The FRONT ROOM Gallery in Cleveland, Ohio has not only become a Midwestern art scene staple, but has emerged as an important gallery nationwide — showcasing a wealth of young and emerging talent (our favorite kind!) since 2005. To get the word out a little more than is possible through local, word-of-mouth efforts, they just launched a spiffy new website with all kinds of info about the gallery, upcoming events, and past and current exhibitions. I found their links page to be a great resource in and of itself, a one-stop shop for artistic talent and art-related organizations.

According to some people, the lack of surfing in my Australian upbringing and subsequent early adulthood in Southern California is a travesty, but I swear there were good reasons behind the decision not to choose that road of slackage (looking like an idiot in a wetsuit; having to get up ass-early to go to the beach, etc.). Not that I have anything against surfers, but I thought moving to NYC would distance me far enough from the culture that I wouldn’t have to make excuses for being lame anymore. Then, up pops Mollusk in Williamsburg and all that goes into the crapper. Looking at the photos, I can imagine the store smells just like the ones I’m familiar with; crusted in sand and salt with a touch of wax and the bitter tinge of a stashed beer keg somewhere. Yeah, that’s it. Anyways, God knows what possessed the team at Mollusk SF to open a store in W’burg — an area that’s not exactly the bastion of killer waves — but they are stocked to the rafters with boards, books and suits, nonetheless. Oh, and they throw parties once a month. Big ones, with vintage skater films and barbecues. So, if you’re heading to the Island (Long, Big or otherwise) sometime in the near future (or are one of those guys who keeps a board in his bedroom, pretending he surfs to get girls to sleep with him) you should definitely go pay Mollusck a visit. You won’t be disappointed.

It’s one of those days, I’m afraid; too late a night, too early a morning and entirely too much to do. I guess you could say I’m a little testy, just like I was the day I added the Visualize Bat from Orange32 to our Design Showcase. It’s probably a good thing I don’t own one — yet — because I might just have to use it. On myself. If you had submitted this to the showcase, you could be receiving a little care package from us containing fun stuff from Belkin, Bent Air or Desktoptopia…but you didn’t, so I might just have to keep all the freebies for myself. Want to take some of it off my hands? Head over to the Design Showcase and submit your finds now.

My friends sometimes describe me as an obsessive type when it comes to things I really like, but I don't always see it as a bad thing — more often than not, it works out to someone else’s advantage. For example, I'm pretty obsessed with the Internet, and as a result, my friends are always recepients of the great things I pass on to them. That's the same spirit behind Sabadabada: a brilliant diamond hidden in the Internet rough; a heavy stockpile of Brazilian record covers from the 1960s and 1970s of tropicália, bossa nova and samba music by a devoted collector who's been adding to his collection for over a decade. Sabadabada's owner has meticulously organized the albums by labels and catalog numbers because s/he believes this method leads to more great musical discoveries. In return, we get this incredible library of vibrant images that pique interest to what the vinyl behind them inspired. Some say you can't judge something by its cover, but I’m thinking in this case that yes, you hella can.

Products declaring their “green” status are popping up all over the place these days, and standing out in that market is becoming increasingly more difficult. Beauty Engineered for Ever, or B_E_E, has nailed it though; the New Zealand-based company has created a full line of environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies that they claim will stand up with the best of the bunch — both eco-friendly and otherwise.

They’ve also kept design as a key ingredient, as is evidenced by their bottle and label designs. Clear, frosted plastic along with white and grey labels keep things simple, and some witty banter printed in large, bright colors livens things up with statements like “I’ll fight dirty, darling” and “I promise I’ll be gentle”. I like a little dirty talk — or would this be “clean talk”? — so here’s hoping that B_E_E makes it stateside really, really soon.

To introduce its Adidas Skateboarding line in Brazil, Adidas has gone old-school and revamped a 1985 Kombi Volkswagen with its trademark three stripes in a blue color theme and sketches by legendary skater Mark Gonzalez, stocked it with gear and is taking the show(room) on the road for a five-month tour of Sao Paulo. The concept is of a mobile pop-up store, which Adidas hopes will click well with skateboarders and anyone who likes traveling on four wheels, no matter their size. Samsung's hooked into the promotion too, pitching in with a TV that will run skateboard videos and MP3 players filled with playlists compiled by famous skaters.

Photo via Marketrix