There’s no debating that 2009 was the year of the Snuggie. TV personalities — from Oprah to Jimmy Fallon to the cast of the Today Show — endorsed the sleeved blanket. There were parodies, imitators, and pub crawls. Even fictional characters (we’re looking at you Liz Lemon) sang its praises. But as we all know, you can’t stay on top forever. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of possible contenders to takeover in 2010 where the Snuggie left off. Which one will you be wearing?

Read More »

Pez man Curtis Allina may not have lived to see what is to come of the new decade (he died in mid-December), but his candy remains a constant fixture. The candy exec was responsible for changing the 1927 Austrian peppermints (or “pfeffermintz,” where the name Pez comes from) originally created to curb cigarette smoking, into a saccharine candy in a kid-friendly package. And although the kitschy dispensers may have changed from classic Viennese busts of Mozart to the big-lipped and overly rouged Bratz dolls, we appreciate the reflection of culture with each and every backwards snap of a head.

Which dispensers do you have at the bottom of the box under your bed? Or are yours displayed dust-free in a glass-enclosed case? Either way, check out our homage round-up of the weirdest Pez dispensers, and add yours to our list.

Read More »

Earlier today someone sent us a link to Mattel’s Alfred Hitchcock The Birds Barbie Doll, and we thought it was the best thing we’d ever seen. And then we stumbled across this roundup of handcrafted Lady Gaga Barbies on Refinery29, and our mind exploded. Veik, the 29-year-old Beijing-based artist behind the dolls, explained to Joonbug why he chose Gaga as his muse: “Just look at her in those amazing wigs, makeup, and outfits! I was thinking it would be fun to make those wigs for dolls, and that a Lady Gaga doll must be interesting. Since then, I pay close attention to her; her music, clothes, glasses, makeup, everything! Every detail makes me love her more and more.”

Peep ‘em after the jump and let us know which one is your favorite. We’re partial to the crazy VMA look to the right — but wish he’d added some blood for realism.

Read More »

Artkrush launched in March 2005 with a mission to cover the most innovative art and design coming out of cultural capitals worldwide. We’ve featured art fairs, biennials, and roundups of recent trends; reviewed shows from Mumbai to Moscow; highlighted the hottest emerging talents; interviewed the day’s sharpest artists, designers, and curators; and reported on breaking art and design news and essential publications. Looking back, to mark the end of the decade and our own first half-decade, we’ve compiled five years of Artkrush covers into a sparkling, new slideshow.

Read More »

You may have noticed a profusion of year-end and decade-end lists floating around this here blog and the across the internet landscape. The Aughts brought us many things: social media, terrorism, the death of print media, Google dominance, design for the masses, locavore eating, and Barack Obama. We’ve already shown you a handy visual diagram of the years 2000-2009, but now it’s time to expand the focus with a meta roundup to end all roundups: our ten favorite lists that encapsulate the best and worst of our present age. Prost!

Read More »

Welcome to the latest edition of Design Porn, Flavorpill’s regular roundup of all things drool-worthy. Odds are whether you’re a reader or not, you received a few new books over the holidays. That’s why we’re geeking out a bit in this week’s installment and focusing on an underloved (but totally essential) piece of furniture: the bookshelf. Take a look at the 10 gems we’ve rounded up after the jump, and let us know which one looks like the perfect home for your collection.

Read More »

Today at Flavorpill, we wore a White Castle Couch Pouch. We hoped never to cross paths with this drunken, thieving, cross-dressing Tennessee toddler. We checked out MOG’s top 50 albums of 2009 and Ghostly’s 110 favorite albums of the decade. Our hearts were warmed by this YouTube success story. We wondered how Mario landed in a petri dish. Warp? We bought our advance tickets to Avatar after Steven Spielberg gave it his blessing. We dissected the Harry Potter economy. We added some of these books recommended by New Yorker contributors to our must-read list. We were psyched that Michael Jackson’s Captain EO is returning to Disneyland. We felt guilty because we enjoyed these endangered magazine mashups so much. And finally, we said goodbye for the weekend — sitcom-style, natch.

Today at Flavorpill, we examined the current decade in logos, and then we learned about the 10 industries that will lose the most jobs in the next decade. We dreamed of having a Google princess fairytale wedding. We watched MIT scientists reinvent the wheel. We imagined holding a meeting in an inflatable bubble on the National Mall. We wondered if the death of trailer voice over guru Don LaFontaine could really have affected the Hollywood box office. We overintellectualized the rise of Lady Gaga. We rocked out to the Awl’s list of the 30 best punk songs since 1979 available on YouTube. We were sad to hear that the original Ronald McDonald died, but thrilled to find out he had a clown sibling. And finally, we experienced the horror of watching the 10 cheesiest Christmas music videos of all time. O, Holy Mariah Carey!

1. Moby, Animal Collective, and The Roots have all scored films premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. [via TwentyFourBit]
2. Wowza: After only three months The Jay Leno Show has had enough product mentions to top Nielsen’s list for “product placement activity” in 2009. [via Vulture]
3. In related news, Fox says Glenn Beck is not a “paid spokesman” for gold-coin seller Goldline International. They just advertise on his programs. If you have no idea what we’re talking about, watch this Daily Show clip. [via The Daily Beast]
4. Here are the promo photos for the final season of Lost. [via Pop Candy]
5. Attention holiday shoppers: The reviews for the Nook, Barnes and Noble’s Kindle killer, have been rather mixed. [via eWeek]

Bonus link: Watch music evolve right before your eyes

Today at Flavorpill, like many a sad bookworm we said goodbye to Kirkus Reviews (they currently publish over 500 reviews a month). We checked out the newly-announced lineup for Slamdance, the alternative version of Sundance. We realized that Google Street View is always watching — even when you might be dead. We feared child bloggers. We were happy to hear that Karen O snagged Miley Cyrus’s Grammy nom. We couldn’t believe that there won’t be another season of Flight of the Conchords on HBO. We were frightened by Mickey Rourke’s whip in the latest Iron Man 2 poster. We weren’t shocked to hear that Lil Wayne’s Rebirth album has been pushed back again. Frankly, we’re more annoyed at this point. Commit already! And finally, we’ll leave you the New York Times‘ 9th Annual Year in Ideas issue. You know, some light reading for your commute home.