1.28.2009

Mark Gonzalez x adidas Campus



Here's an adidas Campus with a unique colorway and upper artwork by skateboard legend Mark Gonzalez. Available here. These are mostly here because I don't want those fucking Kanye abominations to be the only kicks on the front page.


The Impossible Project: The Re-Invention of Instant Film


Remember when Polaroid made the switch from analog to digital cameras? It was a really long time ago... Like 3 weeks or something crazy. Well it turns out that some intrepid folks in the Netherlands have acquired a former Polaroid factory located in Enschede, NL, and are planning to restart production next year. The Impossible Project is not aiming to produce the same film, but aims instead "to develop a new product with new characteristics, consisting of new optimised components, produced with a streamlined modern setup."

Learn more about The Impossible Project as well as lend your support here. Also check out the archives for a look at Polaroid's new digital instant camera, set for release this year.

via CH

AT&T, Comcast the First to Bend Consumers Over for RIAA


Remember when I told you about the RIAA and how it was no longer going to sue dead people and children? The alternative was instead to place the copyright enforcement burden on ISPs, remember? Well the first step in that process began with the revelation that Comcast and AT&T are working towards active cooperation in this new anti-piracy regime.

According to CNET three sources close to the companies admitted that they were looking at implementing programs to punish broadband users for illegally downloading copyrighted music. The program will reportedly employ a "three strikes" policy that allows you to get caught without too much trouble twice, but the third time you will have your broadband disconnected, you will not be able to reconnect, and you could potentially be blackballed from other ISPs.

I don't know what to say about this. Blackballing people from broadband access for copyright violations? What happens if someone is stealing your cable to download illegally? Wouldn't it be easier and more fair to the consumer to shut out the sites that facilitate piracy? I guess not.

I'm not going to use any violent language because it is after 6 and I'm contentedly eating dinner and watching a documentary on The Flaming Lips who are, incidentally, a great band. Maybe I will get some vitriol flowing later on when I watch this Daft Punk movie that apparently has no Daft Punk music or helmets. I'm fairly certain it will make me angry...I know I was annoyed when I read the synopsis, and thinking about it now has me on the verge of irritated. More details to follow. I know you can't wait.

via giz

1.27.2009

Bumpy Pitch T-Shirts



Bumpy Pitch has some vintage football club designs from this side of the pond. They are supposedly a retrospective of important football clubs from the 1890s through the 1980s, but the list seems incomplete without a New York Cosmos shirt. Such is life, though.

$36 here

Seasteading Institute Building Island Lairs For Aspiring Supervillains



While being an entity for less than a year, The Seasteading Institute has caused waves recently (ba dum dum) by advocating construction of a fully self sufficient island platform that could be permanently occupied (pending resupply and/or successful food production one must assume) by a supervillain and his entourage.

From dvice: "This 160,000 square foot deck, held together by super-strong carbon-fiber cables, was created by offshore oil rig designer Marine Innovation & Technology. It's supported by floating, stabilizing pillars to minimize the effects of huge ocean waves, powered by an auxiliary diesel generator that can move it along at 2 knots, and includes a desalinization plant for all your water needs."

In addition to being a swank getaway in international waters or platform from which to launch your tsunami-generating fusion-powered pulse weapon, the Seasteaders insist that with a large number of these leviathans roaming the oceans, the social fabric of our society will become more aligned with 21st century values in that citizens of the world will be able to move about freely and choose to align themselves with 'niche governments' which more adequately address their interests. Mmmkay.

Anyway, this particular platform will retail for about $50 million, which is a pretty reasonable price to pay for what amounts to a small independent island nation. I would name my platform Carl, a nation perpetually warring with its arch-nemesis, Chad. Breeding a little zealotry into the people of Carl will get them motivated and increase production while the threat of reprisals from Chad is negligible given the fact that it is landlocked in the middle of the Sahara. It's a win/win for me as the High Priest of Carl, so who has $50 mil for me? You can have the big bedroom.

Kanye West x Louis Vuitton Sneakers Are Fugly



Last I checked, Kanye West is a hip hop artist and producer who makes probably the sickest beats in the industry and babbles on about girls and drugs and whatever else it is that those type of artists babble on about. Apparently not content with his domination of the babbling hip hop scene, Kanye has gone the Pharell route and started designing shoes. Shoes for Louis Vuitton, who are famous because they make luggage and purses for women.



Anyway, the shoes are just disgustingly ugly, so that's the end of that one would hope. Regardless, the reasons I am writing about them are twofold: 1) it's been slow for blog material lately, and 2) because Kanye openly admits that the inspiration for that hideous heel cuff is the collar of a costume from the massive 1984 sci-fi flop Dune. Wow. Talk about a really timeless film that bridges the gap between generations.



I know another story like this: it involves a man named Mugatu and a certain ebony-and-ivory-themed necktie. Kanye's vision to have everyone dressed up like they're cast in bad '80's sci-fi may read like some fantastical plot tangent from Zoolander, but sadly it is quite real. How long this collaboration will perpetuate itself probably has alot to do with the number of people out there willing to pay a king's ransom for ugly shoes. That being the case, I'm guessing I will be reading about this steaming pile of sneaker for some time.