OHHH SHOT

ESPN 30 For 30 This Magic Moment

2016-04-20T22:33:00.002+12:00

'This Magic Moment' relives those heady days in the mid-90s when Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway ruled not only pro basketball, but popular culture as well. The two stars deliver delightful but brutally honest testimony, and so do the executives, coaches, teammates, observers and opponents who were there for the stardust and poof! -- the breaking of the spell.

Laced with archival footage, 'This Magic Moment' is not only a trip down memory lane, but also a cautionary fable about what might have been. In the words of Nick Anderson, one of the most compelling figures in the tale, "There are short stories and long stories, and ours was a short ride." Short, yes, but also rich and telling and endlessly entertaining.

Pilots and Flight Attendants Share 21 Flying Secrets

2016-01-22T16:36:00.000+13:00

1. The truth about oxygen masks.

“That if the oxygen masks drop down, you only have about 15 minutes of oxygen from the point of pulling them down. However, that is more than enough time for the pilot to take us to a lower altitude where you can breathe normally” – jezalenko

“More important – at altitude, you have 15-20 seconds before you pass out. Put yours on first, then do your kids. Passing out for a few seconds won’t harm the kids.” – ksiyoto

2. Why they dim the lights when the plane is landing.

“When a plane is landing at night, they dim the interior lights incase you need to evacuate upon landing… your eyes are already adjusted to the darkness so you’ll be able to see better once outside the plane.” – bonestamp

3. The reason you sometimes experience a hard landing.

“When you experience a hard landing in bad weather it wasn’t because of a lack of pilot skills but it is in fact intentional. If the runway is covered in water the airplane has to touch down hard in order to puncture the water layer and prevent aqua planing.” – Virgadays

4. You can unlock lavatories from the outside.

“…There is usually a lock mechanism concealed behind the no smoking badge on the door. Just lift the flap up and slide the bolt to unlock.” – threeway

5. What happens when an airplane gets a bomb threat.

“I have a friend who’s a commercial pilot. Around five years ago he was doing a flight from LA to Tokyo when an anonymous caller phoned in a bomb threat while they were over the middle of the Pacific. Apparently they have procedures for this kind of thing, but there was nothing anyone could do in this situation except stay calm and not alert the passengers (obviously). He said for the rest of the flight every bump of turbulence made his adrenaline spike. They took this case especially seriously because there was a group of foreign dignitaries sitting in the first class cabin.” – arrialexa

6. What you should do if you are traveling with a musical instrument.

…”If you have a musical instrument NEVER CHECK IT. Take it to the gate with you. If they don’t have room on the plane they can “gate check” it and put it on last. When you de-board on your next stop it will be waiting for you as soon as you exit the plane.

Edit: obligatory thanks for highest rated comment. A note: I’ve heard from baggage handlers and flight attendants they do not appreciate musicians doing this. As I already said, if there isn’t room on the plane then Ill gate check it.

This ensures that it goes on LAST and is taken off FIRST then left at the ramp for you to p/u immediately after de-boarding the plane.”

7. They are anal about their food.

My dad works for a large airline, he told me a few little things

2 Pilots are served different meals and cannot share, this is done in case of food poisoning.

Stealing food, even if they are going to throw it out can get you fired instantly. You can ask your supervisor, but you cannot take food. They don’t want people messing with it. – Wrestlingisgood

8. Bribe the flight Attendants.

My gf is a flight attendant. NO ONE tips flight attendants. If you give your FA a fiver with your first drink you’ll probably drink for free the rest of the flight. – CWSwapigans

Bring an unopened bag of or box of chocolates for the flight crew, especially long flights…they’ll treat you like a king for the whole flight. – the200sx

Redditor evandan4 decided to test this hack and this was his experience:

Definitely trying this for my flight tomorrow.

Edit: Boarding now. I’ll update again when I land.

