As a bibliophile and typeface-ophile, I’m quite fond or, excuse the pun, “font” of photographer and self-described storyteller Paul Octavious’s “Book Collection” in which the artist has been creating whimsical fonts and other creations using just artfully piled stacks of books. What a creative way of making order from disorder.

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Were the Oscars a star-studded snoozefest? Who the hell was the woman in the mohawk? Or the mysterious white-haired hippie man?  Read more here.

SUNfiltered’s Bradford Shellhammer admires Molly Ringwald – all grown up and in purple.

Photos!  We’ve put together some of the highlights from the red carpet here in our Oscar photo gallery.

Patrick McMullan gears up for the action at Vogue’s dinner honoring Vera Wang and her new store.

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I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and support during the recent Olympic Games. The 2010 Olympics will be a memory that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I feel that I skated two of the best performances of my career, making my coaches, my family and, above all, myself very proud. But I would not have been able to skate the way I did without the encouragement of my fans worldwide.

And while I am still embracing my Olympic memories and have the momentum to move forward, I have decided that it is not advantageous at this time for me to partake in the World Championships in Torino, Italy. After my sixth place finish in Vancouver, I believe that I must take time to reassess my strategies and goals. While I understand the importance of competition, I feel that a short break at this time would be personally beneficial to me. I know all may not share my stance, but I can assure everyone that I will be re-energized after I’ve had time to rework my technique. I want to be a better competitor and win medals for my country and I hope everyone can respect my decision to take this time off.

Once again, I want to thank everyone who supported me this season. Specifically, I would like to thank my coaches Galina Zmievskaya, Viktor Petrenko, Nina Petrenko, Priscilla Hill and David Wilson for helping me make my Olympic dreams a reality. I would also like to thank my family and friends for their never-ending support. Finally, I want my fans to know that I love them and I work every day to make them proud. I will continue to work hard and I hope my work for next season will be the most exciting of my career.

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Got some old jeans you don’t wear any more? The Gap’s currently running a recycling drive for used denim in partnership with Cotton, Inc.’s “Cotton. From Blue to Green” campaign. Through March 14th, you can donate those old jeans at participating Gap, GapKids, or babyGap locations, get a discount for a new pair, and know that the old ones will be recycled into “UltraTouch Natural Fiber Insulation for communities in need.” This program has collected tens of thousands of pairs of old jeans since its 2006 inception, and used them for insulating homes in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Sounds great, right? It is… it’s better to put that old material to use this way than send it to a landfill, and these efforts will help people in need save money on their energy bills. There’s definitely a lot of truth to this campaign’s claim that it’s “changing the world one pair of jeans at a time.”

While this effort likely will do a lot of good, it’s also a classic case of greenwashing… specifically, a hidden trade-off. Take a look at the campaign’s page on the lifecycle of the cotton to jeans to insulation process, particularly the early stages. Here are some things that don’t get mentioned:

• Conventionally-grown cotton accounts for 16% of global pesticide releases… that’s more than any other crop.
• The cotton in those jeans likely comes from the developing world, where environmental, health, and safety standards are low. Pesticide-related health issues are common among farmers in countries like India and Uzbekistan, which are huge exporters of the crop.
• Those chemicals don’t just affect those applying them to crops; they also contaminate water, land, and food around the world.

Conventionally-grown cotton is a dirty crop… one of the dirtiest. If you were able to use that discount from the Gap to purchase a pair of jeans made from organic cotton, this campaign would really address all of the environmental implications of those old jeans. A quick search of the Gap’s online store, however, doesn’t bring up any organic options for jeans… please correct me if I’ve missed something here.

Do drop off those jeans, especially if they’re really past any useful wear. But you might also want to bypass the discount on a new pair… and let the store know you’d like that organic option.

Want more information on the benefits of organic cotton? Check out the Organic Consumers Association’s fact sheet. For more information on the environmental and human health costs of conventionally-grown cotton, take a look at the Environmental Justice Foundation and Pesticide Action Network UK’s report on the topic. For a quick comparison of organic and conventional cotton, here’s an overview.

Got a favorite brand of organic jeans? Let us know about it…

Disclaimer: We do sell organic cotton jeans and clothing at sustainablog’s Green Choices store… I’ve not included any links here in order to avoid any conflicts.

MORE FROM SUSTAINABLOG:

• Got a computer to recycle? Your choice are still slim at this point…
• Looking for recycled office supplies? Check out our selections…

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39684875@N00/ / CC BY 2.0

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View (Warning: A LOT) more photos after the jump (I’d like to caveat that pictures don’t do justice for most of the art there).

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Now that the self-love fest known as The Academy Awards is over many are rushing to Amazon, Netflix, and the local cinema to see the movies honored. I tried to see as many nominees as possible prior to the show, but I still have a few on my list to check out. But I might not have to go through all that work. These posters, and the rest of the collection seen here, definitely show truth in advertising. They made me laugh a little. Why can’t more movie poster get to the point?

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The word is getting out. Opening up a hip hotel in the city? Hire Chris Rubino. Last year the NY-based artist was commissioned to do a series of canvases for the recently opened Ace Hotel, a 12-story boutique hotel in a renovated historical building in Midtown Manhattan.

The Distrikt Hotel, Rubino’s latest venture, is also located in Midtown but has a distinctly different feel. The Distrikt is sleeker, more modern and almost three times the height of Ace, which is good news for Rubino as his artwork appears in the lobbies of all 32 floors. The work showcases elements of every part of NYC in photo-collages Rubino worked with the hotel’s architects to put together, heading out into the city and taking pictures of “iconic buildings and signs as well as the minutia that makes New York New York, in the end taking 10,000 photos.”

