I love the holidays, more than you could possibly imagine. Gifts, food, carols, snow, fat jolly guys, little people, red, green, bells, lights, credit cards, debt, frolicking, family, and the list could go on and on. But this holiday season I found something that has really brought a daily holiday delight right to my computer. I recently discovered Santa Claus on Twitter! I thought well I should share such a joyous occasion with all, so here’s his address; http://twitter.com/loadedsanta and from what I understand following him gains you major “nice” points. No lump of coal for me this year. Fuck ya!
Pushing skateboarding as far as it pushes us — Scoff Skateboarding…
It all started with an idea and passion. Add a little kick ass from an entrepreneur leadership class. Then mix it with practicality and necessity. Last drop a hit of craziness and Scoff skateboarding became the brainchild of Jason Huewe.
“I’m a very creative individual;” Huewe said. “A guy with crazy ideas.”
That was 2004. Those crazy ideas have led to very practical needs. Huewe, a skateboarder since Jr. High, noticed a constant need for all skateboarders that nobody in the market was providing–shoe laces. Not any ordinary shoe laces, but laces that could withstand the torture a skateboarder puts them through.
“What is the first thing that wears out when skateboarding>” Huewe said. “Shoe laces would always come untied, ripped, frayed.”
Through trial and error, Huewe created a technique to re-enforce first the tips of shoe laces and eventually the entire lace.
Broken down, the Skatelace is 2 to 3 times resistant to abrasion, guaranteed not to fray in reinforced areas, and when finished the lace is stiffer than normal. This allows it to grip the majority of the lace holes in your shoes keeping them tight when untied and even after the lace breaks. The last 8 inches of the skatelaces are left untreated from the process to make it easier to lace your shoes.
They are the only lace to combine the 3 aspects of abrasion resistant, non-fraying abilities, and gorilla gripping technology into the single lace. They go through our own in house reinforcement process that actually bonds the threads of the lace, giving it its high fray resistant abilities. This also means that the lace can withstand high tensile strength even after being broken. For example, the skatelace breaks and instead of tying it back together (or throwing it away) you can grab a stapler and pound 3 staples into the 2 broken ends of the lace and continue skating. Having no worries of the lace becoming unraveled by the pulling staples due to fused threads, the staple would actually be more likely to bend and come out before the lace unravels. (From www.scoffskateboarding.com)
Out of this world. Something that seems so common place, had not been approached by any major shoe/ shoe lace manufacturers. Scoff Skateboarding has begun business to business talks with major brand names from a wide market–not just skateboarding.
Huewe’s philosophy; “keep everything simple and bold.” Scoff’s Skatelaces are the perfect example of this. A simple need with a bold application.
Round two, enter the Scoff Project. Goal: build a mega mini ramp. Huewe got his idea of putting a mega mini ramp in his parent’s backyard from various threads online.
“Had some old wood, started at eight foot,” Huewe said. “A year later, I thought I want to make something legit and film it being built.”
Thus the inception of the Scoff Project. The first attempt started with no plans, no sponsors, just friends and an idea. Built, but not “legit” enough.
“Version 2.1, six months passed. Started trying to get sponsors,” Huewe said. “October 4, 2007 started construction with 20 plus volunteers–skateboarders, filmers…”
The Scoff Project since has gained the likes of Grind TV, Birdhouse, and Monster energy drinks. After many a hiccup and $2,000, the project is 3/4 complete. To push through and finish, Scoff Skateboarding has been trying to raise money through their website and sales of t-shirts.
All the progress and work has been documented through film–with hours and hours of video.
Scoff Skateboarding, has rolled with the punches, but always maintained its identity. With state of the art shoe laces in route to mass production, Scoff continues to innovate with another 5 or so projects/ideas waiting at the helm.
“Setting a high standard for ourselves we made a promise to develop the most practical, eduring, and original innovations.” (from www.scoffskateboarding.com)
Stumbling through i-tunes looking for the perfect music for the perfect beer and perfect night and low and behold what slaps me in the face–Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. At first glance, I’m thinking old 60s band, they had the big bus, the hazy photos, the long, the frivilous clothing and the care free spirit. But no, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’s first full length release was sometime in July 2009. Double click on the first song. Sounding good. Then the second, the third…the sixth and so on. Hook, line and sinker, I was snagged and reeled in without a fight. An album all to its own with smoothingly catchy beats and clear concise lyrics. The rythmic beats make you tap your foot and beat the wheel. There’s something special about Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. This album without a doubt is a must to check out and they’ll be cruzing through California throughout the next month. I’ve never seen them live, but from the reviews it sounds like a must see. Only fitting way to finish this up would be with a “peace.”
Danger Mouse, best known probably for being half of Gnarls Barkley and the chart topper, “Crazy,” but Danger Mouse has been around for a few years prior to that ensemble including an album with MF Doom and Gnarl Barkley’s first release (which blows the second release to pieces, if you haven’t heard it, you have to check it out). This knew compilation from Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse is amazing, and surprising. The album was due to be released with a book of visuals from David Lynch, but record execs pulled the plug on the album, so Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse sent each copy of the book with a CD-R of the album. They are currently sold out of the book at dnots.com but they have the CD-R with a poster. You can also grab a copy just about anywhere on the web and listen to the entire album at npr.org. Worth checking out.
The Clayton Brothers will have an opening exhibition this Saturday, July 18 at Patrick Painter Inc. Awesome artwork, if you’re in LA definitely worth stopping by. Details are below. For more information check out http://claytonbrothers.com.
SOLO GALLERY EXHIBITION: PATRICK PAINTER INC.