Edit2: Landed. I gave the person in the front a box of assorted chocolates. Keep in mind that this plane was not full. Before we took off I was approached by one of the attendants and they said there were some empty first class seats, and they upgraded me for free. I was offered 2 complementary glasses of wine and was checked up on probably 10 times.

It worked.

9. What your pets go through when flying.

One thing i can not stress enough is how your pets are treated.

While your airline will take the best possible actions, some things cannot be avoided, like the noise on the ramp.

I can not stand out there without ear protection, and imagine your pet sitting out there on the ramp waiting to be loaded onto the plane being exposed to the same amount of noise i am.

Please people, think twice before flying your pets. – parad0xy

10. A cool hack to get more space.

Arm Rests – aisle and window seat : Run your hand along the underside of the armrest, just shy of the joint you’ll feel a button. Push it, and it will lift up. Adds a ton of room to the window seat and makes getting out of the aisle a helluva lot easier. – obotray

11. The truth about electronics.

Pilot here. Having to turn off electronics on a plane is totally useless. – Davito32

Mobile electronic devices won’t really bring an airplane down but they can be really annoying to pilots. Just imagine sitting in the flightdeck descending to your destination and hearing the interference of a 100+ cellphones picking up a signal. I have missed a clearance or 2 that way. – Virgadays

My sister is a flight attendant, she says after she tells everyone to turn off all electronics, she goes to the back and pulls our her phone and starts texting. – Dora_De_Destroya

12. Planes don’t need 2 engines to fly.

Confirmed: Most large commercial aircraft can fly with only one engine if needed.Source: Me. The pilot. – crypto64

13. Your pilot is asleep most of the time.

1/2 of pilots sleep while flying and 1/3 of the time they wake up to find their partner asleep. – Solar_Plex

14. Skymall is a ripoff.

All of the stuff in Sky Mall can be purchased on the internet for much less money. – foxinthebushes

15. How your checked bags are really handled.

If it says fragile, it’s getting thrown harder. If it’s says this side up, it’s going to be upside down. We have to fit freight and 100+ bags in a cargo pit. It has to fit how it’s going to fit… I will tell you that when we see “I heart baggage handlers” bag tags… We take special care of your shit. – flipitinthewaistband

16. Things are incredibly DIRTY.

I worked for Southwest as a flight attendant. Those blankets and pillows? Yeah, those just get refolded and stuffed back in the bins between flights. Only fresh ones I ever saw were on an originating first flight in the morning in a provisioning city. Also, if you have ever spread your peanuts on your tray and eaten, or really just touched your tray at all, you have more than likely ingested baby poo. I saw more dirty diapers laid out on those trays than food. And those trays, yeah, never saw them cleaned or sanitized once. – melhow44

…don’t drink the water or water-based products (coffee, tea): the water tanks on an airplane accumulate grime and fungus and are notoriously hard to properly clean. look for bottled water. – freckledass

The drinking water, that used for making coffee, tea, ect., should NEVER be consumed. The holding tanks in these sometimes 60 year old planes are never cleaned. They have accumulated so much greenish grime on the walls that in some places it can be inches thick.

This one is very known by all airline employees. I work and study in all aspects of the aviation industry and can tell you nothing is proformed intuitively. – Reditraptor

17. Security is not perfect.

There are actually legitimate security loopholes that, if widely known, would let average citizens get right next to airliners, runways, and taxiways. Like any system, if you know how it works, you know where the cracks are. – striblingwalk

18. Something is always broken on your plane.

The plane you’re about to fly on is broken. Without a doubt. SOMETHING on that plane is broken. They’re big, complex machines, and they break all the time.

The good news is that anything major will have a backup or two (or three!), and will generate a message in the cockpit to alert the crew so they can take the appropriate action (such as diverting, turning on manual backups, or calling maintenance if they’re still on the ground).

Most of the time it’s trivial things like reading lights, coffee makers, and cabin trim.

