One of the things I picked up a while back was this tour of Brooklyn he did in the lead up to the World Basketball Festival. For this Nike wanted to connect the Five Boroughs of New York City in a celebration of hoops, culture, and its iconic Air Force 1 sneaker. Five ambassadors from each of the five boroughs were asked to participate in 1LOVE, an online documentary series amongst other things as they also held a basketball tournament and a Manhattan block party.

First up is Brooklyn-raised rapper, songwriter and producer Theophilus London, who gives a little tour of the Brooklyn neighbourhood he grew up in and uncovers what makes his borough unique.

Besides Theophilus the other borrows got to do their thing also. Have a look as it gives you a great view on different communities & cultures which make p the wonderfull city of New York.

Episode 2 for instance features Harlem-raised rapper and XL Recordings artist Ms. Banks. In his short-film Banks discusses the streets she grew up on and takes a close look at the original stomping ground that inspires and influences her.

Episode 3 features Cory Gunz, a Bronx based rapper and Young Money Entertainment star in the make it seems. He gives us a tour of NYC’s northern borough, and according to Cory “The Birthplace of Hip Hop.”

Episode 4 takes us on a trip through Queens with FORMAT: a lifestyle and BMX shop owned by pro BMX rider Nigel Sylvester.

And last but not least, episode 5 features Emilio Sparks of Staten Island.

This reminds me I have to put “visit NYC” on the TO DO list for the next years. Out.

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Wait a second, there’s two Mickey’s?!

Great picture through Sean Bonner. Out.

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Steal cars instead Nuff said. Now get out of here.

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Coca Cola released three short films, Ride, Playground, and Peepshow, to kick off their new campaign for their energy drink Burn. What makes them great? Well, the subtle way they position the brand in it, a different approach from the in your face Redbull ads/clips we all have gotten used to throughout the years.

The first clip is probably the one which will be popping up everywhere, as it features burning skateboarders and shizzle, but definitely also take a look at the other two clips which in my eyes are even better

Ride (above), was directed by Garth Davis in Mexico City. It features a group of skateboarders, who actually were set on fire during the shoot, in order that they left flaming trails in their wake.

The other two films are more straight-up documentaries. Peepshow follows the exploits of a group of young female snowboarders, while Playground focuses on a young Philadelphia rapper who’s speciality is creating beats by hitting and beating objects around him An eye-opener worth watching/listening to. Out.

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A tragedy is what you call the events in Duisburg this passed weekend! Sad to see that the Love Parade turned out to be a disaster for so many people.

Maltese irony is what you might call the screen above. Its a Times of Malta article on the events which took place. I had previously seen the image pass by in several reports but would not have thought to find it over at the Times of Malta site. Irony.

Always need some time to register the fact that the German paramedics are called Maltesers. I remember seeing them around the football stadium in Aachen a couple of weeks back when we went to see the Maltese national squad play Germany in a world cup friendly.

The fact they are called Maltesers and wear a Maltese cross still reigns from the Middle Ages when the Hospitaller Knights roamed the European countryside slashing people in holy wars by the way. But you can read all about this on the better wikipedia pages!

Anyways, I would also like to settle the discussion for once and forever: the Maltese population is made up of Maltese and not Maltesers . Out.

You can find the entire article overhere btw.

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Taught I’d share a couple of pictures of the things we saw in the streets of Ljubljana (our favourite smaller city) as a kick-off.

A fresh milk vending machine

"No to commies"

Space Invader

But for now we’re out.

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As promised, part 2 offf what we saw the passed days in Paris. You can read all about the first day overhere.

Friday – Big beamers keep on beaming

An experienced person is just someone that’s made a lot of mistakes. Hoss is very experienced. This is your opportunity to listen to Hoss do his first ever ‘acoustic set’ ? An intimate sharing of lessons learned, punctuated by the odd bit of work, including his latest collaboration with Rob Chiu, and a very simple explanation of how to be profitable on Apple’s App Store. . That’s what the description stated and I regret that we only caught Hoss Gifford‘s presentation halfway true.

Pity as his Things I have learned was really interesting. Not a shocking keynote but a collection of insights & stories that anyone who’s good in what he does should already have experienced but it was nice as I considered it a little fresh-up course.

