Happy 2012

Ghost Rider

Another blow against comic creators and for the big companies. Marvel wins dispute over rights of Ghost Rider, a character whose motorcycle-riding version was created in 1972 by Gary Friedrich. 

Stan Lee turns 89

McDonald’s-free

McDonald’s closes all their restaurants in Bolivia. Bolivians are just not into fast-food.

Sky time lapse

From Randy Halverson's collection of time lapse videos at Dakotalapse.

My new favorite image

Wonder Woman not impressed by punk rock.

Merry times

PSB xmas 1982

Mission Impossible 4

Fighting terrorism never looked so good. Cruise and company star in a long commercial for a myriad of brand products while doing preposterous (but pretty cool) stunts in glamourized Dubai and Mumbai. Some of the gadgets and the science behind them are hard to swallow even with a lot of suspended disbelief, but then again, Brad Bird directs cartoons for a living. Tom Cruise looks good for his age, despite his awkward body posture, and is in love with shots of himself running like a maniac through a variety of surroundings, the best being a sandstorm. And Jeremy Renner is bulked up from being Hawkeye in The Avengers.

Stan Lee's Chakra

Stan Lee is teaming up with the son of spiritual guru Deepak Chopra (whose name is Gotham - seriously) to create a line of Indian comics through Gotham's Liquid Comics.

New Batman trailer

The new Batman preview? Too pretentious and boring for words.

What?

These guys had it right. Que pasa?

Brazilian Art Museums

Art Knowledge News acknowledged this week the importance of both MASP, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo, as the finest art collection in South America, and The Museu Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s national art museum.

Thunderbolts in Toronto

Amazing light show!

Brand memory

The way that brand burrows in the brain.

Morning in Rio

Source: O Globo

My new favorite picture

"Tornado Over Kansas" (1929) by John Steuart Curry.

Alex Ross Exhibit

And speaking of Batman, Alex Ross is having his first major art retrospective at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. I always thought his Batman was a little chubby, but the man has done a great job being the Norman Rockwell of comics.

Batman & Son

Loving the new Batman and Robin. A delightfully new dynamic that feels so right for the duo.

Animated covers

Artist Kerry Callen turned four classic comic book covers into animated gifs.

PSB Christmas 2011

Pet Shop Boys Christmas card. What, no exclusive track this year?

My new favorite image

PVC Pipe Sculpture by Kang Duck-Bong.

Only in Brazil

A family of quatis (Brazilian equivalent of the raccoon) in the Boa Vista Forest in Rio.

My new favorite picture

So he can make Obama laugh...

Toronto Ghost Planet

Algae Green Loop

Proposal for an algae retrofitting of the Marina City Towers in Chicago, by Influx Studio. The buildings would work as giant air filters, taking in CO2 from the atmosphere and releasing oxygen back into the city.

New animated videos

And this isn't really a song, but it makes great use of phenakistoscopy.

Playstation immersive video

Diana of Themyscira

Still on Immortals, the movie leaves out the whole part where Theseus fights the Amazons.
Speaking of which...

Immortals

There’s a lot of things wrong with Immortals (John Hurt wasted in a minor role, Freida Pinto’s acting, Mickey Rourke's facial hair and hat choices) - and the 3D isn’t very inspired - but there’s a lot of stylized eye-candy and a closer look at the new Superman (who does a pretty good job at being heroic).

If you were looking for mythological accuracy, or an actual story, look elsewhere. And even though Tarsem (director of The Cell and of the impressive and unsurpassed Dadaist movie The Fall) has his shining moments, they’re far too few. 300 remains the best Greek mythology/soft gay porn combo out there.

My Week With Marilyn

Simon Curtis’ “made-for-TV” direction is heavy-handed, but Michelle Williams is luminous and deserves the accolades she’s been getting, despite her lack of physical similarity to Monroe.

Super expensive

A pristine copy of Action Comics No. 1 from 1938 (pretty much Superman's birth certificate), just sold for $2,161,000 at an online auction. The previous record for the book was  $1.5 million.

Books in Kansas City

The façade of the the parking garage of the public library downtown Kansas City.

My new favorite picture

Last year’s “Nelson's Ship in a Bottle,” by leading Anglo-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare.

Little printer

How cool is this lil' guy?

Super human moves

My new favorite picture

Superman float at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in 1939.

Fanwagon

A one-off Dutch edition of the VW bus turned into a Facebook page. Or vice-versa.

Scary pathways

Glass walkway at China's Tianmen Mountain Park.

'Tiger & Turle - Magic Mountain' by German duo Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth in Duisburg, Germany.

'Moses Bridge' near Fort Roovere in the Netherlands.

Sightseeing footpath on the slopes of Shifou Mountain in the Hunan Province in China.

Green peppers

My feelings exactly.

My new favorite picture

Tired of being CSS

Brazilian band CSS is undergoing some drama as member Adriano Cintra left the band in a flurry of vitriolic tweets and revelatory Facebook posts. It seems that singer-songwriter Luísa Matsushita, known as Lovefoxx, started to hog the spotlight from the band. Check out the difference:

2006



2011

My new favorite picture

DC Nation

Looking awesome.

R.I.P. Black Rhino

The West African Black Rhinoceros was declared officially extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature this week.

Living on the edge

Only in Brazil part 2

The Christ this week.