Thursday, July 24, 2008

"Art is the Humanity inside of yourself." -Daisaku Ikeda

There's nothing better than the feeling a person gets when they come to a realization of what they love to do. Be it for entertainment, profit, or just pure enjoyment. When you love what you do, your rawest/realest awesomeness comes forth.

Here is the perfect example...

Light at the End


This photo was sent to me from a good friend of mine, taken by his wife. It's currently hosted on LA Times, Your Scene section and can be "voted BEST". Please take the time out to go and vote. It means a great deal to have your work shown, and be displayed/critiqued. It means even more when people appreciate it.

http://yourscene.latimes.com/mycapture/photos/JXImage.aspx?ImageID=307989&EventID=555743&CategoryID=40600

CLICK IT ^^^^

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Fireworks to highlight Olympic Games Opening Ceremony

(BEIJING, July 23) -- Fireworks will be set off during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on August 8 to create a joyous and festive atmosphere, an official said on Wednesday.

Wang Ning, deputy director of the Opening & Closing Ceremonies Department of BOCOG, said fireworks of different shapes will be displayed above the main stadium of the Games, Olympic Forest Park and the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall.

For the first time, the shape of the Olympic Rings will be formed in the sky," said Wang, adding that Olympic symbols and elements will be a part of fireworks' designs with an aim to promote Olympic ideals.

Firing skills will feature compressive air launches, chamber pressure launches and computerized ignition technologies, employed for the first time in the display of fireworks, he told the media attending a press conference in Beijing.

To reflect the "Green Olympics" concept, some of the fireworks will use less smoking powder to minimize smoke and dust pollution, Wang said.

The designers intend to highlight the fireworks' effect both on the ceremony's stadium and larger areas around the facility so that the Olympic central zone will be an extension of the ceremony owing to the splendid fireworks.

Cai Guoqiang, a member of the core creative team in charge of visual & special effects of the opening and closing ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics, updated the press on the implementation of a comprehensive design and production project.

He said he joined the team in 2005 and it took him 2 to 3 years to do preparatory work. "Gunpowder is one of the inventions of China, but the fireworks this time are not only for the sake of pumping up the atmosphere, but also have a goal to achieve - playing the role of storyteller," he said.

Cai gave an example: Along the dragon-shaped landscape water system of the Olympic Green, the fireworks will be fired up into yellow and red peonies. The computer ignition system will control the fireworks, and within seconds, the fireworks will span 2 to 3 kilometers following the flag raising process.

During the climax of the art performances, the firing squad will display thousands of pictures of smiling faces collected from around the world, according to Cai's design. At that moment, fireworks will mimic 2008 smiling faces in the sky, said Cai.

On July 16, we conducted the first rehearsal of our Opening Ceremony. Overall, the fireworks rehearsal met our expectations. Our work and operation were tested especially. I want to mention that after the rehearsal, the fireworks caused no damage to the steel bone structure of the National Stadium or to the main brain structure, or to the on-site audiences. Today is 16 days away from the Opening Ceremony, and we are still refining our plan. We hope to make our fireworks the most spectacular part of the Opening Ceremony.

From Yongdingmen to the Tian'anmen Square to the Bird's Nest, we have 29 artistic fireworks which will be displayed. That is from Tiananmen to Yongdingmen to the Bird's Nest to the Forest Parks. In those key areas, we will have fireworks which will last for 10 minutes, leading up to the climax of the Opening Ceremony. We have 73 release sites located surrounding the Bird's Nest. From the director's point of view, we want to make the National Stadium extended to the city center so that people in downtown can also experience part of the Opening Ceremony.

The total amount will be 35,000 shells. Obviously it's a big number; however it is not too much. We are trying to use them in all the key points and key locations. For the 10-second display and the dragon-shaped fireworks, the fact is we are not using too much fireworks. But we are trying to achieve the best effects. From the technological point of view, we are using some of the traditional display shells as seen in other events.

In addition, we are also preparing a vast variety of displays to be special and to be different. Also, we are working on the brightness of all the fireworks so that it can be seen really well on the pictures and on the broadcaster's point of view. We have the air compression lauch system and also the gun pressure release system. With this system, we can better adjust the pressure before lauching so that we can control the height of the fireworks, so this is what we have done technically.

New CCTV Headquarters



As Beijing races to radically redesign its skyline for the summer Olympics, one of the most striking new structures is the headquarters for China's national TV broadcaster. It's billed as the second-largest office building on Earth — second only to the Pentagon.
China Central Television (CCTV), the venerable voice of the communist government, will occupy one of the world's most cutting-edge buildings.

