Today is a beautiful day. Another beautiful day to be young and creative. This post is purely about sharing two inspiring pieces of web television. Both came to me in the last 30 minutes or so. One of these kids you are already familiar with. The almighty king of No Pattern and co-brainchild of this here BRILLIANCE, Chuck Anderson. This couch conversation with Geoff McFetridge is cool because it’s not an interview, it’s just conversation, which is way more effective at getting to know these artists. I appreciated the talk about being busy. How many of us always say we are so busy and have “no time”. I sure do. The other piece I just caught was fresh off of the newly revamped Heron Preston site. Everyone take note, this is how you update a site with purpose. “If you don’t have a blog, use this as your blog”-HP. His uploaded content is a springboard for us all to jump on. Now that’s really progressive. I can’t wait to see how this evolves. We are all just kids moving onto something bigger than ourselves, and here’s two pieces of proof.
I for one, I don’t have a degree in marketing or advertising but sometimes I “feel it in my gut”. My friends and I always have our 2 cents as to why that commercial is weak and I can readily pick up on that sense when “the man” is trying to selling me something. I swear getting an MBA is gonna be free as long as you have an internet connection and these professionals keep giving up their insider tips. There’s tons of great resources online. I am all about the Adage.com podcasts these days. For starters, check out “What the Year’s Top Marketers Are Doing Right”, 5th from the bottom. For some one like me who has no background in this realm its real exciting to build up a knowledge in this field because it changes the way you aimlessly wonder. So many of us kids have these sidehustles and this independent frame of mind that we can’t solely rely on the internet as the only marketing tool and think we are gonna hit it big BIG. (hint, hint) Instead of listening to music I have been scrolling through these informative podcasts while working…the old two birds, one stone trick…
Ha…this is too funny. So somebody starts a blog pretending to be Steve Jobs, offering up what he thinks Steve Jobs would have to say about the world. It’s not like he’s trying to ‘trick’ anyone with by having the URL fakesteve.blogspot.com. Anyway, I follow all this Web 2.0 stuff pretty closely. Ever since tech companies started getting bought again…I remember sitting at a dinner with some mentor friends of mine (thanks for the sailing trip!) and telling them ‘the internet is back.’ I suppose I was right…but I certainly hope its not the ‘bubble’ version this time. Getting off subject…check this blog out. Funny and very insightful…I’m not sure who runs it but they are close to what is really happening. The little ‘slam’ on that now infamous Yelp.com party at SFMOMA is hilarious. This and ValleyWag.com are my new regular visits. No more niche culture for a minute…time to expand kids! Does anyone else find it weird that Microsoft applications see ‘blog’ as a misspelled word? ***This one is killing me…ha.
We got an email from Dallas of WORLD in NYC telling us about the shop they opened recently at 187 Chrystie Street between Stanton and Rivington. Here’s their site - WORLD. It’s a small spot, just 300 square feet, but they’re doing their thing, trying to make it happen. Now, usually we don’t post up about stores and streetwear and stuff that much, we leave that to Hypebeast. But this email got me thinking about being inspired to start things, to do something, to get up everyday and think of the new day as an opportunity - not just as another boring ‘whatever’ day. Got me thinking about how good I feel when I get really productive with my work and what it must be like for guys trying to open their own boutiques or online stores or galleries or whatever in our amazing creative community. As much as we mock and throw little funny jabs at all the Street X Wear X Colla X Bor X Ations sometimes, on the other hand it’s really good to see young companies and young kids doing their thing, really making something happen. So much better than being out on the street or looking for some crappy night-shift job or laying around playing video games in mom and dad’s basement all day in a bean bag chair with tapered sweatpants on, eating fritos and drinking mountain dew. I’m all about being creative and having fun - so even though me and Ben and Virgil get a good laugh everytime someone emails us and says “Hey check out my new shirt company it’s called Bozworth Chomp$alot NYC we’re doing something totally different and groundbreaking. The first shirt has Wu-Tang Clan inspired stuff on it and the other shirt has a boombox with a gun!”, at least it’s something, right? Not that I encourage market saturation and things getting watered down, but better to be busy than bored. SO. Anyways.
My series is born. I am a huge fan of Bob Villa so its only right one of my serial posts is about the behind the scenes ‘process of things’. The cool thing about our day and age is that industries are more and more exposed to the public. I remember goin to Superfuture when there wasn’t a discussion board, but good thing they added one. Nowadays you can find some useful information on there. There are some knowledgeable people behind the scenes letting connoisseurs know about Levis history and educating kids on the super keyword selvedge. Anywho…I came across this process video of how Nudie Jeans are put together. Interesting stuff. Can you imagine how many times those seamstresses have put a needle through their finger? Real talk. I love this stuff because it results in appreciation of the final product. While were on the topic, say NO to tapered jeans.
