finding cain

a-ha's Take on Me is one of the most beloved singles of the 1980s. The turbocharged synthpop ballad was released by the Norwegian trio more than 30 years ago, but it still slaps. Sure, the video made the song a hit, but the track also has a wickedly catchy riff and it still sounds fresh even in today's pop music standards. Take on Me has been redone by a diverse array of artists, including Weezer, Sara Bareilles, and Aqualung. But I think this is more interesting. Dylan Tallchief makes music using different tools. If you'd like to make your own music in Microsoft Excel, be sure to check out his video demonstration .

Here's a strange tribal instrument I never heard of before now. Originally from the Tinananon tribe of southern Philippines, the bowl-shaped Salimbaa is made of metal and wood, has 30 bronze wound strings, and is played using two small sticks.  Caleb Byerly, who makes lost/extinct musical tools in his North Carolina workshop, has an interesting story on how he made his first Salimbaa. WATCH: More details about Caleb and his craft over at  Our State .

In the 70s and 80s movie theaters in Manila were usually standalone buildings with nice seats and red curtains. To sell tickets, cinemas needed to advertise their offerings. But they did not have the original posters, or the means to print alternatives. So they made their own, commissioning local artists to hand-paint them. I really miss those hand-painted posters and billboards, which conveyed an artistry that was a form of visual hyperbole. But hand-made objects always have a way of returning. In this digital age, people will always look for things made by hand. I recently stumbled across the work of Tony Stella, whose genuinely cool movie posters have caught the eye of film enthusiasts and art lovers worldwide. He likes to work in watercolor and ink wash but sometimes he will make an oil painting, depending on the film. Tony's very active on social media, and his Tumblr blog contains a massive collection of illustrated movie posters that are often better than the original. ...

I remember when my sister was three years old, my mom gave her a dollhouse. It was one of those cheap plastic toys crafted for kids not just to play with, but to put in a tub, smash, and quickly get bored with. But seriously, dollhouses are excellent items for children to role-play, improve problem solving skills, and nurture creativity and imagination. But not all dollhouses are child's play. This miniature house in South Korea is more like a piece of art. Even those of us who never played with dolls as a kid can probably appreciate this wonderful creation.

Here's the trippy visualization of Sun Ra Arkestra's Seductive Fantasy , which was done by Canadian artist Chad Van Gaalen. Sun Ra died back in 1993, but his legacy has been carried on by the group ever since. The members still tour and perform, but they haven't released a new album since 1999. Seductive Fantasy is a fresh take on a composition originally recorded in 1979, and the legendary jazz ensemble's first studio recording in over twenty years.

I'll confess: Playmobil wasn't really part of my childhood. I may have had a figurine but my memory is a bit hazy on what it was. Well, if you're a Playmobil fan you'll surely love this selection of quirky paintings from Pierre-Adrien Sollier . The French artist delightfully mixes the plastic universe of the European toy brand with famous masterpieces, from Georges Seurat to Salvador Dalí, through Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol and Edward Hopper.

My wife is taking a time off from her job and now is a good time to finally get into those movies I've been itching to watch. I've already seen The Assistant twice, and I wouldn't mind seeing it again but one must try to get a life. So I thought of watching The Short History of the Long Road . Sabrina Carpenter has been around for a while, most notably as Maya Hart in the Disney Channel series Girl Meets World . But I have a feeling ten years from now people will look back at this coming-of-age tale and say, "That's the first time I noticed Sabrina Carpenter."

Matthew Stone uses both traditional painting tools and new technologies in his art. He begins by painting a series of individual brushstrokes onto glass and photographing the paint. He then brings these images into a digital format using several softwares, including 3D modeling. On his computer, he adjusts textures, lighting and color and renders the final print onto linen. Matthew's most recent large-scale figurative work, Together , is now on view at The Hole . It was made in 2019 and completed earlier this year. He says, "I did not make the piece with this extraordinary moment in mind and do not feel that it is of more relevance now than before. It is and has been my intention to create images that show people together and at ease with each other. That togetherness is a part of the reality I see around me, but also a part of a vision I hold for a future that is defined by collective healing, which includes my own transformation." It's pure...

My good friend, Mohini, loves indigenous fabrics and accessories because, according to her, they're beautiful, and there's little chance that you'll run into someone wearing the exact same thing. In this video, Filipina artist and designer Cynthia Alberto shares her perspective on patterns around the world, her alter ego, llama, and her views on preserving Filipino textiles through weaving and art.

Spend over four calming minutes with paper quilling genius Yulia Brodskaya as she creates yet another mesmerizing piece by folding, bending, and rolling strips of colored paper. The Russian-born, UK-based artist spends days, even weeks working with these three-dimensional 'paintings' depending on complexity, size and level of detail.

