KICKSTARTER OF THE DAY : Worthy Causes!

refoundry
REFOUNDRY – Sports a worthy goal of combating the explosive and unsupportable rates of incarceration in the United States. I think the rewards could be a bit nicer, and priced less steeply, but that said I can see putting a frame on the HAND MADE HAND and using that as a bit of art, and the $25 Door Stop would make a memorable paper weight; and above all that… the funds are going to a needed cause. With 56 days to go this is well on its way to meeting its goal.

selfjournal
SELF JOURNAL – Making lists, writing down your goals I find indispensable to productivity, But I find myself often using an awkward combo of sticky pads, and computer apps. I think the SELF JOURNAL is an artful way to wean myself off the sticky pads.At $26 it is a might on the expensive side, but if this gets you in the habit of journaling you can always transition into more affordable journals. Also this project has been fully funded.

laptopstand

BEST LAPTOP STAND – I am not an Apple user or fan, but man this is a nice stand. And it appears it will support my Dell Latitude in the open position. And this serves the worthy cause of getting rid of hunched over the laptop syndrome. At under $50 it’s not bad. Plus this kick-starter is already completely funded. Sold!

earlessheadphones
BATBAND Earfree Headphones – A headphone that uses the scary sounding vehicle of Bone Conduction to bypass your outer ear to deliver sound to your inner ear. It’s like LaForge’s visor from STNG but for your ears rather than your eyes!

At $149 it is not even remotely cheap, and while a woman may get away with wearing this as a fashion statement, I think it will look silly on most guys. But as the first stab of an idea, it definitely has promise. It just needs to be designed so it is less obtrusive, and i think it will be ready for prime time.

It’s implications beyond simple music playback could be staggering. Does it work better than conventional headphones? Can an evil super-villain use it to remotely turn your brain into jelly? Who knows, but boy I’d like to try it. It is projects like this that reminds me in a good way, that we are living in the 21st century. 🙂

KICKSTARTER OF THE DAY: Exciting Art Books!

reddevil
RED DEVIL HARDCOVER – THIS was has already reached it’s goal and has 15 hours left. So if the art grabs you, $25 will get you a 140page hardcover sketchbook.

wonderlandbook
THE WONDERLAND BOOK – I love art books. If you know nothing else from this blog, you know that. And I have to tell you this Kickstarter, that has not only reached but tripled its goal and has 17 days to go as of this writing, ticks off a lot of the must haves for me as a bibliophile.

It’s a big, massive, Italian printed tome with exquisite images. The imagery is not my typical cup of tea, appealing more to the Carol Lewis crowd (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), but her description of what she goes through to create each image I just find astounding and inspirational.

It’s very pricey, at a $122 US, but if you have the dough to spend I think it will make a phenomenal Christmas gift to the art lover in your life.

MONARCHS OF MAYHEM Cover Draft

I’m still toying with cover ideas for MONARCHS OF MAYHEM, below is one. the photo was taken by yours truly. I’m relatively proud of it. I’ll post more ideas as they pop up.

momearlycvrdesign

MONARCHS OF MAYHEM is a book full of interviews with writers of the weird and pulp and strange. From the pulp stylings of Ferguson to the subtle horror of Gavin to the breakneck thrills of Olden.

It takes the existing five interviews you can find here, updates and expands them, and adds five more interviews not previously published, and combines it with extensive photos of the authors own works but more than that their inspirations, their loves, their peers to bring a strange and evocative book filled with posters, book covers, DVD and CD recommendations and much more. 96 pages, hardcover, limited edition.

Sounds really intriguing? I think so.

To make it happen I need you (yes you! :)) to swing by the Indiegogo page linked to below, take some of your friends and support the project at the $35 level. At that level you get the hardcover book.

You make it happen here!
http://igg.me/p/437605/x/2628928

Indiegogo projects of the Day!

Banned on the Hill

How one artist fought back when the feds tried to shut her up” Help send Banned on the Hill to Vancouver or Washington, D.C.

Organising and Publicising Industrial Workers of the World Through Art

Promote and publicize the Industrial Workers of the World(IWW) through art works such as T-shirts,caps,cups,banners, paintings and batiks.

Rodney Mashia – Debut CD

After 40+ years of making music, it’s time to record my first official CD!

Just Food: Real Food Meals for Tube-Fed People

Just Food provides shelf-stable 100% real food meals for people with feeding tubes. No formula, no corn syrup, no additives. Just Food.


MONARCHS OF MAYHEM : Words and Images Art Photo Book

A beautiful hardcover book that collects, compiles, expands a series of articles/interviews with some of the most exciting creators of Pulp and Weird Fiction.

cenlibep

There are only a limited number of days left on the MONARCHS OF MAYHEM Indiegogo project. Please swing by and contribute (using the link above) and make the hardcover book happen and get a copy for yourself in the bargain. And if you can find it in you, to contribute today that would be great. I’m working hard to get artists and writers and even musicians to contribute and make this hardcover something very special and that we all would be proud to have on our bookshelves, but we need to move the needle. I need to be able to show them, this is serious, people are contributing, this is happening, now get aboard the love train… uh, so to speak. :).

