The three best skater videos I have seen lately

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Since I am producing a short mountainbike video with Lukas Tielke, Carlo Dieckmann and Filmkartell at the moment I did a little research on contemporary street sport videos and here are some of the skate videos I found.

These three all have some things in common which I also found in the many other videos I watched. First, they are shot in a very distinct artistic way where every frame seems to be composed and the after effects grading is highly important. Second they like to show street scenes, people and faces and transmit a certain feel about the city where it is shot. And third, the music is really indie-emotional unlike the sound of skating when I started 15 years ago where it was all about hardcore or hiphop. In this case we have beautiful sunsets and emotional moments of freedom up to self-oblivion.

Please enjoy these three pearls of modern skate and movie culture.

A burn production: Never Extinguish from Burn on Vimeo.

Freeling from Andrew Lovgren on Vimeo.

No embed possible but worth the click is Quik by The Berrics

A Brief History of John Baldessari

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John Baldessari will most likely be remembered as “the guy who put dots on peoples faces”. That’s what he says himself in this highly entertaining video biography full with with information about the legendary American artist. His own wish was that the commentary should be spoken by Tom Waits and his wish came true. Please enjoy six dense minutes about the man, his workplace, his art and his heritage. And why he burnt all he ever made in 1970.

Find more information on John Baldessari on his artsy page.

Why Own It?

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Here is a new startup I like: Whyown.it. The name is pretty descriptive since it is about collaborative consumption. It’s an app where people catalogue what they own and would be willing to lend. You connect your friend lists from Facebook and can find out what you can borrow from your friends. Simply idea, neatly done, I could take a look at the preview. I think sharing more physical stuff is a way of living more efficiently and resource friendly and a little step into solving the world’s problem of excessive consumption. Respect and all the best to Phillip and his crew.

Splash Festival happening now

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Splash Festival is Germany’s most popular hip hop festival. I remember the first Splash in 1999, I was 19 and did an internship at Intro magazine. I travelled to more than 10 festivals in one summer (which is a lot but nothing compared to what Christine is doing this year) and Splash was one of them. I even got to go on stage and introduce artists to the crowd. I can’t quite remember why they let me do that but it was definitely a good time.

This year, Splash turns 15 years old and I very much like the idea of the video trailer with the son who wants to go to Splash for the first time and the dad who looks like he’s been going there for the last 15 years. After some years of bad luck with heavy rain and big shot artists on the line up who cancelled in the very last minute, for the last two years, Splash festival succeeded to turn around and present international musicians together with the German stars in a superb location.

This year will see Whiz Khalifa, ASAP Rocky, Mac Miller, Skream, Beginner, Caspa, Cro and many others. Weather looks good so far, all the best at Splash!
Follow the #splash15 Hashtag and listen to DJ Ron’s Uptowns Finest special Splash show

Microsoft Innov8

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Microsoft Innov8 BerlinVor ein paar Wochen war ich auf der “Innov8”, einer Art Jam Session für Design und Innovation, ausgerichtet von Microsoft. Inspiriert vom Metro-Design sollte in kleinen Gruppen über Innovationen diskutiert werden, ich war Experte und Schirmherr für das Thema Kommunikation.

Die Herausforderung einen so breiten Komplex in so kurzer Zeit zu behandeln, nahmen wir und ich hatte viel Spaß in meiner Gruppe, die aus Designern, Unternehmern und Studenten bestand. Einig waren wir uns darüber, dass Design und auch das Grundsetup von Geräten in Zukunft noch viel mehr Filterfunktionen übernehmen wird, um die Informations- und Kommunikationsflut für jeden Einzelnen handhabbar zu machen. Außerdem wurde uns klar, dass sich Kommunikation in der Zukunft auf noch mehr Plattformen und über noch mehr Schnittstellen ziehen wird und konsistente Standards, auch im Design, daher auch für das Zusammenspiel immens wichtig sein wird. Die Macher haben einen schönen kurzen Clip gedreht, der einen guten Eindruck von der Veranstaltung liefert.

