SOFTER THAN THE WOMB OF A MARSHMALLOW MERMAID? NOT QUITE. CORDAROUNDS UNVEILS VAGISOFT BLANKETS
SAN FRANCISCO, January 29th — The world of tactile technology was satisfied with “soft as a baby’s bottom” as the measure of absolute softness. Anyone who dared name something “softer than” the aforementioned infant’s posterior was suggesting a theoretical, quantum world of soft that existed beyond anything man could conceive. That is, until researchers at Cordarounds invented the Tactile Soft-o-meter, a device that can detect and compare the density of softrons, the subatomic units of softness. And while this has proven a Nobel-worthy discovery, their scientists could not simply rest on their laurels.Using this newfound knowledge, they set out to line the pockets of their incredible reversible smoking jackets. And so comfy was the fabric they developed, so rich and impossibly supple, that test subjects had to have their hands removed from the coat pockets with the Jaws of Life.But what to name this miracle material? Again and again, the Soft-o-meter produced a result that had their marketing department in a nervous titter. “But we’re scientists dammit, not salesmen,” proclaimed Chris Lindland, Cordarounds founder, “and if the Soft-meter says this fabric measures “Vagisoft” within a standard deviation of one softron, so it shall be named!”
From The Vaults : Mary J. Blige
FROM THE VAULTS: MARY J BLIGE
“I’m not even ashamed of Mary anymore. I’m not ashamed of her drug addiction or her not finishing high school. I think I had to live those situations to be able to tell a next generation what not to do.” That’s right - before Oprah made her a household name to housewives across America, we photographed Mary J. Blige for our Issue #41 cover and talked with her on the eve of her No More Drama disc release about life with God and without drugs and abuse. Read it at www.peacemagazine.com/57/maryjblige.html
BBJ continues to sell out his family…
BBJ recently phoned in on a weak strong arm technique for fine coffee and Streetwear. In denial and backing up on the second, like he did when the man answered the phone in 112, BBJ offered to sell out his Grandmother, Christine Gamy. While it may be true Christine wrapped up a hard day at the office helping the kids with a hissy fit, upon finding a mouse in her boot, it does not distract from the fact BBJ sold her out.
This is not the first time BBJ has sold out his immediate family. A few months ago he offered to sell out his beautiful mother for a piece of Streetwear. Is this what our youth become? Shame on you BBJ. Time to step up and grow up, young man…
Hey Scenester! Make your moustache shine…
The latest VS. PROJECT ( www.triple5soul.com ) is launching mid FEB. Thunderdog / Tristan Eaton ( www.thunderdogstudios.com ). Eaton’s big in the vinyl toy world and has done a couple of collab’s in the past with adidas. The shoe will debut at the upcoming Project Vegas on February 12. A micro-site (www.poison-dreams.com ) and select NYC print will support the launch. 555 hand numbered pairs, and there’s about 50 or so left to be placed.
Do major labels really matter? Damon Albarn says…
With digital music sales up 40% and retail down another 10%, do major labels still matter? We asked Blur, Gorillaz, and The Good, The Bad & The Queen vocalist/lyricist Damon Albarn during our time with him in early 2007. For more check out the complete interview in issue #85. “Its not really to do with the money or anything, I think its got to do more with the kind of sort of way they approach their bands. I think they need to just relax a bit, and just let people kind of make mistakes and experiment. You know, experimentation is very thin on the ground in popular music and that’s a shame because popular music is what the vast majority of people listen to. So therefore, there should be great, great efforts made to make it more complex, more colorful, and more stimulating and rewarding. ”
Goose Gossage x New Era Cap?
BUFFALO, NY, (January 9, 2008) – In the spring of 2006, a partnership between New Era Cap and Inferno Baseball began with the primary goal of fostering the growth of youth baseball & softball players in Western New York, Central New York and Southern Ontario. That vision is well on its way and these two organizations are proud to announce that Phase III of the plan is complete with the last of three training facilities opening this month.
Operated by Inferno Baseball and open to New Era Park members, indoor batting cages and turf fields now occupy a 90,000 sq. ft. warehouse space on Lake Avenue in Hamburg. Although the transformation from a warehouse to a state-of-the-art training facility has begun, it’s the future plans, including a running track and a weight room endorsed by Thurman Thomas, that will make this facility one of the area’s premier sports training centers.