We need to get the project closer to full funding and completion. And it begins with just one of you, just one, contributing at the $35 level (And a 146 people follow you, and this is a done deal. :). But right now I’m only asking you).

We tend to mean to do things tomorrow, but somehow tomorrow is always delayed. So support today and help make a great hardcover book a reality… today. Thanks!

IndieGoGo and KickStarter Campaigns of the Day!

Music Compass

A didactic book which proposes a new way of understanding scales and chords, based on a board and 11 discs. Contains western music’s most used scales and chords

Keep your drink COLD! Amsterdam GlassUSA

If you like to keep your drink cold – I mean, REALLY cold – you need to help us bring Amsterdam Glass to the USA!

HELONE – The Slim Wallet That Has It All

This wallet encapsulates style & practicality with perfect harmony. Features RFID protection + full functionality of bus/building cards from within the wallet.

MONARCHS OF MAYHEM : Words and Images Art Photo Book

A beautiful hardcover book that collects, compiles, expands a series of articles/interviews with some of the most exciting creators of Pulp and Weird Fiction.

The Company Body

An Organizational Model and Work Design Book based on the Human Body’s working principles to Best Performance.

Check out these projects and tell em HT sent ya! 🙂

Book of the Day: THE ARTIST WITHIN

Today’s Art Book is Greg Preston’s brilliant THE ARTIST WITHIN.

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artwit2

Showing some stellar artists in their studio settings.

You can get your copy here The Artist Within.

And if you like that book and would like to support a similar styled book, this time a smaller and more intimate look at writers of the strange and stellar, then please go over to Indiegogo and support our MONARCHS OF MAYHEM project here! Thanks!!

IndieGoGo and KickStarter Campaigns of the Day!

La Mano Coffee Bar

Join the final push to open your quintessential neighborhood coffee shop
At the $25 level you get a cool mug, a free drink, and 10% off every-time you use that mug! That’s a deal!

X-Cube
The neXt generation, shape-shifting, 3D logic puzzle.
For a measly $40 you get the X-cube, which is like Rubik’s Cube on steroids! Sold!!

Timbuktu Archival Effort
In 2012, under threat from fundamentalist rebels, a team of archivists, librarians, and couriers evacuated an irreplaceable trove of manuscripts from Timbuktu at great personal risk. The manuscripts have been saved from immediate destruction, but the danger is not over. A massive archival effort is needed to protect this immense global heritage from loss.
Sounds like a really solid cause.

VacuVita

VacuVita is a fully-automated and sustainable kitchen system that keeps food fresh for up to 5 times longer!

Really fantastic rewards at the $13 and $39 and $99levels.

And last but not least
MONARCHS OF MAYHEM – Words and Images Art Book – Click Here

A beautiful book that collects, compiles and expands a series of articles/interviews with some of the most exciting creators of Pulp and Weird Fiction.

Yep Gals and Guys, the long awaited MONARCHS OF MAYHEM book is here, and at the $35 reward level it can be yours. Support this project fellow subscribers, bloggers, podcasters and browsers. All I need is a 150 of you to take a look, and decide to say yes. You’ll be glad you did by being rewarded with a great art/interview book!

Intriguing Kickstarter, IndieGoGo or other Crowd Funding Project of the Day!

Crowd Funding or Sourcing sites such as Kickstarter or IndieGoGo are just that, sites where people pitch their project, in various states of readiness or completion, to the masses in the hopes the masses will be excited by their project, as well as enticed by the rewards given, enough to actually want to help fund the project.

Largely most projects I have no interest in. But I do occasionally come across the ones that I think are a good combination of a/ solid idea and b/a reward commensurate with your funding dollars.

Here are the ones that have grabbed me recently:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/282006

gravitylight

A gravity light project for areas of poverty and conflict in our world. The $50 and $60 reward levels allow you to fund the light for a needy family, as well as get one for yourself.

http://www.indiegogo.com/robotdragonfly

dragonfly

I only recommend Indiegogo projects that have reached or appear they will reach their goal. Because unlike Kickstarter, failed Indiegogo projects get to keep funding even if they don’t meet their goal (ie don’t actually produce anything to give you) which doesn’t sit well with me at all. So for a crowd funded project to get my money I need to have some contractual certainty I’m either going to get the item I’m funding, or my money back.

Going along with that idea, the Robot Dragonfly campaign is an out of the ballpark success. With less than 40 hours let as of this writing, it has already reached its funding amount some ten times over. A drone spy plane, in the size and shape of a dragon-fly; the concept, perhaps unfortunately, feeds right into the heart of modern society’s obsession with gadgety toys and the proliferation of concealed cameras; feeds into this 21st cocktail of a security scared populace and privacy eroding governments and corporations.

http://www.indiegogo.com/euouae

ancientmusic

Ancient Music Resurrected-A World Premiere recording from medieval vocal ensemble Euouae.

The description along with the reward amount of $15 for an Eco-friendly CD makes this a very attractive project for fans of Gregorian chants.

blackwood

This graphic novel project boasts not only great art but some really attractive reward levels.

Well that’s this installment’s selection of the most intriguing Crowd Funded projects. Feel free to suggest some favorites of your own!