(photo by Flickr user BigRedBall)

We know the economy’s in the shitter, but damn a staycation. Sometimes you need to get out and about and see things your local park and monuments can’t provide.

Problem is, older you get, higher the chances are you’ve already been to Paris, Tokyo, and Chiang Mai; so where should you go next?

Well, never mind the where, think about the how. Ever been on a cargo ship? Montreal-based A la Carte Freighter Travel will put you on a ship loaded with 7,000 containers but only 11 other passengers (and maybe as few as five or six). Here are some details:

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TAGS: Things We Like

from cooperhewitt.org

“What is good design? You tell us!”
Here’s your chance to chime in on what you think Good Design should really look like!

Here’s the information if you want to check out Cooper-Hewitt’s nominees for this year’s awards, and add your two pennies by voting on your favorites. Click on the link - more after the jump.

Every year, Cooper-Hewitt gives out design awards chosen by a jury of distinguished design gurus—but do you agree with the experts?

Cast your vote for your favorite design before 6:00 p.m. EST on October 21, 2008, and check back on this site on October 23 at 10:00 p.m. EST to see the winner announced live at the National Design Awards gala in New York City.

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Looking to find “books that are difficult to categorize but fun to read”? Journalist Bruce Rutledge founded Chin Music Press, a small company that aims to publish books atypical of the average literature for tourists. In the preface of Kuhaku & Other Accounts From Japan, Rutledge says they want to publish pieces from perspectives focusing on how things actually are overseas. (“Who needs the views of another lanky Westerner?”) Based in Tokyo and Seattle, Chin Music Press’s contemporary philosophy is responsible for publishing innovative books like this month’s Art Space Tokyo—a comprehensive overview of the city’s best galleries, museums, and art offerings. Created “for all of those who have sweated through the streets of this great city, only to find a disappointing exhibition,” it features interviews with directors and curators, essays written by art specialists, insight into the history of the pulsating art scene, and comes complete with detailed neighborhood maps. Chin Music Press strives to take the reader worlds away from common tourist sites and pedestrian knowledge, to real, modern Japan.

Co-Founder Craig Mod will be speaking tonight at the Soho Apple Store! Please stop by to hear Mod talk about books; design and creative processes and Chin Music Press produced books; Art Space Tokyo and Goodbye Madame Butterfly.

TAGS: Reviews, Things We Like

M m m m m muuuuuji.

I like Muji, but I think their strength is actually in their clothing line. If you’re in Tokyo, and you’ve been to the Tokyo Midtown Muji store, you’ll know what I mean. Super simple, well-designed clothes that are well made. But I digress. On Wednesday the 22nd, Muji USA will open probably one of its most talked about (do any local NY’ers actually brave the tourists on Broadway to shop at Muji SoHo?) store. If you happen to be traveling Jetblue, perhaps worth a few minutes to check out. Here’s the press release:

NEW YORK -Monday, Oct 6, 2008- MUJI U.S.A. LIMITED announces that “MUJI to GO JFK International Airport” will open with 596 square feet of retail floor space on Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in JetBlue Airways’ new Terminal 5.

MUJI to GO is the new format of MUJI which has brought together a range of useful items focusing on travel and mobile accessories. First launched at the Hong Kong International Airport in March 2008 to explore future possibilities to offer unique ‘travel and mobile’ concepts for people on the move.

M m m m m muuuuuji.

MUJI to GO at Terminal 5 of JetBlue Airways in John F. Kennedy International Airport, is the first MUJI to GO in the U.S. and the second MUJI to GO in the world. It will offer over 300 household items and 80 apparel items at the opening. Please click here for the MUJI to GO Item Leaflet.

Prominently located in the terminal’s central shopping and dining Marketplace, MUJI to GO expects high traffic at its store. Following the opening of MUJI Times Square and MUJI SOHO, MUJI to GO is the MUJI’s 3rd store in the U.S. and will contribute to increase of awareness all over the U.S.