Take a quick peek into the world of Caitlin Hackett and you'll be dazzled by all of the mystical creatures. Combining her love for cats, folklore, cryptids and Dungeons & Dragons, Caitlin was destined to become an artist. "My passion for the natural world has inspired my art since I first put pencil to paper as a child," the Oakland-based artist said in a statement. Her paintings and sketches are like dreams (or nightmares), and I could stare at them for hours. "As I have grown I have combined my love for animals with my interest in both wildlife biology and mythology to create artwork that speaks to the current biological mythos that constructs the barrier between what is considered Human, and what is considered Animal," she added. Aside from her website, you can also peruse Caitlin's work by visiting her Society6 shop .

When I was a kid I thought Hanna Barbera was the woman behind The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo . Anyway, here's a 1961 video of Joseph Barbera and William Hanna explaining the process for making their beloved cartoons. I know this stuff is old, but it's too good not to share.

Playing music for your plants may seem like an odd thing to do but, over the years, several studies have indicated that sound has the ability to stimulate plant growth. In 1962, Indian botanist Dr. T. C. Singh found that certain plants grew an extra 20 percent in height when exposed to music. I'm not sure how much of this is true, but apparently, plants are really big fans of Beethoven and Bach, and they don't respond well to rock music. Just recently, around 2,300 plants were serenaded by a string quartet (two violins, a viola and cello) performing Puccini's Crisantemi . The unusual concert was live streamed from Barcelona's El Liceu opera house and was created by conceptual artist Eugenio Ampudia, who said the inspiration came from a connection he built with nature during the lockdown. The brave Spanish healthcare workers will each receive one of the 2,292 potted plants in the days following the event — a simple but meaningful gesture that recognizes thei...

Amidst the brouhaha about Apple's virtual WWDC—and people getting really pissed off because Donald Trump has made a spectacle of himself (again), death crept and stole one of the living treasures of Hollywood. Director Joel Shumacher died Monday at 80 after a year-long battle with cancer. Perhaps only a few of the young film enthusiasts remember him. But those kids who grew up in the '80s and '90s will never forget his movies.

Admittedly, I saw 365 Days because I read somewhere that it has plenty of graphic sex scenes. It's Poland's version of Fifty Shades of Grey , and like the Fifty Shades franchise, the movie is based on a novel. It tells the story of a young woman who is kidnapped and imprisoned by a mafia boss and gives her 365 days to fall in love with him. The scenes are acted badly and the plot is held together by so many nonsensical strings that it turns into a two-hour comedy. But if you're into BDSM, voyeurism, softcore porn, and you find Stockholm syndrome sexy, you might just enjoy this really awful rip-off. Who's responsible? Directors Barbara Białowąs and Tomasz Mandes, author Blanka Lipinska, an unholy alliance of E. L. James fans, including producers Maciej Kawulski and Ewa Lewandowska.

Embroidery is nowhere near forgotten, and in fact, it's experiencing something of a resurgence as artists around the globe are putting their own unique spins on the craft. Indonesia's Irene Saputra is one of them, and more than 45,000 people on Instagram already follow her.  Handmade from colorful threads stitched onto fabric, Irene's embroideries begin as original illustrations. What I really like about her stitched pieces is that some of them are meant to be worn. Look at an array of her handiwork!

French photographer Adrian Skenderovic often wanders the streets of Paris in search of extraordinary situations within the ordinary. His Follow the Guide series presents a subtle observation of things that go unnoticed, and catalogs the baffling tourism industry in The City of Lights:  "Among the 15 million tourists that visit Paris every year, many travel in a tour group, only leaving the bus to see the monuments and shop in the department stores. Adrian sees things from the tourists’ point of view, capturing the various props raised by their guides to signal a meeting point. Car antenna, selfie stick, wooden stick, kid saber, teddy bear, plastic flowers, and other unique objects are held in front of the blurred monuments in the background."

There are tons of talented illustrators, brilliant painters, and skillful sculptors in today's art scene, but there are only a few artists who can do it all. Kara de Dios is a triple threat. She can draw, paint, and create sculptures. She graduated from the UP College of Fine Arts in 2008 with a degree in Visual Communication and has participated in a number of solo and group exhibitions. Her art is a variety of "different materials and media, stemming from her explorations of the tangible, the virtual, and the unseen." There's plenty of her work I wanted to feature here, but I'd rather leave you to lurk around her website and instead I'll focus your attention to her whimsical and sometimes unsettling ceramic sculptures. Here are some of my favorites:

Figuring out what to paint is challenging. Incorporating puzzle patterns to be part of that painting is even more difficult. Pulling it off flawlessly every time is mind boggling, and that's exactly what MrKas does on a regular basis. The talented aerosol painter was born and raised in Portugal and is a regular participant in street art festivals. His work can be seen in countries such as China, Malaysia, UAE, Indonesia, Italy, Greece, Malta, France, The Netherlands, Finland, Portugal and Ireland. Make sure you've got some time to kill before checking out his Instagram , because you might have difficulty turning away, just like me. Despite the size and diversity of Tanauan, it still has the charm and atmosphere of a small town. I really like it here. Unfortunately, Tanaueños generally have no or only limited access to art. MrKas, please paint our city walls.