Words To Live By

via: andre_jordan

iBangle?

Last week I posted an article on the iCar. This week I introduce you to the iBangle.

Designer: Gopinath Prasana
What she has to say: It really is! Hear me out. The iBangle is Gopinath Prasana’s vision of a future iPod where the devices have become darn close to becoming jewelry. If you factor in inflation and the cost of Apple products today - might as well call it jewelry because it’ll cost as much. I digress, the iBangle is a thin piece of aluminum (of course) with a multi-touch track pad. To achieve the perfect fit, a cushion inside the ring inflates to keep itself taught against your wrist. Unisex? Maybe.

(via yankodesign)

Latest Song Obsession

Ezra Furman and The Harpoons || "Take off Your Sunglasses"

I heard this song on Indie 103.1 a few weeks back ... it's brilliant.

The power of science ...Part 1

Saw this 60 minutes segment a couple weeks ago....truly amazing. "Brain Power"

Top 50 Albums of 2008

(According to Rough Trade)

1. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
2. Fleet Foxes
3. Vampire Weekend
4. White Denim, Workout Holiday
5. Metronomy, Nights Out
6. El Guincho, Alegranza
7. Benga, Diary of an Afro Warrior
8. Zombie Zombie, A Land of Renegades
9. Vivian Girls
10. Ladyhawke

click here to discover the remaining 40

Man of the Year: Jon Hamm

Brooke and I are madly in love with Mad Men. Even more so, the alluring Don Draper. GQ has just named Jon Hamm Man of the Year. Talented and ever so handsome, Hamm swipes the Breakout title in their 2008 Men of the Year list.

"Hamm unsuited is kind of a frat guy, every inch the rabid sports fan and former high school football star. He says things like “Dude” and “Sweet” and “Dude, sweet!” On his head is a St. Louis Browns cap (facing frontward, thank the Lord). He looks like the kind of guy who is physically compelled to put on shorts the moment the temperature tops fifty-five degrees, a diagnosis he cheerfully confirms. Credit the totemic power of a suit, but he looks a full ten years younger than Don Draper, with about half the weight on his shoulders." Continue reading more here.

Little Joy

Little Joy | "Unattainable" from gorillavsbear.net on Vimeo.

Little Joy is one of my most recent obsessions. I selected "Keep Me in Mind" awhile back as a music pick and since then I have come to love their entire Little Joy album.

On November 3rd, they were Spin magazine's Artist of the Day - Read the article

Little Joy is Binki Shapiro, Rodrigo Amarante and Fabrizio Moretti, three friends who dropped their routine at their respective hometowns to make a record in Los Angeles, California.

Through a chance encounter at a Portuguese festival in Lisbon, where both Amarante (Singer/Guitarist of Los Hermanos) and Moretti (drummer of The Strokes) had performed, the two chatted well through the night and into the morning by the side of the river, humoring the idea of working together on music that had no affiliation to their particular bands.

A year later, Amarante traveled to the United States to record with Devendra Banhart on his Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon album. On the off hours of an arduous recording process, Amarante would meet with Moretti to discuss anything but music.

Binki Shapiro, musician and native of Los Angeles, was introduced to the pair through mutual acquaintances and became a fast friend, encouraging the two to focus on the music they had spoken of long before. Through the process of late night “show-and-tell” the three developed and arranged songs Moretti had begun and soon after started writing original music for the group as a band.

A couple of months later they all moved into a house in Echo Park to demo songs and soon after, with the help of producer Noah Georgeson, who had recorded Banhart’s album, they finished their self-titled debut, Little Joy, named after the cocktail lounge just down the street from their home.
- Little Joy's Myspace page

Starbucks Makes You Nuts

(via tallmatters)

In preparation for Thanksgiving next week....

Awhile back in September I published a post regarding the nonprofit StoryCorps project and the book Listening is an Act of Love.

Through a recently posted comment it was brought to our attention that the project is launching a new initiative....

StoryCorps is asking the whole country to set aside one hour on Friday, November 28th, the day after Thanksgiving, to record a conversation with a friend or loved one. We're declaring this day the National Day of Listening. We just launched a website (www.nationaldayoflistening.org) with more information and tips for a Do-it-Yourself style interview as well as a video walking through an interview. Since so many Americans aren't able to make it to a StoryCorps recording booth, we're making it easier for everyone to share the feelings a personal interview with a loved one can foster.

