Cool clip of a group of graf writers working on massive pieces in Venice Beach, in Los Angeles.

Over on Global Graphica we've posted a bunch of images from the recent street art exhibition at 11 Spring Street in New York City. Included are these images of massive art works by Shephard Fairey of "Obey/Giant Has a Posse" fame. Good stuff. Check it out, y'all.

Another great, illuminating article in last Sunday's New York Times Magazine was about the recent bust of mixtape megastar DJ Drama and his posse of DJs and mixtape entrepeneurs, lncluding Djs Sense and Cannon. Drama who is one of hip-hop's most influential tastemakers is perhaps better known to the wider public for his work with rap star Lil' Wayne. His Atlanta studio was raided in January because of his alleged music piracy, mostly in the form of mixtape CDs containing unlicensed music and samples by other artists. The irony is that the bust was aided in part by the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents many of the same recording labels for whom DJ Drama is unofficially contracted by to manufacture mixtapes to promote its signed roster of hip-hop artists.

From the Kitchen Diaries viral clips collection on British video Website Fame Game. Absolutely funny. And super awesome!

Merci beaucoup to the one, the only, Jess E. for the tip!

Speaking of the Toyota "Speed Racer" homage on this past weekend's New York Time Magazine cover, here's a video of the intro to the American version of the Japanese anime series.

Yesterday's New York Times Magazine ran a massive article on Japanese automaking giant Toyota and how the company has surprassed General Motors as the world's largest producer of cars. The magazine's cover touted the feature with an eye-catching piece of illustration. The cover art shows a salaryman in white suit posing in front of a recent model Toyota. The pose and composition of the image is a direct reference to the iconic still frame shown in the intro of every episode of television anime classic "Speed Racer," known in Japanese as Mach Go Go Go.

Actor Hugh Grant Splits with Girlfriend Jemima Khan
Anna Nicole Smith is Embalmed
Qantas Hostess Admits to Sex with Actor Ralph Fiennes in Airplane Toilet
Hip-Hop Raptress Foxy Brown Arrested for Assault in Florida
Paris Hilton Bored at Vienna Opera
Nicky Hilton Sued Over Her Hotel Project Fiasco
Recap of the Recent Developments in the Britney Spears Train Wreck

Oh, yeah, people, this is television "news." Oy vay!

The news that Britney Spears has shaved her head was totally unexpected. The media and those people close to Britney have been suggesting that the pop singer is in the middle of a massive mental implosion, the high-voltage nervous breakdown that many have sensed was coming. Who's to blame for hurtling Ms. Spears towards a perceived meltdown? Paris Hilton? K-Fed? The paparazzi? Oh, the gossip rags are going to have a field day. Between Anna Nicole Smith and Britney, the celebrity-obsessed press is already having a great 2007!

We tapped into the Air Massive Premium Denim Fund (PMF) last week and bought a pair of jeans by Seven For All Mankind. We'd been eyeing these for a while, admiring the denim, the stitching, the cut. We tried them not once, but twice, to be extra sure. Our as colleague D.J. explained, finding pair that fit well is the hardest part about shopping for jeans. Due to the financial constraints of PMF, we have to conduct careful denim research before dipping into the fund. The Standard "Brown Munich" jean by For All Mankind is neither brown (it's a deep, dark indigo) nor made in Munich, but it fits extremely well. We deemed it, ahem, fit for purchase and shelled out for a pair. We absolutley love these jeans! The PMF is now depleted, but we've got the rockingest pair of jeans in wardrobe ever.

1. Chamillionaire - If Donald Trump where a a chameleon and a rapper, he would be called "Chamillionaire."
2. Lil' Scrappy - Who knew? Scooby Doo's little nephew likes to get jiggy with it.
3. Common - Being extraordinary is so overrated.
4. Ghostface Killah - Ghost face, poker face--it's all the same when you're a "killah."
5. Chingy - Cuz it's right thurrr!
"
6. Ol' Dirty Bastard - What can ya' say? ... The name speaks for itself. RIP, ODB. Peace!

1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games)
2. The Getaway (Sony Computer Entertainment)
3. Grand Theft Auto III: Vice City (Rockstar Games)
4. FIFA Soccer 2004 (EA Sports)
5. Sim City 4 (Maxis)

This subtly sponsored viral video from Mountain Dew ("Promotional consideration provided by ..." ) is a riot. "Do Your Own Adventure!" with Sue Teller is a fake cable-access-styled show in which octagenarian Sue Teller teaches viewers how to do various youth-oriented DIY projects like spraying graffiti and mixing records. In this episode Teller shows us how to mash up tunes like a professional hip-hop DJ, complete with two turntables and a drum machine. Holla' at ya' girl!

