For my boy and fellow co-worker, Gavin Rhodes of Brooklyn, New York, he shined big-time with his victory in the New York Times Collectible Car of the Year Contest. Check out the NYTimes article by Richard Chang here.
A total of 558 cars were entered in the contest, and Gavin’s Triumph TR3A pulled away from other collectible Triumphs, British road cars, and a collectible Ferrari through an online poll result of 4,500 votes. Check out the other collectible cars here.
Here is a clip of Richard Chang’s article on Gavin and his TR3A in yesterday’s Times.
“The TR3A, built from 1957 to 1961, was the most elegant of Triumphs, before they became boxy and, later, wedgelike. Mr. Rhodes got his more than 15 years ago for $4,200. It was his second.
His first was a 16th-birthday gift from his father, Jim, a gearhead with his own crazy way of souping up old cars. Past projects included a 1959 Jaguar Mark I sedan that used a Buick V-6, and a 1932 Ford pickup with a Corvette engine. Mr. Rhodes recalls that the first car he drove to high school was a Sunbeam Tiger, a British roadster powered by a factory-installed Ford V-8.
“There was a coolness factor,” Mr. Rhodes said about driving his father’s cars, but his birthday present was, he felt, more of a “loaded present.” “It was a wrecked car,” he explained. “It had like mice in the trunk.”"
Gavin is one of the coolest MFs that I’ve encountered.
He was chief IT guy at eGroups, and he started up his own grassroots marketing and publicity company for hip-hop, alternative, and indy music and pop culture called Audible Treats. The start-up does great direct e-mail campaigns…Check them out.
Gavin always knew what was up in town, and he made a lot of the hipster poseurs in San Francisco drivel because he just didn’t fake the funk.
Simply stated, the guy has mad flavor, and he knows what’s up.
The cool thing is that he is using the prize money to look for place to store his prize winner. I hope that he grabs a garage near NYC soon. I need a tour of the BK in that thing.
Special thanks to TNT for re-running the All-Star game at 11PM for our listeners. With this week’s WXYC ‘Sports Rap’ show, DTH columnist, Gregg Found and I discussed the Virginia Tech ‘W’, Tywon Lawson’s injury, MJ’s view on the NBA, and Tyler Hansbrough’s legacy in Tar Heel basketball lore.
The ‘Be True’ slogan was the message that etched into my thoughts this summer while working for Nike on the re-release of the Nike Dunk Collection for 2008. Nike assembled a great team for developing the concepts for the Dunk story and I was more than happy to grab a few boards this summer for by centering upon the basketball historical aspects of the Dunk.
With February 2008 and the earlier releases of the vintage collection of the original Dunks earlier this year, the second extension of the line was released around the globe on February 9th.
From my standpoint, they stayed ‘true’ to the original concept and they definitely emphasized the team aspect and creativity that people seek with the colors and the design of the dunk. The concept of the line derived from Nike Design Director for Sport Culture, Jesse Leyva and Nike Global Brand Manager for Sport Culture, Darla Vaughn.
Both people are not only extremely hip on what’s hot in culture, but also are extremely passionate for the avid sneakerheads who rock Nike products. For those that appreciate real retro stuff and preserving the ‘true’ essence of a vintage flair in their products, these two both instituted a high level of respect for the original relationship of the Dunk and college basketball…
New York - Pine Green (pictured above) Los Angeles - Orange Blaze (pictured left)
Sao Paulo (changed from Rio) - White
Tokyo - Red
Hong Kong - Varsity Royal
London - Varsity Purple
Paris - Varsity Maize
The unique and original color concept has moved from repping schools to avenues and alleys…I like that concept a lot. (The colors stayed ‘true’ with ‘varsity’ maize, red, royal blue, and orange blaze. I like the twist with thepurple and green calls.) For courtmasters, you may look as slow as Artis Gilmore during his Celtic days, but for the street you’ll be more than ready to rip.
Past, present, future in Durham on Saturday night…
I caught up with Paul Miller, a.k.a. ‘DJ Spooky’ in the ‘Green Room’ of Duke’s Reynolds Theater before his lecture show “Video Soul: From Wattstax to The Advant Garde” at Duke University on Saturday night.
Paul’s show blended video, beats, and multimedia culture for Duke Performances’ “Month of Soul Power: From Gospel to the Godfather.” The interview is for Sonecast, a new web tool that aggregates video, photos, blogging and social media into one channel for you.
Drive here to Sonecast for all of the footage from the show and for more info on ‘DJ Spooky’ info.