Don’t let this prevent you from flying though, they are incredibly safe machines. Even when they have fairly serious malfunctions, they are usually able to get back down safely. – ObeeJuan

19. Your plane can still glide if both engines fail.

A pilot told me if both engines fail, a plane can glide 6 nautical miles for every 5000 feet. So at 35,000 feet, a plane can glide about 42 miles without power. Its why most accidents happen landing or taking off. – rodereau

20. What happens during a hijacking.

If the plane is being highjacked when the pilot lands they will leave the wing flaps up that slow the plane down, this is to signal the airport that there is something happening in the plane.

21. Why there are still ash trays.

“…ash trays in the lavs are mandatory equipment even though the FAA banned smoking on flights years ago. The reasoning is that if people do decide to smoke, they want them to have a place other than the trash can to throw the butt.” – realjd

Pinched from Reddit.

Here's Where All Those Poor People Sayings Came From

2016-01-10T23:07:00.003+13:00

We can learn a lot about ourselves by looking to the past. History not only provides us with a nostalgic glimpse at how things used to be — like with these classic childhood toys — but its lessons can still teach us things today. Many of us fondly refer to “the good old days” when times were purer and life was simpler.

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot. Once a day it was taken and sold to the tannery. If you had to do this to survive, you were “piss poor.” But worse than that were the really poor folks who couldn’t even afford to buy a pot. They “didn’t have a pot to piss in” and were considered the lowest of the low.

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting to smell, brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women, and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water!”

Houses had thatched roofs with thick straw-piled high and no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained, it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying, “It’s raining cats and dogs.” There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That’s how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the term, “dirt poor.” The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence, “a thresh hold.”

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day, they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, “Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.” Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could “bring home the bacon.” They would cut off a little to share with guests, and would all sit around and “chew the fat.”

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous. Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the “upper crust.”
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a “wake.”

In old, small villages, local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside, and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (“the graveyard shift”) to listen for the bell. Thus, someone could be “saved by the bell,” or was considered a “dead ringer.” Now, whoever said history was boring?

Via The Rifle Bird

Want To Know Which Rapper Owned Each Year Since Rap Began?

2016-01-08T12:55:00.001+13:00

Rap fans—that is to say, people who are passionate and informed about the culture—tend to get into arguments with other rap fans. Debates are often sparked when one mischievous soul declaims their Favorite Rapper. Your favorite rapper is a personal preference, one that requires the most subjective defenses. If you’re rooting for the rookie of the year or a washed up veteran experiencing a career resurgence or someone no one has heard of as your favorite, then so be it. The choice is yours. (Got too many favorites to pick one? Here's a test: If you logged onto Complex.com and saw that three new singles from your three favorite rappers had just dropped, whomever's song you listened to first is your favorite rapper.)

The favorite rapper discussion is cool and all, but the coveted distinction in hip-hop is still being named the GOAT (Greatest of All Time). The GOAT discussion is reserved for the chosen few; no rookies or new jacks qualify. It’s strictly for the catalog artists, people who have shifted the culture in previously unmovable ways, artists whose music has permeated and resonated over an extended period of time. It’s rap’s imaginary Hall of Fame, existing only within the abstract conversations we have about it. Since it has to consider the entire canon of hip-hop, the discussion ought to be reserved for more refined debate among only the most informed parties.

But there is one debate that every rap fan not only loves to have but ought to have. A debate that considers both the short-term and long-term implications of an artist’s impact. A debate that pits a rapper in their prime against any and all competitors. A debate that gawks at the cultural landscape and plucks out the one who stands alone: the debate about who is the Best Rapper Alive. Being the BRA is sort of like being the MVP—even though rap doesn’t follow a rigid cultural calendar quite like major sports seasons—because it only requires looking at the current crop of active artists and picking a winner. You can confidently declare the Best Rapper Alive in any given year without having to consider previous decades, the same way you can say LeBron is an MVP even though you’ve never seen Jerry West play.

