obssessions

Interesting things come out of obsessive behavior (well, sometimes at least). Here's a couple that I came across recently:
Documenting the life of a vending machine: Ryuichi Terada of Sapporo, Hokkaido, takes (almost) daily pictures of the Coke vending machine near his home, making detailed observations and complex diagrams about the changes in types of drinks, brands, posters, etc. It's interesting that he's apologetic about what he does, even naming his blog, "I take a picture of a vending machine every day (or so). I'm sorry". (via CScout Japan)
Skull-a-day. Designer Noah Scalin's project of making one skull image every day for one year. Don't forget to download the free skull font, which will certainly please heavy-metal fans everywhere (via How blog).These things put a smile on my face.

grant on oprah

Grant McCracken flew all over to the UK just to tell his "Oprah story" on Interesting 2007. Watch the video here (about 16min long).
It's a little out of context, but he first wrote about it in his book, "Culture and Consumption II", as part of the chapter about "homeyness" (if I remember well, his point was that the concept of "homeyness" and "interior design" are frequently conflicting).
Very funny (and damn interesting).
(via Russell Davies)