GQ honored 2008's CFDA menswear Fashion Award nominees with a party at Tribeca eatery Ago last night. The crowd celebrated Michael Bastian, Thom Browne, and Tom Ford, along with the Swarovski Award nominees for emerging menswear talent: Tim Hamilton, Scott Sternberg (pictured left) and Patrik Ervell (right). The take-away? The designers looked sharp (as did the editors, we have to say), but Tom Ford was sadly missing. To see more photos from the event, check out the Week in Style.

Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure there's a scene in one of those Left Behind movies in which airline passengers are shown sitting quietly in their seats one minute and—poof!—are yanked up to heaven the next. For a select few, all that's left is a blue shirt and a pair of Dockers. The rapture!

Well, for Hillary Clinton's sake, let's hope the big moment doesn't come while she's jetting from one last-ditch campaign stop to another. As the Times reports today, the senator recently "added a notch to her belt on the drinking-war front when she strode to the back of her plane nursing a generous tumbler of amber-colored liquid." I suspect that sauntering up an airplane aisle with a glass of Maker's pretty much guarantees you'll be, uh, Left Behind™ when the moment comes. The same would be true for John McCain, whose past in and around the Senate in its hard-drinking days happens to be chronicled in another story from today's Times. Obama, for his part, enjoys an ice-cold Bud. Or so he says.

In reality, of course, both Clinton and Obama are cynically boozing on cue in an attempt to connect with the working-class voters and to avoid being tagged with the dread "elitist" label. (McCain the former fighter pilot gets a pass on this one.) Yeah, well, it may be an act, but it's an act I can get behind. After two decades of elections dominated by staged displays of phony piety, it's mighty refreshing to watch these Presidential wannabes compete to demonstrate that they actually know how to enjoy life once in a while. Hillary's newfound taste for bourbon may be as fake as the Southern accent she puts on below the Mason-Dixon line, but as a man who enjoys the occasional whisky at the end of a long, hard day, I'll say this: I'm enjoying being pandered to.

Harman Kardon's new Bridge II is updated for the latest generation of iPods—not to mention that phone Apple released last year. It also just plain looks cool (though for $129, it better).

[Engadget]

Soccer fans and art enthusiasts are coming together for an unlikely but inevitable crash next week in Switzerland. As of June 4th, about 55,000 people are expected to attend Art Basel, the annual fair that features works from the world's pre-eminent galleries. At the same time, an estimated 160,000 soccer (or football, if you're of that persuasion) fans will turn up mid-week for the Euro Cup's opening match between Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Basel's 5,400 hotel rooms—not to mention bars and restaurants—are about to get very busy. As New York art adviser Cristin Tierney told The Wall Street Journal: "This has 'Christopher Guest movie' written all over it."

[The Wall Street Journal]

More car porn from the gearheads at Autoblog: The Pagani Zonda R, an Italian-designed, carbon-fiber supercar, is allegedly set to go into production later this year. (The original track-only version debuted in March '07.) But if you expect to see plenty of these 750-hp beasts speeding around the country's freeways, think again: Only five will be made, and they cost 1.2 million euro each.

Sure, some researchers have recently claimed that Stonehenge was a burial site for ancient royals. Not noted rock expert (and Spinal Tap guitarist) Nigel Tufnel, who tells National Geographic that the ancient circle was actually built by one man, who was very strong. "Duncan was his name, by the way," Tufnel explains. "They didn't have last names back then." Check out the full video interview here.

[via NME]

As you might have heard—you know, everywhere—Sex and the City hit theaters. The film's inspired immediate reactions online, some of which are pretty funny. Here's our roundup of the best.

- Gawker films dudes to ask why they're seeing the movie. They answer that it's definitely not because they're gay, except for those dudes who are.
-The New Yorker's Anthony Lane intuits the plot before even seeing it. (Spoiler alert: It's about women who have man trouble, then don't.)
-New York reveals that even some of the stars can't bear to watch it.
-GQ offers ten viable excuses for reluctant boyfriends to get out of going.
- And an L.A. sketch comedy troupe goes on record with reactions outside Mann's Chinese. (See the video below.)

