Steven Leckart

Full Moon Credenza Glows In The Dark

Designer Sotirios Papadopoulos developed "ELI" (Eco Light Inside) a material that glows in the dark and, previously, was used on this illuminating mirror.

Beats using a night light. Maybe.

[via Generate]

Steven Leckart

Swayzaur

Rob Beschizza

Mind the Gap: A compendium of disturbing British public information films

What cinematic horrors compare to the schadenfreude of a British public service announcement? When it comes to illustrating our poor judgment and feeble bodies, knifecrime island has no peer. Imperious accents, marbled with black humor, dwell on the dangers that lurk everywhere. Foolish teens scream along to diskfuls of bone-crunching sound effects; tentacles assault the female ones with crude metaphors, and they never, ever forget. Life is an orgy of risk: escape it while you can!

Warning: disturbing British PSAs are disturbing.

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Steven Leckart

Money Origami: Star Wars, Star Trek

Gorgeous work, AndrewWan Park! (...nice photos, Andrew!)

[via Drawn!]

Steven Leckart

Apple Store As Audition/Office Space

This little dude Nicholi has shot dozens of lip sync videos at the 5th Avenue Apple Store. And why not? Plenty of desktops. Free wi-fi. Solid tech support.

These are the same reasons model and self-marketer Isobella Jade wrote her entire memoir in the SoHo Apple Store. (Sound uncomfortable? Consider that Hemingway also wrote while standing up.)

Above is Nicholi's rendition of the Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow", and here's his take on "I Gotta Feeling."

[via Abe Forman-Greenwald]

Lisa Katayama

"Ship of Fools" made from a giant map

New Zealand designer Fletcher Vaughan made this sculpture of a boat &mdash his modernized objectified version of the Ship of Fools allegory &mdash out of a giant map of the world. He folded it origami-style and placed it out by a waterfront, where it could be swept by wind into the sea or drenched and destroyed by rain. "The illusion of simple paper construction," he writes, "represents the fragility of our planet and its inhabitants in the present day."

Fletcher Systems main page

Steven Leckart

Stargate Babes Do Chewbacca

Check out Stargate cast members, Alaina Kalanj, Elyse Levesque and Ming-Na doing their best Chewie impersonations.

The footage is from an interview the actresses gave to Wired at Comic-Con. The editing is compliments of my pal Fernando Cardoso.

Can you do better? I'd love to see this sucker get remixed again and again...

[via Underwire]

Steven Leckart

Video: Tron, Astro Boy & Cloudy w/Chance of Meatballs

Wired is hosting a special Cafe at Comic-Con, where I've been interviewing some pretty fun folks in film and TV, including Kristen Bell of Astro Boy, Tron Legacy's Olivia Wilde, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs co-directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller. You don't get to see my face or hear my voice. But take my word for it, I was there!

Lisa Katayama

Jewelry that spells out its function, literally

Jewelry for people who don't know their cufflinks from their earrings.

Chao & Eero [via Moco Loco]

Steven Leckart

ComiCon: Day 1 [Verdict: Nerdywood!]

I've tagged along with Wired for this year's ComicCon. It's my first time. So far so good.

Coming Up: a collection of cosplay interviews...

Rob Beschizza

Pittsburgh Dpt. of Zombie Disposal

Update: The PDZD's Eve writes in: "Hey! Thanks for noticing my car! I mean, the PDZD appreciates your interest. Yes, sadly the city has been cutting back on our funding ever since the Great Uprising of the '70s. The mayor has seen fit to divert funding towards more elite militant SWAT style squads, forcing our rag-tag crew to make do with used Chevys donated by citizens of our fair burgh. The Department is currently accepting applications. Interested parties should contact washbar@mail.com. Non Pittsburgh residents welcome."

Steven Leckart

"Southpaw nothing. I'll drop him in three."

Steven Leckart

Buzz Aldrin: Engineer, Rapper, Heart-Breaking Realist

"That's not going to happen."

In just five words, Buzz Aldrin casually broke my heart. Which is to say, the former astronaut-turned-rapper reminded me that despite the haze of nostalgia surrounding the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing, Aldrin is still very much an engineer, a logician who deals in pragmatic extremes. Not some romantic willing to dive into hyperbole or seemingly-pointless hypotheticals.

The question prompting the above response seemed simple enough at the time: "If you could go back for another Moon walk or orbit Mars tomorrow, which would you choose?"

A total softball question, I admit, but I'd just spent the last half hour listening to Aldrin mostly ramble and rehash much of what he's already said about NASA's failures, China, why we should focus on Mars, and more. Not all that surprising, considering Xeni found Aldrin relatively incoherent when she interviewed him a year ago.

However, I had figured a simple question like this might ground us, get the 79-year-old legend reflective &mdash possibly even a little misty-eyed &mdash or at least waxing semi-poetic. After all, Aldrin took part in one of the most glorious spectacles ever captured on film, an event which garnered what was, at the time, the most-watched live TV broadcast ever (some 600 million viewers). Getting to the Moon is still the gold standard to which invention and engineering can frequently be compared &mdash i.e. "We've gone to the Moon, but I still can't get cell phone reception in my home?"

All I wanted was for Aldrin to utter something like: "Well, my boy, I'd orbit Mars, because it's somewhere we've never been. And we should never stop pushing the limits of what's possible." etc. etc.

