On the slow side

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Maybe it's getting old, but I keep taking pictures of the sky. I guess I should branch out a bit. OK. I will try. As an example, please observe below.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

This is an ad that can be found all over Tokyo at the moment. It features Kosuke Kitajima. He is a very famous swimmer in Japan and will be trying to add to his medal count in the next Olympics. But there is something very disturbing about the ad. It took me a minute to figure it out.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

It's his hand! It's on the wrong side!! Maybe it doesn't bother you like it bothers me, but it gives me a little pause every time I see it. You could be asking yourself why. Why would they do this? I asked myself that question as well. And the only answer I could come up with is that the designer took the hand in reference to his most famous win in the 2004 Olympics.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

But seriously, why couldn't they put the hand on the correct side??

Great track right here. Fader said he says 19 words in the whole song...I think its closer to 23. Love the slow flow and the bounciness. The beat is non-too shabby either.

Enjoy Tabi Bonney "Cool and Fly"



Later

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.
[source]

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.

[source]

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.

[source]

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?

[source]

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.

Not too busy to have some fun.

Being busy is not that fun. I don't like it. Work is busy because it's the end of the month. (Word to my mother.) I am also setting up a big project which is taking all free time away. More details later...

Let's see if I can put some interesting things together for all yall. Go-go-gadget-brain! Don't fail me now!

Look...a yellow cab in Tokyo!


Well, almost.

Although I‘ve been busy, I had a nice chat with one of my sister’s yesterday. She was stuck at the airport...but thanks to the technology gods...we were able to pass some of the time together online. One interesting part of the IM chat is worth sharing...I think. It started with an email she sent me with a link to this ad/solicitation. People on the site seem to like the ad a lot. We had a slightly different take on it.


[source]

It says "If you don’t help feed them, who will? Please call Concordia Children’s Services at (02) 713-3462."

SIS: check your email
ME: i AM!
SIS: well what the F**K is up with that ad????
ME: WAIT!!!
interesting
SIS: interesting???
try HORRIFYING
ME: a bit too on the nose if you ask me
its not a real picture sis
relax
SIS: it's so AWFUL it doesn't even make me WANT to help the babies
ME: lol
SIS: it makes ME want to turn away in sheer disgust
ME: maybe not exactly the reaction they were going for
SIS: and NEVER think of dirty babies again EVER
ME: makes me want to draw a bath
SIS: DIRTY BABIES????
ME: a big bath
SIS: "let's go with dirty babies, i think that will be really effective"
lol
ME: yeah
SIS: it's SO gross!!! their legs are all twisted and scrawny
UGH
OH THE HUMANITY
ME: i would like to have been there in that brainstorm session. while the designers were pitching it
SIS: that's what i'm SAYIN yo
ME: "this is what i see....
SIS: "what we're picturing is..."
lol
ME: babies
SIS: "dirty, dirty babies
ME: the client is thinking, “i like babies...”
SIS: in the dirt
ME: ...every body likes babies."
SIS: sucking on a dirty pig
NOT ANYMORE
now people HATE babies
ME: "yes...we want dirty PIG babies
SIS: lol
"now how wet should the mud be?"
ME: a man made that add
right
SIS: are we talking swampy?
oh it HAD to be a man
ME: no, not too swampy, we dont want the babies to drowned
we want them to starve
SIS: right, right....so maybe not so swampy.. right, right...
uh huh...
ME: not too much water
SIS: well we'll come back to your team next week with a drier mock-up
ME: lol
SIS: i think you're gonna LOVE what you see, ted
get those gin and tonics ready!
har har har
ME: and can we have all WHITE babies
that is what we want
SIS: yes could they please all be WHITE
i mean, you know...
ME: we really want to shock america
SIS: just so you can really see the dirt
ME: right
SIS: you really can't see ANYTHING on those black babies
ME: black is already so dirty
ME: i know....bob
SIS: riiiiight, riiiight
ME: this is a winner ted
SIS: i see where you're headed here
ME: slam dunk
SIS: LOL


Hope it was as fun to read as it was to write!