LEGO Artist Nathan Sawaya

via designboom

Japandroids

As a typical Middle American shut-in xenophobe, I'm very leery of foreign influence creeping onto American soil. If influence is gonna be spread around, it damn well better be American, and by that I mean it should taste like light beer and popcicles and smell like victory and Tommy Hilfiger.

Fortunately, Japandroids out of Vancouver, BC are a garage rock band with a distinctly Northwest *cough*Seattle*cough* garage rock vibe a la Sunny Day Real Estate. I have seen very few pics, but I don't believe their stage performances involve hockey sticks or references to obscure and possibly fictional places such as "Winnipeg" or "Nova Scotia," so I'm cautiously optimistic that we can avoid any international incidents.

The band is made up of a set of drums and a guitar along with two microphones, and as I understand it they are played by guys named Brian and Dave (King and Prowse are their respective surnames). It is a remarkable bit of sound for such a small contingent, and it is truly one of the finest garage band albums I've heard in years with echoes of the aforementioned SDRE as well as some very early-Billy Corgan-esque guitar fuzz.

The new self-released LP is titled Post-Nothing and is available on iTunes and various P2P sites throughout the internet.

UPDATE: Blogger sucks and will not cooperate with embedding the best track on the album, Young Hearts Spark Fire, directly in this post BUT I have linked to Hype Machine's page so you can listen to it. I'm so good to you people.

Big Maoi Tissue Dispenser

I've had a thing for these towering monoliths of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) since I was little, and I laughed at the video you can see here.

£29.99 or about $40 here.

via CH

Space Invaders Soap

As someone who may or may not still have a Space Invaders comforter stashed somewhere in his parents' house, these little soap invaders quickly caught my eye.

$9.50 plus shipping here.

via boingboing

RESPECT the ROOSTER

Tuong ot Sriracha, or Rooster Sauce as those in the know (or who can't pronounce the Thai name) call it, is my favorite condiment, and receives some well-deserved notoriety in this piece by John Edge for the New York Times.

The Rooster and I have a love-hate relationship: he can sometimes push a meal beyond glorious, but if you abuse him, he will peck your eyes out with a chili-powered fire beak. You heard me.

Thanks to Dano.

Sherlock Holmes

Dick Cheney: Torture Saves Lives

So Dick (The Manhunter) Cheney has recently chided President Barack (The Guy to Whom We Handed This Giant Bag of Shit) Obama for not releasing classified memos on the Bush Administration's use of torture to elicit information from terrorists, goat farmers, and German schoolteachers.

Cheney appeared on one of Fox News Channel's fair and objective pop-journalism talk shows to discuss torture, warrantless eavesdropping, and other facets of his plan to relegate the United States Constitution to several pieces of very old toilet paper. Cheney's verdict on his 8-year reign of anti-terror? "It worked." Fascinating.

In justifying his conclusion, Cheney cited several classified incidents which he couldn't elaborate on in which torturing people gave the United States the ability to thwart terror attacks that would have resulted in numerous American casualties. This is, logically, more than a little flawed, given that the legal and moral issue is not whether the interrogations resulted in usable intelligence, but whether the techniques amount to torture, which is 100% illegal under the terms of the Geneva Conventions, the United Nations Convention Against Torture, and United States law.

In essence, Cheney argues that because the ends justify the means, "it [torture] worked." This is a man who was a heartbeat away from the Oval Office for eight years.

Yeah, and then there's the "Saving American Lives" deal... Some numbers:

American casualties in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center: 2,699
American casualties in the War on Terror as of today: 4,985
American (military) casualties in Iraq (a country which played no part in 9/11): 4,299
Iraqi Civilian deaths (reported) during American occupation: 92,098-100,544

It is a poorly kept secret that Cheney, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz were responsible for planning and executing the war in Iraq. Iraq, which gave the world nauseating images from Abu Ghraib, rape and murder by U.S. marines, and Blackwater contractors murdering 17 Iraqis in broad daylight in the middle of Baghdad.

Cheney did more to destroy this country's international credibility than any man in the history of American politics. In various older civilizations, he would have been shamed into killing himself for the abject failure of his designs. Instead, we give him a bully pulpit to justify the former administration's actions and attack those who are trying to clean up this mess. God Bless America, right?

Art Institute of Chicago Modern Wing

This weekend marks the opening of AIC's Modern Wing. A bastion of contemporary masterpieces and random flotsam being passed off as contemporary masterpieces, this is definitely worth a day trip. In addition to contemporary, the new space has Modern European, Photography, and Architecture/Design collections. More info here.


via curated

Burberry Wrap Strap Watches

The hit of Burberry's Spring '09 Prorsum runway show, these watches are available in the UK via Burberry for 325-395£, which is like $600ish I think. What am I, a currency trader? No. I just write stuff.

via selecticism

Art-a-Whirl 2009 Studio and Gallery Tour

The Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association will be sponsoring Art-a-Whirl this weekend in...well...Northeast Minneapolis. Anyway, this is a great opportunity to check out the local art scene as well as network with bespectacled hipsters wearing scarves and Chuck Taylors while cruising around on their fixed-gear bikes (fixed-gear bikes = trucker hats circa 2002).

Studios and galleries all around the Northeast Arts District (was unaware that such a thing existed until today) will be holding open houses and there will be great bands playing at cool bars all weekend. I recommend the 331 Club where you can catch Lookbook, one of Minneapolis' best local acts in my expert opinion.

From NEMAA:

"More than 500 artists participate in AAW, including potters, tile makers, painters, sculptors, musicians, photographers, glass blowers, printmakers, and textile designers. They showcase their art in warehouses, galleries, homes, storefronts and cafes."

The NEMAA site has a map of venues and whatnot. So, yeah, super fun stuff all weekend up in Northeast. Enjoy.