There are those of us who spend our days striving to perfect eCommerce through a robust combination of research, experimentation and good ol’ fashioned elbow grease… and then there’s arngren.net.

Arngren (which we assume is Norwegian for “Super Headache Funtime Store”) breaks so may rules that they’ve clearly made a conscious decision to forgo all traditional wisdom about online commerce in favor of an insanity-based model and we certainly applaud them for their independent spirit, if not for their attention to SEO.

The one rule that they did stick to was the always-have-at-least-one-NSFW-animated-gif-on-your-homepage rule.  Kudos on your attention to detail, Arngren.

(via boingboing)

Credit: Jeffrey Sauger for The New York Times

“36 Hours in Detroit” is a tiny travelogue in the May 5th issue of the New York Times.  Even with the mildly condescending tone (“struggling city”, “the recovery that Detroit is now attempting“, etc.) they did a pretty decent job of pointing out some of Detroit’s finest hot spots… especially Slows.  Seriously… if you live within 300 miles of Detroit, stop what you’re doing, get in your car and drive to Slows.  You won’t be sorry.

Despite their best efforts to cover some of the high points of a trip to Detroit, though, the NYT left out a few not-to-be-missed spots.  Don’t forget Avalon Bread for the absolute BEST organic baked goods this side of heaven.  Right next door, you’ll find Goodwell’s Natural Foods where you can get a mind-blowing Kale salad made by Zen Buddhist monks in Hamtramck (Detroit’s own Polish/German district).  Then grab your delicious grub and head out to Belle Isle, the largest island city park in America and occasional home to the Detroit Grand Prix.

Detroit… it’s not just for Eminem any more.

According to this link on Yahoo Traveler, Travel & Leisure magazine has named Detroit as being among the most underrated cities on earth!  As a matter of fact, it’s number one on the list, meaning that it suffers the worst reputation or that it’s the awesomest – we choose to believe it’s a combination of the two.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: we love Detroit and if you don’t, you’re just a big stupid dumbhead… and now we have outside corroboration.

Long live the D!

Are you prepared to slap your forehead and scream to the heavens: “Why didn’t I think of that?!”

It is an undeniable fact that the worst thing in the whole world is touching a public bathroom door.  It’s worse than doing your taxes.  It’s worse than clubbing baby seals.  It’s worse than eating at Arby’s.  It’s the moment at which you are putting all of your faith in your fellow man’s hygiene practices and we can guarantee you that on a regular basis, your fellow man is failing you.  Enter the Toepener©®™.

The Toepener is mankind’s best hope for clean fingertips and the avoidance of major cooties.  It is the simplest thing in the world: a handle that you install at the base of any door that allows you to open it with your toe. This is a solution that’s beautiful in its simplicity and is sure to save bazillions of yards of paper towels that had previously been used as door handle condoms.

We LOVE the Toepener and it is our fondest hope that it becomes the most popular product in the history of things we wish we’d thought of.

This post is dedicated to Ryan.  He knows why.

link (via Neatorama)

Okay… so this isn’t the second best Super Bowl ad ever, but, it does (like our other recent Super Bowl ad post) feature everybody’s favorite Detroiter, Eminem… and in the closing shot you see Brisk Iced Tea’s Artists’ Series of can designs.  Among them (just left of center) is a design by famous graffiti artist and former Detroiter, Tristan Eaton – a man who still holds the banner high for the D.

It seems like Super Bowl week is hometown pride week for Detroit.

… by the way, Detroit is awesome.

Dear 2010,

Hello!  2011 here.  Hope you’re doing well (even though we know better). We know you’re having some rough times on almost every front, but guess what?  Time marches on.  Our existence proves that.  You tried to beat the crap out of the whole darn world, but you failed.  We’re still standing and we intend to thrive despite you and all of your negative vibes.

2011 will be everything you tried so desperately not to be.  We’ll be filled with hope and joy.  We’ll move forward together instead of apart.  We’ll lift each other up and help our fellow man to reach beyond their grasp.  We’ll be our best selves and soon you’ll be nothing but a memory: gray and faded… powerless.

2011 is the year that we will all become what we’d always hoped to be.

… we know it’s true because 2012 tipped us off.

Happy New Year to One and All!

(photo by Bob Jagendorf via Flickr)

We’ve spoken before about the seemingly endless generosity of The Garden Gates (here and here) but it seems Chad and the crew have really cut loose for the Holidays!

A couple of days ago we received an enormous box from The Garden Gates, and inside were dozens of t-shirts – one for every member of the Brand Labs crew!  Each shirt was emblazoned with our logo on the sleeve and an adorable pro-gardening cat & dog cartoon that (at first glance) seems to have a vague, pro-marijuana message.  It’s totally hidden and we may just be imagining it, so let’s forget that we even mentioned it.  These shirts are totally NOT about marijuana and we are embarrassed that you even thought such a thing!  Shame on you!  Let’s forget the entire incident…

Our thanks go out to Chad and the crew at The Garden Gates!  We guarantee that we’ll spread your totally non-pro-marijuana message all over southeast Michigan.

There are two things we’d like to make note of about this picture:

First, look at the size of the frigging ENORMOUS tin of popcorn that was sent to our staff by The Spotted Cat Company as a holiday gift and thank you for the work we’ve done with their store and its marketing.  Seriously… that thing is bigger than an above average-sized Peruvian Capybara (look it up).  It’s bigger than the hole in Bernie Madoff’s soul.  It’s bigger than what would normally be considered a really big tin of popcorn.  The point is that it’s super big.

Second, we’d like to point out that Dane is doing nothing to help Vera hold the popcorn up.  Nothing.  Her knuckles are actually white and he’s just standing there looking suave, while Vera grits her teeth against the monstrous weight of all that flipping corn.

Well, thanks Spotted Cat!  We guarantee that the tin is a helluva lot less heavy now than it was when we got it.  We cannot say the same for our thighs.

Here we have the portion of the Brand labs crew that isn’t “too cool” for costumes.  We can’t help but notice that NOBODY is “too cool” for fun size Snickers, but ask some people to put on a Hannah Montana wig and suddenly everyone’s a grownup.  Regardless… Happy Halloween to all from the whole damn Brand Labs Family!  (More pics of the festivities to come…)