Made this Knack Weekend’s black edition nº 4 on Outdoor & Ecoliving which features a part on different ‘communities’. Heard we were asked to enlighten a little something about young scum and love, lots of love it even seems.

At your local paper monger right now. Thanks for the mention Knack as it turned out to be a nice edition.

Met some great people, had some great experiences, (re)discovered artists, heard some great mixtapes, saw wonderfull street art, got some (product) reviews up and overall featured some great content (although it was not always that great ).

Concertwise we had a good year, with highlights being a studio session by MGMT, the Prodigy concert in Lille, a showcase by Janelle Monae, Chromeo in BXL and the Gorillaz concert in Antwerp.

We also crossed the border several times. Ended up visiting London for Young Scum and ended up there two weekends in a row due to circumstances, went to Paris for the Offf Festival, where we got to stay in the great Hidden Hotel. After that we topped this all off with held a midsummer roadtrip to Croatia & Slovenia before finishing the summer with a quick visit to Amsterdam.

Started reading again in between this all and did some home brewing before finishing everything of with some family time in MT.

As you can see, we ended up sharing all these experiences and still this ended up being the blogpost which read the most throughout the entire year.

All we can say, 2010 has been a blast and who would have thought we would be able to have done it all from one of the greatest cities in the world! Have a great time going from old to new and we’ll see each other once again in 2011! Out with the old one says!

Amazon dropped some fresh stuff last week. Amongst several Christmas gifts some new books for yours truly. The Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopedia is a nice addition to my bookshelf.

Fascinating stuff the Russian tattoo, especially the fact it goes hand in hand with criminal culture in which tattoos are codes one must learn to master early in life. I recently even read an autobiography on growing up amongst a Russian criminal community and how important they were as one knew his place within a group through them, recognising superiors. There’s an exhibit on the matter in London right now which looks pretty good btw.

Finished reading Siberian Education by Nicolai Lilin which in my opinion is a must read if you are into non-fictional books.

The small republic of Transnistria, which declared its independence in 1990 but has never been recognised, is a remote part of Russia in which a community of honest criminals settled years ago. It is in this (post)communist region that Nicolai grew up and the book gives us the story of his upbringing within Siberian criminal culture. By the age of six, Lilin was given his first pike knife by an uncle and by the age of twelve he has been convicted of attempted murder.

A confronting story of an underworld where he got some hands on experience running through the ranks as a kid and young adolescent as he lived according to the tradition of Siberian Education in which violence, crime and an unique code of honour play a central part of life.

Nicolai gives a mix of his story while drifting of into other tales of his grandfathers, uncles and important figures within his life. He gives us an idea of the stuff he would get caught up in and how at the heart lay a long tradition. 

Ever since I got a Kindle I have been getting all kinds of questions and remarks from people around me. Besides the relevant ones I also get a lot of “Is that an iPad?!” from people on the train or all kind of other remarks by regular buffoons. Can not really blame them as it is not an every day household good yet (although it should be).

Once you have told people what it is and they can grasp the concept of an e-book they usually ask if its handy? The question which then usually follows is ‘What do you expect it to do for you?‘, as many people think its an online/digital magic wonder machine. Needless to say you end up disappointing them time and time again as it simply is an e-reader, an electronic book in a plastic cover, that doesn’t weigh tons and easily fits in your pocket. They then usually go on to ask why didn’t you buy an iPad instead? Well, frankly my dear, because it does not appeal to me at all and you should not compare them.

You then go on to tell them that if they are a regular reader and don’t feel the need to collect a huge in-house library across uncountable bookshelves or cartboard boxes in the attic, that you would suggest they get themselves a kindle. Its extremely user friendly and anyone can read with it at cheaper prices. Besides that you can also do other stuff with it and you don’t even have to leave your house for it, saving bookshop frustrations and petrol! Economical in every way and you often have a lot more choice, finding the books you actually want to read, at lower prices.

What you will especially like about it, is the fact that its always in hands reach and that you are able to use is in any position (this sounds so weird). Where a paperback needs to be folded open and kept held in a certain hand/finger coordinated pose the Kindle can be held between your thumb and index finger. You can also choose to hold it in the palm of your hand and flick to the next page by simply pressing one of the many provided buttons. Have I said its extremely ergonomical?!

In my personal case, I saw a drawback from reading throughout the years I left school and ever since I bought the Kindle I have realised that I have seen a significant rise in reading time Hooray for me and hooray for Amazon as I have found the joy of reading once again.

If you have any questions just shoot.

If you want further in-depth information I suggest you have a look here
or even here.

