Remember the recent story of how billionaire Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard donated $3 billion to a trust to fight climate change? Well, YouTuber Adam "Ruins Everything" Conover breaks down why this is a big fat myth in his latest video, "Good Billionaires Don't Exist."
(Digg)
Tom BetGeorge went viral in 2013 for creating an impressive holiday music and light show to the outside of his home. "Christmas Can Can" even landed him time on Good Morning America. He's come a long way since, creating new shows every year, and launching a business to help others make magic of their own. He's really outdone himself this year with his latest Halloween piece. The show, which is themed to Metallica, Ghostbusters, and Stranger Things, has a new artistic element—coordinating drones—which raises it to 400 feet tall!
For Hispanic Heritage Month, the late great Latin music legend, Tito Puente, is being honored as the subject of a festive and joyful Google Doodle animated video.
Today's animated video Doodle is illustrated by New York-based Puerto Rican artist, Carlos Aponte. A multi-talented artist of Puerto Rican descent, Puente was a percussionist, composer, songwriter, recording artist, and bandleader. With a career spanning five decades, he is often referred to as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin music." On this day in 2021, the Tito Puente Monument was unveiled in East Harlem, New York City.
Behind the Doodle: Celebrate Tito Puente talks with his son, Tito Puente, Jr., about his dad's remarkable life:
Thanks, Otto!
Cards Against Humanity has announced Clam-O-Naise. It's literally a jar of clam mayonnaise that has 30 playing cards "about clams and creaminess" inside. Besides a tangy cod-filled mayo, the jar also includes a free "Clam-O-Prize" which they write could be "real pearls, clam-themed vacations, merch, or even a CAR!" Clam-O-Naise is only available through Target ($9.99) but you can rake up clammy lifestyle products through the Clam-O-Merch store.
It's clam time, America! Cards Against Humanity's all-new Clam-O-Naise® combines creamy, tangy mayo with the delicious fresh taste of real clams. We're not messing around! We worked with a team of serious chefs and food scientists to bring you a shockingly-delicious clam-flavored mayonnaise. Every jar comes with 30 incredible new cards hidden inside and a FREE Clam-O-Prize! So what are you waiting for?
Frito-Lay took the opportunity to honor Cheadle, a hamlet in Alberta, Canada, with a cheesy statue simply because it sounds like the trademark orange residue of Cheetos. Yes, that sticky cheese dust has a name, cheetle. The nearly 17-foot-tall statue depicts Cheetle-dusted fingertips holding a Cheetos Puffs. From the sounds of it, the Cheetle Hand Statue will be on display in Cheadle through November 4 at 400 Railway Avenue, and then will go on a Canadian tour.
"Cheadle is proud to be home to the Cheetle Hand Statue. Where else could the Cheetos brand honour the iconic Cheetle, if not here", said James Gosteli, President, Cheadle Community Club. "While our residents will be the first to see the unique monument, we can't wait for the rest of Canada to see it for themselves!"
Nick Cave has an online store and its offerings are just as weird, subversive, and delightful as you'd expect them to be. There's "Shit for Kids," artsy autographed Polaroids, a revamped version of his sell-out Devil Milk Jug, and so much more. To note, everything in Cave Things is actually created (that is, "designed, drawn, written or recorded") by the man himself. Well, nearly everything, one art print was originally snatched from the pages of Cave's friend Andrew Dominik's notebook.
I am essentially a songwriter. Yet, people who understand my stuff know that it doesn't end there. There has always been a strong, even obsessive, visual component to the process of songwriting—a compulsive rendering of the lyric as a thing to be seen, to be touched, to be examined. I have always done this—basically drawn my songs—for as long as I've been writing them. Cave Things are the incidental residue of an over-stimulated mind—situated beyond merchandise but before art.