Paul is widely known for his innovative work as ‘DJ Spooky’ on the worldwide ’90s club scene and for his progressive use of sampling and online technology to create and distribute music.
As a purveyor of urban culture, he provided a rich look back at ’60s & ’70s R&B and urban culture. Along with his mix of sounds, he displayed vintage multimedia footage that ranges from Wattstax performances from Carla Thomas,the Bar-Kays, and Jesse Jackson’s “I Am Somebody” speech, to vintage Stax performances from Booker T. & The MGs and Otis Redding. And believe me, this stuff was fresh out the box.
In the interview, Paul touches upon the beauty of R&B and soul music from the ’60s & ’70s, how the web and sampling enchances our look at the past, social media and the digital divide, and how sampling of Stax and R&B is a tribute to the artists and the powers of digital art today.
Special kudos to Aaron Greenwald, the curator of Duke Performances, and the supporters of Duke Performances for putting together ‘Soul Power, From Gospel to the Godfather’ program for 2008. Check out the rest of the Duke Performances schedule.
Enjoy the listen, and get out to Duke Performances for a show. Aaron has put together an incredible flavor-whop of talent. Trust me on this one, the guy drives a ‘78 Cadillac Coup de Ville…’Nuff said.
Yes, I’m still bitter that the Chuck is no longer produced in North Carolina, but how can you be sore at the company that has brought so many American icon to the floors and pavement?
Well, the Nike owned North Andover company is coming out with a full global ad campaign to celebrate its Chuck Taylor All Star sneakers and their connection to pop-culture icons in the worlds of sports, music, fashion and art since their introduction in 1917.
To celebrate, Converse is coming out with a Black Fives collection, which should be cool. However, will the young bucks pick-up on them?…I guess that’s another story.
My hope is that they celebrate the Chuck and the basketball shoes of the late ’60s and early ’70s. That’s when Converse was way ahead of the game. And to celebrate this one, I think I’m going to have to break out my Bob Cousy signed Chucks to commemorate this time.
They’re also coming out with another release of the Converse Pro Leathers from 1976 when Julius Erving moved his stars and stripes to Philadelphia. Both the Pro Team and the Weapon…are going to make a comeback. Major kudos…Especially on the Pro Team. Damn, I would love to get back ten to fifteen years and rock a pair of those in a Kenny Smith type of way.
For those of you sleeping on the Weapon, enjoy this one. Damn, Bernard King, Bird, McHale, and the bratty Midwest trio of Mark Aguirre, Isiah (when he was true to his Chicago roots) and Magic (Pre-Freeze Out…;) This ad is still one of the great ones of all-time.
Also, major kudos for bringing back the turf shoe. All of these chucklehead sneaker experts sleep on how big the turf shoe was in the ’80s. If you lived in a NFL town, you had the turf shoe…Yes, there are sneaker scenes outside of NYC.
Now, will they please bring back the suede one-stars in NBA style colors from ‘73? I’m dying for a pair of suede Norm Van Liers.
I had a run a run-down post on yesterday’s call of the Heels clipping the Devils…
Well, here’s my response.
After the game, I ran into Howard Garfinkel, and I asked him real quick what he thought of the game. His reply. “What are you going to do…You don’t have your…Uhh…What’s his name? Your guy..the point gaaahhhd.”
Classic…And I wish that last night was that simple…
** Bad Wings- The first reaction is to look at Wayne Ellington and Danny Green. I hate to admit, but they got smoked last night.
With Green, he has been playing well enough that I would like to give him a hall pass, but I expected more from him tonight. I’m chalking the performance to a plain and simple bad game.
However, the problem that I see with Ellington are the terrible looks at the basket. The fade-aways and bad shot selection is in Cheech and Chong’s words….”Ay, Fucce Capesta.”
Someone couldn’t have written a worst script for their offensive performance last night.
Ellington 3-14FG/FGA 0-6 from Three.
Green 1-10FG/FGA 1-5 from Three.
I could crush on Ellington all day…I have to let it go.
** Paulus/Scheyer Combo - My biggest nightmare was point guard, Greg Paulus having a mediocre shooting night…He pummeled the Heels. With both of them having great shooting nights, that crushed them.
A lot of UNC pundits have defensive gripes. If there is a defensive gripe, you should look here. The Heels didn’t seem to read where they were at on the court well.
I’ll give a free hall pass a lot to Ellington because Scheyer moves so well on the ball and he receives so many picks, but damn…Scheyer got into the lane on him whenever he wanted. That has to be concerning with defensive stops.