The task must have been huge: take images of some of the most over-photographed places in the world and make it new again. But one look at Rubino’s portfolio and it’s obvious his creative abilities know no bounds. The final pieces are visually striking, 8-foot-wide backlit collages of monuments both big and small, from the Guggenheim to the skyline’s iconic water towers, and Rubino does the city proud.

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• DC is to become the first city to distribute free female condoms — in beauty salons, stores, and high schools — in an effort to fight HIV.
  
  
• According to Cellphones.org, 15% of Americans have interrupted sex to answer a cellphone call.
  
  
• Speaking of modern life messing with our booty, apparently Americans are too tired for sex almost 25% of the time, according to a new study by the National Sleep Foundation.
  
  
• Sex may have been a pioneering force in the development of the Internet — back in 2004, adult traffic dominated the stats — but these days social networking is the #1 traffic generator, with adult sites in a paltry 8th place.
  
  
• Japan Airlines’ stewardess uniforms are in high demand on the black market, thanks to the country’s local sex industry.
  
  
• Researchers in Switzerland have found that boys aged 12 to 14 are not having safe sex because they can’t find properly fitting condoms.
  
  
• The Kinsey Institute reports on how the push for a female equivalent to Viagra is impacting women’s sexuality. (In news that will shock no one, Big Pharma isn’t exactly a selfless promoter of female pleasure.)
  
  
• The Ontario Court of Appeal is hearing a case of sexual assault wherein a woman slept with her friend’s identical twin assuming him to be her occasional lover. Also, “General Hospital” is suing the identical twin for stealing next week’s plot-line.
  
  

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photo by ingalatvia

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Maybe I’m just getting too old and cynical for the Oscars. Heh. When you see Joan Collins out every night, you do start to wonder – what the sam hell is going on? This post will be briefer than the last as, well, baby is hungover. Yes, I know. AGAIN. There does seem something so wrong about Oscar week in LA. The abundant narcissism and back slapping is fricking hilarious (“Good Job! That movie you made was awesome! Forget curing cancer – you are the best person alive! Especially because you are so rich and pretty!”).

So last night I ended up tweeting the Oscars for Cablevision (note: Parent company of Sundance Channel) and… well, I’ve never tweeted live before and it was fun as hell. Especially because I got to say things like “SOMEBODY FEED JAMES CAMERON’s WIFE!” Seriously, her bones were scaring me, or “Charlize Theron looks like she’s being molested by her dress.” Who pays so many stylists to tell all their clients the obvious statement everyone has, “Nude and neutral dresses are so IN this year… How about a messy side up-do?… Mermaid-style dress = faaabulous!” No offense, but if I paid someone to make me look glam, and I got onto the carpet and looked just like everyone else, I would be pissed. Not to mention, where was an Alexander McQueen dress? And enough with Marchesa – all those dresses look like a five year old drew them. I get it: Harvey Weinstein owns it, but who cares? He’s broke and an awful person to boot!

So anyhoo. For those who didn’t get invited to Vanity Fair’s viewing party there was one that E!, hosted at the W in West Hollywood. You know, for all you Kim Kardashian and Kendra Wilkinson fans. Heh. Ryan Seacrest and his forehead stopped by afterwards – but most people went to Elton John and InStyle’s event at the Pacific Design Center (home to Rogers & Cowan offices during the day). There, my man Elton hung out at a private table – people who weren’t at his table got to see him on jumbotrons all over the place, and Victoria Beckham flipped her five inch heels when she ran into Katie Price – aka Jordan, a UK “glamour model” (read: trashy ho who poses topless). Although I don’t know why VBecks got so high and mighty about it. She is after all, a surgically enhanced Spice Girl who married a soccer player who sounds like Mike Tyson.

But the highlight for me was Grace Jones,  who I could watch all day with a box of popcorm. Seriously, that bitch is fabulous. She is like the grandmother of Fierce. And just a postscript: Miley Cyrus? Seriously??? I get that the Oscars were on ABC, which owns Disney – but did they have to put all their talentless child stars up on stage? Taylor Lautner? AIiiGH! Miley was dancing away late night at the Elton party – and let’s be honest – her parents should be reported to Childrens Services. Final note to ABC: Kathy Ireland. Seriously? Who did she bang to get that job as a pre-show host and how do I get that person’s number?

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I’ve always adored the guys at House Industries, the font foundry in Delaware that makes really great fonts. Yes, I said fonts. I am a nerd. I know. Anyway, House Industries in recent years has brought fonts from famous designers/architects, like Richard Neutra and Alexander Girard, to life. Now they’re about to unleash a new project with the most iconic of all Mid-century Modernists.

Charles and Ray Eames designed many pieces of furniture. They also made patterns and films and houses. But never has a font they inspired been released. Until now. Next week, if in LA, you should check out this exhibit. The House folks will be having fun with The Eames Office. Modern furniture and font dorks will be a many. I am so sad I’ll miss it.

Here is what the event promises: “Please join us as we introduce the illustrative beauty and cumulative functionality of Eames Century Modern with a three-dimensional tactile typographic experience at the Eames Office Gallery in Santa Monica. A cornucopia of free-standing dimensional letterforms and hand-printed installations celebrate the intricate curves and stunning stroke contrast that are the building blocks of this new font collection.”

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