I promise I won't make a habit of this, but every once in a while I see a celebrity that I think is worth mentioning.

This afernoon, I was running up Sixth Ave (in front of Murray's Bagels between 12/13), I saw the one and only John Waters.

As he said himself in an interview I saw a few weeks ago, he's got the best kind of celebrity: most people don't know him except for people who know and like his work. If it hadn't been for the moustache, I'm unsure I would have known for sure that it was him.

I was actually shocked to see that his moustache is legit (with hair and all) and not painted on, as it appears in pics and in movies. Maybe he used eyeliner on it for special occasions only.

Don't forget, he's hosting Printed Matter's benefit at Hiro on 05.15.07.

Last week they leaked Hisham Bharoocha. This week: Tierney Gearon.

The Playground--a collection of unbound pages of fashion and art--will launch this June at the opening party for The Black Market and will hit specialty stores worldwide a month later. From now until then, the editors will submit weekly entries for us with hints of who and what will be in the first edition.

The following is the fourth entry in the series. Enjoy.

Remember the controversy surrounding Tierney Gearon's "I Am A Camera" in the Saatchi Gallery's 2001 show? The eyebrow-raising image of Gearon's children--naked save for wild beast masks--quickly catapulted her to art world stardom.

Last year, Tierney Gearon: The Mother Project premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, which, coincidentally, is currently underway in NYC. Gearon's film documents her personal and photographic relationship to her children and to her own mother, and the process of creating art under the influence of familial tension and her mother's mental illness.

For those who missed it, Tierney Gearon: The Mother Project will make its TV debut on the Sundance Channel on Mother's Day, May 13th.

We here at The Playground are very excited to count Tierney Gearon amongst our list of contributors to Edition 1. Can't tell you what to expect yet, you'll have to wait for the launch, but you know it'll be good, if not slightly controversial.

1. Tired of just looking at art? Be it instead. Participate in Adrian Piper's performance piece. "Tuesday 05.01 and Wednesday 05.02.07 are the only 2 days to get artist Adrian Piper’s henna text, Everything Will Be Taken Away. Applied directly on the forehead, in reverse, the temporary tattoo lasts about 10 days. Both a promise and a threat, it encourages reflection on memory and what we consider to be everything." Email events@creativetime.org to ensure your place. Checkout Creative Time's site for details and this piece from Time Out. There are also five (5) other performances in their Six Actions for New York City program. Of note: Geletin's Dig Cunt (05.07 thru 05.11.07) and Johnathan Monk's remake of Daniel Buren's Seven Ballets In Manhattan (05.27 thru 06.02.07).

1. Check it out: this Saturday & Sunday 7 brands will sell their goods at reduced prices for two days only. The concept is born from the desire to expose merchandise in a flash to ensure the product and brand endures! The Gold Hanger will be "setting up shop" at 20 clinton south of Houston from 12-7. Featured will be Bijules lifestyle jewelry, Rojas, Pretty Shitty As Imba, Sir Hayes Babywear, Still Life Hats, Glad News, and Christopher Bevans Menswear. Credit cards will be accepted and drinks will be provided by Carlo Rossi."

2. Now through Sunday, Alife Rivington Club is having their annual Courtyard Clearance Sale. It's the perfect time to get those kickass limited edition Nikes for a fraction of the price. You'd better act fast, though, because all the cool kids who don't have 9-5's will get there before Saturday morning to get first dibs on the good stuff. This is a cash only affair so come prepared. The shop is located at 158 Rivington between Suffolk and Clinton.

1. Check it out: The Teenagers remixes. So hot. Don't forget to have a look at their official MySpace page while you're at it.

2. Two more days until Uniqlo's limited edition t-shirt shop UT opens in Tokyo and online. "A t-shirt is more than just a t-shirt. It's an expression of who you are. Where you've been. What you love. And with hundreds of limited edition t-shirts to choose from each year, you'll always find one that says exactly how you feel." Sounds promising, although I always feel a little "bait and switch" with Uniqlo: they have hot ads and when you go to the store, it's so blah. Let's hope the tees live up to the hype.

