Last week the gif+d invited me to tag along to attend a preview event for Microsoft Xbox 360’s forthcoming “Project Natal“, which is the code name for their “controller-free gaming and entertainment experience”. (Thanks for taking me Sam!) I was super-psyched to have the opportunity to witness it up close since I’ve been hearing and seeing all the hype surrounding it.

For those of you familiar, you already know. For those who don’t, simply put it’s Xbox throwing their hat in the ring against Nintendo’s Wii in an attempt to broaden their audience beyond the hardcore gamer. After seeing it live, it looks like “Project Natal” will easily accomplish that goal and could quite possibly be considered Microsoft’s game changer. This device will not only revolutionize how people interact with video games, but could also be considered a ‘peek’ into the future of how we’ll interact with computers.

Before I go into explaining “Project Natal”, kudos goes out to Microsoft and the planning team for this event. The gift bag included the Xbox 360-branded Flip Mino HD Cam you see pictured above, which I thought was a brilliant idea in giving guests the opportunity to engage with the product as well as document and promote it with ‘user-generated’ content.

As you can see from the picture above, “Project Natal” is an add-on peripheral camera/sensor that can detect everything from a person’s face, voice and body. Whether a male or female stood in front of the sensor and began to test the demo, the camera identified, and on-screen there was proper avatar representation. It was too noisy to check out it’s voice recognition capabilities, but all guests were able to test the interactive game play with a ‘dodgeball-like’ demo. As each took their turns, the sensor recognized their movements, and those same movements were emulated and performed by the avatar in-game. You wave your hand, the avatar waves. You kick, it kicks. You duck, it ducks. Some felt that the motion detection wasn’t perfect, but reps mentioned that it was an early version and they just wanted to show how the technology works, but from what I saw, it was good enough to see the future. My words obviously aren’t going to properly describe how much fun the “Project Natal” experience really is, but you can check this video footage I took of our friend Sean messing around with it doing his best rendition of “America’s Next Best Dance Crew”:

I apologize for the low-quality video, but hopefully you’ll get the gist of “Project Natal” and why there is strong opinion that it will change the face of gaming. I know I said interactive computing too, but think about it, this device recognizes you, just think of all the possibilities. Technology keeps innovating as far ‘into the future’ as our imagination takes us and Microsoft seems to have their hands on something that just might take us there.

Historically, this is one of the ‘lead-up’ weeks to Las Vegas, the week when many of those in or related to the apparel industry are prepping for next week’s trade shows. Whether you have a booth or you’re showing out of your hotel room, these are the last, (usually) hectic and frantic days before you leave for Vegas. You’re making sure your samples are in, hopefully correct, or you’re praying that they just arrive in time. You’re checking booth design, floor plans and layout. You’re editing down and merchandising the collection, laying out line sheets, getting them as close to ready as they can be, or you know you’ll be at one of the Kinko’s in Vegas right up to the last minute before the show starts. Everyone who’s prepping for the show is going over their mental ‘to do list’, every little, and last detail, making sure they’ve got everything in check…

Next week thousands will be descending on Las Vegas for the M.A.G.I.C. and/or Capsule and Project shows, it’s the ‘ritual’ that happens twice a year for those in the apparel industry. Some love it, some loathe it, but it’s always business as usual. Working in the apparel industry I’ve done the bi-annual trip countless times, and over the years have been able to witness some of the changes that have gone on in the industry and marketplace during this time.

The most recent and noticeable being the effects of the recession on the trade shows and M.A.G.I.C.’s consolidation into the main building and North Hall, which ironically was where the “Street” section was originally housed a decade ago. This was during the “urban” boom, when brands like Enyce, Pelle Pelle, School of Hard Knocks, Willie Esco, Phat Farm, Mecca, akademiks and PNB (to name a few) were all exhibiting. There was so much energy and commotion going on, but regardless, brands still got business done and wrote orders. Some jokingly called the aisle “125th Street”, some called the section “Freaknik”, me describing it as ‘crazy’ is an understatement, but they definitely were fun times and indelible experiences. I can remember a couple of shows when Las Vegas’ Gang Task Force were suited up and strolling through the aisles! One of the reasons I presume that once the Las Vegas Convention Center finished building the South Hall, they immediately moved the entire “Street” section into it, which is where it’s been up until last year.

