INSTANT KARMA! is going to get you

This past weekend was pretty cool. Kinda weird saying it, but I’m done with the slacking off. The past two weeks I’ve kept it pretty chill, and I’m definitely ready to get back to work on Trender. On Friday, I went to LA to hit up West Hollywood with Nyomi and catch DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist’s last U.S. stop for their Hard Sell tour. Nyomi wanted to check out the vintage clothing stores, while I wanted to finally get my visit to the street wear stores on Fairfax. I’m happy to report that I was able to get to all of them:

Not shown are Crooks & Castle, ALIFE, Turntable Lab LA, and Suru. Check out the ALIFE store though, cause the store design is sick: this blog got some great pics. The other three were pretty normal. But check out thehundred’s photobooth feed. We’re 3rd from the top (if it doesn’t change). It’s a really great idea to get people involved. Anyway other than that, i just got myself a tee, some jeans, and a pair of kicks.

Lately I’ve been really getting into jeans. So there’s this whole thing with selvedge denim that I’ve been refusing to trend with the past few years. But I’m finally bugged, and diggin’ the new style. I’ve gotten myself some Mavi, Orisue, and Puma x Evisu jeans. I gotta say they’re still not as comfy as baggy jeans, but they sure are nice when they’re not dragging under my shoes. You’re gonna see me like one of those punk skaters now. owned.

The show was pretty sick with it, although I must admit it was way more experimental than I would’ve liked. The venue was kinda janky about rules and seating, but whatevs. Here’s some pics:

In other news:

My favorite brand, Zojirushi, has developed a new model for us damn westerners called The Rizo. “And it has a special function for making risotto! Though at ¥18,900 (~$175) for a three-cup capacity it isn’t cheap.” But the design is fresh.

via Trends in Japan

Another one of my favorite brands (clothing), Johnny Cupcakes is opening a store on Melrose soon. They got some really hot designs, and their site concept is second to none. So I’ll be looking forward to checking that out when it’s done.

“Here’s video of “Casulo,” the much-hubbubbed-about “apartment in a box” from Marcel Krings & Sebastian Muhlhauser, who won the Abraham & David Roentgen Award with it in November of last year. Young, solo, female apartment-dwellers take note: with everything you need in this 31-by-47 inch box, moving’s a snap and boyfriends are about to become obsolete.”

via Core77

There’s a new enka singer in Japan right now that making big news. The big news? He’s a black dude from Pittsburgh, PA named Jerome White Jr. (Jero; ジェロ) If you don’t know what enka is, check out the video:

Now I know most of you will either be laughing your asses off, or just not giving a shit. But I honestly kinda dig it. First I give him props for breaking the mold and following his passion. And secondly I give him major props for doing something he’s gonna be given a lot of crap for. Anyway, his first single, Umiyuki (海雪; The Ocean Snow), will be released in Japan on February 20, 2008. Here’s his official site (Japanese)

Peace.

It was a creed written into the founding documents…

It’s been a good couple of weeks, and quite a lot has gone down. Mainly some traveling, some work, and some more good eating.
But I’m not really in the mood to talk much, so I’ll just show some pictures.

On the way up north, Jon devised a neat little contraption to let him watch movies on his ipod touch:

While up there, I took my dad, Jon, and Jen to get some chow that my friends and I used to dig toward the end of our high school years @ La Victoria (140 E. San Carlos Street, San Jose, CA 95112; map):

They have this orange sauce that’s bomb. Check it if you’re ever in the area.

Two things that I just wanted to mention:
We got a 2-story Target up in Fremont. It’s not really all that cool, except for the fact that it’s got a cart escalator:

Lastly, the Nordstrom at Valley Fair has a really neat hand dryer that I’ve been waiting to see. I saw it back in ’06 on Engadget, and have been curious to try it out ever since. The one here is made by mitsubishi:

And before you give me the “they have one of those at ____”
Yeah? Well stfu, good for you.