Rob and Christian are pleased to announce their first solo California exhibition in six years with
Patrick Painter Inc. Santa Monica, California. Exhibition opens July 18, 2009.
Ever since gas prices started rising, the economy took a downward turn and there was an onslaught of “go green” campaigns bike shops have been hitting record numbers and new shops are opening left and right. With new shops and an increased interest in biking and bikes there has been a new focus on design, color and usability. Top manufacturers and smaller manufacturers alike have been rolling out some awesome new “urban/commuter” bikes that make commuting easy and stylish. Prices range, but these are not your $4,000 road bikes. Good bikes are upwards of $900, but all ranges are available. Check out a great list of 2009 bikes in varried ranges at Urban Velo. When choosing a bike, there is no full fledge method for each rider. The best thing to do is test ride each bike that your interested in. All sizes vary depending on the company and size is only the beginning.
Trek District
Trek’s new belt-driven District single speed commuter bike is out of this world smooth, but not sure on the amount of “chain slippage” on major uphills. Great for flat areas though.
So being Father’s Day and all, I needed to show my pops the true recognition he deserved, so I ran out around 12pm to get him the perfect card, like any good son should. After a stop at REI and a burger at In-n-Out, I wandered over to Vromans. Of course being my luck, most the Father’s Day cards were already gone–I blamed Vromans for under stocking because of the recession, but that’s another story in its self. Anyway, found a card, cheasy nonetheless and long story short is I happened upon some of the most “laugh out loud” funny cards I have ever seen– Bald Guy Greetings. The dark, sketched drawings stepped right in line with the sadistic, sarcastic, absolutely hilarious nature of these cards. A few lines below and some images, but a must check out if you’re the card sending type — fuck it, even if you’re not, these cards are, like I said, “laugh out loud” funny. Check it at baldguygreetings.com.
I got wind of the new Mos Def album to be released June 9, 2009 from Facebook with rumbles of the best thing since “black on both sides,” a fucking amazing ensemble of conscious, lyrical, instrumental, soulful, and strick beats of hip-hop at it’s best — all I gotta say is ms. fat booty. Then came “black star” with Talib Kweli and since it’s been a few solo attempts that over-achieved to disaster. ECSTATIC taps into Mos Def’s original recipe — mellow but deep, hard but soft, each song to its own. It’s not overworked. This is not an album to make a buck or just to get back into the studio. This album won’t hit the top of the charts, you won’t hear this on the radio, and it won’t be shoved down your throats by MTV, but it should. Mos Def is no secret, and nor should he be. He is an artist, and in this realm his canvas is a microphone. Album releasing on itunes, June 9, but if you need an introduction to Mos Def, there is no better introduction than “black on both sides,” $7.99 on itunes. For more on Mos Def, the album and hip-hop check out; www.myspace.com/mosdef .
This is some pretty cool stuff from some awesome digital artists. It’s hosted by the Coudal Partners, a design, advertising and interactive studio in Chicago, so I’ll let them explain what it’s all about;
We’re hosting a series of live design events called Layer Tennis. The season wouldn’t have happened without the support of Adobe® Creative Suite® 4, the weapon of choice for Layer Tennis players and creative professionals everywhere.
We’ll be playing matches using video, animation, sound, photos, type and lots more, but the basic idea is the same no matter what tools are in use. Two competitors will swap a file back and forth in real-time, adding to and embellishing the work. Each artist gets fifteen minutes to complete a “volley” and then we post it to the site live. A third participant, a writer, provides play-by-play commentary on the action, as it happens. A match lasts for ten volleys and when it’s complete, Season Ticket Holders tell us what they think and we’ll declare a winner.
Okay this is a first, but each month we, here at lean green, would like to feature an artist. Kind of a shout out to all the creative people out there, give them some exposure and a type of online gallery opening. This month we are featuring an awesome photographer, Isaac Riley (Isaac’s Eye Photography). He has been rockin the camera for a couple years now and really taken off. Apart from shooting high fashion and glamour throughout California, Riley thows it down when it comes to weddings, events and portraits. He has truely come into his own. If nothing else leave Isaac some props for his mastery and we hope to see much more from him in the future. Below is some Q&A and a gammet of some of his shots. For more of Isaac’s photos, check out www.isaacseyephotography.com .
ME: How did you start?
ISAAC: It all started when I needed photos of myself to put on my MySpace. I put up a sheet and used light on either side of me. I had a friend take a photo of me and I did the same for him. After posting them on MySpace, MySpace users asked me who took the photos and how much. It’s been a long road in regard to photography. It took lots of money for one thing, but has been very rewarding.
ME: Influences?
ISAAC: America’s Next Top Model
ME: What do you look for when photographing?
ISAAC: I look to capture the essence and beauty of everything I focus on. Whether it’s landscapes or a photo of a person.
ME: How do you continue to push the edge and improve?
ISAAC: Learning things on my own and allowing myself to push for new creative ways to learn and build off of what was learned previously.
ME: Why do you do what you do?
ISAAC: I love the way it makes me feel, I feel free to do what I want without anyone telling me what to do. I see art while taking photos and the end result is always rewarding. And most importantly making people that I work with happy is always a plus. My inspiration comes from the ability to make known what I love through my work.
ME: Hopes/future?
ISAAC: I would love to work for a modeling agency and shoot models from all over the world.
ME: How do you know when you got a good photo?
ISAAC: Clarity, great lighting, and capturing the person’s inner and outer being tells me that I took a good photo.
I’ve seen Isaac grow and improve and he has now reached a level where he can conquer the world. If like his stuff, let him know. He’s also connected with MySpace, email, isrealpaints@sbcglobal.net.
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