“Don’t do anything for free and do not give discounts to new clients as you will never taste the same afterwards” is the one that stuck to me the most. An ongoing discussion I have had with a couple of people lately and his comparison was great. “Its like going to the supermarket, buying 6 yoghurts for the price of 4 and afterwards not finding the same deal.” A wise & bold statement. One to ponder upon amongst others!

Hilarious was also the fact he made an iphone app which has paid his lunch every day. An app that gives you the time, more or less

“Unicorns farting glitter metal band names”

He was soon followed by Tara Mcpherson. I bet you have seen work by her already! A great artist besides being a hot girl with tats (something you do not see a lot on stage at #offf) I am all for more girl designers, … taking the stage next time around

Tara is an artist based out of New York City. Creating art about people and their odd ways, her characters seem to exude an idealized innocence with a glimpse of hard earned wisdom in their eyes. She exhibits her paintings and serigraphs in fine art galleries all over the world. Named the crown princess of poster art by ELLE Magazine, she has created numerous gig posters for rock bands such as Beck, Modest Mouse, and Melvins. Her array of art also includes creating toys with companies like Kidrobot, Dark Horse, and Toy2R, painted comics and covers for DC Vertigo, advertising and editorial illustrations for companies such as Wyden+Kennedy and Spin Magazine, and teaching a class at Parsons in NYC. A lot of stuff you can know her from and worth a look at

The program states that Firstborn came after her? Can not really remember from the top of my head what they showed us, so I will just refer to their website

Knife Party I do remember vividly. It was the point were a little voice inside my head yelled “finally” as our visual appetite had grown more hungry. ‘Coalition of the Willing‘ is an animated film about an online war against global warming in a post-Copenhagen world. It was written by Tim Rayner, who is the brains behind the campaign in this digital struggle against global warming following the failed summit. Bare in mind that the following animation is a collaboration between lots and lots of people who ech took upon themselves a part of the film.

Universal Everything continued to nurture our longing for great stuff. These are the guys who did the international MTV rebrand which means that all you guys have seen their stuff passby. I will let the following clip speak for itself but google them!

MTV / International Rebrand Overview from Universal Everything on Vimeo.

They also did some short reveal films for AOL’s relaunch for instance. These got used in web video, mobile, digital campaigns and outdoor LED displays. Nice stuff to say the least

You can find more stuff on their Vimeo which is worth going through.

Goodby & Silverstein are the big boys who took the stage. They are the agency who brought us the awesome HP ads with Jigga, Gwen Stefani, Jerry Seinfeld, … But they also did this campaign/viral for Häagen-Dazs in order to draw attention on their bee program. Hilarious Homebees

Then something totally different followed: SoSo Limited. These guys take word clouds to a master level as they are specialised in interactive installation and audiovisual performance. They create immersive works that play on the immediacy of live media by creating word art by the analysis of what is said. I can not describe it all that well bt the following clips will emlighten you I guess. The first one for instance is a four minute edit remixing the ministerial debates from the UK.

Sosolimited – Prime Numerics (Taster) from FutureEverything on Vimeo.

Prime Numerics (3 of 10) from Sosolimited on Vimeo.

We ended our Friday at the Wooster Collective meet-up near de Quai de Jemappe by the way. Great to meet Marc & Sara amongst others IRL. We we’re amongst great company to say the least

Saturday – The return

We had to skip the festival Saturday. Other stuff called. Pity as I heard it was the best day. Crowd seemed enthusiastic and some of the previous organisational problems belonged to the past.

That being said, it is a great festival with a good vibe, but we have some liner notes for the band

• communicate better, it is clear that this is not the organisations cup of tea
• queues ain’t good, if you say you can pick up passes earlier stick to it (we travelled a day earlier to the venue for nothing!)
• good WiFi = a must have
• more sanitary provisions
• venues? how about signposting these or at least getting your organization to know where what is
• check peoples tickets, we met a couple of people who got in for free where we paid full price #sad

Btw, its 2010 and we’re in a post-digital time as you all know. Organising means to get all digital communication streamlined can be great. Tell people what tags to use for their pictures, … and give them the tools at the venue in order to share their experiences.

