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December 24, 2005
HWL Vol. 4: iPod Video
We freely admit that we have no great desire to be able to watch episodes of "Lost" on a tiny screen outside, say, on the subway, in a Starbucks or anyplace other than on a big 30-inch plasma flat-screen while sitting on a comfortable sofa in a comfrotable living room. But -- hot damn, momma'! -- the iPod video is such a beautiful, svelte and idealized gadget that we do have a great desire to possess one. Not only is it an iPod with video player capability, but it's also slimmer than the current standar iPod form-factor and its screen is bigger. A Japanese filmmaker friend of ours recently bought one and showed it off to us. We were inpressed. The video playback quality and resolution were amazing. The real leap with ultra-small portable video devices, however, will be when battery life can be extended and memory capacity gets a lot bigger, say, to 200 GB-plus, that is, to the point where you can store a lot more video and watch it for a lot longer. As it is now, the iPod Video is just barely worth it if you just want it for watching movies. But, hey, we still want one this holiday season.
Posted by icorsa at 04:00 AM
December 21, 2005
Holiday Wish List Vol. 3: Bose QC2 Noise Reduction Headphones
At $299.00 a pair, these Bose headphones do not come cheap. For serious audiophiles or those who like to find some quiet innerspace, the Bose QC2 are "noise reduction" ear-goggles are the logical choice. The QC2 is a pair of the best, which is part of the reason these are on our holiday wish list (HWL). We've also wanted these Bose phones because New York City is noisy place. Between our neighbor's loud television blasting infomercials at 2:00 am and the ambulance sirens rushing down the streets every few minutes, we are in need of serious noise reduction. People swear by them. Santa, please?
Essential Linkage
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
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
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
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