Browsing through one of my new favorite photography blogs, Shoot the Blog, and stumbled upon this cool video that brings a gang of classic album covers to life:

Interesting report in the NY Times on a growing, Willie Wonka-like dinner party trend, in which guests are invited to sample a variety of foods while under the influence of a taste bud altering dru-, I mean, berry that makes EVERYTHING taste sweet:

CARRIE DASHOW dropped a large dollop of lemon sorbet into a glass of Guinness, stirred, drank and proclaimed that it tasted like a “chocolate shake.”

Nearby, Yuka Yoneda tilted her head back as her boyfriend, Albert Yuen, drizzled Tabasco sauce onto her tongue. She swallowed and considered the flavor: “Doughnut glaze, hot doughnut glaze!”

They were among 40 or so people who were tasting under the influence of a small red berry called miracle fruit at a rooftop party in Long Island City, Queens, last Friday night. The berry rewires the way the palate perceives sour flavors for an hour or so, rendering lemons as sweet as candy.

The host was Franz Aliquo, 32, a lawyer who styles himself Supreme Commander (Supreme for short) when he’s presiding over what he calls “flavor tripping parties.” Mr. Aliquo greeted new arrivals and took their $15 entrance fees. In return, he handed each one a single berry from his jacket pocket.

“You pop it in your mouth and scrape the pulp off the seed, swirl it around and hold it in your mouth for about a minute,” he said. “Then you’re ready to go.” He ushered his guests to a table piled with citrus wedges, cheeses, Brussels sprouts, mustard, vinegars, pickles, dark beers, strawberries and cheap tequila, which Mr. Aliquo promised would now taste like top-shelf Patrón.

The berry, known as miracle fruit, is perfectly safe, legal and, judging by the article/video, makes for quite a fun experience. If you’re interested in popping a few of ‘em yourself: 90 bucks gets you 30 fresh berries.

From the time that I was a teen, and first became aware of the concept of a shelved album, the sheer thought of the amount of unreleased music that many record labels and artists have stashed away in their private vaults has always intrigued me. All that life and game changing material that may potentially go unheard forever is, ahh$%#@@@&!!!!!, both painful and amazing to think about.

So imagine my delight, when this past weekend, I came across a post on the popular hip hop forum, Okayplayer, that pointed me in the direction of two snippets of never-before-heard Stevie Wonder tracks from 1974 (unfortunately, the poster said that they promised whomever provided them with these tracks, they’d only post snippets).

According to legend, Stevie recorded an album in that year, and for reasons unknown, decided to shelve the project after it was all said and done. Whether or not this is true is anyone’s guess, but these snippets from the supposed shelved album are quite ridiculous, and hold up pretty well some 34 years later:

Kobe Bryant and Nike are back at it again with yet another viral commercial promoting the new Nike Hyperdunks. And this time around they’ve enlisted the help of the Jackass crew to make things that much more interesting:

What do you think: Real or Fake?

I’m still convinced that Kobe’s first stunt, the Aston Martin jump, was real. However, this one, I don’t know. Somewhere around mid flight things start to look a little suspect. Either way, I’m entertained, and these videos are spreading across the net just as the advertising lords intended. Mission Accomplished!

[via BDL]

He’d probably be strolling around the streets of Bed-Stuy with one of these:

No, not the girl. The thing she’s holding in front of her.

What may appear to be a virtual pet on a leash, is actually a futuristic take on the boom box, created by Israeli industrial designer, Inbal Dayagi.

Inspired by a children’s toy found in just about every hood in America (or the world, for that matter), the hula hoop, the boom box on a wheel runs on a self supporting, rechargeable battery and best of all it supports mp3’s. One thing’s for sure, its design is definitely one of a kind. Peep the full 3-d diagram here.

Right now it appears to be just a prototype, so I don’t think we’ll be seeing it in the wild just yet.

