Well, it”s the new year, which means that it”s time to look back at 2008 and make the obligatory Best Of lists. For no particular reason, I”m starting with music, and let me just state that I am not a music connoisseur. My knowledge pretty much encompasses what I hear on the radio plus various offshoots and recommendations from friends, iTunes, and Starbucks. As a result, you won”t hear me throwing around names like Ariel Pink or Lykke Li; although, I suppose I just did. Point is, my frame of reference is limited.

That being said, I had a very unscientific method to creating this list. I went onto my iTunes, checked out the songs I downloaded in 2008, and then sorted them by star ranking (five being best). The result: a nicely comprehensive selection of my favorites tunes of the year. Enjoy!

By:  B-Side                        Source

Jane and Michael Stern has a great review of Tilar J. Mazzeo's biography of Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin in the NY Times on Sunday.

With New Year's Eve upon us and a glass of bubbly soon to be in almost everyone's hand, I thought the review of Mazzeo's book was timely. Clicquot's life is inspiring in a number of ways - not the least of which is the story it tells of what a woman accomplished in 19th Century France. But according to the Sterns, the book is not entirely about Clicquot:As much about Champagne itself as about the woman who helped elevate it to celebrity status, "The Widow Clicquot" reveals that the wine's history is as filled with faux folklore as a glass of it is with tiny bubbles. For one thing, Dom Pierre Perignon did not invent it. The oft-told fable is that Dom Perignon, the cellar master at the Hautvillers abbey, took a first sip and cried out to his fellow monks: "Come quickly! I am drinking the stars!" A charming tale, but bogus.I haven't read the book myself yet. But the review makes me want to go look for a copy.

The Australian also had a review of the book back in November.

By:  Greg Cruey                        Source

The packaging design was done in-house by Piado. It is made out of recycled paper, and they eliminated everything plastic from it.

The color of the underwear complements the label, and the zig-zag seals the design with a nice touch of detail. The color of the packaging is black and the main features are highlighted by silver foil stamping. You can also barely notice on the box a few splashes / stains which intend to make the statement that Piado is a non-conformist label. The packaging is intended to be uncommon, rebellious but sophisticated especially for an underwear line.

Piado is an independent brand distinguishing itself with sophisticated styling, incomparably comfortable fabric, and a uniquely “green” approach to fashion. Piado currently focuses on the basics: the underwear.

By:  ccchr                        Source

Paper Portraits.These are 3 dimensional photo-realistic paper portraits and sculptures created by B Simons.

Paper portrait of Mr. I Opstelten, Mayor of Rotterdam 1999-2008. Simons spent 2 months working on this portrait, well 248 hours in total.

Here is a portrait of H Hamelink and because of his distinctive characteristics, this paper model turned out very realistic. Paper model of Hamelink has been featured in a book about 3d graphic art Tactile and Octobers 2007 edition of Bright journal.

By:  Venus                        Source

Dan Schawbel over at Personal Branding Blog has an insightful interview online at the moment Romanus Wolter, "the Kick Start Guy." And Wolter makes what I think is a very important point for today's world: you don't get to define success all by yourself.

"A person is successful when they realize that they can actually never attain success as defined by themselves," Wolter told Dan Schawbel. "Other people can be amazed by their achievements - but since we are human, once we reach a specific goal we always seek out our next success."

Wolter says that understanding the idea of success in this light can be very releasing for an individual. It frees people up to explore possibilities without worrying quite so much about results that may (or may not) make them feel successful.

Schawbel's interview with Worter covers a lot more than the bits and pieces I've mentioned here. You should check it out….

By:  Greg Cruey                        Source

BusinessWeek ran a story late last month by Vivek Wadhwa (Wertheim Fellow at the Harvard Law School and executive in residence at Duke University) on the percentage of new businesses in the U.S. that are started by immigrants. And the message was that immigrants make up a higher than expected proportion of the American entrepreneurial community.

Wadhwa has argued for several years now that immigrants in the U.S. are heavily involved in entrepreneurship. But last month the Small Business Administration released a report that supported his contention.According to the study, roughly 16.7 percent of all new business owners in this country are immigrants, yet immigrants make up only 12.2 percent of the workforce in the U.S. It also found that immigrant-owned businesses contributed roughly $67 billion to the country's business income, out of a total of $577 billion in 2000.According to Wadhwa, the study also shows that the more dynamic the local business environment, the greater the percentage of immigrants involved in starting business.

By:  Greg Cruey                        Source