Frank Ocean - "Voodoo"

Snowmobile Frontflip

Idaho native Heath Frisby nailed the first ever snowmobile front flip in competition last night at the 16th Winter X Games.

ESPN - "Frisby lands first snowmobile frontflip"

Piece of the Aggro Crag - $1,500

Nickelodeon's 1990's sports game show GUTS awarded each episode's victor a piece of the Aggro Crag as a trophy. And with only 126 episodes ever there are only 126 authentic pieces in the world. Recently, the winner of the 1993 episode 209c put his piece up on eBay and sold it for $1,499.00.

Below the eBay listing description:

"This is an extremely RARE Aggro Crag Trophy from the Legendary, Hit Nickelodeon's Show "GUTS". I won this in 1993 on episode 209c. It lights up! This is a RARE opportunity to own a piece of historic pop culture. There has been a few replicas listed in the past years, but keep in mind this is the real deal only 126 episodes were made so there are only 126 of these in the world.

Note: the Gold Medal is shown in the pictures but NOT included with the sale."

Buzzfeed - "How Much Can You Buy A Piece Of The Aggro Crag From Nickelodeon's "GUTS" For?"

Baluarte Bridge

Washington Post - "New bridge in Mexico loaded with big dreams"

"The Baluarte Bicentennial Bridge, uniting the states of Durango and Sinaloa with a gravity-defying ribbon of concrete 1,321 feet above the Baluarte River. Completed this month, it is the highest bridge in the Western Hemisphere, the second-highest in the world and highest structure of its kind (cable-stayed bridge) on the planet.

So high is the Baluarte’s road deck that the Eiffel Tower could fit beneath it, or two Washington Monuments stacked end to end. With its long white cables and graceful towers rising 587 feet at opposite ends of the precipice, it may be the most breathtaking structure built in Mexico since the pyramids went up at Teotihuacan circa A.D. 100. "

...

“The best way to fight crime and eliminate poverty is to create jobs,” said Francisco Gutierrez, the top economic development official for the state of Durango. “This is the most important project in all of Mexico right now.”

...

"When the first surveyors and engineers reached the bridge site five years ago, it was a four-hour ride on horseback. “We stood at the edge of the canyon and looked across, and it didn’t seem possible,” said engineer Carlos Zamundio"

City Logos

Click to enlarge.

Complex - "Here's What It Would Look Like If Every Major Sports Team From One City Combined Their Logos"

Obama/Lil Wayne Sneakers

In sneaker news this week, Film auteur Spike Lee gifted President Obama with the first ever pair of Air Jordan Spizike "Bordeaux."

Hypebeast - "Jordan Spizike "Bordeaux""

And, Lil Wayne wore these ridiculous shoes to an NBA game.

Common - "The Light"

Still a hot song.

SBTRKT - "Atomic Peace"

The iPhone (US) Economy

The New York Times uses Apple's iPhone as an example to analyze the current U.S. economy. If the YouTube link gets killed click the NYT link below to see the 4-minute video.

New York Times - "The iPhone Economy"

"Apple’s iPhone is a model of American ingenuity, but most of its components are manufactured somewhere else. The decline of manufacturing can lead to the loss of other kinds of jobs, a factor in the American economy right now."

League Championship Weekend

Yards thrown during the regular season doesn't look quite as impressive when put in this perspective.

More infographic breakdowns of today's games below created by Craig Robinson for Grantland. Click the image to enlarge.

Baltimore at New England 3:00 pm EST

New York Giants at San Francisco 6:30 pm EST

Future NBA SG - Shabazz Muhammad

NBADraft.net - "Shabazz Muhammad"

Future NBA Center - Nerlens Noel

Rivals.com - "Nerlens Noel"

Best News Story of the Weekend

Pitchfork - "Police Swarm New Zealand Mansion in Arrest of Megaupload Founder Kim Dotcom"

"Reuters reports that a number of curious details have emerged surrounding this week's arrest of the German programmer and entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, who founded Megaupload in 2005. Dotcom was in the safe room of his leased New Zealand mansion when dozens of local police (some in helicopters) swarmed his residency. The Wall Street Journal notes that Dotcom had a loaded shotgun in his possession at the time.

