Hey San Diego ComiCon peeps! REMO is signing his two MBP books, Drainspotting and Graffiti Japan, at the Giant Robot booth (1729) this Friday at 12pm… with free print giveaways. Don’t miss this!

Wondering Around Wandering would be a three month community exhibition and event space, an environment where you can sit with Mike & friends to make zines, draw, experiment with type, or simply let your creative side explode in colors.

Visit his Kickstarter page to see the rewards for various pledge levels.

From the frugal to the fantastical, The Curious Cookbook features the most unusual and fascinating recipes from historical cookbooks dating from the Middle Ages to the Second World War. While all of the featured recipes can be recreated, they also offer fascinating insights into the cultural, economic, and regional aspects of the eras.

Publishers Weekly’s recent article is a reminder to speak up about the DoJ’s suit against publishers—a topic that has been all over the news of late. The open letter, along with further information on the initiative, can be found here. Let your voice count among the many.

A percentage of proceeds from sales of Animal Shelter Portraits go to the No Kill Advocacy Center.

Mark Ross is a New York based photographer whose works centers on animals. His photographs have been used by groups promoting animal welfare and he has exhibited in New York City. A former volunteer with New York City Animal Care and Control, Ross has had unparalleled access to behind-the-scenes operations at New York’s shelters.

According to ScienceDaily.com people with Autism have an above average capacity to process information even from rapid presentations and are better able to detect information defined as ‘critical’, according to a study published March 22 in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology. The research may help to explain the apparently higher than average prevalence of people with autism spectrum disorders in the IT industry. Autism is a lifelong developmental disorder that affects social interaction, communication and learning; however, people with Autism have an increased ability to focus attention to certain tasks. Yet clinical reports backed up by some laboratory research show that these individuals can be more sensitive to the distracting effects of irrelevant stimuli, such as flashing lights or particular sounds, which can be easily ignored by people without the disorder.

Professor Nilli Lavie, from the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL, hypothesises that this combination of the ability to focus and a susceptibility to distraction might be caused by a higher than normal information processing capacity.

“Our work on perceptual capacity in the typical adult brain suggests a clear explanation for the unique cognitive profile that people with autism show,” she says. “People who have higher perceptual capacity are able to process more information from a scene, but this may also include some irrelevant information which they may find harder to ignore. Our research suggests autism does not involve a distractibility deficit but rather an information processing advantage.”

The finding may help explain why people with autism spectrum disorders, such as Asperger’s syndrome, may excel in some careers such as IT, which can require intense concentration and the ability to process a great deal of information from a computer screen. Autism diagnoses in California’s Silicon Valley reportedly increased three-fold in the 1990s, a phenomenon termed ‘geek syndrome’ by ‘Wired’ magazine.

“Our study clearly shows that people with autism can do better than typical adults in tasks involving rapid presentations of a lot of information,” says Professor Lavie. “There are clearly careers, such as in IT, that can benefit from employing people with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders.”

With this information, it makes sense that people with Autism spectrum disorder are able to express themselves in a creatively profound manner. Along with now recent studies of people with Autism being able to process information with beyond average capacity, maybe they are also able to perceive life more prolifically. This creative expression is inspirational to those who know, friend, teach or parent those with the disorder, making it less difficult to communicate with those who may find it “difficult” to get their ideas across living while living with this disorder.

Guy Laramee who, in the course of his 30 years of practice, found his way through such varied and numerous disciplines as : stage writing, stage directing, contemporary music writing, musical instrument design and building, singing, video, scenography, sculpture, installation, painting and literature. Laramee uses books that are slowly falling apart, such as old encyclopedias and dictionaries to create dramatic landscapes.

His series entitled The Great Wall and Biblios, represents the devolution of human culture; showing glacial landscapes, deep valleys and plateaus. Revolutionizing the way we see art books, illustrated books have been proven to be more than just books with paintings and photography, but as a complete art piece.

In the artist’s own words:

“Mountains of disused knowledge return to what they really are: mountains. They erode a bit more and they become hills. Then they flatten and become fields where apparently nothing is happening. Piles of obsolete encyclopedias return to that which does not need to say anything, that which simply IS. Fogs and clouds erase everything we know, everything we think we are.”

 

The article goes on to explain that the Humane Society in Lynchburg, VA ( the humane society is not affiliated with the No Kill Advocacy Center) is asking the city to more than triple its animal control subsidy to $396,000 by 2015. Seems mighty steep, which leads us to question where the money given to The Humane Society is actually going. Doesn’t it seem highly possible that No Kill Shelters can exist with donations and fundraisers and volunteer workers without the community and tax payers having to shell out more than what is economically feasible?

One short year ago The Humane Society and various other animal protection organizations were accused of corruption, bribery, fraud, obstruction of justice and money laundering. In article published by www.ammoland.com, February 23rd 2010, the purpose of the lawsuit is explained;

“The nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) unearthed the lawsuit in federal court records. CCF is making the lawsuit available online at its newest website, www.HumaneWatch.org.“America’s farmers, ranchers, hunters, fishermen, trappers, research scientists, fashion designers, and restaurateurs have seen for decades watched how the animal rights movement can behave like a mobbed-up racket,” said CCF Director of Research David Martosko.“But it’s still shocking to see the evidence laid out on paper. In a treble-damage lawsuit like this, a jury could actually do the humane thing and finally put HSUS out of business completely.”

Seems harsh, but not when they are being compared No Kill organizations that are doing it the ethical way. The usatoday.com article touches on the new practices of Allegany County, MD, which became a no-kill community a year ago without increasing government spending by relying on volunteers and donations. The interesting comparison lies solely in the treatment of the animals. Ironically the organizations receiving the largest government subsidies are finding themselves in more scandals regarding the treatment of the animals being housed.

Mark Batty Publisher is publishing long awaited title; Animal Shelter Portraits. In “Shelter Portraits,” photographer Mark Ross turns an unflinching eye on the animals stranded at kill shelters resulting in deeply compassionate and haunting portraits of our furred friends. Every picture is paired with the subjects name and story making Animal Shelter Portraits an important book for animals lovers everywhere.