Bose QC™2 headphones [Bose Website]

Posted by Thurston Ali at 08:45 PM

December 20, 2005

Tees by Japanese Designer Kenzo Minami

There is a new line tees by superstar Japanese graphics -- and now fashion -- designer Kenzo Minami, an immense talent who honed his chops at Parsons School of Design in New York City before returning to Japan to embark on his career. His design work mostly takes the form of convoluted, often black-and-white graphic collages. Minami has designed for global sneaker brands Adidas, Reebok and Nike. Now he's also designing for himself, under his own name.

Essential Linkage

Kenzo Minami Website

Posted by Ray Chan at 11:46 PM

December 14, 2005

On Our iPod: Lady Sovereign - "Vertically Challenged"

There's a lot of hype about 19-year-old U.K. rap sensation Lady Sovereign and her new album "Vertically Challenged." There's also a ton of hype about her becoming the first British grime artist to breakthrough in America. We're not convinced that that will happen, in part because of her at times over-the-top Britishness (be it ghetto-London Britishness, at that, even though it sounds awesome), but also because the grime genre itself is mostly too stark for American mainstream tastes.

We'd love to be wrong on this one, and Lady Sovereign stands a better chance than any other big name on the U.K. grime scene of finding success in the U.S. She has the talent and she's got the beats. "Vertically Challenged" (the title is a reference to Lady's height of 5'1") is not as good as some of her previously released singles promised. As a collection, the disc underperforms.

Lady Sovereign offers up her best on "Random" -- by far her best track -- and "Chi-ching " and "Hoodie." "Random" alone could be one of the best singles of the year and it is -- despite tons of expletives -- the most accessible grime record we've heard. It's certainly the tune with the most infectious hooks. Lady Sovereign will warrant comparisons with Missy Elliott. "Random" sounds like what super producer Timbaland (who produces Missy Elliott's best work) would sound like if he moved to South London and became a grime artist.

Where Lady Sovereign really shines is in her flow and MC style. She's got more attitude than she knows what to do with. And her lyrics take hard -- but clever and funny -- swipes at some big names (Nelly, Chingy) in American hip-hop and U.K. grime. Her numerous Adidas references can get under the skin and on the nerves after a while and are practically screaming out for a sponsorship deal from the German sneaker and apparel maker. Despite some soft spots, "Vertically Challenged" gets the nod from our iPod this week.

Essential Linkage
Lady Sovereign Official Website
BBC Homegrown Interview with Lady Sovereign
Profile: Lady Sovereign [Pitchfork Reviews]

Posted by Supercore at 03:02 AM

December 09, 2005

Holiday Wish List Item 2: Incase / DC Shoes Bag

In our continuing series of posts on our holiday gift wish list, our second entry is the versatile and well-designed co-branded Incase / DC Shoes bag. Even though the bag was announced in the summer, we still want one. Incase has been getting a lot of attention for its excellent and stylish laptop bags, thanks in part to placement in Apple Stores throughout the U.S. DC Shoes, of course, is well known for its skateboarding sneakers and gear. The Incase / DC Shoes collabo bag has dimensions, pockets and pouches custom-fitted for size compatibility with the Apple iPod and iPod Mini, as well as both the 15' and 17' Powerbook. But, as they say, that's not all ... the bag is designed to also carry a skateboard (seriously), which is where DC Shoes enters the equation. So, whaddya' say, Santa?

Essential Links

Incase Website
DC Shoes Website

Posted by Ray Chan at 03:09 AM

December 07, 2005

Graf Bandage as Street Art in New York City

There's a bit of drippy black graf on this green relay-mailbox in Soho in New York City. But it's covered by a cheeky piece of street art in the form of a giant adhesive bandage: A street art dressing for a graf writer's boo boo. Here's a close-up shot (with photog's hand in view) displaying the bandage design. This image was shot using the built-in camera on a Palm Treo 650 Smartphone.
(Global Graphica / Ivan Corsa Photo)

Essential Link

Global Graphica

Posted by Supercore at 01:25 AM

December 05, 2005

Hulger Phone

We've been using Skype so much this past year that we're tempted to permanently disconnect our landline and to rely only on our Treo 650 smartphone and Skype on our laptop for all our phone needs. With the latter in mind, we've got our eyes on a stylish IP phone phone handset than can be jacked into our Apple Powerbook to make those Skype calls feel more like good ol' fashion telephony. The most stylish IP peripheral to hit the market is the Hulger PIP phone. This slim, sexy and colorful series of handsets have a sweet retro-futuristic look to die for.

