggy Patterson, the creator of the game.
Also meet Deutsch, VW’s new agency, showing off their new campaign. Pretty cute. You can follow ole Sluggy Patterson’s blog or Twitter. Also check out the official rules for Slug-Bug/Punch Buggy.
The “Bashful” was released alongside the Apple II computer.
It was named after one of the dwarfs in Snow White as a reference to the Snow White design language (created by Hartmut Esslinger).
Concepts for this early pre-touch tablet included one with an attached keyboard and one with a floppy disk drive and convenient handle for maximum portability. An attached stylus helped the user interact with the screen. One frog/Apple tablet concept also included an attached phone.