From July 15 to the 17th, downtown LA hosted Future City – Little Tokyo Design Week; a four-day festival celebrating innovations in design and technology. With the evolution of sustainable urban development as its chief goal, this first installment of LTDW showcased container exhibits, film screenings, fashion shows, dance parties, product demos, performances, music, and awards ceremonies. And a caravan of LA’s finest food trucks, of course.
You know the feeling. You’re sitting there at your computer—or walking around with it—immersed in the magic of the internet. YouTube, iTunes, Facebook, MySpace, etc., etc., etc. Everything, seemingly, awaits at your fingertips. Entire worlds upon worlds of sound, images and talktalktalk, history, trends in art, fashion, design, architecture, dog grooming and floor polishing equipment. Everything. Funny thing is, after hour two or so you find you’ve forgotten what you were looking for. Meanwhile you’ve grown two hours older and are lost in the universe.
Now what was it exactly that you were looking for? New bands? Good movies to see? Who won the big game? Maybe you were looking for a kind of meaning, new ways to identify. Fair enough. Though perhaps you were merely looking to kill some time. Fair enough again. But why this numbness, this…nausea? Feeling dizzy and wasted you grow aware of something creeping up. The knowledge that you’re being smothered.
Ugh.
Red Bull Media House North America, an Emmy Award-winning global media company, has announced the launch of the United States edition of The Red Bulletin a 100-page globally-relevant, U.S. focused magazine that brings to life the creative and adventurous world of Red Bull through spectacular photography and feature stories.
Two weeks ago it was time for San Francicso’s comics convention, WonderCon – and what’s a giant, gleeful nerd-out without its afterparties? The party selection was plentiful this year, but, as always, time is the enemy. Decisions had to be made, and one of my choices for after-con-fun-time was the Burlesque reception at San Francisco’s brand-new Artifact Gallery. A choice I shan’t regret, despite getting lost walking to and from the party. These things happen, and I am grateful to the kindly hobo who helped us find our way home.
The two gentlemen you see before you are Graham Funke and StoneRokk. Like Mixmaster and Long Haul (of the infamous Constructicons posse), they are strong and capable individuals known to shake the floor and break ground. And like their transforming robot counterparts, they form a devastating mix of talent and dexterity when joined together. They are The Captains of Industry, silver-tongued mixologists whose reverence for party rocking and true school DJ skills may only be matched by their love of irony, eyewear and well groomed facial hair. In 2010, they brought you some of the illest DJ mixes on the planet: Ditch Fridays and Trabajo, both of which can be downloaded here. In 2011, they will bless you with a whole lot more.
The venerable Captains took some time out of their busy yule-logging and egg-nogging schedules to chat with us about Money Shots, $6,000 coats, and what it takes to put fickle Vegas and LA crowds in the palm of your hand. Read on, my friends. Read on.
DALLAS, TX – August 2, 2010 –This weekend, more than 25,000 people experienced the grand opening of the Red Bull Art of Can exhibition at Galleria Dallas. Fifty unique pieces created from the iconic Red Bull cans or inspired by energy and the love of life are now on display. The exhibition is free and open to the public through August 22. So, what’s all the buzz about? It’s the inspiring collection. There’s a life size racing airplane made entirely from recycled cans, an old world style painting, a baby bull sculpture, a ball gown and much more. Innovative artists – professional and amateur – spent countless hours creating pieces that express their personal point of view through pop art creations. More than 200 hopefuls from around the country applied, but only 50 won an esteemed spot in the collection. Who made the call? The panel of judges included: sculptor Brad Oldham, winning producer/director Michael Cain, Dallas style editor, Jason Sheeler, fashion stylist Tammy Theis, ASK ME ABOUT ART Founder Gail Saschson and art professor Bob Wade.
Every city has it’s hipster sector, but not all hipster sectors are created equal. New York’s Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn stands apart not only because of its density, span, and tastemaking power, but also its considerable cultural diversity. A breeding ground for bands and artists of all stripes since the 70s, Williamsburg is home to numerous theaters, cafes, art spaces and concert venues. Local and [often] imported bohemia thrives alongside multiple ethnic clusters, often inspiring snarky dismissal by other NYC residents. Clearly, if you like fun, this neighborhood is not to be missed.
April Fools day used to be a chance to play a gag on a few close friends. But with the power of the internet, a simple joke can reach the entire globe in the course of 24 hours. Here’s a few of our favorite online gags from yesterday’s mischivities.
Apple Swithes to Veranda (IDSGN)
With all the ongoing buzz about the iPad dropping this weekend, what a perfect time to mess with Apple. Considering that most Mac owners are the create types who immediately know that Veranda refers to a font, this is a gag that hit it’s target demographic.
Deadmau5 Hospitalised Following Fight With Felix da Housecat (Mixmag)
The key to a good April Fools prank is plausibility. Deadmau5 might be the newly crowned prince of American dance music, but rumors of him not being the friendliest rodent have been circulating for a while now. The only flaw in this gag was the off timing. Would it really take 5 days for news like this to hit the internet? Unlikely.
Pitchfork gives MGMT’s “Congratulations” a perfect 10.0 (Hipsterrunoff)
People have been making fun of Pitchfork’s rating system for almost as long as the website has been online. There’s even an entire site dedicated to critiquing Pitchfork’s reviews. Hipster Runoff’s mysterious Carls knows exactly where to prod the indie rock faithful, taking a jab at both their critical bible as well as one of the scenes biggest crossover bands.
Missing Manic Guitarist Turns Up Alive (BBC)
This is probably a clones site and not the actual BBC. Considering that Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards disappeared in 1995 in a presumed suicide, this gag certainly had the element of surprise. But the overall taste of jesting about such a tragedy is questionable.
TextP (YouTube)
Some pretty big companies got in on the fun. Google changed their name to Topeka for the day, but this elaborate YouTube gag offering a system that converts video into a text-based stream to save the company money is both super clever and ultra-geeky.
Optimism is making a comeback, but perhaps not as big a comeback as air-drumming after audiences see Adventures of Power. Writer/director and star Ari Gold (yes, the filmmaker Ari Gold, not the fictional a-hole agent on HBO’s Entourage) plays Power, a factory worker with a dream to one day be the best at what he’s best at… which happens to be air-drumming. In what is perhaps the most hilarious opening to an indie comedy ever, Power air-drums his way to work and throughout his day powered by, what else, a combination of the best cereals known to man. Fueled by a passionate love of the skills of master Rush drummer Neal Peart, Power is unswayed by the lack of support from friends, family or even his dad. In fact, they all think he’s an idiot. But that does not stop Power from continuing his quest for air-drumming excellence.