Monday, September 3

Leftovers

I came across this great sign the other day. (Actually, it's a 2 for 1 deal, cause the pins in the background ain't to shabby either.) I was with my girl in a department store that we don't go to often. We were just checking out the upper floors looking for a quick place to eat. We turned the corner, and ran into this gem of a sign. I love the retro/futuristic feeling of the font. I also love that I found bowling lanes in a department store. It was a bit shocking. So shocking it started a little emotion in me to, I felt the pull of the pins and the big balls. My girl was less than enthused. Oh well, maybe next time.

So, this week I have a bunch of unrelated stuff that has been gathering in my mind and in various folders on my desktop. We will call it leftovers. It is past time to get rid of some of this crap. (The first pic being a prime example.) So, let's get to it.

Just in case some of you had some lingering thoughts about how underground Bathing Ape is, linger no longer. Bathing Ape provided the t-shirts for the huge nationwide NTV 24 hour TV extravaganza. It is all for charity, so I can't hate on them. The event sticks a bunch of celebs on TV for 24 hours to raise money for various good causes. This year was all about the environment and childhood diseases.

They made 300,000 of the t-shirts and sold them all for the low low price of ¥1400. ($12) The "30" on the t-shirt is because this year marks the 30th year they have done this. Oh, I almost forgot the most iconic part of the show. They pick one celeb each year who runs/walks the entire 24 hours. It is an absolute torture to watch. They have 24 hours to finish a 70km course. This year it was a 66 year old comedian. He didn't finish the course in the allotted time, so it turned in to 27 hour TV. Again, I say this is not fun to watch. I only read about it and flicked through it a couple times. I don't want to see things that hurt my eyes.

This thing here is not harmful for your eyes at all.

I have been very lucky to run into some amazing cars lately. I snagged this pic in Shibuya on my way to play some table tennis. The guy driving this Ferrari 430 Spider did nothing to reverse the stereotype of complete asses driving Ferraris. Oh well. If you are wondering what I would drive, if I had to drive a Ferrari. Click HERE to see the 2008 Ferrari 430 Scuderia. I doubt it would make the best starter sports car...but, it is still my favorite current Ferrari. I also ran into another car I have no business driving. Actually, no one has any business driving this thing in a city.

From far away, it looks like your regular everyday Porsche. It is far from ordinary, move closer.

No, this is as serious as you can get without racing tires. This is the 2007 Porsche GT3RS. This thing comes standard with roll bars people. That is how ridiculous it is. I can't imagine what it would be like driving around a busy city. Can you imagine how hard the springs are? How sharp the brake response is? How much power this thing has from just a quick right foot tap?

At first glance the front doesn't look so different from the regular 911's. It is though, with many more scoops and diffusers. The emblem on the hood is not the usual metal one either, it is a sticker to save weight. That is how serious the German's are about this car. I love it. I love the color too. The orange really suits this shape. My 2nd fav detail on the whole car is the color matching brake calipers visible through the massive black wheels.

My favorite detail is the "RS" on the huge rear spoiler. So not needed, but so necessary. The owner of this ride was busy shopping in Gucci while I and a few other people drooled over his car. When he came out, with 3 staff members holding his large bags, it took forever to find places to stash all his loot. No space in the front trunk, very difficult to stick stuff in the back with all the roll bars. What a conundrum. Luckily my man didn't bring his girl shopping with him so they stacked all the stuff on the passenger seat. Smooth. (Not that I was watching and judging...me??? Never!)

And the last hotness I came across was this monster.

This Lamborghini Murcielago surprised me. I came around the corner and BAM! The white monster was just sitting there waiting for me. As curvy and sensual the Porsche is, the Lambo is all straight lines and edgy. Look how far forward the driver's seat is, compared with the rest of the car. It just keeps going and going to fit all the engine in the rear.

The flatness of this car is pretty damn amazing. It is all wide spaces, angles, and clear lines, yet somehow it is full of emotion. This thing exudes passion in a way that the Porsche can't.

