As AFRICA makes sporting history by hosting the first-ever WORLD CUP on its soil this year (in South Africa), numerous tributes to the “beautiful game’s” deep African heritage have popped up, from the film “Invictus” to painter Kehinde Wiley’s recent visual homage. The most insightful, in-depth commentary so far, however, has come from the BBC’s “The Changing World” series which chronicles the history of the country’s involvement in the sport from street ball and the formation of the Kaizer Chiefs to the aparthied-led fracture of the game and ultimately, its 2010 WC redemption.

Listen: •PART I •PART II

By now everyone’s aware of the impending closing of SoHo’s legendary DEITCH PROJECTS on June 1st when JEFFREY DEITCH assumes the helm as Director of MOCA in LA. That doesn’t mean the gallery will be slacking in the meantime. Currently on display at the massive Wooster Street location until February 16th is KEITH HARING’s  70-foot-long mural painted in 1985 for the gym of the South of Market Childcare Center (SOMACC), a non-profit childcare center that serves pre-school children from the SOMA neighborhood in San Francisco. The mural is one of 16 public works painted at hospitals and children’s centers around the world during the artist’s lifetime. Painted in one day, the mural incorporates cartoon characters and animals inspired by the artist’s childhood drawings. When SOMACC lost its lease and moved to a new location in September 2006, the mural was dismantled and is now on view for the first time outside of San Francisco.

ORIGINAL SF MURAL INSTALLATION SHOTS:

From ST buddy LANCE ARMSTRONG comes this tip about the upcoming TV docu-series “BAHATI: OUT OF COMPTON,” that follows national champion cyclist whose RAHSAAN BAHATIBAHATI FOUNDATION helps underprivileged youth by bringing professional cycling training to the streets of Compton:

“The Bahati Foundation works with local communities to provide inspiration, insight and opportunities for underprivileged youth through the sport of cycling. In conjunction with The Bahati Foundation Pro Cycling Team, Rahsaan Bahati presents his motivating story to youth and offers access to the team through structured fieldtrips. Each aspect of a professional cycling team is highlighted, explained and demonstrated to provide exposure into the world of cycling.”

THE TWEET HEREAFTER
Just how effective is Twitter as a marketing tool? Some brands sing its praises, others think the service has whistled its last tune
By Todd Wasserman | AD WEEK

If you’re a marketer who has steered clear of Twitter, your (non)strategy may be paying off! It’s possible that this Twitter thing may just take care of itself.

In the middle of last year, Twitter’s growth slowed from 7.8 million new users a month to 6.2 million, according to a recent study from RJ Metrics. That report also found that only 17 percent of Twitter users updated their accounts in December — an all-time low. An earlier study by the Nielsen Co. revealed 60 percent of Twitter users do not return from one month to the next. Taking that into account, it’s tempting to conclude that Twitter is following in the footsteps of another social-media ghost town, Second Life.

In fairness, the raw data may be deceptive. Twitter’s proponents argue that its numbers appear low because so many people access Twitter via ways other than its Web site. But some marketers are ready to write the microblogging service off. “I’m not a big fan of Twitter,” says Joel Ewanick, group vp of marketing for Hyundai. “My Twitter meter has gone down.” Ewanick says he finds Facebook, which has copied most of Twitter’s best features, to be a superior platform. “[Twitter has] become the butt of a joke. You start seeing in popular culture people making fun of Twitter.” Geoff Cottrill, CMO for Converse, seconded that. Click HERE to continue reading…

Mr Burns goes broke in this Simpsons spot…

Luckily yesterday’s SUPER BOWL was all high drama as the SAINTS swept the COLTS because the million dollar commercials were pretty weak this year. Here’s the ST recap of the game’s best breaks…

watch ALL of them HERE
We can’t vouch for Will.I.Am, but Manson AND Bin Laden in a Super Bowl Spot?!? This might just be the heaviest one ever…

We’re totally sick of KISS and would be happy to never see Gene Simmons again, but seeing MINI KISS finally get their due gets our vote…

This really captures the daily disgust-itude of office life pretty nicely…

Amazing it took VW this long to embrace the ultimate corporate cultural phenomenon: “punch buggy”…

MUNO’s big acting debut…

BETTY WHITE and ABE VIGODA getting sacked. Fantasy Football indeed…

DAVE and JAY feel the grudge in OPRAH’s living room. Amazing…

THE BANNED MANCRUNCH SUPER BOWL AD (apparently guys feeling each other up in football uniforms is less “gay” than guys making out, somehow):

Our friends at SOUR HARVEST have provided this weekend’s lineup of must-see shows in the Southland:

Sat, Feb. 6th 8-11PM
Merry Karnowsky Gallery
170 South La Brea Ave. in Los Angeles / 323.933.4408
‘She Wolves’ featuring new works from Miss Van + ‘Strange Fruit’ featuring new works from Victor Castillo
(On view through March 6th)
www.mkgallery.com