3. "Listen to the girl As she takes on half the world Moving up and so alive In her honey dripping beehive Beehive It's good, so good, it's so good So good" Just Like Honey. The Jesus And Mary Chain are together again: tomorrow night at Coachella with Björk and Interpol and then for two nights (May 21st and 22nd) at Webster Hall in New York. Checkout the band's MySpace page, the video for Just Like Honey, their Wikipedia entry, this fan site, and this scene from Lost In Translation. Don't forget to get your tickets before the shows sell out.

Super cool Miami store BASE has hooked up this.hearts.on.fire. once again with their Album Club Picks. The picks are a very well-curated set of some of the sexiest, coolest music anywhere. I love it because it's so different from my usual taste and always introduces me to new artists that I might not hear about otherwise. You can listen to samples and buy each album by clicking on the links below.

10. Blue Six (Aquarian Angel) / Lush, dub-drenched production and warm, subdued vocals melding into a sophisticated, polished and elegant mix: what else can you say about Aquarian Angel, the new full length from Jay Denses, aka Blue Six, who's just dropped another outstanding disc on the house music front.

9. Tracey Thorn (Out Of The Woods) / After a five-year hiatus, Everything But the Girl's Tracey Thorn returns with a solo project, Out of the Woods, and by shuttling between mournful ballads and futuristic dance tracks, Thorn proves why she is one of electronic music's original divas.

8. Miguel Migs (Those Things) / Arguably the most famous and influential of the deep house DJs, Miguel Migs' newest disc, "Those Things" combines his trademark sounds of live instrumentation and fresh beats with backing by vocal divas Lisa Shaw and Aya.

7. Supperclub (Addiction) / The Supperclub series has been reborn and re energized as Supperclub: Addiction--sexy, vibrant and alluring, this is a definite companion piece to the Hotel Costes series and more. The double disc format continues with top notch down tempo lounge populating the first disc and up-tempo deep house vibes breaking through on the second.

6. Mario Biondi (A Handful Of Soul) / Italian Mario Biondi takes contemporary American standards like On a Clear Day and A Handful of Soul and uses Rhythm, Blues, Soul and Bossa Nova along with warm and seductive vocals to create a moody, atmospheric and passionate disc of well covered but newly refreshed musical standards.

5. Korpi Ensemble (Trails) / The Finnish underground comes aground with the Korpi Ensemble and Trails, its instrumentation laced with traditional Finnish folk and jazz mixed with cool, ethereal English vocals.

4. Mahogany (Connectivity) / "Dream-pop", "Neo-Shoe gazer"--eight piece Brooklyn band Mahogany has been plastered with many labels but what really comes across is this: sweeping soundscapes, ethereal vocals and a shimmering pop sound mixed quite originally and brilliantly in a throwback to the days of the Cocteau Twins and New Order, but this time with a decidedly more futuristic bent.

3. JuJu Ochestra (Bossa Nova Is Not A Crime) / The Juju Orchestra is a two man German operation that makes music that can best be described as "contemporary Soul, Jazz and Latin music with a vintage sound."

2. Jorge Drexler (12 Segundos De Obscuridad) / Jorge Drexler may best be known for his skilled songwriting and lyrics, which contain introspections on religion, technology, love, and our individual place in this world, add his music, which is a combination of traditional Uruguayan, jazz, pop, ad bossa nova, you get something truly beautiful indeed.

1. Lemon Jelly (Triptych) / When Fred Deakin of Lemonjelly decided to put out a mix CD in the Triptych series, nobody knew how brilliant it would turn out to be. All in all, 3 discs of 90 tracks were put forth but don't despair if you missed it, here's a fourth CD of tracks he couldn't get permission to use on the full release.