The first Blu-ray album was just released, which means that full high-def audio is finally available to music fans. Sounds great—literally and figuratively—but there are a few reasons we don't think it'll catch on. One, no one wants to re-buy their entire record collection (again). Two, the MP3 (while shitty-sounding) is undeniably convenient, and better-quality alternatives (FLAC, etc.) are gaining steam. Finally, the new record is by TrondheimSolistene (gesundheit!), an orchestra from Trondheim, Norway. Transformers on Blu-ray—which famously smashed sales records upon release—this ain't.

[Engadget]

File these photos of Japanese highways under unexpected pleasures. (Isn't this exactly the sort of stuff Flickr was made for?) Ken Ohyama's urban landscape pics are so stunning, you can almost forget you're looking at swaths of concrete and steel pilings. But only almost.

[Pink Tentacle]

Mumbai is one of the globe's most populous cities, so it's safe to assume that it has one of everything—including, by 2010, an office building in the shape of an enormous egg. (It felt like something was missing.) Designed by James Law Cybertecture International, the building will have 13 floors of offices and a "sky garden" at the top, which will help dissipate heat from the building's surface. In addition to taking its own temperature, this egg is designed to take yours, too: Washrooms will have systems to collect blood pressure, weight, and other data, and send it, if necessary, to a doctor.

[Designboom]

Our sincere apologies: We missed this curio from The New York Times on Wednesday about Paul Winston, proprietor of Winston Tailors (a.k.a. Chipp) in Manhattan. The tailor's father made menswear for both JFK and his younger brother; in the story, the younger Winston recalls how his dad used to have meetings with Bobby "because on the campaign trail, people kept ripping his clothes off him."

PLUS: See the suits in action in Harry Benson's new book, R.F.K.: A Photographer's Journal.

For your next mafia dinner party: Chromoly's "bourgeois brass knuckles," a corkscrew by Jonathan Sabine, seemingly designed to intimidate wine snobs. It's currently just a concept piece, but we're hoping it goes into production soon; until then, if you meet Robert Parker in a dark alley, you're on your own.

[BallerHouse]

Next month, Pioneer will introduce a new line of in-dash GPS/multimedia systems. Like Microsoft's Sync—which you might've seen in those Ford ads last year—the curiously rhyming Linc responds to spoken requests for directions or songs, and uses real-time data feeds for traffic, which are displayed in 3-D on a generous 5.8-inch touch screen. (It also plays DivX videos, which seems kind of unsafe.) No word yet on pricing, but a comparable Europe-only version is currently retailing for about $1,100.

[Engadget]

Hard-drive specialists Iomega have just updated their eGo line with an all-new one-terabyte edition. That's right, 1,000 gigs—good for 18,500 hours of music (or, as we like to think of it, half of our music collection). The packaging remains the same: The 3.5-inch drive comes in either blue, red, or black aluminum and brushed steel. Available now, it's yours for $270.
iomega.com

[Gizmodo]

Five things worth knowing today

- The Brooklyn International Film Festival bows in, er, Brooklyn.
- On the other coast, the first-ever Accordion Festival begins in L.A.
- Tonight on Man vs. Wild, Bear Grylls parachutes into the Siberian tundra—you know, just because.
- Today in 1967, Evel Knievel jumped over 16 cars in Gardena, CA.
- Folksy loon Devendra Banhart turns 27. Check out his covers of songs by Lauryn Hill and Charles Manson (yes, that Charles Manson) at 2006's Bonaroo, below.

The film poster might have lost its status as an art object since cinema's seventies heyday, but if the works in Now Showing are any indication, it won't stay that way long. Cosh Gallery enlisted 40 current artists and designers to reimagine classic bills for the group exhibit, and the results are striking—from Seripop's vision for Robert Bresson's Pickpocket to WeBuyYourKids' take on Dario Argento's Suspiria (pictured). If the studios are paying attention, we can think of a few summer blockbusters that could use the Cosh treatment (Warner's campaign for The Dark Knight being a notable exception).
Through June 13 at Cosh Gallery, 69 Berwick St., London, coshuk.com

