Rad Drawings of New York City

NYC Hand Drawing

NYC Hand Drawing

Do you remember that “song” that talks about sunscreen. It’s not really a song. It’s more of a (fake) commencement speech set to music.

A dude with a rad name put it out in 1999, Baz Luhrmann…Baz…how cool?!

That song is 10+ years old, but it still sticks with me. Maybe because I was graduating in 1999 so I feel like he’s talking to me, but I dig the advice.

I’m not sure I agree with the whole”wear sunscreen” thing. I think there are some questions about the benefits of sunscreens. Clearly straight vitamin D is good for us, and we’re all vitamin D deficient. Perhaps we should be soaking up as much vitamin D as we can, without being burned of course. But I’m getting off subject…

The sunscreen song; I dig.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI[/youtube]

One of the pieces of advice in the song is “Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.”

I’ve never had the pleasure of living IN NYC, but I was awful close for a while. Unfortunately, I was in a dumpy part of Long Island enjoying a year of Law School. Right, not much “enjoyment.”

However, I did make time to visit “The City” a few times, and it’s amazing. I don’t ever want to live there, and even question a reason to visit anymore. Not really for the Dude, but I can see why people fall in love with NYC.

The skyline is HUGE. I grew up outside of Boston, and I’ve watched the Boston skyline driving into the city countless times. I use to think Boston was big…until I saw NYC. Wow. Giant.

And the energy is amazing. You can literally feel the energy of the city when you walk around. It’s impressive.

Thanks for the advice Baz. I’m glad I got to experience NYC, and I’m very glad I escaped its grip before it made me hard.

Even that little dose of experience has left me with an appreciation for the Big Apple…not much considering I’m a Boston fan, but I’m ok admitting there’s a wee bit of appreciation.

But to really appreciate the city, you need to see it drawn by hand…by two different people…completely unrelated experiences.

I came across the two below videos from unrelated sources, but they seem like a perfect match for a quick Dude post. So, here are a couple rad drawings of NYC…

The first one is an amazing drawing of the entire NYC skyline…from memory!

Here’s the description from The Kid Should See This:

Stephen has the amazing talent of drawing city skylines from memory. Having spent only a few hours in a helicopter flying from Brooklyn to the tip of Manhattan, he memorized the city skyline and headed back to a studio to begin his drawing. Stephen then spent the next 3 days sketching the skyline. The panoramic drawing will be featured on a billboard that will be displayed at JFK airport terminal.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fF-ZksUZ0Y[/youtube]

This second drawing/video is the NYC skyline from the view of the Empire State Building. Here’s the description of the video from Open Culture:

Give UK artist Patrick Vale 80 seconds, and he’ll show you his freehand drawing of New York City unfold in rapid-fire motion. Vale planted himself on the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building, looked outside his window, and began drawing, with his iPhone duct taped to a rostrum and recording the action. From start to finish, the drawing took, he says in a HuffPo interview, four to five days. He calls the drawing of the Manhattan skyline “Empire State of Pen.” The great Charles Mingus provides the soundtrack.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYl9e1jVXQ0[/youtube]

Amazing.

Baby On Board

Baby on Board

Baby on Board

We had our 24 week baby checkup today. That’s 6 months! I.E. – 2/3 of the way to new baby land!!

Three kids under one roof?! We’re really doing this, huh?

Great news, everyone is healthy and looking good for the estimated shipping date of early January. We’re super jazzed to welcome the newest dude/dudette.

And as I wander through life pondering the newest Dude Family addition (and wondering how we’re going to manage three at one time), I often find myself singing “Baby on Board” by Homer Simpson and the B Sharps…Homer’s barbershop quartet.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pURFU3pL93o[/youtube]

This always brings a chuckle to me. Walking around laughing to myself. Tis the world of the Dude.

Then I look at Mrs. Dude for confirmation of my incredible wit…and nothing. No smile, no chuckle, nada.

At first I thought this was because she was blocking me out – she’s really good at that – but then I realized that she doesn’t have any clue about the “Baby on Board” song! She is not a Simpsons fan…at all!

Blasphemous, I know!

It turns out that Mrs. Dude thinks that “only boys watch the Simpsons.” Oh Mrs. Dude. Muy mal, muy mal, indeed.

Well, add the Simpsons to the list of shows that Mrs. Dude has missed out on. If you’re keeping score, Mrs. Dude has no idea who Bob Ross is (wha, wha, what?!!), and detests Seinfeld…crazy, I know. I finally got her to watch South Park (which she loved – but won’t admit), but I had sit on her and hold her eyes open to make that happen (Just kidding Rex…no physical violence was required. :))

So, what’s the point of this post?

  1. The newest Dude bambino is a short 3 months from delivery and all is well.
  2. The Dude is hilarious and has fantastic sense of humor and  a great taste in TV.
  3. Mrs. Dude is missing out on the finer things in life…like The Simpson and South Park.

That’s it. Nothing else to see here. Keep on truckin’.

PS – These are the kind of posts that the 3rd child gets. 🙂

Cultivate Awe

Hubble Telescope "Cat's Eye" Nebula

Hubble Telescope “Cat’s Eye” Nebula

Are we becoming harder to impress? Harder to fall into states of awe?

