A couple weekends ago, a few friends planned a trip to Fort Tilden, a public beach that’s a little off the beaten path for New York. Let’s just say that the set of directions provided by the one friend who had been there before came complete with three paragraphs of text and a crayon-drawn map.
To prepare for the trip, I went looking for a pair of swim trunks, an article of dress I haven’t owned in years. I had a particular brand in mind: Birdwell Beach Britches, a made-in-America family-type company that’s retained its classic cuts and solid construction for decades. However, their website is a disaster. It’s such a mess that it’s actually charming in a world of Web 2.0, and you can tell they maintain the site with some amount of irony and self-awareness; however, that doesn’t make locating a list of retailers any easier. Seriously. Go look at it and tell me if you can do better.
It was when I decided to track down a list of surf shops in New York and Brooklyn that I remembered an old post from Kitsune Noir covering a hip-looking surfer enclave on the Lower East Side that doubled as an espresso bar. I made a call and, sure enough, they carried a range of Birdwell.
After the first visit, I’m in love with the shop: the laidback staff, their house-brand tees, and a makeshift dressing “room” that appears out of nowhere – ask for a place to try on a pair of trunks and the man behind the counter will pull a curtain together around you, creating, as if by magic, a fitting room in the place you had just been standing while browsing the racks. It feels a little like disrobing in public, and maybe that’s the whole idea. It’s an oasis in the city. Be free.
Following Caleb’s entry of New York to Paris – A Day in the Life where we get to see a glimpse of a day in the life of a mini-sized New York City, how about a fast-forwarded morning in the life of Utrecht, Netherlands? What is different is the rush of bicycles that overrun the entire city. In the wake of the massive oil spill in the Gulf, perhaps Utrecht can serve as an example that we American city-dwellers can also change the way we travel and commute? I am not so sure about bicycles in the city just yet, though. Given the amount of lawless (and usually insane) cabbies roaming around town, only the toughest cyclists will survive.
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to go to red China, the forbidden motherland of communism. Then in the summer of 1992, my dream came true and I traveled to Maoist China, where I experienced first hand how decades of communism had deprived the economic well-being of millions and billions of Chinese. We brought tooth brushes and toothpaste from Taiwan and gave them to the village kids in Henan province as presents. Most of them had not even touched a tooth brush or tasted toothpaste at the time. And now, 20 years later, China’s turned capitalistic, and will soon surpass Japan to become the world’s second largest economy.
That’s no fun. China isn’t all that exotic anymore.
But wait, North Korea is still under the tight grip of totalitarian socialism and only a handful get to travel in (and out) of DPRK each year. We read in a magazine article that Koryo Tours from Beijing, ran by a group of foreigner-friendly Westerners, can actually arrange tours from China to DPRK for as little as just over $1000. That is not bad for such an exotic and rare tour. We checked out their website and some of the pictures taken inside North Korea are just so fascinating.
I have actually been to Panmunjom (38 degree parallel, first image above) from the ROK (South Korea) side, but the experience is never complete until a picture is taken from the North Korean side! Check out their website and show some support. Afterall, your being inside North Korea may create some kind of butterfly effect that could eventually change DPRK for the better, forever.
AC Gears’ having a SNOW DAY SALE with a 15% off on all purchases in-store and online. For online orders, use coupon code: snow2010 at www.acgears.com. Offer is good today only. Fan AC Gears on FaceBook to get the exclusive promo information. Also, Nooka x Gommi Arcade’s party coming up in 4 weeks at AC Gears’ Greenwich Store (with DJ, free drinks, and goodie bags!), stay tuned.
French music-fashion label Kitsuné has made the leap to Japan! Taking into account their whole look and feel, it’s a perfect fit. Check out the Japan side of their site now at http://www.kitsunejapon.jp.
The Kitsuné boutique in Harajuku will actually be a pop-up shop that’ll showcase some exclusive-t0-Japan wares from February 11 to March 7. The casual, French-sailor-on-holiday goods will find a good home on stylish Japanese backs, I think.
The whole Boutique Kitsuné project is a cool one, as they’re working to produce these goods locally, with knits, canvas bags and sneakers being manufactured in places like Fukuoka and Okayama with Japanese fabrics and materials. Look for the Boutique Kitsuné in other cities around the world — it’s an international affair, folks!
New to NYC, the Ace Hotel is the cool kid on the block. Between brewing up Portland’s own Stumptown coffee, stocking room mini-fridges with bottles from Brooklyn Brewery, letting Levis curate a suite, and serving as home for the soon-to-open-to-the-general-public Breslin, this place has got it all. Apparently, this includes record players!
Yeah, that’s right — rooms (I’m not sure how many) are outfitted with turntables, which is such a cool touch. And it’s not just for aesthetic value, either, because record collections in these rooms have been curated by the totally legit Other Music. How legit? Legit enough to mercilessly mock, which is pretty darn legit, I guess. Take it away, Human Giant.
That’s right! At The Whitney! Featuring Abe Vigoda! Vivian Girls! And more!
My friend Dan told me about this after he got pulled into the first one by his girlfriend, which just goes to show that they are good for something after all. These are first come, first serve and free with museum admission as part of the Dan Graham: Beyond exhibit, which I would bet is really, really awesome.
These are happening every Friday through July 31st, so don’t miss out. Tonight’s show features Abe Vigoda and Grooms. The series closer on the 31sr will feature Brooklyn band-of-the-moment Vivian Girls and These Are Powers. The bassist from that band was (well, probably still is) a regular at my old cafe and dropped off a copy of their cd for our in-house collection once because he is just a nice guy like that.
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