Getting ready for New York Fashion Week?

Even if you are just a casual fan of the latest threads out there, take a look at our new series, CATWALK COUNTDOWN. It brings you inside the studios of 10 leading fashion designers as they gear up for their shows and presentations at New York Fashion Week.

See how classmates Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai began work on their inaugural collection — on the floor of their living room. “The initial idea was that we were going to have a barbecue,” Buhai recalls. “We were going to make a bunch of clothes and just have a fashion-show kegger.” Now you can see the Vena Cava threads on every cool “It” girl around town.

Watch all the episodes of CATWALK COUNTDOWN here.

I just came across this remarkable albeit slightly depressing story, especially during this upcoming holiday celebrating coupledom, about a lonely solitary whale somewhere out there in the big blue ocean. Tracked since 1992, this whale has been cruising the Pacific ocean emitting a song and call at around 52 hertz, which does not match any known whale species.

Team members and other experts have proposed a host of explanations for the whale sounds, among them that the animal is malformed or, most likely, is a hybrid of a blue whale and another species.

Ms. Daher said that as word of the paper has spread, she has gotten a host of e-mail messages, some from whale lovers lamenting the notion of a lonely heart of the cetacean world. Some messages have come from deaf people speculating that the whale might share their disability.

Keep your hopes up, whale buddy. As we humanfolk say, “There are plenty of fish in pond.” You can listen to the 52-hertz whale call here.

[Via]

College students just love a good competition, whether between dorm buildings, campus organizations, or rival schools. You probably remember homecoming float contests, intramural sports, and big games with the cross-state team. Since 2001, Recyclemania has tried to capture that spirit of campus competitiveness, and apply it to reducing waste at colleges and universities.

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If you read the New York Times blog “Abstract City,” then you know him by name. If you’ve ever looked at a cover of The New Yorker you’ve probably seen his work. And if you’ve done neither then perhaps you can at least appreciate when a bathroom is clearly marked “Men” or “Women;” If you do you share a fundamental principle with designer, illustrator and art director Christoph Niemann. Like a good comedian, Neimann’s deceptively simple designs have a way of presenting common knowledge in a new and interesting way. Of course, an intuitive sense of color and composition don’t hurt.

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In addition to the distinction of having two first names in her full name, Lisa Courtney also holds the Guiness World Record for the largest Pokemon collection in the world with 12,113 items of Pokemon merchandise that she has accumulated over the past 13 years. She is 21 years young. I wonder if she lists this in her resume.

[Via]

The New York Times collected some valentines written by or to famous New Yorkers. They are quite touching and eloquent, especially the poem that E.B. White wrote to his wife, Katharine Sergeant White. A former New Yorker editor, “in a penciled notation, Katharine recognized it as a rondeau, a French lyrical poem with an unusual rhyme scheme — “and a perfect one” at that.”

Back in high school, my classmates and I noticed that our biology teacher was doing this neat pen-spinning hand trick while she was lecturing. Afterwards, we bugged her to teach us and for the next couple of weeks, we drove everyone nuts as we tried to learn this trick. We finally succeeded and we thought we were awesome. Now that I’ve seen this video of Hong Kong kids in an extremely competitive pen spinning competition, I feel decidedly unawesome because these kids are incredible. What they are able to do with a pen will make your head spin.

This was my favorite part of the video, when the interviewer asked, “Can you write with this pen?”

“Uh, no.”

Ever found it odd that, generally, you have to pay for recycling service? After all, the materials you place in those blue bins are commodities that your recycling service will sell. You might argue that paying people a cut of the revenues generated from the sale of such materials could work better to increase recycling rates (though, in fairness, the prices for such materials are relatively low… though they have been rising).

Philadelphia-based Recyclebank was founded on this concept. While the company doesn’t actually pay people for recycling, it offers a rewards program similar to airline miles or credit card points.

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BEST OVERALL: Dove Men+Care’s “The Journey to Comfort”
At last, a commercial that celebrates manhood without being sexist, stupid or beer-related! It’s basically a mini-movie crammed into 45-seconds (seriously, try counting the number of scenes they had to shoot) that follows one Everyman’s life from birth to adulthood by highlighting the big moments as well as the mundane ones: puberty, love, marriage, jar-opening, parenthood. The message is “You’re mature and comfortable enough in your own skin that you don’t have to worry about seeming like a pussy if you want to moisturize your skin.” And it avoids all the divisive or offensive gender stereotypes often found in Super Bowl ads. BUT — and it’s a big “but” — the title of “best ad” only applies to the 45-second version that aired during the Super Bowl last night. If you search online for it (and on the Dove site), the version that will probably come up first is the ONE minute version, which sadly DOES include a bunch of tired gender stereotypes, like fighting at parties, never showing your sensitive side and never showing fear — ugh! Like with good film making, good commercial making is all about editing, editing, editing.

45-Second Version (Yay!):

One-Minute Version (Boo!):

See the winners for “Most Romantic,” “Most Sexist” and “Funniest” after the jump:

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Before the play begins the director walks on stage and explains a few things about the production to the audience. But because you’ve been prepped to expect that “You’re Welcome: A cycle of bad plays,” the latest from the inimitable foursome at The Debate Society, will, no doubt, involve a few bad play gags, you go along with it. But then, after the director leaves the stage and comes back again and again to tell you just a few more specifics, like the fact that the play we’re about to see involves an imaginary door, a retractable knife and is bound to be very funny but the actors are professionals and our laughter won’t disturb them, you realize that this, the director’s back and forth, is the play. Which of course we already know since in the opening titles we were told that Play #1 is “The Director Ruins the Play.”

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Johnny Weir poses for a portrait during the NBC/USOC Promotional Photo Shoot on May 12, 2009 at Smashbox Studios

With the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver just a week away, SUNfiltered will bring you a “Weir Roundup” whenever possible that will not only feature the latest news on Johnny, but also interesting video clips. In this edition, we’ll be showcasing Johnny’s vocal talents and a recently made-available video of Johnny’s routine to Jordin Sparks’ live performance of “Battlefield.” In the upcoming days, we’ll be highlighting other notable exhibition routines, as well career-making performances like “The Swan.”

– Johnny and acclaimed photographer and music video director Matthew Rolston come together in a promo shoot for BE GOOD JOHNNY WEIR. Check out the final product and behind-the-scenes footage on Full Frontal Fashion.

– “Skater Johnny Weir’s New Resolve” by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

– Ryan McGinely showcases a photo portfolio entitled “The Highfliers” featuring Shaun White, Johnny Weir, Emily Cook, and more in the latest edition of NY Times Magazine. All the athletes featured are wearing custom Rodarte knitwear which can bee seen here.

Don’t miss Johnny singing, after the jump.

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