Breaking news reports that DJ AM was found dead in his New York City apartment this afternoon. Police arrived at his apartment after his friends were unable to get in touch for a few days and reported him missing. Reports state that there was drug paraphernalia found at the scene.
This is terribly upsetting, especially because DJ AM (full name Adam Goldstein) was known for his amazing recovery of drug addiction, and for helping Nicole Richie get sober.
DJ AM and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker survived a plane crash in South Carolina nearly a year ago which left four people dead. The boys were the only survivors.
We're pleased to announce our newest brand Sponsor - Jack In The Box! In addition to earning 5x the points, you're going to love their campaign, Jack's Big Rip-Off. You can build your own Ultimate Game Room, choosing everything from the location, to the gear, to the games. You even get to name it, and you'll learn how you can win your own real-life game room worth $5,000!
This is a SUPER fun engagement, but to make matters even MORE exciting, Jack In The Box is sponsoring today's Comment & Win. The prize: A one-of-a-kind I WEAR PINK t-shirt signed by Sean and Nat of 3OH!3, whom we had the pleasure of meeting at Warped Tour.
The goods.
Here's how you can win:
1. Choose Jack In The Box as your Sponsor and add to your MySpace, Facebook, or WordPress blog.
2. Leave a comment here telling us what you named your Ultimate Game Room!
We'll be choosing one winner at random at 11:59pm on August 30, 2009. That's this Sunday, which means you have all weekend to create your Ultimate Game Room and comment on this post!
So you hear everyone harping about why you should ride a bike versus driving a car or taking public transportation. Better for the environment, better for your body, yadda yadda. As they say, the proof is in the pudding. Here's a little "pudding" for you. The image below demonstrates the amount of Bromptons folding bicycles you could fit in the amount of space it takes to hold a single car.
This image shows the amount of space needed for the same amount of people to take a car, bus, or bike. It doesn't take a rocket science to see which makes the most sense.
In a world where the population continues to grow (7 billion people by 2010, remember) our natural resources continue to dwindle, our environment continues to suffer and the global temperature rises, it seems like this may be an extremely simple and efficient solution for individual transportation.
August has now surpassed July as the deadliest month for US troops in Afghanistan. Following a series of roadside bombings, the death toll for soldiers has risen to 46 this month, passing the high of 45 last month. This is the most fatal month since the September 11, 2001 bombing at the World Trade Center, nearly 8 years ago.
The United States now has about 62,000 U.S. troops on the ground, and NATO allies have another 35,000. The Pentagon is planning to add 6,000 troops by the end of the year, and there has been talk of President Obama being asked to send even MORE troops.
Obama has called the mission in Afghanistan a "war of necessity" and feels that defeating the Taliban and al Qaeda militants there and in Pakistan is of the utmost importance. Senior military officials say that the Taliban still exert "considerable influence" over a third of the country.
The rise in fatalities could be related to the recent presidential and provincial elections in Afghanistan, for which the US and our NATO allies added increased security. The area seeing the most violence is the south, where the Marines have been targeted, and in the east near the Pakistani border.
Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said recently that the situation in Afghanistan is "serious and deteriorating." General Stanley McChrystal, top US commander in Afghanistan, is currently assessing the progress of Obama's mission. He is expected to present his review in the coming weeks, and will most likely ask for more troops.
White House spokesman Bill Burton says that Obama laid out a "winning strategy" earlier this year and that he will "make a decision accordingly" in regard to McChrystal's possible request for troops.
We hate to be reporting such depressing news on a Friday, but it is what it is. Please continue to show your support for our troops, veterans, and families of veterans by choosing IAVA as your Cause on SocialVibe.
Five brothers from Los Altos, California, banned together to raise awareness for the preservation of honey bees by choreographing a rap/dance fusion through the music video medium... as well as outfitting the backup dancers in bubbly bee costumes. Max Lanman, a 21-year-old senior at Yale majoring in film studies, pulled the rap project together by directing, editing and photographing "Do the Honey Bee," with his four brothers by his side. The video was in preparation of the inaugural National Honey Bee Awareness Day this past August 22nd, fully supported by Häagen-Dazs.
The singing isn't dissimilar to T-Pain's auto-tune phenomenon; if anything, it's better. Whereas one might expect the scantily-clad persuasion of limber backup dancers prancing around to the clanging of gold chains, chomping grills and blinging ice, the video consists of a swarm of honey bees fluttering around and bouncing to the rhyming styles of the bee keepers. Also, Albert Einstein makes a guest appearance in the video... but, he's a bee.
