sundance

Music video: Uffie, “Pop the Glock”

American-born, French rapper and singer Uffie recently debuted her first music video for her catchy song “Pop the Glock.” If the song sounds familiar it might be because it received some attention when it first came out in 2006, but even three years later (eons in Internet time or “hella old” as one YouTube commentor [...]

The First Amendment and Betty Dodson’s genital art

photo via erix!

We admit, genital art isn’t really our thing. We’ve seen our share at downtown art shows (and, ahem, on our own TV show in the U.K.), and, while we’re glad that people are out there creating work like this, we don’t have any hanging on our walls.

That said, we totally, absolutely, 100% understand how important genital art is in helping both women and men understand what sex organs really look like outside of the porn world. As porn increasingly becomes a source of sex education, and as women feel pressured to dye, bleach, and pluck their way to the perfect look — or even, god forbid, go under the knife to get it via labiaplasty — images of real, average vulvas become more important than ever.

Bangkok Climate Talks Fail to Resolve Core Issues

The latest round of United Nations climate negotiations concluded in Bangkok today with mixed results. UN climate chief Yvo de Boer spoke of a “constructive” two weeks of talks, and said that “all the ingredients for a successful outcome in Copenhagen are on the table.”

Jay Smooth vs. Roman Polanski

Jay Smooth, who created the hip hop music blog and founded NYC’s hip-hop radio show, WBAI’s Underground Railroad, recently took on Roman Polanski on his blog. Roman Polanski on a hip-hop blog? Ok, I’ll listen. The rant, clocking in at over seven minutes, is hard to look away from. He presents his case against Polanski, and [...]

The Fun Theory

Volkswagen is trying to encourage more responsible behavior, such as recycling by incentivizing people with what they call the “Fun Theory” where the idea is that “something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better.” I especially like their concept for urging people to take the stairs instead [...]

Music video: Cinnamon Chasers, “Luv Deluxe”

This is one of my favorite music videos I’ve seen all week. Slightly NSFW, Saman Keshavarz directed this sexy concept for Cinnamon Chasers’ catchy song “Luv Deluxe.” Shot in HD first-person POV, watch closely as the viewer is presented with three different scenarios of a road trip, which correspond to different personalities. Cinnamon Chasers – [...]

The Clock Tower

I don’t write too much about my love of architecture and interiors here, but this slideshow The New York Times recently posted has me sitting here feeling inadequate and unsuccessful. I mean really, who would not want to live in this space? If only I’d married for money. At 25 million, the asking price is [...]

Solar Decathlon Opens, Chu Offers $87M for Solar Technologies

Twenty unique high-tech, solar-powered houses took center stage on the National Mall today at the opening of the U.S. Energy Department’s Solar Decathlon.

Alaska Sea Otters Granted Critical Habitat Protection

It took a court order to accomplish, but threatened sea otters in southwest Alaska now will have some respite from the pressure of human activities.

FULL FRONTAL FASHION roundup

Think of this as your FULL FRONTAL FASHION cliff notes. Illustration inspired by Erin Fetherston at New York Fashion Week – by artist Danny Roberts Illustrator Danny Roberts interprets the runway from New York Fashion Week. See his drawings and read the interview. SUNfiltered’s very own Bradford Shellhammer found a countess on the streets of [...]

Jimmyjane’s new Iconic vibes

As far as good ideas go, this one is right up there with sliced bread and TiVo: 1) Take the best, most popular vibrators that ever existed. 2) Make them out of hygienic, non-porous, phthalate-free material (unlike all their knockoffs). 3) Give the vibes a cool design touch by making them all white. And voila! [...]

Blitz the Ambassador

I’ve been watching on repeat lately the music video for Brooklyn rapper Blitz the Ambassador’s single “Breathe” from his new album Stereotype, an iTunes Hip-Hop top ten chart (without label support! Dang, someone sign him UP! ). Before moving to the States for college at Kent State University, Blitz’s musical style was strongly informed and influenced by his experience growing up in Ghana surrounded by the sounds of Afro-Beat and Highlife, as well as playing djembe in drum circles. Speaking of style, if “Breathe” is any indication, he’s got that and then some. The music video and the sound, backed by his band Embassy Ensemble, is brimming with head-nodding, shoulder-shaking, foot-tapping energy.

Blitz recently composed the original score to the PBS documentary, BRONX PRINCESS, which chronicles a Bronx-bred teenager, Rocky Otoo’s journey from New York City to Ghana to reunite with her chief father.

Blonde heir – Madonna and Lady Gaga

Unless you have been living under a rock then assuredly you have witnessed the pop culture tipping point and subsequent freaky-deaky takeover of the world by one Miss Lady Gaga. It should be noted that she’s not your typical Madonna-wannabe. She’s the heir apparent.