An official from New Zealand's Organized and Financial Crime Agency told Reuters, "Despite our staff clearly identifying themselves, Mr. Dotcom retreated into the house and activated a number of electronic-looking mechanisms."

Police seized two firearms from the premises, and, according to The Telegraph, more than 20 automobiles. Among the vehicles was a 1959 pink Cadillac, as were several others with vanity plates baring such titles as "HACKER," "MAFIA,"and "STONED."

U.S. authorities are labeling the Megaupload case "one of the largest copyright cases in history," says Reuters."

Private - "My Secret Lover"

Ignore the dude's haircut and enjoy the song.

The T-Wolves

Star Tribune - "Love hits winning three at the horn as Wolves rally from 15 down to sink Clippers"

Alternative Universe Movie Posters

Behance Network - "Movies from an Alternate Universe"

Big Wave

BIGGEST TEAHUPOO EVER, SHOT ON THE PHANTOM CAMERA.

Architect - Zaha Hadid

Zaha Hadid is a 61-year-old Iraqi-British architect.

Above is Bergisel Ski Jump in Innsbruck, Austria. (2002)

Bridge Pavilion in Zaragoza, Spain (2008)

London Aquatics Center (2011)

Guangzhou Opera House (2010)

Riverside Museum in Glasglow, Scotland (2011)

Crashed Ice

The 2012 World Championships of Crashed Ice will start tonight in St. Paul, MN. The race will be live streamed at 8pm EST on the official Red Bull Crashed Ice website.

Three more W.C. races will be held in February and March in Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden.

"Take some of the best and toughest ice-hockey players in the world, a sizzling atmosphere, stunning surroundings, tonnes of steel, a huge cooling system and thousands of square metres of frozen water. The result? Red Bull Crashed Ice! Since the first ever race back in 2001, Red Bull Crashed Ice has developed to become the most breathtaking winter sports events in the world. Ice-hockey aces hurtle down courses up to 500 metres in length in groups of four, shoulder to shoulder, as they fight it out for victory. The whole race is held on a steep downhill track dotted with chicanes, jumps and rollers. Pushing, sliding, sprinting and wrangling are all on the menu as the athletes race down the course, but the rules are, in fact, very simple: first to the bottom wins."

Young Kobe

ESPN - "Believe it: Kobe Bryant still cares"

-Michael Wilbon

Sidenote,

new Kobe Bryant Nike ad campaign, the #KobeSystem

Moonrise Kingdom

Wes Anderon's (Life Aquatic, Fantastic Mr. Fox) next film, Moonrise Kingdom, starring Bruce Willis, Ed Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand and a few others, is scheduled for a late May release.

Desire - "Under Your Spell"

One of the three best songs in Drive (coming out on DVD/iTunes Tuesday).

Jay-Z (feat. B.I.C.) - "Glory"

Jay-Z (feat. newborn daughter Blue Ivy Carter) - "Glory"

Produced by The Neptunes

Coachella 2012 Lineup

Same lineup; back-to-back weekends.

Last Night Was an Exciting Game

Great Read - Pulphead by John Jeremiah Sullivan

Two-time National Magazine Award winner and regular contributor to both GQ and The Paris Review John Jeremiah Sullivan published a dozen of his previously published essays (topics range from Christian rock festivals to Hurricane Katrina to Michael Jackson to the Real World to American Cave Art) in this compilation, Pulphead.

