There's still magic in the world, as evidenced by this fairy's-eye view of Children's Fairyland, that charming 70-year-old storybook theme park in Oakland, California.

You might remember that when I'm not blogging, I work with Fairyland. WELL... months before we were mandated to shelter in place, a local photographer, Stephen Loewinsohn, contacted our team at Fairyland. He wanted to know if he could come in and capture the park by drone. He showed us some of his work samples (um, wow) and told us he was a lifelong fan of the park. He also told us the finished product would be a gift to us, no strings attached. OF COURSE we said yes! Naturally, none of us realized at the time that it would be the first comprehensive look our community would get from inside the park for months. But that's part of what makes it extra special. We premiered the video on Thursday evening, with great success, as the "cherry on top" to our reopening fundraising announcement.

At my request, Stephen shared his inspiration and thoughts on creating this video:

I grew up in Oakland and went to Fairyland as a kid. Now I have two young kids of my own, so Fairyland is a really special place for me and my family.

I've been working as a professional photographer and filmmaker in the Bay Area for many years, and lately I've been experimenting with building and flying custom camera drones with amazing acrobatic capabilities for specialized filming applications.

John Waters was slated to give the New York's School of Visual Arts' commencement speech at Radio City Music Hall. Instead, he gave a different version of that keynote in front of a green screen, quarantined in his Baltimore home. Of course, it was still hilarious ("Tiger King" porno knockoff, anyone?) and still full of hard-earned wisdom.

"Artists are magicians: you can see what others can not, have a secret language, the power to make others follow... and you can change history with one ludicrous idea. While you’re still young, maybe it’s time to become a virus yourself—a good kind of virus, one fueled by the years of hard work you put in at the incubator known as the School of Visual Arts. Artists, you are the cure, too. The only people that can inspire the world to notice and then alter its destructive behavior.”

Congrats, "coronavirus class of 2020," all of you, everywhere!

screengrab via SVA/YouTube Read the rest

Astronaut David Scott re-created, in 1971 during the Apollo 15 mission, Galileo's "falling bodies" experiment by dropping a hammer and feather on the moon at the same time. Simply, both fell at the same rate because there was no air resistance.

screengrab via Wonders of Physics/YouTube

(Digg) Read the rest

Remember that guy who traded one red paperclip up to a house in Saskatchewan? Well, now there's an anonymous Bay Area woman on TikTok who is looking to trade a bobby pin to get one. Since May 18, the day she started the Trade Me Project, she's gone from a bobby pin to a pair of earrings to four margarita glasses to a vacuum. Her latest trade up? She cleaned up that Bissell and traded it for a snowboard.

Follow the Trade Me Project on TikTok to see her next trade-ups and DM her on Instagram if you have something you want to trade with her.

@trademeproject

Trading my way from a bobby pin to a house #fyp

♬ original sound - trademeproject

@trademeproject

Trading a bobby pin for a house. Pt 4 #fyp #trademeproject

♬ original sound - trademeproject

screengrabs via Trade Me Project/IG

(RED) Read the rest

Earlier this month, New Yorkers were challenged by their governor's office to create a public service announcement to "help communicate why it is so important to wear a mask to stop the spread of coronavirus." Over 600 submissions were received and were voted on by more than 200,000 people. The winning ad, Bunny Lake Films' "We Love NY" captures just the right vibe: it's positive, inclusive, and very "New York."

Gothamist reports:

While the "We Love NY" PSA by Bunny Lake Films (from directors Celine Danhier and Aliya Naumoff) received the most votes and became the official winner, the state will actually run two ads. "You Can Still Smile" by Blue Slate Films/Natalia Bougadellis came in second, just around 500 votes behind first place.

See a few more of the PSAs here. Read the rest

Game of Shrooms, that hide-and-seek/scavenger hunt for mushroom-themed art is happening again! It was started last year by Attaboy of Hi-Fructose and was such a huge success that he's doing it again. To play, simply make an art piece inspired by mushrooms and then hide it, leaving clues on its location through your Instagram feed with the hashtag #gameofshrooms. Or, on game day, just go find art other people have hidden. It was supposed to all go down on June 13, but COVID changed that. So now on that date, artists will reveal their intention and location and actually play the game on August 15.

View this post on Instagram

important announcement about this year’s #GameofShrooms! Because of the current crisis, it’s best to postpone the world wide art show and scavenger hunt a few months. so! On June 13th I’d like to invite all participating artists to Announce their intentions and location so that a global map can be created for all Shroom hunters. On August 15th: The Shroom Drop Happens (where it is safe to do so). It kills me to me the event date but it’s best to be on the safe side, right? Meanwhile, please keep posting preview photos of your creations, tagging #gameofshrooms so that we can follow along. Come august, the world may need a world wide art show and event to reset our perspective, no? Thank you to all and please keep sending me what you are working on. What I’ve seen is fantastic.

We've been writing about Lea Redmond since 2009 here on Boing Boing. She's just one of those kind of people who consistently makes neat things — a real Happy Mutant! Well, her latest creative venture is Home Sweet Home, an activity deck for kids (and the young at heart). It offers inspiring prompts for whimsical, reflective mini-adventures in and out of the home. Half the deck is available now for free download, and the second half will be available as part of a full physical deck (when it's safe to get them printed).

Read the rest

IT'S ABOUT TIME!!

CNN:

To ensure the crayons accurately reflect the world's array of skin tones, Crayola partnered with Victor Casale, CEO and co-founder of cosmetics maker MOB Beauty.