Last month, CCTV celebrated the formal joining — or "shaking hands" — of the two leaning legs of the building that have defied gravity for the past three years of construction, and critics for far longer.

At 54 stories tall, the more than $600 million headquarters is far from setting a record for height. The Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan holds that title with 101 stories until the Burj Dubai skyscraper in the United Arab Emirates is completed with more than 160 stories and snatches it next year.

"You can only lose that race," says Ole Scheeren, the German architect-in-charge of the new CCTV headquarters. Instead, Scheeren, a partner with Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, says they reinvented the traditional skyscraper by turning it into "a tube folded in space."

The structure "breaks every single building code in China," a beaming Scheeren says, but still won the official go-ahead for construction. "The approval authorities were not able to judge if it could function, so the government formed an expert group of the 13 most senior structural engineers — the people who wrote the codes!"

The green light came in 2004, one of several high-profile victories for the Western architects who have turned China's capital into a playground of experimentation.

The CCTV building is the one that will "blow the minds" of American visitors to the Olympics, says site project manager David Howell of San Francisco.

On the bridge where the two leaning legs of the office building meet, an additional 11 stories will go up, with nothing but the Beijing smog below. People with vertigo should avoid the glass floor Scheeren plans for the viewing deck 525 feet above the city's bustling Central Business District.

"I wanted views both horizontally and vertically," Scheeren says. "Being 30 meters (99 feet) up feels more frightening, but at this height, it's so abstract that I find it calming," he says.

BPM 12th Anniv. Party...THE SHIT YOU MISSED!!!

Z-Trip tore the place a new asshole. Muthafucka he's ILLLLLL...

Online Videos by Veoh.com

After Z-Trip did his thing, AM hit the stage...

Online Videos by Veoh.com


Online Videos by Veoh.com

DAFT THE FUCK OUT!

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Sidebar....I LOVE the Plasma Tube Back Drop. I think that's the hottest shit right now.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

DeWalt x M16

What aisle at Home Depot can I find this on...



David Wiggins created this DeWalt M-16 Nail gun, It can drive a 6-D nail thru a 2 X 4 at 200 yards.

The DeWalt rapid-fire nail M16 nail gun is a high-powered, cordless tool, just make sure you wearing safety goggles and Kevlar



Monday, July 21, 2008

Olympic Tickets...

BEIJING, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Ticket transfers for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics have come to an official stop, with some people raking in fat profit and others bringing happiness to others.

The transfer, which started on June 20, finished at 5 p.m. on Monday.

Those who wished to transfer their tickets were required to produce their identity cards and do the transactions at designated branches of the Bank of China. One ticket was transferable only once.

However, neither the Bank of China nor the Olympic organizing committee ticket center could provide the total number of tickets that had been transferred during the period when reached for comment on Tuesday.

Previously, the organizing committee stated "Any resale of Olympic tickets for profit is illegal." It vowed to "support the authorities to crack down on suspected illegal transactions."

Regardless, many tickets were found offered on the Internet at inflated prices. Media reports exposed one extreme case where one 5,000 yuan (731 U.S. dollars) ticket was resold for a staggering 210,000 yuan.

"Such people did go through the right procedures when doing transactions in the bank," said a clerk who declined to be named. "They then charged extra money themselves. We can do nothing about it."

He added the strict policy of the ticket center did help curb the illegal scalping. Tickets were not transferred if problems were found, such as obscure identity card photocopies and unqualified photos or application forms.

While some used the tickets for personal gain, others used the transfers to bring happiness to total strangers.

In Ningbo City in the eastern Zhejiang Province, a man surnamed Wang transferred his ticket to a dying woman for free so she could watch her son perform Wushu at the opening ceremony.

The woman, surnamed Dong, a scrap-collector afflicted with lung cancer, was feared to have only three months to live. Her dream was to see her son, Dingtian, who had been selected to perform on the occasion. Her dream came true when she received a ticket two hours before the Monday deadline.

iRing




Friday, July 18, 2008

Nike Grade School and Grad School Kicks


Nike just released two new pairs of shoes, the Grad School Air Max ‘90 Premium and the Grade School Dunk Low Premium, both Notebook editions. The shoes come in black and white, covered with the camouflage-like pattern seen on school notebooks and the usual notebook paper with blue and red lines. Overall, both pairs have very clever design references that are perfect for back-to-school shopping, but let us enjoy the good summer times for now.



