In the South of France there are two kinds of nougat: Nougatine which is dark and made with carmalized sugar and there is Nougat de Montelimar that is white because it is made with egg whites and softer than the Nougatine and full of the rich taste of honey, roasted almonds, and pistachios that both compliment the honey perfectly. This recipe is mostly about timing and does require some tools you may not already have lying around in your kitchen like a candy thermometer and stand mixer but both are worth investing in to create these wonderful treats. You will undoubtedly make them time and again and impress your guests with the authentic Nougat de Montelimar from the South of France.

Kate Macdowell created these stunning porcelain sculptures with a strong principle and message to send in mind. And we believe she truly did let her message come through. Macdowell writes about her artwork, “In my work this romantic ideal of union with the natural world conflicts with our contemporary impact on the environment. These pieces are in part responses to environmental stressors including climate change, toxic pollution, and ogm crops. They also borrow from myth, art history, figures of speech and other cultural touchstones (…) In each case the union between man and nature is shown to be one of friction and discomfort with the disturbing implication that we too are vulnerable to being victimized by our destructive practices.” The obvious knowledge that humans inflict suffering on the natural world including animals is made apparent in the porcelain sculptures with the human skulls in the animals and flowers because our lives are now inside of them in a death-like way.

Alex MacLean is both a discovery pilot and a photographer. MacLean combined both of his skills to shoot these incredible photographs of landscapes that are both natural and also incorporate humans’ imposition on these natural landscapes. The photos show how odd things can look from the sky but also how beautiful the view can be from up above with the patterns humans and structures create. On the ground it is not always easy to tell how grid-like and planned out things can be such as the large-scale housing development photos that are just a streams of houses each looking identical to one another. It is never quite as obvious when you are driving through a housing development like these just how monotonous the areas are and the photos are able to define and capture what “suburbia” is better than any photo taken at eye level. Many of the other photos especially the photo taken of an amusement park and old wooden boats at a dock are a true sign MacLean has an amazing eye for color. Also the repetitive patterns he finds in the sky are an indicator that he has a strong eye for the beauty simple things can create when they are all together and from above, almost making you question whether it is a design rather than actual structures such as the boats that make flower like shapes. It is hard to imagine just how long it took MacLean to find all of these strange places across the United States but no matter how long it was, the outcome of the photos is completely worth it.

Completed in just 2009 this Brentwood, California house combines style and sustainability which is not always an easy trick especially when it comes to architecture. The project team of Lorcan O’Herlihy and Pierre De Angeles did not have an easy task of turning client Dr. Sascha Jovanovic’s existing home located on this incredibly steep hill into the lovely, modern, and clean home you see here. The pair built a new guest suite, did significant modifications to the master bedroom, exterior appearance, and exterior decking and brought all of the new and old elements together. Using a reformulated PVC coated polyester woven yarn to wrap the house in they made the home look cohesive and better but also decreased energy use for the homeowners significantly. PVC coated polyester woven yarn is typically used to shade vegetation and outdoor space from insects. The reformulated yarn used on Dr. Jovanovic’s home is separated from the typical stucco finish so it does not look the same but protects the house from heat gain and solar abuse. In California weather and with homes high up on a hills closer to the sun this type of innovation for homes could start to become increasingly popular. Also, aside from the exterior of the house the interior is stunning with the use of white and simple orange, neutral and black colors. The home (after remodeling) is now 3700 square feet of beautiful yet simple indoor and outdoor aesthetics.

The Facadeprinter is a completely new way to create artwork on buildings. Before spay paint was typically the only artwork on walls, but now places that are hard to reach or inaccessible by a human being can be taken from plain concrete to works of art with this amazing little machine. It is wonderful invention because it does not deface architecture or buildings because it will eventually fade away. One of the most functional aspects of the Facadeprinter is that the colors vary in how long they remain on the wall. So, if you want your artwork to remain there for months you can choose a certain set of colors and the same goes for if you only want it to stay there for a few hours. This allows the designer to be very interactive because he or she can change their message frequently and possibly develop a series that sends a message over time by varying what is on the wall. The printer is a software controlled robot that uses a air pressure printhead to shoot artwork from as far away as 12 meters and as high up as 8 meters onto a chosen wall.

If you’re looking for innovation in Electronic Music, here are three letters for you: dOP. Damian Van de Sande, Clement Zemstov and Jonathan Illel – the brains behind the quirky trio. They started out as childhood friends, all with strong musical backgrounds and vibrant personalities. Playing in bands and acts spanning jazz, reggae, hip-hop, and rock & roll, they have always kept a performative quality to their work. To quote them directly, “it’s all about charisma,” and that’s exactly their appeal: charm through eccentricity. They do not use much in the realm of equipment – working off five default pro-tools plug ins and a modest array of acoustic instruments and analog synths, dOP has managed to create an incredible and flavorful collection of music. Their presence always makes for a truly animated party to say the least, and their exceptionally inventive productions allow you to relive the experience over and over. Check out one of their latest mixes here: NIGHTCLUBBER

American model Erin Wasson has just released her own fashion line in collaboration with RVCA for 2010. Wasson has graced the covers of Vogue, Flaire, Allure, Esquire and Elle, and has strutted runways all over the world for designers such as Gucci, Armani and Cavalli to name a few. Her exciting new spring collection features “Chain Gang,” high-wasted jean shorts with peek-a-boo metal chainmail detail beneath trendy rips in the material, along with a sexy summery dress, “Disco Mystic”, cotton fitted, tank-style, covered in studs. On the funkier side, “Here Comes the Flash” is a ribbed sleeveless body-suit with beaded cross back straps. The fall line features “Free to be Stoned” white carrot-fit denims, “Miss Fit-Me” leather and cotton spandex leggings, and the funky, super-shiny “Slick Rick” vinyl stretch pants. In addition to designing, she has also been appropriately modeling the clothing as well. For the official store visit: SHOP RVCA

For those unfamiliar with the world of computer science and language technology, gesture recognition is a machine’s interpretation of human gestures through mathematical algorithms. You may remember seeing this type of thing in futuristic and sci-fi movies like “Minority Report,” but this seemingly far-fetched concept is becoming a technological reality. Fraunhofer in Munich is developing a new 3D gesture control system which is designed so that the user can interact with objects and images without even touching them. You simply reach our your hand and grab an object (virtually, of course) and from there, move it, rotate it, scale it. Whatever you would do with a touch and a click, only this time a mere gesture is required. To delete an object you can grab it and throw it off the screen. The machine can recognize multiple hands and fingers simultaneously so that interaction among several users can be possible. I’m sure the older generation is still baffled at the concept of a touch-screen, and now a touch-air!