To commemorate the new facility, Rich “Goose” Gossage, former New York Yankees relief pitcher and 2008 Baseball Hall of Fame Inductee, will be on-hand at a press conference scheduled for Wednesday, January 30th, at 5:30pm at the facility located at 4817 Lake Avenue in Hamburg. Following the press event, Gossage will be conducting a pitching clinic exclusively for New Era Park members.
Question is will there be a Goose Gossage x New Era Cap? I’m thinking a Yankees fit with a glued on moustache…
J.R. Ewing
Sneaker Pimps Toronto - February 1
If you’re under the age of 50 and have ever listened to RUN DMC
then you know what a sneaker is. The pinnacle of rubber and sole
nerdiness happens next Friday night at Circa nightclub, as the
largest touring sneaker party on the planet rolls through the T.
Hundreds of hard to find sneakers along with heavyweights like DJ
Premier, Stash and Futura will be in attendance. Start cleaning
your frosty prrrr now.
J.R. Ewing
Kenny George is three Eggs tall
For everyone who has been under a rock since December,
Kenny George, a standout Center for the UNC Asheville
Bulldogs is unofficially the tallest player ever to be in the
U.S. College Basketball gammit. Dude stands a staggering
7′9 with shoes on, that’s like 3 of me, yikes! Check out the
youtube clip below of this guy dunking without leaving the
ground, scary!
J.R. Ewing
Cess Silvera is a Top Shotta in Hood Classic
We’ve all seen the Jamaican Scarface, Shottas, on bootleg DVD. Five years later the still multi-platinum hood classic, was released on DVD in late 2006, reedited, remastered and distributed by Sony. Peace interviewed the Top Shotta himself, Director Cess Silvera, the filmmaker of this raw urban drama and asked him about his decisions in making scene and music changes from the original, including the missing Jigga Man…
You know what in all honesty, its not a lot. For the little stuff like that I probably moved a little thing here and cut it a little different. I had a whole lot of other footage, but I intentionally made a decision like you know what, I’m not gonna change this movie up a lot because I was afraid that probably I’m messing with the movie that the audience fell in love with. I might give them something and they might reject it and they’d be like, ‘That’s not the movie we love.’ And I took that step because I was aware, as you and everybody else that saw the bootleg, that an intelligent mind can tell that that’s not a complete movie. That’s an incomplete movie everybody was watching with stuff that’s said, ‘Insert this here, insert that there,’ time code written on the bottom, dirty gritty quality. So I was cool, I said, let me not risk it with too much stuff, but I did shift around a couple scenes here and there and add a little something here and there but it wasn’t really a significant amount of stuff. Being a young filmmaker first time around when I did Shottas, I went along and I threw all these different hip-hop music in it that I was feeling, but in all honesty I really didn’t decide to use that music but when the bootleg got out and everybody fell in love with it the way they did, I did step to Damon Dash at the time who was a close associate of mine and told him I would like to keep certain music in. I stepped to Puffy and everybody, but the MONEY that they were asking for… it would have been enough money to make another Titanic. [laugh] So I couldn’t afford clearing all that music. I decided to go back to basics, and give them a whole different feel. The official DVD has a lot of vintage reggae music like some Little John – the orgignal, not no hip-hop Lil’ Jon, the original Jamaican Little John. People like John Wayne and old Bounty Killa stuff and I went way back for some vintage stuff like Bob Marley because I did have acCess Silvera to the whole Bob Marley catalogue so I took advantage of that. Jay-Z is Jay-Z, but Bob Marley is a whole ‘nother thing we talking about’.
To read the full interview, go to Issue 85
From The Vaults : Bloc Party
Last year, we did an interview and photo shoot with Bloc Party before their sold out show at the Kool Haus. Here’s what singer Kele had to say about the music he listens to…
Lots of R&B pop music is what I’m finding inspiring right now. Lots of contemporary classical music, choral music, electronic music. Some rock music, but generally from 30 years ago; bands like the Talking Heads, Pixies, even further back. I rediscovered Queen over the last year and Day At the Races and Night At The Opera - real inspirational when we’re writing records. No one really makes rock music like that anymore. They’re such tremendous musicians and they kind of make their own really intricate world. No one really does that anymore. Now when I hear a rock song on the radio it seems so obvious, like I’ll know at the start how it’s going to
end. That’s not really exciting for me anymore.
Read the full interview in Issue 86.