Essential Links

Hulger Web Site

Posted by Ray Chan at 01:25 AM

December 02, 2005

All We Want for Xmas is a Treo 700

So let's get this party started ... here's the first entry on our Christmashannukah wish list this year. Yup, it's the Palm Treo 700. Fresh on the heals of the popular Treo 650, the barely-off-the-drawing-board 700 will come out way ahead of time exclusively for Verizon first (unlike the 650 which rolled out at basically the same timeframe for Verizon, Sprint and Cingular) in the the U.S. The 700 really improves on the "form factor" of the 650, though it's not immediately obvious at a glance. Look closely though. The full QWERTY keyboard -- one of the best things about the Treo smartphone in the first place -- is a little better spaced out on the 700. The wide-thinnish candy-bar shape has a slightly sharper profile. As for the OS itself, well, we'll have to wait to test-drive an actual Treo 700 in-hand before coming up with a verdict. And we're not sure yet what the improvements will be for the interface or application features. Even though we've got our hands on a Treo 650, we're ready to move on to a 700. Santa, a Treo 700 in our stocking ... pleeeeease!

Posted by Thurston Ali at 02:34 AM

Let the Holiday Shopping Season Begin!

Booy-ya! Sorry for the gap in new posts these past few days. We had the week off for the Thanksgiving holidays. It was a well-deserved, sorely needed break from the business of business, the business of work and the daily deluge of computer interfaces thatn run our lives. But we've been jonesing to get back to the Bathing Ape Massive and start posting again. So, here we are: well-rested and ready for the craziness of the 2005 holiday shopping season that officially kicked off the day after Thanksgiving. Time to get working on our Christmashannukah wish list! What follows over the next few weeks will include our most-lusted-for merch that we'd love to get as gifts this year. (So if any one is paying attention and feeling generous, feel free to put us on your gift-list. :-) ) We swear we've been really, really, nice this year, even though we freely admit to having occasionally been a wee bit naughty (tequila shots are part of our weakness).

Posted by Ray Chan at 01:48 AM

November 23, 2005

I.D. Magazine's Japanese Design Issue is a Keeper

We picked up the November issue of I.D. (International Design) magazine last week. This is rare because though we often flip through the mag every time we're in the bookstore, we seldom actually buy it. But the November 2005 edition has a striking cover that beautifully sums up the theme of this special issue: The Honda ASIMO robot walking in front of a massive glass window with a view overlooking the towering glass-and-steal –and-concrete inner-city sprawl of Tokyo. The theme is Japanese design. But the cover headline and teaser put it best: "Keeping Up with Japanese Design" and "So beautifully strange and oddly familiar--we can't take our eyes off it." The last time I.D. dedicated an entire issue to Japanese design was 1984. Some of the highlights are articles on the designer toy makers a la Kubrick; Osaka indie fashion designer Cosmic Wonder; and Japanese design mags and mag design (this article by Jean Snow of the blogs jeansnow.net and MocoLoco Tokyo). As they say, this one is a keeper.

Essential Links

I.D. Magazine Web Site
jeansnow.Net

Posted by Ray Chan at 12:28 AM

November 22, 2005

Lugz Kicks Eminem's Butt in Video Clip

There has been controversy over the originality of the recent Apple iPod and iTunes television commercial featuring hip-hop star Eminem. The ad is stylistically very similar to a 2002 ad for hip-hop footwear brand Lugz. Amid charges of alleged "video plagiarism" from lawyers repping Lugz, a brilliant commercial mash-up has found its way on to the Net. The video clip uses imagery from the two spots and pits Eminem against Lugz in a royal ass-kicking of the former by the latter. If the Lugz camp is somehow responsible for this commercial, then it is a masterstroke of viral counter-marketing.