In my last post, the guy that I anticipated having a strong night was DeMarcus Nelson. I actually think the Heels did a good job of containing him.
However, this is the first game this season when a team truly matched the Heels wing-man talent pound-for-pound, and the Heels were beaten pretty bad on those match-ups, which makes this blogger concerned
** Hansbrough Love - Unbelievably, I think that UNC fans are getting spoiled by how hard this guy works down low. His intensity is incredible, and he could have had 40 last night. Amazingly, he played most of the game with 1 Foul, and Duke had no answer for his intensity and strength.
With that said, why do the Heels pull him and our frontline guys out of the post so much with picks on top of the key?
I’m puzzled on that one, and that could lead me into a halfcourt rant. Hell, the Heels had Taylor King on Alex Stepheson, and that match-up didn’t even get a look…Oh, forget it.
** Gerald Henderson Jr. - That kid is a 12-15 year pro. He’s a great player.
However, the kid is a punk in a Kellen Winslow Jr. type of way.
Did anyone notice a feinted elbow at the end of the game?
Although feinted and light, they were pretty cheap and low grade. The shame is that he has a solid education behind him, and he’s a helluva talent with a great pedigree and knowledge of the game. From a amateur psyche level, I personally think he trying to prove that he’s a tough kid when he came up behind a ‘league’ Dad.
He better realize that he’s still a suburban privilege kid because someone is going to go off on him like Chris Childs did on Kobe.
** Letting Go - All that said, I’m letting this game go. My season prediction budgeted for this loss.
Also, despite the rant, the talent of Tywon Lawson covers up a lot of the deep blemishes.
I still think that we’ll win the ACC Tournament. Perennially, a team that is ranked within the Top 7 or 8 going into the ACC tourney and grabs the title will get a number one seed. I still anticipate that this team can still achieve a number one seed. I think the Heels are a far better team than anyone else with Tywon at the helm over three days in the ACC.
The saving grace is that these guys do play with intensity when they get knocked down. Coach Williams’s teams don’t dog on the floor.
Last night’s game should have been a 10-15 point loss, but they willed it out. I give kudos to that one, and Tywon should be back soon.
With most of Chapel Hill awaiting the game-time decision of whether or not Tywon Lawson will return with a high ankle sprain suffered in last Sunday’s victory over Florida State, I’ve caught a couple of exchanges that have offered who will pick up the slack for Lawson.
I agree that one shouldn’t list Ellington as one of our sharper defensive tools on this team, and he probably would be best on Jon Scheyer. Yet, with Thomas’s speed and big-game inexperienence. Perhaps, a stronger check for him would be to be Duke sharpshooter, Jon Scheyer.
As a Carolina alum, my version of a ‘low’ moment story is to see Greg Paulus have an average shooting game, and then have Dick Vitale start gushing about how gutty and ‘passionate’ he is. This season has actually been a treat because each and every Duke game does not have an undeserved country-wide Paulus ‘love-fest.’ From this blogga’s point of view, I think his teammates bail him out almost as much Chris Collins was bailed out as a player.
With that said, even without Ty Lawson and the injury bug that has plagued the Heels this season with Bobby Frasor’s injury and now the bothersome ‘turf-toe’ injury to Marcus Ginyard, I still think the Heels are good on this game.
Here are three match-ups that I think are the big turning points in this game:
Marcus Ginyard-DeMarcus Nelson - EDGE - Nelson - Nelson has had three great games against Maryland, NC State, and Miami. Yet, I think that he’s faced a trio of cream puffs guarding him. I would like to see Ginyard healthy on this one for perhaps one the best defensive players in the ACC versus arguably the most consistent scoring threat in the ACC.
I actually went with giving Ginyard the edge a couple of days ago because of his defensive game. Yet, looking at Nelson’s streak of late, I have to give the edge to Nelson. However, if Ginyard can run hard for 40 minutes, I like his saavy. Other than Hansbrough versus Singler, this is arguably the best match-up on the floor. Yet, I’m looking for a big game from Nelson. He could spell trouble in the long haul for the Heels.
Tyler Hansbrough - Kyle Singler - EDGE - Hansbrough - The hustle, the big-game experience, the strength and great speed…No shame in Singler’s game, but you have to go with Hansbrough.