Check out the web site... http://www.nationaldayoflistening.org/
Click on the Part 2 - Participate...... it outlines the 5 easy steps for a do-it-yourself interview.

Tuesday's Music Picks

M's Picks:

B's Picks


best opening credits ever

Tunes in TV

My dream job: to work as a music supervisor/consultant on any television show, movie, or commercial. It's a near impossible field to break into. Chop Shop Music Supervision is a music supervision company that dominates this field. They currently work on shows like Chuck, Mad Men, Greys, Private Practice and the upcoming movie, Twilight (just to name a few).

Integrating music into television shows/movies/commercials is an effective way to introduce mainstream America to any new and relatively unknown band. Music licensing can get quite pricey with the big names like Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Coldplay or Madonna. The job is both creative and logistical. Strategically placed music helps to emphasize storylines, emotion, time period and cultural location.

Brooklynvegan announced some some notable licensing music today:
Desperate Housewives || Tokyo Police Club
Gossip Girls || Kings of Leon
One Tree Hill || Margot and the Nuclear So-So's
90210 || Kanye West & Stereolab
CSI Miami || Bloc Party & Jenny Lewis
NUMB3RS || Cold War Kids
Privileged || CSS
Grey's || The Coral Sea

A new Nissan commercial with Alexi Murdoch's "Breathe" (which I featured on here a few weeks back). Ubisoft Montreal just released Shaun White Snowboarding in North America. The game's soundtrack is a good mix of classic (Bob Dylan, Heart, Blue Öyster Cult, Living Colour, Run DMC, Harry Nilsson) and modern (Modest Mouse, MGMT, The Ting Tings, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club) bands.

I LOVE music.

Cheers!

Mount Prospect, IL ... best place to raise kids

According to Businessweek's second annual rankings, the Chicago suburb of Mount Prospect is the most affordable place to raise your kids.

BusinessWeek teamed up with OnBoard Informatics, a Manhattan-based provider of real estate analysis, to come up with our list of each state's best affordable towns for raising children. Mount Prospect just squeezed out several other Cook County (Ill.) communities, many of which also ranked high. The most important factors in our analysis were school performance, affordability, and safety. But we also gave weight to cost of living, air quality, job growth, racial diversity, and local parks, ball fields, zoos, recreation centers, museums, and theaters.

We knocked out towns with populations of fewer than 50,000 and median household incomes of less than $40,000 or more than $100,000. And we ended up with a list that included some well-known places such as Phoenix, Columbus, Ohio, and Ann Arbor, Mich. But we also found some hidden gems such as Euless, Tex., smack in between Dallas and Fort Worth, which according to Sports Illustrated has the nation's top-ranked high school football team, and Murfreesboro, Tenn., a college town outside Nashville. Click here for the full article.

Interesting.... I would like to point out on the map how close Mount Prospect is to my hometown of Palatine. Disregard the green arrow. (See it there on the left, near the edge of the image?) Sigh... oh how I love the northwest suburbs.

if you can't explain it ...

I love this new blog....

Le Love

Started early this month, the blog is dedicated to romantic, sweet, lovey dovey, sexy and heart fluttering images. Check it out. I love the one of Johnny Depp and Kate Moss. Here are some samples...Images courtesy of Le Love

From Gym to Apartment

It sounds hard, but the Apartment, an interior design agency, pulled it off. They completely converted a 7,000 square-foot YMCA gym into a beautiful 5 bedroom apartment building. Every aspect of the apartment is stunning, from the vibrant colors to the detailed wallpaper and carpets. This impressive building even has an indoor garden and a 12 person theater.

In converting the oldest YMCA gym, all of the colors were completely revamped, and a lot of restoration occurred, but the building still contains some of the original features. The original girders are still in place, although restored and painted to match the contemporary style. Green rugs and pink furniture are mixed with the unpainted concrete floors. The rooms are a mix of vibrant chairs, covering a wooden floor painted with court lines. The whole building is a perfect collaboration of the original gym, mixed with a new contemporary feel.

