Kauz Bots:

Give the gift that gives to others! Adorable robots programmed for a better world. The proceeds from each sale help go to support a targeted cause of your choice. These soft plush robots are irresistibly kuddly and kute, adopt one to bring home today and make someone else’s holiday a little brighter too! Kausebots.com

SNAP Ginger Liquor:

Nothing says the holidays like the spicy fresh-baked scent of gingerbread on a cold morning, except maybe getting drunk. Now you can have both at the same time!  Experience the yummy full bodied flavor of ginger and black strap molasses in classy booze form. Delicious! Just imagine what Santa will bring if you leave him some of this instead of Granny’s ginger-snap cookies….

SNAP. Also available in RHUBY and ROOT from Art in the Age.

Hark a Vagrant! and TopatoCo:

Hark a Vagrant! has been making history awesome since 2006! Pick up a “Shut Up About Babies”  tee to wear to your next holiday gathering and avoid boring small talk about tiny people before it begins or start your day off right with a David Bowie “Glam Breakfast”  or “Hunks”  mug. These and products from other favorites like Dinosaur Comics , Nedriod, Axe Cop, Brandon Bird, Exploding Dog, White Ninja Comics, and more available from TopatoCo!

Mod Cloth:

Shop and vote for vintage, indie, and retro items in this interactive storefront that changes its stock and evolves selection to suit your fashion tastes. Free ground shipping. Visit Modcloth.com.

Thierry Poncelet Regal Dog Portraits:

Give a present with pedigree and sophistication. These classy fine art paintings are perfect for the dog lover or archduke on your list this year. A master of canine portraiture, Thierry Poncelet’s work will amuse and delight, turning even the dreariest foyer into a regal reception hall.

Available here. For 20% off your order type “HOLLYS” at checkout.

Poketo:

Stylish gifts and signature featured artist wallets. Visit poketo.com.

Lost at E Minor:

Bringing you the finest hand-selected finds with a slant toward creativity, pop culture, art, and lifestyle.  Free shipping.

Venture Bros Action Figures from Adult Swim:

These Venture Brothers action figures from Adult Swim are the man-doll must have of the holiday season! Collect all your favorites!

Dr. Venture- For X-Mas this year, give God’s gift “The Ladies”. This svelte silhouette of broken dreams and male pattern baldness comes dressed for success in a stylish custom-fitted 100% genuine cloth super-science jumpsuit.  Orphan heart not included.

Also available: Relive painful childhood traumas with this Boy Rusty and Father set, stylishly packaged in an official lunch box. Xanax sold separately.

Hank Venture- Do clones really have a soul? We may never know, but for this mass-produced genetically perfect replica of your favorite home-schooled kerchief wearing teen, the answer is clear: No, they don’t.

The Monarch- Lovingly assembled by children in Taiwan, this colorful gem is perfect for use in Voo Doo rituals, kink fetish dioramas, and awkward community puppet shows about metamorphosis. Warning: Keep eyebrows pointed away from face.

Gallery Nucleus:

Gorgeous art originals, prints, and products from visiting contemporary exhibitions and beyond. Visit gallerynucleus.com.

Amazing Everything by Scott C. 

Amazing Everything is the latest book of art from Scott C. the man behind Zombie in Love and Great Show Downs. The perfect gift for the person who wants everything! Available at pyramidcar.com.

Cartoon Network:

Get all your Swag and DVD’s from your favorite fever dream inspired cartoons like Adventure Time! What time is it? Time to get some rad presents.

Prehistoric Puppets:

Take a bite out of time with this highly articulated prehistoric chomp monster. This detailed dino puppet comes in one of two colors and is made of super soft molded vinyl. Turn your hand into a deadly T-Rex and rule the past! From Puppetoys.

Spy Net: Spy Strike Laser Dueling System:

Lasers you shoot at each other! I don’t know about you, but it’ll be hard not to blow my spy cover by making pew-pew sounds and spouting one liners as I riddle my enemies full of light. Get it here.

