The Toyota 86 has officially launched in the UAE.  It’s the latest sports car from Toyota and was developed in Japan in conjunction with Subaru and comes in the form of a two-door rear-wheel-drive coupe with a 197 hp 2.0 liter horizontally-mounted boxer engine.  Al-Futtaim Motors took a candy red iteration of the 86 for a spin alongside the Gulf of Oman.

The Ford Shelby GT500 is a beast, an absolute monster of American muscle.  Beneath the car’s hood lies a menacing blown 5.8L V8 engine that packs 662 horsepower, which makes it the most powerful mass-produced V8 engine in the world.  Even more astonishing is that it does that for a reasonable $60,000.  Motor Trend put the car through its paces including an attempt at breaking the elusive 200 MPH barrier, they didn’t quite make it but they got pretty darn close.

• Amazing Face Cleanser 100ml – low-foaming gel
• Mandarin Facial Hydrating Cream 60ml – citrus oil-infused
• Moroccan Neroli Shaving Serum 50ml – low-foaming
• Immediate Moisture 50ml – refreshing, aromatic, spray-on
• Rosehip Seed Lip Cream 6ml – non-greasy, hydrating
• Hand luggage friendly – all products 100ml or less
• Ingredients

If you don’t want to splurge for the full set, at least pickup some Aesop Mandarin Facial Hydrating Cream it’s the finest face moisturizer that’s ever touched my face, the stuff is absolutely magnificent.  Pickup the kit for $150 over at MR PORTER.

Pitchfork put together an outstanding guide to the best summer music festivals in North America and Europe: 10 per continent.  Check out the full top 10 list of North American festivals below and be sure to head to Pitchfork to see the 10 European picks.

NORTH AMERICAN MUSIC FESTIVALS

WHAT: Hot 97’s Summer Jam
WHEN: June 3
WHERE: East Rutherford, New Jersey
WHO: Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross and Maybach Music, Waka Flocka Flame, 2 Chainz, Meek Mill, Young Jeezy, DJ Khaled, and more on the main stage, plus Azealia Banks, A$AP Rocky, Pusha T, Kendrick Lamar, Big K.R.I.T., Schoolboy Q at the pre-show.

New York radio station Hot 97’s legendary hip-hop fest will undoubtedly feature a raft of guest appearances. Plus: autograph signings, trivia contests, Summer Jam logo tattoos, and something called “the Eastside Gynecology Pavilion” (yikes!)

WHAT: Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
WHEN: June 7-10
WHERE: Manchester, Tennessee
WHO: Radiohead, Bon Iver, Danny Brown, Kendrick Lamar, Flying Lotus, Feist, St. Vincent, the Shins, the Beach Boys, the Roots, tUnE-yArDs, Major Lazer, Santigold, SBTRKT, Kurt Vile, EMA, more

In addition to the bands, Bonnaroo also offers a Comedy Central-curated lineup of comedians, a silent disco, a movie tent, a shopping center, a hair salon, a poster show, a “big ass water slide,” and a beer festival. “The Academy” offers workshops in “art, theatre, percussion, break dancing, instrument building, and gardening.”

WHAT: Lollapalooza
WHEN: August 3-5
WHERE: Chicago, IL
WHO: Black Sabbath, Jack White, the Weeknd, Justice, Frank Ocean, Black Sabbath, At the Drive-In, Passion Pit, Twin Shadow, Sigur Rós, Die Antwoord, M83, the Black Keys, Bloc Party, Chairlift, the Afghan Whigs, Franz Ferdinand, tUnE-yArDs, Twin Shadow, the Tallest Man on Earth, more

The alt-rock behemoth takes over Chicago’s Grant Park with local food, a kid’s stage, a dance stage, and more.