The Apartment turned the lower level into apartment space, while they decided to keep the upper levels as a showcase of the agency’s work.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

(from spoonfed design)

Ad Campaigns Part 2

Part 2 of a series of ad campaigns I hold near and dear to my heart.... the Clorox television ads.. 1st edition- "Mermaid" and 2nd edition "Pirates." Usually, I stop what I'm doing to turn to the television to watch either of these spots, regardless of how many times I've seen them. Maybe it's the fact that when I was 8 years old, I had these same kinds of fantasies.

Or perhaps it is the songs in each of them that initially ignited my devotion. (Francois-Paul Aiche & H. Scott Salinas - "Mermaid" and "Pirates" respectively - Yes, they are on iTunes and yes, I did go through a phase where I would listen to these two songs on repeat as I did housework)

I do want to note the (personal) connection to music that is evident in both of these first two campaigns (see Part 1- Liberty Mutual). Although music isn't always a component of a campaign I like, it usually does play a significant role in campaigns I find memorable in the long term. Furthermore, I've noticed that in my case this concept can be applied to movies and their corresponding soundtracks. Sigh, the power of music. Cheers.

Top 12 Wines

... concluded by Whole Foods

The best selection of reds, whites and everything in between. Perfect balance of quality and value.

1. Parducci
   Sustainable White

   From America's first carbon-neutral winery, a perfect appetizer party wine, crisp as a cool day with melon citrus flavors, a dry finish and medium acidity. Loves roasted chicken, baked or breaded mild seafood or Grafton Classic Reserve Cheddar from Vermont.

2. Cave de Lugny
   Mâcon-Villages Chardonnay

   Great value! An elegant, classic white Burgundy, balancing fruit and zesty acidity. Lemon meringue and a sprinkle of nutmeg complement the season's winter spices, apples, turkey and our cranberry cheddar, as well as other poultry and creamy pasta.

3. Sanford
   Mount Rey Central Coast Chardonnay

   One of our wine specialists' tasting favorites. Tropical fruit, green apple and cool central coast growing conditions lend pleasant acidity that lifts the creaminess of risotto, seafood dishes and creamy cheeses such as Rond du Cher and our exclusive holiday French brie.

4. Tarantas
   Brut Cava Made from Organically Grown Grapes

   Best deal in the store—buy it by the case! A fun, easy-drinking, food-friendly Sparkler for celebrating from weekend brunch to New Year's Eve. Apple, spice and a licorice tickle are nice with duck, and just the thing with fried or spicy foods, brie and Truffle Tremor goat cheese.

5. Nicolas Feuillatte
   Brut Extrem' Champagne

   Very fine bubbles from a top-3 champagne house—and a real value! Crisply fresh with true purity of fruit, delicate toasty wood, spice, citrus and floral. Elevates your celebrations on its own or with seafood, creamy, buttery foods, French brie or Truffle Tremor.

6. Block No. 45
   Pinot Noir

   A rich, comforting Pinot, full-bodied and balanced with California-grown fruit. Oaky vanilla, dried cherry and a touch of peppery spice work wonders with turkey, salmon and a variety of cheeses, including creamy Amadeus from Austria.

7. Vinum Cellars
   Reserve Petite Sirah

   Supple, generous and juicy, yet complete with round tannins. We bought it all and a portion of the vintner's profits goes to a local animal shelter. Cuddles up friendly to herbed beef, lamb and earthy, garlicky foods, plus cheeses from well-aged to creamy brie.

8. Pipon
   Valencia

   From the home of paella and Spanish chorizo, this full-flavored Red is herby, rich and lean. It is ideal with blue cheeses, such as Rogue Anniversary Blue or the classic Stilton; amazing with fig cake; and a wonderful dinner wine with red-sauced pasta, beef or BBQ.

9. M. Chapoutier Belleruche
   Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge

   A real value from a great wine family also committed to eco-friendly farming. Good structure, dark fruit and a dash of pepper will warm you through the season with red pasta, lamb, beef, smoked fish, earthy vegetarian foods, Stilton and Rogue Anniversary Blue.

