Gerhard Richter, Kerze (1982, 70 cm x 70 cm, Oil on canvas)
The weekend service will now submerge into the festivities period and i want to wish all my readers and dedicated followers a merry Christmas and a good start into the new year. It has been a year full of occurrences, trouble, emotions and many ups and downs. Now it`s time to calm down a bit and find some tranquility and time to reflect the year with all its events. God bless to every home and a merry Christmas to you all and your families.
Endlich kam am Anfang der Woche die langersehnte Fortsetzung der Drama-Serie, die ihren Ausgangspunkt in dem Film "This is England" hat. Nach dem Dreiteiler "This is England `86" findet die Geschichte um eine Clique in einem kleinen englischen Städtchen nun im Jahre 1988 ihre Fortzsetzung, genauer gesagt zur Weihnachtszeit. Die drei Teile der neuen Staffel spielen Storymässig an 3 Tagen, am 23., an Heiligabend und dem ersten Weihnachtstag und diese 3 tage haben es durchaus in sich. Shane Meadows ist es mal wieder gelungen viel Dramatik in die Geschichte der Charactere zu stecken und die Darsteller verkörpern ihre Rollen mit unglaublich viel Professionalität, Talent und Leidenschaft, besonders Vicky McClure (Lol) und Joseph Gilgun (Woody) die eine einzigartige schauspielerische Performance abliefern, die viele andere Fernsehproduktionen in den Schatten stellen. Meadows ist es seit dem ersten Film gelungen, der Geschichte um die kleine Clique viel mehr Tiefe und Hintergrund zu verleihen und durch sein Feingefühl für Details und sein Talent Alles aus seinen Darstellern herauszuholen, wird der Zuschaur tief in die Handlung gezogen und man fiebert und leidet regelrecht mit den Figuren mit. Die Serie ist mittlerweile zu etwas anderem geworden, als es der Film jemals war. Meadows nimmt sich viel mehr Zeit und gibt seiner Schöpfung eine viel tiefere und ernstere Dimension als seinem Film. Auch sein Händchen für den perfekten Soundtrack machen diese Serie zu einem echten Genuss. Wer Popcornkino und einen netten Unterhaltungsknaller über Mod und New Wave erwartet wird wohl enttäuscht sein. Die Serie hat vielmehr die Qualität eines qualitativ hochwertigen Autorenfilms, der seine Stärke aus der Qualität der schauspielerischen Leistung der Schauspieler und der Dramatik der persönlichen Geschichte der Figuren zieht.
Enden soll die ganze Saga im Jahre 1990, dieser Dreiteiler ist lediglich eine Überleitung zu einem Finale, auf das ich mich jetzt schon freue. Nächstes Jahr ist es dann hoffentlich soweit.
The Shadow Project is a more experimental platform of Stone Island. This project began in 2008, together with the designers Michaela Sachenbacher and Errolson Hugh, both known for their own Label ACRONYM®. The strength of the Shadow project is its eagerness to go new ways in design and functionality. New fabrics, clever little details and a whole new understanding of contemporary clothing design coupled with a view into the future.
The Shadow Magneto is a great example for the philosophy of the shadow project. Made of a weather and wind resistant fabric in a lovely burnt orange colour with a nice shimmer effect, this jacket also features a nice little clue: The whole left side of the jacket can be opened and you will find a second layer with 3 extra pockets and a hidden black shadow badge for the more understated look. The fastener to close the first layer and to hide the details is magnet, which snaps up perfectly if you pull the little extra zip up. A really clever and smooth solution and little highlight for every fan of unusual and functional design. This is possibly the best SI piece i ever purchased in terms of design and functionality and colour. This jacket came in blue, green, black and as shown above a burnt orange, which is the pick of the bunch in my opinion. All with a slight shimmer effect to make it really stand out. And as always, no picture can describe it as it really is.
Well, finally i stumbled over a nice vintage number in almost perfect condition. Oldschool SI being normally very big fitting i never have luck to find a pre 2000 Stone Island piece in my size. Everybody knows the nineties have probably been the best era for this label, well i think they release great jackets and designs nowadays but back in the days Stone Island has been something else.
Today all the ideas, designs, fabrics and materials aren`t something special anymore because they aren`t revolutionary like back in the days. Colour changes, reflective fabrics, shimmer garment. That was innovative and hard to come by. Today you have a great choice because of the internet, unfortunately that means a lot of fakes knocking around aswell.
The waxed cotton is quite a normal jacket in comparison to other extraordinary Stone Island jackets. The name explains it all, a jacket made out of a wax coated cotton material, which makes the jacket water repellant. Combined with the detachable inner lining it`s a simple, warm, reliable winter coat. Simply a Stone Island all time classic. The cutting is kinda baggy and the position of the badge is lower than on the modern coats, very typical for the SI 90`s look, but never the less cool as fuck.