1. Checkout Flaming Fire. They're one of the bands playing the after party of the Printed Matter benefit (see #3 below). Says The New Yorker: "The Brooklyn-based collective Flaming Fire is more like an evangelical church congregation than like a conventional rock group, with its leader, Patrick Hambrecht, in the role of preacher and the other members (including his wife, Kate) as his loyal followers." Checkout their MySpace to listen to some songs, their Wikipedia entry, go see them at South Paw on 04.28.07, read the News section on their site, and checkout these videos on YouTube. You've been warned.

2. I noticed a new awning on the bar under my building yesterday: Angels & Kings. Sounds pretty East Village rock n roll, but nothing out of the ordinary. Then this morning I read that it's the new bar that Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy is opening later this month. "Everyone I roll with is into Goonies. I want it to be like Shredder's hangout in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2." (Perezhilton.com) Let's hope it turns out to be a little more like Black and White and a lot less like the corporate birthday party hangout it was before. Drop them a line. Try to get an invite to the private grand opening party on 04.30.07

3. Did you miss Terence Koh's performace at the opening of his Whitney Show? Well, that one was free, but this one benefits our favorite bookstore in town, has John Waters as a host, and features performances by Flaming Fire and Peaches, along with DJs MEN: JD Samson and Johanna Fateman of LeTigre! For a mere $150, you get an invite to the VIP reception at 7:30pm --featuring John Waters and Koh's performance along with cocktails and catering by Matsuri (hors d’oeuvres & sushi bar) -- and an invite to the after party at 9pm, which is where Flaming Fire and Peaches perform. If your wallet's feeling a little light: get the $15 after party only ticket, where, unfortunately, you'll have to pay for your own drinks. Either way, it's sure to be a killer time. For more info and to purchase tickets, checkout Printed Matter's site.

Reason #36 to live in New York: In less than 3/4 of one Chelsea block, you can hit three (3) galleries, each featuring very different artists, all of whom rock.

1. "Rebel Rebel: Remembering Karlheinz Weinberger is a group show featuring the work of Ryan McGinley, Walter Pfeiffer, Collier Schorr, along side some of Karlheinz Weinberger’s orginal photographs. The interest in capturing images of youth and their lifestyles, spanning over several generations, is a continuing fascination shared by each of these artist." Preview the images here, read a piece on Weinberger from the Village Voice a few years back, and another piece on the artist on Photonet.

2. Next stop: the super sexy new Gagosian space, currently showing Walter de Maria. The exhibition features "two large-scale sculptures by Walter De Maria, A Computer Which Will Solve Every Problem in the World/3-12 Polygon (1984) and 13, 14, 15 Meter Rows (1985). These works attest to the artist's longstanding interest in mathematical systems, yet the experience of these vast works is as sensory as it is intellectual, communicating a sense of the infinite and the sublime." See Gagosian's site for more info on the show, the artist's Wikipedia entry, and a link to de Maria's other project you should checkout: The Earth Room in Soho. And don't forget to head over to Gagosian's original Chelsea space on 24th to see the continuation of de Maria's work.

3. Last but not least, Lot 61 is no more. I'm not sure how long it's been closed, to be honest, but it's now a gallery: Yvon Lambert. Currently showing: The Shape, The Scent, The Feel of Things, a five channel video installation by seminal video and performance artist Joan Jonas. This piece is based on Joan Jonas’ recent site specific work, presented as a performance at Dia:Beacon (New York) in October 2005, and repeated in October 2006.  Also included in the exhibition is a new My New Theater project, part of an ongoing series of video objects." Don't miss this one. I was amazed to find out in researching Jonas' that she's such an art world veteran. Her videos and the installation look and feel so contemporary.

A few days ago, I wrote about the forthcoming Björk album Volta and provided a link to a site with a bootleg copy of the single. I tried to play it the other night for a friend only to find the link didn't work!

Disappointed, I bought the single off iTunes, burned it and posted it up on the site for you to checkout.

Make sure to go to the official Bjork site where a video for the single will be out on 04.24 and to buy Volta.

