How do you raise €22M to build an environmental battle ship? Greenpeace has an innovative answer: Sell the boat off piece-by-piece, allowing donors to connect emotionally and financially to the cause.
Thanks to a brilliant feat of web design, the new Rainbow Warrior has wind in its sails, with 32.9% of the construction already funded. The website not only tells the story of the ship’s history in a dramatic way, but also lets you virtually navigate through its plans, “browsing” the items you can fund from a €1 fork to €7,000 desalinater.
Another great feature is a time-lapse video of the ship’s construction progress, showing that the end result is tangible and that you, as a part owner, are steps closer to launching your vessel for change.
Posted by Rick | March 25th, 2011 | Filed under Art, Design
Nothing gets us going like a nice, long downward scroll through a bunch of inspiring
photos. Here are a few we’ve been fixated on lately—click the pic to check the blog:
Something about the barrage of images from Japan and Libya over the course of the last few weeks reminded me of the film Baraka, which was released almost twenty years ago. The movie has no plot or narrative, instead relying on powerful imagery and a dramatic soundtrack to convey a deeply resonant message about the relationship between mankind and nature, mankind and each other, civilization and the wild, good and evil, and the common thread that connects it all.
Music by Dead Can Dance draws you into the imagery; the lack of narration lets you draw your own conclusions. In today’s digital world, where we consume visuals in a montage-like way, this film forces you to slow the carousel down a bit and meditate on the blessing that is Earth.
Posted by Rick | March 21st, 2011 | Filed under Music
This jam from the forthcoming Guided By Voices tribute album Sing for Your Meat—featuring Flaming Lips, Blitzen Trapper and Thurston Moore to name a few—builds perfectly and actually allows you to decipher the lyrics, which are almost inaudible in the perfect, crunchy original. Hard to believe this live cover has higher production value than the original, but hey—it’s a GBV song.
Get an MP3 of the Cymbals Eat Guitars version below.
Japan is facing a monumental challenge in the wake of last week’s earthquake, tsunami and the resulting volatility of several nuclear power plants. In times like these, we ask ourselves what we can do. Several artists/craftspeople have started to contribute by donating proceeds from the sale of their work to relief efforts. A few of our favorites are displayed above (top to bottom):
It’s Friday and the sun has broken through, giving us a taste of spring. Biking with somebody you’ve got a crush on to somewhere you can get a buzz on is one of the things we look forward to most when the mercury rises. Which brings to mind a couple pieces of art that capture that feeling, no matter what the weather is doing. The top image is a poster available for $10 from Buy Olympia and the second is from PaperCutsbyJoe on Etsy, the ideal $40 “paper anniversary” gift.
He’s tall. He’s handsome. He’s this month’s snapshot winner. Congratulations Mark McCambridge, your shot by Nicolas Blandin captures you to a tee.
Nau’s love affair with Mark began at Sydney’s (the old Brecken) back in December 2006 and we’ve had a crush on him ever since. We’ve been lucky enough to share a carefully brewed coffee with him about every six months in recent years as he’s moved from Alaska, Brazil, Valencia, and finally Annecy. Like any consuming crush, we had to set him free to see if it was meant to be. We’re still hoping there’s a chance he’ll come back. There’s always a chance…. right??
Until then, we’ll continue to get lost in his photos and dream about our next reunion. One of us might need to hand deliver his new M3 Hoody.
And for everyone else, do you want to win a prize of your own and have us write a blog post all about YOU? Send a photo to share@nau.com of you and your friends wearing your favorite Nau threads. Next month we’re giving away a men’s or women’s Wafter Pullover. We’ll announce the winner here on the Thought Kitchen on Tuesday April 12th.
Posted by Rick | March 7th, 2011 | Filed under Music
James Blake’s music has been dubbed “Robot Soul” for its warped dubstep-in-slo-mo sound, over which he lays some seriously heartfelt vocals. After hearing his heralded debut album The Wilhelm Scream, one might think he relies on auto tune or some other digital trickery to hit the highs and lows throughout. But his acoustic rendition of Joni Mitchell’s “Case of You,” which he recently performed on the Beeb, puts any doubts to rest—dude’s got skills. The songwriting also reminds you of how amazing Joni Mitchell’s 1971 album Blue was.
Get the track for free below, grab a bottle (or a case), and enjoy.
A Case of You (Joni Mitchell Cover) – James Blake | Download
Will smart design put the first step to better air quality—awareness of an invisible problem—in our own hands (or on our chests)? We hope so.
We all know that Portland is a marvelously green city. So green is the haze around here, in fact, that most residents are oblivious to the offensive air quality caused by industrial waste. Two years ago, USA Today published an in-depth article called The Smokestack Effect that looked at the impact of industrial pollution on children, particularly those who attend schools near factories that emit toxic chemicals. The results were shocking: higher rates of cancer, mental problems and respiratory disease seemed to tie directly to a school’s proximity to polluters. And even more shocking was the fact that Northwest Portland is in the lowest 2 percentile of air quality in the nation. (A form on the website allows you to check how your neighborhood ranks.)
Our office is in the Pearl District of Northwest Portland, around a mile from Portland’s worst culprits for air pollution. We have kids who attend school in the neighborhood. So the question is, what can we do? Read More »
The Thought Kitchen is our effort at collective inquiry and its power to effect change. Have you ever noticed how the party is always in the kitchen? There are more walls to lean on and people are energized by the proximity to food and drink. Well, welcome to our kitchen, where we hope to tap into everything we love about that feeling—community, vivacious exchange, food for thought.
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