Noah Belson

"Great little logo for the Asahiyama Zoo in Hokkaido Japan, designed by Susumu Endo around 1967. It's perfect for this time of year - Minneapolis just had a little blast of snow last night and I feel like a reindeer could show up at any moment." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

"Get in the Christmas mood with these essential holiday apps. From sending Christmas cards to creating Christmas shopping lists, this app list has all you need this holiday season." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

and so yummy. :D - edythe

You can tell by the tables! - Derrick

"In 1977, graphic designer Robert Propper of Propper/Elman Design/Planning was among a handful of NYC designers approached by the Public Arts Council to redesign subway stations, transforming them from drab underground waiting rooms into vibrant public art spaces. Over the course of two weeks, Propper, aided by a small group of Pratt students and armed with paint, brushes, and masking tape, turned the 53rd St. IND Station into a colorful wonderland." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

I really REALLY like that. - Kamilah Gill

"The insanity crept up on us slowly; we just wanted what was best for our kids. We bought macrobiotic cupcakes and hypoallergenic socks, hired tutors to correct a 5-year-old's "pencil-holding deficiency," hooked up broadband connections in the treehouse but took down the swing set after the second skinned knee. We hovered over every school, playground and practice field — 'helicopter parents,' teachers christened us, a phenomenon that spread to parents of all ages, races and regions." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

My fiance and I read this on another feed. Too insane... - Kamilah Gill

they were a-poppin'. - edythe

Prettiest eyes in all of Mexico. - Noah Belson

"Didn’t finish your holiday shopping on Black Friday or Cyber Monday? No problem, the Red Sox [team stats] are having a yard sale at Fenway Park [map] and Treasurer Tim Cahill is auctioning off abandoned property on eBay. On Dec. 13 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sox fans will get a chance to buy team collectibles and souvenirs. The selection includes signed memorabilia from former and current players, used jerseys and bats from games, framed photos, ballpark furniture, signs and original Fenway Park bricks." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

They are actually selling Carl Yastrzemski's mutton chops. - Noah Belson

"The IKEA catalogue is one of IKEA’s founding elements and has been its main marketing tool for many years now, well it seems like the Swedish finally decided it was time to innovate and are bringing their catalogue to our favorite Smart Phone." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

"I was home over Thanksgiving and finally got around to snapping some photos of this vintage NY Subway map my Mom, a Brooklyn native, had held on to and then framed and hung up in our house. Maybe having this in our house growing up subconsciously inspired me as a graphic designer. Either way, it's always something I love seeing when I go visit my parents and something I enjoy more and more each time I see it." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

That's a neat map. The lines running from Midtown to Lower Manhattan to Brooklyn look like a tangled staircase in that depiction. - John (a.k.a. dendroica)

this was at marston's in pasadena. i was not impressed with these, though. if i go again, i'll try thr multigrain ones. and also: no maple syrup??? - edythe

I've gone there just once. And they burned my pancakes. :( - Derrick

I haven't been to Marston's in FOREVER! That place is good. I used to have lunch there because it's right by the library :) - Anna Lynn M.

"Monopoly brings the classic Monopoly board game to the App Store. The game offers a somewhat gratuitously 3D view of the game and even offers internationally localized versions of the board. The game seems to pull your iPhone's region settings to present the proper board. The game comes with 3 levels of difficulty against AI opponents and also offers local Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (2 players), and Pass & Play for your friends." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

I broke my "wait until the price drops" rule and grabbed it. I don't know why but I still love Monopoly. - Noah Belson

monopoly the best board game ever now available on my phone. Genius !! - tkoapps

"The best wiener-launching app just became even better! For Thanksgiving only, download 'Hot Dog Down a Hallway' for FREE! We want to spread the sausage love! Get it quick though, because after Friday (November 27) it returns to it's original price!" - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

"A line of colorful hedgehogs is the latest addition to the fun and weird family of USB winter gadgets that wants to help you keep your precious computer fingers warm." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

"Thanksgiving is only a couple of days away, which means many of you are probably stressing out over all of the items left on your to-do list. But don’t worry, we now have an Applist to help you get through this food-centric holiday with ease. The Apps To Help You Plan Your Thanksgiving Applist features everything you will need to get ready for the big holiday. It contains apps that will help you find the best recipes and ingredients for your dinner, apps to help you remember those special moments, and even an app to help entertain your children." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

"Never one to let EA steal the spotlight for very long, Gameloft also is having their own sale today with a few of their games reduced to 99¢. We're not sure how long this is going to last, so if you've been thinking about picking any of these up it probably isn't a good idea to wait as they likely won't get any cheaper than this." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

Castle of Magic ($1.99 -> 99¢), Real Tennis 2009 ($4.99 -> 99¢), Blades of Fury ($4.99 -> 99¢), Terminator Salvation ($4.99 -> 99¢), Brothers in Arms - Hour of Heroes ($4.99 -> 99¢), Shrek Kart ($4.99 -> 99¢) - Noah Belson

