The Brilliance!

HTTP://WWW.THEBRILLIANCE.COM

We’re really internet and we’re really back. A website about things Benjamin , Chuck , Virgil , and various friends & guests think are interesting. Little-to-no specific focus, a bit odd, speling errors, and incredibly culturally relevant.

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The Superficial!!!

The Superficial is pretty much like our site, Drudge Report, and Star Magazine all mixed into one incredibly on-point site. The Superficial is essentially a celebrity gossip site, but with more focus on the gossip than the celebrity. I mean, you can’t go wrong with the quality of writing on this site…“I think we can round up anybody who looks to Ricky Martin for guidance and shoot them into the sun…” or “There was a time when I thought bigger was better too, but then one day I was eating my table-sized pancake for breakfast and thought to myself, ‘You know what, maybe this pancake is too big.” HA. I don’t know, I just really love this site. A lot. And if you don’t, you’re a real nancy boy. Also right on is The Superficial having all those really hi-res images to support their posts. Basically, if you start a site with this in your About section, “Our goal is to make fun of as many people as possible.”, and by people you mean out-of-touch celebrities, you’re alright in my book. A few not-work-safe things on the site, just some fair warning. But hey…It’s all good.

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Pre Fab Homes by Rocio Remero!

Anything related to homes and pre fab used to be straight-up trailer park status. That changed a while back when magazines like Dwell, Wallpaper, etc started showing all these beautifully minimal homes that came to your plot of land almost completely built and looked straight out of that one James Bond movie set in Japan. For real, these places are beautiful. My personal favorite, after some search, would be Rocio Remero out of Missouri. Missouri?! With kits starting at about $35k all the way up to the six-figure marks. Check the ‘LV Home’ as they call it. I posted this because I am planning my somewhat early retirement in the Bahamas (or wherever else) and can just see one of these perfectly placed in the middle of nowhere next to a powdery beach. anything on Long Island which just happens to have flights every Thursday from Ft. Lauderdale that only take 45 minutes. The lots are cheap! For all the real-estate heads, this is quite a nice deal with the pre fab house. Now I have to figure out how to get a pre fab home and a few Eames Lounge chairs to the Bahamas…

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High Snobiety Interviews Us!

I can’t really pronounce their name…maybe I can, not sure. But yeah, David caught up with Chuck and I to ask us a few relevant questions and a few fun ones… Check out interview to see what Chuck and I have to say about higher-education, the people we interview, how we met, and all sorts of other interesting stuff. Be sure to check High Snobiety’s blog and all that to see what’s really good. And I’m out for the weekend…catch me in Chicago this at The W. Uptown, downtown, and around town.

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New KAWS movie, Glow-in-the-Dark!!

You want to see something refreshing, smooth, cool, and crisp? No it’s not a glass of Fresca, it’s a new KAWS movie, and it is, as Ben likes to say, pure lava. The new KAWS glow-in-the-dark Companion is about to drop any day now (see site, end of July…) and to accompany it, apparently, is a new movie on the KAWS site that features the glow Companion, some Blitzes running around and exploding, and some Bendy’s that are just causing a lot of mischief and tomfoolery as I like to say. Haha. But holy smokes is this a good little movie or what?! Much respect as always to KAWS for always doing something new and different - always a few steps ahead. Go to the site, enter in, and click Movie. *Update - if you missed it, you missed it, and good luck buying one on eBay. The glow-in-the-darks came and went today at 12noon EST. Sold out for $180 a piece within 10 minutes. Pretty unbelievable.

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Skate or Die exhibit!!

Andrew Pommier, Craig Metzger, UPSO, Harsh Patel, Justin Harder, Steven Harrington…That should be enough reason alone to head out to this, not to mention there are still 44 other incredible artists involved. 50 artists were invited to paint skateboards with one requirement - put a skull theme on it. I had the opportunity to do one and will be taking part in the show myself, and it was a really cool project to work on. The show is being held at the New Image Art Gallery in West Hollywood, CA. All of the skateboards are for sale and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Faribault Skatepark Association which is in the process of building a skatepark in Joe Kral’s hometown (organizer of this whole show!) in Faribault, MN. A 32-page catalog will be available at the reception, so if you’re out this way you definitely need to head over there.

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NOPATTERN x NOPATTERN x NOPATTERN!

They probably won’t admit it, but the super simple text based design that Chuck has been using for quite some time is often copied. Often. So Chuck is always on the grind to have something new, fresh, and crisp to show off his works. His latest site is hands down the most expansive site he has ever done. It’s huge…huge. Dope layout, well organized and all that…but whatever! Check the work! Some old classics I forgot about in there along with ones even I haven’t seen yet. Check it out…or better yet, become the Creative Director at Nike and give Chuck wild amounts of work.

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Hello MOTO Q!

I’m sorry but, damn…wow. This thing is pure lava. Ha, for real. Anyone who knows me even remotely well knows that I am 100% addicted to the whole smart-phone lifestyle. And yes, it’s a lifestyle. Checking your email every 11 seconds, constantly reading Page Six, CNN, Wired, etc. while driving, pumping gas, out to dinner, at the bar with friends, showering, hang gliding, scuba diving, etc…well, maybe not all those, but for real, I am addicted… So the Treo is cool, but its certainly time for an update. Enter this beautiful piece from Motorola modeled after their ever popular RAZR. The Q…perfect. There are a bunch of different sites with pictures and info, but check the one below. To anyone who knows anyone who can help THE BRILLIANCE get an early hook-up with this phone…please let us know! And yeah, I posted this before…

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Intelligent Life from The Economist!

A new magazine that’s actually worth buying, really. I don’t read ‘The Economist’ and probably won’t anytime soon, but I think their new magazine ‘Intelligent Life’ is on my buy list. I like the theme… It’s a classically written, grown-style, nothing-over-the-top type magazine that makes you look super important while you read it with that aloof look…you know the style. It’s content is broken into multiple categories such as: Leisure, Motoring, Luxury, Trendlines, Wealth, Travel and then some other ones like Fitness that I don’t read… Yeah, it’s a fresh read…so drop the $6.99 on it cause THE BRILLIANCE said so. That’s it.

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MAKR!!

This is my new homeboy right here - Jason Gregory. The man behind MAKR. Unbelievably beautiful leather goods - handmade and laser engraved. I mean, you just can’t touch this, not even if you wanted to. Jason is one of the nicest guys I’ve met before and we’ve only talked on the phone - but he’s doing some big things. Be on the lookout, you’ll be seeing his name and his site everywhere soon. Bags, purses, wallets, guitar straps, possibly the first ever leather t-shirt…Or not…But anyways, check out the wallets and the wooden cases he made for them. So nice. You want one SO bad, I know you do. You heard it here first. Move over…

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Wonder Wall Updates!

Masamichi Katayama and his team don’t seem to update the site all that much, but when they do it is well worth a visit… In case you are lacking in the ‘cool department’ Katayama is the infamous designer known for his unreal interior design for labels such as Bathing Ape, Marc Jacobs, Beams, Louis Vuitton and so many more… The new update includes some great shots of the Busy Work Shop in Soho, some stuff he did for Hermes, and an incredible bar called Stair in Japan. The web shop is also updated…check the socks! G-g-g-g-get familiar with Wonder Wall. Thanks to Sally for the update.