So, last year I made LA my very first marathon ever. I was one of seven featured runners for KABC talk radio who did a sports feature on the history of the race.

When I listen to the audio I think 1) WOW I wish I was still 28 (not that 29 is that  bad)  2) damn, I sound really really chipper for an early Sunday morning trail run – if only I knew what was going to happen to me on race day (I blew out my knee mile 18 and cried the last 8.2 miles till I limped across the finish line) and finally 3) OK, I did not run the Seattle Marathon and I sure as hell am not going to BQ this year…

In fact, I don’t know if I want to qualify for Boston. I still love running, but back then it was a desperate escape from all my problems and now it’s a celebration of who I am. I used to run because I had something to prove to myself and in essence, I felt like I had something to prove to the world: that I am an athlete damn it.

The way I see it now is, I don’t have anything to prove to anyone. I may not be the fastest person in the world or have the best endurance, but I challenge anyone in telling me I don’t have the most heart in doing everything I can to pull through a race. Knowing that, I’ve learned to let go on the worries of time, race photos, age group standings and expectations. I just run because that’s me.

Maisel recently made available a video slideshow, with minimal music by Bjork collaborator Howie B, of his flyovers of Salt Lake; the effect is very near to finding what you want to see in the clouds. You can view the slideshow here.

Those in the San Francisco area can see Maisel’s work on display at SF Camerawork, where he is in Part II of the gallery’s 35th Anniversary show, “An Autobiography of the San Francisco Bay Area: The Future Lasts Forever.” Maisel is featured alongside some of our photography favorites: Todd Hido, Robert Mapplethorpe, and many more.

White on white—from abstract painters Kasimir Malevich and Robert Ryman to the humble tennis shoe, pale monochrome on top of pale monochrome has always proven a classic style. No one knows this dictum better than Mario Lombardo, who has created a distinct aesthetic under the nom de design Bureau.

That’s clear in his poster concept for K-Swiss’ You Gotta Know Your Classics poster campaign, Blond On Blond, where the words and colors (or lack thereof) literally deconstruct off the page. It’s a witty homage to the all-white tennis style epitomized by the K-Swiss Classic shoe, a look that has dominated tennis fashion since… well, the K-Swiss Classic (see history of).

poster & DVD cover for another Rapid Eye Movie

The Berlin-based Lombardo is one of the leading design forces in Europe, re-energizing print media spanning fashion to photography, magazines to corporate design and record labels, garnering numerous awards  with his haunting, unexpected imagery and groundbreaking typography. KSPACE discussed all this and more with the designer who puts “icon” into iconoclasm.

KSPACE: Where are you located? How does your home base influence your sensibility?
Lombardo: Recently I live in Berlin-Mitte; a few years ago I was based in Cologne, Hamburg and Buenos Aires.  When I achingly realized that I really work a lot, I decided to create an environment that keeps me really happy. Now I have a combination of everything I really love. I designed my own furniture out of blackboards and have a lot of lovely people working in my office: we drink good coffee, and as often as I can I cook for us all. . .

KSPACE: How did you start designing? What inspired you? What have been your greatest achievements?
Lombardo: I started designing in the mid-‘90s, always with the goal to design magazines or to make stuff for the music industry. I never thought of making a music magazine, but i did – and I think I’ve done it well. I got over 50 awards for it. Afterwards, I’ve made some fashion, music and politic ones – this was also fun. Now my goal is to combine everything. But I don’t know how to do it yet.

KSPACE: What do you think you bring to the design process? If you had to explain your aesthetic to your grandmother (or mine), how would you do it?
Lombardo: I create poetic pictures with a meta layer, and combine them with a classic typography. I’m not really modern; I never was.

KSPACE: What are your classic influences? What makes a design classic and truly timeless?
Lombardo: My most important influence in my life is music. I also love my family, friends and colleagues, the news and gossip! That all keeps me on the ground. What I also need is stress, but mum’s the word! Don’t tell my other clients!

KSPACE: How did you get involved with this K-Swiss initiative? What were you trying to say about the Classic’s history with your contribution?
Lombardo: I love the thin strokes on the classics. So I made a handmade type out of it. I love to do things with my hands. I wanted to create a camouflage ornament for this poster: white on white, blond on blond.

