I have to admit, I’m a big fan of TV series. It all started with Friends, which was a big part of my teenage years, and it got out of control this last few years with That’s 70s Show, Absolutly Fabulous, Spaced, The IT Crowd, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Mad Men… The one think I really love about TV shows is that it’s like a almost never ending movie. You get to really know the characters, and they become part of your everyday life. The first time I went to NYC, I kept looking around, half-expecting to spot Phoebe playing guitar somewhere.
So, new year, new series.

Bored to Death is a quite young TV show, seeing that it started last September. There’s 8 episodes as of now, and it has been renewed by HBO for a second season. The pitch is pretty simple : Jonathan Ames is a writer struggling with his second novel who just got dumped by his girlfriend because he drinks too much white wine and smokes too many funny cigarettes. Now alone in his Brooklyn appartement, bored, he posts an ad on Craiglist proposing his services as a non-licensed private detective. The series then follows his cases, along with his pursuit of his ex, his relations with his editor boss and his comics illustrator friend.
Although the dialogues are really good, the characters interesting and the whole show very funny, the thing I like the most about it is it’s incredible inspiring effect on my own creativity. Proof:

1. The intro
The intro is VERY nice. It’s basically text in a book taking life and becoming characters. A picture is worth a thousand words, but this opening sequence is worth WAY more. Enjoy :

After seeing that, I just wanted to get a book and animate it. It reminded me of thoses fantasticboot cuts I saw a while back :

You can see many more inspirating boot cuts on Su Blackwell’s website. There’s also a TON of idead on this OffBeat Earth post.  What was once nearly a sin (cutting a book) is now a very artistic activity. Go cut your books !

2. Comic book fun
In the show, Jonathan’s friend Ray is a comic book artist. He does various stories, mostly about his own life, but in a superhero way. The style is very Marvelish, but it’s so funny to see how Ray interprets his own life to turn it into comics.

After seeing Ray’s drawing, you can’t help but grab a notebook and try to sketch your friends comics-style. I did a drawing of myself actually, clicke HERE to see it. Haha ! You can see more drawings (all by Dean Haspiel) at HBO’s website.

3. Jason Schwartzman !
Jonathan is played by Jason Schwartzman. This is a good opportunity to look back on his carreer. This guy has been around for quite a while. I first saw him in Wes Anderson’s “Rushmore“. He then reappeared in Sofia Coppola’s “Marie-Antoinette” and again in Wes Anderson’s “Darjeeling Limited“.

This three movies are very different, but all are interesting and visually inspiring.
And, as if Jason couldn’t get any cooler, he’s also a musician, with a solo project named Coconut Records. He’s the one who wrote and performed on the opening song of the series. Is that cool, or what ? Go play that video again.

4. Brooklyn and NYC
To finish this post, a quick word on the settings of the show. Most of it is in Brooklyn, and HBO has put up an interactive map of the locations shown on the series (scroll down and click on the map). With every new episode, new places are added on the map. That way, next time you wander around Brooklyn, you can check out Bored To Death‘s settings !

So, I hope you’ll check Bored To Death and use it to fuel your creativity !

Note: Tomorrow, Tricia’s super-fabulous poster artist post series begins. I just thought I should let you know — it is so cool & I’m so excited!

Okay, so I know this is an art and design blog, but while I was in DUMBO, Brooklyn for Nerd Nite, I went with my intrepid co-explorer, Misa, to a restaurant called RICE, which apparently has locations in Brooklyn & Manhattan. The food was so tasty, eclectic and good-looking, that I couldn’t help but write up a small report to spread the news.

One reason, why I had to write about his is the dish shown above, Indian Chicken Curry, which mysteriously comes with everything from chicken, to mushrooms, to yogurt, and bananas! I was so surprised to find that all of the eclectic flavors actually fit together!

The other special part about this restaurant is that you can choose the rice you get with your meal. I love, love, love Thai Black Rice (or Purple Sticky Rice, as we called it in Ithaca). In the picture above the Indian Chicken Curry is combined with Thai Black Rice with Edamame (which I believe was cooked to be less sweet than the non-edamame rice), but Misa and I decided the perfect combo would’ve been Indian Chicken Curry with Thai Black Rice (where as my dish, Thai Coconut Curry, would’ve been better with the Edamame Rice).

Above: Indian Chicken Curry with Thai Black Rice with Edamame, Mango Chutney, Thai Coconut Curry with Thai Black Rice.

If you read blogs, there is a medium to high chance that you have some nerd-qualities, which is why I thought you might like a report on Nerd Nite Nerdtacular, one of several Nerd Nite (motto: be there and be square) events that happen at bars in Boston and NYC. (If you aren’t a nerd, you will still dig the bar where this Nerd Nite took place!) Nerd Nite is either free or has a very small cover-charge (last night: $5). (more…)

This article from the New York Times really caught my eye, and I couldn’t resist sharing it with you, so just one more post to end the week and begin the weekend!

For those subway riders who get off before the last stop — almost everyone — the end is just a sign on the train. What’s there, anyway? It turns out there is often mystery, lonesomeness and beauty (NY Times).

This interactive “Going to the End of the Line” project includes photos, video, and audio from the “end of the line” (places most of us never see… unless we happen to live there) on NYC subways.