Edward Burtynsky - Canadian Photographer

Alright, so after getting out a little sports beef this morning I would like to share some of the best Canadian photography around. Ed Burtynsky was introduced to me by my cousins, who, for graduating high school, gave me one of his books. The book is entitled "Quarries", and has thousands of images of exactly that. The way Burtynsky depicts quarries, as beautifully tragic images, showcasing humanities power and impact is rather moving. For instance, one of the images i've posted is of a nickel tailings in Sudbury. The bright orange-yellow river is searing and gorgeous yet wholly unnatural, a dichotomy found in much of Burtynsky's photography. Unfortunately I wasn't able to meet Ed or hear him speak last weekend at Carleton University, nonetheless his work speaks volumes itself.

Visit edwardburtynsky.com for more of his work

A Memo to Mark McGwire

Hi Mark,
In lue of your recent exit from the steroid closet so that you could comfortably accept a position as hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals, I have decided to retire my St. Louis Cardinals cap. I feel that retiring Old Royal Blue, saves me the disgrace of ushering your image with my own. I am not a liar, I did not stand in front of Congress and ignore questions that charged me with being a steroid user. There is something fishy about lying to your country on national TV, and then using national TV to apologize for your massive mistakes. You cheated, and although it was entertaining to watch you and Sammy Sosa smash balls over fence after fence, its irreconcilable that part of your success was due to an agent, and not your 'god-given' ability.

Anywho Mark, I'm sure your steroid use has affected you in ways I could never conceive, and lastly I'd like to share with you and the good people of acrosstheprovince.blogspot.com, the words of reporter Brian Williams, which very harshly echo my own.

Link To Brian Williams Slams Mark Mcgwire

I'd like to thank Deadspin for being an awesome sports website as well, the video is contributed by them.

Good Morning: Alicia Keys x SNL (NEW LINK :D)

Alicia Keys stars in an SNL Digital Short alonside Andy Samberg from this weekend's episode.

J. Cole Part 2

J. Cole seems to be everywhere in the past 24 hours, compelling me for the second day in a row to post about him even though I had been hoping to wait a bit. Today saw the release of a new Cole mixtape, "A N**** from the 'Ville", which is a collection of new verses/freestyles/tracks that haven't made it onto his other mixtapes. I'd had heard some of it before - it's awesome - and the new stuff? Just as awesome. It's available for download here.

The way I wanted to introduce J. Cole to my readers was with a full artist profile consisting of tracks, videos and an article. The article's been done for a little while - I wrote it for my school newspaper - but I've just too busy with some other things to put the whole post together. But this new mixtape dropped so I figured it was time to get moving and here we are. The following article is mine. I wrote it and it can only be reprinted with my permission. Feel free to share the link (I encourage it!) but please do not repost it without consulting me.

Welcome to Hip-Hop 101. Your first lesson is on J. Cole...

The Rapper You Need to Know About Right Now

In 2003, rapper J. Cole moved from Fayetteville, North Carolina to New York City looking to sign a record deal and ended up graduating Magna Cum Laude (“with great distinction”) from St. John’s University. He had transplanted himself to the East Coast’s hip-hop headquarters – after all, Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Diddy, 3 of the game’s moguls, all have head offices in the Big Apple – so it must have come to his surprise when he stood at the pulpit on graduation day with the wrong piece of paper in hand. He had his diploma but no deal.

But that didn’t deter a young boy “from the ‘Ville”. Within a few months, Cole dropped his first mixtape The Come Up. His rhymes, dope; his flow, infectious; but the beats, save for a few songs, were forgettable and under produced which made it easy for the highlights to really shine through. “Simba” and “School Daze” were introspective tracks and the title track was a great re-working of Consequence’s “Grammy Family”. Cole knew he had something and ran headfirst.

