Monday, February 22, 2016

Cherry Glazerr, Magazine Ads & Bunz Trading Zone

Weekly Update 2016-09: Beach Goth rock music from the excellent Cherry Glazerr, wondering why the value of magazine articles and advertisements have an inverse relationship as related to value over time, and my own personal discovery of Bunz Trading Zone (which will almost definitely take over my entire life).

Music: Cherry Glazerr
I had heard of this three-piece out of Los Angeles before, when Adult Swim featured one of their tracks. I was curious to see if the Best Coast/Wavves show tonight at the Danforth Music Hall had any openers, since I really dig the sounds of both bands. Low and behold, Cherry Glazerr is opening for them. Their sound really matches that of the two headliners, but is a little mellower. Check out their song about grilled cheese (that I never knew I wanted, but definitely did). Can't wait to see them tonight!


Accomplishment:
I somehow figured out how to program the RGB LED I bought at Creatron. It is so awesome. Check out my little video below: (I'm really sorry I didn't rotate my phone...I've become that which I hate).



Goal:
This is a busy week so I'm keeping it doable. On Wednesday, I will be picking up the vinyl design of the Brew Beer Drink Beer graphic (woo!), attempting to exchange the resistors I bought last week (I bought the wrong ones for the Piezo electric disc – rookie mistake), and attending a puclic critique session in which I will display my 21 Days app design. In the crit session, I'm looking for feedback on what I've done so far before I continue my work. Should be interesting.

Random Thought:
Magazines have a lot of advertisements these days. For something that is purchased, the amount is a bit staggering, to be honest. I suppose they have a lot of content, but if I am going to pay $5-20+ for something that is basically disposable, it's kind of weird that the content is looming somewhere around 50% of the total pages.

That said, I think it's obvious that the main attraction of magazines is their content. I mean, you don't see magazine covers sporting headlines about the advertisements inside, do you?

What's really interesting to me, though, is the difference in attraction between new and old magazines. Some of the articles in old magazines are surely still interesting, but the content usually grows more and more out-of-date as time marches on. Adversely, the appeal of advertisements grows with age. I constantly see old magazines from the 1950s and older at garage sales, and their value is surely calculated by the amount of old, interesting, sometimes rare, and often tasteless advertisements found in their pages. For example, there are quite a few advertisements in old magazines from the 1950s (seemingly regardless of the subject matter) that depict alcohol and cigarettes, which has since been banned from printed material in Canada.

So what I'm saying is, if you want to get 100% of the possible enjoyment from a magazine, read the articles and then put it under your bed for about fifty years. Results = PROFIT!

Maybe that's why I can't get rid of any of my magazines.

Inspiration: Bunz Trading Zone
I have been noticing a flux of new apps and startups in Toronto that are attempting to connect people living in the same neighbourhood who want to trade their stuff. It can literally be anything, from old clothes to furniture to kitchen appliances to foot massagers. While I do enjoy the fact that these sites make for a more focused experience than something like Craigslist or Kijiji, I had never really felt the urge to join one. What do I need more crap for? I am trying to rid myself of this stuff!

Then I read an article in the Globe and Mail about Bunz Trading Zone and my mind was changed. Just like that. What drew me to it was either the excellent illustrations by Sabina Lindemann or the fact that the product prohibits the trading of items for money. Everything is done on a barter system, with the most popular ISOs (in-search-ofs) being tall-boys of craft beer, wine, houseplants and tokens (what I presume are TTC tokens). This seems like my kind of trading post.


The more I looked at the image above, the more I loved it. We have all come home after a long day to our roommates being a little more than unruly, but upon further inspection of some grey hair and a chore wheel, I realized this is the life of a millenial son living at home.

So I posted my George Foreman grill to see what kind of feedback it would get. I wasn't really sure what to ask for in return, so I left it to the crowd. Only time will tell what I may get in return for said grill, or perhaps no one will want it and I will be forced to continue using it. (Waste not, want not).


By the way, if you want in, the invite code is 666666. Make me an offer!

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