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

"Superfeen" is the latest brilliant installment of graf-cum-street art by the renowned New York artist ESPO on this always-parked Soho truck. This panel reads "Go Superfeen Go!" Note the superhero Superfeen's key qualities noted at the sides: "He's not for truth and justice" and "He's for the American Way."The back of the truck is a panel dubbed "Caffeine and Nicotine," wherein an anti-superhero takes a coffee and smoke break. Unfortunately, we weren't carrying the heavier-duty Nikon digital camera that's usually in our bag, so we had to make do with our Treo 650 camera phone, and thus image resolution quality is a bit wanting. (Global Graphica / Ivan Corsa Photo)

Essential Links
Superfeen Caffeine and Nicotine Panel
Global Graphica

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

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

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 here)" 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

Here's another installment from our pals at Global Graphica. It's a post and photo series on a recent ad campaign for Court TV in New York City that involved utilizing an apartment building for a billboard, what the always excellent Ad Rants dubbed "advertecture." In Global Graphica's words ....

It seems like there's clever billboard advertising everywhere in New York City, so when we see a billboard that actually stops us in our tracks and makes us pause and smile (and snap a bunch of pictures while we're at it, too), well, that's something. That's what happened when we saw this massive ad-screen for CourtTV. The ad has been designed as the side of the Soho tenement apartment building upon which it's hung. In the windows, shadows suggest tenants engaged in criminal intrigue. The apartment buildng is at the corner of King St. and 6th Avenue, a block south of Houston St., in a neighborhood that is home to some of the hottest, most acclaimed advertising agencies in the world.

More pictures here and here. (Global Graphica / Ivan Corsa Photo)

Essential Links
Global Graphica
Court TV Creates Advertecture[Ad Rants]

If you count yourself among the New York City noise music massive, there is a good chance that you were in the Lower East Side around midnight last Friday for the Japanther show at Tonic. Japanther's performance was among the most transformative club gigs we'd seen in a while. For Japanther fans, it was probably the most transformative since, well ... since the last Japanther show in NYC. As Williamsburg's finest underground electro-noise punk outfit, Japanther recall bits and torrents of Osaka-style noise and sugary indie-rock melody, sewn together by severe, unapologetic punk riffs, catharthic vocal assaults, electronic-effects, fuzz, distortion and speed. Modified hardware is employed, including that Japanther staple of telephone receivers jerryrigged to microphones to create the squawky, distorted gate for all vocals. The Japanther show was a beautiful, untainted moment of noise-punk performance.

Essential Links

Japanther Website
Japanther "Hidden" Web Site
Tonic New York City Web Site

When we heard about this collaboration between rapping rhyme lyricist MF Doom and mashup maestro Dangermouse, we were salivating in anticipation -- our ears were drooling, boyo!

So when we finally got our paws on Dangerdoom (The Mask and the Mouse), we were ready for some truly original hip-hop. Something not mainstream, but not backpack either.

Dangerdoom lives up expectations. We've been bopping along to the collabo album to and from work everyday this past week -- its that good. But that's what we expect from these guys.

Dangermouse gained global acclaim for the bootleg Grey Album, a startling and skillful mashup of Jay Z's The Black Album and the Beatles' White album. Since then he's gone on to a series of A-list projects, including the recent new album by the Damon Albarn supergroup Gorillaz, "Demon Days."

Then there's Doom, the legendary, mysterious and fiercely independent Chicago rhymemaster who hides his face and identity with his signature metal mask. Brilliant stuff.

Essential Links

Metacritic Reviews of Dangerdoom - The Mouse and the Mask
Dangerdoom Official Website

We caught the new George Clooney-directed film "Good Night and Good Luck" at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas last week here in NYC. The movie is about the politically tide-turning work in the 1950's of legendary TV journalist Edward R. Murrow.

The story is set at the height of the communist "Red Scare." Murrow and his cadre of producers and newsies at CBS helped quash the mass hysteria and fear whipped up by Senator Joesph McCarthy, who led an increasingly irrational and out-of-control investigation of communists in America.

The hysteria, at it's worst, ruined the careers and lives of many innocent citizens suspected and wrongly branded as communists or spies. It was a period in America when "homeland security" had turned into a witchhunt. And Murrow helped bring that and Senator McCarthy to an end.

Though the film centers around Murrow (played by David Straithern) and his work, this is not a biopic of the man himself. The cast's performance really feels like an ensemble effort even though Straithern is the "star."

