TV | Wonder Showzen

Whenever I need a pick-me-up or, at the very least, some fun procrastination time, I head over to youtube and watch clips from one of the funniest shows to grace TV screens in the last few years, Wonder Showzen. Sadly the show was cancelled after two seasons, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy some of their finer moments, including the hysterically funny "Beat Kids" segments.





Now that they're out on DVDs, I'm adding them to my Christmas list, along with this, this, and this.

Photography | Kitsch | Lizard-Ville

I guess once you've been featured on David Letterman, you're not exactly underground, but there is something so weird and funny about these photographs of hypnotised lizards (by a 10-year-old Floridian girl, no less!) that I simply had to share. Available as images printed on T-shirts or greeting cards, they make the perfect Christmas gift for that reptile-obsessed relative or co-worker. It makes me think that I perhaps did not use my time wisely in Miami, and I could have tried a little harder to see the possible art potential in living in at Southgate in an apartment filled with cockroaches, centipedes, millipedes, silverfish, and geckos. I'd coulda been an insect-hypnotising-millionaire!

Cool Video | Justice vs. Simian | "We Are Your Friends"

Following Gina's post on très chic French boutique Collette, I followed their link to the video for Justice vs. Simian's "We Are Your Friends," a song that was played on really solid rotation this past year on BBC Radio One. thanks to some of their fabulous deejays, like Annie Nightingale and Annie Mac. (The video's not too bad either.)

Culture | Cool Find | Dance Class

It's as if there was once a group of friends sitting around Paris, talking about opening a boutique like no other and then out of the discussion came: "I know! Let's take a 7,500 square foot spot in the most expensive neighborhood in the city and then display the clothes on mannequins instead of hangers and we'll sell i-pods as well and we'll have a bar with a hundred different kinds of water and then we'll host a dance class, too..." And then everyone said "Chouette!"

I can't say that's exactly how it went down, but Colette, the store that has all of the above, opened almost ten years ago and is still the spot on the rue Saint-Honoré where you feel that much cooler just by walking inside. Clothes, books, music, and for the past year, dance classes as well. The next one is coming up on November 27 at le Paris Paris. If you're not going to be in town, you can at least check out the store's site which is almost as much fun. A little more interaction with your cute, helium-voiced robot hosts and it's more like a viedo game than a website.

Culture | Hip Hop | Beatbox.tv

Well, in honour (yes, with a 'u') of Jenne's move to the Big Apple, I have dug into my quite small archives of hip-hop on the web to present, for your listening pleasure, Beatbox.tv. I was initially drawn here when I was looking up details on Style Wars back in the day. I found a link pointing to "Yuri Harmonica" in the Videos section of the site, and was pretty much stupified. Way more stupified than when the guys at Lonely Island informed me that Mr. Pibbs and Red Vines are crazy delicious.

Also worth checking out are the tracks in the Showcase section. Mad science, indeed.

A Huge Unstuck Welcome ...

... to my newest contributors, Kyle, my Canadian-born-and-bred, world travelled friend, whom I met at a backpackers' hostel exactly five years ago in Istanbul, who currently resides in Amsterdam with his lovely, incredibly smart girlfriend, where he studies something scientific (and thus, for me, unexplainable) yet still manages to be totally up-to-date on all the happenings in culture and Gina, my fellow Californian (though hailing from the Southern half of our golden state), whom I know from many nights and days of frolicking in San Francisco (and subsequently Madrid, Paris, and Los Angeles), who currently resides just outside Paris with her fabulous French husband, where she has recently found employment in the fashion industry. I am so excited to have them both embarking on this project with me.

And since the site is always looking for something new, something different, feel free to email it our way.

Design | Awesome Agency | Holler

As some of you are well aware, I've had a little obsession with the UK's Lily Allen ever since I saw one of her music videos in Amsterdam. (I'm starting to wonder what I didn't see during those 5 days in Amsterdam. Is that city the hippest placec or what?) One of the things that I've been particularly admiring has been the very cool poster and CD design for her album's releases. I haven't been able to figure out who the exact team of designers has been behind the launch, but this very cool UK-based digital strategy experts, Holler, are behind her website. Their showcase is particularly revealing, with plenty of their artists weighing in on their latest creative expeditions.

Cool Video | Run Wrake | "Rabbit"

John sent me the link to this very cool animated short, "Rabbit," by director Run Wrake.

Art | Photography | Lori Nix

Never overcoming my love of pop art with its bold colours and strong contrasts, it will come as little surprise that the photography of Lori Nix caught my eye. Part obsessive miniaturist, part photographer, and part verbose autobiographer, Ms. Nix composes some captivating photos.

