caine's arcade will make your heart grow three sizes.

A 9-year old's homemade cardboard arcade in an east L.A. auto parts shop, and the dad who gave him the space and support to create it.

Quite simply the best 10 minutes and 58 seconds you will spend this month:
http://cainesarcade.com/

“This is the really wonderful thing about this story,” says Robert Thompson, popular culture expert at Syracuse University in New York. “It’s having a fantastic digital success,” he says, “but what it is celebrating is the actual value of real-world, completely nondigital creativity.”

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2012/0413/Why-Caine-s-Arcade-moves-grown-men-to-tears-video

Makes you want to step away from your monitor and go make stuff--real stuff--out of nothing.

Games: Make Your Own Dub Music

It's Friday, so we need a bit of fun.  I'm not a huge video game fan (except for Pole Position, the once and future great driving game with an actual steering wheel!) - but over the years we've come across some good tidbits.  To wit: this webtoy, Dub Selector-The Summer Sessions, the so-called "England v. The West Indies" dub music maker created for UK's Channel 4 way back when, with playful visuals, tracks, and loops.

I'm especially fond of the first track, 2nd loop, mainly because it sounds like the guy is saying "chocolate" over and over.

This musical amuse-bouche originally formed part of another music "game" that's since been archived by Jim Jonestone, its creator (wah!) - but no surprise since this review of the original Infinite Wheel Dub Selector dates from 2004.  If I ever find a playable version of that musical toy/game mashup again, it will be posted as well.

Games: Could A Kerning Game Be The New Angry Birds?

A little typographic levity.

You've been losing sleep wanting to try kerning, or adjusting the space between letters, and now you finally have your chance:  try this cool game. You'll either hate it immediately or fall under its spell and try to get the highest score possible.  I got an 85 my first try and am definitely going back for more.  (Thanks to Sarah Stec for tweeting the Kern Game)