WHAT: Woodsist Festival
WHEN: August 4-5
WHERE: Big Sur, CA
WHO: Woods, Real Estate, Fresh and Onlys, Thee Oh Sees, White Fence, Sun Araw, Ducktails, Pierced Arrows, Mantles, Peaking Lights

Woodsist Records, run by the band Woods, brings out their stacked roster and a few friends for their annual festival at the Henry Miller Library

WHAT: Rock the Bells
WHEN: August 18-19, 25-26 and September 1-2
WHERE: San Bernardino, CA, Mountain View, CA and Holmdel, NJ
WHO: Missy Elliott and Timbaland, Dipset, A$AP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Nas, Too $hort, Slick Rick, Salt-n-Pepa, RZA, Ice Cube, Atmosphere, Yelawolf, DJ Quik, more

The traveling hip-hop extravaganza hits three locations this year. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony will reunite to play E. 1999 Eternal in its entirety, Method Man and Redman will perform Blackout in full, and the Hit Squad (EPMD, Redman, Das EFX, K-Solo, and Keith Murray) will reunite.

WHAT: Budweiser Made in America Festival
WHEN: September 1-2
WHERE: Philadelphia, PA
WHO: Jay-Z, D’Angelo, Odd Future, Dirty Projectors, Passion Pit, Rick Ross, Santigold, Skrillex, Janelle Monae, Pearl Jam, Maybach Music (Rick Ross, Wale, Meek Mill), X, more

Jay-Z curates and headlines this new festival on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia. President Obama may or may not do his Al Green impression.

WHAT: Hopscotch Festival
WHEN: September 6-8
WHERE: Raleigh, NC
WHO: Jesus and Mary Chain, Danny Brown, the Roots, Yo La Tengo, Julia Holter, Liars, Lambchop, Zola Jesus, Built to Spill, Baroness, Sunn O))), more

John Darnielle will play a two-part solo Mountain Goats set: the first part will be acoustic Mountain Goats songs, and the second will be… all metal covers on piano. Megafaun will collaborate with Arnold Dreyblatt, Chris Corsano will serve as the “improviser in residence.” (Hopscotch is co-directed by Pitchfork Contributing Editor Grayson Currin.)

WHAT: Roots Picnic
WHEN: June 2-3
WHERE: Philadelphia, PA
WHO: The Roots, James Murphy, St. Vincent, De La Soul, Danny Brown, Diplo, De La Soul, Major Lazer, Kid Cudi, tUnE-yArDs, Shabazz Palaces, Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire, and more

The Roots’ annual hometown festival offers a mix of rap and indie rock heavy hitters, performing on the waterfront. The Roots will back up De La Soul and Rakim will performPaid in Full in its entirety.

WHAT: Osheaga Music and Arts Festival
WHEN: August 3-5
WHERE: Montreal, Quebec
WHO: The Weeknd, Sigur Rós, M83, the Shins, Snoop Dogg, A$AP Rocky, the Black Keys, Feist, Atlas Sound, MGMT, Justice, the Walkmen, Yeasayer, Dum Dum Girls, Metric, Florence & the Machine, Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Amadou & Mariam, Passion Pit, more

The picturesque Parc-Jean Drapeau on Ile Ste-Hélène offers forested areas, flowerbeds, and open-air artwork. A nice, serene backdrop for a Snoop Dogg set.

WHAT: ATP I’ll Be Your Mirror
WHEN: September 21-23
WHERE: Asbury Park, NJ
WHO: The Afghan Whigs, Louis C.K., Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the Roots, Factory Floor, Hot Snakes, the Antlers, Thee Oh Sees, Sharon Van Etten, the Make-Up, more

Co-curated by the Afghan Whigs’ Greg Dulli and ATP, I’ll Be Your Mirror returns to the Jersey Shore town. There’s a cinema, mini-golf, bowling, and unlimited play at the Silver Ball Museum Arcade and Pinball Hall of Fame.

Autumn Holley for the hump-day.  Enjoy!

If you’re a child of the 70s or 80s you probably recognize the Fisher Price record player in the above video.  What you won’t recognize is the disk playing on it.  While you likely listened to “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” if you have access to a milling machine you can now create your own custom disks.

