Audio. Lupe Unplugged: It’s cool when a couple of elements of a song are changed and the result is something completely fresh. Lupe Fiasco’s Superstar gets new life with this live version he recorded with Matthew Santos for BBC. It reminds us of Nelly Furtado’s cover of Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy.

The acoustic version is a bit more subdued than the original. Lupe employs a soft-spoken delivery and it kind of makes you listen to the words differently. He even does back up vocals for Matthew. Pretty impressive stuff. Watch the acoustic version of Superstar after the jump.

Film. Medicine for Melancholy: Medicine for Melancholy is an anomaly. It’s a story about two San Francisco hipsters and the Sunday they spend together after having a one-night-stand. They ride fixed-gear bikes, smoke a joint, visit a museum, go dancing at an indie-rock club, and buy late night tacos. They also happen to be black. Gasp!

Like it or not, a monolithic image of blackness pervades in popular culture. Any deviation from this is deemed inauthentic and unmarketable. This is not a subtextual issue for the film but a theme it tackles head-on. The duo’s affinity for indie-culture has left them isolated in a rapidly gentrifying city that is only seven percent black. Meeting each other seems to bring their mutual identity crisis to light. Their affection for each other is visceral, - they both realize, without actually saying it, that they belong together. Micah (the guy) wants to go with this gut feeling, while Jo (the girl) seems a bit reticent. Here’s what director, Barry Jenkins has to say about the film: “In this meek story of a random encounter, the film explores the process of negotiating one’s identity by illustrating how the effects of gentrification make it virtually impossible for minority urbanites to just be.” [Photo Credit]

Dork recommends Medicine for Melancholy. View the trailer [Here]

Media. Nike's Maybe: Once again Nike raises the bar. We've played their latest commercial at least twelves times now. We're not sure why, but we find this particular ad really compelling. Entitled "Maybe," it is narrated with Jordan's confident and instrospective tone. The shots, cut aways and sequencing is everything Nike has become - the symbol of defiant, odd beating, hard working, impossibilities achieved by the passionate. And, amazingly they've breathed this ethos in a narration articulated by the word maybe. It's just plain awesome.

Spike's Mars, Saul's List of Demands, and now Jordan's Maybe. We've added this to our morning get-hype machine. After watching this you'll feel like you can tackle anything if you put in consistent hard work. Get your dose of inspiration after the jump.

Film. The Killing of John Lennon: For all of the wrong reasons, Mark David Chapman, was a man ahead of his time. He was a 25 year-old narcissist, whose obsession with Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and celebrity, led him to murder. You can’t watch this movie and not feel weird. This attention is sort of what Chapman wanted, right?

This movie’s worth seeing because it’s not about what is going to happen (we know how the story ends, sadly), but why and how it happens. It’s doesn’t condone or romanticize what Chapman did. The film is entirely factual - nothing has been made up. All of Chapman’s dialogue was taken from interviews, depositions and court transcripts in the public domain. Chapman’s isolation and detachment are captured with shots of him walking the streets in slow motion in relation to the surrounding world. The story is told entirely from Mark David Chapman’s point-of-view, which is challenging, but it gives the film a vivid realism rarely seen. In exploring the mind of a celebrity stalker, Andrew Piddington (the film’s director) has turned the mirror on us, and exposed things about our celebrity-obsessed culture that we don’t like to see.

Dork recommends this film. View the trailer [Here]

Link Heavy. Muxtape: Muxtape is a great new site. We’ve been waiting for something like this for a while. The service makes it super easy to put together your own mixtape. Justin Ouellette created the program and we think it has the potential to change the way people find out about new music.

The site’s best feature is the personal URL you get once your tape is done. It’s the perfect thing to put in your email signature or forward to friends. Listening to a personal playlist is like diving into a person’s subconscious (not really). Muxtape is going to be really popular, really soon. We were so excited that we decided to put together our own mix. Check it out.

Make your own muxtape [Here]

Film. Paranoid Park: Life’s all about choices. That’s definitely an obvious observation, but it's a truism often realized after you’ve made a horrible decision. One night Alex, a teen from the suburbs of Portland goes to Paranoid Park, an infamous skate park on the rough side of town – weird things happen and someone ends up dead. He decides to say nothing.

Paranoid Park is a brilliant examination of mood. The film’s naturalistic aesthetic and unstable, herky-jerky cinematography capture the alienation and pain one feels when they have a dark secret. Ultimately, Paranoid Park is about the possibility of personal redemption and its transformative effect.

Dork recommends Paranoid Park. View trailer [Here]

Art & Design. Jose Parla: Jose Parla is making his way to Italy. Starting March 29th and running until May 10th his latest exhibit Memory Documents will be held at Galleria Il Trifoglio Nero located in Genoa, Italy. Parlá named this installation Memory Documents because his works become fragments of places he’s been.

As we reported before, when we first saw Parla’s work, his striking color balance and effortless motion drew us in. We’ve been a fan ever since. If you're in the area, be sure to check it out.