Given our media and journalism backgrounds, we were really looking forward to this movie. "Good Luck and good Night" doesn't so much disappoint as a film than as a victim of its own hype and universal praise by movie critics.

Don't get us wrong: This is an excellent movie. Its production design and style are stunning. The pace and economy of the script are pitch-perfect. The performances are right on their mark. This is a finely directed piece of movie-making.

But it all seemed to end too soon. The film feels like it wraps up the narrative of this history-making period in modern American journalism without fully giving us the whole story about the people or the era. We felt like there was so much the story could have mined in both the nature of these events and the characters, especially with a man as complex and illuminating as Murrow.

"Good Night and Good Luck" is a testament to the power of the media and an eerily well-timed, relevent allegory and critique of the current political and media climate in the U.S. This is a political film in the guise of historical media-politico drama.

The movie opens and ends with scenes of an event honoring Murrow years later, where the newsman gives a sharply critical speech outlining the failures of television journalism and warning of this failure's ill effects on society. These scenes and Murrows words -- though prescient and serious -- feel heavy-handed to the film's detriment.

That said, "Good Luck and Good Night" is a remarkable and remarkably entertaining movie. Our rating: 4.5 Stars out of 5.

Essential Links

Good Night and Good Luck Movie Web Site

Courtesy of sister street art site Global Graphica ... Here's some recently found work by the street artist known as Buff Monster. This pink Japanese-anime-like character - the "Buff Monster" - can be found in many places in Los Angeles, where the artist lives. But this example is a continent away in lower Manhattan, NYC. Sometimes one of Buff Monster's "X" eyes sports an eyepatch. Sometimes the character's domehead has devil horns or antennae. Here, it sprouts breasts that could be the envy of many a pornstar. According to Tristan Manco in his excellent book "Street Logos," Buff Monster has said that the inspiration for his pink street-art icon was inspired by the rememberance of a sticker he saw in Tokyo, Japan when he was a child. (Global Graphica/Ivan Corsa Photo)

Essential Link

Global Graphica
Buff Monster Strikes Downtown New York City #2
Buff Monster Strikes Downtown New York City #1

A year ago, few people outside of Houston, Texas or the senior circles of hip-hop producers and fans had heard of Bun B. Fewer still would have thought of Houston as a source of hip-hop greatness. And those few who did probably wouldn't have expected Bun B and a host of other Houston rappers, such as Mike Jones and Slim Thug, to be riding high on some of the hottest rap recordings of 2005. But for Bun B, this isn't the rise of a new young star, but rather the unexpected comeback of a seasoned, talented rapper who has been lingering off-stage for way too long after a brief encounter with rap success in the early 1990's. Bun B, who back in the day was part of a group called UKG (Underground Kingz), is symbolic of Houston's long-overdue and slow, simmering emergence. An excellent piece by Sasha Frere-Jones in this week's New Yorker magazine explains why Bun B's new album "Trill" and Houston's singular hip-hop style are now leaving their mark on the genre. So, move over, St. Louis. Out of the way, New York City. Houston is takin' over fo' rizzle.

Essential Links

Bun B Online
Taking It Slow: Houston hip-hop takes over [The New Yorker]

We found this interesting Guardian newspaper article on Muji and its new foray into taking the company's product line one giant step farther by building houses in Japan. The story by Fiona Rattray for the Guardian's recent Observer Design Special does a good job of profiling the company and explaining its business and design philosophy.

First, some disclosure. We are admitted Muji freaks. We became infected with Muji-love in the early 1990's while in the U.K. and a visit to the Japanese chain's London branch in the West End. We developed our addiction and a full-blown case of hopeless devotion to all things Muji years later while in Japan.

Muji, in case you don't know, is the iconic Japanese designer and brand retailer of stationary, household goods, clothes, furniture, CD cases -- almost anything you can imagine for your home or office -- that are utterly devoid of unnecesary decorative flourishes.

Famous for being a brand based on the concept of no-brand, Muji products are often made of translucent plastics, polished stainless steel and brown paper and they come almost exclusively in white, gray or brown.

Muji is about good -- no, first-rate -- design and minimalist style in a way that seems the quintessence of contemporary Japanese aesthetics. Though as Rattray's article points out, one look around the landscape of Tokyo would suggest the Muji style is not so much the essence of Japan as much as a reaction to the nation's cluttered, garish, neon-filled urban environments.

Now Muji is running nature camps and building homes and planning further overseas expansion (a store -- FINALLY -- in New York City in 2006!). Muji, we heart ya'!

