Danny Lyon

American photographer Danny Lyon -- "Defeated Demo Driver"

My arrival in Beijing (please ignore the profanities...)

I'm back in Boston. But here is a video clip of my arrival at the Beijing Airport. Quan decided to be a creep & lurked behind a corner. She scared me mostly b/c I thought she was a local Chinese bum. And apparently she missed her cue b/c she thought the same thing about me. (Dad- I'm sorry, again, for the profanities...)

Some pics from Hedi Slimane's diary

Hah, so this last one just reminds me of what I'd wear on a daily basis in China. (Xi'an's pretty dusty/dirty -- it was kinda just more sensible than it was punk.)

I'm in love with this video (James Jarvis x Nike running)

Onwards from AKQA on Vimeo.

PUMA City - Boston

(Even though I've chugged the swoosh kool-aid...) I think this is a pretty cool retail space. "PUMA City" is essentially a movable city made up of 24 shipping containers & holds a retail store, bar, and event space. I'll definitely have to check it out since it's right here in Boston (near the ICA). It'll be up for another 3 weeks in Boston & apparently will host some DJ battles before it moves on to South Africa.

The featured event is the Volvo Ocean Race -- a 9 month yacht race around the world. An article quotes chief mktg. officer Anthony Bertone claiming, "A lot of time people see sailing as an elite sport, but we're trying to give folks an opportunity to see that's not the case." Mmmwhat?!? I'm going to have to completely disagree w/ him -- I find sailing to be nothing but an elite sport. Ok, I'll admit: I went to prep school, and I even spent a season with the Milton Academy sailing team (!!! yeah, I know...clearly that didn't work out...)

Anyway, the project makes sense in terms of Boston sports (for a US city, sailing is somewhat popular in Boston, and there are a lot of universities in the area that have sailing teams). But I have to wonder...DJ battles? Mixing hip-hop culture w/ a rich white kids' sport? Really? I'm not saying it can't be done, but bringing sailing to the streets seems like a bit of a far-reach to me. I guess with a large enough marketing budget, perhaps dichotomous cultures can mingle. Then again, I have to remember that cultures are more fluid today, thanks to the digital world. But hey, I'll have to go see for myself!

Angkor Wat (Cambodia)

2 weeks ago Cary & I visited Cambodia

Playing w/ Ice

More photos from Haerbin Ice Festival (Jan '09)The sketchball on the right licking the block of ice is my dear friend Caralyn H. Quan.

Please cherish your future & reputation...

Wal-Mart in China

Me on the Great Wall

Most of the time I'm the one taking photos of my friends, but I managed to raid Cary's pics...

Some work

Some work - still in progress, though just about done. Keith Richards (~35" x 46")

Colors are a bit off in the photos. But the main gist. Materials: acrylic & oil bar

They think i'm Korean

(...at the risk of sounding incredibly obnoxious...) Normally I don't dress too snazzy here in Xi'an because it's so dusty/dirty. But last week, for no reason in particular, I decided to look good. (and by "look good", I mean matching/colors that hookup from toe-to-head, good pair of kicks, maybe sporting a blazer over a T, and most likely wearing turquoise and/or purple. Ooooo, uhhh did I really just admit all this?...yeahhh, hmm...).

Anyway, several locals asked me if I was Korean, which is the first time that's ever happened to me in my life. I think I'll take it as a compliment -- China still has beef w/ Japan, so China tends to look to Korea for cultural influence (fashion, music, etc.). Basically Koreans are considered really cool. And by association, that would make me....

Stages -- pt. 2

Earlier I posted something about the "Stages" initiative (i.e. Shepard Fairey's work). Here are some of the kicks. (Lance Armstrong/Nike/Livestrong Foundation). Personally, I'm liking the Air Max 90's -- above the grey sneaks in the middle, below the high-tops w/ yellow laces. One of the reasons I like wearing high-tops so much is b/c they remind me of wearing hockey skates.Lance's bike - also part of the "Stages" art campaign. Lance got this bike custom designed by KAWS (a well-known designer/artist in the streetworld).

Thailand/Cambodia

Tomorrow I'm headed off to Thailand & Cambodia for 2 weeks -- I'll be meeting up w/ my friend Cary. Not sure how much I'll be posting between now & April 17th.

Tentative plan:
- Bangkok (1 day)
- Siem Reap/Phnom Penh (~5 days)
- Bangkok/beach (1 day)
- Songkrat festival in Chiang Mai (5 days)