And if you happen to catch this in time, Bjork will be on SNL tonight with Scarlett Johansson. Check it out!

Update: this is the performace from SNL. Amazing as ever.

Last week they leaked a little Andrew WK. This week: Hisham Bharoocha.

The Playground--a collection of unbound pages of fashion and art--will launch this June at the opening party for The Black Market and will hit specialty stores worldwide a month later. From now until then, the editors will be writing weekly entries for us with hints of who and what will be in the first edition.

The following entry is the third in the series. Enjoy.

Hisham Bharoocha is one of New York underground's creative leaders, continually bringing together the visual art, music and fashion communities for collaboration. Best known for his music as one of the founding members of Black Dice, Hisham more recently created Soft Circle, a solo project centered on the personal exploration of his musical interests. The album is currently available on our old friend, Guillermo Scott Herren's label, Eastern Developments. Soft Circle will be performing this Saturday, April 21st at Monkey Town, a really incredible eatery and events space in Williamsburg. Checkout the flyer here.

In addition to the music, Hisham creates incredible artwork inspired by the transitory nature of existence, and the sensations and experiences that combine within our subconscious. His work has been seen in galleries such as Deitch Projects, D'Amelio Terras and John Connelly Presents among others.

The Playground is very excited to have Hisham collaborate with us as part of Edition 1. We can't tell you what he's doing just yet,...you'll have to wait for the launch. In the meantime, he's created a playlist to tide us over until then. Click the links below to listen to each song.

10. Bissau - Fancis Bebey
9... Yulele - Eduardo Mateo
8... I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight - Richard & Linda Thompson
7... Desespero - Flaviola
6... Tsuki Akari - Tatsuya & Eiji
5... Flight Of The Ibis - McDonald & Giles
4... Caroline Goodbye - Colin Blunstone
3... Country Song - Duncan Browne
2... Lullaby - Dando Shaft
1... Bros - Panda Bear

1. Straight outta Brooklyn. Last spring/summer I was in this Elvis Costello/Joe Jackson phase. While trying to download Look Sharp by Joe Jackson, I accidentally got Fix Up Look Sharp (Ratatat Remix). Not even close to Joe Jackson--but super hot--I kep listening and downloaded more. As the months pass, the name popped up again and again amongst friends, in magazines, and on MySpace. You should check them out. They're hot. And if you're going to Coachella, they'll be there.

2. No matter how hard I try, I always seem to end up buying Nikes. My new Retro Jordan 3's are so hot. "The Air Jordan III was truly revolutionary. It was the first Air Jordan to feature a visible air unit on the heel, the new Jumpman logo, an elephant print trim, and tumble leather for a luxury look. The III's are also famous for the humorus ads depicting Spike Lee as Mars Blackmon." Checkout the Wikipedia entry, the official Jordans site, an original Spike Lee ad, and this sick pair of Air Jordan Retro 3 LS in blue and gold. If you're looking for a pair in New York, forget Alife Rivington Club and Dave's Quality Meat. They're either sold out or don't carry them. You have to venture deep into the heart of one of the cheesiest stores in town: Michael K in Soho. Don't tell anyone, though, it'll be our little secret.

Ever have one of those days where you just don't want to get out of bed? I kinda just want to sleep all day and watch bad TV.

Check back shortly for updates.

1. Remember Nine Inch Nails? I was shocked today when browsing through the NY Times to see that Trent and the boys have a new album out, Year Zero. I'm honestly not sure whether I care or not as this point in the game about NIN, but given the huge impact they had on music history and my life, I had a listen. Overall rating: if you like NIN, you'll like the new album. Start with the article on the Times' website. Then checkout the NIN official site and the site for the album, where you can stream all the songs for free.