This past summer, he released his second mixtape entitled The Warm Up and absolutely killed it. His lyrics were slicker, smoother and (somehow) better written. Tracks like “Lights Please”, “Dollar and a Dream II” and “Dead Presidents II” catapulted his popularity amongst bloggers and any hip-hop fan with a computer. Radio listeners, I’m sorry, but don’t expect to hear much from Cole on Flow 93.5 or any other FM channel anytime soon.

But it doesn’t seem like he’d mind not getting radio play anyways. Spins shouldn’t be a priority for an artist with such emphatic, quick and highly inappropriate rhymes. He raps about his love of women (check the aforementioned “School Daze”, and pretty much any other track) but takes on more serious topics in his second mixtape like hard work, the importance his mom holds to him and never giving up on “the dream”. On “Last Call”, the final cut of The Warm Up, he takes a few minutes at the end to express his qualms for not getting signed right away after moving to NYC and likens this experience to not making the cut on a high school basketball team.

It’s this transition that marks J. Cole as a rapper. In an interview on the Complex magazine website from a few weeks before The Warm Up came out, he stated that the difference between the two mixtapes “[is] actually way different. You can hear the growth. The content is not even the same. It is ‘cause it still has that dreamer aspect to it but The Come Up was just more raw lyricism…This is more song making and more mature.”

Just before the interview with Complex, an amazing thing happened: Cole got signed. But this signing was uncharacteristically important – a start of what will no doubt soon become a dynasty. After listening to “Lights Please”, renewed man-of-the-hour Jay-Z called Cole and asked him to sign on as the cornerstone of his newly minted, Roc Nation. The dividends came quickly: a guest spot on a Jay-Z’s newest album Blueprint 3 called “A Star is Born” and the invaluable opportunity to join Jay’s all-star cast of openers for his North American tour, alongside legendary produced Pharell Williams and his electronic(ish) outfit N.E.R.D., and fellow Roc Nation-managed artist Wale.

But it’s those few minutes every night of the tour when Jay-Z calls J. Cole onstage to perform “A Star is Born” in front of 15,000+ fans that Cole has to admire himself for where he is and who he’s sharing the stage with. He’s stadium status now performing with an unequivocal legend. And oh ya, dude doesn’t even have a real CD out yet; expect that sometime in 2010.

By: Jonathan Kates

And since I promised some videos and tracks, here we go. The first video is the trailer from his mixtape "The Warm Up" and the second video is really just "Lights Please" as no video was ever released for it.



So that's that. Hope you enjoyed class. Y'all be wilin' and I'm out.

Thanks to Thunderkush for the mixtape link.

Sade - Soldier of Love

Here is the video for Sade's first single "Soldier of Love" off her upcoming release of the same name.

Music Monday: Keep It Going Louder

It's Monday, I like music therefore it's Music Mondays. Every Monday morning I'll try and post my favourite song and/or video that I'm bumping on repeat. To kick off, this week it's "Keep it Going Louder" by Major Lazer who get a little help from Ricky Blaze and Nina Sky.

Even though this is the first week, I am fairly positive I have something for you guys today that will never be repeated. I have two videos for this song and I have no clue which one is the legitimate video seeing as they both fit the song really well; plus they're both freaking weird, which is the norm for Major Lazer videos. If anyone has any insight, let me know. If not, just enjoy the vids.

An NBA af-hair

The NBA, despite its controversies (check out the Gilbert Arenas posts below, if you haven't already), is always good for something: awkward showings of personality. Since David Stern adopted his "business casual" dress code in 2005 in an effort to combat the public image of thuggery (it's a word, look it up), NBA players have searched for new ways to keep their look personalized. Last year, we saw Dwight Howard rock a Superman cape during the Slam Dunk competition and the NBA teams themselves have adopted alternate jerseys (and in some cases identities - Toronto Huskies, anyone?) to keep fans entertained.

This year has sparked a new revolution. Not since Dennis Rodman have we seen such expression on the top of players' heads. Or in the case of Chris Anderson (as seen above), we have seen attempts, but we just haven't liked them. However, these past two weeks have seen not one but two outrageous hair styles that are ballsy, hilarious and nostalgic.

