It may not feel like it, as heat waves continue to pelt the Northeast, but on the sartorial calendar, Fall/Winter is fast upon us. For a few seasons now, RANSOM has been winning hearts and feet over with their collaboration with adidas Originals. This season, the duo returns again with a solid collection and we had previously previewed the more casual low-top Straata and the more hike-ready Crest. As more information on the new collection drops, now we have a look at the Valley. The Valley continues to be equipped with a comfortable extra ankle padding and lambskin lining, but the upper is now available in either heavy duty canvas or suede. The color palette, as usual, aims for subtlety in grey and navy. via: Provider Mag

Booze and shoes? Perhaps when imbibing a copious amount of alcohol, the last thing one should do is to be wandering around. However in this case, the collaboration is not only intriguing, but it makes a romantic sense. Barcelona’s go-to retailer, 24 Kilates has collaborated with ASICS and heritage Spanish wineskin maker, LAS TRES Z.Z.Z. to creeate a collaborative “San Fermin” pack comprising of a rich, gorgeous bottle of red, a wineskin bag, a co-branded wrap, and a pair of ASICS Gel Lyte Speed with two pairs of laces. The kicks have been rendered with an upper which matches the wineskin bag, and everything comes housed in a special co-branded wooden box.

Wineskin is the new flask, and this pack has everything one needs for a great summer party– alcohol, a vessel to wear it with, and a pair of shoes that are comfortable and speedy enough for a quick escape just in case something too interesting happens.

Think it’s child’s play to build a model anime robot? For those who have attempted to build a plastic Gundam model would know that assembling ten thousand (Perhaps an exaggeration, but it sure feels as endless as that) tiny plastic pieces is no easy feat. Just making sure every piece is present is hard work enough. However, there VisualSpicer who attempted a even more complex project, first built a regular Freedom Gundam model, rendered into a 3D file on the computer, dissected into 500 pieces, 175 printed pages, then painstakingly assembled into a four feet model. Check out the video detailing the agonizing steps that went into the making of this Paper Free Gundam. As much as we do enjoy this project, his effort and the results, it is difficult not to revel in the fact that we are not him. via: Gizmowatch

Onitsuka Tiger is all about power this season. For its Fall/Winter 2010 look book shoot, the Openers and Onitsuka Tiger crew took their items to the ring and accessorized the predominantly basic collection of graphic tees, hoodies and shorts rendered in simple black, white and greys with gloves, cuffs, and everything that looks tough. While the collection is easily wearable, some interesting pieces popped up such as a pair of bondage running leggings with a mesh panel knee and what looks like a slinky black nylon track suit with shorts. The footwear though, are quite colorful in monochrome as we have spotted a pair of golden slip-ons and some low-top lace-up sneakers in bright monochromes.via: Openers

For ten days, Queens Park in downtown Toronto has been taken over by happy inflatable creatures created by one of the cheeriest creative agencies there is, FriendsWithYou. Known for the bright shades, whimsical and playful characters that put smiles on any sad faces, the agency took their joyful aesthetics and energy to Toronto for the A Wish Come True Festival commissioned by Luminato Festival of the Arts. The festival housed the Rainbow City, complete with its ruler, the Rainbow King, giant bounce houses and magic mushrooms (Not that kind!), and invited everyone to explore the park with their family and friends. Aside from the outdoor fanfare, there was also a solo exhibition, Day Dreamers, featuring FriendsWithYou artists, Samuel Borkson and Artuvo Sandovall III, as commissioned by Narwahl Art Projects. Check out the photos from the event and don’t resist that smile creeping into the corners of your mouth! via: ba-reps

Netherlands, Brazil, Uruguay, Ghana, Argentina, Germany, Paraguay, Spain; or, Nike, Nike, Puma, Puma, adidas, adidas, adidas, adidas– if you want to a new way to think about the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the teams as we had previously introduced, via the genius of Hirofumi Kiyonaga of SOPH. and SOPHNET. As 2010 FIFA World Cup officially heats up, and those who had proven themselves have made it through second round (Sorry, Japan, it was a good fight though!) and will be kicking off the quarterfinals starting tomorrow, fighting to be amongst the four to be in the semifinals, Kiyonaga has updated his Brand Wars bracket. Check it to see if your predictions had pulled through, and fill the rest out for a quick dose of fun. Perhaps a fresh perspective is all you need to accurately predict the champion. Logic be gone!

As of 12.01am earlier today, LeBron James is released from his contract to the Cleveland Cavaliers and is now free to shop around as he wants. Sure, Free Agency began today with several key players perhaps looking for a new home, and according to ESPN, there are roughly eight great players out there right now. So, a few questions to be asked as the Free Agency game rolls out includes: 1. Where will King James play next season? Is it the Heat, the Bulls, the Knicks(if C’mon LeBron campaign works and there is enough incentive for LeBron to head to the Big Apple), or staying with the Cavaliers (will the choir of Cleveland voices be persuasive enough for him to stay)? 2. Will LeBron, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh end up together at Miami Heat, despite the team’s inability to offer maximum contract to all three players?

One of the scariest things about the hospital is not the tubes, not the needles, but a quiet, scientific sense of dread and loneliness. With visitation curfews and testing rooms where no one is allowed to accompany the patient through series of nerve wrecking tests, the hospital isn’t exactly the most pleasant place on Earth. The experience is especially traumatizing for the young ones, when having to stand alone in the x-ray or the CT scan rooms. To make the testing rooms slightly less hostile and calming for children, non-profit organization RxArt has partnered up once again with Kiehls to install some of Jeff Koons’ signature art work at Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital’s scanner room.

For those on the animated track for summer movies, Despicable Me starring Steve Carrell will be hitting theaters extremely soon on Jul 9. The movie detailing a despicable neighbor’s heist to steal the moon (but of course, three little orphan girls would cause him to reconsider his evil plans), features a few great tracks from Pharrell Williams. Pharrell produced, wrote and performed some of the tracks, and he had also written and produced “My Life”, sung by Robin Thicke. Last but not least, Pharrell had also teamed up with Lupe Fiasco to co-write and produce The Minons’ Minon Mambo. Nah Right had posted the tracks up and they are currently available for your sonic pleasure over there. So, enjoy! via: Nah-Right

If you have resided on the stateside, and is either newly initiated into the joys of soccer or doesn’t quite care about it; or, if you are a veteran of  FIFA World Cup game-viewing and is looking for a fresh perspective, we came across a wonderful bracket on Hirofumi Kiyonaga’s (man behind SOPH. and SOPHNET) blog on honeyee.

Washington D.C. based Durkl has embarked on a journey around the world, quite literally, as they sought out brands from capitals around the globe for collaborations. This rather ambitious project, also known as the Capitol Collection, features limited edition packs and items created by Durkl and their partner from another part of the world. Dropping this month is the limited edition Capital Club package by Durkl and Canada’s Norml.

BP CEO Tony Hayward can continue to play the blame game and avoid public appearances where he would have to address what has now topped the EXXON Valdez oil spill disaster in 1989 to become the biggest oil spill in US history American history, but there is no denying that oil continues to pour out of BP’s Deepwater Horizon at approximately 60,000 barrels a day, affecting everything from the ecosystem (endangered blue fin tuna and pelicans just to name two out of many), to people (residents of Louisiana and New Orleans, and people whose livelihood depends on the sea). It has been two months since the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion happened on the eve of Earth Day, not only blasting apart the pipes, but also the veil of lies and empty promises BP lurked underneath. With 760 willful and egregious violations, even New York Times has mentioned, the difference between BP and EXXON is that EXXON used the accident to transform itself, while BP has just been burying more skeletons into its closet.