For more information visit wejetset [Here]

Travel. Wired's Time with Smart: We can't wait to get our hands on one of these. Ever since we saw the Smart Car, we've been trying to figure out how to get one here in the US. It didn't make sense to try and import one. The price got a little wild. But now, with them making their official arrival to the US, we might snap one up.

Wired recently test drove one, "The Smart is cute, in a geeky sort of way. It's going to take some getting used to having people staring at my car in an admiring, positive way. Which does look different than the "Why don't you do something about that exhaust?" or "Why are your lights on?" way I'm used to."

Read more about Wired's time with the Smart Car [Here]

Habitat. Brand Report Uniqlo: How much should be invested in creating a brand? The Economist's book Brands and Branding says you should treat your brand as an investment not a cost. "Brands are among the most important assets that a business can own, and strong brands can ensure business continuity in times of difficulty."

In isolation this concept may appear a bit abstract, but Creative Review's article on Uniqlo and their financial comeback illustrates the Economist's point. The power of creative talent and rebranding can provide a second life for a failing company. But, if they invested correctly in the beginning, they may not have needed to spend even more money to make the upward shift. As CR reports, "Over-ambitious expansion and over-reliance on one product nearly ruined Uniqlo, but now, thanks to employing an array of creative talent, the Japanese retailer is back in style."

Read Creative Reviews article on the brand history of Uniqlo [Here]

People. Alife Interview: The good folks at Inqmnd continue to inspire us. Recently, they posted an insightful article covering the founders of Alife. The creative and editorial direction is top notch. Be sure to check it out.

As reported by Inqmd: "After 10 years of being rooted in the downtown culture of New York, Alife has earned the much deserved, worldwide recognition they so persistently worked towards. Expanding into Canada and more recently Tokyo, this brand is getting ready to raise the bar for 2008 and after sitting down with these 3 individuals, it’s pretty evident… things are really starting to heat up."

Read A Day in Alife from Inqmnd [Here]

Art & Design. Murakami in Brooklyn: Murakami is coming to New York. We can't wait. The exhibit is just around the corner from our BK offices. Starting April 5 and running until July 13 you can see his works at the Brooklyn Museum.

The BK Museum reports, "The most comprehensive retrospective to date of the work of internationally acclaimed Japanese artist Takashi Murakami includes more than ninety works in various media that span the artist’s entire career, installed in more than 18,500 square feet of gallery space."

Visit the Brooklyn Museum's website for more information [Here]

People. The Comeback: Good people! It's been a minute but we're back. Get ready for the usual dose of art and news. After a nice break we're ready to return to form.

While we're talking about comebacks, the dork team is excited about the new Roots album entitled Rising Down. So far we've heard a handful of promising tracks that include Birthday Girl, Get Busy and Reconstruction. But, the latest song that hit our inbox is pure fire - the title track - Rising Down. It's a thoughtful track that includes Styles P, Mos Def and the Roots crew. Check out our montage of videos, photos, and songs after the jump.

Behind the scenes photos from The Abstract [Here]

[via nah right]

Listen to Rising Down [Here]

Events. Red Bull Art of Can: We eat this stuff up. Taking everyday objects and flipping them into something innovative and beautiful will get our attention every time. Who knew a single can could become so many things?

The 2008 Red Bull Art of Can exhibition will be held at the The Galleria in Houston, TX from July 11-25. The exhibition is open to all artists who can create an original piece of artwork inspired by or created with Red Bull cans. Deadline to register is April 6, 2008. Artwork will be accepted March 29 - April 6 at The Winter Street Studios in Houston, TX.

Get involved and participate - find more information [Here]

People. Kon and Amir: There's nothing better than a good duo. Abbott and Costello. Oprah and Gayle. Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin. Guru and Primo. The list goes on. When two people are in sync, they're pretty much unstoppable.

Kon and Amir have been rocking together for a while now. I remember listening to their mixes back in my DC days. This was before Serato. Before the iPod. These guys are true crate diggers - dudes who aren't afraid to get their hands a little dirty in search of the perfect beat. I can't front, I miss the vinyl era. Anyways, I stumbled on this mix they did a while back. Give it a listen. [Here]

Film. Lonely Loves Lonely: Film making is a collaborative art. It's not as simple as coming up with an idea and writing it down or putting it to music or painting it. Filmmakers can write, direct and produce films, but they can't do everything. This makes the process of creating a film fascinating.

Lonely Loves Lonely is an animated short film in the making. Andre Des Rochers (writer/director/producer) lets people peer behind the curtain of show business and gives them insight into how a film actually gets made. The site features production notes, crew bios, character sketches, a blog and the trailer. So far they are in the middle stages of making Lonely Loves Lonely a reality. We are looking forward to seeing the project come to fruition and hope more filmmakers share in the process of creating.

Dork recommends Lonely Loves Lonely. You can find more info [Here]