Anyone can become the Best Rapper Alive. Some came out the gate with next-level rhymes that had everyone running back to the lab; for others it was a culmination of their gifts that coalesced for one great year. Much like rap itself, it’s an evolving process. But one thing we know for sure, it’s more about a general feeling among fans rather than any discernible facts. (What facts? It’s all just opinion anyway.) When a rapper steps in front of a microphone, and everyone in hip-hop has no choice but to look their way and give props, well then, they just might be the Best Rapper Alive.

It’s still important to consider that the Best Rapper Alive debate is different from the GOAT conversation. Being the BRA doesn’t mean you’re the biggest or the most successful; it just means you're the Best at one particular moment. Of course in hip-hop, being the best is intrinsically about being BIG. And being at your best doesn’t make you the best, so if your prime coincides with someone else’s, well, hey, there’s always next year.

You can look back on the hip-hop terrain with 20/20 hindsight, tally up the votes, and declare the GOATs, but the Best Rapper Alive from year to year is a feeling in the moment. There have been debates among rap fans living in that moment since the early days of hip-hop, but those discussions have never been properly cataloged—until now! (Yeah, we're excited. Sue us.) Complex is proud to present the Best Rapper Alive, Every Year Since 1979, a comprehensive look back at every year of rap and which MC moved the crowd the most. So the question remains: Who got the props?

LINK: The Best Rapper Alive, Every Year Since 1979

The Mix Up vol. 10 [download]

2015-12-25T00:30:00.002+13:00

*does not feature Madonna, Sting or 2pac.

01. Mac Miller – 100 Grandkids
02. Ransom – Jade
03. To Be Continued – One On One
04. Drake – Hotline Bling
05. MED, Blu, Madlib – Knock Knock ft. MF Doom
06. Kanye West – Eyes Closed
07. A Tribe Called Quest – Check The Rhyme
08. L'Orange – God Complex [instrumental]
09. Skyzoo – Luxury ft. Westside Gunn
10. Hus Kingpin – Pyramid Points [remix]
11. Angel Dust [instrumental]
12. Natural Resource – I Love This World
13. Oddisee – Flight Delays
14. Oddisee – Belong To The World
15. Apathy – How To Breathe Underwater
16. Mobb Deep – Back At You
17. Harry Fraud – Deal Breaker ft. Marty James
18. Ras Kass – Jesus Pressed Mute
19. Pusha T – F.I.F.A.
20. Kalyanji Anandji – Dharmatma Theme Music [instrumental]

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DOWNLOAD: The Mix Up Vol. 10 | Alt. Link
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The Two Escobars

2015-12-24T22:30:00.000+13:00

Pablo Escobar was the richest, most powerful drug kingpin in the world, ruling the Medellín Cartel with an iron fist. Andres Escobar was the biggest soccer star in Colombia. The two were not related, but their fates were inextricably and fatally intertwined. Pablo's drug money had turned Andres' national team into South American champions, favored to win the 1994 World Cup in Los Angeles. It was there, in a game against the US, that Andres committed one of the most shocking mistakes in soccer history, scoring an "own goal" that eliminated his team from the competition and ultimately cost him his life.

The Two Escobars is a riveting examination of the intersection of sports, crime, and politics. For Colombians, soccer was far more than a game: their entire national identity rode on the success or failure of their team. Jeff and Michael Zimbalist's fast and furious documentary plays out on an ever-expanding canvas, painting a fascinating portrait of Pablo, Andres, and a country in the grips of a violent, escalating civil war.

If the video above doesn't work, go here: The Two Escobars

What Makes A Great Logo

2015-12-24T14:02:00.000+13:00

Joe Posner, and Michael Bierut explain how a simple mark ends up meaning something big.

For more from Michael Bierut on graphic design, check out his book "How to use graphic design to sell things, explain things, make things look better, make people laugh, cry, and (every once in a while) change the world: How To

The Black Exorcist

2015-12-24T13:48:00.000+13:00

Kid twists his neck 180 degrees and hugs person behind him, just because he can.

What You Know About Skarping?

2015-12-24T13:44:00.000+13:00

The hillbilly redneck sport that combines water-skiing, basketball and jumping Asian Carp fish.

