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Tip Of The Week: A Memorial Day Survival Pack

Every holiday weekend, the image of the red-eyed travelers stuck in airports scare us into preparing for the worst. Still, no matter how hard we try, there’s always a few snags, especially during the Memorial Day weekend rush. With that in mind, Complex rounded up five essentials to at least keep you looking cool before and even after you touchdown for some yams at your Auntie’s house. See the gallery after the jump.

Popularity: 88% [?]

Carry Your New Boat In A Backpack

If you haven’t accumulated enough paper to push a respectable boat, this Backpack Inflatable Pontoon vessel may be your joint for the summer. The inflatable boat is packed into a 42lb backpack that’s equipped to hold everything you’d need to hit the high seas, including two-full sized oars. Once out of the bag, the boat comes to life in around 15 minutes, and is inflated by a foot pump. If you’re a sailing backpacker, cop it here for under $240.

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Popularity: 88% [?]

Perks and Mini and Friends Tour Italy In New Photo Book

Often, a designer’s inspiration comes from the strangest places—most of which you probably wouldn’t want to visit. But for the design collective known as the Changes, their recent tour of Italy during Milan Design Week was worth a slideshow. Hoping to give fans a look at the trip’s offbeat flavor, they’ve compiled a series of photos in a new book called ITALIENS.

In case you’re wondeirng, the Changes consists of the creative force behind Australian clothing line Perks and Mini plus Fergadelic from Tonite UK, and Japan’s revered Skatething from BBC/IceCream. They all snapped photos of odd sightings for a coffee-table style book that should be shared over PBR’s rather than Café Aú Lait. It’s now available for purchase here, but check out a few crazy images from the book after the jump if you aren’t convinced.

Popularity: 89% [?]

Lupe Fiasco Has International Relations

Despite Lupe Fiasco’s claim that he didn’t listen to A Tribe Called Quest growing up, his latest single “Paris, Tokyo” is laced with the laid-back, jazzy sound that’s usually associated with the Native Tongues crew. And in an unlikely twist, rumor has it that Lupe and former Tribe frontman Q-Tip also have a remix of “Paris, Tokyo” in the works. We hope it’s true. After the jump, watch Cool Young Lu transform into an international playboy in the new video.

Popularity: 89% [?]

Virgin Galactic Prepares To Make Space Its Punk

British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson has unveiled the official plan to slap the Virgin brand on the cosmos itself with the official launch of Virgin Galactic. Branson’s spaceliners will take six passengers (and two pilots) to sub-orbital space, more than sixty miles above the earth’s surface. For $200K passengers get a whopping five minutes of weightlessness and the possibility of sitting next to celeb space enthusiasts. According to the New York Post designer Phillippe Starck and Stephen Hawking have both signed up for flights slated to begin in 2009. Maybe he’ll give you a break on the ticket if you show up at the New Mexico launching grounds, Spaceport America, with a Virgin-logo trampstamp.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Go South With Burton’s 28 Day Winter

For more than 10 years Burton team riders have shredded the Southern Hemisphere while most America works on their summer tans. 28 Day Winter documents the latest mission with 176 pages of photographs by Dean “Blotto” Gray, Jeff Curtes, and Adam Moran. The shooters followed a squad of Burton riders including Terje Haakonsen, Hannah Teter, Nicolas Muller, and the ubiquitous Shaun White tearing up rocky terrain on the earth’s south side. Blotto, who we caught up with via email, described the evolution of the book, “After completing the month long shoot through Chile, New Zealand and 72 hours on Mt Hood in Oregon, the photography was compiled and we all said, ‘Let’s do this book.’ The title tells just what it was, a 28 day winter.” For anyone trying to start a North vs. South rivalry, Blotto had this to say, “The typical story with shooting snowboarding in the Southern Hemisphere was that of ‘It’s not as good as the terrain in the Northern Hemisphere…only good for catalog shots…not enough snow.’ We’ve never subscribed to this attitude and this book is a testament to that. You’re dealing with the best riders in the world, professional photographers, and terrain that will get you just as hurt as anytime in January or March.”
28 Day Winter: A Snowboarding Narrative ($40), powerHousebooks.com

Popularity: 5% [?]