"[Sullivan] seems to have in abundance the storyteller’s gifts: he is a fierce noticer, is undauntedly curious, is porous to gossip, and has a memory of childlike tenacity. Anecdotes fly off the wheels of his larger narratives. In a touching piece about the near-death of his brother (who electrocuted himself with a microphone while playing with his band, the Moviegoers, in a garage in Lexington, Kentucky), Sullivan mentions, in passing, “Captain Clarence Jones, the fireman and paramedic who brought Worth back to life, strangely with two hundred joules of pure electric shock (and who later responded to my grandmother’s effusive thanks by giving all the credit to the Lord).” Any reporter can be specific about the two hundred joules. But the detail about Captain Jones giving all the credit to the Lord, while a small thing, suggests a writer interested in human stories, watching, remembering, and sticking around long enough to be generally hospitable to otherness."

- New Yorker review of Pulphead

If you're interested in reading one of Sullivan's essays before committing to the book, check out his New York Times story on traveling to Disney World with his wife, daughter and their mutual family friends (not included in Pulphead).

Think what this talent could do for any one of the Republican candidates right now

"[Bob Hawke, the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia]'s academic achievements were complemented by setting a new world speed record for beer drinking: he downed 2 1/2 pints - equivalent to a yard of ale - from a sconce pot in eleven seconds as part of a college penalty. In his memoirs, Hawke suggested that this single feat may have contributed to his political success more than any other, by endearing him to a voting population with a strong beer culture."

Wikipedia - "Bob Hawke"
Guyism - "Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke Chugs a Beer"

Rick Ross (feat. Drake & French Montana) - "Stay Schemin"

Rick Ross has recovered from two inflight seizures back in October to release the free mixtape Rich Forever.

Download link.

"Stay Schemin," produced by The Beat Bully, is the final track off Rich Forever.

Shot - The Pickleback

Movies to look forward to in 2012

Looks like 2012 could be a better year of movies than 2011.

• The Place Beyond the Pines - Sundance/Late 2012

Blue Valentine filmmaker Derek Cianfrance does a motorcycle crime drama starring Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Ray Liotta and Eva Mendes.

• Cogan’s Trade - Early 2012

Brad Pitt stars in a crime-mob film based on a 1974 novel and directed by The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford director Andrew Dominik.

• The Wettest County in the World - April 20

Virginia bootlegging gang film starring Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Guy Pearce and Gary Oldman.

• On the Road - Cannes in May/Late 2012

Relatively unknowns play Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty with a supporting cast that includes Kristen Stewart, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, Amy Adams and Steve Buscemi.

• Prometheus - June 8

Ridley Scott’s Alien Prequel starring Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace.

• The Dark Knight Rises - July 18

Christopher Nolan.

• The Master - Fall 2012

Paul Thomas Anderson’s origins of Scientology movie starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix.

• Gangster Squad – October 19

L.A.P.D. East Coast Mafia 1940’s era movie starring Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribsi and Josh Brolin.

• Skyfall - November 9

Daniel Craig as James Bond, Javier Bardem as the villain, directed by American Beauty's Sam Mendes and reported filming in South Africa, India, China, Istanbul, Scotland and of course London.

• Gravity - November 21

Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men) 3D astronaut movie starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock.

• Untitled Hunt for Bin Laden Project - December 19

The Hurt Locker’s Kathryn Bigelow is working on a currently unnamed Hunt for Bin Laden movie with a rumored cast of Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Rooney Mara.

• Only God Forgives - Late 2012

Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn do movie #2 (movie #1 was Drive). IMDB claims the plot to be "A Bangkok police lieutenant and a gangster settle their differences in a Thai-boxing match."

• Lincoln - Late 2012

Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln directed by Steven Spielberg.

• The Great Gatsby - December 25

Directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Leonardo Dicaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton and Tobey Maguie in 3D.

• Django Unchained - December 25

Quentin Tarantino written/directed runaway slave movie starring Jamie Foxx, Leonardo Dicaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sacha Baron Cohen and The RZA.