For those of you who were disappointed when Webvan filed for bankruptcy a little while back, now you can get all your food on Amazon.com. I know there are other online grocers like Peapod, Netgrocer, etc… But here’s the fun part about the Amazon.com online grocery store. The comments people leave. I mean - commenting on common foods, i.e. bananas, lettuce, grapes, etc. sounds, well, stupid…but it’s honestly a timewaster if you want something hilarious to read. Here’s a few golden comments, some of my favorites… For lettuce - “My only disappointment is that Amazon does not offer gift wrapping for this item. Lettuce makes great gifts for the entire family.” Ha… Bananas - “From the picture, I assumed that this item would fit into my ears or nose. This would have been helpful, as I’ve got some wax problems with the ears and some congestion problems with the ol’ schnozz. Unfortunately, when the item arrived, it proved far too large to be inserted into either orifice. Buyer beware!” I’m dying over here reading this… who would have thought comments on food on Amazon could be funnier than several wasted hours on Break.com or something watching videos of idiots do stupid things? Sorry, here’s a few more. Fresh Spanish Onions - “Boycott these onions! They are taking away all the jobs from perfectly good white onions!”... I mean…ha… Alright, last one, then you can go look for yourself. Lobster - “Because there’s nothing like taking a live animal larger than a cat, stuffing its struggling body into a pot, and listening to it scream as it tries to claw its way out of the boiling water. Honestly, the only thing more fun is hunting by bow and arrow, where you can really look that deer in the eye before you shoot it in the head.” Terrible. Haha, man. I hope other people find this as funny as I do…I’m almost in tears reading some of these. Link below to the potatos. Navigate your way around from there. Eat up!
Architects love containers and brands love their retail spaces. Truly, a pop-up store, I think this Freitag project is bringing it. Capturing the process on their Flicker site is fresh way to document it. From shopping for the right containers to furring out them out and stocking them with bags, its cool to see this thing grow. My first thought from a building standpoint is, “doesn’t it look like it’s gonna topple over…I mean whats the foundation look like?” Nerd stuff I know…too many times companies have a tough time extending their brand into a physical space…case and point the Motorola Q temporary retail space that came off more as a rollercoaster waiting area than a representation of the actual product. I am putting this in the art (architecture = art) category, rather than fashion because I am slightly over messenger bags, but I definitely prefer their production methodology to the next bag. Check out how they do it. Nice one Eli.
It’s actually been a while since I’ve done a proper island write-up…if you can call my writing proper. I became familiar with Lord Howe Island by traveling on a mysteriously enchanted journey…to my local Barnes & Noble to pickup the latest copy of Islands Magazine. Ha…enchanted – I wish I had actually gone to Lord Howe. Anyway though…what struck me about this island is that there really isn’t a ton of information on it both on the net as well as in the mags – and it’s billed to truly be one of the last ‘pure’ paradise islands. And I am quite the sucker for tag-lines like that. It’s got a mix of both lush tropical as well as grasslands – actually quite similar to Maui, just minus all the resorts. It also has the white sand beaches that the south pacific is famous for…kind of a nice combo. But from my little bit of research it’s not terribly populated…in fact there isn’t much at all on Lord Howe except beautiful scenery, great beaches, amazing wildlife – and lots of ‘action’ sports as they call them…mountain biking and surfing, etc. I guess the only negative is how far away Lord Howe is from the States…it’s a ways off the southern coast of Australia. Really long plane ride. Actually, maybe that is a positive – no honeymooners or spring breakers. Check Google for more info. ***And check Google Earth for this…check the airstrip, nuts.
J/P OMG LOL!!11! So real simple, Google just paid News Corp. $900 Million to serve as the MySpace.com search engine. What?!?! If that doesn’t blow you away…I don’t know man. MySpace was just bought for $580 Million not even what, a year ago? Now just to be the search engine Murdoch got almost a billion? Honestly a bit mind numbing. Good investment right? So yeah…Google will start providing this service by the end of 2006. This whole ‘new web’…so crazy. Most industries take decades to recover. Don’t forget that the whole ‘dot bomb’ was only like 7 years ago. Ha…seriously, that is nuts.
Hi! Before I begin, sorry for the lack of posting from me for the last 10 days or so. I was away on a beautifully relaxing trip with family to Lake Ontario in upstate New York. Nothing like laying by the lake all day, getting tan, eating great food, and, well, doing next to nothing. But back to the grind now. Anyways! I was sitting online last night and realized hey - why haven’t I bought tickets for this Tool tour yet? So I emailed my man Nigel and said ‘Hey - I know you saw Tool not long ago, but Isis is on this tour!’ So long story short, we’re going. Not sure how many people who read our site are into Isis, but to see them in an arena is going to be an experience, to say the least. Easily one of my all-time favorite bands, much respect and congratulations to Isis for landing an opening slot on this tour. If you’re new to them, I’d check out the album ‘Oceanic’ first, then dig deeper into the older stuff from there. Going to be incredible…What else. Have you seen this whole fiasco with Agency.com making a “viral” video and getting blasted for it all over the web? They got some credit too, but mostly made fun of. I’m not going to write about it all here, so check this link to read about the story. The link I really want to post is this video made in response to it all by Chicago’s own Coudal Partners (what’s up Jim!). Seriously hilarious. Watch this video, check the story. This whole Digg.com article in Businessweek is getting a bunch of flack. Apparently Kevin Rose of Digg has not really made $60 Million…Check out the whole thing at 37 Signals. There you have it, three posts in one. Have a good/hot/sweaty weekend!