Coming soon to mid-century-modern coffee tables: 756 pages and almost two feet of New York from British luxury press Gloria Books. The book features new and classic pieces from writers like E.B. White and Tom Wolfe, and photos by Alfred Stieglitz and Weegee. Class-conscious readers can select their limited edition of New York by tax bracket: Upwardly mobile types can get the Lenape edition with one archival print for $2,500; for middle-management, the Liberty edition, with two prints, runs $4,000; and and those from old money can enjoy the Columbus edition, with four prints for $15,000. Those without the means for four-figure reading material can check out the book when it comes to The Four Seasons for diners' perusal this fall.
For more information, visit gloriabooks.co.uk

For Creative Time's 2002 Sonic Garden exhibit, the Talking Heads frontman played one-liners from the likes of Mort Sahl and Alan King from the palm trees inside the World Financial Center. Saturday, Byrne keeps the chutzpah rolling with Playing the Building, his new sound installation at the Battery Maritime Building. By wiring the metal columns, metal window frames, exposed beams, and pipes to an antique organ, Byrne has converted the former elevated train terminal into one big instrument that visitors and guest musicians will be invited to play. "The acoustic challenge was to find a space that had the architectural infrastructure for sound to resonate in compelling ways," says curator Anne Pasternak. "We hope people will play the building!" A tip: Anything off More Songs about Buildings and Food should do.
Opens Saturday, May 31, and runs through August 10 at The Battery Maritime Building, 10 South St., New York, NY, creativetime.org/byrne

Those of you fortunate (or weird) enough to get Britain's Channel 4, tune in at about 2:10 Eastern (8:10 London time) to catch the U.K.'s first-ever live TV ad. It's airing during a cooking show (but of course), and will feature 45 skydivers spelling the word "Honda" over the Mojave Desert. The company's manager of communications is surprisingly sanguine about how it'll go: "If it works, people will know who it's for," he says. "If it doesn't, they won't." Well, it can't go any worse than Michel Fournier's attempted 25-mile free fall—as you might've heard, his balloon floated away.

[GQ UK]

This weekend Ralph Lauren's polo team, Blackwatch, plays Astley in the inaugural Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic, New York City's first match in more than 70 years. It's all very Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous for recession-shaky New York, but Ralph needn't be too worried: His company, Polo Ralph Lauren, just announced that its Q4 profits rose 41 percent. Those shaking needn't worry, either: The match is free and open to the public.
Saturday, May 31, at 12 p.m., Governor's Island, NY

Attention, oligarchs: Russian phone maker Gresso just introduced the White Diamonds collection. The two new handsets are made from 200-year-old African blackwood, with 18-karat-gold keys (laser-cut with Roman numerals!) and (you guessed it) 42-karat sapphire crystal displays. Your cost? A mere 52 grand. Budget-minded nouveau riche, take note: A version without the 2.53-karat white-diamond keys sells for only 14 grand. Suddenly that Tag Heuer Meridiist almost looks like a bargain.

[Born Rich via Crave]

Those tasked with patrolling Los Angeles County's 72 miles of coastline will now do their, uh, jobs in a fleet of 45 customized Ford Escape hybrids. The new rigs—which replace those iconic pick-up trucks you might recall from a certain beach-centric syndicated drama—feature a removed center console (for all those radios), a retooled backseat, and a custom roof rack, to say nothing of their pristine yellow paint jobs and (of course) environmentally friendly carbon footprint.

The 11th annual Sculpture Objects & Functional Art fair (SOFA), ongoing in New York now, features a variety of new age design: Works like Wendell Castle's Which-Side-Up Table (pictured) are on display alongside blown-glass sculptures from Dale Chihuly, as well as the organic woodcuts that made the late George Nakashima a design-world icon. SOFA also includes a conversation series with noted artists (the prodigious clay sculptor Akio Takamori, amongst many others), critics, and curators—more than enough reason to get you off the couch.
Through June 1 at the Park Avenue Armory, Park Ave. at 67th St., New York, NY, (800) 563-SOFA, sofaexpo.com

If he were around today, we suspect it would be something like Wedgwoodn't (pictured). Michael Eden, a master's student in ceramics at London's Royal College of Art, updated an eighteenth-century Wedgwood design digitally. After rendering its shape and creating a computerized texture (he fabricated artificial bone), Eden had his prototype constructed, to the delight of both his teachers and the Wedgwood Company itself. They're interested in producing the pieces for the company's upcoming 250th anniversary. For more pictures, check out the RSA site.