Stone Island always took inspiration from military design, especially when it comes to jackets. The field jacket is probably the most common jacket design in Stone Island`s history. There have been plenty different variations and in the autumn/winter season 2008/2009 Stone Island released something special: the handpainted camouflage field jacket, inspired by a german army field blouse. This jackets are each painted by hand, which makes every jacket in this range unique. You can even see the brush strokes if you take a closer look. This makes the jackets standing out from usual camouflage jacket from the army shop. Not only this, you can also see a love for detail and function at the collar for example, where is a movable piece of garment to close the neck on the front. The jacket comes with the well known Raso Gommato lining, not very breathable but really warm in the colder winter days, especially together with inner removable extra liner.
These jackets came in two colours, brown (as seen above) and green, i prefer the brown version and i think the green version is harder to come by. You dont even see the brown version pop up very often, i reckon these jackets came in a limited nuber. In the last pic you can see the comparison between both jackets.
After some seasons, developing the label step by step from tees over polos to knitwear, 12thMan is finally releasing their first jackets next year and from what you already know about the label you can expect them to be pure quality to the detail, entirely made in italy and limited to 99 pieces aswell. The Nova jacket is my personal favorite, the colour looks superb and in combination with the buttons it has a certain oldschool feeling, maybe a nice quote to Massimo Ostis first CP seasons.
Some of my readers might already know, some dont`t: Reggae music isnt`really something you connect with our beloved game this days but two of europes biggest clubs, Ajax Amsterdam and Chelsea FC, enjoy their fans with a good tune before the match.
Chelsea (and some other british football clubs) are well known for playing the Harry J. Allstars tune "The Liberator" which hitted the number 9 in the UK single charts in 1969. A typical skinhead reggea tune from that era.
Chelsea's claims to be first to play it are backed by the first paragraph of the liner notes for "Liquidator - The Best of the Harry J All Stars". It says: "Way back in 1969, supporters of the Chelsea football team revered players such as Bonetti, Osgood and Hollins. The boys performed under the watchful eye of manager Dave Sexton to the tune of Harry J & All Stars chartbuster, 'The Liquidator'. However, there is also evidence to suggest that it was first played at West Bromwich Albion, and copied by other, smaller clubs.(wiki)
Back in 2008 Ajax Amsterdam played a friendly against Cardiff City FC in Wales and Bob Marley`s "Three Little Birds" was played in the Stadium. The song became an instant stadium hit and a club anthem since it was first played and sung along with by Ajax supporters.
As a big fan of early reggae and northern soul this makes me really jealous, both songs are great and i would love to hear them or something like that at my local ground, but this will never happen. I think i am doomed to listen to horrible chart music and folklore during the halftime break and before the match...
I was sure i want to have this piece of art, when i`ve seen the first leaked pictures of this jacket in january/february this year. It`s a very nice quote of the 1999 ICE jacket Stone Island has done back in the days and its almost the same design. Very oldschool, very vintage looking and a design reminding of the good old days when Massimo Osti was designing the first ICE jackets.
As you can see above this is a two tone jacket, consisting of two different materials. The yellow thermo coating, which changes its colour when the temperature drops (at about 10 degrees celsius) and a shimmer material on the back. This design has a historical background. Back in the days, when Osti was producing the first ICE jackets, the special colour changing thermo fabric was so expensive that it wasnt possible to use it for a whole jacket without asking for a stupid price for it. It`s a nice touch in my eyes and the two different colours go well together. When the jacket changes its colour to dark brown it almost matches with the fabric on the back.
The 2011/2011 field ICE jacket comes with "dutch rope" inner jacket to keep the owner warm and comfortable during the colder winter days. Again a very nice detail to underline the oldschool feeling of this piece.
The jacket comes also in blue and khaki, but yellow is the pick of the bunch in my opinion. Nothing beats a good contrast.
Carlo Rivetti (CEO of Stone Island) wearing the `99 version
A trailer of a very interesting book coming soon. This book will contain a lot of interesting pictures and storys from a few Motherwell lads about casual culture in scotland. This discription is quoted from one of the authors:
"Chronicles the rise of the Scotland’s original 80’s casuals, pioneering the fashion for the football terraces to the Saturday afternoon fracas in town centres and football grounds around Scotland. Some of the Saturday afternoons exploits (out of literally hundreds) are well documented with photos and words behind the newspaper headlines. The 90’s saw the football casuals taking a back seat as Scotland’s rave and club culture exploded with the introduction of the “That” pill. The millennium saw a new generation take over the mantle that was set in the early 80s. Enjoy the read, featuring 200 pages & over 500 photographs . . ."
Das Jahr ist noch nicht ganz um und man kann trotzdem mit Fug und Recht behaupten "Drive" ist der Film des Jahres 2011 und mit Sicherheit jetzt schon ein Klassiker der Zukunft. Selten ist es geworden, dass mich ein Film so fesselt wie dieser Streifen. Regie bei diesem Meisterwerk führte der dänische Regiesseur Nicolas Winding Refn, der den meisten meiner Leser sicherlich als der Regiesseur der "Pusher" Trilogie bekannt sein dürfte, Filme die auch mittlerweile Kultstatus unter eingefleischten Cineasten erreicht haben dürften.
