The Brilliance!

HTTP://WWW.THEBRILLIANCE.COM

We’re really internet and we’re really back. A website about things Benjamin , Chuck , Virgil , and various friends & guests think are interesting. Little-to-no specific focus, a bit odd, speling errors, and incredibly culturally relevant.

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Concept Shop… Pushing those Things.

The use of the internet at its finest. The team over at Concept Shop is THE go to site for getting everything limited from BAPE, Commes, Undercoverism, W)Taps, Number Nine, and anything else that kids talk about on niketalk.com but never actually buy. They have the whole INTERNATIONAL re-seller game LOCKED DOWN. No one else comes close. With bi-monthly updates that sell-out so quick it’s almost hard to believe. I’ve personally seen the better part of an entire re-up get sold out in about 6 hours. And this is not some $99 Karl Lagerfeld jacket at H&M, this is $300-$1000+ hoodies and $200 t-shirts. And they do it all with a 1992 Geocities-style website that is wild slow. You CANNOT knock their hustle. Get that money.

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Nelson Bench… Buy one.

We all love Ikea. Don’t get me wrong, they got fresh stuff. But lets get our ‘classic’ on for a moment. The CLASSIC Nelson Bench from Herman Miller designed by George Nelson’s in 1946. That is old right there. Minimal design is something that very few can actually pull-off. This is a shining example of PERFECTION. $650 for a wood bench? Yes, and it won’t get you any girls, but neither did your corny $350 Nike Dunks. Buy one of these and stop fronting with those lawn chairs you have in your dorm room. In fact, drop out of college and buy a decent condo.

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The Hudson Hotel NYC… What’s really good?

Philippe Starck, fresh hotel right here. But lets get something out of the way. I have NEVER stayed in a hotel with rooms as small as the Hudson. I mean, wowzers. They should have bunk-beds…for real. Other than the crazy small rooms, it is brilliant. The whole vibe is perfect. The bar is nuts. The lighting and furniture treatments are perfect. The library with the pool table is sick too. The concierge, GREAT service. Is it worth the money? I would say yes.

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Take a vacation to Fiji. I’ll split it with you.

Tahiti, Fiji, Bora-Bora, Moorea. Any of them. We must be wired as humans to be mezmerized by islands and the whole idea of paradise. A trip to fiji is to travel like Louis Vuitton is to luggage. In fact, you should really only use Louis Vuitton luggage when traveling to fiji. I’ll be honest, I have never been to tahiti/fiji. It is my dream destination, I just haven’t made it happen yet. When I do, I have a feeling it may be using a one-way ticket. WHY would you EVER want to leave a place that looks like that? Flights will hit you for about $4750-$5000+ and you can only imagined how many hours. Thats why they keep making bigger ipods, for real, these flights are long. Water that is 16 different hues of blue, empty white beaches, and I am sure the girls that live there are fly.

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Benz CLS500… I’m not playing, I’m just saying…

Cars… Rolling in a Benz… What can I say… Driving a car you dropped plenty of $$$ on, pulling up to valet on your Ave of choice… Wow… Call me vain, but it’s just one of those things. The new CLS for Mercedes is an interesting car. I felt the need to share my thoughts on it. It’s hot, fast, expensive, brings attention to the owner, etc… But take a look at the design, we have something new here. The ‘saggy’ back, the beautiful inteior, the wheels, it really does set a new standard. My favorite car? Not at all. But I did feel it was worth a mention here.

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Chanel Rhinestone Sunglasses… Just something about these.

Chanel on a guy? RHINESTONES on a guy? Remember kids, wear the fashion don’t let the fashion wear you? That’s what’s really good. These (see link below) are what I’m talking about… Clean lines, classic designer, and just enough logo to make people hate on you. I’m thinking a pair of your favorite perfect-fitting distressed jeans (levis/helmut lang), sneakers of your choice (stan smith), a white t-shirt, and if your as perfectr as I am you would throw some sort of hoody on with this… And don’t go to the mall wearing this. Or just don’t ever to to the mall in general. This outfit is for events only. YESSIR!

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Edamame… If you don’t know, you better ask somebody.

$1.99 can instantly bring you into the ‘cool’ crowd. That may not hold true for everyone, some of you are just hopeless. Edamame is a raw soy bean harvested at the peak of ripening that is one of the best tasting side-dishes I have had in the longest. I started eating it like a year ago (I know I’m late) and I have pretty much devoured a bag or two a weak since then. Here’s whats good: $1.99 for a 1 pound bag, throw half a bag in boiling pot of your choice (Williams-Sonoma, step your pot game up!), fill with water so the beans are submerged, add a bit of salt, bring to a boil, strain the beans, throw them in/on a bowl/plate, splrinkle some sea-salt… Eat them… You know hjow you pull a jolly-rancher out of its wrapper with you teeth? Same way you eat edamame, except you look WAY more important. Bring your girl back to the condo (your dorm room), serve some steaming edamame, email THE BRILLIANCE with the results… Drop-drop-drop it like it’s hot!