We were about to sit down and watch the Golden Globes. I wanted to pick something that matched the cosmopolitan yet humorous and lighthearted glamour that is the Globes and grabbed the 2008 La Crema Pinot from the Sonoma Coast. It's a tasty treat, light and easy with lots of sweet cherry, complex layers and a hint of spice. Ok i'm gonna go watch and drink and post more later.

My pals over at Rotter and Friends have just released a slew of new T-shirt designs, one featuring an exclusive drawing by former Welcome Back Kotter star Ron Palillo, who you likely remember better as the funny and endearingly annoying Horshack. The intricate design is the first of two limited edition pieces commissioned, and it's printed on a mint-colored T and is available exclusively at the Rotter and Friends pop-up holiday shop at Moli.com for both men and women for $37. Don't walk ... run, because they will likely run out. This is a collector's item.

This weekend, Puma opened a Black Station store in Tokyo, the third store of its kind. Black Station is a Puma-supported cutting-edge collaboration between multiple designers, including Alexander McQueen, 96HOURS (Neil Barrett's line), Mihara Yasuhiro and others. The forward-thinking line gives Puma lovers an edge over other consumers not only in what they wear but also where and how they shop. This space, with its clean lines and minimalist interior, looks like it will bode well with the Japanese consumer.

                                                 

[via Hypebeast]

Barneys New York recently teamed with eco-friendly clothing brand Loomstate to launch an exclusive line called Loomstate for Barneys Green. The sexy, hip and fun women's line just launched featuring lightweight knit dresses and tops, watercolor-washed graphics, soft fleece hoodies, denim shorts and skirts that come in a variety of colors including sea glass green, blue smoke and sandy mauve. Barneys approached Loomstate to kick off its Green line because of the company's reputation for respecting the environment. Loomstate uses only 100 percent organic cotton and wool and sustainable materials to make their clothes and is committed to ensuring workers live better lives. A percentage of profits from the sale of Loomstate for Barneys Green will benefit 1% For the Planet, an alliance of businesses that recognize their impact on the planet and donate a percentage of their profits to help create a healthier world. Check out Loomstate for Barneys Green -- for Barneys, it's surprisingly not that expensive.

It's here: Madge's commercial for her new H&M line. And it's hilarious. Watch and laugh bitches...

If you like Girlies like I like Girlies then you're going to fall over yourself for the new line of T-shirts from Rotter & Friends. Jessica Rotter and Alison Zero, two of the best music publicists in the biz (they work for Girlie Action in New York -- get it? Girlies?) just launched the website for their hard work-in-progress T-shirt company that depicts adorable designs by Ms. Rotter (one of my favorite peeps in the world). The retro cartoon-like designs are shown via an easy-to-navigate minimalist website. The very rock 'n roll shirts (currently there are four designs) are made for men and women, and show cool scenes and even cooler people (John Phillips, anyone?) and kick-dancing records (yes, vinyl!). The shirts run about $37 (a steal these days, if you ask me) and are listed by "title": Wolfking of LA; Play Your Records; Rapture Sublime and West Side Chickens. And when you're done shopping, hit the "fun" section and check out a little Rotter Radio. If I know Jess, she's no doubt spinning some great tunes. Nice work, ladies!

Craighton Berman, a local industrial designer I met a couple of months ago after a presentation given by Josh Spear in Chicago, was just awarded an honorable mention at Design Within Reach's "Modern+Design+Function" Exhibition for Pinch, an eggshell white salt and pepper set. The design was inspired by a chef's salt cellar kept next to the stove top for easy access. Berman's design took it to the next level by incorporating a round pepper shaker (filled through a cork-enclosed hole in the bottom) that fits into the salt cellar, creating a natural cover to keep the salt from being exposed to the elements (or curious dirty fingers). While the set is in production development, there are limited quantities for sale. To inquire, shoot Berman an email. And tell him I say hi. If you like Pinch hit Fueled By Coffee, Craighton's blog where he muses mostly about design and music.
 

Hitting your head while skiing can put a real damper on your vacation. That's what the creators behind Swiss-based Ribcap thought too. So they designed a new hat to protect their noggins. Yours too. In addition to being really cool, super stylish and hip, the secret behind Ribcap's push into the marketplace is what's inside the woolen cap: d3o.

D3o, created by d3o Lab in England, is a flexible, rubber-like material sewn into the cap that hardens upon impact -- immediately. There isn't a chance to blink -- it hardens to protect your head that fast. And as soon as the impact is over, the material becomes soft and mushy again. This is one of those concepts that's somewhat hard to grasp -- how can something become hard that fast? -- but once you see it in action, you get it right away. Wearing a Ribcap, which is guaranteed to work down to approximately -10 degrees,  gives you a stylish alternative to wearing a helmet on the slopes. Instead of a cumbersome hard structure, you get a soft and cozy knit cap made of a wool/polyester blend that helps reduce itching.

The first batch of hats, designed by Berlin-based design company Frisch, premiered in 2005 -- six years after Ribcap founder Jürg Ramseier, a former ski instructor in the Swiss Alps, concepted the idea. The latest designs came to life by Basel design duo, Lisa & Tom. All in all, there are 10 styles in various colors and designs. Ribcaps are available at retail throughout Switzerland for about $100 and from a few online shops, which are all written in German.

The beauty of d3o is that is can realistically be woven into nearly anything -- pants, gloves, shoes -- to offer ultimate protection against problems in everyday life, even the impact of (the off-chance of) getting hit by a car can be greatly reduced. There are already a number of sports recreation clothing companies incorporating d3o technology into their products -- and I only imagine this will continue to permeate the fashion industry.
 

Now I'm not one to really hype a Skype phone (although there are a lot out there), but when I saw this trio of elegance on Everything USB last week, I couldn't resist. Constructed in a sleek black casing, these phones definitely up the ante for VoIP-related phones. Futiro, a Galway, Ireland-based design company, works under the principles of innovation, creativity and quality. Based on looks alone, they've definitely achieved the first two (the phones actually remind me of the phone on the nightstand at myhotel). The only setback on the Futiro phones is that you have to keep them plugged in via USB to operate; hopefully they'll have either a WiFi- or Bluetooth-enabled phone sooner than later. The phones, which ShinyShiny also digs, range from $55 to $75 and are available from Futiro.

Chicago-based furniture designer Michael Heltzer premiered his Titanium line, which includes this great lounge chair for the summer (or year-round if you live five hours south -- by plane -- from Chicago). The chair looks like any other well-designed chaise, but this has a roll-away towel attached to the backside to retract or roll down onto the chair. I like this because it solves the problem of having your towel constantly falling down whenever you move to grab your water bottle, reapply your suntan lotion or get up to jump into the pool when you get too hot. This clever design always keeps your towel (made from eucalyptus-based, earth-friendly cotton) in place and moves it out of the way whenever you don't need it, which is never as long as you're on the lounge. The towel is removable for easy cleaning or replacing and the overall design is clean, sleek and sexy -- perfect for lounging by the pool. The titanium chairs come with blue silicone-filled gel cushions that either be made more cush or firm, depending on how lax you want to be.

Heltzer pieces are only sold through interior designers and architects, but you can find out how to get them here.