Apparently, the slopestyle course was too intense (and dangerous) for seasoned pros like Jon Olson and Tanner Hall, who stayed out, but the kids who went for it, did some interesting stuff:
If you're the least bit into independent skateboard and punk rock culture from LA (I grew up with this stuff, I loved Skateboarder Mag when I was 12), check out this interview with Glen E. Friedman from Shepard Faireys gallery in...you guessed it...Los Angeles:
Isn't this just what the world neeeds? More Skateboard schools. Check out these young social workers in Kabul, Afghanistan, who are giving the local kids something positive to do. Check out their news-section, Germany donated a ton of skateboards to them. Cool! Check out their website! Love that spirit! http://skateistan.org/
Mickey Rourke is definitely back with a great movie. His Golden Globe is well deserved. I tried to find the Leno interview, which was really great, Leno gave him time, and let the person behind the "mask" appear. Rourke did some great early movies, until he kind of lost touch with what movies to stay out of. Let's say he's a similar actor to Johnny Depp, where Johnny has stayed credible for 20 years, until he made the Pirates-movies. Rourke lost the plot around feature film number four in his carreer. Now the Wrestler is basically "Rocky" in a horrible 80's outfit and a wrestling setting, but a very entertaining and heartbreaking film, as well as violent of course. Mickey Rourke plays, and looks the part just fantastic. What's great about his interviews is that he is very humble, and open with how down 'n' out he has been for many years. Watch this home taping of his Golden Globes winning speech:
Wow, its just freaky what these kids can do. In Sweden, all we get on TV and pretty much any news media is stuff like cross-country skiing with rifles, and the usual gate-skiing.
Swedish freeride skiing legend Sverre Liliequist, 37 years old, wins the first (of 3) World Cup events in extreme offpist skiing in Soochi, Russia. Amazing that he still can pull something like this off. Last year, Sweden's Henrik Windstedt won the series. He placed 14th in Soochi 2009. Kaj Zachrisson, another Swede, who has won the Verbier Extreme for several years, ended 21st. Here's a video from the event:
Check out this collection of "widgets", some fake, most real, that count, or tell you what's going on in the world, on the web, and so forth. Clever! http://now.sprint.com/widget/
maybe you missed Tom Morello, playing as his solo act "The Watchman" in 2007, when suddenly he had two guests onstage...Slash (!) and ...Perry Farrell... what can you say? Added later: Wayne Kramer on bass...
James Cameron's upcoming movie for 2009 is apparently going to be in... you won't believe it... 3D! Anyhow, it's a new technology built around plasma screens, called Stereo 3D. The movie, entitled Avatar, is supposed to make Titanic look like a picnic. Will believe it if, and when, I see it:
Dr. Dre, one of the biggest names in "serious" hip hop, has been about to release his upcoming third solo album Detox, or Detoxification for a few years now. He's said he'll release it after the next Eminem album is out. Maybe he's afraid of a Kanye/50 showdown? Anyway, there are some songs out there that you can listen to snippets of, like below. What do I say about Detox, well, it's not as good and revolutionary as The Chronic from 1992, which started the west coast domination of the rap scene that still reigns on today, if you ask me. But it is good, solid, laid back, west coast hip hop, with all the usual Dre trademarks such as: the cool piano grooves that usually distinguishes a Dre production, a bunch of crushing choruses by great female singers, whiney Korg's or whatever it is he uses + the hottest and coolest guest rappers on the "gangsta" side of the scene. Good solid hip hop, delivered by one a top Doctor, and thank you lord, there's no Autotune!:
Malcolm Gladwell, pop sociologist, journalist, bestselling author. A geeky New Yorker in an afro. He gets 40 000 dollars for a speech. Wow. Anyways, I hadn't heard of him until today, starting to check him out. I have now seen his Spaghetti Speech (below) which is great, and started listening to his first book, The tipping point, as an e-book. My first thoughts after only a brief contact is that he and his approach is something of a crossover between Freakanomics/The Long Tail, with some bits of Brian Tracy, and even a little Tony Robbins thrown in. However, intriguing, I like finding "new" interesting authors. (This paragraph added feb 3rd '09. I just found "Blink" by Gladwell in my bookshelf. I bought it on a trip to Chamonix in 2006, but just started reading it, then got preoccupied, and never picked it up again. Will now!)
If you are in LA on Saturday, don't miss this pop cultural historical milestone. The "Zap Masters", four classic hippie/underground/Hot Rod/Surf art pioneers are exhibited with original artwork from back in the day at Copro Nason in Santa Monica. The artists fetaured are Robert Crumb, Rick Griffin, S Clay Wilson & Robert Williams.
Wow, I didn't know this, I always thought Banksy was the inventor of his style. Here, one can clearly see that Banksy has "ripped off" the style, themes, even the rats, the whole concept, from french graffiti artist Blek Le Rat, who have been doing his stuff since the early 80's...
I am an Art Director, Illustrator, writer and artist working in Stockholm, Sweden. This blog will mainly be about my freelance business, Gevert Artworks, and anything that I find interesting within pop culture and , well anything.
Portfolio: www.gevert.se
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