2. Checkout REAL LIFE Magazine at Printed Matter. "This long-overdue volume highlights a selection of writings and artists' projects from REAL LIFE magazine, a seminal 1980s periodical edited by the artist, writer and curator Thomas Lawson and writer Susan Morgan. Published in 23 intermittent black-and-white issues from 1979-1994,REAL LIFE was devoted to providing an outlet for a circle of artists who did not feel properly represented in the mainstream art world at the time--many of whom are now grouped with the Pictures and Post-Pictures artists." Included artists: Eric Bogosian, Kim Gordon, Barbara Kruger, Richard Prince, Ed Ruscha, Sherrie Levine, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and Cindy Sherman.

3. I can't stop listening to this remake of Against All Odds by The Postal Service, a band I don't really get or even like.

1. Douglas Copland's film Everything's Gone Green, which I covered a few months back when it was at the Toronto Film Festival, has finally made its way to New York, opening this past weekend at the Landmark Sunshine Theater. "A sly comedy on the times we live in, popular writer Douglas Coupland (Generation X) tells the story of Ryan (Paulo Costanzo), a late-twenties slacker tempted into a money-laundering scheme." Checkout the official site, the Sunshine's site for show times and ticketing information, and the trailer here. This movie really speaks to me, especially the line that echos something I've said in one form or another many times over the past several years: "What ever happened to the content middle class?"

2. Patti Smith--the non stop queen of rock--is back on tour. She's playing SOLD OUT shows at Hiro this Wednesday and at Bowery Ballroom on 04.24.07. If you're like me and just found out, you're going to have to do a little eBay/Craiglist shopping to get your hands on some tix. Make sure sure to checkout her newly updated site and the full list of tour dates,which includes stops in LA, London, Paris, Stockholm, and Berlin.

3. Hailed as one of the most influential rock bands of all times, the New York Dolls peaked and died in so short a time that they never even had a chance to make it. I just watched New York Doll, a documentary about the band's 2004 reunion focusing on bass guitarist Arthur "Killer" Kane, who'd faded into relative obscurity living in LA as a Mormon, living on Social Security and working at the Family History Center (library) at the Los Angeles Temple. Not only is it interesting to see what's become of the members and follow them to their Morrissey-organized reunion performance, it's also heartwarming and heart wrenching. See the trailer here, the Wikipedia entry for the band, and get tickets to see the remaining members of the band play at Joey Ramone's Birthday Bash at Irving Plaza on 05.19.07. Don't forget to checkout these vintage videos of some of the bands hit songs: Personality Crisis, Trash, Jet Boy, and Stranded In The Jungle. Kinda makes you wish heroin was more popular in the East Village than iced, skim, chai, no foam lattes and the people who drink them.

Last week they leaked a little Terence Koh. This week: Andrew W.K.

The Playground--a collection of unbound pages of fashion and art--will launch this June at the opening party for The Black Market and will hit specialty stores worldwide a month later. From now until then, the editors will be writing weekly entries for us with hints of who and what will be in the first edition.

The following entry is the second in the series. Enjoy.

Andrew W.K. made a name for himself with high-energy anthems like "Party Hard", "We Want Fun" and "It's Time to Party". Lately he's expanded his brand of good vibes into a series of positivist lectures...well, not even lectures, as they are more like open forum conversations between W.K. and his audience. Subjects range from the philosophical to the mundane, all in the nature of contemplation and shared ideas. Check out the article that the New York Times wrote about him here.

I attended one of his engagements in New York recently, and was really blown away. W.K. is a genuine and charismatic speaker. The manner in which he continued any topic reminded me of the ease with which Allen Ginsberg used to further conversations without ever a pause, lack of knowledge or legitimate interest in any idea put before him by we students.

Andrew W.K.'s enthusiasm and commitment to free and spontaneous play makes us here at The Playground very excited to have him as a contributor to Edition 1. We're not going to tell you exactly what Mr. W.K. is creating specifically for The Playground, as you'll have to wait until we launch to find out, but, I can assure you, his wrist will be very tired by the time he finishes his artwork. Andrew W.K.'s contribution to each limited-edition copy of the Playground will be done in his own hand! No printers on these babies!

