Filed under: COOL SHT, Feature | Tags: anti-gravity ball, Bill Cunningham, Brooklyn, Donna Summer, e-commerce, Facebook, Fashion, Graffiti, IPO, Kent, LA, Los Angeles, MIT, MOCA, NY Times, NYC, Pinterest, Retna, Robin Gibb, South Bronx, Street Styles, Wild Style, Williamsburg, Zuckerberg
THIS WEEK: GRAFFITI NYC & LONG LIVE THE IPO
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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:
Filed under: COOL SHT, Feature | Tags: 1 World Trade, Apple, Ara Peterson, Beastie Boys, Ben Jones, COFFEE, Instagram, Jim Drain, Jumboltron, Kogi, LA, Mercedes, Mike D, Miscela d'oro, MOCA, NYC, Pinwheels, Roy Choi, Samuel L, sicily, Siri, Transmission LA, Viddy, Zooey Deschanel
THIS WEEK: TRANSMISSION LA & 1 WORLD TRADE NYC
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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
Filed under: COOL SHT, Feature | Tags: Angelino, Apple, Beauty, ESPN, Facebook, Foursquare, Glamour, iPad 3, Jeremy Lin, LA, Linsanity, Mountain Lion, New York City, NY Knicks, NYC, Pop-Up, Twitter, Whitney Houston, WhitneyHoustonRIPocolypse, Winter
THIS WEEK: HOUSTON, WE HAVE LINSANITY
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Stan Honda / AFP / Getty Images / February 18, 2012
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Whitney Houston’s funeral Saturday drew more star power than the Grammys the weekend before including Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keyes, R Kelley, Bobby Brown, and Aretha Franklin. Wait, those last two weren’t there. Bobby Brown left because of a “seating incident” and Aretha Franklin had leg issues even though she performed in concert that very night. [raised eyebrows] I thought Kevin Costner’s words concerning his work with the star on the Bodyguard were intriguing. Not only were they clearly heartfelt but they demonstrated the challenges of being a worldwide star. Incidentally, both the Grammys and Whitney Houston’s funeral both clocked in at 3.5 hrs.
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After being in NYC for 10 days, I attempted to mimic that city’s RIPocolypse love. From snow storms to Whitney’s death, everything on Foursquare is a RIPocolypse in New York City. I also wanted to see if a location of this nature would trend in Los Angeles like it trends in NYC. One problem. It never showed up in search results. I contacted one of the co-founders of Foursquare who told me the search results take a bit to update. 3 days later. Same issue. I know we’re on the opposite coast and a little bit farther south than where digital hearts show their affection, but damn it, we Angelinos are digital nerds too. Where is the love?!
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Apart from the digital snafu, I also noticed how polarizing Whitney Houston was when I asked friends to check-in to my newly dubbed WhitneyHoustonRIPocolypse. Some were eager to jump on and some simply flat out said no, not because they didn’t want to break out Foursquare, but because they didn’t “feel the love” for Ms. Houston. I do find it intriguing that certain folks feel so negative towards the pop singer because of her demons with drug abuse. I certainly don’t condone it. That said, entertainers, while making a ridiculous amount of cash, are owned by their audience, incapable of living away from prying eyes. Entertainers have the ability to inspire so many but they are human beings like all of us. Let’s be honest, we all have our demons. So, with that, I will continue to want to dance with somebody and yes, my love is your love.
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Along with the pop star’s farewell, the din of Linsanity, an homage to the popular NY Knicks player Jeremy Lin, has been reaching fever pitch. Unfortunately, ESPN made the mistake of running a racially fueled headline on Friday bringing Lin fans to punches. Thankfully for the fans, the Harvard alumnus finally joined the social network and took the dive into his first public Facebook page.
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In other news, a warmer winter has slowed sales of typical winter purchases, gossip surrounding the coming iPad 3 announcement on March 7th has erupted, and Twitter gets yet another boost from Apple, this time with the release of the Mac operating system Mountain Lion. Take that, Facebook overlords.