BMX bike controls digital DJ software

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Am I getting this right? Did these crazy Japanese kids actually map the movements of their BMX bikes to the Traktor software to control music? Looks like it, the product is called Turntable Rider and the description reads as follows:

“The Turntable Rider is an epic bicycle accessory which converts a bicycle into a musical instrument.
The bike wheels, become jog wheels.
The handbrakes, become sound pads.
Mix and scratch at will.”

Wow.

(via Roberdo)

Suicide Biking in Chile

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Breathtaking point of view video taken in Chile by a Mountainbike racer. They just invent a racetrack within a city, no matter how dangerous or impossible it might be. The bike rides over endless stairs, dogs cross the way, kids leaning over the super narrow barriers. If you want to feel a bit nauseous, this is your weapon of choice!

78 facts about Germans

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Liv wrote a highly entertaining, sharp and warmhearted list of facts about Germans and their way to pursue life at the Uberlin blog. I had to nod and laugh several times when reading through it. Here are the ones I could see myself in:

“7. They are very good bike riders – nay, they are exceptional bike riders. They manage to look elegant whilst freewheeling down cobbled streets, pashminas blowing out behind them. They are also highly adept at riding with umbrellas.”
Although I would never, never, never use an umbrella, freewheeling cobble stone makes up for that.

“28. They love the breakfast meal.”
Yes! Breakfast is awesome! Most important meal of the day.

“29. They enjoy a darker bread. The whiter the less trustworthy.”
Absolutely. The thing I miss most when I am away.

“31. Germans can always enjoy a hotdog/bratwurst, no matter the time, no matter the place. And they never seem to drip the sauce all over themselves.”
The thing with the sauce is a matter of practice.

“40. They don’t necessarily say it to you face, at the time … but Germans don’t like it when you go against the tide in the supermarket.”
Exactly. Learn that, expats.

“58.Germans are distrustful of any beverage that doesn’t sparkle.”
True, that’s why Evian and Volvic have a hard time here.

“67. Germany loves a public holiday. Bavaria in particular.”
Correction: Only Bavaria. We in Berlin have like 5 days less of public holidays. I never understood this kind of injustice.

“74. They are bizarrely superstitious about wishing people a Merry Christmas too early, opening presents early and celebrating birthdays early.”
Strange. But true.

Read the whole list!

Keine Wohnung, aber eine Bahncard

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Der Autor des Buchs um das es geht, hat viele Namen. Früher war er MC Rene, dann mal Reen, ich kenne ihn als René El Kazhraje und einige Menschen kennen ihn auch als Stefan Eckert. Dieser Stefan war das Alter Ego von René als er nach seiner Rapper-Karriere als Callcenter Agent arbeitete. “Outbound” heißt das und eine Ausgeburt der Hölle muss dieser Job sein. Schließlich beschloss er, seinen Job zu kündigen und auch seine Wohnung, seine Sachen zu verschenken und fortan nur noch unterwegs zu sein. Er besorgte sich eine Bahncard 100 und ist seitdem als Stand Up Comedian in Deutschland unterwegs, seit mehr als 2 Jahren.

Dieses Buch erzählt seine Geschichte. Mit Selbstironie und einem freundlichen Blick auf das Leben erzählt René von dem Gefühl der Freiheit, den kleinen und großen Erfolgen und natürlich den niedergeschlagenen und einsamen Momenten eines Künstlers auf Reisen. Wir lesen von der Liebe zu seinem Koffer, von Flirts, alten Freunden und dem Vergleich von Lebenswegen. Dass Erfolg und Glück relativ sind und zuhause auch ein Zug sein kann.

Da man die Stefan Raab Folge mit MC Rene mal wieder nicht einbetten kann, habe ich hier noch Renes legendären Freestyle vor Busta Rhymes raus gekramt, der den Meister des schnellen Raps mit offenem Mund da sitzen ließ.

Es gibt aber auch einen tollen Trailer zum Buch!

MC RENE Alles auf eine Karte (2012) from mc rene on Vimeo.

Ich habe dieses Buch in einem Zug (haha) durchgelesen und war ein wenig traurig, dass es so schnell vorbei war. In jedem Fall eine klare Leseempfehlung, die unterhält, zum lachen und nachdenken bringt und Lust aufs Reisen macht. Und Vertrauen darin, seinen eigenen Weg zu gehen.

Hier geht’s zu “Alles auf eine Karte” bei Amazon.