Find out what he actually said, after the jump, along with more reflections with/of/from the man Snoop Dogg now calls "Doc Ron," a shortened version of Aldrin's nickname "Dr. Rendezvous."

photo by NASA via Boston Globe via Todd Lappin

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Rob Beschizza

Crush Madoff's Head

Our Price: $14.95

List Price: $50,000,000,000.00

You Save: $49,999,999,985.05

Product Page [Klear Gear]

Steven Leckart

Vampire Fangs Flytrap, Headgear

I'm a sucker for all things miniaturized and oversized. So I'm especially fond of JAAAHWS, a big version of those classic novelty vampire fangs. Use them to build your own maneating flytrap (above) or put the fangs on your noggin', like so... (adults can wear them, too)

Interesting tidbit: JAAAHWS were created by Brian Morishita who also works with Rick Baker at Cinovation Studios, which means he has two super cool jobs.

Available in white ($20) and glow-in-the-dark ($28 - limited).

Steven Leckart

Help Out BBG's Favorite Guerrilla Gardener

Annie, the guerrilla gardener I wrote about for BBG, is in a fracas with Caltrans, which wants to remove some of the work she's done.

Pretty lame, considering she is the only reason this freeway off-ramp transformed from nothing to something.

Want to support the cause?

Sign this petition.

...And buy a "Runs with Pruners" t-shirt ($5 goes towards garden tools, supplies, etc.)

Lisa Katayama

Map shows Golden Gate Bridge marked by suicides

This depressing but fascinating map shows the Golden Gate Bridge marked by the number of suicides at each of the 128 light poles that span it.

[via StrangeMaps]

Steven Leckart

Video Gallery: The Humanimal Kingdom

Using bodypaint, makeup, teeth and other prosthetics, people are succeeding at some pretty mind-blowing transformations. Not to knock furries, but there's a big difference between putting on a fuzzy suit and adding prosthetics and silicone to alter the bone structure of your face. These folks, namely Russian Model Alex Kovas, really go the extra mile:

(Not the best artistry, especially compared to Kovas, but bonus points for doing everything himself quickly and opting for the Rolling Stones as a soundtrack.)

Steven Leckart

Make-Up: The Soundtrack

The mid-90s band Make-Up didn't actually wear makeup, at least not overt KISS-style facepaint. They did, however, wear matching suits from time to time. Either way, I'm a fan. Think punk meets soul.

My favorite song: "Born on the Floor" from my favorite album I Want Some. To sample the goods, check out the Make-Up on Pandora

Tidbit: Apart from playing on a slew of other albums with several other seminal D.C. bands (like Nation of Ulysses), Make-Up lead singer Ian Svenonius is also the host of Vice Magazine's "Soft Focus."

Here he is chatting up Andrew W.K. at the Guggenheim in NY (yes, really):

Lisa Katayama

Blu-ray makeup for high definition hotness

Now you can go to Sephora and buy makeup specifically engineered so you'd look good in hi-def.

Product page [Cargo Cosmetics]

Steven Leckart

Official KISS Army Makeup

Each set comes with "creme makeup, brush, sponge, puff, powder and detailed instructions."
$50 for all four characters: The Demon, The Starchild, The Catman, The Spaceman.

Still, I'm not sure these are quite as awesome as the 1978 "KISS Your Face" kit from Remco.

Steven Leckart

PARC: What's w/the Shagadelic Carpet & Beanbag Chairs?

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Joel Johnson

Video: Web Side Story

I am increasingly impressed by the quality of College Humor's videos, but if they start doing Broadway musicals parodies I'm going to weep rainbow tears of joy.

Rob Beschizza

All the news that's fit to print (or edit)

The New York Times used its influence to kill a story: that one of its reporters was kidnapped. It gained the agreement of countless other outlets to suppress the news. Wikipedia agreed to squelch attempts to break the story there, too. The rationale was that doing so would keep his ransom low and help ensure his safety. David Rohde ultimately escaped his Taliban captors.

This one's a toughie.

On one hand, it's an uplifting story about how dissimilar organizations came together to limit the risk to an endangered reporter. Common sense suggests the right thing was done.

On the other hand, the NYT has no qualms reporting other kidnappings--only when its own financial self-interest is at stake does it take refuge in security-before-truth pieties. What other undisputed truths do the media collectively agree not to report? What other favors might Jimmy Wales be enticed to perform?

Actually, don't answer that last one.

Steven Leckart

MUSIC REMIX: "I got 99 problems but my pitch ain't one."

Remember Jay-Z's song "Death of Auto-Tune (D.O.A.)"? Well, it's been remixed by Wallpaper, an Oakland-based group whose singer is known for his ironic use of &mdash you guessed it &mdash Auto-Tune.

Best part is that Wallpaper...

a) Auto-Tunes the heck out off of Jay-Z's voice
b) tweaks the line "I got 99 problems but my bitch ain't one" to "...pitch ain't one."

Clever stuff, fellas!

[via Funny Ha Ha]

photo by Kim Erlandsen

Steven Leckart

Video Gallery: Big Surf Wipeouts Are Gnarly

I wipe out on 3-5 ft waves often. It sucks. But I cannot even begin to imagine what a wipeout of this magnitude feels like.

After the jump, more crushing spills...

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Steven Leckart

Video: Aerial of a BIG Wave Ride

:O

Lisa Katayama

Sonogram cufflinks for proud daddys-to-be

Sonogram cufflinks are great for men who want to wear their excitement about becoming a dad on their sleeves.

Product page

Joel Johnson

Video: How to start a dance party (Sasquatch 2009)

As I once said to a crowd of stoically swaying My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult fans who were very frustrated with my attempts to dance with them while I was two bottles to my tits on DXM: Come on, let's just daaaance.

Steven Leckart

One of My All-Time Favorite Bridges

From Iron Man and The Big Lebowski all the way back to 1984's Starman, one of the most resilient and complex "bridges" of our time has been Jeff*. The Dude's mostly-handwritten web site is always surprising and enjoyable, especially the way he uses his own drawings to hyperlink to "Stuff" he likes.

*No disrespect to Lloyd, Beau, or Todd.