1. One of my new favorite artists, Sarah Sze, "will lead a gallery talk and discussion of her work, in particular Untitled (Studio) (1997). The installation, which Sze has called 'a turning point, launching a fresh direction' for her work, is currently on view as part of the exhibition Not For Sale." Check it out Saturday at PS1 at 3:30 pm. And make sure to checkout Not For Sale, it's amazing.

2. Looks like Jack White is ready for some more White Stripes. After his side project--The Raconteurs--which rocked pretty hard, but are nothing like the White Stripes, Meg and Jack are back at it with Icky Thump. "The sixth LP of Motor City mayhem (now Nashville mayhem?) from the White Stripes now comes complete with a release date! Icky Thump will hit European shelves June 18 via XL Recordings, and the rest of the world from Warner Brothers the following day, June 19." Read more here and here on Pitchfork. Also, checkout their tour dates, a listing on Wikipedia for the album, and this clip on YouTube of the band rehearsing in the studio. Hearing his voice makes me want the album today.

3. Everyone knows I love living in the East Village. It's got everything I need. This weekend, though, I discovered something that's missing: there aren't really any nice, chill coffee shops to meet up with friends in and hangout. There are a few busted ones and a few that are nice with no seating, but that doesn't work. So what do you do at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon when you don't feel like eating or having a drink: Sympathy For The Kettle. It's a specialty tea shop on St Marks (btwn 1st and A) that's perfect for said instances. Befriend them on MySpace and checkout this review in the Village Voice, where it's said: "Jodi Holiday's teeny East Village spot will meet all your tea needs (including tea-infused cookies) without trying to Brit things up; there're more tattoos than scones." Seating is tight, so you may have to wait a few minutes, but it's definitely worth it. And if drinking tea makes you feel too healthy, you can always pop into Crif Dogs on the way out and get a large order of tater tots and a beer!

1. One of our favorite stores in the world--BASE in Miami--just gotten bigger and better: BASE Annex is now open on Lincoln Road. "BASE Annex — the latest creative endeavor for Steven Giles, curator of boutique/toy store/salon/listening station BASE on Lincoln Road — inspires such yearning. Located in a former independent cinema space, the whimsical mini department store fashioned after the trippy world of smoking caterpillars and grinning felines showcases everything from handbags to home goods." Read the full blurb on DailyCandy. And definitely stop by if you're in town. And don't forget the original store at 939 Lincoln Road and the outpost in the Delano South Beach Hotel.

2. Get your Klax-ons this Friday at Studio B in Greenpoint. The biggest name in British Nu Rave are making their way to Brooklyn. They're also playing a sold out show tonight at Bowery Ballroom, but that's a 16+ show so you probably wouldn't have wanted to go anyway. Checkout their MySpace for more info and tour dates in other cities.

3. So I'd never want this to happen to Björk. I feel territorial with her for some strange reason. But as a quasi journalist, I have to report what's out there. A tipster sent me a link to a copy of the first single leaked last week from Björk's forthcoming Volta. And since they said it would be available for download from her site yesterday and I couldn't find it, here it is!! Check it out. It's reaaaaaaaaallllly good. And don't forget to checkout Shameless Complacency, the music blog that leaked it. Looks like a lot of good stuff they've got on their site.

1. This is my favorite song right now and should be yours too: I Am The Sun by the famed New York post-industrial band Swans. Download it. Listent to it. And checkout the Swans page on Wikipedia for more info.

2. The latest courtyard installation for P.S.1 has been announced and will be unveiled 06.21.07. "The winning installation, Liquid Sky, designed by Ball-Nogues (Los Angeles), will be on view in the P.S.1 courtyard beginning June 21. Liquid Sky will immerse the viewer in kaleidoscopic patterns of color created by sunlight filtering through an array of translucent, tinted Mylar petals that resemble blossoming flowers of stained glass. Together, the petals form a tensioned surface that reconfigures the horizon, cresting above the walls of the P.S.1 courtyard. Six towers constructed from untreated utility poles support the surface while providing discrete spaces at their base for relaxing on enormous community hammocks made of brightly colored netting." Checkout the full press releas here.