Essential Links

Design Special: Your Life in Their Hands [The Guardian, UK]
Muji Online UK
Muji Japan

One of the most acclaimed and controversial game titles ever created has come to the PSP. Rockstar Games has just released "Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories" for the ernormously popular Sony handheld videogame platform released earlier this year. For the PSP, Rockstar went one step better than just converting the Sony PlayStation console version of GTA. As the subtitle "Liberty City Stories" implies, this GTA is something a little different. It's a modified version of the game, both in terms of variation of content and tapping the potential of the PSP technology. The game is still set circa 1999 on the three islands of Liberty City, an urban cliche filled with warring tribes of organized crime. The action still revolves around the avenging gangster Tony Cipriani working all sides of the criminal underworld. Now that this violent and controversial mature-content title is available in a portable format, one wonders if playing such a game in in view of strangers (especialy those with children in tow) will spark hot-tempered public confrontations between GTA gamers and those who disapprove of the game. Culture war, anyone?

Essential Link

Rockstar Games Official Site: "Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories"

From the Global Graphica file: This sticker image of a boy's (man's) face is drawn in such a manner that the illustration could work well as a stencil. The face looks Asian and the bandanna suggests a Japanese sushi maker. "Overconsum" is written on the headcover. Message, anyone?

[Global Graphica / Ivan Corsa Photo]

Essential Links

Global Graphica

The rise of blogs during the past four years from the Internet's old-school margins to the mainstream has made words like blog (from weblog), blogger, blogosphere and the recent "blogebrity" part of the media's discourse on technology, society, politics, culture and media itself. The blogger model, coupled with the features of radio and digital audio, provided the framework for podcasting, which has exploded in just the past year.

Now that Apple has released its video iPod and a platform for distribution of AV podcasts, we may see a similar rise of videologs or vlogs. The ever-increasing growth in bandwidth and broadband connectivity to the home will only help vlogs or video podcasts find a much larger audience.

But vlogging isn't so new. We've been keeping our eyes on a few vlogs during the past year and our favorite is a vlog from New York called Rocket Boom.

Produced by (and "starring") Amanda Congdon, Rocket Boom recently marked its first anniversary. To celebrate, Congdon posted a special vlog entry that shows her dancing in the streets like a maniac at famous locales throughout New York City.

Rocket Boom is produced almost daily. That Congdon has managed to keep the vlog going for a year with consistent -- and consistently entertaining -- vlog posts is a testament to her talent and dedication.

But what's the content like? Rocket Boom is like a blogger's version of The Late Show with David Letterman and the Daily Show with John Stewart, mixed with the DIY, guerrilla aesthetic. But Congdon has a personality, wit and style of humor all her own. Rocket Boom and Congdon have not gone unnoticed, as her audience has grown and with it the amount of bandwidth given to her for free by some supportive Internet angels.

Predictions? We'll say this: Amanda Congdon will be videoblogging's first real star, it's first real ... er, "vlogebrity." Yup. you heard it here first.

Happpy birthday, Rocket Boom!

Essential Links

Rocket Boom One-Year Anniversary - Dancing in NYC Vlog Post

Here's an example of some top-drawer graf on Spring St. in Soho, New York City. We love how the tag bleeds. Nice touch. The tag reads "Kuko," but we could be wrong -- we don't recognize the writer's name or the tag itself. Great style, without being overdone. Making a simple, clean tag stand out with an original design (and without going "wild-style" overboard) is much harder than it looks. (Ivan Corsa Photo)

Essential Links

Global Graphica: Sublime Soho Graf

We wandered into the McNally Robinson bookstore on Prince St. in Soho last night and stumbled across a wonderful art-design book devoted to a distinct Japanese product. "Super #1 Robot: Japanese Robot Toys, 1972-1982" beautifully catalogs a widlly imaginative collection of all sorts of plastic, diecast, aluminum and metallic small-scale play automatons. The period from 1972 to 1982 was the golden age of Japanese robot toys. "Super #1 Robot" is a defintive document of every robot by every Japanese manufacturer of the era. Published by Chronicle books, "Super #1 Robot" is the work of Tokyo-based American writer Matt Alt and LA-based Robert Duban. Saburo Ishizuki, the founder of a couple of well-known robot toy designer-manufacturers, has contributed an afterword that puts the collection into the important Japanese perspective. Brilliant stuff for the coffee table, "Super #1 Robot" is a book that every guest will pick up.

Essential Links

Chronicle Books Webpage: Super #1 Robot