Cross over 200 artists with an over-the-shoulder satchel bag, and you get...Sketchel, the customized satchel show

Licorice piglets. Appearing soon at a Jellio office near you.

Via CoolHunting.

I don't really give much of a crap about who the new Pope is but the Sun's headline cracked me up.

I agree with gawker.com's take. He doesn't wear white that well. Kind of washes him out. You'd think that would have been a consideration during the deliberation process.

2 years ago, Fiona Apple recorded an album called Extraordinary Machine that Epic Records has refused to put it out, deeming it not commercial enough. The songs are out there though in mp3 format on bit Torrent and a small group of fans have been lobbying for the album's release. You can sign a petition if you want at www.freefiona.com.

Slate.com has an article today that suggests that Epic may be right to not risk capital on an album that is not going to sell in big numbers. Apple herself has not made any sort of statement about the album, suggesting that she may not care one way or another whether it gets released. It's also possible that her reputation as a troublemaker and her penchant for speaking her mind might have pissed off the wrong person at Epic, causing them to keep the album in limbo indefinitely.

For now, illegally downloading it, if you can find it, is the only way to hear it. It's an interesting sounding album, from the 5 tracks that I've heard. Nothing too groundbreaking but different enough that, yeah, most of the music buying public wouldn't really give two shits about it.

Today, an exhibit of the preliminary sketches for the High Line park project opens at MOMA. (check out the slide show) Looks like their taking the minimalist approach, as their design philosophy is summed up as...

Keep it simple
Keep it wild
Keep it quiet
Keep it slow

Lofty goals (good luck with that stretch near the Lincoln Tunnel) but they certainly picked the right architects for the job. The team of Diller and Scofidio has already had a retrospective at the Whitney. They're responsible for some of the most imaginative designs ever. Check out the Blur Building...a structure basically consisting of a cloud of mist.

Read about it here.

Al Swearengen is still king, but no one can deliver a beatin' quite like Charlie Utter!

Question...What was in the box that Al was talking to?

A) the head of Gwyneth Paltrow
B) a chocolate babka
C) the last Hattori Hanzo sword ever made
D) a tin of Dapper Dan hair gel
E) doesn't matter...was just an excuse to speak with Charlie

thoughts?

I feel a little like I'm encroaching on Jellio's territory by posting about furniture. But while I can't claim to be an erudite “man about town”, I fully acknowledge my geekier tendencies.

Which is why I put these Tetris Shelves into the “man, I wish I'd thought of that first” department. Not that much info on the web site, but I'm guessing they come in modular pieces and you can stack them just about any way you want. These would look great in a narrow wallspace. (I hear they are incredibly expensive though, so it may be quicker to make a quick visit to the Home Depot and build your own).

This week's recommended comic is The Long Haul by Antony Johnston and Eduardo Barreto.

The Long Haul is an original black and white graphic novel that can probably best be described as Deadwood meets Oceans 11. It's a classic heist story with all that genre's accoutrements but set in the Old West. There's a suave, George Clooney/Clark Gable-esque bank robber who gathers together a team that consists of a card player, a Native American chief, a seductress and others. Their plan is to take down a Federal money train and throroughly embarrass the powers that be- including a Pinkerton agent and the Railroad tycoons who are proud of their thief-proof new train.

Comic's veteran Eduardo Barreto is the artist here and his style is perfect for invoking this era. His characters remind you of classic old Western characters from both old Hollywood and old comic books.

This is just a fun little story, especially if you're a fan of either western or heist stories. The book struggles with pacing here and there, devoting a little too much time to the set up and the gathering of the team than it does the actual heist, but when it gets moving it's a hell of a lot of fun.

Check out your local comic shop today. If you don't know where your local comic shop is, find it here: http://www.the-master-list.com

Took the gallery walk over the weekend. Good stuff out there right now, and most shows are open for a few more weeks. Here are just a few...

Eric Fischl at Mary Boone...He certainly does love to paint people in the bedroom. But there's absolutely nothing erotic about any of it. I guess that's why their so interesting.

Damien Hirst at Gagosian...Most reviews say this is the show where Hirst jumps the shark, and I can see why as most of the subject matter has already been covered. But I do love those pill paintings. Also, check out the "addicted to crack" paintings...talk about scared straight.

Robert Gober at Matthew Marks on 22nd...Gober has transformed the entire gallery into a cathedral paying tribute to post 9/11 New York, except the symbolism can sometimes feel like putting together a mensa jigsaw puzzle.

Gary Hume at Matthew Marks on 24th...I've been a fan of Hume's since his 90's Young British Artist days. The snowmen are alot of fun.

When I first saw this restaurant at the site of the old Bond clothing store I thought "Look, someone ate at Carmine's and liked it so much they opened the same restaurant a couple blocks away". Every review I've read starts basically the same way...the reviewer expects a tourist trappy, mediocre Itaian food restaurant, and they're all pleasantly surprised. I'm here to agree with all of them...Bond 45 is a really fun place, with great food and a very pleasant wait staff.

I won't go through every dish I've sampled in the two times I've been there, I'll just mention the appetizers alone are worth the price of admission. When you first walk in, you walk past the kitchen and about three dozen different grilled vegetable antipasti. Tell the waiter what your favorites are, and they'll pick a mix of seven for only $22. There's a mozzerella misto, a platter carrying six types of fresh mozzarella, that will melt in your mouth. And a fruiti di mare seafood platter that I'm going to order every single time I come back.

Pre-theatre, group dinner, family or friends are in town, or you're just in the mood for a really good Italian feast...check out Bond 45. Food just like momma used to order.

Crate and Barrel acrylic nesting tables, and the Jellio acrylic candy table.

Yes I know one is a set of three and the other has a layer of squirt guns. And yes, I know an
acrylic side table is no great new discovery. And yes, I am completely bitter. Fuck off.

All those PC users out there who are having OS envy over the new Mac Tiger system due soon (and, man, do those desktop widgets look cool), do not despair....

Here's an entire website aimed at simulating the Mac OSX desktop.

From BoingBoing:

“Factoid: The entire US$50Million stage lighting system for [U2's] Vertigo Tour is controlled via a Playstation [2] video game controller].”

I guess after this story, nothing is impossible.