News | Zeitgeist | Newsmap

No, no, not the Google Zeitgeist, although this little Java applet does borrow heavily from Google News. Newsmap is a great approach to getting your finger on the pulse of world news or, for those so inclined, to find out why Vancouver is such a magnet for B-list celebs with hyphenated conditions (first Denise throws a hissy-fit, then Pammy mis-carries? What is going on on the set of that movie?)

For even more distraction check out the other activities on the main page at Maramushi, including the Flickr Graph, a must for all you flickrites.

Cool Video | Peter Bjorn and John | "Young Folks"

Saw this cool video in Amsterdam from this Swedish band back in September and forgot about it til it was featured during last week's Gray's Anatomy. Presumably a song off an upcoming album, as it's not yet available on iTunes. "Young Folks" might not "unstuck" your brain, but its whistling riff might get stuck in your head.

Cool Video | Album Cover Wars

John sent me the link to this cool video.

Writing | Zine | Moonlight Chronicles

This morning, I was hanging out at Yogi's house. He was making eggs and chatting with his friend on the phone, and I found this little zine on top of the breadbox in his kitchen. It's called Moonlight Chronicles, and it's full of wonderfully quirky drawings and musings on life, travel, and, of course, drawing. A nice break from the drudgery of commercial creativity -- the author, Dan Price, pays hommage to the simpler things in life, creating a real joy in the process.

Art | Painting | Gary Taxali

Saw these awesome oil paintings at the La Luz de Jesus gallery in Los Angeles over the weekend by Indian-born, Canadian-reared painter Gary Taxali. Check it out!

Cool Video | The Knife | "Like a Pen"

Eric Lister, good friend, illustrator extraordinaire, and fellow Marin County chum, shares this very cool animated video from Swedish group The Knife.

Writing | Humour | Steve Martin

Just sharing this because I remembered and because it's one of the funniest, wittiest things I've ever read, "Times Roman Font Announces Shortage of Periods," by Steve Martin.

Music | Drum & Bass | Radio

Originally posted on We Have The Most Fun, my personal blog.

Two Saturdays ago I was crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco to meet my parents for dinner at Paul K in Hayes Valley before they went to the SF Symphony and I went to meet Natalie in the Lower Haight for some wine (before hitting up a Green Gorilla Lounge party later). Instinctively, my hand went to the preset dials for 90.3 FM, the radio station of KUSF, where I caught one of my all-time favourite radio shows, Saturday afternoon's Future Breaks. Lucky for everyone the world over, their sets are now available as podcasts, so when you're out of their signal range (or doing something else on a Saturday afternoon), you can still get their awesome mixes of the latest in drum 'n' bass, breaks, dubstep, etc. To sign up for their podcasts, click here. And if you want to just listen to their shows, head over to their blog. Now, if only there was a way to download Fabio & Grooverider ... if anyone knows how, let me know!

Art | Exhibition | Tropicalia

One of my biggest regrets last winter in London was not making it to the Barbican Centre for the widely advertised Tropicàlia: A Revolution in Brazilian Culture exhibition. But just last Friday I flip through the latest issue of New York and discover that the exact same exhibition is now at The Bronx Museum of the Arts til January. Yay! I'm saving my visit til I'm back in New York in a few weeks. Who wants to go with me?

Art | Design | Droog

One of the best discoveries last fall in Amsterdam was the Dutch design collective, Droog. If you're ever in Amsterdam, I highly encourage you to stop by one of their showrooms for some of the most truly cutting-edge, quirky, funky household and furniture design. Sadly, their website is a little difficult to navigate for quick and easy inspiration, but this article is pretty good.

Art | Photography | Gregory Crewdson

A few months ago in Hamburg, I ventured into the center of town on a Saturday afternoon in hopes of getting my thoughts away from portfolio/ad school land. I visited the city's main bookstore and after seeing a fascinating working exhibition set up by the city's Museum of Labour, I spent a few hours browsing through the English novels and art books. That's when I discovered this guy, Gregory Crewdson, an American photographer whose work I fell head over heels in love with almost immediately. The book was well over 100 euros, so I spared myself the expense, but I think his work's suburban themes, cast in an iconographic, almost religious, light, are really inspirational. They make me think of ads where what's missing is the product. So, the game is, look at several of his pictures, and try to think of what kind of product or service they could be for. Or what kind of film, story, or commercial. This is one of my favourites.