12ozProphet

Bring your bikes, your crew and some beer.

I grew up with an English teacher as a Mom, and an industrial designer for a Dad. They were both part-time comedians in their own way as well. I suppose no matter how much you try to carve out your own path in life, you really are a product of your parents influence. I remember my Dad teaching me how to draw in perspective when I was pretty young using the trench scene in Star Wars as the subject. And I got it! He had a good aesthetic sense, passing it along to me in so many little ways, maybe without even knowing it. Here’s a furniture set he designed in the early 70’s in Racine, Wisconsin. I still sit on this couch at my apartment today in Chinatown. I’ve had it since I moved out on my own some 15 years ago, it’s part of me and it’s traveled with me from apartment to apartment. I can’t get rid of it, even if I’ve wanted to at times, same way I can’t ever really separate who I’ve become today from what I learned in the past from my Mom and Dad. Love you guys.

Grace came over from London to show her “London to Paris” film that documented our crew ride from London to Paris last summer at the WNW space. I’m definitely too close to it to see it objectively, but the film just got me missing my month long Euro vacation. Having never been to London or Paris, it was amazing on a lot of different levels for me. At the end of the day, our ride was not about “fixed gear” bikes, although thats what most of us rode. Our ride wasn’t about some super-human physical accomplishment, most semi-serious cyclists could have done it. Our ride was about meeting new friends, seeing new places, having a laugh and of course, causing some harmless trouble. Ted absolutely held it down: always in the front and always the first to crack a beer during a stop. Ted is one of those dudes who just does. A proper bloke’s bloke with a strength and endurance (at the bar or on his bike) far beyond anyone I’ve ever met before. Here’s Ted cracking a Guiness at a stop between London and New Haven, looking like some crazed Russian bodybuilder about to arm wrestle you. Ted’s the real deal.

WNW is a companion to the Stages show at Deitch Projects here in New York. WNW is a place for the community to get a sense of what Livestrong and the Lance Armstrong Foundation are about and, most importantly to connect people who are stoked on cycling and art. Free coffee and donuts every morning for riders headed to work, offering free flat-fixes and teaching bike know-how classes on wheel building, headset installation and more. Weekly rides visiting all five boroughs of the city will also leave from WNW. The London to Paris film will also be screened in the space this month. Open Wednesday–Saturday from 10/22 -11/22.

Peeking around on the New York Times site today, I thought I’d share this One In 8 Million feature (if you have not seen it already). Great idea for a series, and although some are better than others, overall really good photography and some compelling individual stories from everyday people in the city that never sleeps. Have a good weekend.

“Can you turn that off? I can’t concentrate.” That was a pretty common request by a friend I used to work with when the Bop jazz would come on. Especially any Thelonious Monk. It took me a minute as well to tap into Monk. At first, his unusual technique throws you off. There is a lot of negative space in his solos, and something just sounds sideways about it. But then you get it. And its absolutely beautiful. To say that his style is unusual is like faulting a boxer for being too violent. Jazz is, by definition, all about the unusual. I always thought of Thelonious Monk as exactly that, a ‘monk’ of sorts that forged his own world of sound completely ignoring the musical traditions of the past. But a new book in the Times Sunday Book Review tells the story of a Monk that not only studied, but enjoyed and played classical music as a student (Chopin and Stravinsky were said be be his favorites). Like my high school art teacher, Mrs. Frank, told me: “You have to know the rules before you can break them.” and the always memorable “You can’t make steak out of hamburger”. Monk knew his music history (he didn’t start with hamburger, he started with Chopin) and understood the past so well in fact that he was able to break from it in a truly unconventional and original style that was way ahead of its time.

With Spike Jonze at The Museum of Modern Art.

The last day of our ride was a blast. 125 miles that brought us through a handful of beautiful small towns and squares on our way to Paris. A long way from the tourist-infested Eiffel Tower, it was an amazing way to see the country and get glimpses of normal, everyday French life.

Just another check-out in the back of another skate mag. You see em every month, usually quickly paging past. The hometown rippers who get flow product from the local shop and some occasional boxes from the regional board rep. There is a shit ton of good skaters out there these days. Really, really good skaters who eat, shit and breathe skateboarding. Most of them may never get to go on tour or, much less see a single paycheck from skateboarding and will end up shelving their dreams of becoming the next P-Rod at some point and go back to school or pick up shifts at the local coffee shop. I don’t think Yaje Popson will be one of those kids. Already getting flow product from what would be any self-respecting skaters wet dream: Chocolate, Vans and Spitfire, he’s well on his way down the right path. About 6 years ago, he showed me how he learned backside tailslides on the stoop in front of his Mom’s shop on East 6th Street. Well, now he’s backside tailsliding jersey barriers and has the butteriest backside 180 to fakie 5-0 grinds you’ve ever seen. And that was last year. Yeah, there’s a shit-load of really good skaters coming up out there, but when everyone of them is seemingly just as good as the next, it comes down to trick selection and style, and Yaje’s got that shit down.