If Mayor Bloomberg wants to help hobos (and high functioning alcoholics) please get Crest to make this toothpaste!

Copyranter posted this found ad from a 1961 House and Garden magazine. 1961?!? How can I go there?

If the nation’s first name in celebrity sex and UFOs is eligible for recognition for journalism’s highest prize, what’s keeping bloggers and twittererers from receiving equal recognition? What is meaningful journalism in a digital age?

From The Huffington Post, the Pulitzer Prize committee has apparently run out of reasons to NOT accept The National Enquirer’s bid for it’s ‘investigative reporting’ and breaking of the John Edwards story.

Read the story here>

Getting beyond the requisite laughs and giggles, there are interesting implications for social media. As one of the temples of mainstream media and proper journalism, does opening the Pulitzer to ‘non-traditional’ sources signal a democratisation of media in a larger sense? It wasn’t long ago that blogs, as a class, were esteemed to be a lesser bastardisation of ‘proper news.’ While perception has evolved, has it really changed all that much? Blogs and efforts from heavy weights like Tina Brown and Arianna Huffington may not be deemed as inferior, but there is still a distinction of type between The Daily Beast and The New York Times.

This isn’t a phenomena driven purely by effete journalists clanging on about their precious standards while wiping the ink off their hands. Don’t we as readers still confer special status and gravitas to our esteemed temples for news? Don’t we all chuckle, a little, at the thought of a blogger winning a Pulitzer? I know I do.

Do we respect certain news sources more than others because of their perceived standards, objectivity or history? If so, shouldn’t we all be much more skeptical of the info-tainment phenomena that is cable news.

If the national enquirer’s work on John Edwards is to be accepted on it’s merit and impact, shouldn’t anonymous bloggers who often bubble stories up for the national media merit equal recognition? Are we ready to view and value news on the basis of its quality and impact regardless of where it comes from and how it’s spread?

What about efforts for ‘collective coverage’ for events like the Iranian protests on twitter? Putting aside the problem of who would accept a Pulitzer on behalf a generation of protesters, are we as readers ready to confer equal status to new media news?

So a couple of questions: What constitutes ‘journalism’ today? And what does where the news come from mean to you?

Infographic: San Francisco leads the country for illicit drug use – surprising exactly no one, except 12.7% people in SF.

I came across this infographic on drug use in America. Aside from being a bit oddly clip arty, I couldn’t figure out what point it was trying to make. Pro drugs, ant-drugs, or just the facts?

See more here>

It’s no secret that the mild recession we find ourselves in has put a touch of pressure on state budgets, leading to ‘out-of-the-box thinking’ by our esteemed lawmakers.

I think we can all agree that very few good things happen when our parliamentarians begin brainstorming, but the fine folks who run McCarran airport in Las Vegas have really done everyone else one better.

Apparently they have studies (I’m assuming when they say studies, they mean personal experience) that show that people first destination after leaving the airport is straight to to a liquor store. So in the interest and convenience of the fratboys everywhere, why make them drive to a liquor store? JUST PUT ONE IN BAGGAGE CLAIM.

That’s right, in case you need a shot to tie you over between your last drink on the plane and the 12 mins it takes to get from McCarran to the strip, you can now hit up a liquor store while you wait for your bags. My question is why stop there? With the steakhouses and slot machines already on site, why not just bring in some dancers and bail bondsmen and be done with it? Why would anyone need to leave the airport at all?!?

What do you say? Is this a time saver or just more lunacy in a city long on crazy and short on sense?

LV launches a stunning $4000 carrying case for your $2.00 newspaper.

In our digital age, is there really any point to carrying your FT for any reason other than the fact that it’s the perfect shade of antique rose?

If you’re like me (a brand-whoring, lover of everything LV) you’re going to want to run over to your local Louis Vuitton and snap this up before the hoards of asian tourists further widen our trade inbalance by buying these en masse. New for spring, LV’s Mitka briefcase rendered in their understated Taiga leather can’t wait to have an FT strapped to its side and taken to work.

