Dreams.

Maestro Knows does a piece on Johnny Cupcakes. These types of things give me a warm feeling inside. Pure inspiration.


Speaking of Mr. Levi Maestro, it appears he released his first episode of Maestro Knows one year ago, March 24, 2009. Only one year and he is a regular character in the street fashion universe. Thank you, Levi, for being an example of inspiration as well as promoting it.


Follow your dreams.

Badu.

"Window Seat" by Erykah Badu. Directed by Erykah and Coodie & Chike. Song produced by The Soulquarians. Inspired by Matt & Kim.

"Shot guerilla style, no crew, one take, no closed set, no warning, two minutes, in downtown Dallas, then ran like hell... I was afraid. But I was ready." says Ms. Badu. Word. I love Erykah, for more reasons than one now. Church! Album drops tomorrow.

Live It.

Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library has some pretty solid rules on doing what you love: do it.

I'm working at it, Gary. Swiped this from the Ends/Wealth blog.

The Reason.

By Shawn Chrystopher. Directed by Charles Yi of The Mighty Fifty.

One of the main reasons people follow a particular artist's work is because of the connection one feels towards that artist. The very first, and best way artists get connected with their listeners is through their music. The second would be interviews/documentaries in my opinion. You get a look into that artists lifestyle, what they're like behind close doors, what they believe in, and here in Mr. Chrystopher's case understand the reasoning behind certain songs.

I hate the term real talk, but this is literally "real talk".

Inspirational P.

40 minutes of pure insight.

3Sixteen.

3Sixteen creates some of the best menswear cut-and-sew garments in today's market in my humble opinion. I love the attention to detail and the overall clean cut fit of they're garments. I aspire to make W!LD LEEK's cut-and-sew garments just as good if not better.



Its always inspirational to creators create.

We Can Do It Big.

By The Cool Kids featuring Stalley. Produced by Ski Beatz. Shot by the good folks at Creative Control. CC has been puttin out some pretty dope clips of the artists in their circle.

The song's cool, but I kinda dig the performance shots in front of the movie projection.

Man, I gotta get an HD joint quick...

Stocks On Deck.

...And he's from Chicago. I like the fact that they didn't mention his father, and got this feature all on his own merits. His pops is pretty funny though.

This Is It.

By the insurmountable King Of Pop: Michael Jackson. Directed by Spike Lee.

There will never be another.
Never.

Maestro Knows Ibn.

Filmmaker Levi Maestro travels around downtown Chicago with Chicago's own Ibn Jasper.

Mr. Maestro has always been an inspiration for me as far as filmmaking is concerned. He has a camera and just simply shoots his famous friends. I don't normally post Maestro Knows episodes, but I found this one particularly inspirational because Ibn is from Chicago and I felt he had some pretty interesting things to say in the vein of "getting out your dreams", word to Kanye.

ECKO.

jeffstaple, the founder of STPL interviews Marc Ecko. I love hearing brand ownwers speak on their humble beginnings and the journey of how they got to where they are now. Its always inspirational.

11, 11, 11.

Yo. I don't know too much about this BlakRoc project except Dame Dash and The Black Keys are spearheading it. This joiont is Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo):

Check the webisodes. The entire project just seems so organic, so true to the culture. 11 artists collaborated with The Black Keys, 11 days in the studio, and the album is 11 tracks. The anticipation is building.

40 Years Of Sesame.

Happy 40th, Sesame Street!

Who doesn't like Sesame Street? I've learned great life lessons from this show as a shorty. I don't think I realized its been around so long. Gotta respect the longevity, and their ability to stay relevant to the youth of today. And kudos for teaching the kiddies, as well as being entertaining for adults.

Word to Jim Henson. ...That's another post all together.

I Say Fever.

By Ramona Falls. Directed and animated by Stefan Nadelman.

This story line is dope to me. It seems to be a piece all about people not being what they seem. Are we all savage animals? And check the mysterious woman who seems to be working with the eagle head dude. Cool stuff all around.

Videogioco.

By Milkyeyes (Donato Sansone).

The time and effort of animation always intrigues me. And with projects like this its never really about the story line, its more about the concept... the actual technique of the procedure itself.

And look at that... its a loop! Nice.

We Were Once A Fairytale.

A short film by Spike Jonze starring Kanye West (among others).

Though unsettling, I kinda like this piece. Kanye did a pretty good job of acting drunk (no jokes here, I'll take the high road). So what does it all mean? That's a ?uestion for Spike and Kanye, but I'll put a few thoughts out there. With the first portion of the film being dedicated to watching Kanye's drunken antics, it would seem the ending would have something to do with his drunkenness. In my humble opinion its because of who he is most that most of the comments I've seen on this clip suggest the creature at the end is West's ego. Perhaps. If so, shouldn't we have seen Kanye sober and acting crazy, as he tends to do? Anyone one could potentially act this way when they're drunk enough. And the creature seems rather mild-mannered to be Kanye's ego, right? What about the rose petals? I could go on, but I'll stop there.

Art is open to interpretation.

Gondry Cross Country.

Just stumbled upon this little gem... "Behind" by Lacquer, a french band. This video is directed my Michel and Oliver Gondry. Check all the small subtleties:

I've been wanting to do a time lapse shot for some time. This inspires me.

Kanye's Heartless.

Covered by The Fray.

I'm feeling this cover, and I actually think this video is a better visual accompaniment than the one for the original song.

Tarantino, Then Jonze.

Quentin has had Inglorious Basterds in the works (I believe the writing stages) since the release of the Kill Bill volumes, thus I've been waiting for it that long.  August 21st I can stop waiting and allow my eyeballs to explode from what will hopefully be a glorious cinematic feat of amazingness. Huh? 

Then on October 16th I can finally let the 11 year old KiD in me be frightened by the huge monsters, yet let the adult in me be amazed by the imagination of Mr. Spike Jonze's highly anticipated Where The Wild Things Are.  The latest trailer does not disappoint.  Check the landscapes: 

The Brandless Brand.

One of my favorite sites just did a short interview on Rick Klotz, the head of Freshjive, and his reasons for deciding to no longer use any brand logos or names on Freshjive products beginning in 2010. Quite an interesting read. Click the pic for the interview!

Actually, I think it'll bring even more attention to his brand, and its something Freshjive supporters can talk about. Like the secret you know as part of the in-crowd.

John Hughes, Jr.

(February 18, 2009 - August 6, 2009)

(Click the picture)

Mr. Hughes has written and directed some of the most successful 1980s comedies: Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Weird Science, The Breakfast Club, Uncle Buck, Home Alone, and Home Alone 2: Lost In New York. Cult classics. I won't even go into how iconic Ferris Bueller is, plus he inspired the Brat Pack. Most of his films took place in or around Chicago. I always thought it was cool seeing well known Chicago landmarks or just random Chicago city blocks in movies. I always said I would take that approach if I became a filmmaker. Thank you Mr. Hughes.

DEEP Beginnings.

Scott Sasso, the founder of 10.DEEP, speaks on what he was doing before 10.DEEP.

Gotta love the inspiration.