Bike Hero

About a year ago, Guitar Hero became somewhat of a guilty pleasure of mine. I played often but the novelty of the whole thing sort of wore out after a while. I’ve noticed that this has become a recent trend with a lot of the latest video games, people become consumed by them and after a while, they just sort of forget about it. Well I just found a healthy solution to this problem. Take a look at this...

I can’t even begin to imagine how long it took to arrange this but I loved every second of it. A high five to Jaron Albertin for directing this. Now, I fully understand that this viral video could’ve been created with the underlying purpose of promoting one of the “hottest gifts” of the holiday season but I chose to view this video differently. Through the SuperForest lens I saw a video that was not only healthy and promotes exercise, but a video whose creativity is beyond words. Instead of promoting Guitar Hero World Tour, let’s imagine this is promoting bikes and spending time with friends and loved ones to create something truly spectacular. Now those are two gifts that should top any holiday wish list.

Love to All,

Carla

Handmade for the Holidays!

Good Morning!

Holiday gift giving always seems a little stressful to most and I am definitely one of those people.

Trying to find the "perfect" gift and do it in the most responsible way ends up taking up way too much of my time.

This year, I'm a fan of making gifts. There are great guides out there with various DIY ideas for holiday gifts. Here are links to a couple major guides:

Treehugger
Inhabitat
Design Sponge

Another great idea is Etsy. I'm sure, most of you, are familiar with Etsy and I love perusing the site to see what beautiful things people around the world make and sell.

I've been wanting a pair of gloves for my son and since I am a terrible knitter/crocheter, I thought I would see if someone on Etsy could make me a pair. I found a woman in Wisconsin who makes the fingerless gloves that I thought Ethan would actually keep on his hands. She welcomed custom orders and was awesome. She gave me tons of options, was super responsive and emailed me pictures along the way to see her progress. I loved them so much, I asked her to make a pair for me, as well!

If you need a pair of gloves (or scarf or hat) you should check out Debbys Etsy store. She was amazing to work with. I'm so excited to get them. She was really fast too!

If you do not have the time or the skills to make gifts yourself, why not support these great crafters and give someone a great handmade gift that was made with love!

Happy gift hunting!

Niki

P.S. Of course, charitable donations are amazing gifts too. Here are Treehugger and Inhabitat recommendations. We are definitely Kiva fans around here.

Eyebeam: Holiday Hackshop!

"Eyebeam is an art and technology center that provides a fertile context and state-of-the-art tools for digital research and experimentation. It is a lively incubator of creativity and thought, where artists and technologists actively engage with culture, addressing the issues and concerns of our time. Eyebeam challenges convention, celebrates the hack, educates the next generation, encourages collaboration, freely offers its contributions to the community, and invites the public to share in a spirit of openness: open source, open content and open distribution."

Eyebeam is located just a few blocks away from our studio and always has amazing exhibits and parties going on. 

For the holidays, they are doing a program called "Holiday Hackshop". 

Here are the details:

"If you haven't yet experienced everyone's favorite holiday gift-making event, here's the scoop: For one day, and one day only, Eyebeam becomes an all-ages, multi-workshop electronic craft-making fair, with entertainment, decorations and plenty of holiday spirit.

The majority of the workshops are artist-led, with small fees for material costs, and you'll leave with gifts that will far surpass lopsided clay mugs of years past!

All in all: A fun, thrifty, edutainment alternative to the trance-and occasionally rage-inducing department-store crawl.

Workshops:

Extreme Weather Snowglobes made of recycled materials
Led by resident Andrea Polli and collaborators Heidi Neilsen and Chuck Varga
Fee: $5/For all ages
1 - 5PM (Jump in any time; information sessions at 1PM, 2PM, 3PM, 4PM)

Bright Bike!
Led by senior fellow Michael Mandiberg
Just in time for the holidays: an opportunity to wrap up your bike with retro-reflective material to make biking NYC far safer.
Fee for materials: Whole bike: $30; material to wrap selected parts of bike: $10
You must bring your own bike to participate!
Recommended for ages 12 years and older.

Session 1: 1 - 3PM: (can accommodate 15 bikes)
Session 2: 3:30 - 5:30PM: (can accommodate 15 bikes)
5:30 - 6PM: Bike Ride/parade with workshop participants to document the effectiveness of the Bright Bike wrapping!

Frankenstein your iPod!
Led by resident Hans-Christoph Steiner and Chris "the Widget" DiMauro
Turn you iPod (or one of the stash we'll have on hand) into something you never imagined possible.
Fee: Free (We recommend you bring your own iPod, though we will have some on hand.) Recommended for ages 12 years and older, unless accompanied by an adult.

Session 1: 1 - 3PM: Frankensteining 101: Hacking your iPod
Session 2: 4 - 6PM: Install iPodLinux for making music with PD or Rockbox for playing Doon on your iPod video (can accommodate 10).

We'll have a stash of old iPods on-hand for harvesting parts, but those interested are advised to bring their trusty iPods with the battery, software or hardware failures.

Bend it, Shake it Workshop
Led by resident Christina Kral with collaborators Jamie O'Shea, Drayton Hiers and Dan Ribaudo
In this two-part workshop we invite you to hack and bend discarded plastic, battery-run toys to turn them into a potpourri of instruments. As the "Petit Finale", we'll be play a score with the hacked instruments inside the Video Womb, a video installation/experience by Christina Kral, Drayton Hiers and Dan Ribaudo.
Fee: $5 Recommended for all ages, those under 12 years must be accompanied by an adult.

1 - 5PM: Workshop
5PM: performance in the video womb

Want to see what we mean? Bend it, Shake it: http://vimeo.com/2269185
Video Womb: http: //vimeo.com/2250069

Demonstration: A Reenactment of The Battle of the Pyramids
Led by resident Adrianne Wortzell
Come witness the assembly of Resident Adrianne Wortzell's latest project, A Reenactment of The Battle of the Pyramids. Wortzell and her team of interns and volunteers will hack 30+ "Talking Elmo" toys to allow them to move in unison. The team will be hacking away-assembly-line style, but on-hand to discuss the project and answer any questions.

Fee: Free, all ages welcome
1 - 5PM

For more: http://www.adriannewortzel.com/battle"

EVENT/WHAT: (Free workshops/Christmas party): Eyebeam's beloved, annual Holiday Hackshop!
DATE: Sat., Dec. 13, 1PM - 5PM workshops | 6PM: Holiday party (think spiked eggnog, cider and holiday treats!)
LOCATION: 540 W. 21st St., NYC
COST: Free to visit; minor materials costs for select workshops

If you are in NYC on December 13th--check this out! 

It sounds like a lot of fun and really neat to be led through these workshops by local artists. I'm sure you can also get great ideas for hacking your own holiday gifts! 

Have fun!
Niki