Domo arigato to Jess E. for the tip!

Posted this on sister site Global Graphica ...

The folks at the ever ingenious and creative Graffiti Research Lab have made a clip of their recent anti-advertising campaign. The guerilla effort exploits video panels that display commercials outside subway entrances around New York City. The point is that the thousands of marketing messages we are exposed to on a daily basis is the true graf problem urban dwellers face.

Somebody has developed a quickie Flash game on the Web making fun of Boston and Bostonians and the whole recent brouhaha over the guerilla ad campaign involving LED light boards to promote the television show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." The light boards were mistaken for bombs, and the security response to the supposed terror threat cost the city millions of dollars. Anyway, the silly game is called "Save Boston." It's a whack-a-mole type of amusement that will provide minutes of senseless entertainment on your PC when you should be working.

Oh, boy, this really stinks. Though to be fair to D-lister Vanilla Ice, his flow actually isn't half bad. No, seriously, he can rap. But dropping rhymes on video for an online TurboTax promo based on the concept of user-generated content really begs the question -- How low can a washed-up, late-80's one-hit-wonder fake white rapper go? Appearing on the Surreal Life is bad enough. But this? C'mon.

Anna Nicole Smith Was Planning a Wedding
John Mayer Replies in Japanese When Asked About Jessica Simpson
Ex-Britney Spears Boyfriend Iassac Cohen Kisses and Tells
Paris Hilton's Gal Pal Kim Kardashian to Sue Over Her Sex Tape
Paris Hilton Demands $500K to Appear on British Talk Show
Lindsay Lohan "Loves" Life in Rehab
Mandy Moore Self-Conscious Doing Partial-Nude Scenes
David Beckham's Bodyguards Denied Visas for USA
Kate Moss and Babyshambles Singer Pete Doherty Have Split Up Again, Maybe

1. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - Bloody hell! The British underworld doesn't mess around when it comes to illegal poker games and a half-million pounds worth of illicit herb. Did we mention the copious gunplay? Well, this flick's got that, too. It's bloody, violent AND funny, like Pulp Fiction, but with bad teeth, cockney rhyming slang and a cameo by Sting.
2. The Limey - So, your a 50-something British ex-con just released from prison and you're angry as hell. What are ya' gonna do? You're getting on a plane to L.A. where you will unleash a shitstorm of violence and psychological terror on the dude that double-crossed you years ago.
3. The Anniversary Party - A suprisingly accurate portrayal of Los Angeles' flaky thirty-something entertainment- media- arts-cognoscenti types as they wrestle with dropping ecstasy, barking dogs and hillside home ownership.
4. La Femme Nikita - A sexy, slightly unstable woman works as an assasin for the French government. Sweet!
5. Barton Fink - Dude, this is what happens to New York writers in L.A. when they don't get enough sex.
6. Hedwig and the Angry Inch - This movie ROCKS! Hell hath no fury like a partially trans-gendered woman scorned.

1. "Spirited Away" - Hayao Miyazaki is the boss of anime!
2. "Akira" - The standard by which all sci-fi / futurism anime is measured.
3. "Memories" - Seriously, folks, what the ___? Thought-provoking, mesmerizing and stunning trifecta of short anime films.
3. "Ghost in the Shell" - Okay, so here's the deal: In the future we're all going to become machines. How will you know that you are a machine? You won't have to go to the bathroom anymore. For reals yo! (Kevin Karn, where are you?)

1. Apple iPod Nano - It's sleek, it's sexy, it fits in your shirt pocket.
2. Palm One Treo 700p -The latest Treo with the best form factor and full QWERTY keyboard yet.
3. X-Box 360 - Amazing screen resolution. Wow! Microsoft got it right. Now if only they could do something about the quality of Windows.

1. "Old Phone" on a Cingular Sony Ericsson T616 cell phone.
2. "Star Wars" Theme on a Verizon Kyocera 3035 cell phone.
3. "Milkshake" by Kelis on a brand-spankin' new T-Mobile Nokia 3595 cell phone.