The exhaust is pretty sick. I think the center exhaust option works on only a few cars, and this is one of them. It is my 2nd fav detail on this crazy car. My top detail is the real wheels. They are so wide that they stretched the wheel design in 3 dimensions. This pic tries to show that, not all that successfully, sadly.

If you scroll back up you can see the difference between the front and rear wheels. I love it. And that is all for the cars I have seen lately. But don't you worry, I will have my eyes open and my camera at the ready.

Speaking of keeping my eyes open...this product caught my eyes.

So, yeah, these cookies were in the local drugstore. The perfect product for the girl on the go who is a bit hungry and wants bigger breasts. F-cups no less! Strange. I wonder if they sell this kinda crap in drugstores in the US. Anybody? Japan is a great place to live, no? (And I won't even get into the ringtones ladies can download to increase their chest size.)

As you remember the other day, I went to a graf exhibition. As I was there, I was thinking about the huge effect that the whole movement is having, and had for such a long time. It is being used in the mass media all the time, there is even a video game about it. Any person living in any city sees it everywhere. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Lot's of companies co-opt the look to make their ad more edgy. It took me a minute to figure out if this was real graffiti or Nike looking for for more street cred.

I finally figured out it was some writer throwing his shit up on the Nike billboard. But, who knows, maybe Nike paid him to. I kinda like the how it looks together. And Nike is smart to put up such simple ads. They are just begging for somebody to spray all over them. Here are more examples.

I also like the new logo they are using in Tokyo. It is simple but it has a nice balance. (The swoosh is between the kanji characters for Tokyo.) One more pic.

Call me crazy, but I read no clear message in this one. But I don't hate it all. It made me stop and think for a minute, which is about all we can ask of art. Speaking of messages, there is no doubt in this one.

[via Supertouch]

I'm not sure one French graf artist is going to make a whole hell of a lot of difference, but WK INTERACT wants this war to be over. This "Bring Me Back" is a pretty impressive piece if you ask me. But you are an idiot if you are asking me about graffiti. I don't know nothing. Click HERE to see more picks and read a bit more about it.

And finally for today, I went shopping again. I hit the outlets first. New Balance and Adidas were a waste of my time. Not even anything I slightly considered. Nike on the other hand had a bunch of maybes.
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Like these Stabs. I like the color combination. I have a t-shirt that would match really well, maybe too well. And it is only the one shirt. No other options. That's a limited wardrobe y'all. Plus, the price was still a bit high.

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I was liking these square-dots too. If it was a mesh toe-box instead of the dead looking leather, these would be in my closet already.

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These are pretty old, so I was surprised to see them. I carried them around the store for a long time. These were best things they had in the store. The price was a bit dear again. So, in the end, I put them down too. I ate lunch and then took the train back to Tokyo. Before I went home, I stopped in Ueno. I had kinda made up my mind to get the Air Max Lights. Remember these?

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Shockingly they didn't have my size. I took it as a sign that I should not get them. So I made my way to the station to go home. But not before stopping in a couple mini-stockists booths. I never find much there. They have a varied selection, some new releases, some collectibles, some used stuff. It is completely hit or miss. Low and behold, I found these!


I nice vintage shoe from 2005. I will share soon. See you guys next week.

3 comments:

Anna Van Someren said...

there's really just one thing you have to understand about my brother john. he doesn't like a leather toe box.

Anonymous said...

I was disappointed that you couldn't work the black/yellow/white Stabs into your wardrobe. I TOTALLY liked those the best!!
Can't wait to see what you did end up with...nice suspenseful ending!

Unknown said...

about time you got a post about rockin rides again. btw, the kewlest thing about the rs is the fact that it is so well mannered in regular city driving and then knocks the socks off of just about everything on the track (price being no object). great pick on the 430 as well, awesome car that would be my pick if the old boys in Weissach weren't in existence. ah, the porsche-ferrari rivalry, is there anything better to debate in this age of consumerism?