[Dezeen]

For the first time in 25 years, a museum is putting on a major retrospective of Yves Saint-Laurent's work. And while Love, opening today at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, decidedly favors womenswear (and deservedly so), there are still a few things for the gents—early sketches and drawings of his dabbling in menswear, not to mention photos of the dapper man himself. (Sadly, there's nothing from the Ford or Pilati eras.) The show is timed to the 40th anniversary of YSL's founding, and will head to San Francisco's de Young Museum later this year.
Love: Yves Saint Laurent, today through Sept. 28, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1380 Sherbrooke St. W., (514) 285-2000, mmfa.qc.ca

Five things worth knowing today

- The season finale of Lost airs at 9 p.m. on ABC.
- The All Tomorrow's Parties Festival's Primavera Sound begins in Barcelona, featuring performances by Les Savy Fav, Silver Jews, and Dr. Octagon.
- Publishing types congregate in L.A. for the annual BookExpo America. Speakers Thomas Friedman and Jeff Bezos can expect Brad-and-Angelina-levels of adulation.
- Today in 1886, soft-drink inventor John Pemberton placed the first ad for Coca-Cola in the Atlanta Journal.
- And today in 1997, Jeff Buckley drowned in Memphis, leaving a generation of moony teens without a troubadour. He's not the most consistent of artists, but what he did well, he did well—see below:

Given their usual source of power—you know, feet—rickshaws have never seemed particularly harmful to the environment. But that hasn't stopped London design company SolarLab from creating this sun-powered one, dubbed a SolarCab. And while it might not serve any practical purpose, it certainly improves upon the old model in the looks department. Watch for it on London streets next year.

[Dezeen]

Ongoing now: The sixth annual D Conference, which draws the biggest names in gadgetry for discussions and demonstrations. This year's list of speakers is remarkable—think Bill Gates, who demoed the forthcoming Windows 7—but we're most impressed by this party accoutrement: a logo-branded martini luge (a class above the jungle-juice number we remember from college). Now revelers, like their Dells, can have Intel inside.

Jean Nouvel's plans for a high-rise (pictured) were green-lit by the French government yesterday as part of an attempt to revitalize La Défense, a business district on the outskirts of Paris. The Pritzker Prize-winner beat out fellow luminaries like Daniel Libeskind and Norman Foster to take the commission for the Signal Tower, which, when completed in 2015, will feature stores, a luxury hotel, office space, apartments, and a rooftop atrium. Called by officials "the most important architectural development [in France] since the Eiffel Tower," the structure marks the second time Nouvel has tried to build in La Défense; the first, in 1989, was appropriately dubbed "the tower without end" and sent the architect into bankruptcy. Second time's the charm, we guess.

[The Independent]

Cut/Break, an exhibit organized by charity group SFOTE, opens this evening at Manhattan's Soho Grand. Like Joe Curren's Images from West Africa (pictured), all the works in the show deal with surfing and will be available at silent auction tonight. Proceeds benefit the Laventille Bus Project, an initiative that aims to provide accessible transportation to schoolchildren in Trinidad (and will launch later this year with a festival featuring TV on the Radio, Gang Gang Dance, and Aquavit chef Marcus Samuelsson, among others). Of course, if you miss the auction, the art will be up all summer, serving as inspiration to both hit the waves and get involved.
Through August 30 at the Gallery at the Soho Grand, 310 W. Broadway, New York, NY, (212) 965-3000, cutbreak.net

GQ UK contributing editor and sometime literary bad boy Will Self refuses to mince words, especially when they're his own. After fans recently accused the author of using $50 words where simple language would suffice—as recommended by George Orwell—the author replied: "I don't believe that Orwell believed it. He said one of his favorite writers was James Joyce. So what the fuck was going on there, Eric?" Orwell, born Eric Arthur Blair, was, of course, unavailable for comment.

