NAME: PLAID COMEBACK

So plaid is really really popular rt now. Not exactly earth shakingly breaking news, just saying we've not seen as much symmetric pattern and color on men's shirts since the apex of the early 90s grunge years. Though this time it seems to be more about the plaid as opposed to flannel. There is a difference.


We're all for it really. It's not like we're the Sartorialist or anything,but in the everyday man's closet of gray/navy/black conservatism where the color spectrum is more a theoretical concept than it is a functional repository of possible options, plaid gives men the 'OK' to peacock it out a little bit, which is good, cause really why should the fairer sex have all the color fun? And since plaid or tartan has been around since the the time of the Iron Age from the Northern route of the Silk Road in Western China to the isles of Wales and Scotland it's kinda universal . It only makes sense that plaid never ever really goes away and at times, like rt now, spikes and explodes in popularity. This current plaid spike we like to attribute to the ever more abundant 'fond 1990s look back' that has also made colors more neon and prints more graphic(y) lately too. Plus it all works out well for the urban mountain man/farmer sophisticate looks that always do the fall/winter months so proudly.

NAME: Peak Williamsburg

OK, so we know we've not mentioned the Peak Williamsburg phenomenon in a bit. Not because the phenomenon has slowed, it continues to happen at an alarming rate. Honestly just because my head has been in other places. Occasionally removing oneself from the middle of a situation can add insight and perspective to matters that would otherwise be blindingly close. Hence moving further away from Williamsburg has helped me to realize that it was not just a case of 'stoned creativity' when I decided to follow the story of the peaking of the area. The industrial ,traditionally mixed neighborhood is changing... gentrifying, hipster Mecca(ing) whatever you wish to call it. To catch everyone up to speed Peak Williamsburg is the phenomenon in which the commodity associated with the neighborhood of Williamsburg reaches it's capacity and then steadily and terminally declines similar to Hubert's Peak Oil Theory. We went out and took some pictures to put a face on the phenomenon . We started with the more obvious elements of the peaking... all the new construction, and property for sale.
The places all seem very cushy and nice from the outside at least... like little yuppie dream castles right in the heart of the 'coolest' neighborhood in Brooklyn, heck the city.
Of course the peaking of neighborhoods is not a new phenomenon. It's just I've never been this close or had such familiarity with one peaking before, watching it blow up before my eyes.
As Williamsburg grows closer to peaking, residents will change. Some will be pushed out,and others will be let in. I'm not here to make value judgments over the rights and wrongs of that,just to to document it.
So the construction will go on and most likely will change a lot of the now familiar characteristics of Williamsburg. Some of those changes will be missed, while others will be embraced...its a cycle of life thing. We just thought people should think about it. This is really the first of our delving into the phenomenon. We will be commenting on other aspects as well ,and also if you see,hear, or just plain feel evidence of the peaking,please let us know at oper8tor21@gmail.com. Peak Williamsburg is going to Effect us all.

NAME: Vampires

(SHARK NIGGAS by JENONE acrylic on wood panel 9inx12in 2005)

With so many people and so many ideas floating around through so many filters like the internet, imagined nostalgia, and retro-culture; questions about who started what trend or whose ideas are whose get debated in fashion, music and even among friends. You know like when your friend got a dope pair of wingtips and you wanted to get some just like them or when you started to voice your new found appreciation for a particular aesthetic and now all of sudden your friends are into that same aesthetic. On the streets this phenomena is known as biting, or copping someone else's style. It's pretty common, those Retro kids even got a write in up in the New York Times for doing it. Its often very hard to say with totally accuracy who came up with what, everyone is a product of their influences and there is not a new idea under the sun. So it makes sense to build on things you appreciate and like tweaking odds and ends to make it more personal. One could even argue that this is one of the most dominant forces in the evolution of fashion and music. What we are saying, yes this is a bit of a P.S.A./ us saying what we want cause this is our damn blog, if you will, is that its OK to appreciate what has come before... to sweat it even, but it's not OK to not give credit where credit is due. When you do this you become a VAMPIRE, Jenone actually came up with that term, see how easy it is to give credit. VAMPIRES just suck the life out things for their own rejuvenation, not concerned about anything else. DON'T repeat DON'T be a VAMPIRE, be a connoisseur, be appreciative, bring something to the table. Raekwon and Ghostface said it best in "Shark Niggas" from "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx":
Man keep it real, get your own shit man, and be original
Word up
That's all man
And you'll be a better man
And you gonna come out on your own
Word up
Whatever how you gonna take it man, fuck it
Word up

A Real American hero: Blackwater?

Part of our mission at NAME: is to comment on contemporary culture,its in our tag line. So we had to add our two cents about how the war in Iraq is turning more into of a G.I.Joe cartoon/Chuck Norris movie on a daily basis. The independent military contractors(read mercenaries) Blackwater is causing a stir in the media allegedly killing Iraqi civilians in the name of the U.S., and its swooping Eagle of Liberty/mission of protecting diplomats. Seemingly being in a no man's land legally speaking where neither US or Iraqi law can moderate any of Blackwaters' actions. Can you say "Yo JOE"?Even our competent commander and chief does not seem to have an answer for this dilemma,or more accurately his answer is "Help."



It makes all the capitalist sense in the world;privatize the army. The men and women of Blackwater can earn up to $400-$600 a day or $144,000 to $216,000 a year tax free. Just as reference compare that to the salary of US military in combat zones(imminent danger pay) at $225.00 per month. But to be fair the president and or congress may designate these areas tax-exempt meaning that those $225.00 may be exempt from federal taxes. Well if Blackwater is doing such a bang up job,what's the problem? Well the fact that Blackwater plays into the fantasy of a 12yr old's army game, added to the fact that these patriotic men and women have NO OVERSIGHT, and Blackwater conceivably being used at home in U.S. emergencies may just be some...maybe...it's not like we're experts over here,just thinking.

NAME: Peak Williamsburg

With the concept of peak oil being rather ubiquitous today. We at NAME: started to think about how other nonrenewable commodities could reach their peaks and there after fall into a terminal decline. It makes sense that Hubert’s Peak Oil theory, based on bell-shaped curve reasoning can be applied to other phenomena besides oil right? Well we thought so. Hence Peak Williamsburg, the theory that the commodity associated with the north Brooklyn neighborhood will reach it's maximum production rate and then steadily decline. So we're putting our feelers out and collecting data to support the theory that we will soon enter Peak Williamsburg, if we haven't already.

NAME: The Boys with the Thorn in Their Sides

So why are men so vilified these days? All the subtle man phobia images and talk of mainstream media and the ever increasing phenomena of hetero women fucking one another is just some unscientific proof. Don't get us wrong lots of dudes are just plain scumbags,but lots are thoughtful sensitive people who just wanna live. Can't we live? We've seen the sticker that says "Men are the new Women" So what the FUCK does that mean? That its men's turn to get the shitty end of the stick or that women are now powerful enough to be scumbags as well. Neither one of those scenarios paints a very pretty picture for the future of men/women or sorry womyn/men relationships. So we went out and asked a few people without dicks why the world thinks guys are so shitty, then to be thorough we asked another few people with penises what they were doing to fuck up the basis of human civilization.