When the pressure of songwriting gets too much, well, I draw a cute animal or a naked woman or a religious icon or a mythological creature or something. Or I take a Polaroid, or make something out of clay. I do a collage, or write a child's poem and date stamp and sticker it, or do some granny-art with a set of watercolour paints. The result—Cave Things
Dear Santa: Please put me down for one of these new Earthlings' picture discs:
Previously: "If we love, we grieve," Nick Cave gives fan heartfelt advice
Wowsers, I've seen some weird shoes in my day but these really take the meat-cake. Meow Wolf's Vegas arm, Omega Mart, is offering "100 % non-edible" Party Platter Slides to really blur the lines between art, fashion, and merch ($39.99/adult sizing).
Images: Meow Wolf Shop
The Muppet Martians of Sesame Street are back—as hand-crocheted plant/tissues/light-item holders. Back in September, Crocheter Jessica Turner posted a photo of her Yip Yips in the Home of Peculiar Artists group on Facebook and got a huge response. Demand has since been strong for her colorful Yip Yips, and she estimates deliveries are 8 to 10 weeks out.
If they look familiar, it's because her popular design is a remix based on the viral Yip Yips Stockings from 2018. Those were created by another artist, Carissa Browning, who only offered them as a pattern, never a product.
If you want one of Turner's, she announces their availability on her feeds [Facebook][Instagram], offering them as "preorders" in her Etsy shop. They've been selling out in five minutes, according to commenters. Small ones are $23 and large ones are $27.
For the past seven years, REI has closed their retail stores (as well as distribution centers, activity centers, call centers and headquarters) on Black Friday. The outdoor retailer announced this week that this closure is permanent and the day after Thanksgiving will be a paid day off for their employees. This "Opt Outside movement" encourages employees and customers to go outside instead of shop.
"Opt Outside has always been about prioritizing the experience of our employees—choosing the benefits of time outside over a day of consumption and sales," said Eric Artz, President and CEO, REI Co-op. "When we first introduced this movement, it was considered revolutionary for a retail brand, but we felt it was the right thing to do for our members and employees. Making Opt Outside an annual observance will serve as a yearly reminder of this commitment to doing the right thing for the co-op community."
You will still be able to place an order from REI on Black Friday but it won't be processed or fulfilled until the following day.
Doggos are getting the gourmet treatment in San Francisco with the opening of Dogue, a fine-dining establishment that caters to canines. That's right, a restaurant just for dogs. You will find no people food here. Started as a raw dog food service in 2015, Dogue's owner, Chef Rahmi Massarweh, has now moved on to offering his artisanal treats in a more formal way.
Dogue opened last week at 988 Valencia St. with pastries and "dogguccinos" served during the day and a $75, three-course tasting menu on Sundays. Passersby could easily confuse this for San Francisco's hottest new all-day cafe. A glass case is filled with elegant pastries, like a rose-shaped cake filled with wild venison heart and a doggy petit gâteau modeled after the creations of acclaimed French pastry chef Cédric Grolet. (Dogue's version swaps butter and sugar for grass-fed cream and braised chicken.) On Sundays, Dogue transitions into Bone Appetit Cafe, where chicken-mushroom soup is poured tableside — and then promptly licked up by the eager diners.
Read more: S.F. now has a fine-dining restaurant for dogs with $75 tasting menu
image: New Africa/Shutterstock.com
John Waters is getting back in the director's chair with Liarmouth. The film is an adaptation of his first novel, which is described as a "hilariously filthy tale of sex, crime, and family dysfunction" (apt coming from the Pope of Trash.) The last film he directed was 2004's A Dirty Shame.
"Liarmouth is the craziest thing I've written in a while, so maybe it's fitting that my novel was shocking enough to jumpstart the engine of my film career," Waters said. "Thrilled to be back in the movie business, hopefully to spread demented joy to adventuresome moviegoers around the world."
Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance plot:
Marsha Sprinkle: Suitcase thief. Scammer. Master of disguise. Dogs and children hate her. Her own family wants her dead. She's smart, she's desperate, she's disturbed, and she's on the run with a big chip on her shoulder. They call her Liarmouth–until one insane man makes her tell the truth.
