LOST inspired art.

As expected, a bunch of LOST inspired items and paraphernalia have popped up since the finale this weekend. This one of Jack and the dog in one of the final scenes is actually pretty cool. I want!

LOST. The Final Episode.

Ummm... I'm still absorbing everything I just saw. One thing's for sure, though. Miles had the absolute best line of the night! "I don't believe in a lot of things, but I do believe in duct tape."

Two Degrees Away From Knowing POTUS.

President Obama hosted a reception earlier today at the White House to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. My friend P was there and got to meet him. You can prominently see his hand at 1:04 and 7:33 on the right side of the screen. Jealous.

Favela Paintings.

The extent of my knowledge about favelas come from watching City of God. Since the movie paints such a bleak picture, I never would have guessed that there was such a vibrant music scene present there. According to SHFT.com:

In Santa Marta, a hillside favela in the heart of Rio de Janeiro, two artists from Holland are using a massive art intervention to transform the community. Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn originally came to Brazil in 2005 to shoot a documentary on the vibrant favela music scene. They never left. The two stayed in Rio to form Favela Painting, an organization dedicated to creating "striking artworks in unexpected places" that transform poor communities into radiant landmarks. For their latest endeavor, “O Morro” (The Hill), they enlisted the help of local youths to paint 34 houses with beams of bright color, radiating into the city.

As you can see from the illustration above, the end goal is to paint the whole hill. Follow their progress by friending them on Facebook.

Their stuff looks great! And favela funk sounds pretty good.

Haircuts that clean oil spills.

Did you know you can donate your hair to Matter of Trust and help soak up the Gulf oil spill? According to this Matador article, one gallon of hair can soak up a quart of oil in a minute. It makes sense that hair would be natural and effective at collecting oil; that’s why we shampoo. Watch this fascinating demo:

"Last year, 2,600 oil spills happened around the world. Keep collecting your hair and pet fur, frequent salons and groomers that donate, and ask your local salons and groomers to donate if they don’t already."

Interactive Logos!

Today, Google celebrated Pac-Man's 30th anniversary w/ a playable logo on its homepage. I've been at it for the last 15 minutes. Awesome and a half.

The doodle (Google's term for its event and holiday-specific logos) is accessible on its main page and is a full 255-level game complete with a 256th level "kill screen," just like the original coin-op.

The interactive doodle -- a first for Google -- is the brainchild of senior user experience designer Marcin Wichary, whose earliest exposure to Pac-Man came at age five while traveling across his native Poland with his father, a game technician, to repair arcade machines. Wichary worked with Google doodler (yes, it's a real job) Ryan Germick to create the finished design.

So, for today at least, you can tell your boss: "I may be browsing the web and playing a game, but I'm also being part of something historic."

UPDATE: Google has archived their fully functional Pac-Man game logo here. Play on, players!

Supporting environmentally-friendly transit AND seeing a great concert for free.

This great organization soooo needed to exist in Los Angeles.

The Tour Rider initiative addresses the chronic problem of traffic congestion and the subsequent environmental pollution that results from gridlock traffic at large venues for concerts, festivals, and other events

A Tour Rider is someone who carpools, uses Park & Ride programs, or takes public transportation to a Tour Rider sponsored event. Tour Riders receive an array of perks that may include access to VIP ticket lines, private music showcases in shuttle parking lots, and/or a Tour Rider gift bag with exclusive band merchandise, music, accessories, t-shirts, magazines, video games, tickets to local museums and venues, and other popular items.

Volunteer for the following concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and get the chance to watch the show from near the box seats:

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS: Sunday, May 30, 3:30-8:00 pm.
STING: Tuesday, June 15, 3:30 -8:00 pm

Click here to read the Craigslist post.

Addicting TV Shows.

I seriously can't wait to watch the series finale.

"LOST is more than just a show; it’s an experience, and to get the most out of it, it requires repeated viewing and some extra reading, whether it be Lostpedia, Doc Jensen’s wild theories or one of the books Sawyer was seen reading on the beach.

Most television shows are as simple as the viewer tuning in when the show starts, watching the episode until the credits roll, and then immediately moving on to something else. That is no way to watch LOST. Think of the show as an onion: its exterior consists of all the mysteries of the show, like the hatches and the numbers and Jacob’s cabin and Jacob’s list and Jacob himself and the smoke monster and the frozen donkey wheel and the time flashes that make the island skip like a broken record and the four-toed statue and the seemingly ageless Richard Alpert and room 23 and so on.

It’s easy to be distracted by all of those things, many of which are firmly rooted in science fiction, but peel that onion and you’ll find some of the most basic human struggles like good vs. evil, free will vs. destiny, faith vs. science, life and death, survival, rivalries, redemption, and how all the best cowboys have daddy issues. These are things we can all relate to, and once that onion is peeled, you’re probably going to find yourself crying. LOST is more than just a show, it’s the greatest television experience the world will ever see."

(via FYL)

Facebook Updates to Grandma Via Newsletters.

My grandma still has problems navigating the interwebs. This would be perfect for her. According to labnol.org:

You don’t want your sweet grandma to miss all the family updates because she is not on Facebook but how to keep her in the loop without the computer? Well, the good old way – print your status updates and any photos that you may have recently uploaded to Facebook on paper and send them to her via snail mail just like a newspaper...

There’s an interesting Facebook service called PostEgram that will automatically create full-colored printed newsletters of your status updates and your Facebook photos and it will send them to your loved ones via post.

It works something like this. You authorize the app with Facebook Connect so that it can access your pictures and status updates. Then select profiles of your Facebook contacts who you want to include in the newsletter. Finally, pay via PayPal and you are done.

Oh, the convenience of modern technology.

Tech-savvy Treasure Hunts.

Yes, I'll admit to activating the nerd alert. Can't wait to play this!

"Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment."

Nosara.

I just spent two days in this laid back Costa Rican surf town. Dirt roads. Awesome waves. Sleepy dogs that rule the streets. I wish I was still there.