First up, we have rookie Brandon Jennings, who after torching the Warriors for 55 points in November, has fallen off the map a little bit. This is sure to get him noticed.


And in a close second place, is Michael Beasley, the Miami Heat sophomore who is putting together a very nice season after spending the summer in rehab and was spotted recently rocking this fine 'fro against the Bobcats. Sadly, Beasley has re-braided his head and fallen into the obscurity of typical NBA 'dos.


I hope to see more of this as the season goes on. At least it's better than excessive team tattooing - ya, Denver Nuggets, I'm talking to you.

P.S. The following is a quote in the Toronto Sun from former Raptors guard Jalen Rose in 2005 when asked about the then-new dress code.

"They're probably scared your kid will be wearing a bandana," Jalen Rose said. "But at the end of the day, whatever I wear to the game, whether I have on jewelry, a sports coat or not, when I dribble up the court, I'm still going to hear Notorious B, I'm still going to hear Tupac."

Wicked.

Photo credits to GQ and ESPN.com; and link help from NBA.com

99 Problems

From the book "Graph Out Loud" via GQ

J. Cole - Playground

I hesitated to post this song after it dropped earlier last week not because of the song itself (because trust me, it's awesome) but because I have another J. Cole post coming at y'all later in the week. So the original plan was to bunch it all together but this song came on my iTunes shuffle a few minutes ago and I figured that was some sort of sign that it was time to share. Hope you enjoy and if you do, check back later in the week for more from the North Carolina native.
Warning: the lyrics are not meant for your younger siblings or your parents (but for entirely different reasons).

Download "Playground" here

Good Morning: Grindin'

I wasn't joking abut Jimmy Fallon. I will keep posting all his videos so long as they're this dope! Black Thought of the Roots comes in on the Clipse's famous track "Grindin" and spits a dirty verse.

Emma Watson x Burberry

Although I rarely post this type of stuff, my friend showed me this shoot this morning in Vogue and I had to blast it. The Harry Potter sweetheart looks extremely good as the face of Burberry, providing a very strong campaing in her second season for the brand. Thankfully the 19 year-old finally ditched her customary Hogwarts uniform and cements herself as a woman and has me swooning in the process. The ladies' collection itself is true Burberry styles with the famous beige pattern adapted and printed on plenty of bags and a few trenches. The guys stuff also bangs but really, what else would you expect from a fashion powerhouse that's been around for over a century and a half? And the male models? As if the Watson family weren't proud enough of having one child as the face of Burberry, Emma's little brother Alex (who's only 17) appears in a few shots alongside his sister. The other guys are British indie rocker George Craig, Max Hurd and Matt Gilmour (son of famed Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour). All pictures were shot by Mario Testino.










Thanks to the Telegraph for the shots.

LRG Spring 2010 Lookbook

Singer/producer Mike Posner joined forces with Lifted Research Group to shoot the preview for their Spring 2010 collection. LRG continues to produce fashionable clothing while still maintaining a distinct attitude that appeals to the street culture that is has long associated with. Plus the LRG axe is just ridiculously dope!









Available through Karmaloop
Shouts to F.luxury.B for the shots

Good Morning: History

This is the video for Mos Def's track "History" of The Ecstatic. I saw this a few days and for whatever reason have been loafting on posting it. It's a decent video with cool black and white shots but the highlight is definitely Talib Kweli's guest verse - he just rips it. Hope you enjoy.

Sicne the Roots have joined the cast of Jimmy Fallon's late-night talk show, there have been numerous excellent hip-hop performances. "History" is no exception. Check it out here with a little help from Questlove, the Roots crew and backup singing from the ladies of the Dirty Projectors.

Status Update: Gilbert Arenas

"Status Update" will be a new feature on this here blog for stories that have developed since they were originally posted. For the inaugural post, we turn our attention back to Gilbert Arenas, who reportedly pulled a gun on a teammate in his locker room. Although controversy surrounded Arenas, the NBA was waiting on his meeting with law enforcement officials and the legal issues to sort themselves out before they decided on whether or not to take disciplinary action. Then this happened...