That wraps it up! Happy holidays from Racket!

-By Laura Gaddy

Anyways, his pad had recently caught on fire, scaring the living shit out of him (and probably his dogs). Long story short, dude got shafted out of insurance, and is boned when it comes to having to repair his home. The rad people at Paper and Plastic, along with 41 artists, have joined together to offer a digital download for giving them your hard-earned money. Or your government-handout, they really aren’t that picky when it comes to where the money comes from. The compilation includes jams from The Sounds, Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music, MC Lars and a shit-ton of other, equally amazing artists.

Click ->HERE<- to go get it!

-Jonathan Yost

The festival runs from April 28 to May 5 and will be closing out with A Beginner’s Guide to Endings starring Harvey Keitel, which follows the story of a die-hard gambler and the path his sons’ lives take when they find themselves inheriting his bad luck.

The Newport Beach Film Festival showcases more than 400 films from over 40 countries and offers a variety of themed shorts collections, filmmaker discussion panels, and specialty programming including the Action Sports Film Series on top of its hefty feature line up.

For more information and to purchase tickets visit the festival web site at newportbeachfilmfest.com.

-By Laura Gaddy

Focus Features

8/10

Hanna- Girl assassin and government experiment in babysitting gone wrong. She was raised by an ex-secret agent in a shroud of mystery and frozen evergreens and taught to fight like a hungry wolf. This wild child is no granola girl. A diet of Grimm stories and caribou jerky has prepared her to be a cold blooded killer, or so her father hopes. When it’s time to finally leave home her precision planned sting operation of a sweet sixteen hits a snag.

Hanna’s years of home schooling and dragging deer carcasses over the frozen tundra instead of recess have left her with conversation skills more awkward than a square at a Sadie Hawkins dance, and a perpetual case of foreign exchange student. She flits between languages with ease, spouting off drilled dossier minutia like Wikipedia on demo mode but flips out over a florescent light bulb.

In the midst of a global CIA manhunt Hanna pairs up with an unlikely family of vacationers when their precociously shallow Brit-tween daughter and creepy shutter-bug son take a shine to her. Hanna ends up tagging along on and off like some kind of loveable murder puppy and discovers friends, first kisses, and awkward dinner banter along the way.

The film stars two Academy honored actresses, Cate Blanchett and Saoirse Ronan, who both give outstanding performances as an uptight snarling government agent out to tie up a final loose end, and wide eyed Nordic Krav Maga death pixie.

Accompanying Hanna’s pounding footsteps as she races through claustrophobic corridors, exotic  landscapes, funhouses and metropolises is an amazing score by The Chemical Brothers. The distorted ambient sounds and adrenaline pumping bass work perfectly. Music is the lifeblood pulsing through the film and is seamlessly integrated into the scenes to become more like a heartbeat driving the movie forward than just mere background.

Hanna is directed by Joe Wright who’s better known for his work directing romances and stodgy Keira Knightly period pieces. Wright steps up to the task and delivers a sophisticated and well executed modern action film hit. The film is well balanced and has surprisingly funny moments mixed in with stylish and brutal fight scenes. Though Hanna is heavy handed at times and might leave you pondering a few rag-tag loose threads when you are finished those things are easily forgiven in light of how satisfying and well done a film it really is. Hanna is what other movies who have less gracefully tread similar paths in the past only wish they could be.

-By Laura Gaddy

Feb 14^th is Valentine’s Day, or as it’s known by sexual meteorologists, “The Hottest Day of the Year”. For those with a bold spirit it can be the perfect opportunity to swoop in and win over the heart and pants of that sexy special someone with only marginal credit card debt and a dash of charm.  Sure, some jaded souls may say Valentine’s is just a holiday made up by corporate America to sell cards, but for those who want to avoid the wrath of a lover expecting to be showered with gifts, it is very real blackmail. Going into it guided only by your heart, unarmed with a game plan can be dangerous. How can you stand out from the droves of admirers and convince a skeptical mate that you are the sexual stud they are destined to be with? Racket is here to help.