KSPACE: Lastly, if you could be the all-mighty design guru for humanity, what would you change and instigate globally to make the world a better place?
Lombardo: What? If I would be something like that (If i had the power), my mission would be something like combining all religions into one. I think it’s really silly to fight about something like religion. Do you know moslbuddjewchristhindao? It’s a fragrance a friend of mine, Daniel Josefsohn, created. “Unifaith” – I love this idea.

When the White Stripes do something, they do it fully, as was clear from the Los Angeles premiere of the Detroit-bred duo’s epically brilliant new concert documentary, Under The Great White Northern Lights, at the Egyptian Theater on Tuesday, March 9th: a live bagpiper heralded audience members as they entered, and special red-and-black, White Stripes-themed cupcakes were also served. Yes, no detail goes unspared in making the vision of Meg and Jack White White Stripes Film ReviewWhite Stripes Film ReviewWhite Stripes Film ReviewWh tangible, as the film itself makes abundantly clear. The White Stripes are one of the most gloriously idiosyncratic of all rock bands, doing things their way or the highway, and sometimes those highways are fascinatingly odd: Under The Great White Northern Lights captures moments from the pair’s extensive nationwide 2007 tour of Canada—not just the big cities like Toronto and Vancouver, but also smaller out of the way places in the Yukon like Yellowknife, and an Inuit reservation—places, director Emmett Malloy noted in a Q&A after the screening, that many Canadians don’t even go to.

In addition to the more typical rock shows depicted, the White Stripes played a free, impromptu show in each town, from a show in Newfoundland where they literally played one note (the audience chanting “one more note” as they exited the stage) to a hootenanny on a Winnipeg city bus. Indeed, it’s these moments, and the pauses between concert sequences, that prove most revelatory—like an offhand moment capturing Jack playing boogie-woogie piano backstage while Meg smokes and bobs her head to the rhythm, the chat with a city mayor about the gory joys of local buffalo hunting, or watching Jack White eat (and enjoy) raw caribou. The little details prove deliriously charming as well—like the Canadian flags custom appliquéd to White’s amps, or the fact that Meg’s drum stool has her name emblazoned on it in leather (as if it could be anybody else’s). The film’s style also perfectly suits the subject. Malloy shoots the band in varying patchwork film stocks, alternating between video, grainy black and white and color sixteen millimeter film; even the color sequences have a shockingly lurid, graphic quality that suits the band’s aesthetic just peachy. As well, the editing creates a perfect rhythm: a jump-cut medley proves utterly kinetic, but the action also lingers when necessary to render a moment. Most of all, Under The Great White Northern Lights distills the awesome, visceral power of the White Stripes’ live playing, whether banging out “Icky Thump” in a packed hall, or finger-picking a Blind Willie McTell blues in a reservation rec room. The band’s homemade charisma and sheer work ethic also bleeds through, and staggeringly so; as Malloy noted in the Q&A, “Your brain starts to forget there’s only two people doing it.” The Canada tour was set up to honor the White Stripes’ first decade of existence, and there are candid, fly-on-the-wall sequences, like when Meg White sheds a tear as she sits next to Jack playing a heartfelt piano, but Malloy doesn’t give away too much. Best of all, from the light, humorous moments to the energetic concert sequences, the film manages to impart everything great about the White Stripes without taking away the mystery that makes the duo so compelling—if anything, it adds to it. “Watching the film, you get a little more, but you still know nothing about this band, which is why we all love them so much,” Malloy stated, and he couldn’t be more correct.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Non-Format’s contribution (above) ‘We Killed Canvas, Sorry’ to K-Swiss’ You Gotta Know Your Classics campaign, for example, uses oversize type to crushingly illustrate the theme with subtle absurdist humor and a nod to Constructivism.

KSPACE spoke with Non-Format to get a peek into Ekhorn and Forss’ innovative visual alchemy.

KSPACE: Where are you located? How does your home base influence your sensibility?
Jon: We met and established Non-Format in London. We worked together in our London studio until I moved to the U.S. in 2007. Last year Kjell moved to Oslo, Norway. Neither of us is terribly convinced that our locations have much bearing on our design sensibilities, but it’s difficult to prove that.

KSPACE: How did you start designing? What inspired you? What have been your greatest achievements?
Kjell: I studied design in school, then worked for a while for an advertising agency in Norway before moving to London to study graphic design at Central Saint Martins. I’m inspired by anything and everything that sparks my imagination. Any attempts to narrow it down to specifics would be a fool’s errand.
Jon: I completed one year of foundation studies at Cheltenham School of Art and went on to study graphic design at what is now De Montfort University in Leicester. Our greatest achievement is being able to sustain a working relationship for over ten years and with more than 4,000 miles between us for the last three of them. How do we do it?