Sat, Feb. 6th 8-11PM
Subliminal Projects
1331 W. Sunset Blvd in the EchoPark region of Los Angeles
New works from Albert Reyes & Andres Guerrero at Shepard Fairey’s personal gallery
(On view through March 6th)
www.subliminalprojects.com

Sat, Feb. 6th 6-10PM
Copro Gallery
2525 Michigan Ave, Space T5 in Bergamot Station in Santa Monica
Closing reception for ‘Desensitized’ featuring new works from Brian Viveros and Dan Quintana with a live performance from The Billy Bones
www.coprogallery.com

Sat, Feb. 6th 7-11PM (with a special Zombie walk at 6:20PM)
Gallery Nucleus
210 E. Main St., Alhambra / 626.458.7482
‘Zombies In Love’ group show featuring works from Yoko d’Holbachie, Junko Mizuno, Jonathan Wayshak, Scott C., Mindy Lee, Kevin Dart, Ippei Gyoubu, Edith Abeyata, Anna Chambers, and many more + tons of Zombie goodness going off throughout the evening including a Zombie walk near the gallery before the event kicks off, signings, contests, and more – check their site for full details and lineup
(On view through Feb. 22nd)
www.gallerynucleus.com

Sat, Feb. 6th 8PM-12:30AM ($8 at the door)
Hive Gallery
729 S. Spring St in downtown Los Angeles
Monthly group show with featured artists Eric Vasquez, Michael Pukac, Andrea Shear, Jessica Ward and Mikolaj Wyszynski with performances from live acts and resident DJs and more
www.thehivegallery.com

•BOB DYLAN TO STAGE LONDON ART EXHIBITION (Uncut)
•WHY VAN GOGH CUT HIS EAR: NEW CLUE (The Art Newspaper)
•AVATAR GOES 4D IN KOREA (Variety)
•UKRAINIAN COLLECTOR PINCHUK FUNDS TWO NEW ART PRIZES (The Art Newspaper)
•RESEARCHERS SAY NEW MATERIAL COULD LET CARS BE POWERED BY THEIR BODYWORK (Engadget)
•HOMER SIMPSON HAS AN iPHONE (YouTube)
•HIRST PICKLES LAST CREATURE, FIRES MOM’S CHAUFFEUR: INTERVIEW (Bloomberg)
•MICHAEL DELL BUYS $100 MILLION PHOTO COLLECTION (Forbes)
•DUNCAN SHEIK ON BOARD TO COMPOSE ‘AMERICAN PSYCHO’ MUSICAL (Culture Monster)
•OBAMA APPOINTS PAINTER, NOVELIST AND FOUR NON-ARTISTS TO ADVISORY COMMITTE ON ARTS AND HUMANITIES (Culture Monster)
•GIANT SQUID INVADE SOCAL (LA Times)
•LACMA TO PUBLISH EXHIBITION CATALOGUES ONLINE (Arts Journal)
•FORBES’ WEB CELEB 25 LIST (Forbes
•MAGAZINE MARKETING PACT TO ROLL OUT IN APRIL (Media Week)
•FBI’S MOST WANTED: YOUR BROWSING ACTIVITY (Mashable)
•JOHNNY CASH’S FINAL STUDIO ALBUM TO BE RELEASED (Uncut)
•THE FUTURE OF WEB CONTENT: HTML5, FLASH & MOBILE APPS (Tech Crunch)
•NBC EMPLOYEES CHECKED IN WITH BLACK FRIENDS TO SEE IF BLACK HISTORY MONTH MENU WAS RACIST (Vulture)
•NEW ART AUCTION RECORD MAY NOT BE END, SAY EXPERTS (Reuters)
•DIGITAL BILLBOARDS ENTER NEW INTERACTIVE PHASE (Media Week)
•NEW GUINNESS RECORD SET FOR MOST T-SHIRTS WORN AT ONCE (YouTube)
•ADOLESCENTS LOOK TO JERSEY SHORE FOR HAIRSTYLING ADVICE, CONFIDENCE (Vulture)
•LA’S LEGENDARY FERUS GALLERY TO RETURN (LA Times)

Usually Terry keeps the camera pointed the other way…

Yes, we at Supertouch are known to grind on and on about how dead-in-the-ground the vinyl toy world is these days, but every once in a while a toy comes along that restores our faith in the medium. Today, that toy is the TERRY RICHARDSON figure by upstart toymakers UNCLE YORK for Parisian culture boutique COLETTE (we woulda bought a Terry x Michael Lau toy ages ago but they never got made). Available in red or blue trademark flannel, the must-have piece don’t come cheap at $200 USD, but it sure beats the other junk on the shelves…

The Big O gives his seal of approval…