?uestlove x Nike



The Nike 1World collaborations continue as they team up with The Roots drummer and music producer, ?uestlove. ?uestlove has produced for artists such as Common, D’Angelo, and Al Green. These Air Force 1s will be called “?uestos” and are set for release in August 2008. Stay tuned for more information and pictures to come

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Demolition Party



REBIRTH. Belgian designer and artist Arne Quinze created a temporary installation at a five-star Parisian hotel, "Le Royal Monceu", last month before the hotel's closure for a year-long refurbishment.

The installation, called Rebirth, lasted just one night as part of Demolition Party, a VIP event on 26 June at which guests were invited to help destroy fixtures at the hotel.

Le Royal Monceau will reopen next year, with Philippe Starck designing the new interiors.

























THIS IS JUST SICK!

Monday, July 14, 2008

Glow in Santa Monica


Officially, Los Angeles nightlife shuts down long before sunup—unofficially, well, you've got some stories.


But they probably don't yet include an all-girl drum band, or pirates singing lullabies. At least not until this weekend, after you've fueled up for the surreal dusk-till-dawn beach party called Glow—one of the strangest events we've seen in quite some time.


The Santa Monica Pier and Beach will be going all night (first time that's been allowed), having been taken over by a sort of crazed neon party circus. Instead of fanny-packed tourists, you'll find DJs, live music, illuminated "tumbleweeds" floating in the ocean and an orchestra serenading you…while they take a spin on the new solar-powered Ferris wheel.


You'll want to arrive in time for the thundering kickoff performance from Shine, an all-female cadre of drummers and dancers, but if you get tired before dawn, head to the "bonfire" light sculpture, where a thoughtful pirate will send you into naptime with a nice calming sea shanty. (We couldn't, or at least wouldn't, make these things up.)


The inspiration for all this action is the noble grunion, a rare type of shiny sea creature that washes up on Southern California shores during mating season for some late-night breeding on the beach.


It's a ritual you support 100 percent.


Glow, July 19, 7pm-7am, Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica Beach and Palisades Park


Holding my breath...

"Hi innovate,

As the Red Bull Music Academy abacus-robots make their final computations,we are writing to apologise for a necessary 2-day delay in announcing this year's 60 participants for the Academy in Barcelona. The results will now be mailed out on Wednesday. Thanks for applying, and for your patience. We hope this email makes it past any spam-filtration mechanisms.

To the future!
The Academy Team"



WHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?! The anticipation is killing me!

Audi Symphony

This is pretty awesome. A full orchestra, 3 DJs (don't really know what they were doing) and synced video.

Team USA Basketball Anthem



1 track. 16 bars. 4 winners.

Drop a verse for a chance to be featured on the Team USA anthem by Just Blaze.

This summer Team USA will battle in Beijing to take back what's ours, the gold medal. Get in the game and be a part of USA Basketball's official theme song for the 2008 Olympics. For your chance to be featured on the anthem, record a verse showing your support for Kobe, LeBron, J-Kidd and the rest of the squad.

For more info, goto http://www.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikebasketball/en_US/athletes/anthem

Mike Shinoda - Glorious Excess


"When Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory released back in 2000 it was single handedly responsible for putting me through high school, allowing my personality to shine through adversity. Combining everything that was good about music at the time, Linkin Park became a savior through tumultuous times. Emerging as 1/6 of Linkin Park and front man of Fort Minor, Mike Shinoda has become very successful as an artist with his combination of digital art and paintings, not to mention his collaboration with DC Shoes. Following up on the success of Shinoda’s 1st show, “Diamonds, Spades, Hearts, and Clubs”, Mike introduced “Glorious Excess (Born)”, the 1st part of a 2 part show to a packed house at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. With much of the focus on larger scale pieces, they blend his own experiences in the spotlight with a Vanitas style approach. Various artists were on hand including Craola as well as band mate Joe Hahn. Along with the exhibition, DC Shoes released their 2nd Japanese inspired project in conjuction with Shinoda. All proceeds from sales of his artwork and shoe will go toward the Michael K. Shinoda Endowed Scholarship at The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. The show will run from July 12th through August 3rd with the second installment slated for a January 24th, 2009 opening."

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Tower of Babble...Four Levels of Nightlife Mayhem in Hollywood



In a town where walking down the street draws a firestorm of flashbulbs, you've got to get really creative to draw attention elsewhere.

Like opening a surreal four-story funhouse of nightlife mayhem right on Hollywood Boulevard. The Kress kicks off its grand opening Friday.