Speaking of Radio Raheem (RIP) and his boom box, with the crazy amount of 80’s fads being resurrected these days, I wonder why the boom box hasn’t made it back yet? I’m waiting to see someone walking down the street with their ghetto blaster proudly placed atop their shoulder, blasting the sounds of a good old fashion analogue mixtape. That would be great! Maybe I just haven’t been in the right places to spot this. What about you guys?

In the meantime, peep this site that I found that pays homage to the boom box. Their future predictions on boom box technology are, well, interesting when compared to the more advanced and much smaller portable music players available today.

[via PSFK]

Easily one of the most attractive (conceptually) and ingenious gadgets that I’ve seen all year.

A pint-sized tv receiver, equipped with wifi and ethernet connections, that to turns any television into a Netflix on-demand powerhouse…and it’s HD-ready and only cost $100 (plus an existing Netflix membership). What’s messin’ with that?!

The only issues that threaten to blow The Netflix Player off my radar, and keep me from being an early adopter:

1.) Only a fraction of the Netflix library is available for viewing (”Instant Watching” titles only).

2.) Although the player itself is HD-ready, titles in the “Instant Watching” library are only available in near-DVD quality at the moment.

The near-dvd picture quality I can handle, especially since Netflix plans to make HD movies and tv shows available in the future (peep: faq’s). But the limited, and rather sub par quality of the Netflix “Instant Watching” library is a whole ‘nother story. Right now I’d compare it to one of those bargain DVD racks found in some your favorite big box stores–a few gems here and there, but lots of filler in between. Continue…

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

On first glance I thought this was nothing more than a stop motion animation that had been digitally placed over an urban backdrop. But then I looked closer and began to notice all the faded outlines left behind the figures as they moved along the wall and sidewalk, and realized that the artist actually painted and shot the entire thing step-by-step, motion-by-motion right there on the street. I can’t imagine how much time went into creating this, or how many other works were wiped out in the process, but its simply amazing!

[H/T: Chris Brogan]

Or is it? I asked that question on Twitter the other day (What say you?). If nothing else I could definitely hear this track as background music in a rapid cutting “My Anti Drug” type of commercial…Ha! Either way, I’m loving the video (looks, feels really spontaneous and amateur-cool) and the track, although it took a while to grow on me. LOL @ the Lindsay Lohan cameo…talk about irony!

I didn’t get around to sharing this bit of news last week, but Gureala was recently added to the 2008 edition of A Blog List. The list, compiled by Stefano Ricci of the Italian cool hunting blog ELMANCO in conjunction with Fubiz (France), is a global directory of the best design, graphics, fashion, advertising and new technologies blogs on the web. Major shout out to Stefano and Fubiz for the recognition! Just when I’m thinking that no one’s out there paying attention to what’s going on here on the site, I receive news like this in my inbox!

Gureala’s amongst good company, with a few of my favorite blogs and giants of the tech/cool hunting game also making appearances on the list: Kanye, Engadget, Jean Snow and Hypebeast to name a few. There are tons of great blogs to be discovered on the list, so do yourself a favor and explore the thing in its entirety!

I’m just catching the news about Grand Theft Auto IV’s first week sales, and while I expected the game to do damn well in its first week, the official numbers being reported are downright insane!

• 3.6 million copies sold on the first day.
• 6 million copies sold in the first week.
• Grand total of *drumroll* $500 million in first week sales.

Just to put things into perspective here, *your favorite rapper* doesn’t do those kinds of numbers in two weeks. Ha! Just kidding. But seriously, this smashes previous records set by Microsoft’s Halo 3 ($300 million during its first week in stores last September), and the movie Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End ($401 million during its first six days in theaters). Pretty major, right?!

As far as the game itself, I’ve had it for a few days now and all I can say is that it’s an experience. I mean, I’ve played (and thoroughly enjoyed) the previous GTA editions, but GTA IV takes it to an entirely different level. From the music (celebrity stations with just about every genre available), the characters, the missions, and even the new multiplayer capabilities…Rockstar went all out. I’m leaving out many of the details here (don’t want to leak too many spoilers), but the comments are open for discussion and *cheats*. If you’re an Xbox Live member make yourself known. I think I may put my gamertag out there if there are enough of you guys around.