The new WGBH headquarters in Brighton has a 30×45ft. LED display visible from the eastbound Mass. Pike below. During the day they run a series of digital murals, the one pictured is "Giraffes Don’t Huff", and at night an image of the evening sky. The display is part of a $85M building on Guest St. designed by Polshek Archecture Partners. I really like that they added several smaller LED displays on 2 sides of the building that makes it seem more organically part of the structure.
This is the best photography insight I’ve read in a while (via): “Most of your photos suck”. Very refreshing to realize that the goal isn’t nothing but good shots, but to go from 99.8% to like 98% suckage (in my case, anyway). Also makes it easier to throw away the ones that didn’t work and appreciate the photos I’m actually happy with, like the one above from a party this weekend.
NBC put a few of their new Fall shows on Amazon Unbox for free ahead of their air date. (A smarter move than their recent iTunes debacle.) So I fired up the Tivo and downloaded 3 of them in … just under 16 hours! I have no idea why it took that long, considering these were not the HD versions. Tough to measure transfer rates, but the blue light was on for a long time. Without further ado, my two cents:
The movie Donnie Darko has been adapted to a play and will run at the Zero Arrow Theatre in Cambridge starting Oct. 27th. Just in time for Halloween! I’m a big fan of the genre-askewing movie. Cool (if confusing) story, nailed the 80s feel, perfect soundtrack, solid Patrick Swayze cameo, and I still laugh when I hear “Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.” I did find the director’s cut disappointing though - it tried to explain what was better left vague. My wife scores huge points for noticing it at the American Rep - she knows me well.
I’m curious how it will translate to the stage. In the words of Homer: “Ooh I love legitimate theater!”
Last night I hit up Boston’s first TECH cocktail event in the shadow of Fenway Park. Reviewers think Tequila Rain is usually a Spring Break / frat party atmosphere, so last night was a little bit of a deperature. There was a good mix of different types of folks, who are often identifiable by their clothes. Flocks of people in bright orange t-shirt pumping Zoominfo or black shirts for Geezo, business casual for VC/lawyer/consultant types, more trendy for the PR/biz-dev ilk and code monkeys often have a certain look about them. Although some hybrid types can be tough to pick out, or some web designers are better dressed than typical nerds (hairgel or shirts with a cool font can be a clue). There was a solid turnout, but it wasn’t wall to wall (and a better gender balance that at many tech events). By the end of the night my voice was sore from yelling over the music and other conversations.
I had several interesting convesations about the Boston web scene. There are a growing number of events like TECH cocktail and the O’Reilly Ignite (that was also last night), and WebInno on Monday that bring people together. But I think there are pieces missing on the web that can help amplify the conversation and bring attention of Boston-area web startups. It is easy to whine about being overshadowed by Silicon Valley (which is a strange metaphor), but the answer is to help build a more vibrant community here. More to come soon on this, hopefully.