This is a picture that graced the front page of Wednesday's Washington Post sports section. During the pre-game huddle before the Wizards' game Tuesday night in Detroit, Arenas positioned his fingers into the shape of guns and pretended to shoot his laughing teammates. That was the tipping point for league commissioner David Stern and Wednesday, he suspended Arenas indefinitely without pay (he'll lose $147,200 with each game he misses) citing that he is "unfit to be on the court". The Wizards supported this suspension - it's hard not to - and the latest news is that the team is planning on fining some players over the picture. Arenas, known for his blogging, has used Twitter over the past few years to reach out to fans about anything and everything (including this most recent incident) but the account has since been taken down. Personally, I don't expect to see Arenas for the rest of the season and it will be interesting to see if he'll play in the NBA anytime soon.

Comme Des Garçons S/S 10 Lookbook

Rei Kawakubo designed the newest line for his brand, Comme des Garçons. It seems that Kawakubo was really feeling heavy patterns (which were all inspired by road signs) for this season. Although it's easy to see how some may find it too busy, I think pairing one of these pieces with a neutral/solid t-shirt or pair of shorts would look great. The collection is composed of a few jackets, some t-shirts, a shirt, a pair of shorts and a couple of accessories (including a dope fedora).







Available at Colette and seen on Highsnobiety

Good Morning: GQ at 50

Here's to another 50 years of being elegant, suave and sharp.

Seen over at thinkCONTRA

Gucci Shoe Drop

Gucci killed it with these shoes. These gorgeous shoes feature a multi-toned band that wraps around the mid-foot and great detailing in the edging around the toungue. They're creative and gorgeous; enough said. Available through Openers Japan.

Via Seleticism

Roll Crimson Tide

The title of the post was a football reference (a college football reference no less) so if you didn't really understand it don't feel bad. I saw this picture over on Street Peeper and it immediately caught my eye. Although I'm not a fan of the "skirt pant", as this particular lower-body garment is called, I've always had a thing for adidas track jackets. No matter if they were made in 1972 or 2009, they're so old-school; scratch that, timeless. The adidas track jacket is a timeless piece of clothing which the company itself seems to have no problems costumizing i.e. the Lakers version worn by Weezy during the NBA Finals last year or the Argentina jacket.

But back to my man Takayuki in Tokyo, he looks one-part Asian Eminem hipster, one-part awesome - being the jacket of course - and one-part umbrella shade and YET, he makes it work.

P.s. Do you think it's pretentious that officially adidas is spelled with a lower case 'a' or have they earned the right to do as they please?

Good Morning: The Copenhagen Wheel

This was rolled-out during December's environmental conference in Copenhagen. Although I felt it was a generally good initiative, I have to be honest, I didn't exactly understand why this was such an important invention. I mean, how much energy could this wheel store to give you "the boost" it talks about? But with a little more research, I came to the answer. The description in the video on Youtube provides the following explanation:

"Controlled through your smart phone, the Copenhagen Wheel becomes a natural extension of your everyday life. You can use your phone to unlock and lock your bike, change gears and select how much the motor assists you. As you cycle, the wheels sensing unit is also capturing your effort level and information about your surroundings, including road conditions, carbon monoxide, NOx, noise, ambient temperature and relative humidity. Access this data through your phone or the web and use it to plan healthier bike routes, to achieve your exercise goals or to meet up with friends on the go."

Ok now we're getting somewhere. While this may take some time to go to our end of the world, Copenhagen is known for its extensive (and accessible) bike culture so it only makes sense that the Copenhagen wheel is so aptly named. Hopefully the next mayor of Toronto will share David Miller's enthusiasm and expand the bike culture that is still in its infancy in Toronto.

Originally seen on High Snobiety but a special thanks to Copenhagenize.com for the video of Miller (who's rocking a sweet TFC scarf).