Bastards of the Party (2010)

2015-12-02T09:08:00.000+13:00

Raised in the Athens Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, Cle “Bone” Sloan was four years old when his father died, and 12 when he became a member of the Bloods. Now an inactive member of the notorious gang, Sloan looks back at the history of black gangs in his city and makes a powerful call for change in modern gang culture with his insightful documentary, Bastards of the Party.

Bastards of the Party draws its title from this passage in “City of Quartz”: “The Crips and the Bloods are the bastard offspring of the political parties of the ’60s. Most of the gangs were born out of the demise of those parties. Out of the ashes of the Black Panther Party came the Crips and the Bloods and the other gangs.” Bastards of the Party traces the timeline from that “great migration” to the rise and demise of both the Black Panther Party and the US Organization in the mid- 1960s, to the formation of what is currently the culture of gangs in Los Angeles and around the world.

The documentary also chronicles the role of the Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI in the evolution of gang culture. During his tenure from 1950 to 1966, Chief Robert Parker bolstered the ranks of the LAPD with white recruits from the south, who brought their racist attitudes with them. Parker’s racist sympathies laid the groundwork for the volatile relationship between the black community and the LAPD that persists today.

Japanese Sneaker Culture

2015-11-24T21:12:00.000+13:00

Not much into sneakers these days, but I do remember stopping by Skit in Osaka back in 2010 and having my mind blown.

Deez Bucks

2015-11-15T11:44:00.001+13:00

The Mess She Made by Darwin Deez

Aliens Are Real Says African School Children

2015-11-13T14:29:00.000+13:00

Twenty-something years ago a bunch of kids form Ariel School in Zimbabwe encountered some "scary" aliens. Watch as they recall that day with professor of psychiatry, Dr John Mack.

Goosebumps.

Studying Dead Rotting Meat Is Both Amazing And Gross

2015-11-01T22:27:00.000+13:00

"Do you guys want to go and see a dead body?". Because you can if you hit play on the above video which showcases the largest body farm in the world, where researchers study human decomposition in order to help law enforcement.

FYI, it's quite graphic.

Fly My Pretties. Almost.

2015-11-01T22:16:00.004+13:00

Alexis Noriega gives you what Red Bull has be falsely claiming for years, by designing and building this amazing pair of pneumatic (gas or pressurized air) articulating wings that spring to action at the press of a button.

She also reckons she'll have a video online soon on how to build you own. Keep and eye on The Crooked Feather for instructions.

Q-Tip Talks to Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock & That Guy Who Hasn't Won An Oscar

2015-11-01T22:14:00.000+13:00

I'll save you some time. Skip through some terrible music of today until you get to around 17 minutes when Q-Tip, aka The Abstract, gets his chat on with Dave, Chris and Leo. Topics include boxing, music, comedy and other tidbits. It's weird.

12 Minutes of Fuck Philadelphia

2015-09-19T00:27:00.002+12:00

The background to this. Back in 2006 a bunch of comedians were performing in Philadelphia, a city that's notorious for acting up at live events, booing performers and generally just being assholes for the sake of it. After watching a handful of comedians perform the crowd began to grow restless and booed the next two performers off the stage. Step up Bill Burr, who a couple of minutes into his set begins to get the same treatment. But instead of calling it a night he decides to unload a fury of insults like no other human has ever unloaded on a crowd. The result is fucking legendary and needs to be seen if you have not already. Amazing.

Listen To Juan Epstein

2015-09-14T21:45:00.000+12:00

If you need some nerdy, hip hop, comedy podcasts in your life while you cook, workout or waste away your life sitting on public transport, then listen to the gold that is Juan Epstein. It's the best shit-talking time-waster the internet has to offer.

Hosts Cipha Sounds and Peter Rosenberg have interviewed everyone from Ice Cube and MCA of the Beastie Boys to heavy-chested porn stars and Rhys fuckin' Darby. In their words it's 'the place to go if you want to hear stories you have never heard, hear people react to and answer questions you can't believe anyone would have the nerve to ask. These are some of the most unique interviews you ever will hear.'

