“This is your life. Do what you love, and do it often.
If you don’t like something, change it. If you don’t like your job, quit. If you dont have enough time, stop watching TV.
If you are looking for the love of your life, stop; they will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love.
Stop over analyzing, life is simple. All emotions are beautiful. When you eat, appreciate every last bite.
Open your mind, arms, and heart to new things and people, we are united in our differences. Ask the next person you see what their passion is, and share your inspiring dream with them.
Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself. Some opportunities only come once, seize them.
Life is about the people you meet, and the things you create with them, so go out and start creating.
Life is short. Live your dream, and wear your passion.”
This pretty much encapsulates the mission of Holstee, a fresh NY based clothing start-up with a serious agenda. Not only do you support kick-starting the businesses of impoverished entrepreneurs around the world through KIVA with 10% proceed donations, help save the planet with eco-friendly and extremely high quality materials, and look awesome in a pocket shirt or my personal favorite, a versatile FIN, but you also support the dream of two brothers who want to challenge people to wake up and start living. Nobel cause, awesome designs, I wear it, check it out.
Fang Island‘s new album has been described by band members themselves as “everyone high-fiving everyone.” Despite the fact that bands usually aren’t good at describing their own music (Tom Delonge repeatedly claiming his next AVA album would change the world comes to mind,) this is exactly what I’d liken the music to: a room of everyone just feeling good and handing out high-fives, pardon the pun. Arguably the first sleeper hit of the year, “Fang Island” takes everything right about The Postal Service and Japandroids and smashes it together into one; is that not a recipe for an awesome sandwich with a side of hipster? Pick it up here.
Here’s an analogy for you: Fomato cards is to Hallmark, as A&V is to <insert your least favorite large blog here>. Sure, 2 of them make cards and 2 might write blog posts about making cards, but I’d like to think that the former do their job just a little more awesomely. Unless they’re stuffed with greenery, I’ve never really been thrilled with any card I’ve ever received–they’re usually just cliched commercial cardboard. And then came fomato, and with it, a whole new perception of gift-cards. Outrageous dry-humor, solid illustrations, and themes bizarre enough to make you forget about your own birthday, these cards completely defy the stereotype. You can be sure that any card I send will most definitely be a fomato. (More…)
I’m sad to discover the Chinatown Storefront Library Project after its completion, still Boston Street Lab’s latest venture is a really great example of community outreach every city can learn from. The organization aims to find ways to make city life a little more human by promoting cultural and civic programs in downtown Boston. These programs strive towards surpassing our current economic problems and creating a sustainable future for the city. Read more after the jump…
I woke up this morning and was absolutely gobsmacked to read that the Senate was planning to bail on the Volcker Plan. I mean, I know Geithner wants to overhaul financial reform, but canning the Volcker plan leaves key financial assets subject to the discretionary whims of proprietary trading. I totally plan on calling NPR’s Planet Money and expressing my outrage.
Only a few days after a heart-wrenching report suggesting the sale of Abbey Road studios went out, BBC News is proud to inform us that the studios are, in fact, NOT for sale. EMI has reported that they do not have plans to sell the legendary vestige to the greatest band ever, and instead are focused on revitalizing the studios. Abbey Road has actually been losing money over the past few years, and EMI wants to fix that with a little funding. And by a little I of course mean a lot. And if EMI doesn’t have the money for a lot, guess what? Third party! Thus, EMI states that, “These plans would involve a substantial injection of new capital”… whatever that means.
Really though, we get what it means. If the guys at EMI want to keep the studios under their ownership, they have to give in and add a new member to their team (maybe someone like Mr. Moneybags or Warren Buffett?). This probably means some changes will be made, something that unyielding fans may be displeased about, but hey, it’s better than watching it disappear completely.
If you haven’t heard of The Books, the electro-folk duo from Manhattan, here’s a primer for virgin ears: The Cello Song featuring Jose Gonzales. I love that song so much I had to look up a word just to describe it: unctuous. It can mean something that’s excessively smooth or…buttery. I’m torn as which to apply.
Everything they do sounds like it belongs at the sorta-kinda inspirational/accepting/life changing/fuck it I’m gonna do it! climax of an Indie movie. Not like, Michael Cera Indie movie, but maybe The Squid and The Whale. Or something. Either way, I’m pumped that they’re making a stop in Ithaca during their six show mini tour of the East coast. The show is going to be held at the Cornell Cinema and it’s going to look like this. I got my ticket already. Get yours here. You can bet there will be A&V coverage of the event. Look for the morning after post, March 31st.
Why is it that a fish market can be so much more acceptable than a slaughterhouse, to the extent that it begins to attain a certain level of macabre beauty? Blood, business, passion, and stale stench of ice fill the air as old men who eat, live, and breath nothing but the life aquatic take to their podiums and with their shouts hold the attention of the room, with intent buyers scrutinizing every syllable, hoping to gain some sort of edge over their competitors.
It’s a world where perfection reigns supreme and the laws of supply and demand are broken on a regular basis. The Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo holds the reputation as being the best fish market in Japan and thereby, the world (or so I’m told). It’s where Japan’s sushi masters go to shop, scrutinizing every carcass to ensure that it meets their standards. Thomas Cristofoletti has a fantastic set covering both the Tsukiji Market and greater Japan. While he says on his website that he’s based out of Madrid, Cristofoletti’s work mostly covers his global travels. From Peru to Los Angeles to Dublin, his sets are brilliant catalogues of a world that would otherwise go unseen. See more from Thomas here.
To our NYC readers: Keith Haskel is taking back your streets, one billboard at a time. The Improv Everywhere member and documentary film maker staged a guerrilla takeover of advertising, fueled by nothing more than a phone tree and white wash. More videos from KSKILL here.
Feeling depressed? You haven’t met misery until you’ve met the blobfish, a drifting mass of sadness from New Zealand. It’s face reads: ‘kill me, please’–and ironically, they are in fact on their way to extinction. Efforts to save them are strangely absent from the enviro-con scene.
Ever wondered if the sounds of strangers’ pains could be remixed into album? Wonder no more: it’s the pain-pack.
Want to cheer up after checking out the last two links? Try to find some patterns in these giant lists of beers and bell towers compiled by a dude with much too much free time and far to little sanity.
Express your inner engineer without trading in your accessories for motherboards–it’s the gear ring. [via swiss-miss]
And last but certainly not least: it’s a tub of mud…that controls a computer. Oh yeah.
“This is your life. Do what you love, and do it often.