3. So much Björk it hurts. For starters, she's got a new EP coming out May 07th called Volta. Checkout this page on her official site. According to the site, the first single "Earth Intruders will be available as Digital Download Single on April 9th 2007", although I don't see it available yet. You can pre-order Volta here. Featured collaborators: Antony (from Antony And The Johnsons) and Timbaland, among others. Checkout this interview on Pitchfork. And this page on Bjork.com for all news relating to the singer. And don't forget to get tickets to her US tour. Looks like I'm a little late on this one. I just checked to see if tickets are available via TicketMaster and got no results. If you're set on going, you'll have to Google "Bjork New York tickets" to find them on eBay and other ticket resellers like this one I just found: Stubhub. It's bound to be an amazing show.

1. Check it out: WPS1 Art Radio. "WPS1 features talk radio styled discussions and interviews with artists, authors, musicians, actors, filmmakers, critics, curators, poets, educators, journalists, media experts, and other cultural leaders, innovators, and challengers. The station also carries a unique and important collection of music assembled by a team of music curators. This material ranges from live recordings of the widely acclaimed P.S.1 summer Warm Up series of DJ dance sets to rare recordings and surveys of experimental and adventurous music both new and old and from near and far."

2. He's like a mini Lagerfeld: Hedi Slimane. Everyone's heard he's not at Dior anymore and is planning his own line, but he's also out and about taking really hot pics. Although the section of his site is called "diary", which to me connotes something quick and dirty, these pics look far from it. He's got that midas touch. Check them out. And don't forget to hit him up on MySpace.

3. The times they are a changin. Even the Gap is trying to get some fashion cred, following the lead of Target and H&M. "This month the Gap will introduce limited-edition shirts designed by Doo-Ri Chung, Thakoon Panichgul and Laura and Kate Mulleavy of Rodarte, all winners of a fashion contest organized by the Council of Fashion Designers of America and Vogue magazine." Not bad at all if I must say so myself. Checkout the full article on NYTimes.com.

As mentioned last week, The Playground--a collection of unbound pages of fashion and art--will launch this June at the opening party for The Black Market. From now until then, the editors will be writing weekly entries for us with hints of who and what will be in the first edition.

The following entry is the first in the series. Enjoy.

Seems that DJ AM has yet another new girlfriend, this time scoring the very cool and beautiful, Jessica Stam. Likewise, the Japanese have the illustrious cherry blossom as an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life.

Cherry blossom season is currently underway in Japan. Thousands are flocking to various regions of the country to catch a glimpse of the beloved trees before their flowers fall to the ground as quickly as they bloomed. If you are in Japan, or plan on going this month, you can track the cherry blossom forecast here.

If not, you can do the next best thing and watch Air's video for Cherry Blossom Girl, or make your way to Washington D.C. to view the 3,000 cherry blossom trees that Japan gave the U.S. as a gift back in 1912.

We can't leak just yet what renowned artist, Terence Koh, is doing exclusively for the launch edition of The Playground, but we can offer the brevity of Japan's unofficial flower as a clue.

Stay tuned for more from The Playground...

French conceptual artist Pierre Bismuth has a lot going on in New York right now with simultaneous shows at Team Gallery and Mary Boone's Chelsea and Uptown galleries.

Pierre Bismuth is one of France's foremost artists and a leading figure in conceptual art. Known for his intelligent dismantling of cultural products and the wry and often humorous shifts and 'misuses' to which he subjects his material, Bismuth's work constitutes a creative intervention into familiar codes, habits and objects.

For Mary Boone in Chelsea, Bismuth presents an innovative new creation that plays both with the notion of the readymade and the commercial aesthetics of pop art. In a curious reversal, the advertisement for the show itself becomes the featured artwork: the pages announcing the exhibition in the March issues of Artforum and Art in America (both front and back sides) are blown up to gigantic dimensions and take over the gallery space.

