The Hippest Hockey Puck Ever - The Aalto Puck.

Since the middle ages ice hockey has been played with round pucks. Until now. Inspired by the free forms of the Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto and a small reminder that not everything has to be as we’re used to, the Nordic Society for Invention & Discovery (NSID) and Iittala collaborated to create the first non-round hockey puck in the history of mankind, the Aalto puck.

A Giant Floating Skate Ramp In Lake Tahoe For Bob Burnquist.

Pro-skater Bob Burnquist has skated on almost every surface imaginable. Now he can add the surface of the water to that list. As part of California's Dream 365 Project, a collection of inspiring videos, photos, memes, tweets and more designed to increase tourism to California, Burnquist proves he can Dream Big and builds a large floating skate ramp in the waters of gorgeous Lake Tahoe.





Behind the Scenes
Once upon a time we came upon a photo of a floating skate ramp. We thought it was a totally cool idea, but when we did a little research, we discovered the image was a fake—someone’s Photoshopped fantasy. Bummer, we thought—but then we got inspired. “Let’s build our own,” we cried, “and let’s have pro skater Bob Burnquist skate on it—in Lake Tahoe!” Somehow our crazy idea seemed just fine to Bob, who had his own designers join us for four days to build this ramp “floating” above Lake Tahoe. Brazilian-born Bob loved the ramp so much he wants one just like it built at his waterfront home in his home country (only because his San Diego spread—where he has his own super-pipe—doesn’t have any waterfront). Cool fact: For our shoot, a wet-suited snorkeler was at the ready to dive for Bob’s skateboard every time it went over the edge and into the big blue.



Find a dream, fuel your dream or just see something awesome at the Official Dream365 Project site.

Artist Decorated Surfboard Auction Benefits Waves For Water.

With only five days left to bid, Juxtapoz Magazine, California-based shop UNIV and San Francisco's Chandran Gallery's benefit auction for Waves For Water feature 19 uniquely decorated surfboards by various and respected artists. Waves for Water is an organization on the ground in the Philippines, mobilizing an urgent clean water disaster relief initiative in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan.

Here's a look at all the boards presently up for auction:


Participating artists include CR Stecyk III, Geoff McFetridge, Richard Colman, Jeremy Fish, Lucy McLauchlan, Tim Biskup, Cleon Peterson, Monica Canilao, Andrew Schoultz, Swampy, Tahiti Pehrson, Ty Williams, Jason Jägel, Mel Kadel, Travis Millard, Michael Torquato deNicola, Jared Swilley of the Black Lips, Brazilian artist Ale Jordao.

As part of the special benefit and auction, a one-night exhibition will be hosted on Saturday, March 29, at T.F.R. Gallery in Leucadia, California to celebrate the creation of the boards, and to give an opportunity for final bids on the boards at the gallery.

Dimensions and details about all the boards are available at the auction site. Bid here

A 'Snow Beasts' MINI and Custom Burton Snowboards by Illustrator Andreas Preis.

A creative collaboration between MINI, Burton Snowboards and urban artist Andreas Preis resulted in hand-painted Burton snowboards and a decked out MINI Paceman, all created for the Burton European Open in Laax.








A matte white MINI Cooper D ALL4 Paceman was given to Preis to use as a blank canvas. Left to the creative devices of Andreas, the car was transformed into the MINI Paceman SNOW BEAST.







Highlighting the MINI maxim of Creative Use of Space, he went to work emblazoning each side with heraldic creatures of the highlands, or SNOW BEASTS, as he calls them. The five emblematic animals include: the lynx for its gracefulness, the eagle for its vision, the ibex for ambition, the wolf for teamwork, and the owl for its wisdom.







"SNOW BEASTS all have properties that make them role models for people who move in the mountains and snow," Andreas explained while a warm winter sun shone through the glass of the MINI C_ART Container. "Snowboarders move with grace, ambition, vision and wisdom and have the most fun when they're on a team. These technical and aesthetic qualities of SNOW BEASTS are what I wanted to express on the MINI."



A dedicated snowboarder (and skateboarder) himself, Andreas imbued the installation with his first-hand knowledge of these qualities... and may have done some extra research while on site. "During the breaks I was able to get together with the Burton and MINI crew and put in a few runs, which was really cool. I'm definitely not as good as the kids competing, but I love to ride."

The beautiful snowboards:





In addition to the patina he gave the MINI Paceman, Andreas's stickers and hand-painted MINI custom SNOW BEASTS snowboards were given away to lucky riders both on site and online.


above: Andreas Preis with one of his custom Burton snowboards that was raffled of at the event.

You can also find some of Andreas' illustrative work for sale here at Society 6

information and images courtesy of MINI , Burton, and Andreas Preis