The Colors of the World crayons will come in packs of 24 and 32, with the 32-pack also including four crayons each for hair and eye colors, according to the company. Each pack will also include a side panel that serves as a color reference, while each crayon label lists the color name in English, Spanish, and French.

These "Colors of the World" crayons will be available in July.

Thanks, Tracy!

images via CNN/Crayola Read the rest

My pal Shalaco sent me this video he made with the following message:

As a photographer I lost 100% of my income due to the Covid-19 crisis. I applied to every form of financial support out there and recently had a lot of success. I want to share what I've learned with the community with these tips for applying for financial resources for photographers, creatives, or really anyone.

The amount of epic resource lists out there can be overwhelming, this video focuses on walking people through the process.

Live long and prosper — by social distancing! Potter Tom Edwards knows what's up. His new "Kirk and Spock's Social Distancing Alert! Mug" ($40) sends the message of "stay away!" loud and clear in an old-school Star Trek way.

Be sure to check out his other wares, including this bowl ($35) that announces that there's LSD in the dip... a little too late.

(RED)

Thanks, Marcia! Read the rest

If you've ever wondered when you can call yourself an expert, this is the TEDx Talk for you. Business Growth Strategist, Speaker, and Stand Up Comic David Mitroff shares his story and talks about how, if you're doing the work, you can just start calling yourself an expert.

(RED) Read the rest

Mimi and Brownie became close in 1942 while serving as World War II Army nurses. For 74 years, they remained best friends and talked on the phone every single day. Veena Rao of Pop-Up Magazine shares their incredible, and oh-so-sweet, story (get out the tissues).

(RED)

Becky and Susan, this one's for you!

screengrab via Read the rest

Tom Nook himself made a special announcement on Twitter Friday. The real-life musicians who play the in-game theme music for Animal Crossings: New Horizons had come together for a virtual performance of it!

Best comment: "What do you mean 'The musicians behind the main theme', where is that dog with the guitar?"

My reaction to the concert?

[Announcement]The musicians behind the main theme of #AnimalCrossing: New Horizons have come together virtually for this special performance! We hope you enjoy it! #ACNH pic.twitter.com/QP8nLbyD1U

— Tom Nook (@animalcrossing) May 15, 2020

screengrab via Nintendo/YouTube Read the rest

llustrator Robert Jimenez was inspired to create the new "Garbage Pail Kids Kitchen" one day eating lunch. Robert is a longtime illustrator of Garbage Pail Kids (GPK) cards and was peeling a banana when he had a flashback to Banana Anna, a classic GPK card depicting an anthropomorphic banana with a bite taken out of its head. So, he took a photo of it and used it to mock up a card, trying his best to re-create the original composition. He then pitched it to Topps. "Just thinking it was a goofy thing," he wrote BB in an email.

They were very interested and asked if I could produce more. I submitted about 25 ideas. The project evolved a bit over a few months and it was decided to just stick to foods and call it GPK Kitchen. I arranged all the food, (made guts using Monster Clay) photographed them, then went to work on them in Photoshop.

Love it!

Packs of these sticker cards are available to buy now ($20), but only for a few days — get'em while they're hot!

P.S. If you're a fan of GPK, go watch this documentary STAT: 30 Years of Garbage: The Garbage Pail Kids Story.

images via Robert Jimenez Read the rest

Enjoy this blooper reel of some real "oopsy daisies" from early Hollywood productions, I sure did!

And, if you liked that, here are a couple more similar compilations:

via @hollywoodgoldenage Read the rest

I have a new podcast recommendation for all you creative types — one that I think you're really going to dig. All-around great guy Jason Gots' latest listening venture is called Clever Creature and it's a bit different than your average podcast. It's more like a variety show, or maybe a zine for your ears. It's more loosely structured and spontaneous than I'm used to hearing, which gives it a refreshing edge. Each episode is focused on one random word. That word inspires a story, a song, and a conversation, conversations with peeps like David Sedaris, Mary Louise Parker, and even his own 12-year-old son, Emre. At the end of the first episode (and maybe future ones?), there's a seven-minute mediation.

His name may be familiar, as he spent the last five years hosting the Big Think podcast, Think Again. At that desk, he interviewed good folks like Neil Gaiman, Roz Chast, Terry Gilliam, Margaret Atwood, and over 200 more.

The first episode, "Desert," dropped Tuesday:

art by Nathan Gelgud Read the rest

Nintendo staffer Rob Heiret and his colleagues worked on the localization of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, translating its Japanese dialogue and culture for an English-speaking audience. Well, on Sunday, in a long and insightful Twitter thread, Rob shared some thoughts about their work on the game, and the story behind its sea bass joke... which he wrote. If you're not familiar, when you catch a sea bass fishing in the game (and it's a common catch), this joke appears in a pop-up,

"I caught a sea bass! No, wait — it's at least a C+!"

Cute for a few yuks, but can grow tiresome, as he admits:

If you've played the game, you're tired of the sea bass joke. I get it. *I'M* tired of the sea bass joke, and I wrote it. But here's a secret about the sea bass joke:

It was originally "I caught a sea bass! Well...maybe a C- bass...)

He goes on to explain:

And when we were workshopping the fish jokes, someone pointed out that, as a joke people were going to see many, many times, generally along with disappointment they didn't catch something better, maybe it would be better to spin it positive. Make it a C+ instead.

He furthers:

From a comedy-mechanics perspective, it's the same joke, relying on the homophones "sea" and "C" to change how you perceive the description of the animal (and, let's be honest, it would work better as a verbal joke than it does in print, but that fish has sailed).