At Mary Boone on Fifth Avenue, street graffiti meets sixties conceptualism in Most Wanted Men, a series of artworks employing tags of famous contemporary artists over tourist photographs of New York. Combining media culture's fascination with celebrities, graffiti art, and a reflection on the function of the signature, Most Wanted Men exemplifies one of Bismuth's basic creative strategies: to make a work out of the structuring conventions of other artworks and mass media products in order to expose different mechanisms of visibility and meaning creation.

Checkout Team Gallery's site, MB Uptown, and MB Chelsea.

So this isn't 100% my style, but a friend sent me a link to this video of Alanis Morissette parodying "My Humps" by one of my least favorite bands ever (I'd go see Danity Kane live before I'd go see these guys): The Black Eyes Peas. Check it out. It's hysterical. As someone on YouTube says: "I love it. Makes you actually listen to how f*cking stupid the lyrics to the song are." Enjoy!

It happens all the time in New York: one store opens, two stores close. Looks like something interesting has filled an old mahjong hall on Division Street that's worth taking the time to check it out.

superfuture highly recommends Project No 8. (138 Division Street / 212 925 5599)

Finally a home for the most fabulous items of obscurity ever known to mankind. This store has some of the rarest items we've seen in a while. Everything from hand picked avant designer mens/womens wear, feather shuttle cocks, pyrex chain link and the odd badmington racket and mohair brick.

Hand picked, rare and hard to find fashion items for the modern maverick. Assorted accessories, literature and unique lifestyle products. Not to be missed.

Checkout the full review on superfuture's site. And don't forget the store's site, which is a little sparse so you're going to have to go into the store to see what it's all about.

So I took my own advice and jumped on the train and went to PS1 on Saturday afternoon. As always with PS1, it's a mixed bag. This time, there was a lot of amazing stuff.

First up, Not For Sale, which I covered a few days back. It's really amazing to have works by major artists displayed side by side with more emerging artists in a space like PS1. Works of note: Jasper Johns, Jeff Koons, Sarah Sze (pictured right), Chuck Close, Rauschenberg, Richard Prince, David Salle, Luis Gispert, and even the Julian Schnabel piece. The latter only so you can see how bad his work really was and ask yourself like I have many, many times: "How did he get famous again?"

The Silicone Valley exhibit has a few works of note: the site-specific installation by William Pope.L features a corridor of scrap wood lined with a wall of trophies: New England animals slathered in peanut butter and mayonnaise. It's really hot. If you don't know what you're getting yourself into, it takes a minute for it to sink in. And kind of amazing you can't smell the peanut butter. Also, Joe Bradley’s "Home Depot"-style Minimalism and Corey D’Augustine’s series of monochrome "paintings" made with materials like silicone and antifreeze.

Vik Muniz work is cool, but I'm not a huge fan. If you're into him, it's a good look at a bunch of stuff he's done. Of note, though, is a small, windowless room he's transformed that includes the piece "Weimar", a suite of black-and-white photographs that reference espionage, surveillance, and intelligence gathering. I didn't really look closely at the pics, but I like how they were displayed and how he transformed the room by painting the walls dark grey, carpeted the floor in an equally dark carpet, and hung an uncovered bulb from the ceiling to provide the lighting.

My favorite work: Katrin Sigurdardottir's High Plane V. It depicts an artificial landscape, made of the most basic construction materials: blue insulation material and white paint. In order to view the landscape, visitors will be invited to climb up one of two ladders in the second floor gallery, and raise their heads through one of the two holes in the ceiling above. I kinda wanted to stay up there forever.

Finally, make sure to hit the basement, where in an old boiler room, there is a sound installation by EV Day. Loud, scary, unpredictable, and sinister.

Checkout this blog entry by David Byrne who recently biked to PS1 to see what the avant-garde singer tought about the avant-garde artwork.