Max, in a phone interview from New Haven, explains about the rap creation, "The goal behind this was to make a mainstream rap video that appeals to the masses."
There is more to the dance than just random motions, though. The choreography actually pays homage to the life of the honey bees, specifically replicating a type of jubilant dance that occurs amongst the swarm after a groovy day of pollination.
A huge inspiration to the Lanman brothers was their unwavering obsession with ice cream. A family friend, Jeffery Warnock, had influenced the five of them with stories and knowledge of his own honey beehives and linked the need for the little critters with the boys' avid ice cream lifestyle. It is a fact that fifty percent of the ingredients needed to manufacture ice cream come from the nuts and berries that honey bees pollinate, which spells no bees, no ice cream. The boys stuck to their passion for the buggers and Connor Lanman, 18, even wrote a book on the issue entitled "Plight of the Bee," which initially caught the eye of Häagen-Dazs.
Not a huge ice cream fan? There's still a huge reason why the bees must be protected: the United States Department of Agriculture estimates that honey bees are responsible for 90 percent of food crops.
Max Lanman expresses via email:
"We're hoping that 'Do The Honey Bee' will help raise honey bee awareness in a fun and original way, and appeal to the greater population. The honey bee crisis affects the global community, and music is definitely the best way to transcend language barriers. We actually found a German forum where different people were talking about the video and the cause--it was really cool to see that our video generated discussion, and in another language!"
The Lanman boys showed us that raising awareness through an artistic medium is creative and effective, as well as quite catchy. To learn more about their cause, log onto www.helpthehoneybees.com and begin the bee revival. After you've done that, go reward yourself with a pint of Chunky Monkey and watch the video on repeat.
Talk about coming full circle. Artist Yuken Teruya has created something beautiful out of something .... not so beautiful. The beautiful paper trees you see in the photos below were actually crafted - by hand - from greasy used McDonalds bags.
Teruya calls the project his Notice-Forest series. He created each masterpiece by cutting out the side of a paperbag in a tree shape and folding it down, creating a kind of diorama. They may not have become real trees again, but this is still very beautiful and inspiring. We'll take it.
If you aren't a regular reader of Glamour magazine, you may have no idea who Lizzie Miller is. Lizzie is a model, a 20 year old, 5'11" model who weighs 180lbs. Although her size 12-14 body is right about average in terms of healthy women, you rarely see women of Lizzie's size in magazines. That was, until Lizzy was photographed for the September issue wearing nothing but underwear, hunched over and laughing, with a little belly showing. The article accompanying the photograph was about feeling comfortable in your own skin.
The same morning the issue hit newsstands, e-mails began pouring in praising the editors for including a healthy sized model for once, and asking more and more about "the woman on p.124." Clearly, this was an issue that resonated with their readers, many of whom probably felt that for the first time, they could relate to the women on the pages of the magazine. Shocked by the success, Glamour's Editor-In-Chief Cindy Levy wrote a blog post giving the people what they wanted - more information about Lizzie.
"When I was young I really struggled with my body and how it looked because I didn't understand why my friends were so effortlessly skinny," Lizzi told Cindy. "As I got older I realized that everyone's body is different and not everyone is skinny naturally--me included! I learned to love my body for how it is, every curve of it. I used to be so self-conscious in a bikini because my stomach wasn't perfectly defined. But everyone has different body shapes! And it's not all about the physical! If you walk on the beach in your bikini with confidence and you feel sexy, people will see you that way too."
The buzz didn't stop there. Lizzie's photo continued to draw attention, resulting in more than 200,000 views and countless comments in just over a week, scoring headlines across the world in publications such as Newsweek. Levy and Miller even appeared on The Today Show and chatted about the photo and its success.
All this because of a photo showing what millions upon millions of real women look like underneath.
What do you think? We've talked before about how airbrushed ads can be misleading. Do photos of "real"-looking models you feel more comfortable in your own skin? Do you think this positive buzz will influence editors when planning future issues?
He may have a voice like honey, but John Mayer is no goody two-shoes. Back in 2001, the singer/songwriter was arrested in GA for speeding and driving without a proper license. The mugshot from his arrest has remained unseen - until today, that is - when Mayer challenged Harvey Levin of TMZ via Twitter to uncover the image. If it is done, he said, he will make a $25,000 charitable donation.
Harvey (and The Smoking Gun) managed to find and post the image this afternoon. Time to pay up, John!
So just who will benefit from this vintage mugshot recovery? Mayer tweeted that the 25k will be split between two organizations: Pet Orphans and Ace of Hearts.
Nice work, Harvey. But as John said, "the real winners today are the puppies."
