The Brilliance!

I usually don’t buy GQ…or rather, I haven’t in a while…but I was at my local grocery store – the D&W in Gaslight Village and I figured why not, maybe they’ll be some good reading. Lucky I did – cause they did this fresh ‘concept interview’ with Lindsay Lohan… While it didn’t turn out amazing or anything – it was a great concept and execution. The idea was simple: give Lindsay Lohan and the interviewer each a Blackberry and simply print a transcript of their conversations, questions asked, etc…everything. Even how long the responses took. Really pretty brilliant. And of course it they had Terry Richardson to the spreads…that dude…I wonder if he ever imagined working at the level he is at now?! Anyway…good stuff, thumbs up to GQ for the cool concept.

Man oh man I am stepping up my jetsetting game up. I have been m.i.a. in Asia for the last week in a half soaking up the experience of being in arguably the most influential city, Tokyo. To top it off the people I am meeting….sheesh 2 days ago we bumped into then had an impromptu meeting with Hiroshi Fujwara, ran into the girl a couple posts down Lindsay Lohan at Wendys and did the last miute backstage sidestep into front row at Beyonce first show of her tour in front of 30,000 people all like it was nothing. The things I am seeing are on one of those 6-8 month information time lags too. You know I am gonna blow it out once these things happen but everyone has to wait. I would hate to ruin some surprises. But seriously this is one of those life changing trips and I suggest everyone blows out their vacation time and remembers how unimportant keeping your daily routine can be…lobby call in 10 mins, gotta get ready…

I mean, I guess this isn’t a terribly ground-breaking idea – that Google would be chasing wilder ideas than VC’s, but it is interesting to read their comments on it. It’s actually a great inside-look into what makes them what they are. Chase the most outlandish ideas, ones that don’t seem possible…I seriously love that. Honestly. The link below has the full article, but this quote from Salman Ullah of Google kind of sums it up: The crazy ones mean they ignore the usual restraints of investment levels required or design parameters or ‘Gee I need more servers than anyone ever thought was possible.’ When you free yourselves from these constraints, you create crazy, cool things. Seriously, how cool is that? They have such an intense focus on innovation…such a love for it. Very inspiring, I’m actually really happy to see this here in America…where so many other industries are boring and stagnant. Anyway, check this article…really good stuff. *** And how cool is this thing?!

So being off email and internet pretty much all last week I am still catching up on all the news. I heard that Hedi left Dior…I knew his contract situation was up in the air, but wow he kinda quit. I have wanted to do a Dior/Hedi post for a minute for a bunch of different reasons I kept putting it off. He’s that designer that can design anything with a clean edginess. From photography to physical stores to layouts to a ready-to-wear line Hedi is a unanimous talent. I even held off posting about Dior cause the jeans are almost too good. Before you know it middle America is gonna ditch their Seven jeans. But seriously the denim cuts and washes are perfect. His decision to leave has already caused people scoop up whatever pair of Dior jeans are left on the rack. They will be like 1947 LVCs in 40 years. Kris Van Assche is taking his place which is actually an awesome replacement. He’s a little Dior and a little hip hop at the same time. The candidness of Hedi’s outro speaks volumes about him as a designer and the circumstances of art being a business.

What a title for a post…anyways…You’d think with all the namedropping and shine we give to various companies and products, we’d be getting gobs of free stuff, hookups, and emails relentlessly thanking us for driving fives, possibly tens of people to them. No dice. Anyways… Here is a list of things that I use frequently or just on occasion, but that I really love and find totally necessary to live day to day. And by totally necessary I mean could probably manage without them but I think they’re just the BoMb.
+Crest Whitening Expressions Vanilla Mint - This toothpaste is like brushing your teeth with ice cream, I’m serious. You’ll feel like you just got done eating a vanilla ice cream cone mixed with some kind of toothpaste topping.
+On the same track as the last one, Trident Splash Peppermint Vanilla Gum. I keep a pack in my car at all times. This gum is the COOLEST.
+I said it before and I’ll say it again. Triscuits Cracked Pepper & Olive Oil. Eat these with some mozzarella and you’re basically all set. Basically. I had a box of these in my kitchen as well as the Rosemary & Olive Oil ones…my mom was over and she tried them both and said “These taste like stuffing (Rosemary), and these taste like steak (Cracked Pepper)” She was right. It’s like a holiday dinner in a cracker… FINALLY.
+My American Apparel Nylon Taffeta A-Way Jacket, AKA a windbreaker that can roll up into itself and be carried around like a fanny pack or purse. I don’t ever do that though, but if I was like, a hiker or something, then maybe…but yeah…this thing just fits and looks so good. So simple. Great for these beautiful Chicago spring winter-like days.
+TiVo. Actually, I don’t have TiVo, I use whatever Comcast calls their TV recording service…but just as well…recording TV like this…nothing new…but something I find myself constantly grateful for when I don’t feel like sifting through about 1,000 channels plus onDemand…I can just watch old episodes of South Park, Miami Ink, and Ultimate Fighter. And sometimes Doctor 90210.
That’s all I’ve got for now. Tune in next time for “Things I like and use often” when I take a look at my Staples “Easy” button, a calculator with large keys, a Brita filter, and a tub of honey mustard.