Instructables user ‘fred27′ does just that and has been kind enough to develop a full tutorial so you can do it too.  He even built a custom app so you can put your favorite tune on a disk.  Hipsters eat your heart out.

via Instructables

Ya, I like beer.  And I live in one of the best places in the U.S. to love beer, Denver.  This amazing map by the graphic gurus at Pop Chart Labs charts out the 1,000 something breweries in the U.S with top notch graphics.

Buy the print for $24 at Pop Chart Lab

Full size link below:

Jay-Z and Kanye’s third video off their platinum-selling opus Watch the Throne.  “No Church in the Wild,” features Frank Ocean and The-Dream, with production handled by 88 Keys, and the video was directed by Romain Gavras, the man responsible for M.I.A.’s “Bad Girls.” Shot last month on the streets of Prague, the video was previewed during the European leg of the Watch the Throne World Tour.

The Ride:

2012 Chevrolet Volt

Walkaround:

The 2012 Chevrolet Volt is recognizable, but lacks the distinctive styling of the Toyota Prius or Honda Insight, but that might not necessarily be a bad thing.  The Volt is a five-door hatchback with a fairly high cowl and narrow window openings.  My car came in Silver Ice Metalic paint and benefited nicely from the dark black trim panel.

The Volt’s twin-opening grille and fierce headlights give the car a menacing appearance from the front, which is welcome change from the typical “cute” hybrid styling we’ve become accustomed to.  The rear of the vehicle is a bit less menacing, with a fairly large and tall rear-end and slightly less inspired taillight design.  The vehicle is handsome but could be a bit sleeker and more cohesive.

Interior:

The interior of the Volt is simply the best Chevy interior available.  The cabin is sleek, comfortable, has some fantastic modern flourishes and the grains and materials are all top notch throughout.  The contrasting white pearl and black interior looks great and the bright vehicle information display and its graphics are the best I’ve seen.  The blend of light colored aesthetics and high-end technology evokes an Apple feel and it works.  The buttonless center stack is easy to operate, intuitive and looked oh so very very clean.

The front buckets are comfortable and supportive but disappointingly, there is no power driver seat option, which limits drive adjustments and seems like a major oversight in a $43,000 vehicle.   Rear seating consists of two bucket seats divided by a useful center console, so only four people will fit in a Volt.  Leg room in the rear is okay, unless you’re a 6′ 2″ my driver like me with their seat at its maximum which leaves rear driver-side seat inhospitable.

The trunk is fairly narrow in back and only comes in at 10.6 cubic feet, but it’s deep and large enough to be useful and rear seat backs fold almost flat to increase cargo space.

The Drive:

The Volt doesn’t drive like a typical hybrid, at all.  The Volt, dare I say it, actually handles on the sporty side of things and there’s no discernible difference in performance between when it’s running on battery power or when he gasoline-powered generator kicks in.

The 2012 Chevrolet Volt’s powertrain consists of a lithium-ion battery, a 1.4-liter inline four-cylinder engine and two electric motors.  When he battery becomes depleted the 83-horsepower gas engine acts as a generator for the electric motors.  The electric power-train is good for 149 horsepower and comes paired to an excellent single-ration automatic transmission which means power is always on tap.

In full electric operation acceleration is a bit slow for about the first 15 feet, then you get a smooth rush of power and things get moving. Put the Volt in ‘sport’ mode and throttle response becomes instantaneous and surprisingly strong. I never felt that the Volt lacked power, passing and merging were never an issue.

The Volt starts out on battery power and can travel about 35 miles on electric power alone — which for 80% of Americans is all you need.  Once the battery is depleted the generator kicks in and we got an average of 34 mpg — again typically you won’t often be running off the generator.

The 2012 Chevy Volt comes with a power cord that plugs into a standard 120v wall outlet to recharge.  A full charge takes about 10 to 12 hours.  An optional 240v quick-charge home station will do it in about 4 hours.  Charging the vehicle overnight is quite simple and if I owned a Volt I’d probably only have to fill it up with liquid-gold every 3 months or so.

