For the Love of Beer

Bill Bramanti loves beer...a lot. Pabst Blue Ribbon to be exact. He loves it so much he has designed his own coffin to resemble the can of his favorite beer. Since the Illinois native is in good health and not planning on needing the coffin anytime soon, he'll be using it as a cooler in the mean time.

(Found via USA Today)

Stop...In the Name of Love

Oak Lawn, a Chicago suburb near where I grew up, decided to take a different approach to stressing the importance of obeying stop signs. They added clever slogans to 50 stop signs around the town.

Oak Lawn mayor Dave Heilmann said of the project, "We have to take the work seriously, but it's OK to smile and to be creative in enforcing a serious message." Unfortunately, the Chicago Tribune has reported the signs are coming down, as the Illinois Department of Transportation has determined they violate the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Personally, I think they're great. What do you all think about the signs?

(Found via Fogonazos via Sumi Sumi)

Happy Earth Day

And some related good news, Whole Foods has announced they are doing their part to end the paper vs. plastic bag debate.

"When you come to shop, bring any bags you have on hand. Really, any bag will do – old, new, paper, plastic, fabric, even backpacks or woven baskets! You’ll feel good about helping our environment and we’ll even give you a refund of at least 5 cents per bag."

Paper, plastic, canvas...it doesn't matter just reuse! What a great move! For those able to shop at the Hy-Vee chain grocery stores, they've been employing a similar tactic for some time now.

Bike Lanes: The Good, the Bad, the Downright Funny

Portland, Organ recently introduced these new bike lane boxes. Pat on the back Portland! I don't have a car and rely heavily on biking to get around. Looks like Portland is my kind of town.

Amsterdam however, is not. Not only is this bike lane incredibly narrow, but it's also along a canal. I wouldn't last two pedals.

(Found via the Urban Outfitters Blog and Vagaboundish)

Cellphone Workshops by Teenagers for Adults

The Dutch company Bellendoejezo (roughly translated to "this is how you make the call") has organized cellphone workshops for adults that are taught by teens.

"While you may never be too old to learn, when it comes to gadgets, you can never be too young to teach. A Dutch initiative is taking advantage of kids’ innate cell phone proficiency by training them as ‘phone coaches’ and getting them to transfer their skills to older users."

While the program benefits adults through increased cellphone knowledge, it also strives to benefit the teens by boosting self-esteem and providing them with work experience.

(Found via Springwise)

Google Gmail Custom Time Feature: Happy April Fool's

In honor of April Fool's day, Google's Gmail users got punked. Google introduced their new gag-feature which allows Gmail users to send emails in the past by setting a 'custom time' on individual emails. The feature boasts its ability to allow you to be on time, all the time. One faux-commenter posts:

"I just got two tickets to Radiohead by being the 'first' to respond to a co-worker's 'first-come, first-serve' email. Someone else had already won them, but I told everyone to check their inboxes again."

Apparently Google takes the day very seriously. Not only have they had a consistent history of April Fool's pranks, but it's their 'birthday' as well. They launched on April 1, 2004. Pretty funny and sadly the only April Fool's prank I was subject too.

Sigh...if only.

Dinner in the Sky: Floating Restaurant

Dinner in the Sky is not your ordinary eating experience. "Here's a dining concept that'll make your head — if not your stomach — spin: it's dinner at a table suspended 165 feet in the air with chairs that swivel 180 degrees," said Jayne Clark of USA Today. The attraction has been featured everywhere from the NBC Today Show to Maxim.

For more information and pictures visit the attractions website: Dinner in the Sky.

(Found via my Mom)

In Honor of the Polaroid

Apparently I'm a little behind on the news, but nonetheless saddened. Polaroid announced last month that it will cease production of instant Polaroid film by next year. This news will certainly give a whole new historical context to the Outcast song 'Hey Ya' and is sure to disappointPolaroid camera enthusiasts like myself.

Perhaps in honor and an attempt to preserve Polaroid film, David Friedman proposed a concept design for the last product Polaroid should make. The Digital Polaroid picture frame.

"You just put your memory card in a slot on the bottom of the frame, and navigate using the touch screen to select whether you want to view your photos in 'Standard' mode...or in 'Classic' mode."

"The bottom portion of the frame features a dry erase surface, so you can write your own title for your slideshow by hand, using a dry erase marker."

For further reminiscing, check out Polanoid.com where they are building the biggest Polaroid picture collection of the planet in honor of the magic of instant photography.

( Digital Polaroid Picture Frame found via Core77)

In Honor of Super Tuesday

Several eager but uninformed voters didn't get the memo that Wisconsin wasn't included among the 24 states holding primaries on Super Tuesday. Nearly 10 Milwaukee residents lined up outside their polling place, only to find out they were early. Two weeks early to be exact.

Read the full story here: Uh, No Super Tuesday in Wisconsin

Turning Steel Into Lace: Cal Lane

The New York Times recently did an article on Cal Lane titled Turning Steel Into Lace, a sculpture who turns very common objects into unbelievable works of art.

(Found via Materialicious)

Baby Nadia

An incredible story with an equally incredible photograph to coincide. "A Siberian woman who gave birth to her 12th child — doing more than her fair share to stem Russia’s population decline was stunned to find that little Nadia weighed in at a massive 17 pounds, 1 ounce."

(Found via Reuters)

Death Defying School Run

And here I thought I had a rough commute every morning. Being that I have to ride my bike up a hill and all.

From the Daily Times on September 18, 2007

"A bridge is to be built in a Chinese village where children are forced to cross a raging torrent on a steel cable to get to school. Nearly 500 children, from Maji village in Fugong town, Yunnan province, cross the most dangerous stretch of the Nujiang River each day.

They fasten themselves to the cable with a metal carabiner and a rope and slide across the 200 metre wide canyon.

The youngest student, A Qia, 4, has to go over by herself each day.

The villagers say that usually four-year-old children are taken by their parents, and begin to go by themselves from the age of five.

A Pu, five, who was stuck in the middle of the cable for nearly 20 minutes once, said: 'I used to dream of having a bridge, but then I learned that my dream was too expensive.'

But officials finally agreed to spend £35,000 on a bridge after a TV programme was made about the children’s dangerous daily journey."