Finished Crooked Little Vein by comic book writer Warren Ellis. Been reading steady again ever since a Kindle found its way into my hands. Now I am not an established book reviewer, but Amazon can provide you all with a short description as this is one read worth sharing:

Michael McGill is a burned-out private detective who suddenly becomes enlisted by an army of presidential goons to retrieve the Constitution of the United States, but not the one we all know about. This would be the real Constitution (the one with invisible amendments) created by some of the Founding Fathers as a fallback for their great experiment. Along the way, McGill gains a polyamorous sidekick named Trix, gets scared to death by what men do with warm salty water, and descends into a world where crime, sex, and madness all seem to be the same thing.

Full of mind-bending style and packed with a wild cast of characters, Crooked Little Vein infuses Robert B. Parker with Kurt Vonnegut and the madness of the graphic-novel world. A surprisingly surreal treat, it will appeal to hardcore comic fans, mystery aficionados, and all readers looking for a riotous summer reading adventure.

I could not agree more with the paragraph above. Its a great read by a great author who clearly has one sick mind and does his research thoroughly. Even more, the book was based on research material posted on Ellis’ websites, mostly odd news items and disturbing pictures from the web that the author had found or had been sent.

Clearly there are some sick minds out there and this translates itself in a a journey through some of America’s darkest rooms

The Bicycle Portraits project was initiated by Stan Engelbrecht (Cape Town, South Africa) and Nic Grobler (Johannesburg, South Africa) early in 2010. Whenever they can, together or separately, they’re on the lookout for fellow commuters, and people who use bicycles as part of their everyday work, to meet and photograph. They’re finding out who rides bicycles, why they ride bicycles and why they love their bicycles.

This project really sparked my attention and with the World Cup going down in South Africa I though it was a nice feature on the country that is not football centered You can find all the extended info over here on the what, how and what not.

They are working towards a full-color hard-cover book btw and it seems you can pledge and pre-order through their Kickstarter initiative. Follow the project on twittah. Out.

picture by @stefanvdg aka Freaky.be

Couple of months back I was pleased to annonce the birth of Apollo. Now the moment arrived that many were afraid for: Apollo is no more it seems.

Shit hit the fan as the news spread about financial troubles and we only can hope they find a new partner for a re-launch soon!

For the time being their final issue is lying there at the local newsagent. Drop by and pick up a copy. I am sure you will enjoy reading it.

At the same time you can also support the people behind the mag and join a symbolic effort to try and save their dream. Out.

Last Thursday we saw the birth of a new mag in BE (or at least it marked the launch with a nice little shindig at Eskimo in Ghent). Our fellow blogger On Point finds (& lately also record label owner bringing JtotheC’s finest work to date)  himself at the heart of this operation. Besides writing articles for the mag he will be regularly updating their website with fresh content.

As many (rumor has it copies are getting sold by the dozen and running low) I enjoyed the first issue and am looking forward to the next. Music, film, … in a new jacket, brought to us in a classic printed format. Check the preview above, get hold of a copy yourself in a newsstand near you and judge yourself if its a keeper. Who knows, for 40 euros I’m seriously considering a monthly subscription. Out.

A while back I mentioned Gigposters.com in one of my first blogposts. Since 2001, Gigposters.com has been the Internet’s first and best resource for rock-show poster art; their massive online database showcases more than 90,000 posters from 7,000 different designers, including all of today’s top poster studios.

Gig Posters Volume I brings us tover 700 of the best examples in their collection, including 101 ready-to-frame posters of bands such as Radiohead, Wilco, the Decemberists, the Shins, Arcade Fire, Sleater-Kinney, and more. I’m absolutely loving it right now and for only $40 I might consider ordering a copy myself. Out.

“From New York and Los Angeles to the Brazilian mega-cities, South African townships, and Mumbai, authors Roger Gastman, Caleb Neelon, and Anthony Smyrski highlight cultural hotspots around the world. Divided into more than 50 topics and illustrated with more than 500 photographs, this book celebrates the street as a stage for the visual creativity of a generation.”

As the quote above illustrates, the authors of Street World brought us a great book. I came across it couple of weeks ago at my local library and its been sitting on my coffee table ever since. Every once in a while I pick it up and go through a couple of new pages filled with great imagerary and a small piece of text.

The book brings us a collection of over 1,000 pictures on street art and city life from multiple hotspots around the world. Japanese skateboarders are followed by graffiti murals in Brazil or the early hip hop scene in NY city.

“Ever since hip-hop and punk music rose from the ashes of urban blight to become two of the most potent youth culture movements of the twentieth century, the world’s streets have taken center stage as vibrant sites of creativity. And in less than a generation, thanks to ease of travel and the Internet, a new global street culture has emerged, bringing all of the world’s diverse subcultures and modes of urban expression together: graffiti, skateboarding and bike messengering, DJing, offbeat fashion, gang life, music, as well as design, photography, and other more traditional visual art.”

Its the the first book to record all these phenomena and a must have/read. Street World: urban culture from five continents by Roger Gastman, Caleb Neelon & Anthony Smyrski is available over at Amazon and off course several libraries near you. I suggest you check it Out.