Cover/packaging for Jean-Jacques Perrey & Luke Vibert 'Mini Moog' cd

KSPACE: What do you think you bring to the design process? If you had to explain your aesthetic to your grandmother (or mine), how would you do it?
Jon: I think P. Scott Makela summed it up best with his business name: Words & Pictures for Business & Culture. That’s pretty much what we do.

Art direction & complete redesign of Wire '01-'05

KSPACE: What are your “classic” influences? What makes a design classic and truly timeless?
Kjell: Nothing is really timeless. Even nature is constantly in a state of flux.
Jon: But even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day.

KSPACE: How did you get involved with this K-Swiss initiative ? What were you trying to say about the Classic’s history with your contribution?
Kjell: We were invited to contribute a poster design. We were simply trying to convey the message we were given with as much impact and clarity as possible.
Jon: We also wanted to give the K-Swiss Classic a voice. Apparently it’s very polite.

Poster catalogue/program for theatre section of 37th Venice Biennale

KSPACE: Lastly, if you could be the all-mighty design guru for humanity, what would you change and instigate globally to make the world a better place?
Kjell: This sort of question is too difficult to answer. It would be nice to think one simple piece of design could end world hunger and poverty, but everything, no matter how seemingly inconsequential has unexpected side-effects.
Jon: Be careful what you wish for…

Get yourself a copy of the Non-Format design (or any of the 8 original designs) here

I’ve been thinking a lot about why I am running this race in the first place, it’s my second marathon and after my first marathon (LA Marathon 2009) I promised myself that I would never do another 26.2 mile race ever again. Then they announced the course… and now here I am two weeks away from impending marathon numero dos. That thought along brings me to asking myself my next question. Am I a marathoner? Like, officially?

Someone once told me that running a marathon makes you a marathoner no matter how many times you’ve done one. I usually like to tell people who used to run a lot but are currently benched due to injury that “once a runner always a runner” – but what really makes this true? For me, it’s just a mindset. The unwavering decision that you are making that commitment to wake up every morning and go through your training run. The decision that you will drop 2 bucks a pop for gross gunk to shove down your throat every hour that is aptly named “Gu”… not to mention the wholehearted commitment to stretching in weird poses, submitting your body to torture devices like the foam roller, the stick, body glide, silly outfits… the list goes on.

I still ask myself these questions and although I know that my marathons will continue to be few and far between (I do love a good 13.1 race) I’ll have to say yes, if you’ve ever watched the Spirit of the Marathon and cried multiple times (men included) then you have answered that question too. Tomorrow: more tapering. Oh, and in case you were wondering I just received my marathon BIB# = 6546 Runner/Walker, so watch out for it!

Original:

Does the removal of Pecknold’s harmonic partners in Fleet Foxes render this acceptable to the Cheap Monday set? Is that acceptability just as quickly replaced by virtue of it being a Joanna Newsom cover? Is there someone out there willing to waste breath disliking a simple (gospel troped) song sung sweet in a little room? More than likely.

Lil’ Wayne ft. Eminem “Drop the World”:

As this is written Lil’ Wayne finds himself adjusting to coarse prison clothes and a cold bed (they keep it around 55-65 Fahrenheit in prison, for budget concerns, rehabilitation purposes, or both). Eminem, while no stranger to court, has 6,000 thread count pima sheets and a room temperature glass of scotch (horchata?) to dread instead. This may explain the disjointedness of the verses in this song: Weezy in rainy day mode (“You keep the sunshine / Save me the rain / I search but never find / Hurt but never cry / I work and forever try / But I’m cursed so nevermind”), Shady projecting a bombast fuck-you-never-left, the chorus left to reconcile the two while the beep-boop fuzzed-out beat provides an antiseptic blank canvas for them to hash out some journal entries. Easily written off? Or just as easily over thought?