Balenciaga Spring/Summer 2010 Wallets

"Wallets?" you ask. Well, I've had my wallet for longer than I can remember and despite its excellent condition, I've been thinking about upgrading for a little while now. When I saw Spanish fashion house Balenciaga's new wallet drop, I got excited. The collection features two types of wallets: the plain leather and the studded moulds, and although they are slightly out of the ordinary (aka not black leather), they're still extremely presentable. Your pocket may be your wallet's primary residence but if you have to pay a cute barista for a drink you can barely remember the name of, why not make it seem like your one bill and sparse change have a nice home?




Via Hypebeast

Puma China Factory Film

This Andrew Zuckerman-directed short film about the life at a Puma factory in Dongguan, although not exactly revealing, is interesting. I'm fairly surprised Chinese authorities actually let a Westerner document a factory on the mainland considering how protective they are of state practices. And considering this was about labour practices - always a hot-button issue with the Chinese - the release of this video is definitely a nice democractic showing. If for nothing else, watch the video for its Orwellian introduction.

Via High Snobiety

They should have stuck with "Bullets"

The Washington Wizards, formerly known as the Washington Bullets, have been the centre of a recent media circus thanks to the supposed locker-room altercation between blogger/comedian/Agent Zero Gilbert Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton. Although much of the rumours are speculative and replete with denials, the story that is being reported right now is that Arenas and Crittenton were arguing in the locker room about Arenas' gambling debt, at which point they drew guns on each other. Ok gentlemen, you are professional basketball players. The fact that you would be willing to draw a gun on your own teammate is one thing but there's a more serious issue here: why were there guns in the locker room in the first place?! According to ESPN, here is what happened.

"Multiple sources told ESPN.com that an argument commenced during a card game on the team's overnight flight back to Washington from Phoenix on Dec. 19 and escalated into a heated exchange between Arenas and Crittenton. The Wizards had Dec. 20 off, but sources say hostilities between the two Wizards guards resumed Dec. 21 in the locker room on a practice day.

Sources say that Arenas, in response to what was said on the flight, placed the three guns on a chair near Crittenton's locker stall and invited him to pick one before practice on Dec. 21. Sources said that Crittenton subsequently let Arenas know that he had his own gun."

This is serious. These men are role-models playing in the United States' capital, a city not exactly known for being safe. They have a responsibility to their fans, families and most important their team to play at the highest level and keep all off-court drama to a minimum.

Granted, at this point everything remains unconfirmed. Arenas plans on meeting with law officials Monday and could face suspension and possibly jail time. What seems to be undeniable at this point is that Arenas brought guns with him to the locker room (Wizards security anyone??). But Crittenton's role in this has been cast in doubt by his agent Mark Bartelstein who said ""I think that once the investigation is completed and everyone's done their work, it will be shown that Javaris has done nothing wrong." He declined to shed light on any specifics. Regardless of what comes from this, the NBA has some serious damage control to take care of, considering in recent years the league has done an OK job distancing themselves from the perspective that all NBA players are thugs.

I'm excited to see where this story goes once all the b.s. gets sorted through and the public learns what really happened (if it is in fact different than the current reports). Until then, watch Arenas shy away from questions in the video below.


With files from ESPN and a special thanks to Truthaboutit.net for the epic picture up top.

Good Morning: Inception (Trailer)

This is the trailer for Leonardo DiCaprio's upcoming summer flick Inception. Directed by Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight), this looks to be the movie with just the right amount of weird to still keep simple-minded moviegoers (like me) interested. Inception premieres July 16th 2010.

Jay-Z - On to the Next One (Video)

This is the first video of 2010, courtesy of Jay Hova and Swizz Beats. I'll leave the comments up to you guys, and you know where to leave them.

Courtesy of You Heard That New

Happy 2010!

I most definitely stole this picture from the first hit returned in a Google search but nonetheless Happy New Years everyone! Have a safe night and party hard. We only grow from here; let's make it happen in 2010!