Now that New England has finally vanquished winter once and for all, we’ve been inspired to create una mezcla of bouncy Afro-beat, raza rap, gypsy punk, funk carioca and sitartronics to help shake off any last remnants of winter sluggishness. Clocking in at 2.5+ hours, this high-energy 34-track mix is bound to get those creaky joints in motion, whether you’re throwing a party, working out or attacking your spring cleaning. (For easier listening, click on the “Launch Standalone Player” button to pop the playlist out in a separate window.)

Click here to see the mix in its full glory.

We’ll be posting new mixes periodically every couple of months; you’ll be able to find our most recent playlists embedded in the righthand column of this blog and on our MySpace page. And if you enjoy our (nigh impeccable) musical tastes, why don’t you rate our mix on iMeem?

Speaking of iMeem: With all the music-sharing jukebox apps out there, why did we decide to go with this one? Our top 6 reasons: Read the rest of this entry »

^{[image courtesy christopherdale]}

Fee fi fo fum, I smell a bloody good photographer. Flickr user christopherdale snapped this eerie shot of “The Awakening,” a 100-foot sculpture of a panicked giant struggling to to free himself from the sod of Washington, DC (or thereabouts). His long-exposure technique gives the whole scene an otherworldly feel. Here’s a nice detail of the giant’s gaping yap, complete with gnashy choppers.

^{[image courtesy christopherdale]}

^{[Didi Emmons is way excited to share her slaw -- which is good, 'cuz it rocks]}

As you may recall, I promised you all D:2:E recipes … and I’m not one to make idle threats. So here it is: a semi-sprawling gastronomic crawl through D:2:E, Boston’s latest symposium on sustainable living. Two of these recipes (the Broiled Channel-farmed Catfish with Red Curry Sauce and the Haley House Ginger Slaw) actually got live demos at D:2:E; the rest I scooped up from exhibitors‘ booths or their websites.

What’s so sustainable about these dishes? Emphasis on local (and seasonal) produce, fair-trade ingredients, and responsibly fished seafood. Of course, when you’re talking about sustainability, the prevalence of brand names can be a little off-putting. So I tried to choose recipes that lend themselves to more, um, open-source culinary solutions, or transcend brands entirely. (Bonus: They’re all extremely easy to make.)

OK, enough philosophizing — let’s get to the vittles!

APPETIZERS/SIDES
Spring Leek and Asparagus Tart with Goat Cheese
Braised Spinach with Thai Flavors
Roasted Sweet Potato with Rosemary
Heirloom Tomato Slaw
Haley House Ginger Slaw

ENTREES
Some Enchanted Pizza
Baked Macaroni & Cheese
Collard, Pear and Caramelized Onion Casserole
Broiled Salmon with Dijon Sauce
Broiled Channel-farmed Catfish with Red Curry Sauce

DESSERTS
Hazelnut Coffee Brownies
Honey and Lemon Tea Cakes
Peach Crisp
Butterscotch Bananas Foster
Chocolate Hazelnut Empanadas

DRINKS
Frozen Chocolate Moo
Thomas’s Thai Iced Coffee
Green Princess

Read the rest of this entry »

Some people are purists, for whom the hard way is the best way. We’re talking about the folks who rub two sticks together to start a fire, spin their own dental floss, or thump cream in a churner just so they can butter their bagels. This ethos might not be commonplace, but you can find it in just about any sphere — including animation. (Perhaps I should say “especially animation,” come to think of it.)

Enter Javan Ivey.

^{[images courtesy Javan Ivey]}

Inspired by the mind-blowingly intricate strata-cut stop-motion technique used in some claymation, Ivey uses an approach he dubs “stratastencil,” in which each frame of the film is a layer of cut paper. The results are eerily beautiful, as the motion flows like a river of time. Link [via Make]

Bonus video (discovered while doing research for this post):

Here’s “Buzz Box,” the epileptic opus of strata-cut master David Daniels. This film demonstrates the slice-and-shoot process pretty clearly — maybe not terribly pleasant to watch (and YouTube’s pixelation is brutal), but it’s quite a marvel nonetheless. (For beautiful high-res videos by Daniels, go to BentImageLab.com and click on “New Scientists.”)

In case you’re having trouble viewing the embedded video, here’s a direct link.

Last weekend marked the first-ever Down:2:Earth fest, and the Hynes Convention Center was awash in solar panels, electric motorbikes, fair-trade chocolate, sustainably farmed catfish, recycled-paper coffins and earthworm dung.

Oh, and plenty of fresh-faced sincerity — from the farmers’ market reps, to the cycling advocates, to the Boston Harbor Islands conservationists. Slightly more cynical was environmentalist Bill McKibben (choice quote: “I’m not an insane optimist … I wrote a book called ‘The End of Nature’ “), whose keynote speech quickly roused me from my feel-good stupor.