Below is a list of some of the better episodes I've enjoyed while drying dishes and lifting weights off my chest:

Jay-Z (2010)
Questlove & Chris Rock (2014)
A-Trak (2015)
Salaam Remi (2015)
Bill Burr (2010)
Kanye West (2013)
Fat Joe (2008)
Aziz (2011)
Aziz (2012)

Stop Scrolling And Watch This

2015-09-04T16:34:00.001+12:00

Thank you to the person who has too much time on their hands, and no girlfriend, for making this.
Shot Phila

Nirvana - Lithium (Live 1992)

2015-08-28T21:38:00.001+12:00

This is Nirvana teasing 'Rape Me' then performing 'Lithium' at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, as well as accepting the award for Best New Artist.

A little background to the performance from Seattle journalist, Krist Novoselic;

“Kurt wanted to play the tune ‘Rape Me’ and was adamant about it. The MTV people were upset. We were being asked from all corners not to. I thought we should play something off Nevermind, do the gig, and leave. Easy, right? No. Kurt was very stubborn and refused to play another tune. There was quite a swirl around this issue.

I went back to the trailer and had a still-warm beer. Yuk, but I drank it anyway. To resolve the song controversy, we said we were going to do “Lithium,” but we decided among the band to pull a prank and play a few chords of “Rape Me” at the beginning. Even though the issue was resolved, the back and forth between their people, our people, us and them, or whoever—it was draining.”

PREVIOUS: Nirvana - Outtakes, Demos, Rarities and Personal Favorites

Dustin Yellin's 3D Art

2015-08-28T21:17:00.001+12:00

Dustin Yellin’s mesmerizing glass sculptures explode collage into three dimensional forms, and have won him accolades from all over the art world. From early works of layered resin, Yellin’s sculptures increased in size (and weight), culminating in the 12-ton, three-paneled The Triptych.

But Yellin’s most ambitious project may be Pioneer Works, a colossal, 27,000-square-foot artist’s complex and foundation in Red Hook, Brooklyn. With its residencies, workshops and on-site science lab, Pioneer Works cultivates cross-disciplinary experimentation regardless of profit potential.

Timelike Is The Short Film You Should Watch Now

2015-08-13T21:31:00.000+12:00

The above video follows Madeline and her boyfriend at home enjoying a quiet evening when they are interrupted by a visit from a stranger bearing a message from Madeline’s future self. It uses 90s handy cam footage with great editing and sound design to create quite a buzzy and unnerving peice of film.

If you want to make sense of what you just saw you can hit the jump for one possible explanation.

It’s about how time/the universe corrects a paradox. Each time the letter is delivered - a letter that should be written in the future - a paradox is created. Time/the universe starts getting more and more agitated by it, for lack of a better word, until it finally reacts strongly enough to prevent the paradox from happening again. This is also why the specifics of the letter are not important. It’s the fact that the letter exists before it should that is the real matter of importance.
Basically, the story is that paradoxes are not allowed. The universe will make sure to correct them. Somehow. That’s why there were no more videos after the wine was spilled on the letter (and before she could memorize it).

So, yeah.

Everything You Think You Know About Addiction Is Wrong

2015-07-24T15:12:00.000+12:00

Johann Hari has seen the current methods on how we deal with addition fail firsthand, as he has watched loved ones struggle to manage their addictions. He started to wonder why we treat addicts the way we do - and if there might be a better way. Hari's questions took him around the world where he unearthed some surprising and hopeful ways of thinking about an age-old problem.

A Brief History Of High Fashion Sneakers

2015-07-22T20:55:00.000+12:00

Has any garment enjoyed a more impressive rise than the once-humble sneaker? From fitness shoe to high-fashion staple, the sneaker's ascent reflects some of the most significant pop-culture developments of the last few decades -- from the impact of advertising and mass production, to the influence of hip-hop and the NBA.

