My friend Justin Gignac of Wants For Sale and NYC Garbage fame (among other things) will be speaking at the Apple Store SoHo this Monday, November 23rd. That’s tomorrow!

Monday, November 23, 2009

6:30 – 8 PM
Apple Store SoHo
103 Prince Street, NYC

If I was in London, I’d absolutely be checking out the Dieter Rams “Less and More” exhibition at the Design Museum. If you don’t know who Dieter is, he was the director at the German electronics company Braun for 30+ years. No question he was a visionary.

“My aim is to omit everything superfluous so that the essential is shown to the possible advantage…”

This year’s 99% Conference was a huge success. So, why not register for next year way ahead of time? For a limited time they’re offering $300 off the regular ticket price of $699. A steal. Go, do it, now!

On Friday October 16th Cut & Paste will take over the Hammerstein Ballroom with 48 competitors from around the world (16 different cities) duking it out for design championship and victory. Onsite and webcast viewers can tweet during the show with #cutandpaste, and all the comments on the work as it’s happening will be shown on screens between each round. Interactive awesomeness.

Want in to the event with a pair of free tickets? Tweet “I want to go to #cutandpaste NYC @joshspear” and I’ll choose two lucky winners randomly by the end of the week.

I wish I was in London next week to check out the Frieze Art Fair. If you’re there, pop by Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin‘s booth (F11) at Regent’s Park in London. The opening reception is Wednesday 14 October, 2009 15 – 18 October, 11am – 7pm.

The Blackout Film Festival is New York City’s only event-inspired film festival and it returns on Sept. 19, 2009 with a 90 minute program of short films centering on the theme: The Great Recession.

Filmmakers around the globe have submitted a surprisingly light-hearted group of films about the current economic recession that we are extremely excited to share. I saw your coverage of one of my favorite New York film festivals, the Bicycle Film Festival, and I think the nature of this year’s event and the films we are screening will be of interest to your readers.

Check it out Saturday, September 19th with screenings at 3pm, 5pm and 7pm at SVA’s new Visual Arts Theatre. Tickets can be bought online here.

Attention femme fatals: if the past few weekends have consisted of daring missions to Bed, Bath and Beyond and seducing the bag boy at the grocery story, maybe it’s time to really indulge in something more exotic. Stiletto Spy School will plan full day adventures for ladies looking to improve their hand-to-hand combat, martini mixing, stunt driving, or tango dancing skills. You can choose from one of their planned itineraries, or create your own assignment. James Bond, meet Jane Bond.

Via Zoomdoggle

What are your plans this Saturday? If you’re a fan of MWM like we are, then they should include seeing some new work at the Chorus Gallery in Somerville, MA. On tap is his signature canvas work, a small series of prints, and a new collaboration with Open and Traitor Cycles that consists of of five hand-painted frames, a cycling cap and t-shirt. The opening reception is this Saturday at 8 p.m., and in case you can’t get there, it will be on display until Sept. 8.

The term ‘experimental rock’ can sometimes conjure up images of unlistenable frequencies laid over even less listenable instrumentation, especially for those of us without the technical (and sometimes masochistic) craving for the likes of Frank Zappa or the Residents. Battles brings the genre home for fans of anything. Relatively straightforward drum lines by Helmet’s former drummer, and odd, piecemeal harmonies by former guitarists of Don Caballero and Lynx (as well as the avant garde jazz pedigree of Tyondai Braxton) come together to form something experimental without the pretentious sentiment often bundled with acts of the sort. It’s simply good listening.

Battles is playing a one-off at Terminal 5 (my favorite Manhattan venue) on September 4th. See it now or wait indefinitely for another record and another set of shows.

Nice work, the MoMA Summer planner customizes a plan of events for your experience based on your social profiles and personality. Looks sexy too, check it out.