Randy Rhoades’ isolated guitar track from “Crazy Train”:

Listening to “Crazy Train” minus Ozzy, Daisley and Kerslake (finding out who drummed on this track was depressingly internet-difficult, by the way) is an exercise is musical nerdry and a sort of adorable frustration. Rhoads is obviously The Metal Man, credited for pretty much inventing the genre and providing an entire decade (the 80’s, natch) of nancy boys something to aspire to (they never quite did). So, Rhoads’ most famous – not best – track isolated and lonely leaves you in awe, in bored, and in desperate need of the original. So here it is. Oh and children, forget not: study up.

The genre of ‘calligraffiti’ owes its genesis to Meulman’s mentor Anthon Beeke, a self-taught design dust-kicker best known for his “Naked Ladies Alphabet”, who saw in Shoe a shared lean to rile and ruffle feather.  With Beeke’s signposts Muelman came to fuse The Sharpie with classic typography, seeing in the Bauhaus-murdered art of calligraphy a discursive space of high-to-low, which wholly informs Calligraffiti.

” For the record, calligrafitti belongs to the same family as ‘street art,’ or unsanctioned art, e.g., not government sponsored. And calligrafitti is ‘post’-graffiti — not ‘territorial’ graffiti, which is more like dogs peeing to create boundaries.” – Shoe

Also, Common Ground Gallery is no bunch of slouches: “The gallery is situated in the Hip Hop Stützpunkt in Berlin, which is also the base of the publisher. The Common Ground Gallery works closely with artists and activists involved in expressions of Urban Art. Relationships with many of the artists have evolved during a course of more than 25 years of experience and participation in the Global Style Writing Movement and numerous cultural projects, exhibitions and publications in various fields of urban culture.”

Shoe prepping the space for his 2007 show in Amsterdam:

For our KSpace people in Berlin, two events with Shoe happening this week:

Special Event: Calligraffiti, lecture by Niels Meulman and Adam Eeuwens
March 11th @ 8 pm
Basement Bar
Linienstrasse 154 A
10115 Berlin

Opening & Book release party with Niels Meulman and Adam Eeuwens
March 12th @ 7 pm
Special Guests: Die Schallplattenpolizei/Amsterdam + DJs Cat 22 (CTK) & Adrenalin
Common Ground Gallery
Mo-Sa, 2-7pm
Marienburger Str. 16 A
10405 Berlin

Get your own copy now of any of these 8 gems by sending us an email simply with your choice or choices of these Limited Edition posters plus your mailing address and they’ll be on the way to you within a few weeks

We loved The Hurt Locker, and felt it deserved all the Oscars it raked in. It was edgy, it was tough, it was accomplished, it was indie: bravo, Hurt Locker, and bravo, Kathryn Bigelow! However, while The Hurt Locker did make Bigelow the first woman to take home a directing Academy Award, it’s not her greatest cinematic work. No, that would have to go to her late-’80s music video for New Order’s “Touched By The Hand Of God”!!! Props to the Slicing Up Eyeballs blog for dredging this one up, because it is a stone classic. Bigelow, genius that she is, doesn’t give New Order their usual po’ faced, artsy post-modern video trappings: instead, she outfits them in leather and spandex like they were Motley Crue, Aquanet wigs and all, and gets Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook to headbang! Drummer Stephen Morris twists drumsticks and shakes his spiky black mane like he was Tommy Lee, while keyboardist Gillian Gilbert shamelessly rocks a keytar!  Yes, New Order truly let their hair down in this clip–Hook even rocks a W.A.S.P.-style codpiece! Pure class. Rae Dawn Chong even makes an ’80s-tastic cameo! Watching this, one is reminded not of The Hurt Locker, but more that Bigelow once directed Point Break. Who knew she had such a sense of humor, though? If anything, “Touched By The Hand Of God” should at least qualify her to direct Jack Black in something…

Rolling Stone called 1999’s Fruit of the Vine—the first film from filmmaker duo Rick Charnoski and Coan Buddy Nichols, aka Six Stair —“a seminal work of scraped knees, bruised elbows, and big air.” The filmmaking duo made the visceral, exciting Fruit of the Vine in homage to the world of pool skating, and the authenticity and spontaneity of skateboard culture finds itself infecting every frame of Six Stair’s work. The acclaim of Fruit of the Vine, however, led Six Stair to opportunities outside skating, and Charnoski and Nichols have found themselves shooting everything from personal work to commercials, music videos, and more, including an extensive Pearl Jam documentary. Six Stair haven’t neglected the skate genre either with their recent crown-jewel films Deathbowl to Downtown and Blood Shed (for which they’re already planning a sequel).

