m ss ng Murphy from m ss ng p eces on Vimeo.

from the video description:

To assist in the pangs of LCD withdrawal we watched an interview we shot with James Murphy back in the summer of 2006. It was a 30 minute interview which we’ve cut into 9 minutes for your viewing pleasure. Murphy shares his thoughts on musical discovery, the future of taste, artistic value in the face of technology and what he did with our plot device, something.

Man, I want to see Bad Writing, if only to hear George Saunders talk about the craft of writing. Speaking of which, I recently listened to an episode of Marc Maron’s podcast interview with Ben Stiller, in which Stiller said that for years he’s been shopping around a script for a movie version of CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, to no avail. I wonder why the studios are scared of it. It would definitely be weird, but I would bet on it being awesome, too.

From the Skateistan website:

Skateistan is Afghanistan’s – and the world’s – first co-educational skateboarding school. Operating as an independent, neutral, Afghan NGO, the school engages growing numbers of urban and internally-displaced youth in Afghanistan through skateboarding, and provides them with new opportunities in cross-cultural interaction, education, and personal empowerment. Skateistan’s students come from all of Afghanistan’s diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. They not only develop skills in skateboarding and skateboarding instruction, but also healthy habits, civic responsibility, information technology, the arts, and languages. The students themselves decide what they want to learn—we connect them with teachers who will enable them to develop the skills that they consider important. Since Skateistan has been active in Kabul, we’ve seen that Afghan youth of all ethnicities, genders, and socioeconomic backgrounds love to skateboard. Skateistan brings them together, equipping young men and women with the skills to lead their communities toward social change and development.

French photographer Sacha Goldberger’s 91-year-old grandma was feeling down, so he decided to do what any good grandson does: dress her up as a superhero and take some photos. Not only did Frederika end up feeling better, but the series – named “Mamikia” – turned her into a bit of a star on My Space.

There are a lot more photos where this came from, and a bit more about the photographer and his grandma, who, as a young adult in Budapest, helped hide Jewish countrymen during the German occupation.

British artist Kim Rugg painstakingly rearranges text and images from newspapers, stamps and cereal boxes to give new meaning to the original content. Sort of a re-imagining of Burrough’s cut-up method, bringing Baudrillard’s concept of simulacra to mind; Rugg describes one of her pieces featured in the video as “an image made out of the object that’s an object made out of the image.”

From video producer, Cool Hunting:

“Some people like taking their time,” says artist Kim Rugg, whose artistic achievements are measured in millimeters, used X-ACTO blades and picas. We spent the afternoon with Rugg in her London home and studio talking about her work re-imagining newspapers, comics, stamps and cereal boxes using their existing form while rearranging their content. Kim finds inspiration from the mundane and common objects around us. Her wicked knife skills and tenacious attention to detail have created a body of work that is as impressive as it is curious.

(discovered via BoingBoing)

Maybe it’s the looming ski season that’s got me stoked on sports vids, but check out this dude Tim Knoll. Unreal.

In order to become a member of the Original Scraper Bike Team, you must: Be a resident of Oakland, CA. Be at least 7y/o or older. Retain A 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA), Create your own Scraper Bike…(It Has To Be Amazing, Or Else You Can’t Ride.) A single-file line when riding. After 10 rides The Scraper Bike King and his Captains will decide if your bike is up to standards and if you can follow simple guidelines. After your evaluation we will consider you a member and honor you with an Original Scraper Bike Team Shirt. Only worn when Mobbin’ Stay posted to our website for all upcoming Scraper Bike Rides… – The Scraper Bike King