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LA Artist Retna at the corner of Bowery/Houston

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NY artist Wane along Kent Ave in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn

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Kent Ave under the Williamsburg Bridge/ Brooklyn, NYC

Photo Credits: Daily Marauder

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This past week, I spent some time in NYC. During my walking trips around the city, I took a few snaps of some incredible street art from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Street art holds quite a bit more worth to me than anything hanging in a gallery because of the circumstances surrounding its viewing. Much in the way Bill Cunningham chronicles street style in the NY Times to show what real (or somewhat real) New Yorkers are doing with the latest runway pieces, street art is built for everyone. Cunningham remarked that “The best fashion show is on the street” and I would add that the best art show is in the same place. No admission fee. No thoughtful head nodding or crowds of people. Just art. Unexpected and there whenever you want it.

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It still strikes me as incredibly odd that LA brought the first street art exhibit to creation at the MOCA Los Angeles, while NYC snubbed its nose in Brooklyn. Between the two cities, street art certainly has its place where it is fostered. In NYC, that’s usually the outer boroughs and in LA that’s Hollywood or downtown LA.

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I tried to track down the artist behind the bottom piece in Brooklyn but wasn’t successful. If anyone has the information, please leave a comment or email me.

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This past weekend, I also watched the 1980’s film Wild Style all about graffiti art culture in the South Bronx, the birthplace of hip hop. It’s not a well-acted film by any means but it’s got a realness to it that’s fascinating.

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In other news, Facebook’s IPO finally goes live and experiences some growing pains, the Zuck gets married, the queen and king of disco, Donna Summer & Robin Gibb, passed away, and Pinterest continues to show strength in pushing e-commerce.

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Some more Cool Sh-t:

The Anti-Gravity Ball

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“as you can imagine, shit is just fkd up right now. but i wanna say thank you to all our

friends and family (which are kinda one in the same) for all the love and support.
i’m glad to know that all the love that Yauch has put out into the world is coming right back at him.
thank you.”

- Mike D

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Coldplay Tribute 5/4 at the Hollywood Bowl “Fight for Your Right to Party”

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It is with great sadness that I dedicate this post to one of my heroes, Adam “MCA” Yauch from the Beastie Boys. He died last week at 47 years old from cancer in his salivary glands. Yauch co-founded the Beastie Boys with Mike “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz in 1979, one year after I was born. The Beastie Boys started as a punk rock group and quickly merged over into hip hop.   Paul’s Boutique defined my college experience and laid groundwork for a connection to music which has motivated and pushed me forward in the darkest of times. He was one of my heroes. He will be missed.

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For more videos to remind you of the Beastie Boys genius, click here.

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In other news, Nielsen reported another drop in TV viewers, the Apple OS vs. Android deathmatch continues, The Scream sells at Sotheby’s for a cool $120MM, Turntable tries to get its mojo back, Facebook sets its IPO at $28 – $35 a share, Discovery buys Revision 3, ComScore names Tagged as the most engaged social network, and Zynga sees massive decline from its recent acquisition Draw Something.

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Some more Cool Sh-t:

Transmission LA: Mike D Curated Art

Photo Credit: Daily Marauder

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Outdoor Bar & Tables (Mike D-curated KOGI truck across the street)

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Mike D, from the Beastie Boys, calls his curated exhibition at MOCA LA, Transmission LA, “an amusement park for adults.”   I think that aptly sums up the experience. I took a spin to the Museum of Contemporary Art this past Saturday to take a look myself. From the Roy Choi/Mike D collaboration on the menu at the KOGI Truck to the art nestled inside, It was a feast for the senses. Here’ a few pics. If you’re in the LA area, you have until this Sunday to take a spin of your own.

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The sponsor, Mercedes, gets quite the gold chain

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Coffee bar surrounded by a moat filled with mechanical boats

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Miscela d’Oro Coffee from Sicily

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Surrounded by projectors and an open road, Ben Jones/Road Trip

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“Pinwheels” by Jim Drain & Ara Peterson

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In other news, Instagram passes 50 MM users, viewers love a little Zooey & Samuel L. in those Siri ads, 1 World Trade reclaims the NY skyline, Apple beat analysts’ predictions with its Q2 results and Viddy receives a serious boost in users and investment.