Click here to view the embedded video.

Naturally, Six Stair’s raw, honest cinematic aesthetic and Los Angeles home base made them the perfect choice to visually capture the essence of Kalifornia through their gritty and scrappy lens in K is for Kalifornia (above top) their first of 3 striking pieces that kicks-off the new K-Swiss video series paying homage to the iconic brand’s Classic heritage. To that end, Six Stair created a series of short, impressionistic, imagistic films that embody Cali’s iconic iconoclasm as a home for sports and creativity.

Recently, KSPACE spoke to Rick and Buddy about the making of “K is for Kalifornia” and what drives their vision as filmmakers, skaters and creators.

Kspace: How did you guys come together as Six Stair? What was the mission?

Rick Charnoski: The mission of Six Stair was to take all our gear, all our boxes of hard drives and random film ephemera, and put it under one roof, where we could produce random creative projects on our own terms.

Coan Buddy Nichols: Six Stair is actually our new company—we were together as NCPfilms for about seven years before we decided to start Six Stair. We made a film together in 1999 called Fruit of the Vine; it did pretty well, and we got some other jobs. I guess we figured we had to have a production company name, even though we were editing in Rick’s bedroom…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Kspace: What was the experience of making your first film, Fruit of the Vine? What did you learn? What fun did you have?

Buddy: Making Fruit of the Vine was super fun, organic and natural. When we made Fruit of the Vine, I had been skating for years and knew almost nothing about the scene. I don’t think we talked about how to do it or made any plans—we just threw ourselves into the mix and shot what was happening. I always thought the underground aspect of skating pools was super cool—I had wanted to skate backyard pools since I was a kid. The film was sort of a scheme to skate tons of pools because its hard to find them, and almost as hard to get people to take you to the ones they have found.

Rick: It was a total learning experience, and the best excuse to take a road trip with your friends and make something out of it. We didn’t know what would come of it.

Kspace: You’re known for your use of Super 8 film—an almost obsolete film stock in this digital era. What is it that drew you to Super 8?

Buddy: Everyone is so excited by Hi-Def, but I think it’s kind of boring. I love film because its real and looks so cool, and Super 8 was the only kind of film that was affordable—the cameras are super cheap, and if you have to, you can transfer the footage using a video camera and a projector. I also love the way it creates a trippy, dreamlike aspect to whatever is being filmed; also, not everyone is using super 8 so that makes it kind of cool, too…

Rick: I like scrappy-looking things. The footage always comes out pre-edited, so your story becomes pretty clear when you get your film back.

Kspace: Six Stair’s point of view comes out of skateboarding. What is it about that world that appealed to you?

Rick: Skating is a magic carpet ride into the weird zones, which is what we try to show in our films. I’ve always liked all things related to skateboarding—punk rock, D.I.Y. graphics on t-shirts, homemade ‘zines, travelling.

Buddy: Being skaters, it was the world we grew up in. We both still skate, and have since we were super young, so it’s what we know.

Kspace: Spike Jonze being the obvious example, why is it that so many filmmakers that come out of the skate culture prove so innovative?

Buddy: I think skating attracts kids who are into the D.I.Y. trip—kids who don’t want to be told what to do by a coach after school, and don’t jive with all the silly rules of most team sports, but still have tons of energy to get out. And in skating, kids make all the rules.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Kspace: Six Stair’s aesthetic is raw—shot off black and white TVs, out of focus, jumpy camera, old film stock. What is that aesthetic trying to communicate?

Buddy:: I never really thought about it. I think both of us see the world through our own filter: we just make stuff that looks cool to us, and that’s how it comes out.  When we released Fruit of the Vine, I was really surprised that so many other people were into it, actually.

Rick: It’s not an aesthetic that we created consciously; it came out of wanting to tell a story and get a film out there without much money. Besides that, life isn’t always clean and perfect visually—sometimes there’s a bug in your eye, or rain or the window, so that’s how the film’s get shot.

Inside Rick and Buddy’s Six Stair lab

Kspace: How did you move that aesthetic from skate films to the music videos, commercials, fashion pieces, shorts and other things that you do? What’s the common thread, if any? How is each different?

Buddy:  Hmmmmm… I guess other people like to see the world as a trippy, dream like place too?

Rick: It’s always the same as the skate films. We just jump in and try to catch the vibe of whatever scene we’re in.