Valentine’s is a time to make those you love feel appreciated and special, by giving them generic gifts like everyone else. Nothing makes a girl feel like a lady more than the heady glamor of experiencing a glimpse of the life of a high-priced hooker for a day. With so much pressure, the whole experience of the holiday can seem a bit overwhelming.  Here is our handy guide to help you find something to stand out and make a statement, without going too far.

A Gift in Good Taste

A night at a romantic restaurant or a sexy gourmet dinner for two prepared by you wins points but getting reservations and having to deal with all those dishes in the morning can be a hassle. A cozy picnic can be nice, but there is always concern about roving packs of wolves, and public decency laws. Still, everyone knows the stomach is the quickest way to the heart.  For you ladies, why not enchant your man with a stack of raw t-bone steaks?

Racket’s Choice: Chocolates in a box with a red bow is all well and good, but if you’re going to make your girl waste an entire spin class, you might as well go for broke. Three words: Giant gummy bear.

The Sexy Gift

I know what you’re thinking- Bulk buy condoms. After all, nothing says “commitment” like 3lbs of Trojans.  But if you don’t want to put too much pressure on your lover or make them feel inadequate for not having genitalia that are naturally fruit flavored, you might want to consider substituting with a traditional gift set of aromatic sensual massage oils or perhaps a tasteful negligee.  While it may seem more personal and thoughtful, it may be best to reconsider giving them that DVD you made from covertly taken video surveillance footage of them sleeping, even if it’s set to their favorite song.

Racket’s choice: A commissioned full-size nude portrait of yourself holding a strategic can of Vienna sausages.

Thrill and Adventure

Whisking your woman  off on a romantic getaway can be just the ticket to ignite the spark in a relationship. Will it be a trip to Europe? A charming bed and breakfast? An exotic backpacking adventure? A cruise? One thing is certain, whichever road you choose, they all eventually lead to her pants.

Racket’s Choice: Rent a bounce house. Have sex in it.

The Personal Touch

The handmade valentine is always a classic, your partner will love the sentiment and the time and effort you put into it. Just remember though, homemade isn’t always a golden ticket, chances are reactions will be less enthusiastic toward say, macaroni art fashioned into the likeness of your beloved. Home crafts can easily go too far. On paper it may seem sweet  to combine the cutesy appeal of a personalized printed t-shirt and a plaster-cast hand-print keepsake by creating your own custom molded sex toy with your face on it, but in real life it is terrifying.

Racket’s Choice:  Avoid hot glue gun injuries with these unique but charming Valentine cards from Nedroid. Is it a bear, is it a potato? It’s a Beartato.

No matter what you choose to go with, we here at Racket wish you all a sexy Valentine’s Day!

-Laura Gaddy



8 out of 10

Magnolia Pictures

Takeshi Kitano returns to the screen at the AFI Film Festival with this dark and violent look into the Yakuza world where family honor is everything, ultimate sacrifice is demanded, but true loyalty is rare.  The film is a window seat to a terse and bloody power play. Gang life is shown in a light that shows it as petty, cruel, opportunistic, and anything but slick, noble, and glamorous.  

Sometimes quiet, sometimes absurd, even heartbreaking , at the core this is an exploration of the perversion of respect. Moments of calm and austerely strict order and self-control are punctuated by scenes of incredible savage violence and chaotic betrayal. The violence at times is so over the top the film would be almost darkly funny if it wasn’t so disturbing. It can be hard watch. A scene with a dentist drill in particular is absolutely brutal. Not his best film, but worth seeing.

