Poetry After the Beep

On a whim, we asked people to read their favorite short poems into our answering machine for a project we called Verse By Voice. And they did, creating maybe the first-ever poetry meme. To get the idea, make sure to listen to novelist Zadie Smith reading Frank O'Hara's Animals.

Note: we didn't include what is surely not Christopher Walken reading EE Cummings, but that's worth a listen too. Jim talked about this project during his appearance on Public Radio's Hello Beautiful! and the photos are courtesy of Sam Javanrouh's unstoppable Daily Dose of Imagery.

Field Notes Limited Edition

Rows to Hoe

For Field Notes' 14th seasonal release we've gone back to our roots with a box set celebrating America's farmers and the crops they grow. "The National Crop Edition" includes six colored memo books, a souvenir poster and an embroidered patch, all in a custom box. They're available for sale individually and as part of a year-long Colors Subscription.

Plus, Co-Founder Aaron Draplin talks about where Field Notes comes from in a short film, From Seed, and his large collection of agricultural themed memo books from the last 100 years are now online at the Field Notes site.

I Think I Read That Somewhere

A Certain Place

If, like us, your spring and summer vacations are about reading, then here's a place to start. We've collected hundreds of books and had them Field-Tested online, including entries from George Saunders, Jonathan Eig, Jessa Crispin, Steven Heller, Lori Andrews, Michael Bierut, and many more. Or, buy the Field Tested Books Book which is available now for just nine bucks.

Stuff About Terrence Malick

There Wasn’t No
Harm In Him,
You’d Give Him a Flower, He’d Keep
It Forever

We've been talking about it for months and now we've finally done it. With the release of The Tree of Life and because there aren't many dedicated resources, we've created a new archive category about one of our heroes. Stuff About Terrence Malick is full of links and resources and we'd appreciate you writing us about anything you think belongs in there. (Use the contact link below.) It's a nice complement to our big Stuff About Stanley Kubrick collection. Logically, Bergman is next, but for now we'll leave that up to the excellent Face To Face.

An occasional series Face Time

Classic Display Faces That Deserve Props

Chauncey H. Griffith's Bodoni Poster Black was developed for Mergenthaler in 1929 and features strong verticals and shallow descenders. It's regularly employed for era-specific "Appearing Nightly at the Copacabana" lobby-card-ish announcements and by and large it's serviceable, if not particularly interesting. But, just in case you find yourself in need of a two skinny chicks whispering near the coke mirror, late 70's, Los Angeles sort of vibe, set it tight in all-caps with almost no line spacing. Suggested pairing: Univers Light Extra Condensed.

A Very Short Attention Span

Regrets, I Have a Few

Are you better suited for starting things than you are for finishing them? Are you easily distracted? Do you find it hard to concentrate on any one thing when there are so many other things to check out? Yeah, us too.

To Every Season

Blind Faith

Legends of the Fall, a film we made high above north central Wisconsin in October. The "Fire Spotter" Edition of Field Notes sold out almost immediately but if you trust us to keep making fun, new editions (and the Spring release that's going to be announced in a week or two is plenty fun and completely new) you can sign up for a Colors Subscription now based on blind faith. That way you'll save a few bucks and be sure to get the next four releases, starting with Spring and extra goodies too. Afraid of commitment? Make sure you're on the Field Notes mail list, folks there always get first crack at new products.

Search Different

For Sale:
1 Billion Dollars

While it's only a couple years old, it's social power and technical innovation makes it a bargain for any cash-rich tech company looking to expand their reach and ecosystem. For a quick billion dollars your company can own the jewel of the next generation of search and change the way people find things on The Internet. "Never Not Find What You’re Looking For Again" with E-Z-Fynd. Secret Himalayan headquarters included, plus Peppermints! From CP Labs, the folks that brought you The RinseCam 9000™, so you know it's good. Serious inquiries only please.

JC at Creative Mornings

What Are You
Afraid Of?

Here's Jim's recent presentation from the inaugural edition of Chicago Creative Mornings. Thanks to Tina, Mig, Gravity Tank and everyone who showed up.

Who Owns The Fish

Hey Buddy, Is This Your Sander Vitreus?

Every year since 2004, we have done our part to encourage acrimony and hard feelings at family gatherings. Face it, you'll probably fight about something at your next get-together, it might as well be something important, like whether or not you're in the two percent of the world's population that Albert Einstein purportedly claimed could solve this puzzle. So... Who Owns The Fish?

A CP Film Above the Sun

A Winter’s Tale

"One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen." —Rene Daumal. Why did we do it? Because it is there. Or was anyhow. Presenting Above the Sun, a true story. Local Note: the film was part of Tom Skilling's blizzard special "Snowed Under," on WGN which also ran again on the anniversary of the storm.

