Hasta La Ideas

I can’t remember where I first saw these, but the “To-Do Tattoo” caught my attention as a great way to help kids remember things. The temporary tattoos in the kit seem a bit unnecessary, but the skin-safe gel pen is a hit in my book.

Sure, you could easily create a digital list or a list on a sheet of paper, but both run the risk of being lost. This way, you can be sure your child makes it wherever he needs to go with everything on his list.

It’s novel, and I like when organizing can be fun.

(Photo: James and Karla Murray)

“Ideal Dinettes” sounds like an establishment dreamed up by Thomas Pynchon, but in fact, it existed for 55 years, selling utopian kitchen and dining room furniture until closing in 2008. The Brooklyn shop and hundreds more timeworn New York City storefronts are lovingly preserved in Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York (Gingko Press), a new book by photographers and authors James and Karla Murray. An ode to the endangered species of the mom and pop shop, Store Front takes the reader on a technicolor walking tour of humble neighborhood haunts (Ralph’s Discount City) and New York institutions (Katz’s Delicatessen), all captured in stunning oversize images alongside interviews with shop owners. The bittersweet chronicle of the urban retail life cycle doubles as a fascinating atlas of street typography. The book also inspired “MOM & POPism,” a Gawker Artists exhibition in which graffiti and street artists including Celso, Under Water Pirates, and Zoltron applied their own colorful touches to life-sized reproductions of the Murrays’ images. Check out their photographs of their photographs in a selection of installation shots here.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Thanks to the ever-rising global trend, we’re seeing more and more custom-made, one-off or otherwise tricked-out bikes. For those who want a bike with a unique story behind it, we rounded up a few covetable rides.

Renovo Wooden Bikes

Smooth and stiff, the hollowed-out these hardwood bikes’ high-tech capabilities are as remarkable as their elegant appearance. Portland-based Renovo uses computer-aided machines to create the sustainable frames and finishes them by hand with wood personally selected by each customer. Prices begin at $2300, check their website for ordering information.

via Inhabitat

Momentum Bikes

Artist and designer Matt W. Moore of Momentum hand-painted a limited series of five Traitor Ringleader frames, sealed with a protective clear coat. His love of cycling led him to create one-of-a-kind bike frames that reflect his equally immense passion for design. The Ringleaders run $1,200 a pop.

Ateliers d’Embellie

The entirely handmade Ateliers d’Embellie “porteur bike” mixes leather crafting with urban style. The Schwable Delta Cruiser tires keep you rolling on cobble stone streets while the detachable flask keeps its rider rolling after a long ride. Contact the man behind Ateliers d’Embellie for more information.

Luxury Lowrider

The Luxury Lowrider reworks vintage bikes, adding playful options like banana seats and handlebar streamers on antique Schwinn frames. Options range from basic to elaborate with prices spanning $500 to $5,000 depending on how detailed the bike. Contact Luxury Lowrider to place an order.

Fast Boy Cycles
Fast Boy Cycles builds bikes to the customer’s preference—micro-managing the project does cost extra—beginning with fillet brazed or lugged frames. Wooden handlebars and baskets add to the overall charm of the seat-optional bike (above left). Frames begin at $2,000, contact Fast Boys to place an order.

Republic Bikes

Providing an array of options, Republic custom-designed single speed bikes allow the rider to choose between fixed or free, among a multitude of color combinations. A simple and affordable bike that truly expresses individuality, Republic bikes are available on their website or through Urban Outfitters for $400.

by Shawn Thomson

A rare exhibition of famed photographers Pierre et Gilles opened in Berlin last month, comprising a total of 80 unique large-format works spanning over 30 years of collaboration and featuring images never before shown in public. In one word, fantastic!

Pierre et Gilles (born 1950 and 1953, respectively) have been living and working together in Paris since 1976, influencing contemporary photography definitively. Their shiny, glittering body of work flamboyantly romps through a fanciful universe filled with religious symbolism, mythological iconography, homoeroticism and lots of skin. Film stars and pop divas, princes and sailors, angels and demons, porn stars and boys next door are all represented here.

The duo has also created photographic portraits for the likes of Marc Almond, Catherine Deneuve, Marilyn Manson, Kylie Minogue, Iggy Pop, Nina Hagen, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Madonna, to name just a few. Pierre photographs the model and Gilles painstakingly retouches and hand-colors the print, highlighting each detail to create a vivid and colorful world of aesthetic perfection as dreamed up by the artists.

The show is a must-see for anyone in Berlin this summer.

Pierre et Gilles Retrospective
Through 4 October 2009
C/O Berlin

Postfuhramt Oranienburger Strasse, 35/36

10117 Berlin, Germany map

+ 49 30 28 09 19 25

It seems like only yesterday that Dubai developers were hawking $5 million condos on a man-made island shaped like a palm tree, but the global credit crunch has transformed the emirate into a desert of discounted properties, abandoned projects, and shelved ambitions. Hope springs eternal, however, that Dubai will be able to welcome visitors to The World’s Largest Building—the Burj Dubai—by the end of the year.

“Monument. Jewel. Icon. Burj Dubai will be known by many names,” proclaims the building’s official website. “But only a privileged group of people will call it home.” The helical mega-highrise, designed by Adrian Smith, is expected to hold about 35,000 people on approximately 150 floors. But how tall will the tower climb? And when will they remove the scaffolding, turn on those “spectacular dancing fountains,” and open for business? Burj Dubai developer Emaar Properties isn’t making any promises. “Local media reports now suggest the United Arab Emirates National Day on December 2 as the new deadline, but Emaar has refused to confirm, saying only that it will open ‘this year,'” the Wall Street Journal reported this week. “A handful of cranes still are working halfway up the tower, which stands at just over 2,625 feet. Emaar won’t disclose the tower’s final height until completion, although most estimates put it at 2,684 feet, far taller than Taiwan’s Taipei 101, which had been the world’s tallest skyscraper at 1,670 feet.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.