Love songs were given a bad name by evening radio shows, Michael Bolton, and Hallmark, but there’s still a lot of good in this favorite topic of songwriters through history, and Starbucks Entertainment gives us evidence in time for that upcoming day of love. Sweetheart (available at the ‘bucks Jan. 30) is a collection of covers by acts including Death Cab for Cutie, She and Him, and Jem. The artists pick their favorite, most inspiring love songs from Billie Holiday, Bruce Springsteen, The Cure, and more, and give them their own twist. Not a bad sountrack for this year’s Valentine’s Day.

Our mom threw out our Voltron toys quite some time ago, and frankly it’s been too long since we’ve put together a badass mechanical friend. Thanks to a collaboration between Paper Artist Extraordinaire Shin Tanaka, Asian-American Pop culture periodical Giant Robot, and the Scion division of Toyota we’ll soon be able to feel whole again. Using templates found in four consecutive issues of Giant Robot, readers can create their own 4-in-1 mechanical beasts. Each issue will include instructions to make a bionic creation, but the ultimate goal is to collect all four to make an impressive robot  The current issue (#57) of Giant Robot hosts the second robot template, with the third hits stores on February 2009 — and you can even order the back issues from the site.

My buddy Dave moved to San Francisco about a year ago, and for the past six months he’s been trying to grow a curly mustache. Not a Tom Selleck ’stache, but a There Will Be Blood one. Unlike his wife, I wholly support this move, and now that I’ve discovered the Fine and Dandy webstore, I know exactly where I’ll point him if he starts asking questions on completing his look. Considering the prohibitive cost of a retail location in NYC, shopkeeper Matt Fox decided to bring his love for men’s clothing online. The product line seems quite extensive, featuring everything from bow ties to wallets. The look is definitely dapper or dandy – I’ll be honest, I think the terms are interchangeable. I particularly like their selection of hats, especially the brimmed ones which I hope to see more men wearing. Details about manufacturers or brands are sparse on the site but it seems like a great one stop shop for all your dapper/dandy needs.

In an era where porn stars look like runway models – with a touch of extra padding up top – the Suicide Girls are refreshing. The site, started by Seattle’s Missy Suicide and her friends back in 2001, features nearly 2000 official pin-up models, sans airbrushing, of all shapes and sizes. No wonder that it’s frequented by a million unique viewers every week. And, even if the pin-up site’s pics aren’t your fancy, they’ve also got interviews with everyone from Shepherd Fairey to Will Smith.

Recently, the company released a second photo anthology, Suicide Girls: Beauty Redefined, a 396-page coffee table packed with retro-inspired nude photos of women celebrating their bodies. And, if you purchase it through the site, you’ll receive a copy that is signed by art director Courtney Riot and Missy herself.

Mildly NSFW (depending upon where you work) pic after the jump.

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Brazilian environmental activists 50 Graus have struck again, in the same place they hit last year when they left ice penguins to melt under the sweltering sun in the Sao Paulo’s biggest park. For “Labyrinth,” they set up a maze around a public drinking fountain in Ibirapuera Park, making it difficult for thirsty park-goers to get quick and easy access to the precious liquid—a point that drives the point home without needing to explain it. The video on their site shows Brazilians smiling as they try to get to the cheese, but the message is clearly no joke. Check it out.