Kspace: How did you get involved with K-Swiss ? What appealed to you about the campaign?

Buddy: We were able to put together a screening in Amsterdam at their K-SPACE interactive Gallery showroom space there and it went off really well. Over a year later, they called and asked if we would be down to create some films, and it sounded like we would be able to do what we wanted.

Rick: The appeal is the challenge of taking someone’s ideas and translating them into a film. Every project is a new little adventure—it gets you out there.

Kspace: How did you devise the visual language for your K for Kalifornia spot? How did it evolve? What were you trying to capture?

Rick: It’s basically California through our lens.

Buddy: That piece came out of years of shooting random stuff around Los Angeles. That’s another bonus of Super 8 film: the cameras are really small, so we almost always have one with us. We were just capturing the trippy stuff you randomly see when you go outside.

Kspace: What is classically classic about California? What is Cali’s appeal to both a visual artist and an athlete?

Buddy: Some places are just classic because they are. As a kid growing up skateboarding on the East Coast and in the Northwest, I always dreamed of being in Southern California because it’s the epicenter. The sun and weather are so awesome, and as an outsider, it always seemed like things were different in there, just like things are different in New York City.

Rick: California has it all and provides a great place to do almost any sport in the world. it’s pretty amazing—I can’t believe this place is broke. How did that happen?

Kspace: You’ve worked with some incredible athletes and individual personalities—Germ, Andy Kessler, Tony Alva, Ray Barbee, Mike Watt, Pearl Jam. What were some memorable moments?

Buddy: A lot of times I will be somewhere filming, and I will turn to Rick and just trip out that we are there. Like, how did this happen? Are we really getting paid to do this? I think most of the good stuff is captured on film! Our website has over five hours of clips up there—lots of the memorable moments.

Rick Charnoski: I trip out every time I find myself in a weird situation with some legend or famous person. I like creative, influential characters that are out there doing crazy shit in the world. That’s why I make films—we try to make a cool film to eternalize the experience.

Kspace: From the editing to the camera moves, Six Stair’s work has a rhythm evocative of music; as well, your soundtracks tend to be interesting, unexpected choices? How does music inspire what you do, and what music in particular?

Buddy: We have always been into editing to music. It’s so fun to start cutting and watch the process change and evolve because of the music the piece is set to. Lots of times, the music almost dictates whole parts of a story or how the story is told.

Rick: For me, music is visual and conjures up ideas. Most of our music comes from people we know, or we make it ourselves. One of our closest collaborators is George Draguns aka Flying Sutra from Philadelphia—we have used his music for every film we’ve made so far, including the K for Kalifornia piece.

Kspace: Lastly, what’s in store for the future of Six Stair?

Buddy: Shooting films and making movies…

Rick: We’re working on a Cameron Crowe film about Pearl Jam for Pearl Jam’s twentieth anniversary. We’re also trying to get funding for a collection of lost and found Super 8 surf/travel films from the ‘70s. Then maybe some more narrative films—we’ll see…

Stay tuned for the next two Six Stair vids Don’t Forget to Look Up (inspired by the upcoming LA Marathon with its new 2010 makeover) and Greg Lutzka and Al Partanen a highly original piece on two generations of skaters who continue to inspire each other.

Check out a whole lot more of Six Stair

Ok, this issue of Jacques is not destined to be rated as a new sports journal, but it may certainly be notable to sports fans if only for its celebration of “fit”-ness. Jacques is a print publication (one of the last standing), a sort of old-school throwback skin mag, that features un-retouched pics of lovely young ladies. Calling itself a “luxury erotic magazine”, Jacques harks back to an era long gone — real models, shot on film, seemingly more intelligent and hip — and for that reason makes the super-HD, glossy, artificial porn seem much less sexy. It’s still totally unsafe for work, but perhaps the ladies will find it easier to stomach. Dare I say, you may even be able to stack the upcoming Sports Issue on the back of the toilet with the other trash mags. In the trailer above, Michea doesn’t seem to fit quite with her context, nor does she even seem like she’s played squash ever in her life, but who’s complaining? This might be a reason to revisit the newsstand.

More: Jacques

So I’m new to this: what is this sport called?
The sport is called Fixed Gear Freestyle or FGFS and it’s awesome.

Why not just ride BMX?
Thats a big question and controversy in the FGFS world right now. But the main thing is that Fixed Gears are for commuting first. Its a bike that you can get places on and crush spots along the way.