Some other ones to look out for: The Hunger Games, The Dictator, The Amazing Spider-Man, Total Recall, Neighborhood Watch and Moonrise Kingdom.

Shit Girls Say - Episodes 1+2

J.P. Auclair Urban Skiing

Make sure you at least make it to 02:10 to see "The incredible video of skier JP Auclair downhill bombing his way through a city in British Columbia."- NY Mag Approval Matrix

Ai Weiwei - "Forever Bicycles"

Ai Weiwei's latest exhibition, "Forever Bicycles" at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taiwan features 1,200 handlebar and seatless bikes.

Fast Company - "Ai Weiwei Piles 1,200 Bikes On Top Of Each Other, For Dazzling Effect"

Clams Casino

Download North Jersey hip hop producer Clams Casino's free instrumental mixtape.

Grantland's Amos Barshad has declared "Motivation," the mixtape's lead song, "perfect for drinking three beers real fast and then zoning out while riding the bus."

Clams Casino has rose to fame producing beats for Lil' B, A$AP Rocky and The Weeknd and for releasing the acclaimed Raineforest EP.

Photographer Jonathan Nowak

JonathanNowak.tv - "NORTH DAKOTA &/OR PROJECT CORCUS"

Favorite Movies of 2011 (in some particular order)

Favorite Movies of 2010 (in no particular order)

Jellyfish - The New Goldfish

Wired - "The New Goldfish"

$460

"One type of sea life has proven tough to keep in home aquariums: jellyfish. The blobby beasties get shredded like Kleenex in the filters. This 7-gallon tank — a project that got funded through Kickstarter — solves that by using a laminar-flow system to circulate the water in a controlled swirl, nudging the jellies to the middle of the tank and away from danger. The kit takes about 10 minutes to assemble and includes a voucher for three moon jellyfish, shipped overnight in Styrofoam coolers along with a six-month supply of frozen brine shrimp. Slip them into the water, turn on the color-changing LED light, and … dude, whoa!

WIRED Most hypnotic office/dorm room/studio decoration ever. Brainlessly simple setup and care.

TIRED Stoned friends will never leave now. Air pump motor is about as loud as a refrigerator. Life expectancy of a moon jelly is only a year; new ones cost $50 each."

10 Coolest Buildings of 2011

The 10 Coolest Buildings of 2011 according to Complex Magazine -

Dune House by Jarmund/Vigsnaes Arkitekter

Thorpeness, Sussex, England

London Aquatics Center 2012 by Zaha Hadid

London

Hobbit House by Simon Dale

Wales

Dresden Museum of Military History by Daniel Libeskind

Dresden, Germany

Diamond Arena by Atelier 11

Beijing, China

Hanging Village of Huaxi by A+E Design

Huaxi, Jiangsu Province, East China

Norwegian Wild Reindeer Centre Pavilion by Snohetta

Hjerkinn on the outskirts of Dovrefjell National Park, Norway

Beekman Tower by Frank Gehry

New York, NY

Alligator House by Building Studio

New Orleans

Cite de I'Ocean et du Surf Museum by Steven Holl

Biarritz, France

Artist - Dale Chihuly

You may recognize some of American glass blower and sculptor Dale Chihuly's work from the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Wikipedia - Dale Chihuly

Wal-Mart American Art Museum

Wal-Mart heiress Alice Warton has opened Crystal Bridges, an American art museum in Bentonville, AR, home of Wal-Mart.

Crystal Bridges is

"a big, serious, confident, new institution with more than 50,000 square feet of gallery space and a collection worth hundreds of millions of dollars in a region almost devoid of art museums.

Much more than just a demonstration of what money can buy or an attempt to burnish a rich family’s name, Crystal Bridges is poised to make a genuine cultural contribution, and possibly to become a place of pilgrimage for art lovers from around the world."

New York Times - "Crystal Bridges, the Art Museum Walmart Money Built, Opens"
The New Yorker - "Alice's Wonderland"