Green tech finds (10/8/09)

Cars, fuels, and internet-based power management for your home: our green tech finds for the week…

• Beyond carbon emissions: Clean Production Action and ChemSec have released a new report focused on “the advances that seven electronics companies have made when it comes to eliminating hazardous materials from their products.” (via ZDNet GreenTech Patures)
  
  
• It’s an honor just to be nominated: The LA Auto Show has announced the finalists for its Green Car of the Year Award, which will be presented at the show in December.
  
  

Music video: Phenomenal Handclap Band, “15 to 20″

Check out the music video from Phenomenal Handclap Band (“a genre-breaking Manhattan/Brooklyn collective…that shifts from rock to disco to psychedelia without hitting the brakes”) for their single “15 to 20.” Director Moh Azima combines 8 split-screens in this video shot throughout New York City. Phenomenal Handclap Band “15 to 20″ Official Video from friendly fire [...]

Penguins continue to wage war on family values

photo by Paul_Mannix Guess which book, according to the American Library Association, is the title most often requested to be removed from schools and libraries in the U.S.? Give up? For the third year in a row, it’s And Tango Makes Three, which is a guide to building your own bomb while smoking crack and attending [...]

Geeking on the center of the frame

Like my colleague Lisa, who wrote recently on this subject, I too saw Jane Campion’s BRIGHT STAR. What innovation … Campion truly takes luscious to a new level. One element far more subtle than butterflies and tree tops, though, that I noticed right away and has been on my mind since, is how Campion twists traditional portraiture and cinematography composition by using the center of the frame. The center of the frame? Who cares! Well, to some geeks out there, including me, it’s absolutely notable.

Vancouver International Film Festival: Keep an open mind

Thinking of attending the Vancouver International Film Festival? It’s best you arrive with an open mind: some of the films may be a bit disturbing, others will have subtitles, and–as our favorite spot reminds us–there may be quite a bit of sexual content. Some more unusual than the rest. Vancouver International Film Festival: Sexuality [adsoftheworld.com]

How to build business sustainability from your cubicle: Tim Sander’s Saving the World at Work

What were you thinking about on September 16, 2008? Green business ideas probably weren’t at the top of the list… September 15 was the day that Lehman Brothers went belly up, and you were probably more focused on your portfolio and savings. As such, Tim Sanders’ book Saving the World at Work (released on — you guessed it — September 16) got buried under talk of a second Great Depression.

Sanders and publisher Doubleday decided to give the book another go, and relaunched it on September 16th of this year. I’m glad they did: while the title led me to believe I was going to be reading another “how to” book on greening the workplace (which is not a bad thing), Sanders goes well beyond tips on saving paper and electricity.

NYC Wine and Food Festival

If you’re a Food Network junkie like me then you already know about the upcoming Wine and Food Festival in NY where every Food Network chef, I think maybe literally, will either be giving a demonstration or hosting a panel or being interviewed or signing a book. In fact, there will be a how-to on almost everything from wine, coffee and cocktails to making sushi with Masaharu Morimoto.

Creative re-use: the Dominican University cistern

For 90 years, a 60,000 gallon cistern at River Forest, Illinois’ Dominican University has done its job of collecting rainwater from 1920s-era buildings. That’s great… the problem is that everyone kind of forgot about it. Dan Bulow, the school’s director of building and grounds, told Trib Local’s Patrick Rollens “We knew [the cistern] was there, [...]

Your today’s surreal

This entry is apropos of nothing other than that I finally got around to reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay which I recently completed. I can’t emphasize how much I enjoyed the fictional novel, but this entry isn’t meant to be a book review. No one wants to read my pedantic explication of [...]

Beatles, Stones, and Robots?

Culture Now is a newish blog I have been reading for about a year now. It is wonderfully designed and easy to read. The subject matter focuses on art, culture, design, and media. And though music definitely fits snugly under the culture umbrella I was a bit surprised to find an essay on Kraftwerk on Culture Now the other day.

Gold Mine at the Guggenheim

Almost more interesting than the work itself is how it enabled the relationship between artists Roni Horn and Felix Gonzalez-Torres. The two pieces are, respectively, Forms From the Gold Field which later inspired Gonzalez-Torres to make “Untitled” (Placebo-Landscape-for Roni). He encountered Horn’s work at her solo show at the MoCA in Los Angeles a few [...]

Bloopers from 1937

Jump into the time travel school bus and watch this vintage Warner Brothers blooper reel from 1937 featuring an illustrious cast as “Humphrey Bogart, George Brent, Bette Davis, Glenda Farrell, Errol Flynn, Dick Foran, Kay Francis, Hugh Herbert, Allen Jenkins, Boris Karloff, Barton MacLane, Pat O’Brien, Dick Powell, and Claude Rains.”