Are there ever any Warriors-style clashes?
Haha, I wish! But no not really…this isn’t graffiti or b-boying. But if it were to go down I’d have glass covered knuckles Kickboxer style!

When did Vincent Shim start trying to grind on a Peugeot? They’re not Peugeots, right? They’re made of moon metal or something?
Hahaha. I started fall of ‘07? Mainly just doing skids and trackstands. I got into Keos, barspins and fakies the next summer. Sort of took off from there I guess. Just to say this: I was the first dude in Minneapolis to do Keo’s. Now all these kids are making me look like a joke!

Vincent Shim just has to step it up in 2k10, show the babies how it’s done.
Hell yeah I’m already working on new tricks! Watch out young’uns – old school’s making a comeback!

How did this sport get going?
It started a couple of years ago. A movie called Mash SF came out which was a movie shot in the style of skate videos. It featured a few fixed gear riders from San Francisco. It had a lot of hill bombing and a few tricks. At this time the freestyle aspect of fixed gear riding hadn’t blown up like it is today but it was definitely a starting point. Early spring of 2008 a video came out from Ride/Relax productions called Bootleg Sessions. It featured riders from all over the US, mainly New York, Philly and Seattle…this was a pivotal video in launching the scene. Since then there are a bunch of new videos like Macaframa, Fast Friday, Death Pedal, Bootleg Sessions versions 2-4, The Revival, Council of Doom and No Cassettes.

Where’s it gone from there?
From there it went on to full blown events with movie premiers and trick comps.  In February there’s was a huge throw down in Milwaukee called Midwest Mayhem. It was I think the first organized comp that had riders fly in from all over the country. A bunch of kids from Cali, The Mpls crew, New York, Philly, Texas, Milwaukee of course, Detroit, Virginia…. you name it. Last weekend there was another one called the RVA trick Jam that brought it the same way. The Bike Film Festival in New York I think is going to be the next major event. From there who knows?!

Wasn’t No Age hired by the Bike Film Festival to play? That’s kind of a ‘get’. Nice synergy! [this is not synergy - ed.]
I’m not sure what that means…but No Age rocks! Hahaha

What’s the “bike scene” like in Minneapolis?
The bike scene in Minneapolis is pretty good. Actually really good. Its supposedly has the 2nd highest concentration of cycling commuters behind Portland. There’s a scene for a walks of bikers from Mountain Biking, to Road Cycling, Cyclocross, Urban Commuters and the single speed crowd.

I meant with the fixed gears?
Haha, sorry not great at assumptions…you know why Ving Rhames. Its a great scene. Mike Carney and Jesse Hiliard are from Mpls and they was the first dudes (in the same night) to hit a handrail ever on a fixed gear bike.

Last year your shop was involved in a city-wide bike race for gutter scrub fixie riders, who put that on?
Haha…which race? And gutter scrubs what are those?

Oh maybe that was the all-girl bike race [Babes In Bikeland] I was thinking about and your shop was a check-in spot. I guess I made that whole thing up. But gutter scrubs are all those friends you try and avoid after 4am because they get into some ugly goings-on respectable people like you and me don’t take part in.
Oh, two girls named Chelsea and Kayla put that on. They’re really big advocates of female bikers. They’re actually making an all female biker calender for some kind of fund raiser… that I can’t remember right now…Jameson… Ha yeah people like you and me get into the ugly goings-on before bar close.

People really like to bike in -30F teeth-gnashing, eye-watering weather around there. Do you bike in the winter?
I did bike through a couple of winters… I still try to most days but man… -30 is not kind to the body.

So living in Minnesota slows it down I suppose?
Totally. The guys on the West Coast move at light speed compared to us because they can ride year round. In the winter there is barely any way to ride, so that’s why I snowboard. And snowboarding rocks.

Holy moly. How painful is it to eat shit on one of these giant bikes?
It can be pretty bad man. I sprained my knee really good about 6 weeks ago and I’m still not fully recovered. I busted my ankle last summer and that was pretttty bad. took about 4 months to fully recover from that one.

How many gutter scrubs stop by your store in a given day?
Too many but at the same time not enough.

I read about “Wants Vs. Needs”, something associated with your store somehow in URB, what is it?
It’s the most awesomest party ever on the face of the planet. I can’t even explain how great it is. It’s a monthly party in Minneapolis and we give out free shirts designed by Adam Garcia of The Pressure. It features our awesome DJ’s Espada, Petey Wheatstraw, So Gold and Anton.

