Today at Flavorpill, we smiled after learning about John Lennon’s crazy cat lady side and members of his kitty family, including Elvis and Jesus. We were impressed with and giddy over this documentary about VHS culture and couldn’t wait to get home to watch a few tapes. We got hungry reading BuzzFeed’s list of taco-related crimes. We thought this Neil LaBute exhibition sounded appropriately subversive. We tried to imagine a world with a nationwide tooth-brushing law and lots of ponies after reading Time‘s story on Vermin Supreme. We wondered about The New Yorker‘s article on women in fashion that got under Refinery29′s skin. We wished Liquipel had been around last time we spilled coffee on our phone. We saw what happens to our luggage once it leaves our hands at the airport. We watched The Hobbit get sweded. We wanted to live like Downtown Abbey for a day. We imagined what it was like for an agoraphobic to hit the road and meet 325 Facebook friends. And finally, we loved time travelling in San Francisco with this impressive interactive map.

1. The Hangover Part II star Bradley Cooper has been declared People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive,” an honor that has previously gone to actors like Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Ryan Reynolds. His initial response to the news? “My mother is going to be so happy.” [via EW]

2. Mariah Yeater has decided to drop her paternity suit against Justin Bieber. This comes following the news that her lawyers quit the case after the singer’s management threatened her with legal action for making a false claim. [via NME]

3. After a successful debut in New Jersey, Disney has decided to mount a low-budget, three-month run of Newsies the Musical on Broadway this spring. Why are they being so cautious? Two recent big time flops: Tarzan and The Little Mermaid. [via NYT]

4. Today a public art commission in San Francisco votes on whether or not to withdrawal the city’s multiple contracts with artist Tom Otterness, the famed sculptor who shot and killed a shelter dog “for art” back in 1977. Allegedly, they didn’t know about his controversial past when they originally commissioned the works. [via Gawker]

5. Julien’s Auctions has removed Michael Jackson’s death bed from its upcoming auction of items from his final home at the request of the singer’s family, claiming, “we would never do anything that is not in the best interests of Michael’s children, his mother or the Estate.” [via EW]

Bonus Buzz: Donaghy Vs. Swanson Fight Poster

Where does one live if one is interested in the life of the mind? Do you hole up in a rural area or head to the city, where you can hope to meet like-minded aesthetes at gin-filled parties? If you prefer the latter, then we have a list of cities for your wandering, writerly craft to thrive. We’ve included a few writers famous for living in the cities below, as well as recommended reading for each place. As always, let us know what places or which authors we’ve missed in the comments section below.

Read More »

Artist Scott Weaver’s Rolling Through the Bay, a toothpick Rube Goldberg machine of San Francisco, is made from over 100,000 toothpicks and took him 35 years to complete. Multiple ball runs allow the viewer to go on “tours” of different parts of the city while hitting up major landmarks — from the Golden Gate Bridge and the Ferry Building to the Bay Bridge and the Palace of Fine Arts. “I don’t have the world record,” says Weaver. “There are two or three people [with machines] that are larger than mine, but none of them have a function, or a kinetic aspect.” Click through, and prepare to be dazzled.

Read More »

1. Thanks to our friends at the Public Art Fund, a shiny, life-size statue of Andy Warhol by Rob Pruitt went up yesterday afternoon in front of his old Factory studio in Union Square. We think he’d approve. [via Gothamist]

2. Watch a 30-second teaser trailer for TV on the Radio’s movie Nine Types of Light— a companion piece to their album of the same name which is due out next month on Interscope. [via Vulture]

3. According to Jane Lynch, her character Sue Sylvester (who has already tackled Madonna and Olivia Newton-John) will channel David Bowie in an upcoming episode of Glee; we’re hoping this somehow involves a Ziggy Stardust-inspired tracksuit. [via TV Squad]

4. Has HBO cancelled In Treatment? Not exactly. While there will be no fourth season of the show in its current format, Deadline is reporting that it may continue on in “a new incarnation,” keeping Dr. Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne) but ditching everything else.

5. PETA has asked the city of San Francisco to rename the Tenderloin neighborhood with something more “appropriate.” Their suggestion? The Tempeh District, because “the city deserves a neighborhood named after a delicious cruelty-free food instead of the flesh of an abused animal.” [via Gawker]

Bonus link: The 11 Most Interesting Record Store Day Releases

San Francisco-based installation artist Liz Hickok recreates famous skylines and landmarks using Jell-O as her construction material. “Remade in an unexpected material, seemingly permanent architectural structures are transformed into something precarious and ephemeral,” she explains in a recent interview with Inhabitat. “Their fragility quickly becomes a metaphor for the transitory nature of human artifacts.” Click through to check out her jiggly versions of New York City, San Francisco, and the White House.

Read More »

Berkeley-based photographer Katy Grannan is known for portraits that reveal intimacies about her subjects, even as they skirt conventions of portraiture. Her earlier work used models and other people known to her, at specific times and places, often in evocative poses borrowed from art history. But for the last few years, Grannan has taken her practice to the streets and replaced her complicit subjects with anonymous passersby. Her current show, Boulevard, at San Francisco’s Fraenkel Gallery assembles an eclectic array of ordinary folks of outlandish appearance — interesting strangers, unaware of their role.

Read More »

In the past we’ve enjoyed tilt-shift videos of life in New York City and London, and now, thanks to Gawker, we’ve got multimedia designer Shukhrat Pardaev’s miniature version of San Francisco to add to our collection. We have but one complaint: It would be nice to see more of beloved neighborhoods like Castro and The Mission. Click through and experience the tiny toy set goodness that is “San Francisco: The Beautiful City.”

Read More »

Today at Flavorpill, we were embarrassed by how much we liked the new Hanson video, which features a cameo by Weird Al on tambourine. We objected to the idea that a colorful textile strap can replace an entire chair. We loved these illustrations of famous fashion designers as classic Disney characters, courtesy of Elle Spain. We nerded out over Gawker.TV’s roundup of the best 8-bit videos. We wanted to move to San Francisco — at least, Chloe Fleury’s adorable paper version. We analyzed the many poses of Lady Gaga. We were skeeved by rumors of inappropriate touching by museum guests at MoMA’s current Marina Abramović retrospective. And finally, we pretended to congratulate our favorite fictional billionaires, Lucille Bluth and Chuck Bass, because they made the Forbes Fictional 15.

It has recently come to our attention that AllSaints, a British clothing company, has come out with a shirt design called the “Williamsburg.” International fame at last! We’re not sure how well the shirt fits its namesake — true, it’s a plaid button down, which fits, but no one we know in Williamsburg pays 120 dollars for plaid button downs. Nevertheless it inspired us to look at other sartorial items named after neighborhoods. Some make at least some amount of sense, while others left us scratching our heads, but you tell us — is your neighborhood represented fairly in clothing form?

Read More »