Seriously Funny Gifts

by Karen Day

Take the misery out of holiday shopping with these funny gifts, designed to make even Scrooge crack a smile. Our favorite is the F*CK The Rain Umbrella, which would cheer up any gloomy day. Other fun items are bacon dental floss (look for other bacon-inspired items in the gift guide), and the Savin' Up For series of tin banks which offer a plethora of options to save up for, everything from your next vacation to drug money. All these items and more can be found in our 2008 Holiday Gift Guide.

A Field Guide To: The Stamps Of The World

by Karen Day

Stamp collecting just got a little less nerdy, with Portland-based graphic designer Gavin Potenza's new poster, "A Field Guide To: The Stamps Of The World," which features 20 original stamp designs symbolizing 10 countries. Created specifically for the Tiny Showcase Learning Press, the goal is to have fun with education by creating a series of mildly factual, mostly fictitious posters.

Gavin's colorful approach was inspired by the various elements that surround the culture and history of each country. For instance the Switzerland stamp is smartly named Helvetia, and features the center image of Swiss Bauhaus artist Johannes Itten's "Farbkreis" color wheel.

Accordingly, France is represented with two stamps, one with an image from an old French tarot card, the other with a pictorial from renowned French-Hungarian father of Op-Art, Victor Vasarely.

Potenza pays further homage to artists with an Otl Aicher graphic for Germany, but turns to cultural icons and landscape illustrations for the remaining countries which include Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Russia, Mexico, Noway and the Netherlands.

Each 22x29 inch poster is printed on acid and chlorine-free sustainable paper, produced from trees grown on land managed by The Nature Conservancy, and is available for purchase for $12.

Entermodal Pop-Up: Factory

by Karen Day

Entermodal, a luxury leather goods producer known for their quality craftsmanship and commitment to sustainable practices is relocating their Portland-based factory to the streets of Soho tomorrow with their first-ever "Pop-Up: Factory" at Odin boutique.

Designer and founder Larry Olmstead is moving his custom tool set, a century old stitching horse, a selection of never before released leather options and linings, along with his team, in order to cut, sew, and stitch their timeless bags and wallets around the clock. The Manhatan pop-up factory is first in a series of three opportunities to see all of the techniques, design, and labor that goes into each Entermodal product, in addition to catching an exclusive glimpse at their spring/summer '09 collection.

Entermodal + Odin
12-14 December 2008
199 Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10012 map
tel. +1 212 966 0026

Lego Hip Hop Album Covers

by Karen Day

The progressive online publication, Format Magazine, just took playing with Legos to a whole new level with their collection of 20 classic (and some not-so-classic) hip hop album covers recreated with those iconic plastic Lego men.

Shot in the Format studio by Nick Hanekom, and graphically produced by beat-maker Glen Manucdoc, the little Lego guys assume the notorious album cover poses once carried about by the likes of Ghostface Killah, Biz Markie and RUN-D.M.C., to name a few.

While reconstructing scenes with Lego figures has been done before, the hip hop album covers are the perfect combination, since many of us went straight from excessive time playing with the yellow figurines to an absurd amount of hours listening to the Beastie Boys.

Laguna Nursery

by Doug Black

A Laguna Beach staple since the 1940s, the Laguna Nursery is currently experiencing something of a renaissance. After shuffling through a handful of failed ownerships in recent years, Ruben Flores—the shop's current proprietor — has turned it into an eclectic wonderland of plants and artifacts. A local resident and president of landscaping company Visionscape Inc, Flores jumped at the opportunity to buy Laguna Nursery when it went up for auction last year. His creative vision looks nothing like your basic flower shop. The store is set up into distinctly themed garden sections and peppered with artifacts he collected on frequent international trips. More experience than retailer, a visit can involve traditional Asian gardens, Italian portraiture and 19th century iron gates salvaged from New Orleans, all under one roof in Southern California. We recently had a chance to speak with Ruben about his unusual approach to retail and its backstory.

Cool Hunting: What lead you into landscaping?
Ruben Flores: Outdoor life has always been intriguing to me. Even as a kid, I remember looking at the huge plum tree in the backyard and wondering why food came from it. So when the choice for a career came up after high school, I knew it had to do with art and gardens.

CH: How did you come to own the Laguna Nursery?
RF: The history here is great. It's been an institution here in Laguna for over 50 years. It was going to be turned into a storage space the last time it was turned around, so I decided to step in and save our small town nursery. I've been a client here for over 15 years, so I understand the need for something local, something green and a place where beauty abides in the reflection of nature's best.

CH: How do you juggle your landscaping business with the nursery? Do the two compliment each other?
RF: The two are a great compliment. Now, when I travel and buy art, fountains and statuary, I don't have to put it in my gardens at home. I can bring it to the eclectic environs of the nursery and properly display it. That way, my landscape clients can come to the nursery to view it instead of just looking at a picture. It gives the piece a viewing audience within a great space of ambiance rather than in a stale storage environment. It also allows me to set up rooms and areas as I would in a home, so I can mock up a contemporary pool area or an Italian terrace or a New York rooftop garden all in one place.

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Brett Dennen

by Lost At E Minor

We asked Oakdale, California singer-songwriter Brett Dennen, who has one of the finest voices in contemporary pop-folk, about the humor which swirls amidst the brutal honesty of his lyrics, and whether he was generally a positive person by nature.
I'm weird. I can be laid back, and I can be stressed. I can be positive, and I can be cynical. I think generally, I am like everyone else. I want to love, and I want to be loved. I want to be happy and healthy, and I care about people. I care about the world. I want to be known for putting out a positive message I want to be a singer who inspires people to make the world better for everyone.

Some musicians stay strictly out of politics, you clearly beg to differ. Should those in the public eye be using their status to influence change?
It's really their choice. I think everyone who is in the public eye should use their status for something other than themselves, but it is their choice. I think the problem is that it is hard to speak your mind and heart. You write about politics, and people criticize you for it. It's happened to me. You get put in a category. They call you a protest singer. Then you are stuck in a category. You may even get criticized for being too optimistic. I'd rather be criticized for being too optimistic, than being criticized for making bad music'.