Do not want to end negative though as I had a great time and will recommend the conference to anyone who’s interested in this kind of stuff. Maybe we should finish with the end titles for the sponsors. Yet another great piece of work! See you next year so Out.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Thanks to On Point & Eckelwood for the company and great talks/laughs thoughout the days.

You can still check part one of our report overhere.

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Captain’s log, Saturday 26th June. Returning from Offf 2010 in Paris. Thalys is on time. Mission accomplished.

Wednesday – Check-in for a day in the Sun

Travelled a day earlier to Paris as I had some spots & shops I had been meaning to visit for a while. This meant an early wake-up call in order to catch the Thalys. The call of sneaker, book, … stores & great street art was loud. I could smell it in the air

Arriving in Paris we first headed to our shelter: Hidden Hotel. One of the people behind this concept lodging was so kind to invite us for a stay in their great little hotel while in Paris. Its located in the heart of Paris, a small side street, just 800m or so from the Arc de Triomphe. I can only recommend a stay as its something I had never seen before. I recon I might right a more indepth review on it one of these days

Once we dropped of our lugage and put on some better clothing (hot as hell in Paris passed days) we were offf for some sightseeing and urban discoveries. You can find some pictures overhere and yes, I took way to little pics this time

Thursday – Queuing for beginners

Two hours! Deux heures! Dos whatever! Yes, the amount of time we spent queuing in the shade/sun that Thursday morning. Boring as hell by the way and the reason we missed the opening note But no worries as we were in!

In order to kick offf in style I suggest you have a look at the great opening credits. It gives you an overview of who we saw come by.

OFFF Paris 2010 Titles from OFFF on Vimeo.

Media Temple Animation from (HKI)™ HelloHikimori™ on Vimeo.

HELLOHIKIMORI was the first to really kick off the cool stuff for us. Warming up I guess as we had to get into the right set of mind for the next few days.

I was also looking forward to seeing the guys from H5, mentioned their Oscar winning Logorama before, but heard they chickened out I think they might just have got stuck in Cannes with the train strike which was going on or something else. Too bad they couldn’t continue. Early lunch so!

Craig Ward drew our attention right from the start after a long break in the sun. I was intrigued by his bizarre and beautiful typeface experiments. Check out his site Words Are Pictures to see and learn more, including some really impressive letterpress illustrations.

In his presentation, Craig demonstrated his continuing education in typography while tracing his evolution from designer to typographer to story teller. Fancy words to state he does cool stuff with lettering

Dixon Baxi followed in what I call a promo talk. Hey lets show another showreel and then will show another one. Followed by ooohs & aaahs! Or not. Mainly different idents they did for some television stations, … But nice work to say the least and great entertainment.

DixonBaxi | Five ‘Food Chain’ from DixonBaxi on Vimeo.

DixonBaxi | Five USA ‘Eye Contact’ from DixonBaxi on Vimeo.

We Walk from Christopher Hewitt on Vimeo.

The guys did end with We Walk, which is a short film that stumbles into the journey of a young girl desperate to leave the city in search of isolation and in turn, sleep. Shot in LA and Palm Springs, the film is based on a new poem by Writer, Brett Darling.

Later on we got to see Marc & Sara from Wooster Collective take the stage. Great talk for a fascinated crowd. A crowd that does not follow their blog/site as I had seen everyting they showed us previously I bet they got a new following after this.

They followed what I like to call one prick & 3 French guys (Neville Brody, the British graphic designer together with the people from Bazooka). Some old school fellas who were going to set us young kids straight. They taught they could shock us with ‘pornoghraphic images’ … #fail & out of luck guys. You all get the figurative ball sack as you sucked monkey balls.

Just headed on out from there so. Enough is enough

Stay tuned though as tomorrow morning part II with some stuff that’s really worth a view & read. My sincere apologies if its all a bit chaotic but there really is too much stuff to share Out.