[GQ UK]

Herman Miller's Aeron chair has long been a symbol of business prosperity—and hubris, too, considering it rose to fame with the dot-com bubble. Now the chair is gearing up to be a green icon as well: The company is offering several of its pieces, including the Aeron, in eco-friendly fabrics, all meeting cradle-to-cradle requirements for recycling and sustainability. This way, when the chairs outlast their next generation of enthusiasts, they can easily be put back to good use. (If only the same could be said about those enthusiasts.)

[Inhabitat]

As Ron Livingstone says in Swingers, "Somehow they know not to come back until you really forget." So just when we were picking up the pieces of our post-Wire existence, The Guardian gets Snoop and Marlo to pose in (of all things) a fashion spread. The upshot: As uncomfortable as Marlo looked wearing a suit during the series finale, the actor who plays him (Jamie Hector, pictured) looks at home in head-to-toe Ozwald Boateng.

Just in time for summer drinking season, Austrian brand Spiegelau has introduced a new line of fancy-pants stemware: a three-glass set dubbed the Beer Classics collection. Each is designed for a different kind of brew—for example, the tuliplike Stemmed Pilsner (right) is intended to accentuate the nose of a Belgian beer, or, of course, a pilsner. They'll set you back about 12 bucks each—and sadly, they don't make a Stemmed Schlitz.

[Decanter via Luxist]

And to honor him, some dude has written a new Bond novel. Devil May Care, by "Sebastian Faulks writing as Ian Fleming," is out today and has earned universally unenthusiastic reviews. ("A serviceable madeleine for Bond nostalgists," raves Janet Maslin!) All of which makes it hard not to read the following as some sort of metaphor for this literary séance: Another Aston DBS appears to have been sacrificed for 007's upcoming Quantum of Solace.

There was a time when the phrase "Made in Hong Kong" mostly signaled cheap knockoffs, not world-class design. But as you can see at Creation 9707, opening today at London department store Harvey Nichols, that's long-since changed. There you'll find ten works from as many Hong Kong-affiliated designers, all showcasing the region's evolving sensibility during its postcolonial years. Examples include Michael Young's Euclide watch for o.d.m. (pictured, $455) and Eric Chan's ECCO chairs for Herman Miller ($9,895). It's also a preview of next month's Creative Hong Kong in London, which will feature more than 100 Hong Kong designs, from graphics and products to fashion. And, of course, there isn't a knockoff in the bunch.
Creation 9707, today through June 4, Harvey Nichols, 109-125 Knightsbridge, London, 020-7235-5000, harveynichols.com; Creative Hong Kong in London, June 7 through June 12, Design Museum, Shad Thames, London, 020-7403-6933, designmuseum.org

Though the Telegraph may sniff at the Tate Modern's new exhibition of graffiti art—shown, in ever more popular style, on the outside of the building—we're excited to see some of our favorites, like NYC's Faile collective and São Paulo's Os Gêmeos, get some international recognition. Even better, "admission" is free, meaning the art can be enjoyed as graffiti was intended: alfresco, by the broke. Classless curating? No wonder the Telegraph was horrified.
Through August 25; for more information, visit tate.org.uk

Five things worth knowing today

- This year's edition of the Bicycle Film Festival kicks off with "Bikes Rock," a performance and party at Studio B in Brooklyn.
- The 15th annual (that's quinzième to you) Mondial de la Bière begins in Montreal.
- Pieces from the designer's spring/summer collection are now up to 40 percent off at Jil Sander, 1042 Madison Ave., (212) 838-6100, NYC.
- Today in 1774, the First Continental Congress was convened in Virginia.
- And today in 1930, the Chrysler Building officially opened. (In case you somehow missed this, it's called the Zirconium Building in Grand Theft Auto IV.)

Dutch designer Phillip Grass (not to be confused with that Einstein on the Beach guy) is inspired by airplanes and spaceships—as evidenced here by Acceleration, his digital prototype for a couch that resembles a fuselage, complete with holes for turbines. No word on when (or if) it'll go into production, but we can think of a few airport lounges that could benefit from this sort of design—and no, they aren't in Stanley Kubrick flicks.