Fast forward to the present and you can talk to those who experienced that era and they’ll get nostalgic, but all realize that the landscape of the industry has changed. Many of the brands who were part of that boom are either no longer or not garnering the same kind of attention and energy as they once were. The trends have changed and the focus has shifted onto different styles and brands. A stroll through all the different sections and shows like S.L.A.T.E., Pool, Project and Capsule and you’ll see where the focus has shifted to, you’ll see some of the ’seasoned’ brands, the ‘in’ brands, as well as the young, new hopefuls.

Next week’s trade shows could be used as a good barometer on where the recession is headed. If consumer confidence is getting better, then it reflects with the retailers and their open-to-buy dollars. You’ll notice more foot traffic in the aisles as well as at the popular brands booths. Last August’s show, it felt like it wasn’t exactly ‘there’ yet. That’s not to say that it was a ‘dead show’ by any means, it’s just that we’re not quite out of the woods yet. Orders were written by many, but you still get a sense of the ‘malaise’ in the air and with the overall vibe. I know we’re all hoping that the economy will start showing maintained signs of life.

Regardless of the changes and trends we see, and the ups and downs of the economy we go through, the industry is a perpetual cycle and the (trade) show must go on…

It was an ‘eventful’ Summer for me this year to say the least, even if it meant having to work and produce them. Back in July, I was asked by LTD to direct and project manage the third installment of the Green Label Art program for their client, Mountain Dew.

For those that don’t know about the initiative, Mountain Dew launched the Green Label platform to foster creative culture by offering support to various creative communities through partnerships as well as offering new channels of distribution and exposure.

Green Label Art gives selected artists (upcoming and established) the opportunity to design their own Mountain Dew bottles that are only available for a limited duration. Past artists have included: Haze, Jeffstaple, Chuck Anderson and Chris Pastras.  Vol. 3’s participating artists consisted of Pushead, Nathan Cabrera, Jeff McMillan, Claw Money, Stephen Bliss and Dustin “UPSO” Hostetler.

One of the tasks at hand was to produce a show for the participating artists at the etnies Showroom on Greene Street, which also houses the office of LTD.  It was a big undertaking, but I was psyched at the opportunity to get to do an ‘Extreme Makeover’ of the space. Okay, it wasn’t that ‘Extreme’, but with the help of Samantha @ The Giftd, Wes @ Confid3ntial and Garrett Construction we were able take the raw space, create a concept and theme, and transform it to have a ‘gallery-like’ feel.

Slowly, but surely it came along and then finally:

Then came the challenging task of producing 5 separate ‘opening reception’ events for the participating artists, giving each artist their own ‘three-day show. It was hectic, with all the trafficking, coordinating and rotating of art, but in the end it was so much fun to be a part of.

There’s some great recaps here, here, here and here.

I got to meet and work with a lot of great and talented people, which always inspires me.

A big thank you to everyone who was a part of this project and helped me to make this all possible.

It’s been a long NY minute since my last post, not that it matters, last I checked Google Analytics it said I was the only one reading this!

I’ve been ‘off the radar’ for some time, but my intention with this ‘blog’ wasn’t to provide daily updates and posts.  It was more of a place for me to write about my thoughts and musings on life and projects I’ve worked, or working on and the related experiences. Maybe you’ll connect with them, maybe you won’t. For me, it’s something I can look back on to have a ‘point of reference’.

R.I.P.

I couldn’t believe the news as I watched it unfold Thursday, I mean who would have thought?  I kept thinking to myself, “Not him, not now.”  It was one of those unexpected, surreal moments that everyone will remember in history.

When the news broke, I was walking along First Avenue past a group of street vendors and one of them screamed out in shock, the others stopped me to ask if I could check on my phone to confirm if their worse fears were really true. There were so many different rumors and stories coming across all the social networks, bloggers and gossip sites. I admit, I was disturbed to see that TMZ was being looked to by many as a credible news source. (even though they seemed to have broke the story nobody wanted to believe first) Then I couldn’t access anything online for a second because the whole world pretty much maxed out the bandwidth. As I kept walking down towards home, all I could see were looks of disbelief written on almost everyone’s face, and it quickly became the topic of every conversation I walked by, people of all walks of life and ages. The widespread rumors became reality and each news outlet began to confirm everyone’s fears.

Grief set in and his tragic passing continued to be the topic of conversation that I would overhear for much of the night. I don’t go out as much as I used to, but that night I felt like I should go hear his music and celebrate his life. Ended up at APT and Evil Dee went into an MJ tribute set that made the entire place go crazy! It felt ethereal, such an outpouring of emotion – everyone in the spot was reciting, singing, dancing, some were doing it with tears streaming down their cheeks – smiling and crying at the same time.  There were many others out and about that night at different spots, and I’m sure everyone who was shared that similar, surreal moment when we all rode the boogie and shared in that beat of love.