I know, I know…the whole ’2.0’ thing isn’t going to be funny in like 3 weeks…I’m just getting the last bit out of my system. Of course I’m going to post on something like this…and true story, I’m actually enjoying my second can of it right now. So yeah, its touted as “the first nutrient-enhanced carbonated soda to be offered by a major brand” from the already number-one selling sugar-free soda maker…and to be honest, the first time I tried it I didn’t really like it, has a weird after taste, but its actually growing on me. I guess it gives you something like 15% of the daily value for niacin and vitamins B6 and B12, and 10% for zinc and magnesium. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that’s probably about 14-15% more than I am getting of those today…ha, so I guess this is a good thing. Just another reason to love Diet Coke.

News Flash! Your town is the ‘New’ New York. Remember when it felt like everything that was cool was only happening in New York. Well now it’s goin down in all sorts of cities. Its going down tonight and its Chicago’s turn. This for real feels good to have a local movement to get behind instead of some obscure band or DJ on some other continent. Benjamin and I will be in the place to support this Hustle Simmons’ show featuring Qualo , The Cool Kids , Hollywood Holt , Mano etc. all at Subterranean. Hip-Hop fans watch this Mic Terror video and tell me there isn’t something refreshing going on here. Now everyone move here straight outta college.

Per Virgil’s previous post – I spent a refreshing weekend in Chicago catching up on live shows, business lunches, roaming the Chicago art museum, shopping, family and friends. Good times. Check our Flickr page at the link below for a little visual re-cap. The show at Subterranean on Thursday was too good (sorry I left early gang)…but seriously, if this is the new hip-hop then please sign me up man. Reminded me of a punk show at Off The Alley back in the day. Just refreshing man – Cool Kids killed it, Mic Terror seriously tore it down…honestly the hi-top-fade-hero is fresh, check for him – Mano and Hollywood Holt did their thing crazy too. Such an entertaining show. The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying the beautiful weather and taking the University Park Metra train to the art museum by myself to zone out a bit…very inspiring and relaxing. It had probably been since high school (maybe a field trip?) since I’d been. I forgot how it feels to wander the perfectly humid halls and see mind-numbing originals in-person feet away from you. If they could talk right?! Yeah…good weekend man. Check the Flickr page.

I met Michael Wanguhu a couple years ago after he contacted me to possibly do some work for a DVD he was working on at the time. He told me it was a documentary about the rise of hip-hop in Kenya, which I thought was pretty interesting, not to mention I knew absolutely nothing about it. Skip ahead a few years later - Michael’s DVD is now complete and available to buy in stores and online. Basically, it is about the Kenyan hip-hop explosion - better known as Genge or Kapuka music - and where it has been, where it is today, and where they believe it is moving forward. The whole thing is very interesting and Michael truly believes in this piece of work he’s put together so show some support, check it out, and pick up the DVD…

Ahh…THE BRILLIANCE loves the whole Ace Hotel brand. They were one of the first ‘real businesses’ to connect with us, and ever since then it’s been a cool relationship. Alex Calderwood, Mr. Ace Hotel himself, was gracious enough to not only do an interview with us but give us (before Virgil joined!) two fresh suites at Ace Seattle for the weekend a year or so ago…a gracious host, and an inspiration with all his team has going. So anyway…we mentioned a while back that they would be doing an Ace Hotel in Portland, well its here, and we are quite happy for them. The Portland setup is on a considerably larger scale than the Seattle location…79 rooms, coffee shop, restaurant, and a gallery exhibit space. I really like that they did an exhibit space – it makes so much sense to have that on-site but its usually so corny at hotels you know? Ace knocks it out of the park of course. So yeah, congrats to Alex and the gang, the whole Ace team, the Neverstop team, Rudy’s Babershop, and his new site www.thepopboutique.com. We’ll be in Portland this summer for a little THE BRILLIANCE get-away weekend…Portland is a creative-hub for sure, renaissance style right now.