Last Saturday, more than 70 members of the Aloha Caftan Society donned vintage pink caftans, and other choice midcentury aloha wear, and descended on California's kitschiest hotel, the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. The members-only weekend getaway, called "Pink Caftans on Parade," found the fashionistas at the pink palace drinking pink cocktails (like Pink Clouds and Raspberry Gimlets), dining on the hotel's world-famous pink champagne cake, and, of course, posing for "pretty in pink" photo opps.
The group, born at Tiki Oasis, was founded by Sonia Clerc, Pilar Deer, and Nicole Pacheco who write that it's for "anyone who wants to slip on a Aloha caftan, pin a flower in their hair and start sipping a mai tai while dipping their toes in the pool or in the white sands of a tropical beach." Sign me up!
images: Sonia Clerc / used with permission
All aboard! Ozzy Osbourne is on the beauty maybe-not-so-crazy train, with the help of Rock and Roll Beauty. The 21-piece collection is inspired by the Prince of Darkness' heavy metal style, complete with a coffin-shaped shadow palette, a handheld gothic-style mirror that reads "See You on The Other Side," "badass" temporary tattoos, candles, and more.
Australian Comedian Luke Kidgell went one on one with a heckler from New Jersey. No surprise but it seems America really is the laughing stock of the world.
(Reddit)
In Scooby-Doo news you can use, Velma Dinkley has been officially outed. A trailer for the new Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! film reveals that she is, in fact, a lesbian (like we didn't already know). In it, she becomes lovestruck meeting a sexy new character named Coco Diablo—Jinkies!
It's long been an open secret among fans and "Scooby-Doo" creatives that Velma is gay. Even James Gunn, who wrote the early live-action films, and Tony Cervone, who served as supervising producer on the "Mystery Incorporated" series, have confirmed the character's sexuality, but they were never able to make it official onscreen.
In 2020, Gunn tweeted that he "tried" to make Velma a lesbian in the live-action movies. "In 2001 Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script," he wrote. "But the studio just kept watering it down & watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version) & finally having a boyfriend (the sequel)."
With the passing of country legend Loretta Lynn, here's a few fun memories of her hanging out, and singing with, Muppets.
The Muppet Show had Ms. Lynn as its guest star in 1978. She sang "You're Lookin' At Country":
And her funny ditty on motherhood, "One's On The Way" (which was written by Shel Silverstein!):
She also crooned with the Muppet Dogs on "Oh, Lonesome Me":
Her first appearance on Sesame Street came in 1984 where she sang "Count on Me" with Count von Count. The song itself was recorded in 1981 for the Grammy-winning concept album, Sesame Country.
I can't find the video, but she also collaborated with children on "Songs Are For Singing" on that same Sesame Street episode.
Sprice Machines is back with an impressive new Rube Goldberg machine, the Picnic Machine. Hope you're not too hungry, it's going to take a minute to get your feast.
Be prepared to have your mind blown. London-based Artist Mr Doodle spent two years doodling the interior and exterior of his house, documenting the entire process along the way. The resulting stop motion animation of this insanity is definitely worth a watch.
I used 900 litres of white paint, 401 cans of black spray paint (for the outside), 286 bottles of black drawing paint (for the inside) and 2296 pen nibs (I only used four different sized pens but they were refillable and the nibs were replaceable).
The animation was created entirely by me and it consists of 1857 photographs, painstakingly taken between September 2020 and September 2022. The whole house is real, everything is doodled, the doodles were all hand doodled for the animation it's not CGI.
Brilliantly subversive parody by Hyperobject Industries pokes the big oil bear using "cheesy stock footage" and "bullshit music."
When my daughter was little, she asked to got to McDonald's for a Happy Meal. That prompted a conversation about why their food is so cheap and why they need to include a toy to make the sale. She got it and has never asked to stop at the golden arches again.
Now I'm seeing that the fast food chain is offering meal boxes with collectible toys made for adults. The toys are a collaboration with Cactus Plant Flea Market, a "fashion label crafting original streetwear with signature dye treatments and lettering." Not surprisingly, the toys are pretty cool. But, of course, it's just another way push their poison!
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