Originally opened as a department store in 1934, the landmark has been pumped with millions to create a 38,000-square-foot amalgam of dance floors, bars, pan-Asian cuisine and special-events hideaways—you may want to leave a trail of bread crumbs to find your way out. Starting at the bottom, the basement dance floor is surrounded by VIP booths and more purple than Prince's house. (If the women you're with are taking longer than usual in the bathroom, it's probably because there's a champagne bar within…where they can rave about you in peace.)

At street level is the giant Asian-themed restaurant and bar, with a sushi counter in the back and, for a bit of privacy (sort of), a "private" chef's table for 12 behind glass walls. Up a bit further is another golden-accented party pen, which can be reconfigured at will to suit your event's needs, VIP room included. And all the way at the top, a citrus-colored roof bar loaded with cabanas and 360-degree views is for decadent lounging.

If it all seems impossible to digest at once, well, you probably couldn't do it all in one evening anyway.

The Kress, 6608 Hollywood Blvd (parking off Schrader), Hollywood, 323-785-5000

BPM 12th Anniversery Party



Without doubt, one of the best mags out there, especially for LA peeps is BPM. For years.. make it 12 now, we've been dished up whats hot in music, art, style, and culture by the curators over at BPM. Now in there 12 year you don't even have to shell out for the mag anymore, it's digital version is nearly as good print, and free! How they manage to pull it all off, we don't know, but what we do know is they know how to throw a party!

Every Summer some of the world's best DJs and performers come together to celebrate the birthday of the premiere dance and nightflife magazine, BPM. This year is no different...55DSL presents BPM MAGAZINE'S 12TH ANNIVERSARY in association with Kid Robot, Rubber Duck & Sparks. On the main stage this year's lineup includes a live performance by the legendary 2 LIVE CREW joined by DJ performances by none other than Z-TRIP, DJ AM, TROUBLEMAKER and THE BLOODY BEETROOTS who can also be seen the following Saturday at Hard Summer Music Festival (more details on that shortly). As if that wasn't enough, upstairs in the Spider Club it only gets better with GUNS N BOMBS, Italian imports CONGOROCK, THEM JEANS and DJ FASHEN.

This all takes place Wednesday July 16, 2008 at Avalon from 9pm to 2am. And as always, it's completely free!

* courtesy of wiredLA

BPM 12th Anniversery Party

Racing the Batmobile



Toyota F1 Racing with the Batmobile at Silverstone

For the release of the new Batman movie - The Dark Knight and the new race car, the Toyota's TF108.




Monday, July 7, 2008

Facebook X DJ Innovate



I recently created a facebook "fan page" ha ha. Feel free to add.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/dj-innovate/13761115684

Adidas X Beijing


Much attention has been given to Beijing, China this year mainly due the Country’s hosting of the 2008 Olympic games. On July 5th, the adidas Brand Center opened in Beijing, becoming the first ever adidas store to carry both Sport Performance and Sport Style product including Y-3 and adidas Originals. Being the largest adidas store in the world, it measures in at a colossal 3,170m² while occupying 4 floors.

Offering an experience never before seen, the center features a wide range of interactive zones in which consumers can obtain maximum knowledge and test product first hand. Included amongst others will be the miCoach Core Skills, the recently launched mi Originals, mi adidas, a juice bar, a dedicated ‘Urban’ area for pop-up exhibitions and events, a basketball court on the rooftop, a Concierge Desk and last but not least a Kid’s interactive zone. Allowing the public to utilize technologies usually only available to professional sport facilities, the miCoach zone is truly innovative. Offering tour guides, shirt printers and even stylists within the center, it truly is a sports mecca. You can read more details regarding the grand opening here.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

The countdown is on...





I WILL BE THERE IN LESS THAN 30 DAYS!!!




Last Week's Roxy Vid.

The show was GREAT. For those of you that couldn't make it...here you go. I love this for the fact that the DJ is no longer just a human jukebox. The DJ can be seen as putting on an actual show. THANK YOU!

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5


Part 6


Part 7


Part 8

Disney meets KIKS TYO-"Go DJ...that's my DJ..."




Collaborating with one of the most iconic companies in the world, KIKS TYO has released three shirt designs from their Disney meets KIKS TYO collection. Featuring Mickey and his arch-nemesis Pete both characters capture nostalgic memories. The Mickey shirts titled “Mickey’s Shoes” and “DJ Mickey” pretty much represent exactly that, while “Pete” enjoys a self portrait of the big bad bully. Each style is available in three colorways with sizes ranging from XS - XXL. Now available at the KIKS TYO Flagship store in Tokyo.







The somewhat daily ramblings of DJ INnovate