 -By Saeko Igarashi and Laura Gaddy

The theme for this year’s festival seems to be “albums in their entirety,” as head Guerilla Chang Weisberg has somehow convinced Hip Hop legends The Wu-Tang Clan to perform their game-changing album Enter The 36 Chambers, KRS-One to perform Criminal Minded, lyrical mastermind Rakim to perform Paid In Full and even Slick Rick to perform The Great Adventures Of, all in their entirety. Front to back. Holy shit.

Also on the lineup are some personal favs of mine, Minneapolis MC Brother Ali, Ill bill of Non-Phixion/La Coka Nostra w/ DJ Muggs from Cypress Hill/Soul Assassins, Wiz Khalifa and Jedi Mind Tricks. Murs and 9th Wonder are also slated, but honestly, that’s to be expected at a Guerilla Union show now, and I would be more surprised, and not just a little bummed, if Murs stopped popping up at these things.

While Immortal Technique may be a bigger name, Big Sean and Yelawolf may be drawing fans of their own as well. Not to mention Supernatural. Honestly, go to YouTube and search out some of his freestyling, it’s fucking intense. I admit that I’m particularly interested in seeing Street Sweeper Social Club. Boots Riley (Also the lead vocalist of the Coup) informed me directly that they have a new EP coming up, so I’m pretty stoked to see how he and Tom Morello have continued to adapt to each other.

Dates announced include August 21st in San Bernardino, CA, August 22nd at the Shoreline Amphitheater in San Fransisco, August 28th at Governor’s Island in New York City, and August 29th at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Washington, DC.

While the headlining artists’ albums won’t take up the entire set time, Weisberg promises that the artists will be performing some of their other jams after that. While we all have albums we’d like to see performed as a whole, Weisberg stated that we could all “talk shop” about our favorite albums, but in the end, this is not a bad crop to be left with. Which albums would YOU like to see in their entirety?

-Jonathan “The Emperor” Yost

Check the Racket Magazine YouTube Account for more interviews from Paid Dues with MC Prototype, Hopie Spithard, Afro Classics, Freestle Fellowship and mothafucking Ice Cube.
-The Emperor

]]> http://racketmag.com/news/tech-n9ne-interview-2/feed/ 0 http://racketmag.com/news/racket-magazine-presents-our-spring-issue/ http://racketmag.com/news/racket-magazine-presents-our-spring-issue/#comments Sun, 04 Apr 2010 07:27:07 +0000 The Emperor http://racketmag.com/?p=2026 RIGHT CLICK HERE to save the file to your computer! ]]> So, we at Racket have done plenty to lurk around on the internet, but now you can download our 48-page Spring 2010 issue and enjoy it at whatever coffee shop that you are doing “homework” at, or when your dog pisses on your modem. With Coachella just around the corner, Racketeers give you the low-down on who to check out, who’s back together & how to avoid chaffing. We also have all the regular stuff you expect from Racket: reviews, previews, nonsense and more.

You can either click on the jump link to view it in your browser, or right-click on the link here -> RacketMag Spring 2010 <- to save the file to your computer!

-The Emperor

Perfect for high schoolers and REAL poets alike!

Our pals at ecosystem are giving away one of their recycled-material notebooks through everyone’s favorite waste of time: Twitter!

All you have to do is:

1) Sign in to your Twitter account

2) Add @ecosystemlife

3) Add @RacketMagazine

4) Go to www.ecosystemlife.com, pick a color of notebook

4) Post the following:

“I just entered to win a [*insert desired ecosystem color here] post-consumer notebook from @ecosystemlife and @RacketMagazine http://bit.ly/9k0SRh”

Contest will end on March 22, 2010 @ 11:59PM PST. Winner will be notified by Twitter Direct Message on Tuesday March 23, 2010 (so if you delete us and we can’t Direct Message you, we will choose another winner, BURN!). Thank you to our good friends at ecosystem for this giveaway!

Rules are subject to change without any prior notice.

AAAAANNNNNDDD the contest is closed. Congrats to not one, but THREE winners:
@KatyHardy
@Jafferty &
@DIYSara

-The Emperor!