Anna Nicole Smith Paternity Suite Gets Even More Complicated - 3 Men Claim to Be Father of Her Daughter
Sacha Baron Cohen Will Make Borat Movie Sequel?
Gus Van Sant Sentenced for DUI
American Idol Contestant Akron Watson Kicked Off Show
Paris Hilton Buys Edible Bikini for Valentine's Day
Kim Kardashian Sex Tape Revealed
Nicole Richie "Afraid of Prison"
Lindsay Lohan Buys Marilyn Monroe's Apartment

According to witness reports late Friday night, as autopsy results were being released, Anna Nicole Smith was drinking heavily in the days and even hours before her death, so much so that she needed help to walk and was slurring her speech. She made repeated visits to the bar at the hotel where she died and, according to a bartender there, was "tossing back double shots."

This is a shocker. We're no fans of Anna Nicole Smith and deplore much of what she represents, but her sudden death in a Florida hotel room is tragic and sad. The latest reports suggest drug use on Smith's part may have been the cause of death. Like or loathe here, Anna Nicole was an icon.

Among the art projects of photographer Bill Sullivan is one in which he snaps images of people faced with the same physical obstacle, in this case the turnstyles of the New York City subway system. Sullivan secretly took 87 pictures of people, each just at that moment when walking through the exit gates. The result is a series of exhibitions and installations of the images in galleries, as well as on the Web, where you can view all of the
subway turnstyle photos via a cool horizontal-scroll widget.

Domo arigato to Jess E. for the tip.

Anamanaguchi are one of a dzoen or so bands who make up the nascent 8-bit music scene. In 8-bit, musicians use 8-bit electronic equipment -- old computer, Nintendo GameBoys, whatever from the prehistoric age of basic computing -- to create a sound palette. Anamanguchi run traditional instrument through sequencers and filters to pump out the blippy and bleepy 8-bit sound.

(Domo arigato to Chris for the tip.)

In the week after a guerilla marketing agency launched an under-the-radar marketing campaign that turned into a massive bomb scare, we've come across a small guerilla marketing agency in Sweden that is starting to explode onto the ad scene and get on the radar. The company has a most intriguing name. The firm is called Miami, as in the Florida city, except that Miami the agency is in Sweden, as in Scandanavian country known for Absolut vodka, IKEA furniture, and the birthplace of the Volvo. Anyhoo, Miami has a cool -- if kind of dorky -- and unconventionally simple and unintuitive website that shows some of its work.

Paris Hilton Shuts Down Website Selling Her Personal Info and Junk
Actor Ryan O'Neal Arrested After Allegedly Assaulting Son, Shooting Gun
Newsweek Contemplates the Influence of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears on Girls
Beyonce Knowles Voted Most-Desirable Fantasy Girlfriend in Ask.com Poll
Chinese Actress Gong Li Rated More Desirable Than Zhang Ziyi in Ask.com Poll
Kevin "K-Fed" Federline Says He's Sorry About Ad to Food Workers

Compiled by Thurston Ali

They come from the land Down Under. They're awesome graphical t-shirts for sale on the Web from Without Pockets, which runs an online design contest. Oh, boy ... time to pull out our credit card.

Here's an excellent video clip showing how those those "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" LED Ads, which caused the bomb scare in Boston earlier this week, were produced and installed.

The avant-garde artists and guerilla marketers who were arrested after installing myseterious LED ads for Cartoon Network's "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," give a surreal, ridiculous press conference upon emerging from jail. It's pure theater when a couple of guys tell -- with the straightest of faces -- a throng of reporters that they will answers only questions pertaining to "haircuts in the 70's."

"Girls Gone Wild" Impressario Joe Francis Claims Paris Hilton is Better in the Sack Than Linday Lohan, Tara Reid and Kimberly Stewart!
Lindsay Lohan Text Messages Pal from Rehab to Say She WANTS burgers and sex.
Miss USA Confesses to Cocaine Use ... Uh, yeah, no kidding!
Jessica Simpson Botches Lyrics to Boyfriend John Mayer's Song at Concert
Nicole Richie May Go to Jail
Mandy Moore Afraid of Dating
Rosie O' Donnell Rants Get Reviewed

Japanzine magazine, an English-language monthly published in Japan, has an article about two avant-garde musicians from the new generation of Osaka noise bands, Doddodo and OVe-NaXx, whose music is described as "A barrage of pleasurably painful breakcore ..." Move over, Melt Banana.