The next day MTV became a video station again, nostalgia struck me and I wished they’d stay that way. The reflections continued, he meant different things to different people and even generations, there were the obvious pre – OFTW and/or Thriller opinions, but I did find it baffling that shortly after there were some people who would take this time to question his talent and how relevant he really was.  Some arguing that he was pale (not literally) in comparison to other cultural icons like Elvis, Frank Sinatra and The Beatles.  I’ll just presume fans of the latter are just bitter over Michael’s business acumen, which would have made any shrewd capitalist proud. For those of you who don’t know the story, back when MJ recorded with Paul McCartney, he was starting to see some of that “Thriller” money, Paul mentioned suggested to him that he should look into owning publishing and that his catalog would be up for sale.  Michael shortly after purchased half the rights to The Beatles’ publishing owning more than Paul himself!!!  On a side note right around this time, Nike, who at the time was the #2 athletic footwear maker in the world behind Reebok, paid Michael Jackson $500,000 to use the song “Revolution” for their new Nike Air running commercial.  This, along with their signing of the other M(ichael) J(ordan), could be considered the turning point that helped to put the swoosh back on top for good and continue to become the culturally iconic brand it is today.

That is just one story among the numerous others that people shared, it was touching to see the world’s reaction to Michael Jackson’s passing unfold in front of my eyes  - the tributes, the countless status updates, people posting his songs and videos, the Tweets the Tumblrs – people were sharing their thoughts and stories, expressing what Michael meant to them.  There should be no denying that he’s left an indelible impression in pop culture’s history and meant so much to so many.  He was a truly a gifted wunderkind, a pioneer and a cultural icon.

He will surely be missed by all.

Patent: Method and means for creating anti-gravity illusion, inventor Michael Jackson

There’s was also a small sign which accompanied each of the pieces which read:

Now I was a little confused reading this because NPA City Outdoor has had the monopoly in NYC with pretty much all of the ’snipes’ aka Wildpostings that go up for as long as I can remember. There was even an ‘urban legend’ that the company had ties to the mob, that’s why they ran NYC like that, paying off building owners for the use of their spaces and construction site scaffolding. If you even tried to do your own guerrilla campaign and went over their stuff, like graffitti beef, they’d do a ‘throw up’ over you, find you, then throw you a beating.  I’m exaggerating about the latter, but you get the point, any company/brand wants to do a ‘citywide domination’ with ’snipes’, NPA is the company you go through. Considering NYC sees new ads going up on a weekly to bi-weekly basis, seems like no one’s enforcing the law that’s mentioned in the above letter. I had no idea what was going on when I saw these pieces up, only later finding out that the artists involved and the letter pictured above were part of an ingeniously planned campaign called the “New York Street Advertising Takeover” put together by the Public Ad Campaign. The event was organized as a reaction to the reality of the ‘unenforced law’ and the group targeted the hundreds of illegal billboards throughout the city as well as Brooklyn, replacing the cluttered ads with art, making much better use of the visual space. Although many of the pieces were short-lived, I tip my hat off to the entire NYSAT effort and hope to see more of the ‘guerrilla style’ art going over the spaces again in the future:

Below is some video footage from NYSTA as well as a link to images of the event:

More images from “New York Street Advertising Takeover” here

One night Last week Rachel and I were walking down Eldridge Street, and from three blocks away we could see the bright set light up the sky. From a distance you could see the multiple rows of lit-up, red, chinese lanterns strewn across the buildings. As we got closer, it looked as if the entire set was sparkling and shimmering like stars falling from the sky, it was an amazing thing to see up close, as if we were experiencing the ‘magic’ of making movies firsthand. Every curious passerby stopped to look in amazement at this very magical looking set and my pictures below can’t even come close to conveying what we were all seeing take place in the wee hours. Although I haven’t been a fan of Nicholas Cage’s recent movies, I am intrigued on how “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” will be received at the box office, and how this will translate and look on-screen when it does get released in 2010.

I subscribe to Bob Lefsetz’s email mostly for the shits and giggles I get reading his constant critique and blasting of the current state of the music industry, at times he can be very insightful with his observations, but in one of last week’s emails he wrote:

“As for Record Store Day…How laughable is that.  If you’re salivating over this, you’re living in 1990, and hoping we go back to 1970. Record stores are dead. As dead as your Apple II. Some will survive, as dealers in antiquities and tchotchkes, but essentially everyone will buy online.”