10. Yalumba
    Bush Vine Grenache

    Our tasters adored this richly textured Grenache from 70-year-old vines. Soft with lovely fruit and spice, it is great on its own when you're in a Red mood. Stands up to lamb, duck, game or beef, yet is just as fabulous with creamy pasta or Truffle Tremor cheese.

11. Simi
    Sonoma County Merlot

    Here's your holiday crowd pleaser from one of the oldest U.S. Merlot makers. Velvety cherry and blackberry with hints of cocoa and clove. A food pleaser, too, with meats, stews, dark or red sauces and flavorful cheeses, from cranberry cheddar and winter blues to brie.

12. 337
    Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon

    Fortify your winter spirits with this easy-drinking, silky food wine named for its vine clone number. Dark fruit, cedar and cola with hints of its mineral-soil roots. Nice fireside sipper or with steak, roasts, red pasta, Stilton, Rogue Anniversary Blue or French brie.

The iCar ?

A friend of mine sent me this article this afternoon. Quite intriguing idea ...

The discussion of whether Steve Jobs could revitalize the auto industry by working with GM on an iCar (Steve Jobs For President. Of GM?) has been lively. But the bottom line question remains: What should that iCar be?

Let’s leave aside what the root causes of the American auto industry’s failure to move effectively into the present, much less the future, have been. Or whether the Apple culture is the right one to supplant the GM culture.

What is the blow-’em-away i-gotta-have-one design for a premium-priced but affordable iCar that would live up to the instantly game-changing standard of the iPod and the iPhone?

Bob Warfield at SmoothSpan tried to set out some essentials he would expect from a Jobs’ take on the automobile:

–Minimalist and modern.
–Innovative use of materials, from carbon fiber to aluminum and unique combinations of glass and plastics.
–Unique form of propulsion (at least unique to GM)
–Touch panel dashboard
–Heads up navigational display
–Map to nearest gas station that automatically pops up when the gas gauge hits low
–Drop-in slots for iPod or iPhone or other Apples
–RSS reader that speaks to you as you drive
–Audio system that plays back Internet radio stations

Etc. Take a look.

Interestingly, the possibility of a real-life iCar first came up more than a year ago, after Steve Jobs met with Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn. There is also the conceptualization of an iCar (inserted at the top of this post), which looks suspiciously like one of the colorful “see-through” early iMacs, from 1999, on display at The Apple Collection. It comes from a playful faux “Think Different” ad by Chris O’Riley.

So there’s been, one way another, years of thought behind what an Apple-designed iCar would look like and contain.

Now that GM’s on the brink of bankruptcy, though: What are your thoughts?

source: ZD Net

National Geographic's Strange Days on Planet Earth

I subscribed to this podcast awhile back and highly recommend it.. (there's only something like 6 episodes t0tal). The award-winning PBS series, hosted and narrated by Edward Norton, first aired in the spring of 2005, reached 20 million viewers and won fourteen prestigious awards, including Best Series. It specifically focuses on global and freshwater issues. "Climate change… Ecosystem degradation… Clean energy… Poverty… Disease… Strange Days on Planet Earth connects some of the greatest issues of our day." - Strange Days on Planet Earth

Check out this (6 minute!) episode.. "Dirty Secrets"

Gateway to Hollywood

Our friends Carley and Katy were in town last Halloween weekend.... as it was their first time to Los Angeles, we had the opportunity to do all the touristy activities that even some LA residents (me) haven't always done on their own (or since they were 12 years old). So of course it was raining on Saturday, so we took advantage of the dreary weather and headed town to Hollywood and Highland to scope out a cliche movie-star-home-Hollywood-landmark-tour. Our tour guide was legitimately out of her mind and we spent the subsequent two hours laughing and enjoying touristy Los Angeles.. ie. Rodeo, Robertson, Hollywood sign, Mullholland etc. But my favorite landmark Helen pointed out was the "Gateway to Hollywood/Four Ladies" statue located on the corner of La Brea and Hollywood. I have driven by the statue a number of times and I never knew or researched the significance of it. Well.... dear, sweet Helen informed us that the landmark is a tribute to the women of Hollywood.... Mae West, Dorothy Dandridge, Anne Mae Wong, Dolores Del Rio, and at the very top, in her famous skirt lifted post- Marilyn Monroe.

photo courtesy of KayteDeioma.com