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Some more Cool Sh-t:
Beauty on the Go: Pop-Up Shopping Wall
Filed under: Feature | Tags: Andre, Angel City Brewery, Annabele, Art in the Streets, Banksy, Barry McGee, Daily Marauder, Geffen Contemporary, graffiti art, Josh Lazcano, Jump, Kenny Scharf, LA, MOCA, Mr. Cartoon, Nomade, Retna, Risk, Shepard Fairey, Space Invader
JUMP!! LA: ART IN THE STREETS
Artist: Barry McGee and Josh Lazcano
Photo: Daily Marauder
This week, marks the last week of the first major survey of graffiti art in the United States: Art in the Streets at the MOCA at Geffen Contemporary. To commemorate one of the most intriguing and vibrant expressions of street art, Jump!! comes to LA. Jump!! began in 2008 in New York City as an event meant to re-invent art by expressing as much joy as possible in front of it. Much in the way in which graffiti art is meant to re-invent the wall over which it’s sprayed, bodies become the throw up.
Below you will find several photos from the event. Art in the Streets closes Monday August 8th so if you’re in LA and haven’t taken the trip yet, get a move on.
Artist: Mr. Cartoon
Photo Credit: Jenn Strauss
Artist: Retna
Photo Credit: Cris Dobbins
Artist: Nomade
Photo Credit: Matthew Jekowsky
Artist: Risk
Photo Credit: Cris Dobbins
Artist: Kenny Scharf
Photo Credit: Cris Dobbins
Artist: Andre
Photo Credit: Cris Dobbins
Artist: Banksy
Photo Credit: Cris Dobbins
Artist: Barry McGee and Josh Lazcano
Photo Credit: Daily Marauder
Artist: Banksy
Photo Credit: Cris Dobbins
Jump Crew:
Louis Alvarez
Evan Cunningham
Cris Dobbins
Jenna Ennis
Caroline Giegerich
Matthew Jekowsky
Nadia Korovina
Micki Krimmel
Adrian Mula
Sarah Fiona Nikolovska
Nathan Olivarez-Giles
Jenn Strauss
Susan Vasconcelos
Filed under: Feature | Tags: 2009, California, Castro, Downtown Los Angeles, LA, Los Angeles, Mariachi Square, New York City, NYC, San Francisco, Santa, Santacon, Santarchy, SF, United States, Washington Square Park
SANTACON: DON’T MAKE SANTA MESS YOU UP
Downtown Los Angeles
Photo Credit: Daily Marauder
Over the weekend, the Santas converged, ready to get their drink on. Santacon began in 1994 in San Francisco when a group of 30 Santa’s converged on downtown SF and caused a bit of Kris Kringle mayhem. That spontaneous coordination of Santa fun has progressed into an international phenomenon. Saturday, Santacon dropped in on NYC, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The crowd descended on a Santa-infused pub crawl bringing chaos and fun in its wake. Did you happen to catch the red and white tide? If so, here’s a few pics to catch you up on the fun you missed.
Los Angeles
Mariachi Square, Los Angeles “Sado Masachristmas”
Photo Credit: Daily Marauder
We were in attendance on this one and it was truly an interesting array of creative holiday spirit. Locations were communicated either through traditional means (shouting) or through more digital means (Twitter). As this is a driving town, I was relieved to find that the flask-bearing crowd took the subway from location to location.
And who knew Santa had beef? In this shot, clowns show up to protest Santa’s progression through the streets. And yes, it rains in LA.
La Perla Los Angeles
Photo Credit: Daily Marauder
Here the singing Santas take over the subway. Yup, I didn’t know LA had one either…
New York City
Washington Square Park, NYC
Photo Credit: Sdavisk
San Francisco
Castro, San Francisco
Photo Credit: Jon Bauer
For more information on Santacon coming to a city near you, check out this calendar of events. Happy Holidays from one Santa to another.
