Threadless Sale

by Ami Kealoha

Threadless' new "Everyone Is A Designer" tee by Travis Matthew Stearns (pictured) is an appropriate way to announce their latest $10 sale. The pioneers in internet-based democratic design shared only five codes with a select few (including yours truly) that will enable customers to pickup their tees for just $10 each. The only catch is you must buy at least three shirts and this offer only lasts until 25 February. Enter code tenbucks20 at checkout.

To celebrate, Cool Hunting's got three mystery hoodies to give away to the first three people who answer the following question correctly: Which magazine honcho has amassed over over 800 T-shirts after collecting them for more than 20 years? Submit your entries here and sign up for the mailing list while you're at it!

Plug Independent Music Awards

by Ami Kealoha

Any event that attempts to legitimize a category of music whose nature is to be on the margins bears a serious burden. The Plug Independent Music Awards (“Plugies,” as they might be called), which presented awards last Thursday, 2 February in NYC, managed to be an industry showcase without being too much industry. Sure, the third edition of this alternative event featured its share of celebrity presenters and pre-packaged video clips, not to mention swag (thank you), but it had its anti-Grammy moments too. No awkward scripted banter, a refreshingly blatant lack of professionalism, and ceremony participants more likely seen in the pages of A.P. than on MTV made for more of an awards ceremony with poor posture than high-gloss show.

Lest they lose their street cred for even attempting to institutionalize something so independent, most involved probably saw it as an opportunity to recognize and promote good music ignored by an indifferent music biz. So their heart was in the right place. Plus the right people were involved; a loose conglomeration of Indie record labels, stores, journos, and supporters.

With 12 nominees per category, the awards celebrated efforts like best metal album, best magazine, and best radio station, and the eclectic array of categories included a range of nominees like the Animal Collective, Coachella, and pitchforkmedia.com.

Check out the winners here

by Patrick Speckman

Freestyle MINI Game

by Jacob Resneck

If you're looking for a little diversion with your Sprint mobile phone, you'll soon be able to download the Freestyle MINI handheld game. Unlike real life as well as Grand Theft Auto and Outrun!, players are rewarded by obeying speed limits and rights-of-way with cash and modifications on their virtual Minis.

Fans of the Mini Cooper will appreciate this game; anyone enthused by handheld video games can also appreciate its classic arcade style. Included in the package are polyphonic ringtones, wallpaper for your monitor and other bonuses.

by Jacob Resneck

Plush Week at Gallery 1988

by Carol T Chung

Opening this Tuesday night in L.A. at Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight is Plush Week! The show features hundreds of one of kind plush toys to drown yourself in cuteness consumption gluttony. Featured here is Tsai-Fi's Periwinkle Dust Bunni. Tsai-Fi takes vecter art characters and brings them to life as plushies and even applies the characters to t-shirts and accessories. Her work as well as many others will be exhibited at the show this week, so be sure to check it out if you're in the L.A. area. I bet the little darlings could all use a good home!

Plush Week
From February 7th to 14th
Opening Reception: Tuesday February 7th, 8pm to 11pm

Gallery 1988
7020 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90038
map

Ooms Memory Stick

by Ami Kealoha

Oooms made the rounds last week — check out the geeky visual pun, intended to stand out against the slick plastics of normal office gear, on We Make Money Not Art and Treehugger.

Starts at €79 for 128MB (goes up to 1G) from Oooms.

Also on Cool Hunting: How to Disappear Completely

Nullsleep

by Josh Rubin

Nullsleep makes music on Gameboys. Exclusively. And it's really good. He performed recently at Monkeytown in Brooklyn, NY and the m ss ng p eces was there to capture it for CH Video. His interview, and excerpts from his performance, comprise the first in our series '8-bit' which is about making music on low-fi gadgets.

Now that we've made our video podcasts web accessible, you can watch it right now, here.

Dial 'M' For Music

by Josh Rubin

The March Issue of Cargo Magazine is just hitting newsstands and subscribers' mailboxes and is definitely one to check out. In addition to being one of the best issues of the men's shopping magazine so far, it includes a story I wrote for them about music phones. The beautifully photographed (thanks, James Wojcik!) piece reviews eight music phones currently on the market—Sony Ericsson's W600i, Samsung's A920, Motorola's ROKR, LG's VX9800, Nokia's N91 and the T-Mobile SDA. Each one is reviewed for what it is, but also compared to the others in terms of usability, portability and sound quality.

At the time it was written Sprint had just launched their music service, but Verizon's was not yet announced. Cargomag.com compliments the magazine story with a timely review of online mobile music services.