If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives)

Funnyman Dan Aykroyd's Crystal Head Vodka is No Joke.

Well known comedian Dan Aykroyd has released a new premium vodka called Crystal Head Vodka, a product which had people wondering if it was a spoof or the real deal. The videos have gone 'viral' and here's some actual product info for you.

It's real and it's a quadruple-distilled vodka made with pure Newfoundland water triple filtered through herkimer diamonds (which are actually crystals).

The hard to deny 'hook' is that it's packaged in a stunning crystal skull (that is apparently accurate to the real thing) designed by John Alexander and made by Bruni Glass in Milano Italy.

The site has a series of videos in which Dan Aykroyd delves into both the mystical and the archaelogical and Phil Power talks about the actual distillation process.

Dan explains his fascination with the invisible world and how Crystal Head Vodka ties in with the story of the 13 Crystal Heads that have been unearthed at various times on our planet... from the Yucatan to Tibet. The heads are believed to emit positive energy, good will and prosperity.

Above: Phil Power of Newfoundland Labrador Liquor Corp.

Special thanks to my fave folks over at NOTCOT for these great images of the packaging:

Dan Aykroyd has his own selection of wines as well.

Visit Dan Aykroyd Wines here.

So, where to buy Crystal Head Vodka?
If you live in California you can buy it online here (I just did!) ..they are only shipping to California at this time.
Also shipping only to California, you can buy it here.
Also available at Beverage Warehouse.
Also selling it is the Wine Exchange, but at present they are sold out.
Also sold out at Bevmo.

Crystal Head Vodka site.

If you like unusual vodka bottles, look at these 10 bottles designs.

Or if you're into "green' Vodka, check out these 10 organic vodkas.

Hidden Desire To Spin? Fulfill Your Fantasy Via This Samsung Web Promotion From The Woo Agency.

If you haven't yet experienced it, I want to share with you this promotion by Samsung for the Q1 Ultra, a phone/pda/gps/portable MP3 dj mixing handheld device. It's a chance for you to live out your Disc Jockey fantasy.

Created by the multi talented folks at the Woo agency and directed by Little X , it stars Keys & Cut Chemist and turns you into a Virtual DJ.

It's definitely worth exploring. The engaging film style puts you in the nightclub via a first person POV angle and a series of fun, easy to answer questions leads you to the ability to 'mix' your own music, thereby fulfilling your DJ fantasy.

Above: You start by picking your sex so your options are tailored

Steve Hall of Ad Rants writes:
"Engaging. Interactive. Immersive. Yup, they're overused buzzwords but they do a pretty good job describing this new Woo Agency-created work for Indamixx's and Samsung's DJ Fantasy, an example of the computer maker's vertical market applications for its mobile computer Q1 Ultra. The Q1 Ultra is a very cool looking portable computer which celebrity DJ Cut Chemist is endorsing.

The works falls into the choose your own adventure category as you ride a limo to the club where you will be guest DJing...with the Q1, of course.

Above: Getting in the limo and boozing it up with cyber friends

Above: Okay, so my 'rapper' name is Sweet One, no grief please.

Hall continues "As you are led through the club, you can check out the VIP room, dance with hotties of your choice, and step up to the DJ platform and do your thing using an actual Q1 Ulta interface. The only thing maddeningly unlikable about this work is the lame, wigger-like rap talk and fist bumping that's prevalent throughout.
A product like this might just might bring out my inner DJ that's been dormant since back in the day when vinyl ruled the tables."

Above: being greeted by club-goers

Above: the fantasy can play out differently depending upon options chosen during the experience

Above: choosing your 'go-go' dancers

Above: reaching the DJ table

Above: choosing your musical genre

Above: mixing your own tunes to spin acquaints you with the Q1 interface.

Above: And in smart social media form, you can send your fantasy to a friend or play it again.

Of course, the site is not without product information, but it is tastefully integrated at the end.

So, what are you waiting for? Start spinning here.

Golden Girl: Artist Marc Quinn Unveils 18k Gold Statue of Kate Moss

An 18 karat gold sculpture of model Kate Moss in a yoga position is hardly my idea of a worthwhile way to spend approximately 2.75 million US dollars. But that's the estimated value of artist Marc Quinn's latest incarnation of his contorted life-sized Kate Moss figure.

above: Marc Quinn with "Kate" aka Siren.

Unveiled this morning in the British Museum as part of the Statuephilia exhibition, the work, entitled Siren, was created by sculptor Marc Quinn, best known for his sculpture Alison Lapper Pregnant, which stood on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.

above: Marc Quinn's most well-known sculpture, 'Alison Lapper Pregnant', in Trafalgar Square.

The statue of Moss, described as an “Aphrodite of our times”, now stands in the British Museum’s Nereid Gallery alongside legendary Greek heroines such as the Crouching Venus, a statue of Venus caught bathing.

The sculpture, which is hollow, weighs about as much as the supermodel herself according to the artist, and is believed to be the largest gold statue made in the world since Ancient Egyptian times.

Quinn said of his choice of Moss as a subject: “I thought the next thing to do would be to make a sculpture of the person who’s the ideal beauty of the moment. "

This isn't the first time Marc Quinn has used the iconic model in his work. He originally cast Kate in white-washed bronze in 2005 and called it Sphinx (shown below).

above: 2005, Sphinx, from all angles.

The golden Kate, who stands in a yoga position, is not alone in the exhibition in the British Museum. She has 200 Damien Hirst skulls for company, which commandeer the historic wall cases of the Enlightenment Gallery (shown below).

above: Damien Hirst's "Cornucopia" and a Noble and Webster work, sculpted entirely from mummified animal parts.

above: Anthony Gormley's Case for an Angel I, the precusor to his celebrated winged sculpture, iconic Angel of the North, fills the front hall of the museum.