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It has been/will be our main theme the passed days: Paris, the city of lights. Not being blinded by these lights I kept my eyes open. Quick overview of what we saw before posting the Offf report:

fixies & lots of other bikes in all shapes and sizes

cybergoths & even a pirate in the metro

blipstaz, hipsters & further evolved tectonic kids

lots of flourescent stuff (laces, clothes, nail polish, …)

girls sporting an androgynous look

oversized headphones x1000 (way more than in BE)

grannies who think they’re 21 year old spring chickens (simply nasty)

strange shoes, more strange shoes & sneakers

QR-code stickers on traffic signs, rain pipes, …

(cheap/knock-off) Ray Bans everywhere, in all colours imaginable

Besides this all we also spotted some art here and there. The city mainly exists of shitty tags which are in your face everywhere but once every so many many spots you find some real gems. Took way to little pictures this time around and will have to make that up next trip. Out.

All other pictures can be found overhere.

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Back to London. I’ve been meaning to wrote something on the whole fixie culture overthere. Fixed gears galore in London or at least a lot of bikes that look like one as I have a slight feeling part are single gears meant to look like fixies (can’t blame ‘em though as they ain’t cheap).

Just a bit further from our lodge we came across 14BikeCo. Lets just say its a central point for fixie culture in LDN and surroundings.

So if you find yourself in the vicinity and are into bikes you should definitely drop on by. Friendly guys overther who know their wheels.

In the meantime I bought myself a new bike couple of weeks back for the city. Nothing fancy, Trek Hybrid bike, but it gets me along just fine for know while I wait for the perfect frame to drop in front of me Out.

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In the distance we could hear the lonesome vuvuzela … Out.

More pics from the opening weekend over at The Big Picture.

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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.

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through MashKulture

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Landing platform on top of the Thames

Strangest things tend to happen to me lately and last Friday an offer was made which I could not refuse. An offer which saw me return back to London way sooner than expected for a weekend. An offer to experience something once in my lifetime. An offer like no other

Friday morning 10 am

The story starts on my way to the office. I get a call from Imke Dielen, asking if “I would be interested to travel to London for the weekend by helicopter“. Seems there was a flight planned the next day which would be flying empty to London (and back on Sunday) to pick up a regular customer.

Now Imke thought I might be interested as I had stated the week before (upon return from our #youngscum trip) that I’d like to go back as soon as possible. I fell in love with the city, that to say the least. At first I thought she was pulling a good joke on me though, but after having heard the entire story I realised it was true and I had to grab the opportunity. (To be honest it took me an hour before I convinced myself I should drop everything and just go )

As there would be space for 6, a search started and after a couple of tweets, telephone calls, mails and disappointments (as Niel realised he lost his ID card and would not be able to leave the country) our travel party of 6 was formed.

Later that day I got briefed on what was about to happen and was told to  “Forget everything you know about aviation, this is how rich people travel“. No annoying pasport controls, no delays (although we did have like a 15 minute wait upon return proving private airtravel ain’t what it used to be #butdontcryforus), …

Literally flew by the London Eye & Big Ben

Saturday, 10.45 am

Boarding time. First time in a helicoptah and excited as a Catholic priest on Sunday morning we headed out to the heliport of Oostende. There our chariot awaited, a eurocopter AS365. Quick coffee and of we were to cross the channel. Amazing view needless to say (although I got stuck in the middle seat ).

As soon as we touched Britisch soil (or even better asphalt) in Battersea (near the Thames) we got welcomed by to customs officers. “Business or pleasure Sir?” “Pleasure! Felt like having Burger Kind I responded in a sec”. What followed was a hard laugh, yet I still think they believe I meant it

Anyhow, no taxi service or Benson waiting for us. A walk to the nearest overground station is what awaited. Check-in at the Royale Grand Hote, which sounds fancy but nothing more, awaited.

The week-end

What followed was a relaxed 24hour-something visit through London, doing touristy things. Visited the British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, Notting Hill, Picadilly Circus & other well-know spots. All the stuff I had previously ot been able to do really.

The Mayor of Battersea Heliport checking in

Upon return

After our return I was informed that the guys who made this possible are launching http://jethopper.net/. Have a look as they also want to give other people the experience, but that of flying by private jet at an affordable price.