"Usually when I find CD-rs out in the world, they've been tossed out of car windows or left on the counters of stupid hipster coffeeshops. The last place I ever expected to find an unlabeled CD-r filled with music would be in the middle of the fucking desert. But nearly two years ago I was hiking in Joshua Tree and I came across a completely surreal sight: an old-school 5 1/4" computer floppy disk. It appeared to have been tossed casually near the side of the trail I was on, housed in a simple plastic baggie. I reached into the bag and pulled out the floppy disc. I noticed that the magnetic tape inside the plastic case had been replaced by a recordable compact disc. The disc had a creepy message scrawled on it which read, 'A silvery female voice breaking through onto the airband sang in German, 'We are from another world, but you have cut us out'". - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

"I don't believe in ghosts or extraterrestrials or anything, but standing in the middle of nowhere reading that line was enough to send me into a miniature freak out. What's more, a folded-up piece of paper was also buried inside the plastic cover. A treasure map. Browned edges and everything. It featured a pirate ship (?), a series of footsteps through mountains and palm trees (?), one red X, and ten blue X's. One of of the X's appeared to be floating in the middle of a body of water." - Noah Belson

wicked - Michael W. May

"Found this heatrock in a San Francisco thrift store a couple of years ago. The illustrations sprinkled throughout the book are OK - not nearly as robust and well-executed as the cover image. The artwork is by Ati Forberg, who illustrated a few other children's books throughout the 1960s." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

I'll just pick off both ya'll's plates - Michael W. May

"A couple of years ago, I decided that Google had made phone books obsolete. They're clunky, quicky-outdated, and waste paper, and are the bane of an apartment lobby's existence. Well, phone book company, let me make a deal with you. If you can start making phone books look like this again, I'll take back everything I ever said about you. Designed by the great Asher Kalderon with Ester Kurty in 1974." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

"Toy designers, take note of this packaging design for Swiss company Didi's line of baby products. Designed by E. & U. Hiestand circa 1974ish." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

"It was in 1964 that Sean Connery starred as James Bond in Goldfinger and Shirley Bassey belted out the classic title song. Now Connery and Bassey are reuniting for another film project: Sir Billi, animated movie set in the Scottish highlands. Connery, who is producing the film, will provide the voice of an elderly, skate-boarding veterinarian who comes to the aid of a beaver. (No jokes, please!) Bassey will sing the title song, Guardian of the Highlands, which was written with her in mind. The film, which has been in production for years, marks Connery's emergence from self-imposed retirement, though it is uncertain whether he intends to pursue more cinematic ventures." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

*grin* that was my second thought *chuckle* - Michael W. May

"Microsoft Windows continues to dominate the PC market with a 90 percent market-share stronghold, but when it comes to smartphones, Microsoft is getting beat up worse than a mustachioed villain in a Jackie Chan movie." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

"We long ago gave up on seeing dynamic artwork on most DVD releases from major studios. Before you blame the studios, however, keep in mind that one studio executive told me in confidence that the sleeve designs are basically dictated by the buyers at Wal-Mart, who believe consumers can only relate to very simple, basic graphics. Thus, most major releases feature horrid scanned-in head shots of the movie's stars...often super-imposed on other actor's bodies. (See some of the James Bond releases). Once in a while, a studio will actually use original poster graphics on older, catalog titles and independent labels generally have visually creative sleeves for DVDs." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

"However, the low point has to be the new DVD release of Paramount's Star Trek film. Director J.J. Abram's has not only reinvigorated the flaccid series, but enthused people like myself who were not major fans of the original films. However, the DVD sleeve is a boring, graphic-free piece of work that simply spells out the name of the title and doesn't convey a bit of the film's... more... - Noah Belson

"In this little guide, I’d like to help you get started figuring out what you’d love doing. This turns out to be one of the most common problems of many Zen Habits readers — including many who recently responded to me on Twitter. This will be the thing that will get you motivated to get out of bed in the morning, to cry out, 'I’m alive! I’m feeling this, baby!'. And to scare your family members or anyone who happens to be in yelling distance as you do this. This guide won’t be comprehensive, and it won’t find your passion for you. But it will help you in your journey to find it." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

This didn't make me want to cry out, but I did find it interesting. - Noah Belson

"Uh, oh. Looks like there’s trouble in Android land. The rapid growth of Google’s smartphone OS is causing developers conniptions as they struggle to support multiple versions of the OS and different hardware configurations. With more than a dozen Android phones on the market, all the different configurations are leading to serious platform fragmentation." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

"In its early days, social-networking site Facebook was propelled to popularity by a college-age crowd that sought it out as an exclusive sanctuary in which to connect with their peers. For that market, it was an attractive alternative to sites deemed to have lost their cool -- like MySpace, which had become a haven for pre-teens and high schoolers." - Noah Belson from Bookmarklet

"Now, it seems, Facebook might be suffering a similar migration. According to comScore, as it has gained a broader audience, the older teens and twentysomethings that drove Facebook's initial popularity are using it less. And research by WPP Group's Mindshare suggests that group is reevaluating the site's worth as a tool for developing friendships." - Noah Belson

"Others believe Facebook's cool factor among younger users is waning. 'When you start getting friended by your grandmother, I think that's when it starts to lose its cool,' said Huw Griffiths, evp and global director of marketing accountability and research at Interpublic Group's Universal McCann." - Noah Belson