Foot Patrol UK - Closing [Insert Sad Face Here]

Foot Patrol one of the retail-level innovators in limited-edition sneaker sales are going under...

But apparently only in the physical sense, as their announcement [see below] explains that they will carry on with and for us in spirit!

Check it out, and fear not... They'll be back... or they'll be around!

To all valued customers, suppliers and visitors to Footpatrol,

Footpatrol opened in 2002 in Soho, London stocking select sneakers and footwear. Our mission was to find the best of the best across various footwear brands and to create special projects with our partners.

Our lease at 16A St Anne’s Court has come to an end and we have decided not to renew. We will therefore close the physical store at the end of March 2008.

In the meantime, we will be having a clearance sale at 16A St Anne’s Court.

We are continuing to work with our suppliers on some special projects. These will appear over the summer at our other stores - Stussy on 19 Earlham Street and The Hideout on 7 Upper James Street.

Please check our websites and Crooked Tongues for more information closer to the release time.

Thank you for your support and custom over the past five years.

The Footpatrol Team

BAPE - A Bathing Ape - Nigo

So, let's get started.

BAPE.

www.BAPE.com

Cool stuff for cooler folks... and I am just not that into it... I've been to BAPE stores in N.Y., L.A. and Tokyo... underwhelmed. My issue? There's TOO much, 'Look-at-me, look-at-me' involved.

I am a fan of Nigo - in a way. I love his mind for marketing, the initial exclusivity of the brand, etc. cause I'm a snob like that. I also love that he loves Pop-Culture as much as he does... and he's made his money. I am NOT mad at (nor over(t)ly impressed by) that!

Also, the shoes (the best thing about the actual line) are a bit too much for me, 'Light, Bright and Just Alright'. They're also a big bite off of NIKE... which I don't wear and don't care for or about at all... Sorry.

So there's my first BAPE entry.

BB

Saw this, dug it (somewhat) - and... Ms. Heggins!

Medicine For Melancholy -

Micah (Wyatt Cenac - The Daily Show)

Joanne (Tracey Heggins)

San Francisco (as Self - Home to the folks)

Writer-director Barry Jenkins.

I was taking an evening with a friend. Nothing too tightly-planned. Dinner at home. Later, perhaps, some out and about... While awaiting supper, I thought to quickly peruse the L.A. Weekly and ran across an intriguing brief.

The photo of the film's lead couple caught my eye immediately. Especially the young lady... and once I saw 'that new younger Black cat from The Daily Show', I was in. The movie was over in WeHo (Laemmle's Sunset) and my friend and I were on the beach. Dinner was great. Good food, great company, grand conversation... and we were off.

We got to the box office just in time. Parking. Check. Tickets. Check. In, up the stairs and... BAM! There was that lovely face I'd seen in the Photo. Apparently, the show just before ours had been the actual semi-premier 'Screening' of the film and the Writer/Director and Stars were all in attendance for a Q&A, etc. Curses, foiled again! I would have had a few choice questions - at the very least.

At any rate...

The movie was pretty cool.

A young couple wake up (alone/together) in a room awash with subtle lights and prepare for their day. As they leave, we get our very first surprise of the film, when the two introduce themselves, learning one another's names for the very first time...

As the rest of the film goes on, we watch the hustle and tussle of two total strangers becoming friends (and/or a bit more?) as the cab, bike, walk, run errands, visit museums, sit, stand and lay together over the course of the day. They even spend a bit of time visiting one another's apartments, visiting a club and all in all having a ball! The entire time, I just could not take my eyes off of the lead actress who has a warmth, natural beauty and simple realism to her person that (for me) far overshadows any wants in her performance.

In the meantime and in between time, the two discus, art, music, their love lives and race. Both characters are African-American in a city that really is not. They live their lives as just people with one putting a lot of importance on their race-cultural identity while the other seems content in just 'being'. With my own background and history in pocket, I found a lot of it quite interesting and was only distracted by the anti-gentrification promo that lands well into the film by way of a 10 minute excursion into what seems to be a very real town-hall meeting of San Francisco residents talking about the ebb and flow of the city's populace.

Other than that, none too shabby especially with so many novices in position. A small, intimate, likable film overall and one that I might just add to the collection later... if only to keep an eye on Ms. Tracey Heggins.

Running time: 88 minutes. Not rated (sexuality).



- Trace Heggins discusses her take on the making of 'Medicine For Melancholy -

1934 BMW R7

Think back 70 or 75 years to a time when design began to break away from the traditional and elaborate rationalism that ensued for hundreds of years. As the styles of Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Streamline and Zigzag Moderne emerged after the Industrial Revolution, designers as well as consumers fully embraced the Age of the Machine. Shiny chrome surfaces lay across curving forms or over expansive horizontal planes and glorified a dynamic new world on the move. And suddenly, design was muted as World War II approached. Inspiration was buried away, along with some innovative and visually stunning design work. Skip ahead to 2005 when some curious members of BMW Classic opened a box and found the R7 bike 75 assembled - although not in shining condition. The engine was corroded, the metalwork was in dire shape, the battery was unusable, but the opportunity for restoration could not be ignored. Various specialists at the BMW workshop discovered the original design drawings in the archive collections and conjured up the ghosts from Streamline Moderne’s past. Missing parts were sourced, others were rebuilt, the chrome was polished and the frame was painted black. And the final test, retuning the 1934 BMW motorcycle to the street, proved to be worth the wait nearly three quarters of a century later. - Andrew J Wiener via Bike Exif

"Please allow me to introduce myself... I'm a man of wealth and taste."

Well not exactly...

But OH, how I love that tune!

Here's what's what... I love things, People, Places and Travel, (GOOD) Design of ALL Kinds and in almost every discipline, I love Food, Music, Film (AND Movies), Aesthetics, History, Politics, Dancing, Party-time and... what not.

After all I've seen and read on the internet, I've decided that a lot of people just aren't doing it right, so I thought I'd give it a shot!

Let me know what you think!

BB/FB