Dieser Film handelt von einem jungen Mann in L.A. , der seinen Unterhalt als Stuntman verdient, Nachts aber auch mal gerne seine Dienste als Fluchtwagenfahrer anbietet. Der Fahrer bleibt in diesem Film namenlos und wird dargestellt von Ryan Gosling, ein eher unbekannter Schauspieler, das bisher nur in Independent Produktionen mitgewirkt hat. Was sich aber nach diesem Film durchaus ändern könnte. Gosling erinnert in diesem Streifen an einen jungen Robert DeNiro in Taxi Driver oder auch an Steve McQueen in Bullit, denn der "Fahrer" redet eher kaum bis gar nicht, nur wenn er gefragt wird oder wenn er tatsächlich mal was zu sagen hat, selbst dann hält er sich eher knapp. Diese Coolness wirkt nicht aufgesetzt sondern eher sympathisch und natürlich, die Figur drängt sich nicht auf aber dennoch erfährt man zu Beginn schon eine Menge über ihren Charakter.
Obwohl es sich hier nicht um Blockbuster-Mainstream-Kino handelt trifft man auf einige bekannte Gesichter, wie Bryan Cranston (aka Walter White in der Serie Breaking Bad) oder auch Ron Pearlman (Alien Ressurection, Hellboy). Eine sehr gute Mischung aus unverbrauchten Gesichtern und dem "den kenn ich doch" Effekt.
Aber es sind nicht nur die Darsteller, die diesen Film so sehenswert machen. Es ist auch Nicolas Windings einmalige Regiearbeit, die diesen Film zu einem wahren Augen- und Ohrenschmaus machen. So wird sogar ein so einfacher Vorgang wie das Einparken wahrlich zelebriert, man merkt mit wieviel Liebe zum Detail in den einzelnen Szenen gearbeitet wurde. Dabei kommen einzigartige Bilder auf die Leinwand die, um die Sache rund zu machen, auch noch von einem wirklich genialen Soundtrack unterlegt werden.
Zur Story werde ich nicht allzuviel schreiben, man muss diesen Film einfach gucken, denn er wird sich nahtlos einreihen in eine Reihe von Klassikern, wie Taxi Driver, Bullit oder Getaway.
The new 12thMan collection is online now. And again we see something new in this collection, the Sweatshirt/Jacket in two colours. Apart from this innovation you can get some nice polos, tees and sweats again. All garments are entirely made in italy and available in a limited edition of 99 pieces.
All photos are taken from 12thMan homepage. Please check www.12thman.it !
Der Herbst klopft schon an das Fenster und das verlangt nach ausreichend Schutz vor Wind und Wetter, sollte man sein wares und trockenes Zuhause verlassen müssen. Die 1. Adresse um solchen Wiedrigkeiten zu strotzen ist das britische Traditionsunternehmen Barbour, das 2010 einen Klassiker neu aufgelegt hat: Die Dry Fly Jacke. Wie der Name schon verrät, eine dem Angelsport gewidmetes Modell, dass aber auch in der Stadt und auf der Strasse eine gute Figut macht und vor allem seinen Zweck erfüllt. Diese Jacke ist Wind- und Regenabweisend und steht damit in guter Barbour Tradition, schlechtem Wetter zu trotzen. Diese Jacke bietet auch weitere Gimmicks, neben vielen kleinen Taschen kann man diese Jacke auch auf Wunsch verlängern um ein trockenes Gesäß zu bewahren. Mit wenigen Handgriffen lässt sich die Dry Fly in eine Art Parka verwandeln, sicherlich ein Gimmick das gerade beim Angeln sehr praktisch sein kann oder auch vor durchnässten Sitzschalen im Stadion schützt. Aufjedenfall kann man mit diesem Modell nicht viel falsch machen, Barbour Qualität gepaart mit einem kernigen Look, ein Klassiker für den Garderobenständer.
The Puma Bluebird, released in 1982 has been recently reissued. This trainer has been popular amongst Cardiff City Football Club supporters in the 80`s because "Bluebird" has always been the nickname of Cardiff City FC.
This trainer is known for its blue/yellow colourway, but has also been released in maroon/yellow, which reminds a bit of Cardiff`s away colours of the 70`s. When i saw the first pictures of them i said to myself: It`s time for my first pair of Pumas! I have never been a fan of Puma but this release is just great and when they arrived, they looked even better than on every picture i have seen before. The quality is very good in my opinion, the suede feels great and this trainers are very comfortable. But the only reason for me to buy them was this cracking colourway, which really stands out between other recent Adidas releases at the moment and with 60 GBP a really fair price.