As every day hundreds of private jets move around Europe with no passengers to pick up their owners or to return to their home bases they want to try and give these seats passengers so they at least become a little bit more “green” as the are scheduled anyway.

On their site they offer an interactive map. Once they know you’re interested in certain flights they’ll contact the private jet company and come back to you with the possibilities & details. Who knows, you might find yourself enjoying a millionaire’s private jet on its way to the end of the world, having a unique experience and this for just a fraction of the real cost.

So, this was our story straight out of the sky. If you ever get the chance to do something as insane as this, grab it with your two hands and run with it. Defre did and now he’s the mayor of Battersea Heliport and officially changed his ringtone to the airwolf theme song Out.

PS: Pics of our trip can be viewed overhere. There are some great shots from the sky!

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Well, we’re back on track & OOTB blog business is booming. The passed weekend/days I spent roaming the streets of London, meeting way to cool & interesting people (you knows who you are and we can’t say enough how much I enjoyed hanging out), dicovering new spots & stuff, …

I will write about a bunch off experiences & discoveries but have decided to do this bit by bit as I do not want to create an overload here. In the meantime you can check some pics I took overhere. Defintely have a look as it features some fine street art near East End, a visit to Tate Modern, …

What’s next you might be wondering? Well, Paris for the OFFF Festival I guess and with a bit of luck I will make it to Amsterdam for a weekend also. So a lot stuff to definitely to keep your eyes open out for. Out.

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This passed Sunday shouted for a field-trip. We packed our camera and headed on out.

The afternoon started at Ghent’s finest SMAK where #BGGD28 would take place. On the agenda, a guided tour of Ed Templeton‘s exposition which is being held there. His biggest to date.  We had previously mentioned this one with the opening of Electrified a couple of weeks back. Exiting to say the least as we had missed out on the opening night and we were more than curious to see what mister Toy Machine had to offer.

The main part of our little excursion was Organo0n, Roberta Gigante’s latest work of art or is it artwork though. A part of Electrified, which is hacking public space in Ghent the passed weeks.

Hard to describe Organo0n. What I can say, with my humble opinion, is that I liked the concept and the idea behind it.

I guess by now you are wondering what it exactly was. Well, you know that sound and feeling you have at six in the morning after you have exited a rave or club? That sound in the background of pounding bass? Capture that sound and imagine it blasting through several huge steel pipes. A modern XL didgeridoo we might even call it.

(video through YetAnotherBlog)

Anyways, I took some pictures, but some others also did so here and here. There even is a little piece on the subject from local television station AVS.

Oh, and did I mention it was my first Brussel Girl Geek Dinner ever! Milestone Thanks Vooruit (Karen, Jeroen & Astrid), S.M.A.K. & Clo for the invite. We had a blast. Out.

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It reminded me of Slinkachu, who/which once every so often crosses the online paths I dwell and every time I am surprised by the creativity it brings.

The Little People Project, which name you might also know it by, started back in 2006. It was one of the projects Londen-based street artist Slinkachu found himself entangled in. It involves the creation of very small street-based installations of which he then takes pictures from up-close and further away.

In order to do so miniature train set figurines get remodelled and painted over before they are carefully placed and left behind in the most unexpected spots, in real urban situations, capturing them sight-seeing, camping, grocery shopping, fighting and dying. It is therefore both a street art installation project and a photography project.

“The scenes I set up and the titles I give these scenes aim to reflect the loneliness and melancholy of living in a big city, almost being lost and overwhelmed. But underneath this, there is always some humour. I want people to be able to empathise with the tiny people in my works.”

“In contrast to the propaganda posters of Shepard Fairey or the subversive stencils of Banksy, Slinkachu’s approach to street art is more subtle, more sensitive. You could easily have walk right past one of Slinkachu’s installations and not know it was there. His photographs are key: the close-ups make you feel like a participant, while the far-away shots leave you feeling like a spectator.”

I made a quick selection below, but you can find more overhere and should also definitely keep an eye out of the little people blog. Out.

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Lets tag along in the 605 Ditch in LA with Chad Moore, Mike Ardelean, and Jim Bauer. Flying Lotus brings us some background music. Out.

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