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Filed under: Feature | Tags: Bike, Bike Commuting, Biking, Daily Marauder, Downtown Los Angeles, LA, MacBook, Recreation, Road, West Hollywood, West Hollywood California, Wilshire Boulevard
LA STREET WARS: COMMUTING VIA BIKE PART 2
110 Freeway Downtown LA
At the end of October, after being in LA for about a month, I took to the LA streets for my maiden voyage from my house in West Hollywood to Daily Marauder offices downtown. As exhilarating as the ride was, a former shoulder injury flared up from the 26 miles I rode with my MacBook Pro baring down on my left side via messenger bag. Not smart.
For this trip, I borrowed a Chrome backpack from Intelligentsia barista master, Christopher “Nicely” Alameda. Computer. Check. Bike. Check. Ready to roll.
I took to the streets a bit earlier this time around at around 8AM armed with a new route: Wilshire Boulevard.
The Road
This route proved to be a much better option as compared to my first attempt down Venice Boulevard. Wilshire is 3 lanes for most of the trip and predominantly, cars gave me my own lane. Wilshire is super choppy, clearly in need of repaving, and not for the skittish rider.
Daily Marauder Offices, Downtown LA (note Urtth coffee cup in bottle holder)
There’s nothing like being out on the open road commuting to work in the morning. You probably don’t realize the world you miss by commuting via subway, train or automobile. I see it all. I see that runner make a racist comment to the guy waiting for the bus. I see skid row up close and personal. I see the guy proudly rocking his Dodgers hat as he crosses the street with the paper under his arm. If you want to know what our US cities are really like, take a ride through one. You’ll be intrigued by what you discover.
Distance: 22 miles roundtrip
Time: 1 hour and change
Hills: Much less than the Venice Boulevard route and much less steep.
Challenges: Wilshire is super choppy in many areas forcing the rider to ride in the middle or left side of the lane. Be aware of car doors in areas where Wilshire becomes two lanes. Also, unless you’re with a group, I recommend staying off Wilshire at night.
NYC
Bike Commuting in NYC:
Bike Commuting in LA:
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Filed under: Feature, TECHNOLOGY | Tags: AIDS Lifecycle, Cadence Cycle, Computraining, Cycling, iPhone, LA, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco
COMPUTRAINING: BIKE RACING ON A COMPUTER SCREEN
Like Oprah, I have my list of favorite things. Apart from the obligatory items like pedicures and Twizzlers, my bike and my computer are at the top of my list. Especially now, as I train for the AIDS Lifecycle ride from San Francisco to LA, cycling has become the main focus of my weekend diet. So, after biking 55 miles to Piermont in the morning, I met up with Ray and Martha at Cadence Cycle in NYC to try out a free computraining class.
Step 1
Put your bike on a trainer and hook it into a computer which automatically changes the resistance according to the selected course.
Step 2
Calibrate the bike and stare down your surrounding competition.
Step 3
The names and weights of all bikers are loaded into the computer. In the screen above, the elevation is at the top of the screen and the columns at the bottom indicate each biker.
Step 4
Start peddling furiously and talking smack to surrounding bikers.
Along the course, a green line (towards the top of the screen in the image above) indicates a decline in elevation from the current elevation. A red line indicates an increase. It’s not quite like an outdoor riding looking at a hill as the change in elevation could be a big increase/decrease or slight. The image above was taken from my iPhone. The much better, brighter picture at the top is a stock photo.
Of course, I get seated next to Ray, ultramarathoner on my left, and overly-intense cycling dude on my right. Regardless, it was a nice experience to spin using my own bike. The added competition pushed me to a mph must faster than a traditional spin class. I also enjoyed knowing that everyone was at the same resistance. There’s always that person in every spin class who is told to turn it up ‘one full turn’ and makes a fake-out hand movement and then spins like a nut job. You know who you are.
If you want to take a class, the first two are free. $25 per class moving forward. Click here for more info either on the Philadelphia or NYC location.
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