While CNN covers the important events and YouTube the completely unconsequential fodder, there does exist an in-between dimension that gets buried somewhere in the backyard of alternative media. Tired of not liking what they were seeing and totally bored by the things they did, two enlivened Melbournians decided to get out there and ask the questions inquiring minds want to know, like What is like to be a Mexican hostage? How (and why would you ever want to) do the nasty on a yoga ball? Can you really buy weed off the street in Australia’s hippie town, Nimbin? They post their Vice-style mini-investigations on Vive Cool City three times a week — that’s dedication to reporting, yo —and as you can probably guess, a lot of the material runs to pervy subjects (they embark on a quest in Tokyo to find out if the schoolgirl-underwear vending machines are legend. Admittedly, it was one of the first clips I watched). CNN and YouTube has their audiences, but Vive Cool City will have the rest of us.

You can’t eat this one, but you’ll have to cook it to see what you’re getting: in what is a sumptuous and scrumptious idea pointed out to us from Dezeen, Croatia’s Bruketa & Zinic agency designed part of food company’s Podravka’s annual report with thermo-reactive ink that only can be read after it’s been covered in foil, put in the oven and baked for 25 minutes at 212 degrees F. If you cook the Well Done report too long, though, your kitchen will be filled with the tear-jerking, telltale signs of a ruined dish: black, burnt, unrecognizable relics of the original. Reminds me of what happened the last time I made chocolate chip cookies. Lucky for non-kitchen-savvy shareholders and others who rely on the information in the report, the literal cook book features recipes from Podravka and not the financial numbers themselves. Those are actually housed in a non-bakeable part of the larger book of which the smaller one comes inside. Bon appetit, but keep that fire extinguisher nearby.

Typography is one of those intensely underappreciated areas of web design that, used correctly, it can make your site jump off the screen and embed itself in your viewers long after they’ve departed — in fact, I just read a presentation not too long ago about how good typography can positively effect your website. Case in point, and perhaps the uber-demonstration of that thought, is the website of Takashi Okada. His flash-animated (I presume) typographic illustrations and typography are downright breathtaking. Just don’t click on his site unless you have a good fifteen minutes to sit and stare at the screen. Because thats exactly what you’ll end up doing. Okada is based in Tokyo and has done web and design work for clients around the world — you should definitely take a few minutes to explore his site(s).

Back in June we told you about Doane Paper, the brainchild of Chad Doane, who decided it was a fine idea to combine good ol’ horizontal-lined legal paper with grid paper to create one genetically engineered super-paper that would grow so powerful that it would rule the world.

While Chad’s product just might be the bees’ knees, it requires a patent before it goes on to dominate the global market. Well, the thing with the patent process is it involves lawyers and lawyers cost money.

In order to do raise the money to handle such legal matters, Doane has opened up an online boutique and are we thankful he did, as The Doane Paper Shop at Cafe Press provides a pretty sweet selection of paper-themed paraphernalia available for your purchasing pleasure. With the boutiques boasting 49 styles of buttons, 8 types of t-shirts as well as tote bags, stickers, fridge magnets, and coasters, you’re sure to find something to your liking. So go ahead, buy something. It’ll make Chad happy…but perhaps more (or less?) importantly, it’ll make Chad’s lawyer happy.

Boyfriend-friendly women’s streetwear line, Married To The MOB NYC, just dropped some goodies in time for the holidays, and we’re as psyched over the new tees and hoodies as — well, every other blog that will cover the occasion in the next few days (see also: everybody). As one of the only lines of strictly women’s urbanwear out there, MOB’s loud and well-constructed designs have been sharing the sass since 2004, and things just keep on getting feistier as the seasons roll by. My favorites from this collection are the Black Money tee and the Mobilicious Grey Hoodie, but if you’re feeling similarly pumped, make sure to get yours fast; Leah’s got herself quite the following, and nothing ever lasts long.

We get up at all times of the day. We work into all times of the night. We don’t wear blue collars, but like the carpenter’s belt or the laborer’s lunch box, we bear the mark of our social class status in the tools we carry to and fro the office, coffee shop or airport. These tools are sheathed in various cases and holders — in the doorway, smiling prettily and waiting to hand us our necessities as we leave to do our important jobs are Working Class Heroes. Stylishly designed felt and leather holders for our paraphernalia: like that Moleskine pouch, to protect our philosophical ruminations; like the leather passport holder, to keep fresh the inspiration the world gives us; like the Laptop Wallet Butterfingers (pictured), which doesn’t fail us when we get a little clumsy. When we come home at the end of the day, we can feel like we did something, even if it wasn’t catching a hot blonde falling out of a burning building in mid-air. That something’s called — you got it — satisfaction. You can order Working Class Heroes’ stuff here.

WSDIA, also known as We Should Do it All, is a Brooklyn-based graphic, architectural and interactive studio, founded on the exact principle that their name implies. Based around the beliefs that no professional should feel constrained to their singular expertise, and that the best way to problem solve is to be immersed in several different avenues of creativity, WSDIA approaches design from an open-eyed perspective, refusing nothing and testing everything. As one of this year’s five Young Gun honorees (and judging by their work — which includes this awesome identity work for POD) it’s apparent that WSDIA’s philosophy is creating an excellent environment for arty genius. Well, it’s that or the Skittles, but either way, it’s working (which is funny, because judging by their multi-disciplinary skills, it could be that they all have severe cases of ADD, which, assuming they eat skittles all day, means that this could be one fun place to work). Get your very own sugar high here.