Red Hot Chili Peppers kick off "I'm with you" tour @ Lanxess arena

On Friday the Red Hot Chili Peppers kicked off their European tour in Cologne, Germany. The Lanxess arena was sold out for the presentation of the new album 'I'm with You'. A long awaited gig as the peppers haven't been touring in the past 4 years.

Graffiti wars

Channel 4 made this great programme about the graffiti wars going on between graffiti and street art artists.

"In London over the past 18 months the tension between the camps has played out in a battle of spray cans between freehand graffiti writer King Robbo and his nemesis, the stencil-using street artist Banksy.

The graffiti war between the two men began in the early 90s but was re-ignited by what was widely seen as an unforgiveable transgression of strict graffiti rules by Banksy.

It was an act that pulled 80s legend King Robbo out of retirement to retaliate in the place where it all began, the streets.

The film goes behind enemy lines as the war escalates, until tragic and unforeseen circumstances bring about an unexpected ceasefire."

found via @michaelvdm

Kilian Martin, reinterpreting skateboarding

Kilian Martin, who joined the Powell Peralta team last month, made a(nother) short skate film with director Brett Novak. The well shot slow motion footage and the unique skate style of Kilian make this one really worth watching and hence, sharing.

Tarp Surfing

Des zomers als de zwakke Californische bries voor onvoldoende curls zorgt, zetten de lokale surfer boys het op een Tarp surfen. Het concept is even simpel als geniaal: golven worden nagebootst met een zeil en de surfplank wordt vervangen door een skateboard of longboard. Of de surfsensatie ook enigszins wordt benaderd, durf ik te betwijfelen, maar het levert ten minste fijne beelden op. En zoals de pioneers het zelf zeggen "if you're not tarp surfing, what ARE you doing?"

Eén adverteerder sprong alvast op de tarp surfing kar en verwerkte het fenomeen, dat overigens niet nieuw is maar recentelijk heropleeft,  in een Mountain Dew commercial.

Shadow Art by Newcastle Brown Ale

Newcastle Brown Ale, or better their agency Vitro, commissioned NY artists Ellis Gallagher and H. Howard to make a shadow art installation for the beer brand in San Diego. At night, a spot lights some 4000 caps and throws a shadow on the billboard, ensuring a lot of attention from the partypeople around in the nightlife district.

Here's the making of:

Rise Up, Reggae Stars

Rise up  is a documentary from Luciano Blotta about 3 artists in Jamaica, trying to make a better living with their musical talent. I remember discovering 'Turbulence' when BBC originally aired it in 2010 but it's only after integrally watching a recent re-run on the dutch TV that I realised it probably deserved a blogpost too.

Da meanest - Co$$

Hypnotizing beat by Co$$ from his album "Before I awoke"