May Guests Sonnenzimmer

Making It Up
As They Go

Nick Butcher and Nadine Nakanishi (nn) first met while interning at Punk Planet Magazine and The Bird Machine, two of Chicago's most beloved cultural institutions. Following their work there, they decided to open a studio together in 2006, naming it Sonnenzimmer. It's there that Nadine realized she really just wanted to make posters with no type on them, despite years of typography education in her native Switzerland. Nick, who studied graphic design, found that he just wanted to make paintings. Their firm now merges typography, printmaking, graphic design and fine art to create hand-crafted posters, books, and music packaging for a wide array of projects and clients. They're particularly proud of their work with Chicago's bustling free jazz and improvised music community, finding a place where experimentation and abstraction are both respected and demanded. That said, we're expecting lots of interesting and varied links as Nick and Nadine step in as our Guest Editors for May.

A list of all the brilliant people who have helped us by guest editing Fresh Signals can be found here.

Other recent features are listed on Page Two.

Fresh Signals

"The zombie apocalypse happened -- and we won. But though society has recovered, the threat of infection is always there ---and Los Angeles coroner Tommy Rossman is the man they call when things go wrong." So great, Spoiler. Via BoingBoing ms-yesterday

And just like that, I realize I need an axe. Lovely. ms-yesterday

Related to the last, Just R2D2, Just Chewbacca, Just the Blasters, and Just People Saying The Force. ms-yesterday

The only way to watch Star Wars at work and not get canned. Via Wired. ms-yesterday

Knock, Knock. "Who is there?" "Oh hey, I just stopped by to say hi." ms-yesterday

Touchscreen minus the touch part. dw-yesterday

Notes, story boards, telegrams, letters, etc. Animator Gene Deitch recounts his collaboration with Maurice Sendak on WtWTA. Fascinating, via Drawn. jc-yesterday

Regular Guiseppe, the Third Mario Brother. dw-yesterday

So you know, how to make ice cream using freezer bags. ms-yesterday

The Honda Uni-Cub is probably our future. Looks like it'd fit right in aboard The Axiom. bb-yesterday

For MS, a two hour cure for arachnophobia. dw-yesterday

Hollywood marches on with really stupid ideas. Do yourself a favor and watch the original and the movie that inspired it. ms-yesterday

Welcome to Melvyn Wright's World of Vintage Slot Machines. Via Look at This. ms-yesterday

Kyle Lambert's Toy Shining. Thanks Jay. jc-yesterday

Mid-Century Home Brochures. ms-yesterday

Want. ms-yesterday

Trailer for Dark Horse. ms-yesterday

A Partial Solar Eclipse Over Texas. ms-yesterday

Something's Going Down in That Museum Right Now, oil on panel, 16X16 in. Sharon Moody's paintings of comic books and other objects are amazing, hyper-realistic and beautiful. More from It's Nice That. jc-yesterday

Trusty Field Notes pinhole eclipse viewer. jc-yesterday

The Pymlico Spirit, an alternative branding for the London summer games that is free from all legal and trademark restrictions. More from creator Roy McCarthy. jc-yesterday

"In an airy studio on a high floor of the London College of Fashion, featuring a long conference table, white walls, and a view to an adjoining patio - where, a sign warns, bees are being kept - the hues you will see in two years are being divined by a pan-European group of colorists." Sneaking Into Pantone HQ. Via MeFi. ms-yesterday

So you know, what love looks like. jc-yesterday

Not sure why but here's "Kid A" and "OK Computer" covered as 8-bit video game music. jc-05.21

Lovely music in an unexpected place, try not to smile. Gah, that baby at 1:50, cute overload! ms-05.21

UEFA's handsome Euro2012 Tournament Calendar. Naprijed Hrvatska! bb-05.21

Trailer for P.T. Anderson's The Master. Looks great. jc-05.21

Scott Scheidly's Pink series. dw-05.21

How to pronounce... dw-05.21

A documentary that goes inside Industrial Light and Magic in the 1980s. Via Things Mag. jc-05.21

NeverSeconds, one primary school pupil's daily dose of school dinners. dw-05.21

The Skartorialist. ms-05.21

Teaser trailer for the next Bond film, Skyfall. Cannot wait. ms-05.21

Chris Ware's epic cover for Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: How an Unlikely Couple Found Love, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children's Literature. Via Dan Wagstaff. jc-05.21

So Chris Glass and some friends were in Yalta… bb-05.21

Lovely Land Art installations by Sylvain Meyer. Although, this one about gave me a heart attack. Via This is Colossal. ms-05.21

Eephus League Magazine. Nine innings of awesome, created by Bethany Heck. jc-05.21

Paul Ford's seminal essay about internet intellectualism is getting a new round of well-deserved attention recently. Do yourself a favor and read (or re-read) Why Wasn't I Consulted?! Via Jim Ray. jc-05.21

Cory Poole's video of yesterday's annular solar eclipse. Fab. jc-05.21

Great mashup of Adele's Set Fire to the Rain and Baltimora's Tarzan Boy, Tarzan & Rain. ms-05.21

Page Two contains the previous 40 Fresh Signals, recent features, a key to the icons and the categorical archives.

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