Nike + Contest Winner

by Ami Kealoha

Our Nike + Contest generated hundreds of entries—most of them wrong. Nearly two-thirds named Fred Lorz, who was disqualified from the 1904 St. Louis Olympics for using a car (nice try all of you claiming it was a horseless carriage), but the winner (chosen at random from the correct submissions) is CH reader NL, who writes:

"Spiridon Belokas is the name of the Greek Marathon runner who was disqualified from a third place finish in the 1896 Olympics because of using a carriage for part of the race."

NL will receive an iPod Nano, the Nike+ Sport kit, a pair of Moires, and a free download of The Crystal Method's "Drive." Congratulations!

Beautiful/Decay Tees: Aya Kato and Jonathan Nicol

by Josh Rubin

Recently added to Beautiful/Decay's line of artist-designed tees, these two new shirts continue the brand's shirt-as-canvas approach. Australian artist Jonathan Nicol's "Conan Shirt" juxtaposes mythological icons, like vampire teeth, a woman wearing an eye patch and a skull, using a palette restricted to gray, yellow, black, and white. For Aya Kato's second Beautiful/Decay effort, the Japanese artist depicts two mermaids and their watery surroundings in a black print on a cream t-shirt. See detail shots after the jump. All Beautiful/Decay tees are 40 Needle Knit, 100% cotton, printed using "discharge" process for touch-ability, and feature a slim custom-cut body. Pick these up for $30 from Beautiful/Decay.

Also on Cool Hunting: Beautiful/Decay Tees

Bruce Shapiro's Art Machines

by Josh Rubin

Bruce Shapiro is one of the world's pioneers in DIY computer controlled kinetics. For over a decade, the California-based tinkerer has been designing software to automate a range of machines—from a stratograph, which makes highly-detailed sand art (pictured), to a series called "Sisyphus" that creates intricate mandalas in sand using a ball bearing and a tilt table. Check it out after the jump, along with an image from Shapiro's "Pipedream III," a hi-res bubble raster or embolograph that's capable of reproducing faces.

via Neatorama

Contest Winner: Katana Series Knives by Calphalon

by Evan Orensten

In our recent post on the Katana Series Knives by Calphalon we asked you to send in your favorite kitchen mishap to win an 8-piece set of these great knives (featured on the right).

It was a close call. Highlighted by inadvertent slices and dices to various body parts, maggots, festering meats, potato plants growing in cubbards, ruined meals, a few sexually deviant acts, scary cats, a skunk, a tomato-stealing squirrel, flat cakes, too-tall cakes, giant matzo balls, prized tulip bulbs inadvertantly mashed and buttered, girlfriends mistaking dishwashers for toilets, the confusion that can arise between a can of Pam and bug spray, one-eyed lasagna stealing pugs, disappointed grandmothers/kids/cousins/loved ones and a fire department or two. After much consideration, we chose the following by CH reader TL:

"My in laws visit from the "old country" twice a year. My mother in law, bless her heart, takes care of the kids and cooks big, hearty meals. Unfamiliar with English, she accidentally made her famous dumplings with Fancy Feast cat food. Who could blame her - the cans were sitting right on the kitchen counter.

"We only discovered her "secret ingredient" after the fact, and the dumplings were so good we've served them to countless guests since - without ever divulging the source of those tasty, tender morsels.

For your benefit, the recipe:

Two packages of Betty Crocker Pie Crust Mix
Three cans Fancy Feast Cat Food (beef) One small onion finely chopped
Two cups sliced button mushrooms
1/2 cup white wine
Handful of raisins
Two teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
Ten pitted and diced green olives
1/2 stick butter

"Roll out dough, using a drinking glass create disks of dough, each 3 inches in diameter.

"Fry onions in butter until golden. Add mushrooms and white wine. Add cat food, spices, raisins and olives. When cool place two tablespoons of filling per disk of dough. Fold into semi-circle and flute edges with fork. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 325 degrees. Serve with sly grin."

Congrats TL, and thanks for the dinner invitation. We'll pass.

And thanks to the hundreds of CH readers for sending us their stories and to Calphalon for hooking our readers up.

Tumi x Anish Kapoor Backpack

by Josh Rubin

Designed by sculptor Anish Kapoor in collaboration with Tumi, 100% of the proceeds from this limited edition backpack (each will cost $695) benefit Doctors Without Borders (DWB). Inspired by the needs of humanitarian workers like DWB, Kapoor's interpretation of a traditional doctor's bag features a solar panel for charging phones and other gadgets, removable compartments and pockets (including a laptop sleeve), an electric adaptor, and sections customized to hold documents, a camera, a flashlight, and a water bottle. Made from ballistic nylon with silver lining, each of the 500 made are individually-numbered and bear Kapoor's imprimatur.

The launch of the bag coincides with the 19 September 2006 debut of Kapoor's Sky Mirror project, a 35-foot diameter convex stainless steel ball in Rockefeller Center that will reflect the surrounding cityscape upside down through 27 October 2006.

Treetents

by Josh Rubin

Originally developed by Dutch designer Dré Wapenaar—who was commissioned by a non-profit to make the lives of tree-sitting activists a little easier—these tear-shaped tents hang suspended several feet off the ground. Though never actually used to stop chainsaws, since 1998 they've been in use at the Hertshoorn campsite, sleeping up to a family of four on the interior platform, which has about a nine foot diameter. More recently Wapenaar's also added a bivouac for mourning the dead and an orb-shaped birthing tent (featuring a central pool) to his repertoire.

via Make

Also on Cool Hunting: Hennessy Hammock Tent

Clarification: New Balance 574s

by SummerSeventySix

In response to a handful of emails about a post I wrote last week about the New Balance 574s, I thought I'd clarify a couple of points.

I said that the company was started by an Englishman. 33 year old William J. Riley immigrated to the US from England, and later founded New Balance in Boston, Massachussetts at the start of the 20th Century. Depending on your interpretation, he was an Englishman, an Englishman living in the US, or an American of English heritage.

I also said the shoes were made in the UK. While many models (the 1500/575/576/860 and special editions of the 990/991) are indeed made in New Balance's UK factory in Cumbria in the North of England, pictured above, the Japanese-designed 574s are made in Hong Kong.

More information can be found at New Balance's UK website.

Thanks for your emails, we appreciate them.