I guess technology has the potential to do this to us. As we advance, the ‘awe’someness that once was becomes mundane. We carry computers/TV’s/cameras in our pockets, we’ve been to the moon, we’ve looked into the far reaches of space.

But should we be any less moved by life today than we have in the past? At its core, life is still a complete mystery and amazingly ‘awe’some.

As the great Walt Whitman once said:

“As for me, I know nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under the trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love,
Or sleep in bed at night with any one I love,
Or watch honey bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon…
Or the wonderfulness of the sundown,
Or of stars shining so quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring…
What stranger miracles are there?”

Life is awesome and we need to treat each and every second as the miracle that it is. We live at an amazing point in history when the advancements seem exponential. Growth is speeding along, but we should not let this numb us to the awe.

In fact, it is in the best interest of our minds, our spirit, and our health to cultivate awe as much as we possibly can.

The title of a new Stanford study tells us all we need to know: Awe Expands People’s Perception of Time, Alters Decision Making, and Enhances Well-Being.

Apparently, watching awe-inspiring vidoes makes you

  • less impatient,
  • more willing to volunteer time to help others,
  • more likely to prefer experiences over material products,
  • more present in the here and now, and
  • happier overall.

We all need to cultivate awe, and to get us started, here’s a great video about “The Biological Advantage of Being Awestruck” from Jason Silva.

I mentioned Jason in a post earlier this year. This dude is RAD. He is out there in such a great way. Will all of his ideas come true? Who cares? He’s making us think with his “shots of philosophic esspresso,” and the Dude digs. Keep on preaching Jason.

 [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/46264514[/vimeo]

Love Shack – Worst Song Ever?

B-52's-Love Shack

B-52’s-Love Shack

Mrs. Dude: “I DO NOT like Love Shack.”

Dude: I’m glad you said that.  I don’t think I could be with someone who likes that song…I probably should have asked that earlier in our relationship.”

Worst song ever? It just may be.

Thankfully Mrs. Dude agrees.

A match made in heaven.

It pains me to share this link, but just so you can be reminded how bad it really is; Love Shack

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leohcvmf8kM[/youtube]

Inside a Toddler’s Brain: A Little Dude Update

Inside a Toddler's Brain

Inside a Toddler’s Brain

Yep, this chart is spot on. Fits Little Dude to a T. Tip o’ the hat to SwissMiss for sharing.

While we’re in his head, let’s hit a quick update.

He’s growing like a weed. Mrs. Dude and I realized – separately – today that he looks taller and thin. That baby belly is gone! Although, that could have something to do with his diet of Play-Dough and Goldfish.

His hair is insanely long. It will be two years of growth at Thanksgiving! Awesome. We keep discussing when to cut, but we just can’t commit. A mohawk sounds great, but his hair is soooo rad.

Rad Hair Little Dude

Rad Hair Little Dude

He’s constantly learning and asking questions. He’s talking so much. Constantly throwing new words and phrases at us. I have no idea how or where the sponge is soaking it all up. And the pronunciation of words at two is about the cutest sound that will tickle your eardrums.

Somehow he knows where to put all the body parts on a drawing. Mrs. Dude drew the head, and he finished it off. Rad. Perhaps this is the norm, but I like to think of him as a baby genius. 🙂

Little Dude Knows Body Parts

Little Dude Knows Body Parts

He’s figuring out his body too. For example, he realized his chin moves side to side yesterday. Hilarious.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mppPe0JYRAA[/youtube]

His hugs, kisses, and “uve u’s” are priceless, and we are amazingly happy.

Hearts & Stars…and trucks…forever!

The Real Dude – i.e. The Dude Behind The Dude

A little music to introduce today’s post…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVS3WNt7yRU[/youtube]

The Dude Abides

The Dude Abides

Welcome back. The Dude took an unexpected hiatus for a while. An end of summer vacation, I guess.

Almost a month and a half without blogging. No strong reason other than my attention was focused in other directions. The Dude Family enjoyed a nice August, and everything is copacetic. I’m in the process of moving to a great new job, so we even have some excitement afoot.

But it’s nice to be back. I’ve missed my virtual “Man Town.” I’m well rested, and I have a plethora of posts eager to be written.

Let’s get back to our roots to get us back on track; The Big Lebowski. The Real Dude.

Actually, we’re going beyond The Dude to the Dude behind The Dude. This is a video of the real man The Dude was modeled after. Classic.

Here’s a quick description from the video, and then we’re off and running:

Meet the dude behind The Dude! Sundance Award winning director JEFF FEUERZEIG, (THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON, ESPN 30 for 30’s THE REAL ROCKY), reveals the inspiration for the beloved central character in the Coen Brothers’ cult-favorite film THE BIG LEBOWSKI. This documentary short follows Jeff Dowd to a Lebowski Fest offering a glimpse into this fascinating subculture and colorful real-life character behind the iconic mythical Dude and the secret to how he always abides.

Update: Unfortunately, the link to the video is private now. However, you can still see it under “Staff Picks“…but I can’t embed it here.

But not to disappoint, here’s a documentary look at the bizarre (in a great way :)) world of Big Lebowski “fests.” Enjoy.

 [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/32576846[/vimeo]