Hotel Sunline Kamata is located in Kamata, Japan. Three of the hotel rooms were redesigned by the memebers in Chaos*Lounge, which is a team of professinal, amateur, illustrators and designers established on the internet. Instead of a king-size bed and breathtaking view, the imaginative illustrations are all over the walls and ceiling.

SPONSOR

Chicago Mixtape is the brainchild of Casey Meehan. Subscribers receive an email every week that includes a free mix tape of Chicago bands with upcoming shows in the city. The service keeps your iTunes fresh with trending music. In addition, Chicago Mixtape holds a live music series that features mix tape alumni at some of the best venues in Chicago.

I did some freelance work for Droga5 once and I have to say everything said in this film is one hundred percent true. This story is so touching and makes you realise this world ain’t such a bad place after all. Cue fuzzy feeling.

‘It needs a flight of fancy to make a good picture turn bad’. That was my thought when I saw my little nephew ripping out cartoon stickers from his album. Then I started to ruin some pop culture icons by reshaping them into a digital collage. That’s how the series How I Destroy A Mith come about.

I’m a fan of art that has an edge, some bite, maybe some blinding colour, or just blows my mind when looking at it for the first time. Therefore, my trip to check out Newcastle Art Gallery’s Modern Masterpieces exhibition was with some trepidation – would I like the ‘old’ stuff? Some hour and a half later, I came away deeply impressed by the range and quality of work. In particular, the works of William Dobell, a local to the area, were visually stunning. Accordingly, the portrait of Margaret Olley by Dobell (Archibald Prize winner in 1948) is probably the most important piece; vibrant, stunning and magnificent. The exhibition runs until March 4.

SPONSOR

Lisa Nilsson’s Tissue Series consists of anatomical cross-sections made from Japanese mulberry paper and the gilded edges of old books.

Designed by Patrick Jouffret of French design studion agency 360, this unisex bicycle helmet folds up into a compact shape small enough to fit in your purse or backpack, so you’re not left wondering what to do with it after you’ve locked up your bike.

Christian, a nine-year-old leukemia patient, wished for a backyard fort shaped like the Millennium Falcon. The Make-A-Wish Foundation granted his wish.

Independent singer songwriter Rae Morris is a rare find. Such depth and tragic tones from such a young talent; this girl deserves attention. Her track, Wait a While, is beyond beautiful in its own right.

SPONSOR

D.O. Roth, the German video director who brought Joy Division back to life in a Playmobil animation, earning more than 600,000 YouTube viewers, has struck again. Last year, the internet came alive with talk of the legendary band’s 1979 TV performance of Transmission being performed by the toy figures.

Following success with his plastic versions of Ian Curtis and the acclaimed Factory Records band, Leipzig based film maker D.O. Roth has returned to music videos by working with Manchester band, The Slow Readers Club. Using the same arduous production process as before, Roth has made Playmobil versions of the band to perform in a perfectly observed, stop frame animation – complete with audience participation.

Building a miniature stage set in his apartment, Roth has painstakingly recreated the band’s performance of new single Feet On Fire by watching footage of the Manchester four-piece and recreating their every move. The end result of 100 hours hard work is a cute interpretation of the group’s otherwise brooding appearances, amazingly captured without ever meeting the band.

Roth says: “Over half a million people saw my Joy Division video and I got a great reaction, so it was great to work with a current band in the same way. The Slow Readers Club guitarist Kurt (Starkie) got in touch and we went from there. He sent me a description of the bands’ style, how they looked and how they dressed. With the information that he sent me I searched for the fitting miniatures and instruments and started to put them together.”

Joanna Mortreux, a Melbourne-based artist, has created the series The Awkwardness of Living and Dying Simultaneously, where monumental figures sit like cryogenically frozen specimens of either some ancient past or some frozen future. Like artefacts in a museum, they exist as landmarks or even portals to another space or imagined time. All inspired by the crazy cold beauty of Iceland.

If you’ve ever wondered what you might look like hanging skinless in Leatherface’s meat locker, these ‘muscles leggings‘ by James Lillis will give you a pretty good idea.

Cats have a high propensity for silliness, and toast on their faces, as this set of snaps from the Huffington Post reveals. This is the latest online meme. What’s next: Cracker Dogs?

SPONSOR

Here’s an interesting if somewhat off-putting video demonstrating how one can change one’s own physique drastically in just a few hours.

Nazis, who have colonized the dark side of the moon since their defeat in WWII, have decided to re-invade Earth in the upcoming comedic action/sci-fi/steampunk-ish film Iron Sky. Laibach did the soundtrack. Who’s stoked? I’m stoked.

Minneapolis-based Brock Davis doesn’t eat junk food when he sees it, he makes sculptures out of it. So far he has splayed a gummy bear to make a bearskin rug, built a tree house out of broccoli, cast a Dark Side of the Moon with dorito chips, and made the Stonehenge out of rice krispies. There seems no end to the man’s insanity.

Let your inner Pee-Wee Herman shine with this ridiculous and gross ‘runny nose’ soap and shower gel dispenser.

SPONSOR

Taking the idea of an ‘inflated ego’ to the next level, Takashi Murakami created this 20-foot-tall inflatable self-portrait for his solo show, Murakami-Ego, in Doha, Qatar.

Bears, foxes and owls are all around us. Can’t see them? Try looking in your tea. They’re probably just holding their breath, having a good old soak at the bottom of your teacup.

In case digging through years of news reports is too tedious for you, Andy Warner just posted a nice illustrated guide to the Assad family to help you understand a little bit of what’s going on in Syria right now.