The Chevy Volt drives more naturally and feels far more substantial than hybrids like the Honda Insight or Toyota Prius.  Steering is light and precise but slightly artificial feeling.  Cornering is confident thanks to a carefully placed battery pack that lowers the car’s center of gravity.  Braking feel is fine – not great – there’s a slight ‘let up’ just before the car comes to a stop. This is due to the regenerative braking, which helps recharge the battery.

The Competition:

Toyota Prius Plug-in which gets better fuel economy in gas/hybrid mode but is limited to a 15-mile electric range.  Nissan Leaf both which has a 100 mile range but no gas-powered backup to get you home if you go to far.

Bragging Rights:

The Chevy Volt will save you gas money without looking or driving like it and the Volt’s fantastic interior is a great added bonus.

The Price:

The Chevrolet Volt checks in at $39,145. Our car came in at $43,030 with the addition of a Bose sound system, audio with navigation and a premium trim package.

Windup:

The Volt represents an important shift in hybrid cars.  In most ways, the Volt is just another 5-door hatchback.  It drives like one, it looks like one, has plenty of power and sporty handling.  But the Volt has a 35 mile electric range.  Though the car could use a few styling changes outside, the interior is outstanding and is the best I’ve seen from Chevy.  The Volt doesn’t disappoint.

The Photos:

What’s more American than a hottie in a pair of Daisy Dukes?  Not much.  Have a great Memorial Day!

BMW announced a partnership with Milanese coach-builder Zagato today.  The resulting BMW Zagato Coupé is outlandishly beautiful!  Unfortunately, the Zagato Coupé is a one-off model that is the product of many hours of hand-craftsmanship. The long bonnet, double roof and Kamm Tail all look fantastic on the bimmer.

Take a close look and you’ll notice that Zagato’s take on the BMW grille is filled with numerous little Z’s.  The exclusive exterior paint finish, Rosso Vivace, displays a color spectrum ranging black all the way to a brilliant red depending on viewing angle and lighting.  Also included are two Zagato inspired accessories: a hat bag and a travel bag.

via HighSnobiety

Check out these awesome handwoven Gautemalan shorts from Jed & Marne. Huckberry’s got four different patterns each available in two lengths, and they’re all going for $64 which is about 20% off. You’ve got ’til next Thursday to get your hand on a pair.  Pick them up over at Huckberry.

Jed & Marne, a brother and sister team, developed their eye for skilled craftsmanship from their artisan parents, and, in their hunt for quality and craft, found a blend of the two in the Guatemalan highlands. Working with families of Mayan master weavers, who hand dye and weave all their fabrics on foot looms, Jed & Marne provide livable wages and comfortable working conditions for the family collectives. Jed & Marne are doing their best to allow for the retention of this cultural tradition while, at the same time, extend this type of product to the rest of us. The result is a line of clothing that is equal parts form and function.

Cut and sewn out of select cottons, the shorts feature an elastic waistband, drawstring, side-seam pockets, and a solo back pocket. Not coming off some industrialized machine means these shorts are breathable, malleable, and will wear in, resulting in a custom fit. But, it’s not just the comfort of these shorts that stands out; it’s the patterns. We’d be hard pressed to find another line of classic comfort shorts that sport these unique blends of both pattern and color.

Handmade, ethically sound, good looking, and comfortable – at the end of the day, what more can you ask from a pair of shorts?

Brandon Loving is an artist/illustrator residing in Savannah, GA.
He’s the roughest, toughest son of a gun this side of the Smokies
and he’ll challenge anyone who says otherwise.

According to the about page on his site, BrandonLoving, I have to agree.  Rush Limbaugh spewing flames, Jaws wrestling the shark from Jaws it’s all magnificent.  Enjoy!

Barbara Palvin looking fantastic in this lingerie shoot.

Kate Upton for Beach Bunny’s “Bronze”, amazing.