From July 10, visitors will be able to trace this history at The Rise of Sneaker Culture, a traveling exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum exploring its history and cultural significance.

But Elizabeth Semmelhack, senior curator of the originating exhibition at Toronto's Bata Shoe Museum and author of the accompanying book from Rizzoli, says that its history is more complex than we might think. "When the first sneakers debuted [in the 1800's], they were themselves luxury items," she says, citing the high price of rubber and the working class's lack of leisure time. "We're kind of coming full circle in a weird way."

So, how exactly have we ended up in an age of die-hard Nike addicts and Parisian designer kicks?

Chuck Taylor ushers in the era of celebrity shoe endorsements.

After the devastation of WWI, governments had to confront more than just the colossal loss of life. The war had demonstrated how physically unprepared their populations were for battle, prompting a large-scale push for fitness.

As people rushed to the gym, opportunistic industrialists started mass-producing sneakers, bringing down prices and democratizing what had once been the domain of the wealthy.

To set themselves apart, the Converse Rubber Shoe Company drafted basketball player Chuck Taylor to improve their basketball shoe -- the All-Star -- in 1921.

"He wasn't Michael Jordan by any stretch of the imagination, but what he gave to the brand was an authenticity," Semmelhack says. "It was a means of endorsing the athletic potential and athletic promise of the shoe."

Nike takes sneakers beyond function, into the realm of fashion.

By the end of WWII, the sneaker had lost what remained of its Victorian luxury associations. Everyone from school kids to workmen wore them for comfort, not status. But an uptake in conspicuous consumption and personal fitness fads in the 1970's suggested the time was right for a sneaker renaissance.

Sensing a shift, newcomer Nike created the ideal shoe for the Me Generation: the Nike Cortez. Available in a number of bright colorways with an immediately identifiable logo, it was designed for those who wished to stand out on the dance floor track as well as the running track.

"The sneaker is segueing away from simply being a fitness shoe to being a fashion shoe," Semmelhack says.

Gucci becomes the first luxury brand to enter the sneaker game.

Traditional sneaker companies weren't the only ones capitalizing on the public's growing penchant for sneakers. In 1984, Gucci released an Italian-made tennis shoe with the brand's signature green and red stripes on the heel, and "Gucci" printed on the tongue.

"Their participation in the sneaker game was very prescient. They were getting in there much earlier than any of the other brands we see doing it now," says Semmelhack.

The Air Jordan 1 creates the cult of the sneakerhead.

Michael Jordan was just a rookie at the time (granted: one with an Olympic gold medal under his belt), but that didn't stop Nike from signing him for a five-year endorsement deal in 1984. With that contract came an exclusive new shoe for him to wear and promote: The Air Jordan.

The red-and-black sneakers (to match Jordan's Chicago Bulls uniform) were initially banned by NBA commissioner David Stern, who'd mandated that shoes worn on the court had to be majority white. Jordan famously wore them anyway, and Nike paid the $5000 fine after each game.

"He becomes an icon of individuality, of bucking the trend, and the shoes that he wears suddenly become something that every guy wants to have," Semmelhack says.

The shoe's public release in 1985 is widely considered the catalyst for modern sneakerhead culture -- a community of sneaker collectors and admirers who follow new releases with a dedication usually reserved for classic cars or Swiss watches.

Run-DMC brings urban sneaker culture to the mainstream.

No one embodied the early hip-hop aesthetic as fully as rapper-DJ trioRun-DMC, whose signature look -- rope chains, Adidas tracksuits and shell-toe Adidas Superstars -- is now emblematic.

"They go on to disseminate this urban style to a much wider audience, and the Superstar becomes this extremely graphic, very visual signifier of urban fashion," Semmelhack says.

The release of 1986's "My Adidas" -- an ode to a favorite shoe and refutation of hip-hop stereotypes -- led to an endorsement deal with the brand, making Run-DMC the first of what would be many musicians to ink deals with sneaker brands.

