the social

V A G A B O N D I N G : L A F I L M F E S T I V A L

whether it's a several hour drive or a several hour flight away, why not skip town and head to la?

sold already? rad! need a little more of a reason to just up and leave? from the seventeenth to the twenty-seventh, the los angeles film festival will be blowing up in downtown la. with premieres of films such as animal kingdom, cyrus, mahler on the couch, revolucion and waiting for superman, this festival  features hundreds of feature films, documentaries, shorts and music videos. 

lights, camera, los action.

photo: rricks

C U L T U R E V U L T U R E : P E L L E G R I N O

move over crisp, white starbucks hot cup. twenty ten voted and there's a new uber-pompous drink in town.

everyone knows that during the dead heat of the summer those iced starbucks cups are so passe (it's all about the crisp white of the hot cups). and, well, store brand bottled water might as well come with a flashing neon sign that you've got next to nothing to your name. the status symbol of the summer months? an ice cold, pretentious bottle of pellegrino, you asshole.

being that it's natural and full of minerals, the only other thing i can add to this dialogue is seriously, suck on that.

photo: duesxflorida

T H E G L A S S H A L F V O D K A : B R O S I C I N G B R O S

beer bongs. flip cup. survivor. kings cup. beer pong. keg stands. power hour. quarters. caps. never have i ever. edward forty-hands.

all drinking games that (unless you're okay with ridicule or getting completely annihilated) revolve around drinking copious amounts of beer. those poor other adult beverages just live a life of neglect and exclusion.

that is until now. bros icing bros (as it is being advertised, but also known as getting iced) takes one of the most left out alcoholic refreshments for anyone over the age of seventeen without a vagina and turns it into the liquid used in the drinking game du jour for douchebags and hipsters alike. as the name implies, the drinking game is solely intended for the male persuasion. 

how does it work? one bro (for the purposes of this post, we'll call him chad) hides a (preferably) balls-hot smirnoff ice for another bro (we'll call this one carlos) to find. there's usually some scheming and tricking carlos into finding the molten-temperatured chick drink. if chad were less creative, he could just wave a bottle in front of carlos' face, fist pump and shout you just got iced, broseph! either way, upon receiving or seeing the bottle (preferably a forty of some gross flavor, such as green apple or wild grape), carlos must drop to one knee, careful as not to rip his skinny jeans, and fucking chug the warm, syrupy goodness. no matter the level of inappropriateness of the time, place or situation. 

but, there is a catch. if carlos was sneaky and had a smirnoff ice (like say, available and ready to go in a super handy fanny pack), then chad would have to chug both bottles of the warm, syrupy goodness. this touché is known as an ice block. 

like most drinking games, it doesn't require a lot of cerebral activity. and, as with most things that can easily be digested by the masses, it's becomes wildly accepted. bros have been icing each other at frat parties, military barracks, capitol hill offices, hipster shindigs, goldman sachs, college dorms, connected ventures, sporting events and vice magazine. someone even took the time to set up a site to document all the glorious icing.

in the words of vanilla ice, will it ever stop, yo? 

i really don't know...

photo: meddygarnet

R O L L I N ' W I T H M Y H O M E Y : T A K E O U T M E N U O R G A N I Z E R

the grocery (more like grossery...) shopping. the prep work. the following the recipes' directions. then, after hours of slaving away in the kitchen, realizing that what you just concocted seriously tastes like feces. followed by a ridiculously long clean-up process. 

the actual act of cooking is enough to make you want to throw your hands up in the air and shout towards the wall in your apartment that you share with the family with two small children, "fuck this shit!"

luckily, some genius invented the concept of takeout. but even more fortunate? knock knock's got a takeout menu organizer up for grabs. no more digging around in your drawers, piles of papers and many other nooks and crannies of your humble abode for that one menu you need. keep them all organized in this handy binder, equipped with tipping advice, ordering advice (hopefully aside from picking up the phone) and an area to list your most called cafes, restaurants and pizzerias.

photo: knock knock 

L A B E L W H O R E : S T Y L E B O O K

 
if you're a true label whore, you will explicitly remember the scene in clueless when cher horowitz is picking out her outfit for the day (like any normal teenager). she mixes and matches pieces on her computer screen to create the most dope ensemble. at that very moment, you simultaneously felt both a twinge of jealousy and hint of pure wonderment.

you may have searched high and low for something similar in fashion, results yielding pretty much nothing in comparison. and, since then, you may have forgotten about that ingenious tool in said cinematic masterpiece.

until now. you see, now is the time to illicit that same feeling of pure, childlike wonderment because the stylebook iphone app operates in the exact same manner as miss cher's electronic closet manager. stylebook allows one to mix and match various pieces to style outfits that are nothing less than tops. you can take pictures of your current wardrobe and create ensembles that you would never have dreamed of, or you can mix in pieces that you're thinking of purchasing.

prepare to be transformed into a total betty (or baldwin) with stylebook.

