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MAY 2009
YONE HAS LANDED
Highlight of the month, by far, is Yone coming into town tonight.
Walking through Yone's exhibitions is, without gross exaggeration, what I envisage a stroll through heaven might feel like. If I somehow sneak through the pearly gates and there isn't so much as a hint of what Yone captures on his camera.. forget about it, I am getting a refund, writing a strongly worded letter of complaint and taking my business elsewhere.
It was more than refreshing to finally attend an unpretentious event in Hong Kong. With a nice cast of characters making up the crowd and Yone taking time to hang out with everyone and put his camera to work, what more could you ask for? Big papa of Cipher Colin Thompson, Berto You Lee and Marta W were in attendance and did their best to keep certain people (me) under control around the life-sized prints. Cheers boys and girl, however tomorrow you'll need to bring your A-game when we hit the town with Yone and co.
Invite for the event The gang heads to Shek Kip Mei foe the exhibition A thrice scanned snap originally taken with Yone's new Fujifilm Instax Mini Cheki 25 Camera (released June '09) Yone signs my very own copy of Tokyo Amour Our girl and international superstar Maria Ozawa delivering the goods for Yone
Yone... living the dream
Guess who flaked on the event... ;)
Before the event I sketched my very first tattoo (rather surprisingly it wasn't inked)
Major Mackerel is alive and well and living on a Japanese backside Major Mackerel - Miss Getty Getty
Knocking out some of sample promo material at the best (and cheapest) printers in town Rain protection: few clothes to get wet and a plastic bag fashioned into a hat
START AS YOU MEAN TO FINISH!
An incredibly firm handshake and massive pat on the back going out to my boy Jean-Julian Roger! Coming through his first round doubles today on his French Open (Roland Garros) debut. 6-1,6-1 in 37 mins! What more do you want??
I will put $1,000 down on what track he listened to before he went out there!
Wu-Tang Clan - Triumph
RAINY DAYS
Trapped inside today It's been up before, it's up again and it will more than likely be up a good few times more. This is simply the greatest male solo vocal delivery of all time. Nothing and no one comes close to this, EVER.
Luther Vandross - A House Is Not A Home
DIGGING IN THE CRATES
The week has barely begun and the seemingly simple tasks are taking forever to complete. The very easy job of making clothes becomes complex when all the non clothing related issues come about. Add a measure of annoying people who don't deliver to the mix and you have yourself a valid reason to take a little break and dig in the crates for a track or 10.
It's a long road, but walk and reach the end of it I shall.
Lenny Kravitz - Stand By My Woman
Joni Mitchell - A Case Of You
Jodeci - Feenin
Anita Baker - Rapture
ZEGNA SPORT
I've always been a big fan of Ermenegildo Zegna. The first encounter with the brand came when I ventured into their Covent Garden location and spent a fair portion of my pocket money on a shirt with no suit or trouser I could ever wear it with. It seemed like a good idea at the time.. All I knew back then was that they took pride in the application and development of advanced textiles so my plan to get my hands on something fresh was a good one. I also knew that correctly pronouncing the company name gave quite a few customers back home a severe case of anxiety.
Now we are in town for a quick show, I'd assume we'd be able to hang out with friends and see some sights and sounds of Beijing. No chance! Spending 6hrs+ to fit one outfit and over 8hrs to rehearse for a 15 minute show forced all plans to be cancelled. Incredible!
THE CAPITAL
I love a runway show as much as the next chap, but there is something faintly ridiculous about flying for four hours to prepare for a show consisting of one outfit two days before said show is due to take place. Ensuring you fit into your given wardrobe and proving, for the trillionth time, that you can indeed walk in a straight line should, and I'm going out on a limb here, take 45 mins at the very most. However, seeing as the palms have been crossed with a more than agreeable amount of silver, two days hanging out in Beijing seem very appealing all of a sudden.
With a flight scheduled, the eyes immediately begin scanning various media outlets for air disasters. Typically, two planes went down in different parts of the world yesterday. I am still convinced it's only a matter of time for me now. What may now seem like the rants of a paranoid flyer will soon become the words of a very wise (and very dead) man.
NEW HEADQUARTERS?
With work on the GUNN mail outs and freebies almost done, we had time to take a little look at a new space we may be moving into. Not bad at all I must say! Certainly more than enough room to stretch out, add a few people, a drum kit and a pool table to the crew. There's even space for a rim and backboard if the moods takes us. Beside the space inside, there's a rather attractive car park space up for grabs. I am picturing a classic something or the other which won't cost a fortune but will look pretty bloody slick. Stay tuned to see what we end up with.
YONE IN HONG KONG
That's all you need to know. If you haven't seen Yonehara Yasumasa do his thing then you are MISSING OUT! The man is living the dream. Literally. Jammy b...
He will be in town with Reach and their Partouze Exhibition from May 28th to June 4th at:
Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre 30 Pak Tin Street Shek Kip Mei Kowloon, Hong Kong
ALL BUSINESS
If problems are sent to test us, then I consider myself more than tested this month. Leave it to various people in various places doing little to help or everything to unhinge the work we are all putting in around here. Survive we shall however, somehow..
Before the drama unfolded around here, we took a few hours on a Sunday to knock out this little piece. As the mountains of designs, examples, samples, magazines and stationary continue to grow, a few high kicks here and a smashed television set there are the order of the day.
SWINE!
Not even a full day of May passes and someone drops into town with a case of the Swine Flu. Nice one! Naturally the hotel virus boy chose to stay at is just over the road from us (and more importantly our beloved basketball courts). I am sure the owners of the hotel are more than glad he stopped by as not only have they have been effectively closed down but they are now know worldwide as "the place that bloke with the pig flu went". They will be hoping there's no such thing as bad publicity...
Today the city is near dead, around these parts anyway. Those that ventured out have done so with their little medical masks, latex gloves and shifty looks in tow, bless 'em. The headlines and their corresponding pictures are a little over the top
The upside to all of this is queues. Indeed. If there's a queue I need to get to the front of in this town over the next week or so, some violent coughing should clear the way fairly quickly ;)