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Killed It again
Archive for March, 2008

Creative Director Yorgo Tloupas of Intersection Magazine recently gave us a look at a sneaker meets bike design. Incorporating the utilitarian bicycle, the wheels have been replaced with special wheels outfitted with 8 pairs of separate sneakers. Watch the bike Fred Flinstone-esque bike in action, sort of.
Source: Arkitip Intelligence

So some how I ended up on the personal blog of Travis from Gym Class Hero’s (pictured above) and discovered he has a dope play list that he put together on muxtape.com. I’m not even a huge GCH fan but when I saw that he had “Tower of Bable on there, I had to post this. Check out his blog and his mix. Links below.
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Play list
Blog

Whilst fixed gear bikes have experienced a substantial rise in popularity in recent times, few if any will ever experience what bike messengers have endured as they paved the way and created a strong foundation for track bikes. In the upcoming exhibition, New York Bike Dreams, photographer and messenger Takuya Sakamoto will share his experiences over the years in a series of photographs taken on the job. The whole sub-culture and lifestyle is revealed in this visual foray into the bike messenger world, in New York none the less. Growing up in Yokohama and Okayama, Sakamoto would become an integral part of Japanese dance culture which included trips to Brazil to train extensively in capoeira. Soon after in 1998, he would move to New York City where he would embrace life as a messenger. With the vast amount of photographic opportunities before him, close friend Eddie Williams would release a book titled “Bike Messengers Life New York City”, bringing to light Sakamoto’s skills behind the camera (albeit a disposable point and shoot).
New York Bike Dreams
March 27th - May 10th 2008
Memes
3 Great Jones St.
New York City 10012
p: 212.420.9955
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I support great works.
More pictures here

Benson Lee has something with this movie. It may not be the most amazing documentary covering the most important subject matter but it is still something special. He has provided people with a tool that can now be used to build and advance the art of breaking . Finally, a mainstream film has been created that can educate the youth properly on what break dancing and urban culture is all about. Till now, people had to put up with the cheesy and unrealistic portrayals of the art seen in movies like “you got served” and “Step Up”. I don’t want to hate on any of the skilled dancers that were in those movies but Planet B-Boy keeps it real where these movies can’t. That is the beauty of a true documentary.
Lee takes viewers on trip around the world in this 90 minute battle of the year. Battle of the year is the most important break dance battle in the world and is held every year in a small suburb in Germany. 18 different countries send their best crews to compete for a chance to be called the best. This film follows 5 of those teams who are all expected to make a lot of noise as they represent the countries that have taken the art form the farthest. (These Teams are from South Korea, Japan, The United States, and France)
As each team opens up to the cameras, you begin to see that for some of these amazing performers, break dancing is all they really have. The dance becomes the blood that flows through them and the heart that keeps them going. These performers become very real and vounerable through their personal issues and current life situations. This is something people aren’t used to seeing from breakers who showcase incredible power moves and extreme agility and focus when they dance. I think is important for people to see because these dancers are just like everybody else with real problem and yet they can still be a part of something so positive and innovative. It’s refreshing to see this kind of passion for hip hop all over the world.
The movie then goes into the battle and showcases the next level of break dancing (which is probably a little dated considering this is from the 2005 BOTY). Regardless its all great on the eyes and most importantly shows how the world can come together through competition to promote a culture most of the world still doesn’t fully understand.
If this is playing in your city you have no excuse not to see it. It was the best movie I’ve seen this year and I will buy this as soon as I can. It’s playing in LA till Thursday
Score: 9/10