And what would a eco-fest be without an eco-fashion show? Hemp threads abounded, accessorized by felt totes from Etcetera Media, lacquered paper beads from Paper to Pearls and shoulder bags made of repurposed sailcloth.

Also, stay tuned for Part 2, when I’ll be posting a batch of recipes swiped directly from D:2:E. Believe me, you’re going to want to learn how to make that Haley House slaw. (Sooo good.)

Every morning, I peruse the Universal Hub photo stream, and this entry stopped me dead in my tracks. It depicts a Central Square alleyway — a sight I’ve seen many times, but never in such a beautiful light. Amazing work, sushiesque!

^{[image courtesy sushiesque]}

In the spirit of April Fool’s Day, we’re bringing you the best trompe-l’oeil the tubes have to offer. Here are 8 jaw-dropping examples of artists transcending the limits of two dimensions.

Bored Night has three great 2-D illusions on their site (definitely check out that lurking pool mosquito), but this creepy humanoid is my favorite.

[images courtesy Bored Night]

I can’t even fathom the kind of logistics needed to execute this decorative trickery.

[image courtesy 2Loop]

With this painting (a comment on the the California Water Wars), I spent a good 15 minutes trying to figure out where the art ends and reality begins. Ceci n’est pas une pipe?

[image courtesy John Pugh]

Blue Sky’s “Tunnelvision” mural gives me chills for some reason. (It’s something about the colors — it’s like a tunnel through time.)

[image courtesy Blue Sky]

Behold: Trompe-l’oeil at its most freakout-inducing.

[image courtesy Hemmy.net]

This handpainted eagle ruffles a few feathers … IN MY BRAIN. (Click here for loads more.)

[image courtesy yoke.cc]

A bit of Banksy for you.

[image courtesy canonsnapper]

And of course, no post on modern-day trompe-l’oeil would be complete without Sidewalk Chalk Guy.

[image courtesy gprime.net]

Did we miss any of your favorites? Let us know in the comments!

In 2007, Sydney, Australia, cut the power for 60 minutes as a way to raise awareness about global warming. Call it a token gesture, but just that one small act alone slashed the city’s emissions by 10%. According to Earth Hour‘s website:

[I]f the greenhouse reduction achieved in the Sydney CBD during Earth Hour was sustained for a year, it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year.

This year, 370 cities worldwide took the pledge; and now Earth Hour 2008 has come and gone. Was it a success? While results seemed a little mixed, one thing is for sure: Sydney and Manila both earned gold stars. Just take a look at Boston.com’s photo gallery:

^{[photo courtesy the Associated Press]}

Inspiring, no? And the Earth Hour Flickr pool is filling up with some equally dramatic photos. (Way to go, Seattle!)

Even Google got in on the act.

^{[photo courtesy pirate johnny]}

OK, I worry that this post might be coming off as a bit breathless … but after seeing environmentalist Bill McKibben speak at D2E Boston, it’s hard not to be all fired up about climate change. Yesterday, McKibben dropped this sobering statistic: NASA researchers recently concluded that the maximum safe atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide is roughly 350 parts per million. And we shot past that benchmark 20 years ago — we’re at 385 ppm right now.

McKibben offers this analogy: Let’s say your doctor tells you that your cholesterol is dangerously high. Sure, you may not be doubled over with a heart attack right this second, but unless you’re looking to become a young, well-marbled corpse, McKibben says, “you have to stop eating cheese.” Consider Earth Hour a slice of cheese not eaten.

McKibben’s latest effort is 350.org, a global-warming activist movement still in its infancy. Check it out!

Now that spring has sprung, the grass has riz (almost) and all that good stuff, it’s time to emerge from our down-comforter-filled caverns and start doing things outside again! If you’re looking for a new outdoor project, here’s a cheap, easy and awfully weird one: Wacky Archives shows you how to make your own ethereal apparition. No ectoplasm required — just chicken wire and a slightly twisted sense of whimsy. [Via Make]

^{[photo courtesy Wacky Archives]}

Actually, this reminds me of Nightshirts, one of the installations in the Forest Hill Cemetery. (New Englanders, if you haven’t already, I highly recommend you check this place out. Makes for superb picknicking.)

*Title of this post inspired my favorite IMDB find of all time.

Belly up to the Kunstbar, a cozy little watering hole where the White Russians are Chagall and Kandinsky. The brainchild of animation collective The Petrie Lounge, this short is a surreal(ist) love letter to Art History 101. [Via Neatorama]

Sorry for the lack of posts/erratic site behavior — we’ve run into a few technical difficulties this week. (Looks like I’m well on my way to filling out my “newbie blogger” bingo card!) Anyway, thanks for your patience, folks; things should be getting back to normal very soon now.