Alife Tennis Ball

Alife has been doing some dope stuff for a long time. They started in New York, but they are expanding all over the world. They just opened a new store in Vancouver and they have plans to open more stores over the next year. I don't know the whole story behind Alife, but they seem to have their hands into so many different things. They have been involved with Mass Appeal since the beginning, Kid America a New York public access show that was off the hook, Levis, every artist you can think of, they have a shoe company called rtft a shoe boutique called Rivington Club, and the most recent project is a collab with reebok. Not to much info about these shoes. I saw these the other day, but Al Cabino hooked me up with an email and I actually took a second to check them out. The shoes actually look hot. I have never been a huge fan of Reebok, although I definitely had some pumps back in the day, but just the shape of the shoe (besides the huge pump tung) looks great. I couldn't find a number, but I remember that it was super low like 100 pairs, I could be wrong.

Here a a bunch of links to Alife related stuff. Their website has always been small, so don't be surprised when there is nothing there.

- alifenyc.com
- rtft their shoe company (unrelated to the reebokXalife shoe).
- alife rivington club thier sneaker shop in nyc.
- Photos of Alife Vancouver
- Their third and newest store in NYC.

Link

SNEAKER FREAKER "THE BOOK"

Hit up a little woodward action yesterday. good times.

"ALSO KNOWN AS"

They are few and far between, but I always look forward to cool graffiti books. I've been waiting for this to one to drop for a little while now, and it still seems to be delayed for some reason (supposed to be out in sept.). The book is called "also known as", and looks to be pretty good. It seems to be very east coast and features notable new York artists and such with contributions from a ton of people.

go here www.akanyc.com and click on preview.

Jay Z and Nas

Where is Rich on this one?... So a few months back Jay Z announced that he was going to do a show called "I Declare War." He said he needed to get on stage again to get back at some people. There was so much speculation, I didn't pay much attention to it, but I could just imagine what would go down. If you don't know Jay Z and Nas have had a beef for a long time. One of my favorite Jay Z songs is Takeover, a song knocking Nas. Check it out if you have never heard it, it's amazing. While your at it check out the unplugged version, could be better. So anyway, Jay Z and Nas.... Kanye put Nas on his album and it was a huge deal, because he is under Jay, so the word was that Jay didn't know until the album dropped, but now that all of this shit went down, I'm sure he did. There has been so much more shit between them it's nuts, but they have kept it all business, never has it got out of hand... So to make a long story short, Jay and Nas together on stage. The whole "I Declare War" thing was just a publicity stunt, marketing at its finest. I guess there was a bunch of other stuff that went down, but I'm not going to ramble on any more, so check the link.

allhiphop.com

Something for your eyes

So I checked this out, didn't read the top paragraph all of the way through, thought "oh, cool there are pink a green dots." My girlfriend asked me what I was looking at, showed it to her, she actually read the directions, and all of the pink dots disappeared. I did it and couldn't stop, It's addictive.

Don't worry, I won't post on weird random internet shit, but sometimes I have to throw it in. Check it here.

UK

Speaking of the UK, I just got back from Manchester. I was there to judge a contest, which was cool but WOW, these people love to get rowdy. I would walk to the health food store and drunks would be stumbling by me. And everyone wants to fight. Remember that scene in EuroTrip where he got on the bus with the crazy violent soccer fans? Yeah, that was pretty much spot-on.

BANKSY

Sticking to a UK theme, UK based stencil/street artist BANKSY has updated his site with some new work.

If you havent heard about it already, BANKSY is the dude who made headlines by sneaking into a real museum a while ago and "installing" his own work. Check it out in the cuttings section.

www.banksy.co.uk

Roundabout Brand

So I have no idea how this one flew over the radar, I’ve even talked to Ali and Robin recently and not one mention, but Robin and Sebastian Keep started a clothing company and they just went on a tour and they are filming for a video and they have a good team and I didn’t know shit. Their company is called Roundabout and from what I read on their site, they just got their first batch of shirts in. Very colorful. I’m waiting for the signature Robin Fenlon stripped jumper! They have a great site with good news updates and there is trailer on there for the tour DVD that is going to be shipped with an issue of Ride UK. So many people have a “t-shirt company” (I’ve fell victim to this when I was young), but these guys seem to be pulling it off. They better, because they definitely have the resources too.

I’m feeling roundabout. Check their site here.

Refill Mag

The new issue of Refill Mag just dropped. The magazine is filled with a bunch of artists and they work with different contributors every issue. Not sure where you can pick it up, but it's definitely worth it to track it down. Their site used to be so complete, you could check out a sample from every artist and they would change the site up every issue, but it has turned into a list and there is not much to see. Check it out anyway - refillmag.com

I've been trying all day

Some times there is so much good content on the internet and sometime I just look and look and look and cant find anything I think is worth posting. I could just get into the over think mode and make it harder that it should be, but none the less this is a random post. So here we go with a bunch of random crap.