RBK Kool Aid Series
The Kool-Aid is part of the men’s Pro Legacy Low line. The first Kool-Aid flavors Grape- Kook Pink & Cheery will launch Feb. 1st, while Orange, Lemon & Lime will launch May 1st. Sweet…
From The Vaults - Sean Paul
FROM THE VAULTS: SEAN PAUL
Jamaica’s dancehall superstar to the pop crowd didn’t just fall off a turnip truck one day in 2001. Read the full interview with his manager, Jeremy Harding, to find out how the hit maker was picked to click in our first Karibana digest issue exclusively for Toronto at www.peacemagazine.com/62/speakerburners.html. Then, check out our exclusive photos and in-depth interview with Sean on where he was at in 2003, how he got there and where he was going at www.peacemagazine.com/66/SeanPaul.html. Next, see what he has to say in 2007 at www.peacemagazine.com/88/seanpaul.pdf.
DJ Jam is on the loose
West Side DJ extraordinaire, DJ Jam reached out from the animal farm to Peace HQ yesterday with an update. Following a seventeen year career as the exclusive live DJ of Snoop and Dre, the man is solo and on the grind releasing mix discs, touring, inventing DJ software, and becoming on online mogul. Peep www.myspace.com/djjamand get out the credit card to place orders direct from www.djjam.com…
Luciano on his vocal inspirations
Back in the summer of ‘07 Daddy Norris and friend travelled the highway to the Montreal International Reggae Festival. Flashing his trademark smile and positive vibes, one of reggae’s leading lights, Luciano granted his only interview of the day. Here’s what he told Daddy when asked about artists who inspire him…
Let Love Rule - Lenny Kravtiz is back!
A man named Lenny Kravitz is back on the scene with more rock pleasure for the people. A fan since day one, I lost contact with his music over the past few years, but am happy to say he’s back hard this year with a hot new album and tour. Here’s a sniplet from our interview back in late November when he was in Toronto to perform at the Grey Cup Half-time. How does the man feel he is perceived by the regular person on the street? What pops into the mind of an average Joe or Josette when they see a rock n’ roll star up close and personal?
“I don’t know. I’d like to think music. But in this world where people are paying attention to other things than what is it that you do. All that image stuff. You know, “He dresses like this”, “He’s got like lots of chicks”. It seems like that’s where a lot of people like to go, like to pay attention to, which of course, that’s not me. That might be one title aspect. But then again a lot of people do listen and they hear the music and they hear what I am saying and they know that I am talking about love and God and humanity. The world as I see things. I would hope that people are listening.”
A Cool Young Lu - Lupe Fiasco is Johnny Cash!
Respected Streetwear leading light and hip-hop recording artist Lupe Fiasco recently hit Toronto on promo for his second full-length disc, The Cool. Following an extended wait for the man allowing him to hit GDFT and eat Halal, we sat him down with J.R. Ewing for round two on the state of Streetwear. Gone is the multicolored hues of years past. 2008 is all about the darkness…
“Johnny Cash. Man in Black. Why do you wear black Johnny Cash? ‘Cause the world is suffering. I want to represent the suffering of the world in what I wear. So every time you ask me why do you wear black? I can re-remind you that, my answer is going to be because of the world is this. Because of this guy I wear it. The stuff that we can control, that what we do to ourselves and do to other people. That’s why. I wear a testament to that, and that’s such a powerful statement. Hell yeah, I started wearing black at my shows. Then it just went to black all the time.”
From The Vaults : Daft Punk
tour, the Kanye link and the 9000 Rapidshare bedroom mixes that featured their name check, but Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo have never been your garden-variety DJ heroes. Okay, maybe before they threw on those crazy robot suits for a Peace photo shoot and exclusive cover story in 2001, nobody but the hardcore house heads knew them. If that’s you, maybe you need to catch up on the whole ‘house hits the mainstream’ theme, back when chez France first laid its foundation, at www.peacemagazine.com/54/daft.html
Jordan XXIII NYSizz - Gentry Humphry on XVI years of Michael Jordan
Gentry Humphry is the Director of Jordan Brand footwear. He has worked alongside the man for the past sixteen years. Here’s some observations of the legend from a boy to a man…
“I’ve seen him in a couple of different ways. Michael and I, almost being the same age. I’ve seen it on the court. I remember him walking on the court with the Air Jordan 1’s in the dunk contest with gold chains. Today you’ll never catch Michael in that kind of wardrobe. Before the time that was right, that was kind of his swagger. That’s how he defined himself. You’ve seen him kind of mature into this more sophisticated guy who, in a lot of ways in the beginning who never wanted to be like anyone else, but how he defines himself as being different than people now is completely different.
