Cool Hunting
| 05 May 2008view entries from: this week | this month | view previous day | view next day |
Noon Solar Bags
by Brian Fichtner
When I first stumbled upon Noon Solar bags at the Museum of Arts and Design exhibit Beyond Green in 2006, these innovative solar accessories were in the early stages of development—in need of a little refinement and perhaps some venture capital. Fast-forward two years and Noon Solar has become a stellar brand with bags befitting Fifth Avenue and downtown alike.
Apart from the ability to charge your phone or Apple accessory simply by walking in the sun, Noon Solar bags come with the added pedigree of sustainable production. All bags are manufactured from biodegradable materials (with the exception of the solar panels and hardware which can be reused or recycled) and natural dyes, using techniques that often date back hundreds of years.
Later this month, the company will be releasing their Spring/Summer collection, which is comprised of the Sawyer messenger, the Oakley beach bag, the Cortland tote, and the Logan satchel (not pictured). If the sell-through of last fall's inaugural collection is any indication of popularity, Noon Solar is just getting warmed up.
post sponsored by
Knife Skills Illustrated
by Ami Kealoha
As any semi-serious cook (or Food Network junkie) knows, the foundation of cooking is the ability to dice and pare with the best of them. While classes at the Culinary Institute might not be in your future, the recent "Knife Skills Illustrated" is a worthy alternative, collecting extensive methods and techniques for cutting fruits, vegetables and meats into one handy volume.
With over 800 illustrations, the book explains the basic (dicing onions, slicing tomatoes) to the complex and exotic (cutting a pineapple, shaving fennel, leek strings), all with instructions for both right- and left-handed chefs.
The exhaustive resource will improve the repertoire of novice and advanced choppers alike, rounded out by a knife directory, advice about maintenance and other useful tips. As I experienced when I had my own personal epiphany after learning how to properly dice an onion at my first high school job in food prep, good knife skills not only make for better food, but for more fun cooking.
Order "Knife Skills Illustrated" from Amazon or Cooking.com.
Biggs & Featherbelle Body Care
by Lost At E Minor
Before my friends at Biggs & Featherbelle urged me to try their Muscle Soak, I'd never been a fan of baths. Their inventive mix of Ginger, Alfalfa, and woodsy essential oils took me somewhere else. The no-synthetics and their packaging are equally inventive pluses for the body care company.
Pray For Me: The Jason Jessee Film
by Mike Giles
In today's hyper-extreme, action-packed, sports drink-swilling, hummer-driving, blinged out world of professional skateboarding, with top "athletes" easily making six figure incomes, it's easy for one to forget about the true nature of where skateboarding comes from. Movies like " Dogtown and Z-Boys" helped sum up skateboarding's “roots” by focusing on pioneers such as Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta, but not many stories have been told about the pros of the late '80s and early '90s when the world of skateboarding was truly in bloom.
“Pray For Me" is just that, a striking honest portrayal of one of skateboarding's true heroes Jason Jessee, whose unorthodox and borderline paranoiac lifestyle captures the true essence of what it was like to be part of the scene in a time when skateboarding was still full of raw innocence and decisions weren't based on the size of the paycheck. Watch a trailer, read more reviews or get a copy of the film on the official site.