I don't know anything about this, but it's hot - bbc spot

A good resource if you are looking for inspiration to build shit - thrift deluxe

Graffiti analysis - all you see is.

This probably disserves it's own post, but here it is to round off the randomness. Addict clothing. Addict is a UK based company that makes all sorts of stuff. I don't know much about their history, but I just saw their catalog and was very impressed. They make some of my favorite hoodies, zip ups, and jackets. Their site has some good stuff, but they have so much more in their catalog. I'm definitely feeling their well roundedness... Clothing, books, toys. Good shit. Here is the link- Addict

SNEAKER FREAKER "THE BOOK"

I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the new SNEAKER FREAKER book that should be available soon. Sneaker freaker is an Australian magazine dedicated to....You guessed it, sneakers, and now they will be releasing a book. Sneaker freaker magazines are awesome, which is why you should probably pick up this book if you haven't seen any (and if you like sneakers). Essentially this book is a collection of the best stuff from all of their previous issues. I was familiar with most of the content which was sort of a let down, but there are some extra's in there too. If you don't feel like buying all the back issues, this book is perfect.

Im not sure when it will be out, or where you might be able to find it, but keep checking www.sneakerfreaker.com if you are interested.

Xlr8r/Chicago

Just picked up the new issue of Xlr8r along with the new Mass Appeal, both very good. Nuno already touched on the Mass Appeal, so I go with Xlr8r. The magazine is a bit DJ/Techeno, but they always have a great mix of art and culture to keep my interest. Don't get me wrong I love music, I'm just not into it reading about it as much as I am art and pop culture. The newest issue is a Chicago issue. I would have never guessed, but Chi-town has some amazing talent. This issue didn't bring my attention to the windy city for the fist time, but it's always good to have a refresher.

Ill drop some Chi town links for you to check out. The cover illustration and just about every other good illustration in the issue was done by Chuck Anderson who has built up quite a name for him self over the past few years. I feel he is a bit over hyped, but his work is hot none the less. The other Chicago link is one of my favorite artist Cody Hudson. His work has been everywhere, he has done everything and frankly I think everything he does in amazing.... Except for his website. A bit slacking, but that isn't going to turn me away from his work. The last link I don't know to much about, but I have recently been turned on to their work when I was going through all of my old bookmarks. some odd pilot. Have fun in Chicago land.

More DOOM????????

Its been hinted at for about the last 6 months or so, but now it is more official. The new issue of MASS APPEAL has appeared and features both DOOM and GHOSTFACE (2 of my favorite mc's) on the cover, who are in fact working on an album together which should surface around spring of 06. judging by Ghostface's appearance on the dangerdoom album, we should not be let down. I will keep my fingers crossed.

I promise to not speak about mf doom anymore (hopefully).

Nuno

So as you can see Nuno has joined the team. If you don't know, Nuno is one of the driving forces behind Odyssey and their success. He grew up in New York and is currently living in L.A. I am psyched to have Nuno aboard he definitely has a good grasp of what’s hot. I’m looking forward to his posts. Make sure to check out Odyssey and get ready for more Defgrip. We are going to take over!

DANGERDOOM

For any hip hop/cartoon fans out there, i highly recommend the new DANGERDOOM album that recently dropped. Dangerdoom is a collaboration between rapper MF DOOM and producer DANGERMOUSE and is loosely based around (adult swim), and even features some characters from the shows doing voiceovers/skits. If you are into it, its a good time.

More info here http://www.dangerdoom.com/

--Nuno

Red Bull Elevation

So the Red Bull contest went down a few months ago, but it still seems like there are people talking about in on a regular basis. During the contest they had a production company filming it for HD TV. I'm pretty sure we are the first people to have this and I hope I don't get in trouble for it, but here is the trailer from the contest. The filming is incredible and the cable shots are nuts. You really get a good idea about how fast the jumps were. The editing is a bit I-MAX/extreme sports/X-games, but I can't get past the quality of the filming. Sorry if I wasn't supposed to put this up, but it's too good to pass up.

Check it here.

Animal

Check out the new Animal trailer. I know nothing about their new video, but it doesn't really matter because you know it's going to be hot. Animal is always coming through with the Big L tracks. If you don't know who Big L is... You need to figure it out. Start googling.

Here is the trailer

Ardelean

It's official Mike Ardelean is the newest member of the Defgrip fam. I'm real psched on this. He is definitely doing his thing and I really appreciate what he has put into BMX. I just got him an official account a few minutes ago, so be on the look out for some good posts. With the addition of a new member come new links, so make sure to check out lavar, Mikes clothing company and Mosh, Mikes long time sponsor.