MUJI, originally founded in Japan, offers good quality products at reasonable prices, and will consider to expand “MUJI to GO” in the future. The essence of MUJI products lies in its simplicity, flexibility and modesty to fit different life styles and individual preferences, which is the reason why its products and concepts are universally accepted.

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Marian Drew’s ‘Australiana’ series displays a studied relationship between history and cultural relevance. In the ‘Australiana’ series; animals found as road kill in the Australian landscape are placed in a compositional homage to the still life genre. There has been large urban growth in Brisbane and one of the most visual effects of that growth is the copious amounts of road kill. Drew has found bandicoots, koalas, lorikeets, snakes and possums without really trying. In each of her photographs the animals are placed in domestic compositions, such as on a dining table set with a candle and bowl. The textural qualities of these compositions jump off the print; as they would in a painting. Drew works in a dark studio only lit by torches, exposing each frame for 15 minutes each.

Drew was born in Australia in 1960 and studied visual art at Canberra School of Art. Drew has had twenty one solo exhibitions in Australia, United States, Germany and France. She is represented in numerous photographic collections, including the National Gallery of Australia and Queensland Art Gallery. She was most recently featured in FOTO FREO 2008; The City of Fremantle Festival of Photography. She is represented by Dianne Tanzer Gallery in Australia and Hous Projects Gallery in New York City. 

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In a great spoof on last week’s Vice Presidential debates, Saturday Night Live’s Tina Fey reprises her role as Joe Sixpack’s candidate Sarah Palin, Jason Sudeikis is a McCain loving Joe Biden, and a great turn from Queen Latifah as moderator Gwen Ifill. Tina Fey is a perfect Sarah Palin—her interpretation paints the VP candidate as clueless but well-groomed. Fey as Palin sums it up nicely, “I’m happy to speaking directly to the American people to let them know if you want an outsider who doesnt like politics as usual or pronouncin’ the ‘g’ at the end of the words shes sayin’, I think you know who to vote for.”

TAGS: Current Events, Things We Like

Beatles, Revolver

Here is a link to a site that features 20 album covers recreated in LEGO. Awesome! Check out the site here.

Morrissey, you are the Quarry

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This is the clone on “so you think you can dance"…

I think he Can Dance - Watch more free videos

This is the inimitable David Elsewhere…

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What’s better than Diddy hiding under the covers, scared to come out? Not much. On the eve of the US Vice Presidential debate, Diddy has one thing to say: Sarah Palin Scares Me. Aside from the silly tone that he takes with his “Diddy Blog”, the Bad Boy founder and the richest man in hip-hop (according to Forbes Magazine), has a great message to his audience—VOTE!! The deadline to register to vote in the upcoming presidential election is OCTOBER 6th!! 

TAGS: Current Events, Things We Like

In New York, a lot of the apartments are crooked. You’ve gotta see my friend Sandra’s apartment out in Billyburg. The floor slants at an insane angle to the right, like you’re inside a pirate ship that just took a starboard hit from a fusillade of cannons.

Architects Arakawa & Gins, a husband-and-wife team with an interesting “Architecture Against Death” philosophy, design homes to be crooked on purpose.

Both their Bioscleave House Lifespan Extending Villa in Long Island and their Reversible Destiny Lofts in Mitaka, Tokyo, have difficult-to-navigate floors that resemble moonscapes after an earthquake, with raised bumps to trip on and varying pitches best navigated sober. There are floor-to-ceiling poles to hang onto for support. To get to the balcony, you have to crawl through a half-sized door; if you want to plug something in, you have to reach above your head and pull down one of the ceiling-hanging power outlets.

Why? To help you live longer.

Its architecture makes people use their bodies in unexpected ways to maintain equilibrium, and that, [Gins] said, will stimulate their immune systems.

Does it work? See for yourself, next time you’re in Tokyo; while the Long Island structure is a private residence, the Mitaka apartments will soon offer short-term stays. Or you can rent one monthly.

via the new york times and pink tentacle

TAGS: Things We Like