Paola Antonelli — Senior Curator of Architecture and Design at the MoMA, longtime proponent of humanized technology, self-described “curious octopus” — has arguably done more for the mainstream infiltration of design literacy than any other individual in contemporary culture.

Composer and instrument inventor Harry Partch (1901-1974) is one of the pioneers of 20th-century experimental instrumentation, known for writing and playing music on incredible custom-made instruments like the Boo II and the Quadrangularis Reversum, and laying the foundations for many of today’s most creative experimental musical instruments

Good luck staying dry-eyed through this moving tribute to Jim Henson, which features a group of puppets trying to cope with the death of their beloved creator. It’s a long time since we’ve seen the so-called stages of grief dramatized so beautifully and with such economy.

Lucian Freud, distinguished artist and grandson of Sigmund Freud, died yesterday at the age of 88. The painter was best known for his contributions to figurative art and his uncompromising portraits, which The New York Times has collected in an impressive online gallery.

Being John Malkovich director and longtime Beastie Boys collaborator Spike Jonze has directed yet another music video for the band: A high-concept sci-fi extravaganza that features zombies, GI Joe action figures, and, as usual, a soundtrack with a pretty decent hook.

Kudos to How to be A Retronaut for finding this great clip of Jack Kerouac playing pool in early 1967. We bet he was the coolest player in that particular room (at the Pawtucketville Social Club, in Lowell, Mass).

Although British director Peter Greenaway is best known for feature films like The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, Prospero’s Books, and The Pillow Book, he has also completed several highly respected projects for television, including this 53-minute exploration of the life and work of Charles Darwin.

This gorgeous video of a cymbal (shot with a Phantom at 1,000 frames per second) made our morning. And then Kottke’s find below — brilliant footage of vibrating guitar strings — made our afternoon.

Hope you enjoy them as much as we did, and have a great weekend!
Sheerly Avni is a San Francisco-based arts and culture writer.

The Paris Review blog, which just gets better and better each week, posted Andrew David Watson’s lovely video yesterday about Michael Seidenberg, who moved his shop, Brazenhead Books, into his New York City apartment after his bookshop rent skyrocketed.

You’ve heard him read Lady Gaga, you’ve seen him reminisce with his fellow lov-ahs on Saturday Night Live, and you’ve heard him sub in for Leonard Lopate on the radio. But we’re not sure if any of Christopher Walken’s appearances can beat his demented spin on “The Three Little Pigs.” Mr.