One dense post, hope you find something interesting.

Another delayed post, started this post in mid-February. The only reason I'm mentioning this is I wish I got it out sooner, over at Ain't It Cool News, they had a clip of the Where the Wild Things Are movie. It's been yanked, no matter, apparently they are making major changes to the movie so much of the project is being redone and I think it's been pushed back a year.

Fables. Jeez, I can't believe I waited until now to get into the series. And to think I only started reading it because of James Jeans' covers. You can download the first issue at DC's Vertigo website. It starts out slow but give it a shot. The last story arc was amazing (issues... late 30s, early 40s). If you are in a hurry, there's a torrent of the majority of the issues out, including the spinoffs. But remember, show them some love and buy the graphic novels or the back issues. I'm waiting for the entire set to pop up on eBay so I can snag it all in one go.

Freak Angels, a free, weekly, ongoing comic written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Paul Duffield. Not only is it free, I'm totally digging the art. And Warren Ellis has given us Global Frequency, The Authority, and Transmetropolitan, need I go on? The plot is still relatively thin (don't have that much to go by), but the setting seems to have been done to death... still for a free comic, I'm a fan.

I forget who sent this Youtube video to me originally, it's a Batman: Gotham Knight preview. Haven't heard of it? Well this description was posted on IMDB. "Anime-inspired direct-to-DVD anthology film. Comprised of six short stories, from diverse creators, including Academy Award-nominated Josh Olsen (A History of Violence), Batman Begins writer David S. Goyer, and comics scribe Brian Azzarello. It's planned for a release window of two to four weeks prior to the release of The Dark Knight, and would bridge the gap between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight."

This article gives me hope for my architecture degree. Care to know who designed the majority of the Air Jordans (including the very first one) in Nike's lineup? An architect named Tinker Hatfield. Found that out while I was watching the CNBC special, SWOOSH Inside Nike.

Firefly will never die, or hopefully it'll get revived on the small screen. I've already professed my love for the short-lived series on this blog. Now an established author has one upped me by writing a Firefly novel. And guess what? It's totally free!

Daily Monster. There have been similar projects in the past, but not many of them includes a video of every single monster! Great stuff.

Saw a photo of this Target promotion in this month's Fast Company. Thanks to Cathy for the article. Too bad I missed it, what the hell was I doing at the time? I was working a block away...

I really should get started on the knitting. This R2D2 knit beanie is FREAKING AWESOME.

Resources:

How to Speak, a lecture given by MIT professor, Patrick Winston. I think MIT pulled the video from Youtube, but check the comments. There's a link to a video hosted at Harvard. Going to be honest here, haven't sat through this one yet... And Chip Kidd presents The Learners. Haven't sat through this video either. Subject matter sounds like fun though.

Wokai.org. I guess it's similar to Kiva.org, but this microfinance site is concentrated on China. My little cousin is heading over to Beijing this summer to intern for them. Very exciting! I don't know when I'll be over there for a few months of study, but I'd love to get involved when I'm there.

Core77 has a link to three great rendering tutorials. I swear I'll sit myself down one day and go through them. I really need a studio I can go to.

For a time I was hooked on pudding tea. More recently I started going back to Whatever, a dessert joint in Chinatown my brother introduced to me a few years ago. Check them out for fresh fruit drinks, and they aren't that expensive! Prices are similar to pudding / boba tea.

TeaQuest: Search for the Elusive Pudding

Mmm coconut slush and egg pudding with an order of fried dumplings.

Seven years ago, I spent a summer studying in Taipei and was introduced to boba tea. Since Taiwan's tap water is undrinkable (without a trip to the emergency room, just ask my father), and bubble tea was so cheap, it became my main source of liquids during my stay. The tapioca balls were interesting but the novelty soon wore off and by the time I got back to the states I was no longer fond of them.

Two years later a handful of us made the 24 hour journey by car to Austin, Texas for our fraternity's annual convention. I forget which school we mixed with and whether or not they were a sorority or little sisters. Not important, what is important was that after dinner we stopped by a local bubble tea house and it was there that I was introduced to boba substitutes. That's right, I could have the coconut or taro milk tea I enjoyed and chew on something other than tapioca balls at the same time! I instantly gravitated to the pudding (egg or milk) and consumed cup after cup while everyone else in Austin tried one upping each other by consuming enormous quantities of Everclear or beer.

Drinking and chewing as much as I could, I left Austin bloated and in despair. The Chinatown in NYC is one of the largest Asian communities in the U.S. and I've never seen anything but tapioca offered in the tea houses there. While visiting Binghamton one weekend, a friend and I stopped in at the local Old Tea House across the street from campus. There I rediscovered pudding tea and since then I've always made it a point to visit that location or its sister location at Cornell whenever I'm in the vicinity.

Two weeks ago I was wandering Flushing and recalled someone telling me that the Quickly near the Flushing Library offered pudding tea. While they do offer pudding, the taro slush left a lot to be desired. But I was so desperate for the drink that I ended up going back to it later that day to try another flavor. The trip out to Flushing isn't too arduous, but I wasn't sure if the slush they prepared was worth the trip.

Yesterday after dim sum (where Patty and Elmo showed up INSANELY late, that's right calling you guys out) we went to get boba which has become somewhat of a ritual. I made another attempt to find a pudding tea supplier in Chinatown and was forwarded to the Quickly on Grand Street. I've eaten there so many times I never bothered to look at the menu which in fact includes pudding tea! The slush there was much better than the Flushing location too.

After five years I'm finally able to have pudding-tea on demand. Try it, it's great. I couldn't find a photo online and I actually bought a cup earlier today but finished it without taking a photo. The Husky photo up there is just a place holder. I'll get a photo of pudding tea later this week.