You have a little under two days (1d 23h 34m to be exact) to submit ebay bids for some great art produced to raise money for Billabong’s Design for Humanity initiative. Each piece is on 18″ x 18″wood panels, and rest assured that each was produced exclusively for this fundraiser. Proceeds are going to SurfAid International (the non-profit humanitarian aid organization) to support their efforts to improve the health of people in isolated places that are connected to surfing. Some of the involved artists include: Beck(y), Kelly D. Williams , Damion Silver, Kevin Peterson, and Shiny Toy Guns. Place your bids here! And also take a look at the three-part video series they’ve posted to explain this charitable endeavor.

There are three things I like about Blanck’s ‘Kite Missile’ Hat. One, you’ll probably be the only kid on the block wearing it; two, it has an adjustable snap closure (harder to find these days, and more forgiving to those of us with big craniums); and three, it’s in keeping with the military/cold war-era trend that’s been going on in headwear lately. The details are especially appealing as well– the whimsical motif of a kid flying a cruise missile “kite” and the added texture of the rubber print rising from the surface of the hat both add complexity to the appearance and message of the hat.

The story of MOB reads something like any other history-in-the-making type tale: Founder Leah sat on her stoop in NYC, drinking tequila in effort to fill the gaping void that was women’s streetwear in 2004. Two margaritas and one stroke of genius later, MOB (a tribute to Leah’s crew, the Most Official Bitches) was born, an urban label that has since become one of the most repected in their category. Technically, I should have written about this line after spotting some of their snarky tee’s at Denver’s the 400 months ago, or at least before most of their spring collection was sold out. But it’s better late than never for this women’s-only line, because the stuff that is left is still cooler than anything else out there. Because MOB’s apparel is designed by women/for women, their resulting product has the same strong urban energy as a lot of the men’s offerings in that area, but manages to deliver a totally different product. In other words, the edge of men’s street wear is evident in MOB’s designs, but it’s communicated in a decidedly girly fashion (that allows for girls like me to pull it off without looking like losers). You can shop from MOB’s own online store, but a deeper search through small sites like Azita might help you find some of this seasons tough-to-find leftovers.

Generally, we’re not the biggest fans of electronica, but I’ve been digging some of the more indie sounding stuff that’s been coming out of Scandinavia lately. Danish electro band Tetris = Therapy, which consists of duo Rune Thomsen and Kasper Husted, is only five months old and is still unsigned, but that may soon change. I think Carbon Black of lifeiscarbon put it well when s/he said “the duo’s music is an unpredictable blend of everything from noisy shoegaze guitars over a grandiose post-rock sound to electronica and heavy electronic beats.” They draw some of their inspiration from bands like My Bloody Valentine, The Postal Service, Sigur Rós, and Explosions in the Sky– but it’s difficult to pin them down with a “this sounds like ______” characterization because their music is pretty varied. Here’s a clip of a live performance of their song “Foofaraw” from a show they played on March 12th at Voxhall in Aarhus, Denmark. Lifeiscarbon also has a couple downloadable songs of theirs here, and from what I see, their tracks on MySpace only have about 1000 listens on their counters so far– maybe we can bump those number up!

Associated Fabrication in Brooklyn was founded by four Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture students– William Mowat, Amy Stringer, Jeffrey Taras, and Kenneth Tracy. Working out of their 4,000 square foot workshop in Williamsburg, they specialize in specialty prototyping, fabrication and consulting services, and work with a wide range of people including architects, furniture designers, and various other design professionals. I actually found out about AF through Ben Krone, the mastermind behind the collaborative art undertaking Project to Surface, which will be showing in NYC throughout the summer. Throughout the art production process of Project to Surface, AF has been instrumental in the physical manufacturing of the artists’ work. In Ben’s words, “they were pivotal in the process of making the show come together.” Ben was also quick to point out that AF has been doing some great work unrelated to Project to Surface. Some past clients have included the Gehry Partners, SHoP Architects, and Matzu MTP. I think it’s important to recognize the ‘nuts and bolts’ behind a project– Associated Fabrication, keep doing what you do.

It got kinda crazy here the last time we gave away invitations for i’m in like with you, so much so that we’re still being begged for golden keys into the promised land. Being in the great mood I am right now, I have ten invites to give away. All you need to do is the following:

• leave your email address in the comments here
• tell me what your first game will be called

if you’re not familiar with how the site works, go back and read Josh’s original post. I’ll send out invites on Sunday night, so get to it.

Air Force 1 aficionados, be sure to head over to Nike’s spankin’ new site, dedicated solely to the iconic kicks. To celebrate AF1’s 25th anniversary, they’ve built an impressive portfolio with videos and documentaries, along with backstories of all 929 versions of the shoe ever created. The highly interactive site invites users to create collections of their favorite pairs, upload pictures of their own pairs and even create posters via QOOP. For the perpetually-connected, the site features a mobile version, and each month 1thology spotlights a different design determined by city, most collected and most nominated. It’s the perfect substitute if you prefer your sweetness delivered virtually, as opposed to orally.

The use of children as soldiers is perhaps the most destructive yet least discussed aspect of many of the dozens of ongoing conflicts worldwide. While organizations such as Human Rights Watch, UNICEF, Amnesty International and others have been trying to raise awareness, artist Clarence Lin calls our attention to the crisis in stark black-on-white prints. Each print in ‘thewarchildproject‘ displays a silhouette of an armed child soldier - one for each of the thirty-six countries that have been reported as using children on the front lines. With an estimated 300,000 children under the age of 18 serving in both government and rebel forces worldwide, this is both a thought-provoking series of prints and totally worthwhile project to get behind.

It’s a magical time of the year here in New York: that little lull where everyone is out enjoying the gorgeous weather with barbecues in the park and patio happy hours. Pretty soon, though, the city will morph into a humid sweatbox of misery, beginning the weekend mass exiles to the hip (and not-so-hip) areas of Long Island and beyond, leaving a few of us behind to search out locations with central air and pools not infested with copious amounts of bacteria. Personally, I have a long weekends in Montauk (private beach!) and Rhode Island (hello, beer) to look forward to, but I want to know– where are you going? Do you live in a vacation destination and don’t even need to leave? Should we be heading your way to check it out? Is it winter where you’re at, and you’ll be escaping the cold to somewhere a little more tropical? What resources are you using to plan your getaway? Tell us in the comments because after all– it’s Talk Shop Friday.