Essential Links

iPodz Lugs vs. Eminem TV Commercial Mashup via BitTorrent
BitTorrent Download
Apple iPod + iTunes "Eminem 'Curtain Call'" Commercial [Apple]
Adweek article: Lugz to Apple: 'Cease and Desist'
Luz Official Website
Eminem Official Website

Posted by Ray Chan at 12:14 AM

November 21, 2005

The Wired Store - New York City

Seminal technology and Net culture magazine Wired has hung out its shingle on an expensive and trés fashionable bit of retail space in Soho, New York City. A major magazine opens a store not, mind you, to sell its magazine, but rather to sell many of the products advertised or written about in its glossy pages. It's an interesting idea. But it's not a totally original one, nor is it the best execution of the one. (For a good example, check the small but always interesting and engaging space that is the Tokion store in the Lower East Side of NYC.)

Wired's store displays and sells many of the latest leading-edge consumer products featured in its flagship mag Wired and in its recent new, even more gadget-centric title Wired TEST mag, which is a very polished and -- let's face it -- magalog for those with unquenchable early-adopter techno-lust.

We visited the store last Firday, and we regret to say it was a dissapointment. Being in Soho, and Wired being Wired, and cool techno gadgets being, well, cool techno gadgets, we expected the store's interior and use of space to be something truly inspiring and fitting. It's not. (For a good example of that look at the Moss store a block away, or, for that matter, just about every other retail space in Soho between Broadway and West Broadway.

The space is "creative," but it feels terribly cramped, poorly lit (despite huge windows), and thrown together in a rush and on a tight budget -- it was as if they blew all the money on the lease, which with Soho's absurdly high rents, could have been substantial. Wired should have just looked at Moss or, say, the Yohji Yamamoto or Apple stores a few blocks away and jut plopped down the merch on display stands -- it would've been a better experience.

On balance, Wired store is a cool, interesting development in itself, and we'll visit the shop again soon to see what they do with it, what they have to offer. But as a retail experience, it fails. To its credit, the collection of phones, laptops, solar-energy backpacks and micro computers really is the latest and greatest stuff, much of which would be hard to find at other retailers.

Admittedly, we being long-time Wired readers and among those early-adopter techno-lusting gadget freaks, our expectations had been much higher. Wired could learn a lot from Apple in regard to retailing.

Essential Links

The Wired Store
Wired News

Posted by Ray Chan at 01:35 AM

November 18, 2005

Sony PlayStation 3 Ranked "Most Important" Entertainment Trend in Giant Magazine's "Giant 50" List

Riding the New York City "C" train home from work last night, we were flipping through the November issue of Giant mag. This month's cover touts a feature titled "The Giant 50." The sub-head teaser boasts "The most important people and trends in entertainment--right now!" That's pretty compelling; Giant had our attention. Naturally, we dove right into the thick glossy pages.

The Giant 50 is probably the least predictable "Top-(insert number her)" list we've ever come across in the universe of media fluff that is most entertainment coverage. The list defies expectations more often than not with so many oddball, off-the-wall inclusions, though this very quirkiness seems to lend it some kind of barometric pop-cultural credibility and authenticity--as if the editors and over-consuming entertainment cool hunters at Giant really do know what they're talking about and aren't "just spittin' hype" (as our Web producer-buddy Ivan would say).

Anyway, all we need to tell you is what made the number 1 and 2 on the list to prove our point:

Number 1 is the Sony PlayStation 3. We, mean, for chrissakes, it won't even be released until 2006! But that's the whole point. By making the PS3 number 1, Giant recoginizes just how massively major the whole video games culture and industry (and the underlying technology for them) really are. From that perspective, it makes sense that it would be on the list, even pretty high up on the list. Ok, and, maybe, maaaybe, arguably, number 1. It also reflects the anticipation (going on several years now) and import of the follow-up to the global category-ruler in the video console wars that the PlayStation 2 has been. The coming of the PS3 is a cultural event. It will be--as shallow and pathetic as it may seem--a defining moment for more than one generation of gamers. (We're not kidding.)

And number 2? Charlie Murphy. Ahem ... we said, Charlie Murphy ... CHAR-LIE MUR-PHY. That's right, Eddie Murphy's brother, who in just a couple of years has gone from total obscurity to being the genius behind one of the funniest, instant-classic comedy sketch series in the entire run of Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show. But, c'mon! Number 2? Ok, Giant. We're going to give you the benefit of the doubt on this. Look for Charlie Murphy to be a major comedic force within a few years.

Essential Links

Sony PlayStation 3 [Wikipedia]
Charlie Murphy [IMDb]
Giant Magazine Website

Posted by Thurston Ali at 01:03 AM