Otis Clay is 67 years old and still serving up the soul, performing his brand of R&B and gospel all over the world. Mississippi-born but now a long-time Chicago resident, Clay is a well-known community leader on the city’s West Side, giving tons of time and talent to efforts that help create economic opportunity with initatives […]
It’s hard to believe that just a few years ago, many desert dwelling suburbanites viewed lush green lawns as de rigueur–a defining symbol of the American dream. Not any more, but still we cling to the entrenched vision of the “green, green grass of home.” Today’s Fact-o-Pic* is drawn from a great article on Wall Street […]
It almost never rains in Southern California, but when it does… “We’re going to have a mass panic on our hands.” Comedian Mark Iverson’s movie parody, Rain: H2O…NO pulls out every widescreen cliche you can think of for this hysterical “trailer” that captures the high drama of Los Angelenos freaking out as the storm clouds gather. This was […]
Installment #4! The world’s most esoteric fruits are helping marketers de-commoditize bottled water with mysterious, value-added flavorings. I shelled out $2.50 just so I could share this Borba Water with Lychee Fruit with you! The lychee (aka laichi or lichuare) is a fruit tree native to Southern China and is now cultivated throughout parts of Southeast Asia, reaching Hawaii in […]
In an incident sure to go on their permanent records, four South Carolina college students were arrested after detonating several “Works Bombs” in an around their dorm. A “Works Bomb” is a new one by me, but is apparently a well-known prank among our idle youth, with many how-to’s and videos abounding across the internet. And […]
We’ve had a wet few days here in my ‘burb, but now it’s clear…an ideal time to share American folk artist Joe Purdy’s song I Love the Rain Most (When it Stops). If the 2004 song sounds vaguely familiar, maybe you’re a Grey’s Anatomy fan; the song was featured on an episode of that ABC […]
Soon, will your airfare include an additional fee for “holding it?” Maybe, now that Japan’s All Nippon Airways has started asking passengers to go to the toilet before boarding because…they want to reduce carbon emissions! (Just think of the greenwashing potential…ANA: we’re working hard to address Carbon Leak issues!) From The Daily Mail (UK): All […]
Fierce and cannibalistic! The battle to the death will be primitive and unmerciful! This is not a sensational film coming to your local multiplex, but a way-back look back at 76-year old street science. These days, we can watch protozoa battling on screen whenever we’re online, but in 1933 this was shocking, amazing stuff! The article […]
If you think there’s not much you can do with the bland look of white porcelain, the cooler-than-us people at Hu2 Design have come up with something affordable, impermanent and way, way out there. Their “Smart Vinyl Laboratory” features vinyl stickers can be applied to any smooth surface…like this one! And renters, note, they are […]
Is today’s tidal wave of plastics rooted in the actions of centuries past? Ellen Driscoll’s installation FASTFORWARDFOSSIL: Part 2 (at Brooklyn, NY Smack Mellon/Dumbo Arts Center) is composed of 2600 discarded #2 plastic bottles she has painstakingly cut up and reformed as a ghostly, translucent landscape. The installation was conceived to provoke a critical look at the environmental […]