To honor the grizzled, alcoholic author Charles Bukowski on the 20th anniversary of his death, a literary tour operator thought it was time for a commemorative stamp–and they launched an online petition to show how serious they are. The USPS is not likely to embrace the idea, but it’s actually a smart one. Bukowski is one of my favorite authors so I would love to see this idea become a reality. Besides his expertise in whiskey and women, Bukowski was also postal worker until age 49–he even wrote what is perhaps the most famous book about a post office, Post Office.

Let’s be honest, this idea is not likely to see the light of day, and Buk needs all the help he can get, but how great would it be send a letter to your grandma, and put a Broads, Beer, Books, stamp on the letter.

If you like this idea, and would love to see some Bukowski stamps in circulation, check out the online petition page

Burton has unveiled the official uniform for the U.S. Snowboarding Team at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics – and it’s denim and plaid! The uniforms remind me a bit of Travis Pastranas Lumber Jack gear he wore when he pulled the double back flip at the X games a few years back.

The inspiration behind the U.S. Snowboarding Team outerwear for the 2010 Olympics is classic Americana

says Greg Dacyshyn, Senior Vice President of Creative at Burton.

Although we are creating a uniform, our first objective is to express the individuality of snowboarding. As such, we are taking vintage American looks and interpreting them in a very unique and unexpected fashion. Finally, we will ensure that all of the highest technical attributes are maintained in the pieces, so that performance and function are not jeopardized. The result will be a progressive and fresh look that challenges the former conservatism of the Olympics.

If your asking for my honest opinion, I think the uniforms are dope, but not the most original. Kids have been rocking the tight jeans look on the hill for about 2 or 3 years now. The emo fashion has dominated snowboarding almost as badly as the gangster look made famous by the Tech Nine crew. Although these uni’s arent emo, they are close enough to the flannel and jeans look that is oh so popular. Dont get me wrong, I like this look that Burton went with, I just wish they didnt try and make it seem like they came out with this marvelous and completely original idea that no one has ever seen before.

This new catalogue documents a recent exhibition at the Starmach Gallery in Krakow, presenting Andy Warhol’s Polaroid work during the last two decades of his life. Only someone like Warhol could pull off getting so much credit for taking Polaroids. The 65 color images include Warhol’s self-portraits–occasionally in drag or another kind of costume–as well as Warhol’s pictures of celebrities and artists from all fields. Included here are artists such as Keith Haring, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Francesco Clemente, and Jean-Michel Basquiat; writers such as William S. Burroughs and Truman Capote; and actors including Liza Minelli and Dennis Hopper, among numerous others. Publications like this are great to add to your collection because they give a glimpse into Warhols personal life.


(more…)

Like it says in our ‘Whos ZootPatrol’ section, we are dedicated to keeping you in the know on everything from movies, music, fashion, art, and news, so its only natural that Im going to share some new music thats been created by a good friend and true pioneer in the hip hop world. From the depths of the Maryland underground, Brake Fast Records is proud to present “Cases” – an album filled with witty lyrics, shifting stream of consciousness raps and intriguing storytelling, all backed by a dark, enthralling soundscape. With top notch production from beat extraordinaires Tom Delay, Mark Henry (Raheem Devaughn, Freeway) and Nick Tha 1da (Emilio Rojas, Ken Starr), to put it simply…the album knocks! Ive been a fan of hip hop for most of my life, and I can tell you first hand, theres nothing like bumping an album, bobbin your head, and knowing that one of your good friends created it.
(more…)

Its always nice when you see a design team really think about ad placement. There are so many times that I see an really cool ad or campaign and think to myself, what the hell were those guys thinking when they placed it here. I saw this set of bus stop ads and I really dug them. So naturally, I figured I would share them with you Zoots. Bus stops are commonly pretty lame. You have your standard bus schedule, a bench, a homeless dude if your lucky, and thats about it. Ohh, lets not forget some of the awesome graffiti that those cool 17 year olds drew. “FUCK” and “SHIT” all over the place. Finally a few people realized that this area could be used as a public piece of art and really took advantage of it.


(more…)

We here at Zoot have done a few posts on money art. What can we say we like the C.R.E.A.M. That’s probably because we don’t have any. We have seen people cut money up and make art out of it, and also people draw silly faces on the presidents, but we have not touched on an age old technique that somehow people decided would look cooler if they were using a weeks pay. Origami has been around forever and I’m sure at some point all of you have tried to make a nice looking Crane for the girl sitting next to you in English class. Instead that thing came out looking like a deformed cobra, and you were stuck being a virgin for another 4 years. If you would have made that Crane out of money, you could have skipped the small talk, and figured out at an early age that you are the type of guy that will always have to pay for sex, by passing all the awkward years of getting shut down.

(more…)

As many of you know, November, more popularly known as Movember, was the month when men from around the world joined together to raise money for testicular and prostate cancer. The challenge was to grow a mustache, and have people donate to the cause. While fun most of the time, I do have to admit that there were certainly down sides to this month, especially socially. How many girls are looking to go home with a guy with a thin dark black mustache? The answer is not many. It was all for a great cause, and I am willing to sacrifice some social awkwardness if it can help raise peoples awareness on a disease that will effect so many young men. To date, Movember has raised $47 million globally making it the world’s largest charity event for men. Significantly, awareness of men’s health issues has improved with Movember helping to spread important health messages directly to millions of Mo Bros & Sistas around the world. The Gala party to celebrate the end of a long and rough month was held at Capitale in NYC. Sponsored by Canadian Club whiskey, you can only imagine how intense this party got. There were some great costumes, some gorgeous girls (no mustaches) and tons of laughs. This was the kind of event/party where everyone got along wonderfully. All the people there had a great sense of humor (you have to if you grow a awkward stache for a month) and it really showed. I will be participating every year from here on out, and only hope to expand my team to some other friends. Check out some of the pics and read up on Movember. Just because the month is over, it does not mean that you can not contribute to helping to find a cure. Thanks Mia! RAWR for escorting me to the event and lying to me for the whole month on how “great” my stache looked.

If you arent a fan of hip hop music, or more specifically, battle rapping, then I can understand how you might get lost during one of the competitions. The artists string together word combinations so quickly, that unless your familiar with it, it goes in one ear and out the other. Good thing for you someone took the time to translate exactly what is being said. I thought this clip was hilarious. Props to D.V. at These Initials Totally Stink for sending this along.

Red and Meth have been partners in crime for a while now, so it would only make sense that when one makes a shoe, the other is sure to follow. First Red Man created his Adidas shoe, and next Method Man followed with his own version of the popular brand. Reds sneakers feature a hearty red suede upper with the adidas signature three stripes in black. The toe is white and little specs of red are included on the white outsole that take you back to Redmans debut LP “Whut? Thee” Album. The tongue tag sports an image of Redman with his name printed below him in silver and the heel tab features the adidas logo as well as “Funk Doc” in silver.


(more…)