There’s nothing like some thumping beats to get you through another hard workout. And I’m just going to gloss over the science here and make the assumption that any track sounds better when blasted through gold. So go on then! Head over to Crystal Rocked, your expert in all things bedazzled, and pick up a pair of limited edition 24kt gold-plated Dr. Dre Beats Studio headphones. They’re ideal for long cardio workouts – especially if you’ve always wondered what it’s like to sweat all over two thousand bucks worth of bling (it smells the same). They’re also good for squats: think weights, hugging your face. Only 50 of these guys were made (10 are at Harrods in London so you Olympians can hurry over and get a pair too). Best snatch one up before that snob with the Swarovski-encrusted gym shoes does! Oh, and an auditory suggestion for your new tchotchkie… No excuse not to work out now.

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“Each year, nearly 1.5 million barrels of oil are used to make plastic water bottles. Most of those bottles end up in our landfills, in our oceans, littering our sidewalks.”

With stats like that, the fact that these water-filtering bottles are so slick is superfluous.

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Last night I dreamed I was at the finals. I was dressed in full Oranje regalia with a cheese wedge hat. With an hour to go before the finals, nerves at all three Martin-Verhoeven camps are high and I keep getting random bouts of the goosebumps. I’ve been practicing my Roger Milla-inspired goal dance (with the hopes that I will be calling upon it at least once this afternoon) and am so hopped up on coffee I can’t quite complete a sentence. The final day of the cup is here and, although I clearly want my Dutch peeps to come out on top, it’s just a thrill to watch them fight for the chance.

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It’s always a thrill to see a universal object transformed into artful keepsakes by a whole slew of creative folk. Here’s a roundup of our 10 favorite designer footballs (with a few from previous years that we couldn’t pass up), including a design from Lo’s List favorite Genevieve Gaukler (check out our Gauckler T-Shirt Tuesday post), and the obvious overall favorite…

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All photos from African Arenas © Thomas Hoeffgen

At this stage of the tournament, with so many favored teams crashing out (see yesterday’s Brazil v. Holland shock) and with the hopes of entire continents dashed by the sporting fates (poor Ghana! perfidious Suárez!) it may be time for a reminder that the World Cup is, after all, about football. At the heart of the carefully managed fanfare of this four-yearly feast is a simple game, played with no more than a ball and a set of posts. A new book by photographer Thomas Hoeffgen, African Arenas, captures just that pared-down beauty of the game…

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Eeek! The World Cup quarter finals are upon us (Hup Holland Hup!!) and we’re giddy with anticipation here at the office… We’ve been collecting tons of World Cup-related content to blog about but, with our eyes so glued to the screen during the Round of 16, it’s been a tad difficult to actually get anything published! So, since the football gods have given us a 2-day R&R period, here are some of posts we’ve been meaning to share, starting with a whole crop of stellar national team tees from LA-based, soccer-centric t-shirt company Bumpy Pitch…

My voice is hoarse from a week and a half now of hooting and hollering at the television screen, I wish more than anything that my beloved French were still dancing the the ball across the pitch and into the net as was the norm in their heyday (I think I might be going with my Dutch roots for this round of World Cupping), and I feel a wee bit of childish glee when those vuvuzela drown out all other sounds from the South African stadiums. Yep. It’s here. I have it. The FIFA fever!!

So, quick disclaimer – back in high school, when our whole gang would head up the mountain for a snowboarding weekend, I was the geek that came along and actually didn’t do a bit of the boarding part of the weekend. I would go romping through the snow, for sure, and have a nice meal ready for my friends when they got back from their day on the slopes, but, I just wasn’t really the snowboarding type. Thus, the following top ten snowboarding gear list is based on… looks.

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