Gimme 5/Hideout sale!

As sales go this was pretty decent. Before opening there was line wrapped around the store, loads of hungry heads looking to strip that place bare, and as soon as it opened people went nuts. Just grabbing whatever they could get their hands on, but by the time i got in it was kinda chilled. There's something for everyone which is pretty cool. Bargains to be had on stuff like neighborhood - shirts that were £80+ are now £30 odd, w)taps - same as neighborhood, headporter+ - loads of nice tops and shirts the mature streetwear head will love, goodenough UK - loads of tees that are £10 each and loadssss of accessories like lil' pouches/bags plus there’s some bags from Stussy too. But the best bargains to be had are from BBC/Ice Cream. Jackets that were once £300+ are now £50 odd, not my bag but i'm sure heads will appreciate. But be warned my friend Josh kinda stripped that section bare haha. It's def worth a visit if you’re in the area. It's literally around the corner from Glorias. East is the new West...

p.s. will update this post with what i copped soonish...

Stevie the great!

Simply put Stevie Williams was HUGE inspiration for me growing up. He basically represented everything i loved about skateboarding. Dude was just out having fun with his friends and throwing down the wildest bangers you've ever seen (dude had the best switch tres EVER!) I was kinda bummed when he decided to leave Chocolate but in the end things work out sick for him. He recently opened a skate/streetwear store called sk8tique, you should check it out, looks dope. Plus he was the only person (apart from Gino) that made skating in reebok workouts look sick ha.



- thanks to chrome ball incident for the scan, dude made my day!

Locked and secured!

Finally got my lock set for bike sorted out this morning. I've had the mini U for a while now and just use it to lock up the bike for quick drops off etc, nothing too major. But the 'New York' chain is needed for any visits into central London etc. This thing wieghs a ton! But i've been assured that the more pain in the arse it is to carry around the better, so fingers crossed this keeps my bike nice and safe.

Bethnal Green?!?!?!?!

Have they lost the plot or is this a stroke of genius? I have no idea. But what i'm certain of was that i was a tad confused listening to this tune. I just couldn't get past the fact that Slix was clicking his fingers and swaying to side to side as if he was on a mary go round. Wow.

These guys are ill!

Blue Monday Classic from Eli Tokyo Jitensha-Jin on Vimeo.

Reading time!

I got a nice big delivery from the land of the rising sun on Saturday (made my weekend it did!). In it contained several out prints mags that i'm trying to collect and two limited edition Bathing Ape books i've been after for the longest time. I bought my first two copies of Asayan last year and i've been hooked ever since. Don't know much about the mag itself apart from it contains some really nice editorials (that i can't read) and some awesome shoots from brands such as Bape, w)taps, neighbourhood and goodenough from yesteryear . I recently lost an auction for 25 or so copies including the elusive #1, but in hindsight its better i missed out, the fun is in the hunt as they say. Secondly there are the two Bape books. First up is 'With the Bathing Ape' issued around 1999/2000 as a commemorative piece for the first Bape Hong Kong store. Funnily enough i've got a spread in one of my Asayan magazines that documents the project from start to finish. One interesting fact about the book is each page is folded then French bound, meaning you have to cut along the fold to reveal the contents, nuts! Well i've cut mine but i'm not gonna show. I'd rather continue the mystery....ha.... Oh and there's my fave of the lot, 'Bape Mania' #2. More of a look book (spring/summer 2000) if anything with a brief interview with James Lavelle. Loads of product and random shoots inside. I'll update when i get my hands on a scanner as taking pics of each page with a digi cam is a tad tedious.




'With the Bathing Ape' comes with a large poster and 4 postcard type prints, nice.




And there's James Lavelle. Can someone explain to me why so many people hate him?

Madness!

In terms of who merked i'd say; Giggs, Chipmunk, Ghetto then Skepta. There's loads of lil' things wrong with it but for what it's worth it's not that bad i guess. Just wished they'd sort out the sound (background noise) and the instrumental is kinda basic.

P.S. What's happened to Skepta? He goes away and FINALLY writes new lyrics but just ends up sounding like a kid...

Tokyo Fixed Gear @ Bodhi!

I popped down to the Tokyo Fixed Gear opening shindig at the Bodhi Gallery yesterday. It was pretty decent. It's first time I’ve been to Brick Lane on my bike, but what made it worse was that i decided to take loads of short cuts en route, which inevitably lead to me being lost ha. But Google Maps is such a life saver and i managed to find my way in the end. The store itself was laid out really nice and utilized the space really well, plus there's a really nice collection of stock there too. The film screenings didn't take place though, because the projector decided to stop working. All in all it's a pretty cool set up and well worth checking out if you’re in the area.

Kyoto!

Kyoto Loco went off in a big way this year. Soo many dope lil' comps, hopefully they get something like this started in LDN sooner rather than later.

KYOTO LOCO '08 from Eli Tokyo Jitensha-Jin on Vimeo.

Practise makes perfect!

Handstyle isn't there yet, but i'm getting there slowly but surely.

Reading time!

Finally received the Bape retrospective book in the mail today. Amazon shipping is super fast, ordered it on Wednesday night got it Friday morning, nice! The book was released in conjunction with Bape's 15th Anniversary as a commemorative piece detailing Bape past, present and future. Although there's nothing new that's unknown to Bape fans it still contains a vast collection of imagery from Bape's huge archives that makes for pleasant viewing. Amongst the images there's a really detailed interview with Nigo. It's interesting to read that Nigo rejected the chance to go public with Bape, even though he would have made a killing on the stock market. It must be hard trying to maintain the allure of a 'limited edition' brand on Bape's global scale, but it sounds like Nigo is going to try his best to make it happen. All in all it's a good read and it comes highly recommended as one the only proper books on Bape that's written in English - for that fact alone you should buy.




P.S. OG Bape is soo dope!

Tokyo Fixed Gear!

Kinda short notice but this should be good. Opening party is tonight @ 8Pm, screenings and free drinks, more info on the flyer.

President Barack Obama

I don't know how much of an impact Barack Obama winning the United States presidency will have on me or England, but for the mean time i'm celebrating the fact that he is the first BLACK American President. So let's put aside our political views and enjoy it for what it is; history in the making. Thank God.

MOB Dunk - 1948 release info!

It's kicking off this Saturday @ 1948 with the special release of the Married to the Mob Dunk. Doors open @ 11:30am with some special treats lined up for all you MOB ladies/fruity guys haha. All the details are on the flyer, so spread the word!

P.S. No confirmation yet on the matching clothing though, will update when i hear anything.

Unofficial Nike iD party!

It went off @ the unofficial Nike i-D party the other day. There was loads of hype about it prior, due to the 700+ confirmed guests on facebook. Obviously not that many turned out on the night but it was still a more then decent number, especially when you consider how big the venue was. I had to queue up for a bit though and the security weren't taking any prisoners on the frisking tip, ha, but it was all good in the end. The rumours of DJ Premiere turning up were just that, rumours, but whoever was on the decks killed it. Unfortunately i didn't bring my camera so i can't show you guys/girls how it went down, but Gynelle kindly uploaded one pic with yours truly and Marcus in tow. Big up all the Nike i-D crew and congrats on hitting the BIG 1 YEAR, hope there's more to come!