Xavier Bertoni owning the Superpipe in X-Games 2009

Wow, its just freaky what these kids can do. In Sweden, all we get on TV and pretty much any news media is stuff like cross-country skiing with rifles, and the usual gate-skiing.

Sweden wins Freeride World Cup Ski comp once more

Swedish freeride skiing legend Sverre Liliequist, 37 years old, wins the first (of 3) World Cup events in extreme offpist skiing in Soochi, Russia. Amazing that he still can pull something like this off. Last year, Sweden's Henrik Windstedt won the series. He placed 14th in Soochi 2009. Kaj Zachrisson, another Swede, who has won the Verbier Extreme for several years, ended 21st. Here's a video from the event:

What's going on in the world right now?

Check out this collection of "widgets", some fake, most real, that count, or tell you what's going on in the world, on the web, and so forth. Clever!
http://now.sprint.com/widget/

If you thought rock'n'roll was dead

maybe you missed Tom Morello, playing as his solo act "The Watchman" in 2007, when suddenly he had two guests onstage...Slash (!) and ...Perry Farrell... what can you say? Added later: Wayne Kramer on bass...

For picture nerds: Gigantic image of Inauguration

Check this out, all Obamaheads out there, a half meter (almost 2 feet) satellite picture from Washington yesterday:
http://www.geoeye.com/CorpSite/gallery/detail.aspx?iid=220&gid=1

Are you ready for the next big thing...3D!

James Cameron's upcoming movie for 2009 is apparently going to be in... you won't believe it... 3D! Anyhow, it's a new technology built around plasma screens, called Stereo 3D. The movie, entitled Avatar, is supposed to make Titanic look like a picnic. Will believe it if, and when, I see it:

3D character in progress

For children's book:

Dr. Dre's Chinese Democracy (No Autotune!)

Dr. Dre, one of the biggest names in "serious" hip hop, has been about to release his upcoming third solo album Detox, or Detoxification for a few years now. He's said he'll release it after the next Eminem album is out. Maybe he's afraid of a Kanye/50 showdown?
Anyway, there are some songs out there that you can listen to snippets of, like below.
What do I say about Detox, well, it's not as good and revolutionary as The Chronic from 1992, which started the west coast domination of the rap scene that still reigns on today, if you ask me.
But it is good, solid, laid back, west coast hip hop, with all the usual Dre trademarks such as: the cool piano grooves that usually distinguishes a Dre production, a bunch of crushing choruses by great female singers, whiney Korg's or whatever it is he uses + the hottest and coolest guest rappers on the "gangsta" side of the scene.
Good solid hip hop, delivered by one a top Doctor, and thank you lord, there's no Autotune!:

Some crazy a** motherf***ers

Wow, if you are the least bit into extreme sports, check this out. It is insane!

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Malcolm Gladwell - at 40 Grand a pop

Malcolm Gladwell, pop sociologist, journalist, bestselling author. A geeky New Yorker in an afro. He gets 40 000 dollars for a speech. Wow. Anyways, I hadn't heard of him until today, starting to check him out. I have now seen his Spaghetti Speech (below) which is great, and started listening to his first book, The tipping point, as an e-book. My first thoughts after only a brief contact is that he and his approach is something of a crossover between Freakanomics/The Long Tail, with some bits of Brian Tracy, and even a little Tony Robbins thrown in. However, intriguing, I like finding "new" interesting authors. (This paragraph added feb 3rd '09. I just found "Blink" by Gladwell in my bookshelf. I bought it on a trip to Chamonix in 2006, but just started reading it, then got preoccupied, and never picked it up again. Will now!)

ZAP masters at Copro

If you are in LA on Saturday, don't miss this pop cultural historical milestone. The "Zap Masters", four classic hippie/underground/Hot Rod/Surf art pioneers are exhibited with original artwork from back in the day at Copro Nason in Santa Monica.
The artists fetaured are Robert Crumb, Rick Griffin, S Clay Wilson & Robert Williams.

So you wanna be a hipster indie sensation?

All hipster bands are supposed to wear sunglasses like these on interviews. Colored Wayfarers automatically makes you a hipster god:

Banksy's inspiration

Wow, I didn't know this, I always thought Banksy was the inventor of his style. Here, one can clearly see that Banksy has "ripped off" the style, themes, even the rats, the whole concept, from french graffiti artist Blek Le Rat, who have been doing his stuff since the early 80's...

Annoying kids - great guitar

Check out The Collins Kids Ranch Party from 1957, and especially the little sugar buzzed kid in high heels playin' the git-tar!

Introducin...DragonBoy

3D illustration/sculpture done in Zbrush for book cover.