[Dezeen]

But now there's a scientific explanation: Gaming reminds men of conquering territory, à la their cavemen forebears. Fair enough, but the study's author, Stanford psychiatrist Allan Reiss, also adds, "I think it's fair to say that males tend to be more intrinsically territorial. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who historically are the conquerors and tyrants of our species." Uh, right—clearly, he's never met our girlfriend. (Kidding, dear. Really.)

[Telegraph]

Eco-mania appears to have taken hold of the boating set: Just a week after Frauscher unveiled the world's first hybrid vessel, Dutch company Czeers has produced a prototype for a solar-powered craft. The all-carbon-fiber MK1 tops out at about 30 knots—without engine noise—and, frankly, looks like something Roberto Cavalli might endorse. Just don't expect to see a bunch at the marina: The company only plans to make between four and eight per year.

[Gizmodo]

The future, as they say, ain't what it used to be. The latest evidence: Gunn Furniture Company's 1947 "dream desk." The "business side" of the concept workspace sports your standard array of business-friendly features (plus a "six-tube radio superheterodyne with built-in aerial," whatever the hell that is), while the "play side" offers something even more essential: a fully stocked bar, replete with a custom fridge and crystal decanters.

[Modern Mechanix via Gawker]

Those looking to get off the grid this summer could do worse than the Yukon's new Perfect Earth Tours Retreat and Spa, opening tomorrow. Despite its ambitious name, the lodgings are, well, modest: Guests stay in one of five on-site tepees, with two additional tents reserved for spa treatments. Getting there ain't easy, either—you arrive by seaplane from nearby Whitehorse before taking a short stagecoach ride (of course) to the site. Crave more glamorous accommodations? We got you covered.

[Globorati]

Rolls-Royce just released sketches of its long-rumored "baby" version, an entry-level sedan you might know better by its code names, RR4 and NGS. Not much else is known about the car except this: That "entry level" descriptor is highly relative, as it's expected to cost 200 grand when it goes on sale late next year.

On a different end of the pricing scale, Mazda just unveiled renderings of its own mini-vehicle, a low-cost city car called Mazda1. Is it just us, or does it kind of resemble the titular subject of this weekend's big blockbuster? And we don't mean Harrison Ford. Picture after the jump:

Producer Alexander Korda's renowned 1940 fantasy classic The Thief of Bagdad, out from Criterion today, follows the adventures of Prince Ahmad as he attempts to reclaim his throne from the evil Grand Vizier Jaffar. If you're not finding that premise enticing enough, you're not in very good company: Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola both provided this edition with glowing commentary tracks. The film was a blockbuster epic for an earlier generation, and won Oscars for art direction, cinematography, and special effects. How do those effects hold up? Surprisingly well. Check the clip below to see for yourself.

$39.95, available at criterion.com

The soul pioneer returns today with Lay It Down, a collection of new material that includes collaborations with some of the industry's biggest names. Coproduced by the Roots' ?uestlove, the album features guest appearances from John Legend, Anthony Hamilton, and Corinne Bailey Rae—and in spite of them, it's still Green's best work in years. (It's not Let's Stay Together, mind you, but it's certainly worthy to sit beside it.) Click here to listen.

...with this Europe-only Kia ad. In the Claymation commercial, the tennis star plays soccer with an alien, spawns several (dancing, flying) mini-Nadals, and then turns into a car. A longer version was already pulled from the Web (for "inappropriate content"), but this two-minute edition is plenty strange:

[Autoblog]

What do Ad-Rock, Dick Cheney, and every recent Playboy centerfold have in common? They're all successful at the art of the hard sell, at least according powerHouse. That's the theme of the publisher's latest magazine, called The Hustle, which bows tonight with a party at the powerHouse Arena in Brooklyn. It's accompanied by a photo exhibit of those icons and many more, including the pic of the Beastie Boy to the left, snapped by Ricky Powell. The space also features a "Hustler Wall of Fame," for which artists like Ron English have contributed works that pay tribute to capitalist sensibilities. No word on whether or not Larry Flynt approves.
Through July 13 at the powerHouse Arena, 37 Main St., Brooklyn, NY, (866) 99-ARENA, powerhousearena.com