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Some more Cool Sh-t:

The Jumboltron: One Big Happy Nerd Family with iPads

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Photo Credit: Daily Marauder

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This past weekend, I experienced my first Coachella, which prompted me to immediately rename it HOTchella with temperatures peaking at 105 degrees on site, only a few degrees shy of the record set at 107 on April 21, 1958. With my beginnings in radio, I’ve been to many music festivals over the years, most of them from the years of ’96 to ’01. This one, however, was bigger than anything I’d ever seen. Two outdoor stages and three tents devoted to five bands at any given time. Young and old gathered in a field under intense narcotics use. It felt like the music festival version of Dazed and Confused.

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The size and scale of the venue made the experience simultaneously a bit intimidating and awe-inspiring. My favorites? Azealia Banks hands down. Nothing like watching an entire crowd scream out the c-word while Banks rapped ‘212’, bobbing back and forth on stage with her L’il Kim-inspired pasties. Cue to 1:28 and enjoy. She’s only 20 and hypnotic.

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I loved Bon Iver as always even though his energy level was a bit disappointing. Feist had incredible moments but her attempt to rock out seemed a bit off-brand.

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Photo Credit: Stereogum

The disappointment? Radiohead. For the record, I left while they were playing. I’ve seen Radiohead three times, once in D.C. while holding onto the front barricade mere inches from Thom Yorke. I’ve seen them command thousands of people from a first note. This, was not that experience. They seemed to be playing for themselves, a narcissism that was felt throughout the field.

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I was on site looking at sponsorship opportunities. To this end, I really enjoyed the H&M tent. They are the exclusive sponsor to provide free water at the festival. They came up with this brilliant idea years ago and wrote it into their contract. Their tent was covered in fan photos from top to bottom and included a freshen-up station, which in the astounding heat, was an absolute oasis. Through Instagram, fans could upload a photo with the hashtag #kissforacause to donate $1 to HIV/AIDS prevention. Smart.

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Photo Credit: Daily Marauder

H&M Tent – Photo Wall

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Photo Credit: Daily Marauder

H&M Tent – Instagram Photo Upload for a Cause

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Photo Credit: Daily Marauder

H&M Tent – Freshen-Up Station

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In other news, Android has hit a rough patch, rumors surround an iPad Mini launch, this Olympic ad from P&G draws tears and views and Tumblr will launch ads on site May 2^nd.

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Some more Cool Sh-t:

The Color Forecast: Fashion Trends Based on Real Time Data

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Photo Credit: Daily Marauder

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This past year, I joined the Academy of TV Arts & Sciences (The Emmys), at the urging of my former colleague Lori Schwartz, Chief Technology Catalyst at McCann. I had worked on the live show last year, helping to craft the social media story from the red carpet and backstage. It seemed a natural extension at that point.

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Its Emmy season and a cavalcade of TV series have been arriving at my doorstep. From watching a mountain of DVDs to going to the Academy Theater itself to watch a panel of producers and cast of The Walking Dead & Boardwalk Empire, I feel fully immersed in the script to screen process.

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In watching the somewhat awkward exchange between my digital/tech co-horts and my entertainment friends, I’m continuously reminded of what causes the disconnect. I’ve been somewhere between both worlds for the last 6 years, first working at HBO and then for Lionsgate in digital marketing & R&D. It appears to me that Silicon Valley/Alley doesn’t seem to fully understand the massive undertaking involved in creating quality content. Their arrogance in thinking that they can either cut costs seamlessly and/or create better content, is simply ridiculous.

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By that same token, many in entertainment diminish the power of those in the digital and technology sphere, simply because, in many respects, some may not understand the technology or may believe the young and sometimes green chiefs of these companies don’t understand their business. Therein lies the rub of many misunderstandings. The truth of the matter is this; entertainment needs technology as much as technology needs entertainment. One without the other is irrelevant and the man that mastered this relationship is unfortunately gone, replaced by Ashton Kutcher in an upcoming biopic. So perhaps, the best method to move forward, is a reaching across the aisle for all of us.

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Photo Credit: High Snobiety

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In other news, Coachella brings Tupac back from the dead in Hologram form, the Prometheus team brings forth another viral campaign, and many weigh in on the Facebook/Instagram deal.

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Some more Cool Sh-t:

The Body. Transformed Through Technology. Beautiful.

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Lena Dunham in HBO’s Girls

© Jojo Whilden/HBO. All rights reserved.