And although he may be half-right, I don’t particularly agree with calling the effort laughable. This is going to be Record Store Day’s third year and many labels are creating special rare releases for various genres on 7″, 12″s and CD’s for the thousand plus independent retailers involved globally, not to mention the hundreds of artists performing and having ‘in-stores’ to support the cause.

Like many, the record store meant a lot to me when I was growing up, especially the independents, eclectically curated by it’s staff with what they were listening to, the indie record store staff were always extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the music they listened to and the artists who created it. Record stores and those who frequented them are part of a subculture like no other, the experience at the stores is almost as important as the music, I remember being the curious kid always checking the various NYC (and outer borough) record shops always searching to find music new and old, digging through the bins, finding both popular and obscure bands’ albums, singles, b-sides, live recordings and DJ mixtapes. I’d study the different albums’ artwork and visuals, listening intently to the depth of their sound on vinyl, loving the crackle coming from the speaker when the needle hit the record. I remember visiting stores like Other Music, Record Runner, Downtown Music Gallery, Jammyland, Dance Tracks and Finyl Vinyl to name a few, listening and finding out about different genres of music or going to Bate Music on Fridays to get the next Tuesday new releases before most. Sadly, many of these spots are no longer, but these indelible experiences that they provided me will have me out to support the movement on April 18th.

To end this off, I also want to applaud Bob Lefsetz for later posting a response to his email by Record Store Day’s co-founder Michael Kurtz, a part of which read:

“…We aren’t claiming that we are the saviors of the music biz, but we are doing a great job with what we do. And, just as importantly, we are having fun. Remember what that was like? If we could get a hundred other music biz people to take this approach, instead of hyping Irving Azoff’s latest Wall Street-like-move, or Wal-mart, or Apple, or Google China, or whatever the latest nonsense of the week is, we’d all be in a lot better shape. Now is the time to get behind the artists. They are the stars. They are the creators. Find the ones that suit your taste and do all that you can do to make them shine. If you can’t do this then my suggestion is to please do us all a favor and be quiet for awhile. There’s too much noise and negativity already. It’s time to be appreciative about music and the very special people who make it, as well as the fans that love it. That is what record stores do and what Record Store Day is about.”

Well said…

For more info about Record Store Day in your area go to http://www.recordstoreday.com

According to co-editor Nicolas Wagner’s note, the magazine:

“…came out of both frustration and an unexplainable desire to see, collect, cut out, paste and gather visuals of the same person or subject.”

The Editor, The Cover Star and The Wife (Nicolas Wagner, Tal & Arthur)

I got invited because I know the person they chose as their first subject, Arthur K., who happens to be the biggest male model since Derek Zoolander and Hansel!  I keed, I keed; although, he does get booked for a lot of big jobs.  I was happy to check it out and at the same time I was intrigued by the fact that a publication would choose to launch in such a volatile economic climate, it definitely takes guts especially with all this talk about the end of print and the recent writings on the wall.  I tip my hat off to CRUSHfanzine in the name of independent publishing, call me old-fashioned, but I don’t want to see a world without print.  I’ve always loved flipping through a beautiful magazine’s pages or reading the Sunday times; although, I admit finding myself eating breakfast this past Sunday laptop open next to my plate!  Regardless, I still believe in independent publishing and the movement that still exists!  I realize that change is happening everywhere and that it has always happened even with the world of print, but I think there’s some balance and synergy that can be found between both the mediums of print and online.  That being said, I came across an interesting presentation by Jeremy Leslie of magCulture re: The End of Print (As We Know It), there’s no words, but you can get the gist of it visually:

I can’t begin to tell you how much of a profound effect this book had on me (as well as everyone else) when I was a kid.  I can remember reading Where The Wild Things Are and then acting out the story in my mind or by myself, it just opened a world of imagination that I still feel some connection to to this day.

Through the years I’ve seen many (kids) books translated onto the big screen, but always wondered when this one would would have its day.  When I heard Spike Jonze was directing, I was absolutely elated, in my opinion it was either him or Michel Gondry who would truly be able to tackle the story and give it justice.  Then there was the leak of the ‘test shoot’, which made me anticipate the film even more, but then the stories of studio heads demanding there be a re-shoot and re-edit because kids were scared into crying during screenings and my hopes once again started to fade.

Then low and behold….

The trailer looks amazing and I even love the taglines:

Inside all of us is hope,

Inside all of us is fear,

Inside all of us is adventure,

Inside all of us is a wild thing…

Can’t wait till October 16th!

For those of you who are fans of Maurice Sendak, you could take a trek down to NYC’s unofficial 6th borough to check out a retrospective of his work.