KC Badger

I meet KC for the first time in Whistler, didn't hang out with him much because I meet him 10 min. before I headed back to Seattle, but he's a cool kid, blew me away on his bike an he is one of the people in BMX that is definitely pushing the "make things look good and not be a dirtbag" movement. Which here at Defgrip, we are big supporters, if not leaders of. If you don't know, he goes to school so he can learn how to draw pictures, but I'm pretty sure he can do that already. There is a good KC post up on the Kink site. If they just let him update everyday that site would get so many more hits. Why don't they hire him as their art director? Oh wait... It's probably because he doesn't want to move to Rochester. Big ups to KC. Check out his post here

Eddie Cleaveland

Rolling with the one sentence posts... Eddie Cleaveland has a feature interview up on the Mosh site. Eddie is so hot right now!

Check it here

Terrible One

I've been around bike my whole life and still to this day I get psyched to see peoples bikes.
Taj and Joe but up new bike checks on the T-1 site to go with all of the new parts updates that they just dropped.

Check that stuff out here

For those of you who don't know T-1 has quite the art director. Michael Sieben has been doing his thing for a long time and is well respected in the art community. I was flipping through a magazine yesterday and came across a Volcom/Mark Appleyard/Michael Seiben ad that had to do with a signature shirt that Sieben did with Appleyard for Volcom. He has a great style and his characters are amazing. He has a very complete site with so much stuff. I'm feeling the new graphics on Joe an Taj's bike in their bike checks.

Here is a link to Sieben's site and here is the shirt he did for Volcom.

Stussy

I know Andrew posted on Stussy a while back, but I just stumbled across their site. Not sure when, but Stussy has done a major overhaul on their site. Great intro, nice simple flash and an amazing catalog of vintage and archived Stussy stuff... Ads, clothing and photos.

Check out their site here.

Gary Young Frame

Gary's frame just dropped on the MacNeil site.
Check it out here.

Ben Watts

I was just in the bookstore and came across this book by Ben Watts called "big up." I'm pretty sure I have seen it before, but only the paper back, not the hard cover. The hard cover was the one I saw tonight and I think it was the size that drew me to it, it's like 28" tall. Ben Watts is Naomi Watts brother and he has been taking photos of Boxers, street kids, celebs, and what ever else since the 80's and his book is essentially a scrap book of his best stuff. The book was over $100 in the book store, but I found it on amazon for 40something. Psyched. Ben Watts doesn't have a site, but google him or check out these links.

This a little interview with him i found and you can flip through a few pages of his paperback on the youworkforthem site. Have at it!

Terry Richardson

Terry Richardson has been blowing up lately. Last month he had to covers on the new stands; the photo of Kanye in Complex and the cover of I-D with Jay-Z and Tiera Mari. It seemed that everywhere I looked he had an editorial or at least a single spread in a magazine. I'm not sure his history, but I think he came from porn... None the less his photos are hot. They have such a great no frills, lo-tech fell. His book Terryworld was released last year and I'm sure you can find it in all of the big book stores.

Check his site out terryrichardson.com

Defgrip update

As of this morning Andrew is no longer a resident of Seattle. He is off to California to live the big life. He will be shacking up with Rich for a bit until he finds a place. If you are in L.A. and you see him give him a high five.

BSHIT

Some good street art from bshit. Not sure if im feeling the little swerly guy, but they are a great example of someone doing their thing.

SFAUSTINA

A great designer and artist just updated his site. Spend some time here and check out his archives. He does some great collage work. sfaustina

Transcend

Steve Machuga and Ty Stuyvesant just released a new video called Transcend. Transcend is essentially a follow-up of Transylvania, but this time Steve edited half of the parts, Ty did the other half and put it together. The video consists of a pretty stacked roster - Sean Burns starts it off with a wild, but short part, followed by Anthony Neapolitan, Craig Kleckner and then goes into Ryan Worcester's part that starts off with some skiing footage. For those who don't know Ryan spends his winters on his ski's and he has some damn good clips prove he is not messing around. His riding part starts off with a great wreck on a swing set and is very solid all of the way through. Dennis McCoy follows Ryan up. His part is compiled of a bunch of old footage and a bunch of REALLY OLD footage... There is a clip in there that is 20 years old.... 1985, and it's fucking nuts. Seth Holton is next with a great intro and a fun part, followed by Jamie Bestwick, Steve Machuga, Pat Schreader, Nick Halsey, Jason Willis, Harrison Boyce (me), Dan Montgomery and again ends with a great part by Chris Martindale.

If you wan to pick up a copy drop one of them an email. Click here for Steve and here for Ty.