Get yours here >

Some of my favourite discoveries from the last 30 days.

Brooklyn Circus Denim Duffle Bag

I have some seriously envious of the taste and sensibilities the guys at Brooklyn Circus bring to just about everything they do. While I can’t often rock their bold, luxurious looks with a decidedly BK twist, here’s a beautiful piece that’s accessible to everyone.

Check it out here>

ByThreads Journal Case

Danish designers bring a scandanavian sensibility to your Powerbook without the goofy Ikea names.

Get yours here>

Belstaff Mailman’s Bag

Legendary British outfitter of motorcycle jacket fame has the perfect hold-all on offer

Get yours here>

With advice like this, how did our grandparents ever manage to not end up being a bunch of miserable misogynists trapped in loveless marriages? Oh wait…

A great find by Coudal Partners, Prose before Ho’s Tumblr features this pricelessly hilarious cache of images from a guide on finding love in the 1930’s. Just one question: did dudes in the 1930’s all have that ‘I’m gonna cut your liver out of you’ glint in their eye? Or is that love?

P.S. – If you have some time, head on over the the Tumblr in question: http://pbh3.tumblr.com/ I just wasted the best 90 mins there and at http://www.prosebeforehos.com/

With most of our fashion coming from the emerging world, Billykirk turns outsourcing manufacturing on its head, with gorgeous results.

Billykirk’s line is manufactured right here in the USA…Amish Country, USA. Adding to their heritage of nice quilts, great furniture, handmade jams and rolling their eyes at NYC on romantic weekends, the Amish can now add gorgeous leather accessories to their CV.

In case you’re next weekend trip out to Lancaster, PA is a ways away, you can get a sneak peek at the line and find out where you can pick up your pieces at a store near you.

Check out the line here>

]]> http://timkau.com/get-some-amish-slave-labour-fashion/feed/ 0 http://timkau.com/everday-can-be-bowling-party-day-for-your-feet/ http://timkau.com/everday-can-be-bowling-party-day-for-your-feet/#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:12:20 +0000 Timothy Kau http://timkau.com/?p=686

Ithink the number of people who have contemplated stealing shoes from their local bowling alley is roughly equal to the number of people who have gone bowling, but don’t own their own ball.

Perhaps its the beer or the the vicarious experience of dressing like a clown (before bowling like one) but its undeniable that donning a pair of bowling shoes tends to arouse our inner kleptomaniac.

Well, if you’re of the more timid variety (and fear being the guy who gets caught for the world’s dumbest crime) or a hypochondriac (and can’t bear the thought of other people’s foot cooties in your home), Grenson’s got you covered.

Available from my-wardrobe.com, is clown shoes done right.

Get yours here>

]]> http://timkau.com/everday-can-be-bowling-party-day-for-your-feet/feed/ 0 http://timkau.com/ebay-found-liable-for-wuittons-ordered-to-pay-lv-275000-do-they-accept-paypal/ http://timkau.com/ebay-found-liable-for-wuittons-ordered-to-pay-lv-275000-do-they-accept-paypal/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:27:46 +0000 Timothy Kau http://timkau.com/?p=357

EBay has been ordered by a French court to pay LV $275,000 for their liability in directing users who searched for ‘wuitton’ to eBay.

The irreparable damage that this has done to the venerable fashion house, to Paris, France and Gaullic culture at large, was amusingly only worth $275,000…approximately what a rock star spends on her set of those LV steamer trunks.

I’m sure there’s a serious and searching point to be made here on the nature of the web, consumer trust, the superficiality of modern culture, etc, but I ain’t making it. I just want to know if eBay’s lawyers threw their papers and briefcases into a huge blanket, bundled it up and ran from the courtroom when the judge handed down the verdict.
If you think there’s a broader point here that I’m too addled to find, please share

Read on here>