H O U S E B A N D : D A W E S

very rarely do people up and do one-eighties. even more rare is the case when the complete turn around ends up being total genius. dawes defies those odds.

hailing from los angeles, the band of four is a spawn of simon dawes, a musical ensemble with post-punk stylings. when blake mills left said band, he opted for more folksy fare, and taylor goldsmith, griffin goldsmith and wylie gelber got on board with that. and, so did all the critics.

their debut album, north hills, was recorded in a live setting to analog tape, thus causing rolling stone to hail the tracks as authentically vintage. your auditory senses will pick up on such characteristics on staples like when my time comes, love is all i am and my girl to me. and, bonus, when you see them live, it will actually sound the same as when your listening to the tracks in your dorm room, unlike some people, like say ke$ha...

this summer they'll be going on tour with edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros hitting venues in minneapolis, boulder, tempe, kansas city, indianapolis and more.

H A U T E T E C H N O L O G I E : R E M E M B E R T H E M I L K

maybe you've gotten your fix one too many times. or, maybe you're a super genius and your brain cannot contain the mundane nuances of life. or, maybe you don't have much of an excuse aside from being just plain forgetful.

whatever the cause of the symptom, there is one sole ailment to this plague of missed birthdays, forgotten items at target, missed deadlines, forgotten children at daycare and uncompleted tasks. that solution is remember the milk.

this handy little mobile and online app allows you to create to-do lists, manage your calendar, tag your tasks, collaborate with others on the things you need to get done and store locations of where your to-dos are taking place. and, it will send you reminders via text, email or instant message. remember the milk is available on the iphone, droid, twitter, blackberry, gmail, google calendar and windows mobile.

seriously, don't forget to remember the milk.

B U D D H A B E L L I E S : T H E F I X

i can't be the only one who finds it at least moderately amusing that a las vegas eatery decided to call itself the fix, non?

amusements aside, the sin city bar and restaurant is aptly named. and, if i must complete the pun, so to speak, the fare is completely and utterly addiction-worthy. recommended gateway plates include lobster tacos, finger licking fix and salmon pops. jonesing for a more intense high? recommended entrees include yellowtail sashimi, bobby baldwin burgers, bronx veal chop and the kurabota pork chop. suggested nightcaps include the cucumber essence fix and the passion fruit mojito.

then, reminisce about how you used to be so sweet and innocent over dessert (their warm doughnuts are heavenly).

and then, as quickly as it all started, you'll be fiening for your next fix.

A M E A N B E A N : E S P R E S S O M A R T I N I

if you're okay with being associated with the popped-collar, fake-and-baking, polo-wearing and fake-breasted crowd, then, yes, go ahead and order that redbull and vodka. or, hell, revisit twenty-oh-five and go for a jagerbomb. 

however, if you're looking for a classier, more sophisticated alternative that will leave you just as wired but looking like less of a king douche, wrap your hands around an espresso martini.

to concoct, simply add two ounces cold espresso, one and a half ounces kettle one vodka and half an ounce of butterscotch schnapps to a shaker filled with ice. shake it like you're gonna break it and strain into a chilled martini glass. garnish with a few coffee beans if you're feeling extra fancy.

photo: i love my grub

B U L I M I C W A L L E T S : B O N N A R O O G E T A W A Y

 
so you trolled facebook last weekend hoping to vicariously live through your friends who's credit card bills and student loans didn't keep them from being in attendance at coachella? well, don't have the same lame, depressing experience with the next latest and greatest music festival...

you see, urban outfitters, southwest airlines and bonnaroo have teamed up and now are presenting the chance to win a four-night long, vip experience at one of the most famed musical festivals of our time. the lucky winner and their friends will get hooked up with airfare provided by southwest, accommodations and tickets provided by bonnaroo and fresh new gear provided by urban.

and with a line up featuring jay-z, the dead weather, the black keys, she & him, the xx and kid cudi, how could you possibly not take up the chance to experience an orgasm in your ear?