Atmosphere

The new Atmosphere dropped last week. I wasn't really excited about it at first, but my roommate Josh has been into Atmosphere for a while and got the album "You Can't Imagin How Much Fun We Are Having" the day it dropped. He un-wrapped it, put it into the cd player in my car and from the first beat I was so psyched. Atmosphere consists of Ant and Slug. Ant makes the beats and Slug is the rapper. The album is very consistent will all of their previous albums, but the beats on this album are definitely superior than the past. Slug can get a bit vulgar and angry, but I am a big fan of his story telling. The last track "Little Man" is by far my favorite. The beat is a rendition of The Diplomats "Who Am I" and the song is broken into three parts each a narrated letter to someone. The first his son, the second I have no idea and the last is to him self. Soooo good. I saw Atmosphere last year and they played with a live band. This year they are doing the same and Josh and I already have tickets.

Atmosphere on the Rhymeslayers site.

Odyssey @ Interbike

There is a little feature up on BMX Online about Odyssey, their new stuff for this year, and their prescience at Interbike.

"If you've been around BMX for the last 10 years or so, you can probably remember a time (pre-Jim Bauer, Nuno Olivera and Chris Cotsonas) when Odyssey stuff wasn't exactly red hot. But throw those two guys into the mix, add some great team riders (not to mention some of the most innovative products in BMX) and you've got one of the most progressive companies leading the way in the parts and accessories category."

Its funny that they mention Jim, Nuno, and Chris, but then say "throw those two guys into the mix" but it's cool because I know how hard it is to count to three. Just kidding. Here is the link.

Apple at it again

So, by now I'm sure everyone knows, but apple just dropped a new iPod and iMac. Well start with the iMac... Thinner, Faster, and it comes with an iSight built in... hot. It also ships with a new program called FrontRow which is a buffed up version of iTunes that manages music, movies, and photos. The Mac will take over TiVo, DVD's and anything else. Just hook your MacMini up to your TV and you have all of you DVD's in one spot. You can even hack it into a TiVo as well.

The new iPod. Everyone who bought a Nano is bummed, but really, would you watch a movie from start to finish on your iPod? I don't think I would. It might be nice for when your out and about, sitting in an airport or something, but that is what I have a powerbook for. So I figured out what it would be good for... Quicktime clips... That clip of Fat Mike 360ing in NYC. Just download it, drop it onto your iPod and bring it with you to show all of your friends. I don't know... At least the new design with the wide screen looks dope.

You can check out more on the Apple site.
This one goes out to Shawn for keeping us in check.

Unarm X Beinghunted

There is a good feature on Beinghunted with a behind-the-scenes look at the art of screen printing presented by UARM and Beinghunted. The photos aren't the best, but it is always cool to get an idea of how people do their thing. After you check the feature, you should venture into the Beinghunted site. This is a great go-to site for anything dope. They started as a site with daily updates kind of like defgrip, but slowly tuned into a site that brings more in-depth features on selected topics. Beinghunted is hot!

Here is the link beinghunted.com

P.S. check out the Vans X Supreme. HOT!

wethepeople

I was just browsing the interweb and came across some entertaining video clips on the wethepeople site. I guess they are outtakes from their Poland tour that's in Props 58. There is also a little short of Max Gaertig and Timo Mrukwia doing something with cellphones. I didn't really get it, but that could be because I watched it at work with no volume, so there is a good chance that it might make since if you have some volume going.

Here is the link. Just look down a few entries to 10-6.

Face lift

As you can see we have given out self a minor face lift. If you don't know you can get to our site from defgrip.com Bookmark that page because you might find some surprises there soon.

vult trailer

Not to be up on Vult's nuts, but they just dropped a trailer that is worth a post 2 days after the first mention.
Check it here

Plrds

If you are into polaroids, you must check out plrds.com. This site used to be a bmx site from the south, but somehow somewhere turned into one of the best polaroid sites around. The best part about this site, is Mike Broody who does the thing doesn't own a computer (or at least the last time I talked to him he didn't), doesn't pay for anything, but always makes shit happen.

Interbike

I just got back from interbike a few days ago. Rich and I were there along with everyone else who rides bikes. It was rad to see everyone and even better to meet everyone that I have just communicated with through email. Highlights were Odyssey reppin bright orange, everyone rockin lotek, the gonz, the new macneil catalog and seats, jimmy levan's new poster in ride, mosh's private product preview in a dope suite at the hard rock, free drink tickets at the nora cup, mosh video trailer, macneil trailer, fit bumpin mike jones, and rooftops hounds tooth redline frame.

I snapped a few photos. Check em out here.
Shout-outs to Nuno and Ardelean. Word.

Vult

This is a site that should definitely be added to your bookmarks. Vult has got it going on and I heard that they might have "the best team in BMX." I'm not really sure how to define what Vult is but, you should check it out. They are probably rockin the best photos from interbike, hands down.
vulitbmx.com