I realize the vast majority of you don’t ski or snowboard in the backcountry– some of you may not even know what the term ‘backcountry’ means. And most of you who do ride probably do so in a more controlled and confined ski resort setting. Don’t get me wrong, I get down with both scenarios, and immensely enjoy each. Our ski-bum buddies at Totem Telemark are hard-core backcountry skiers; they eat, sleep, breathe, and drink off-piste skiing, traveling the world in search of the perfect snow, the perfect turn, and the perfect excuse for skipping out on conventional lives. Their gear embodies three priorities, in order: function, sustainability, and then style. Their jackets are made of top-of-the-line Schoeller softshell that’s Bluesign approved– this means that it uses significantly less chemicals than other technical fabrics, while maintaining it’s performance in harsh weather conditions. The Shed Backpack is a perfect, minimalist option for the backcountry– it’s made of organic hemp canvas, has shovel and probe pockets, and employs ‘cutting board’ technology (which is a 100% recycled milk jug plastic insert that provides support, and can be removed for use as an emergency emergency snow shovel, splint, sled, or cutting board). It even has a Schoeller-insulated hydration hose sleeve so that your liquids don’t freeze up on those harshly cold days. How about them apples?

From time to time we like to point you toward websites that we love– for the site design in and of itself. From a design and interactive standpoint, I have to say I love Mercedes’ uber-interactive (as I am calling it) website. The site is called Mercedes A to S, and it exposes the viewer to a range of Mercedes Benz engineering features through hands on interaction with a expertly built flash site, by clicking, dragging, and merely rolling the mouse pointer over components in each sub-page (one sub-page corresponds to each letter of the alphabet, from A to S). After working your way from A through S, you will know a tad about the thought and science that actually goes into designing a car of the Mercedes caliber. For those of you who don’t own one, you will be drooling; for those who do own one, you will have a shit-eating grin on your face.

I know some of you wouldn’t as much as entertain the idea of buying someone the gift of Pee and Poo; I however, wouldn’t think twice– especially after the amazing feedback I got from people the other night when I brought Pee and Poo as a gift to a charity toy drive as part of the Fox Theater’s Christmas party. I kept a vigilant eye on Pee and Poo in the toy bin, and it was amusing — to say the least — to see peoples’ reactions when they went to drop the standard board game or Barbie off at the bin. Pee and Poo were so popular in fact, that they remained on the very top of the pile throughout the night, displayed prominently, with a circle of ‘fans’ huddling around them. True, drunk adults have an affinity for dirty humor, but I would even buy these guys for a child. I did, after all, grow up reading books like ‘Everyone Poops,‘ by Taro Gomi. Didn’t you all? Either way, I take my hat off to Swedish designer Emma Megitt for having such a healthy sense of humor.

We’re still kind of buzzing about Beck’s latest LP, we think this one might be timeless. We’ve got some more goodies to share with you from another Beck, Beck Wheeler, a German born artist who studied sculpture and jewelry design in Auckland, New Zealand before moving to Australia where she currently resides. These 3 toys are from her Kissy Kissy Toys collection, and we’ll send a whole set of ‘em to a name we randomly choose from our mailing list signups over the next week. What are you waiting for? Go signup now!

Last year, Josh scored some extra web traffic when he blogged about the girly site I See France and their quest to demolish the average tighty-whitey (or maybe it was the accompanying picture of a hottie in undies that did the trick, who knows….). Lucky for all of us ladies (and our lovers, ahem), the I See France crew has put together a killer clearance sale of their entire stock of anything-but-boring underwear just in time for the holidays. These comfy knits really spice up the underworld with fun styles and graphics; my favorites are this Fine Jung Woman set and the Ski Love set Josh wrote about not so long ago. Hurry up and get to their site, all of this awesomeness won’t last long, especially once I get my paws on it…