March 1, 2005

Cool Hunting

I think it would be fantastic fun to be a "cool hunter," a la the protagonist in William Gibson's book "Pattern Recognition" or Josh Rubin, who is real, and who has a blog called, um, Cool Hunting.

That's where I spotted the image above; it's by NYC-based illustrator Elliott Golden, whose portfolio is absolutely jam-packed with fresh-looking art. It's kinda retro but kinda not, and the colors all have this amazing washed-out fuzz to them.

Another artist after the break.

February 24, 2005

In the Name of Adventure and Baking

When I got home from work today, a wonderful surprise was waiting for me: a box of deliciousness from the Flying Cookie Fund.

The FCF is a front for my sister, Lily Sloan. It is the monicker by which she trades cookies for cash.

But understand: Lily may be a dancer by training, but she is a cook by nature. She seriously has some sort of innate gift for making food -- a gift that has been honed, of course, by years of yummy treat-creation.

I would recommend these cookies even if I weren't her brother. They are so not your Pillsbury dough-house wimp-o-chip generi-cookies. No, they're inventive and complex and made from wholesome ingredients (no hydrogenated whatsits here!) and far, far tastier than anything Mrs. Fields ever made.

My box contained twelve "California Cookies." (Well, about twelve. I ate a bunch kinda fast so I can only estimate.) These things have avocado in them! You can be sure you'll get something creative and perhaps even regionally appropriate.

And it only costs ten bucks. C'mon dude: ten bucks. That's so worth it, given the quantity of joy a dozen of these cookies will bring to your life (and optionally the lives of your friends and co-workers). Details here, or you can just Paypal the $10 to lssloan at oakland dot edu.

February 22, 2005

January 29, 2005

Bespoke Blog

Coolest blog I have seen in a while: English Cut, written by Thomas Mahon, a bespoke tailor on Savile Row in London.

Reading this blog makes me happy. It's just so thoughtful and, well, un-digital.

January 17, 2005

Rock Star

When I was in college, I used to love these two recordings by a University of Pennsylvania a cappella group -- one was a cover of "Baby" by Nil Lara, the other a cover of Stevie Wonder's version of the Beatles' "We Can Work It Out." The singer, John R. Stephens, had this throaty, incredible tenor and a break in his vocal range so gorgeous it sounded almost as though it had been painted into the digital recording after the fact. You can hear a hint of the break by listening to the clip of "Baby" here. Stephens was also a marvelous arranger.

Anyway, a few days ago, I purchased an album on iTunes by a singer named John Legend. I had loved one of its songs from the radio, and after listening to the clips, it appeared the whole thing was excellent. I couldn't get over the thought that I'd heard that voice before, so I Googled my hunch that Mr. Legend was a renamed John R. Stephens, and I was, of course, correct.

This is just a roundabout way of recommending the album, while I'm in the business of making music recommendations. The man is incredible, even if I don't much care for his stage name.

January 11, 2005

Board Game Bonanza

Hey! The Morning News did a round-up of the best board games of 2004 back in December and I totally missed it.

The game called "Hansa" sounds super-fun:

"Participants play the role of merchants, buying and selling wares as they sail the Baltic Sea. The catch is that all the players are on the same boat and take turns determining where the ship sails. Hansa is a highly tactical game, and every turn is a tiny logic problem to be solved."

Buying and selling wares as they sail the Baltic Sea, people! Every turn is a tiny logic problem to be solved!!

Clicking around some of the article's links, I found this card game: Knock Knock. It looks fun, too. But mostly I just love the rock-and-roll ghost in the middle of the page, reproduced here to add visual interest to this otherwise marginal post.

November 21, 2004

I'd Hug Dat

This is the kind of sharp focus and fun utility that all blogs (except, of course, this one) should aspire to:

TreeHugger is the definitive modern-yet-green lifestyle filter. It will help you improve your course, yet still maintain your aesthetic.

So basically it's a blog of stuff that is both a) environmentally responsible, and b) cool. And if you think that is a product category limited to recycled coasters and hemp necklaces, then you must click the above link immediately.

(P.S. Hemp necklaces are not cool. Dork.)

I love TreeHugger's unabashedly commercial sensibility: "Consumers also rely on the directory to help facilitate their buying processes." And they have helpful categories for gifts under $100, gifts under $50, etc.

Anyway, it rules, so bookmark it or RSS-ify it or do whatever you gotta do to keep in sync with the eco-sleekness.