Prada debuts sneakers worthy of the runway.

Perennial provocateur Miuccia Prada started the trend for high-end designer sneakers. Originally intended as a yachting shoe (it was designed for the Luna Rossa sailing team to wear in the America's Cup), the streamlined Prada PS0906 openly prioritized aesthetics over athletics.

"It shows a move away from a shoe designed for elite athletic purpose or even playground purpose, and was shifting the sneaker design toward an expression of style," Semmelhack says.

High fashion designers and heritage sneaker brands unite.

Adidas broke new ground when they teamed up with designers Yohji Yamamoto and Jeremy Scott in 2002. By having each designer reinterpret two of the brand's earlier styles, they brought together sneaker culture and high fashion in a way that was hitherto unheard of.

The results: shoes that retained the functionality and shape of the originals, but still rang true to the designers' distinctive aesthetics: Yamamoto's architectural, forward-looking design sense, and Scott's humor and outlandishness (his Forum was covered in dollar bills with his own face in place of George Washington's). Both continue to collaborate with Adidas today.

Fashion's old guard reinvents the shoe of success.

The noughties also bore witness to the transformation of business attire. The dot-com boom and emerging start-up culture, along with growing entrepreneurship among hip-hop stars and elite athletes, had produced a generation of men who challenged conventional notions of success, and the associated sartorial codes.

To cater to this more casual corporate cohort, traditional fashion houses like Lanvin met them half-way, imbuing the sneaker with their established elegance and craftsmanship.

Trendsetters make the leap from consumers to creators.

Louis Vuitton brought the luxury sneaker game to another level when they joined forces with rapper and street style icon Kanye West. Instead of creating their own sneaker and hiring West to star in the campaign, the Parisian fashion house collaborated with him on three pairs. The collection sold out almost instantly, even though pairs went for upwards of $1000.

"Kanye West was an active participant in the creation of this collection at Louis Vuitton," Semmelhack says. "He represents a new image of male success that involves access to these luxury brands. But it's not simply being a consumer, it's being a creator."

Stiletto king Christian Louboutin redefines masculinity.

In 2011, footwear designer Christian Louboutin -- renowned the world over for his red-soled high heels -- released his first full men's collection. The jewel of his new empire: the studded Roller-Boat sneaker, a reinterpretation of his earlier Rollerboy loafer, complete with red rubber sole. They were an immediate hit.

"This is one of the first times when a brand that's so female identified is now eagerly embraced and worn by men," Semmelhack says. "Sneaker culture is suggesting a huge shift in constructions of masculinity ... They allow men to participate in fashion in a way that does not at all call into question their masculinity, so men are able to partake in the luxury associations that are made between shoes and fashion."

Sneakers go under/overstated?

Semmelhack is divided. The popularity of the understated Yeezy 750 Boost, designed by Kanye West for Adidas, embodies a concerted return to the restrained elegance of classic menswear. But for every sneaker that embraces tradition, there are many others flouting it in increasingly extreme ways.

"Men are very loath to push the envelope in other aspect of their attire, but sneakers can be the most eye-catching colorway, large, graphically strong," she says.

To Semmelhack, no shoe represents this schism more aptly than the baroque platform Christian Dior creative director Raf Simons released with Adidas.

"I think of it as a transformer shoe: it's a business brogue in the midst of being transformed into a sneaker," she says. "It just speaks to what is a very transformative moment in men's fashion."

Via CNN

A Transparent House Filled With LED Lights

2015-07-13T23:10:00.000+12:00

This pretty ha-mazing installation titled 'Insideout', was recently displayed at the Triennale der Photographie exhibition in Hamburg. The interactive 360-degree display put viewers inside the house and subjected them to more than three minutes of inclement weather in a dazzling light show that pretty closely resembles what it's like to experience of a real storms. The accompanying sounds were created by musician Andi Toma, one of the founding members of the electronic-music group Mouse on Mars.