“The Front Line” - Deon Thompson/Alex Stepheson - Brian Zoubek (OUT) /Lance Thomas - EDGE - UNC - For both teams, the lack of frontcourt depth this year is a killa…I’m going with the Cali two-headed beast in Thompson and Stepheson. With Lance Thomas, I just can’t get my hands around his development. He almost looks lost out there with Duke’s system. Where has this kid disappeared to?
Danny Green - Gerald Henderson Jr. - EDGE - Surprise…UNC - Yes, I would love to follow the national attention on Henderson Jr.’s development, but Green has played very stron of late. Checking Henderson, I would favor Wayne Ellington with this match-up or even Ginyard. Yet, Green is the human ‘jack-knife’, and he has really stepped up his game of late both offensively and defensively.
Don’t get me wrong, this blogga adores Henderson’s game, and he has stepped up with solid offensive games of late. However, with everyone focusing upon Henderson’s reactions in the Smith Center and the scrutiny this guy has with talking about last year’s mugging of Hansbrough…I’m going with Green on this one.
Regarding the booing of Henderson Jr., how he will react in the beginning of the first half to a mass-booing every time he touches the ball should play a interesting role in Duke’s tempo. He plays a major role in that offense. He could get way over-hyped to compensate for the reaction…Watch his reactions, they could play a factor.
Home Court Edge - UNC
Experience - UNC
Bench - Will Graves/Alex Stepheson vs. Nolan Smith/Taylor King/Lance Thomas - EDGE Duke - Injuries are plaguing the Heels at the moment. Although youth is a factor with first-time visits to a UNC/Duke game for Nolan Smith and Taylor King, the Blue Devils have the fresh legs at key positions at point guard and the wing. The fresh guard legs is a nice asset in this game.
The underlying story is to see how Duke’s new-found “innovative” zone defenses and fast-break offense will match-up with the hard-burning Tar Heels. Even without Lawson and fresh backcourt legs, I think the Heels win a very close game in the end. The experience is going to count big in this game.
I’ve been on the fence with this subject for quite some time…
Maybe I’ve been one of the pundits who support downtime in the air. Yet, there’s nothing like jumping online when you need to, and I have to admit that I hate when I have to shut down at take-off.
The knee-jerk reaction states that business travelers will want to travel more. Yet, when you take a look at revenue, can you really see that much of a demand shock from the business travel world solely from the fact that you can get online?
In terms of computer work, there should be a lot more laptops in use. What will be interesting is the amount of calamity that happens when a ginger ale is spilled across the row with three laptops going. Then again, isn’t that threat there now, and will that really mean as much with the rise of stronger PDA capabilities?
I have to admit that I’ve been snoring for a bit watching this year’s point guard match-ups in the Smith Center this season…
In fact, until Greivis Vasquez (God, I murder that kid’s name Mayor Daley style.) showed up for the Maryland game, the match-ups have been a bore. However, I think we can set an alarm for the match-up tonight for Tywon Lawson vs. Tyrese Rice of Boston College.
The Richmond dervish, Rice, has been on a tear this season. He’s averaging 20.0 points, 5.1 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. After ’s Lawson’s scintillating performance at Miami last week with 23 points, 10 assists, and 5 boards, the national media is finally giving some love for the All-American point guard.
Let’s see how this match-up fares…It’s time to see if Ty can give and take a serious punch to someone who can do all things.
I’m pumped for this match-up…And I just had to go with the Oak Hill shot. This is a battle for I-95 rights.
And don’t pay attention to those snickers either. Because…Yes! Those scribbles and etchings of future sneaks or shoes that you keep drafting in your notebook are valued.
Check out Nike’s Future Sole contest. The contest is for 14-19 year-olds, and you can submit your design by April 1, 2008 to be a part of the contst. The winner gets a MacBook 15, software programs, and probably a network that a newly graduated designer would drool over.
If you’re a cynic, you may say that Nike would be swiping ideas. Yet, don’t pay that any mind. If you check out this ‘Sneaker Freaker’ interview with Brand Jordan footwear designer, D’Wayne Edwards, you’ll enjoy your creative process and you’ll see that you never know how things can turn out for you.
So, if you have a passion for shoes, or if you think that your design could change footwear, drop an entry to this contest. This is a good one.
In terms of innovation, I always regarded the Footscape as a major post-up threat. The interview touches upon how the early-to-mid ’90s were a great period for APE with innovative products such as the Air Moc (Damn, that was a bad ass kick. What a lounge treat…I still rock those around the crib.), the orginial Zoom and the Air Rift.
If you’re up for a good article on how innovation can bubble to the surface within a company, check out the article. It’s a fun read. High Steppin’,
BD
