Are you the classic American Tough Guy? Do you maintain a five o'clock shadow twelve months out of the year, and light your matches by flicking them against the back of your hand only to put out the fire with your fingertips? If you answered yes to all of those questions (or even just the first), we recommend heading down to 93 Grand Street in New York City for the grand opening of Andrew Buckler's second Manhattan store, to pick out a new wardrobe to fit your image. The store's clean, modern, design has a feel as free and loose is the style of Buckler's clothes, which are epitomized by a look that pays tribute to roguish American icons while exhibiting a bit of his Brit edge. Icons everywhere including Iggy Pop, The Rolling Stones and the lads in Franz Ferdinand have donned the designer's duds, isn't about time you followed their lead?

Our good friend Scott Rench (a.k.a Yosoh) is at it again. Only this time he's in it to win it (uh, again.) Our favorite ceramist/freelance art director/graphic designer has a rather hot entry in Imprint Culture Lab'slatest design contest. The winner takes home a thousand dollar purse…though we're not really sure if that means pocket book or cash prize. In any case, we figured we'd give our friend a little nudge. If you have to vote for one thing this year, (or two things this year…we almost forgot there’s an election going on! Whoops.) we encourage you to cast your vote Scott's handsome handbag design. Rock the vote!

Not everyone lives in Chicago. If they did we'd imagine there would be a severe demand for housing, scores of infrastructure issues and extremely long lines at any of the three Jake retail stores in the region. Luckily for the city of Chicago, “everyone” is spread out rather liberally over the entire world. Problem is, that seems to place a few unfortunate souls far away from the Jake retail locations whose product assortment features collections from both emerging and established designers and offers a carefully edited selection of the world's best premium denim lines, not to mention their showcase of unique and wearable items for men and women. However, thanks to latest invention called the Internet, those poor scattered souls can now have their pick of Jake's fashion litter by heading to ShopJake; they've got everything you could ever want under the denim sun and plenty more where that came from.

I remember having a moment during the big ol' northeastern blackout in 2003. Without electricity, people left their houses. They walked outside and talked to each other. Best of all, I looked up and saw stars. In the wash of billboards and airplanes and skyscrapers, I'd forgotten they were even there.

Sometimes seeing really is believing. Last year, WWF-Australia organized the inaugural Earth Hour. Creating buzz and turning heads around the globe, 2.3 million residents of Sydney simply turned off their lights for one hour. The result is immediate and gives a stunning visual of just how much energy is being used to power our cities. In that one event alone, Australia saw a 10% reduction in use of its power grid. In CO2 terms, that's the equivalent of taking 50,000 cars off the road for an hour.

Now Earth Hour is back for 2008; this global lights out phenomenon wants individuals and the businesses they work for to turn off the lights for one hour. In a world so dependent on electricity and energy-consumption, we need to collectively remind ourselves of what we're doing and how we need to change. On March 29, 2008 at 8pm (in each time zone) you have the chance to become part of Earth Hour's environmental movement. Melbourne, Toronto, Chicago, Copenhagen, Brisbane, Tel Aviv and Manila are just some of the global cities that are taking part. Even if you're not in those cities, you can sign up at the Earth Hour website and have some fun in the dark no matter where you are.

Mary Poppins had it right. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Even better, what if the sugar is the medicine.

Designed in Barcelona by studio m, Happy Pills is a modern day collision between confectionary and apothecary. The store, literally wedged between two large buildings, might go unnoticed if not for the acid-pink Red Cross logo above it's door. Inside, the pharmaceutical design bend is consistent: jellybean filled pill bottles and fully-stocked “first aid kits” line the shelves, or you can self-medicate by filling up bottles with your candy of choice.

My personal fave are the handy “morning-afternoon-night” pill holders, just to make sure your sugar-toothing stays on schedule.

The difference between the speed of light and sound might suggest that while you're beginning to see the light, the music that follows might just have some traveling to do yet. While that's true in most instances the Moonlight Speakers, from Florida based Moonlight USA, do a pretty stellar job of providing both audible and visible stimuli at the same time. The sonic spheres give listeners 360 degrees of sound satisfaction while also providing a nifty source of light to brighten up whatever area of your abode needs it the most. The fixtures are available in a wide variety of shapes (floating globes, hanging pendants, etc.) and colors and are constructed of a weatherproof polyethelene shell, so they can withstand extreme temperatures and the elements, making also them suitable to illuminate even your outdoor areas.

We have always been of the firm belief that a coffee table is not a suitable home base for one's backside, be it clothed or unclothed (preferably clothed). However, after seeing. Designer Akemi Tanaka's line of transformative wooden furnishings we may just soften our initial stance. There is more than meets the eye to the Tagei Coffee Table and the Futaba. While both are constructed of a sturdy Bamboo base, the former pulls out to mutate into a bench, while the latter unfolds from a table into a loveseat. Not only do these two eco-friendly, multi-faceted fixtures save you space, but their design is downright sleek. Just about the only downside to these living room transformers is that they don't turn into wooden friends who help fight other evil transformative wood furniture pieces. However, feel free to rename either one of these fellas “Optimus Table.”

I did my best to make it to the Al Gore and Bono session at 7:45 AM, but when word leaked out that it was packed to the brim, I stayed in my Swiss bungalow for some much needed recuperation from a long day yesterday. Right after the session, the U2 front man, and do-gooder popped by the YouTube booth to answer the Davos question (see his response here). The best part is Robert Scoble in the background staring in awe as he live streams at the same time, and Bono starting with a “hello, my name is Bono and I am a rock star, sort of…” I’ll spare the name dropping, but this is one incredible group of attendees.