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The new series, Girls, comes to HBO this Sunday and I couldn’t be more ecstatic. I watched the first two episodes in Austin at SXSW spawning my lady crush on its writer/creator, Lena Dunham. The show follows a group of NYC Williamsburg hipsters through their daily machinations focusing on the somewhat unglamorous side of their romantic transgressions. I spent my 20’s living in NYC, the latter half in which I was working at HBO, and hence, was especially excited to see this story unfold.

I’ve been watching the critical reviews come across the internet wires and they all boil down to one thing: sex. The sex in Sex & the City was glamorous Jimmy Choo-laced fantasy, thick with witty Samantha-isms and adorable recaps from Carrie. The sex in Girls is uncomfortable to watch and ‘real’ in a way I’ve never seen on screen before. Slate Magazine describes this realness as the “chronicling of bad sex” whereas New York Magazine raves that the sex “isn’t a reward, it’s a revelation.” So which is it? Lena Dunham writes, stars, and partially directs this series. She plays Hannah, a post-collegiate brutally torn from the parental financial purse strings to go out on her own for the first time. The first sex on screen carries out between Hannah and her sex buddy Adam, and while not ruining anything, I’ll just say, that I would never tell a friend about sex that bad.

That said, it wasn’t only the sex that I found so intriguing. It was the comfort level by which these girls interact with each other and by which Dunham herself is comfortable exposing the world to. There is one scene in particular that I have obsessed over, obsessed because I think it indicates some lack of cool on my part and therefore has been a conversation piece for weeks. Dunham’s character, Hannah, takes a bath with her towel-clad roommate Marnie chatting about their lives, a pastime which in most respects would be done over breakfast or perhaps, any other place with clothes on. I’ve obsessed because I’ve wanted to know if this happens in real life. Do women get together naked and talk about what’s going on in each other’s lives? I don’t even like to look people in the eye in the women’s locker room, let alone sit naked in a bathtub and talk about my sex life. Does this make me uncool?

Lena Dunham, as Hannah, with actor Adam Driver.

(Photo: Jojo Whilden/HBO)

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Back to the sex. The attempt to categorize this show at the ‘everygirl’ story would be dangerous. In the same way that Sex & the City did not translate to the lives of most American women at the time it debuted, I don’t think Girls has the intention of direct translation. How many women buy Jimmy Choos on a Monday and Monolo Blahniks on a Tuesday? In the same respect, how many women catch up on their day with their best friend sitting naked in a bathtub and then have discussions about how maybe they really do want AIDS at the doctor’s office? Here’s where I had to reel myself in. Being that you, the viewer, are presented with a woman (Dunham) who looks more real than the skinny plastic surgery-disfigured faces of so many Hollywood actresses, the viewer immediately thinks that what happens on screen will look more similar to their own world. In my case, even though I spent some time living in Williamsburg, the attempt at direct correlation was lost in translation. Frankly, that’s not the point. I think Dunham’s intention is to entertain with her own story and hope that each viewer draws inspiration in whichever way makes sense. Whether that’s making one person feel less embarrassed about their own bad sex moment or more comfortable in simply sharing something with a friend, so be it. So, I’ll attempt to stop thinking about how uncool I am for my lack of bathtub friend time…but seriously, does this make me uncool?! Maybe not, but quotes like this one, make Lena Dunham fresh to death.

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In other news, Facebook acquires Instagram for $1 Billion (scaring the sh-t out of this Instagram user right here and this one over there), Google busts out some augmented reality glasses which sadly bring on the Star Trek jokes, and Bravo announces plans to bring a Silicon Valley reality series to screen.

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Some more Cool Sh-t:

Architecture Meets Outdoor Art Projection

Photo Credit: Designboom

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Happy April Fool’s Day from the internet. Every year, on April 1^st, the internet bursts forth with April Fool’s pranks and this year brought even more of them, the lion share from Google. Here’s a list of some of the best from Techcrunch.

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In other news, Keith Olbermann was dismissed from yet another job at Current TV, times continue to be hard for the Blackberry in the sky, Google Maps ads real time traffic data to its maps (an obvious next step to Waze users), and Best Buy closes 50 stores in the US after missing revenue projections.

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Some more Cool Sh-t:

Where do the Good Ideas Go After Kickstarter?: Tiny Lightbulbs