By Neale Van Fleet on June 21st, 2023
I don’t post about games very often, but this is a rare gem. It’s a wingsuit flying game set in a mythical world where wingsuiting is a common way to get around. It has a large world to explore, lots of difficult challenges, and beautiful stylized graphics. It’s peaceful and without violence as well.
Laya’s Horizon is by the team that made Alto’s Odyssey, a similarly atmospheric game about snowboarding, at which I was once in competition with fellow blogger Jason Kottke for a spot in the top 10 of the overall rankings. I hit roughly number 7, but he soon surpassed me.
There is one catch with this game. It’s available for iPhone, iPad, and Android, but you need a Netflix account to play it. This is about the only complaint I have about this.
Get it here →
By Neale Van Fleet on June 20th, 2023
A nice little companion to my post the other day about the book The Japanese House, friend of Elsewhat Sean sent along this music video from the band The Japanese House, whose band name was inspired by a Japanese-style tea house owned by Kate Winslet. The band and the book are both great.
By Neale Van Fleet on June 20th, 2023
This illusion is simple but satisfying.
View on YouTube →
By Neale Van Fleet on June 19th, 2023
This is a photo I took a few weeks back of The Butterfly Chair, which was creating by welding together American 50 cent coins onto a steel frame. Created by artist Johnny Swing.
By Neale Van Fleet on June 19th, 2023
Every so often you run into a book about a topic you know next to nothing about, and it practically jumps off the shelf and into your life. The Japanese House is such a book. It recounts in great detail all the design elements of a traditional Japanese house, including layout, gardens, and the particular art of screening things from view, as recounted in the following excerpt:
Your first experience with the Japanese art of screening is likely to occur as you approach a building. Here, in the entry courtyard of Isecho in Kyoto, Your approach is indirect. As you pass the main gate, you know the entry must be behind the small garden, but you have to go around it to be sure-and the circular form invites you to go around. Thus, even before you are in Side the building, you find you have participated in an aesthetic experience.
This is obviously not a readily available book, but it is available at the Internet Archive.
By Neale Van Fleet on June 18th, 2023
By Neale Van Fleet on June 17th, 2023
By Neale Van Fleet on June 17th, 2023
Montréal street artist Roadsworth is bringing a theme of peace and love to the Mural fest this year. The CBC has a nice profile of the artist and project.
We’ve got 13 locations along Boulevard Saint-Laurent that I’m going to be painting, and the theme is “Peace and Love,” which at one point I might have thought was kind of a corny idea because it’s sort of generic. But I just feel like nowadays, it’s almost rebellious.
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By Neale Van Fleet on June 16th, 2023
By Neale Van Fleet on June 16th, 2023
Photo via New York Times
I absolutely love these simple pieces of sidewalk art. Felix Morello makes these simple spots in chalk to engage with people passing by. He makes good luck spots, bad luck spots, kissing spots, dancing spots, and more.
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