I’ve seen him also grow from an educational standpoint on the footwear. When he first came to the league, he said, “No, I want no technology, I want to stay low to the ground”. Well he realized halfway through, he realized that you are going to have to change with the times from a technology standpoint, if you are going to withstand the rigors of the game. He was able to see the benefits of the new technology, how they could help him kind of withstand the play of the game for the future. So he evolved with the technology as well.
To me Michael’s just a great guy and as he’s no longer playing, his business savvy is tremendous. To sit down he could tell you when shoes dropped, he can tell you what the finances are around the brand. He’s a great business guy. So he’s moved from this figure on the court to this figure in this business room and is very astute from a business standpoint.”
Jordan XXIII NYSizz - Tinker Hatfield on XXIII years of NBA Ball
Monday, January 7 & 8 Mr. Heller and Stanley hit NYC on Jordan XXIII biz with Snides, NYSizz, GW, and Mike Mnds to interview the number one sneaker designer in the world, Tinker Hatfield, and Jordan Brand footwear’s main man, Gentry Humphry. Impatiently waiting out non-stop NYC sneaker talk with the legends, we were finally blessed by Beleza to sit down one on one to get the goods sneaker freakers the world over need to know. The following is a sniplet of honey from our interview with Tinker Hatfield (captured by Stanley in front of his creations), on how he has witnessed the NBA change over the past twenty-three years…
“Clearly it’s gone through a couple of big changes. One of the biggest changes was when Detroit, with Daley as the Coach, and Isaiah and the crew, Bad Boys, they changed basketball. More than Michael did. They were reacting to the fact that there was really no way to stop him, without just beating him up. So they started to do that, they started to beat the living crap out of him any time he got near the basket. They may have figured out they could do that with a lot of other players. That changed the game. The game got much rougher. So Michael, what was interesting about that, and I had some chats with him, but mostly it’s been through observation that he changed his body and changed his game, very, very unusual. Most players can’t do that. They can’t see it and they don’t have the willpower to actually make the change. It’s kind of like a golfer changing their swing, extremely difficult thing to change something you are used to doing for a long time. He changed his game because he was just getting hammered. The games got a lot of rougher. So that was a big change. So he started to develop a better outside game, a better fade away, a better way to penetrate without just getting killed. He could penetrate and slide a little bit. ‘Cause he knew if he just went straight to the hoop somebody was just going to take him out. So he didn’t dunk as much. I think that had a big impact on the whole rest of the NBA. So the whole rest of the NBA got rougher. Defense became more en vogue actually, get down and get serious, basically playing the game more further out, challenging people at the perimeter. So I think that was a big change.
Then probably more recently, actually I believe it’s the San Antonio Spurs have actually changed the game again and have actually taken a much bigger and better team approach to winning basketball games, which is basically no big star. No one person that always gets you 30, that’s not the way San Antonio plays. They’ll have a guy that gets 30 one night but it will be a different guy the next night. They’re all about sharing the ball, playing team D, being more consistent and so I believe now that models being adopted by other teams. Phoenix is playing much better team ball. I like the way they play, they just don’t have quite the defensive presence like San Antonio. If they ever start playing better defense, Phoenix might be a tough team to beat. But they just for some reason they just haven’t been able to. They can score the team ball. Steve Nash and those guys they move the ball around great and Amare Stoudamire is a big presence. They just don’t stop people like San Antonio, their game on the other end of the court, not quite the same. I think that’s the model for the future. And you know what, the Olympics shows it. When teams come in and they have a much better concept about sharing the ball and moving the ball around, not relying on a single “star” to just go to all the time, they’ve proven that they can actually beat some of our better guys, some of our better players in international competition. So I think that’s the big change now. You know who is doing a really good job of that, are the Portland Trail Blazers. Very young team, very green, no big stars, well I mean Brandon Roy (he’s not a big star), but he could be. He’s super solid for a young guy. But they are moving that ball around, they are sharing that ball. McMillan is a really good sort of team Coach and I think they are probably a harbor of the future of the NBA. In order to win championships you are going to have to, no more of this sort of 2 on 2 basketball; where there’s Shaq backs somebody in and he either dunks it or kicks it back out for a 3. That’s over. That doesn’t work. You got to move the ball to everybody. Everybody’s got to touch the ball. It creates space. And people got to shoot from intermediate range now again.”
Hello world!
Welcome to the blog. Expect to see updates from our past, present and future on the regular. Enjoy!