Who are some of the bigger FSFG names?
John Prolly, Tom Lamarche, Ed Wonka, Torey Thornton, Mike Carney (Minneapolis boy), Taylor Dwight, Chris Clappe (Da Buthcher), Eric Puckett, Tom Mosher, Tony Fast, Tyler Johnson, Jason Maggied it goes on and on. This shit’s getting huge!

Blogroll!
www.prollyisnotprobably.com
www.vssocial.com
www.bikejerks.com
www.zlogblog.com
www.lovefixe.com
www.bootlegsessions.net
www.allcitycycles.com

Los Angeles Fixed Gear Freestyle from Video Market on Vimeo.

I created a twtvite to have a list of people on twitter so folks know who to cheer for on race day. I’m still trying to figure out whether or not I’ll be live tweeting the marathon (depends on possible iPhone transition). If anyone is interested in LA Marathon pre- or post- race tweetup feel free to ping me for more info. Word on the street is the LA Marathon twitter account is also trying to organize a tweetup (you can follow them here @lamarathon).

Most likely, dinner will be early the night before somewhere near the Staples Center (which is where the packet pick up will be). Italian of course. Not too pricey. I’ll also be sure to update the twtvite for anyone who is interested in going to dinner.

Post race tweetup will be dependent on a few things 1) interest at large and 2) if I make it out alive (kidding – sort of).

The videos below shows Queen Simone in France – railing, ranting, and singing in such confident not-give-a-fuckery we’re all left to wish for one with half her presence in our time of rubbery figures all posture and no compunction. A dozen and one places and memories cross her face: her royalty and happiness and sadness and anger and laser-sharp intelligence…her terribly useful schizophrenia in full demonstration.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The winning entries:

Zombieland

The Lord of the Rings

Seven

Click here to view the embedded video.

First, Apolo Ohno’s recent AT&T Olympic commercial used the XX’s “Intro” as its soundtrack, which meant you heard it constantly between televised events at the 2010 winter games. Then “Intro” started popping up in some of the most bizarre, surprising and effective hip-hop mash-ups.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The first, and probably best, example is the mash-up of the a capella from DMX’s “X Gon’ Give It To Ya” with “Intro.” For one, there’s the pun of all the Xs going down; more significantly, the XX’s spooky, spaghetti western reverb ghost guitars just sound amazing and even more haunting under DMX’s unhinged rhymes. Conversely, placing intro under DMX’s syncopated flow brings out the inherent funkiness in the XX’s arrangements. Forget mash-ups—they should just make hip-hop tracks that sound like this, period.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Another notable use of “Intro” in such a manner is as the backing groove for a mashed-up version of “Runnin’,” the only recorded collaboration between rivals Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac. Again, “Intro” here fits the legendary MCs verses perfectly, emphasizing the inherent drama in the track with a freshness and tension well beyond the expected breakbeats. So Swizz Beats and Timbaland better watch out: if this phenomenon persists, the XX will be stealing production jobs from them any day now… If only.

via The Hood Internet

Chi Running is a methodology developed by ultra runner and tai chi practitioner Danny Dreyer. Although the primary focus in the teaching of this running form is the flow of chi and not speed some very basic running techniques seem to be reiterated through eastern methodology… Namely: Keeping a strong core, posture, proper breathing, mid-foot strike and listening to what your body is telling you.

Whenever I start struggling or hit a training slump I start hyper focusing on my running form and start asking myself if I’ve been keeping all of these things in check. It usually turns out that I’m not, which is likely one of the main reasons I was in a slump in the first place. I also like how Chi Running gets you to mental focus on things like relaxation – which is the primary reason that I run (that and fitting into my skinny jeans). One of my favorite mental exercises with running form that I had actually come up with on my own before I knew it was also a Chi Running technique is: imagining your movement as you run (the posture of your back and the movement of your arms, etc) as a puppet on a string that is being pulled through your head and extremities. This is supposed to help with the flow of “chi” through the body. For me at the time, it was merely a way for me to imagine outside help from the universe in keeping me moving when I thought I was going to collapse from exhaustion.

After Meagan had moved out of state she told me she got a lot of success from training with one of her local Chi Running groups. If you’re interested in checking out Los Angeles Chi Running groups, workshops are listed here.