Blog
DISTRICT February 16 2012
In the spirit of great local food, let me introduce you to DISTRICT, located at the edge of Little Tokyo.
We were invited there last night for a meeting about the Rick & Ray operation. It started in the front of DISTRICT - the lounge area, if you will, where the menu includes burgers, skewers, tacos, etc.
After conversing about who we are and what we do, Jason - the owner - revealed that the back of the restaurant actually serves Korean BBQ. I’m not gonna lie; Wella and I were pretty excited about this. Wella, because as I’ve mentioned in the past, is obsessed with all things Korean. And me, well I’m just obsessed with food. Jason wanted us to check out the patio, fully equipped with grills and heaters, and have dinner. So we made our way.
That’s Jason.
...and Maria and Mike. Everyone was saying that Maria is the Latina version of me. She rocks with Universal Music, Carbon (Culver City), and a new publication called “Arte”. She even works with Jason on bookings. How’s that for a full plate? (Ok, so maybe she is like me.) Mike is her husband; he’s a DJ, photographer, curator, and last night, he was a life coach.
Now, the food. The meat is good, the sides are good, they use lettuce wraps instead of rice paper, they serve mushrooms with their short ribs, it’s outside so you don’t end up smelling like food, I can keep going. I’m in DTLA most of the week as is my team. We’re all stoked that there’s finally a Korean BBQ joint in the neighborhood. And a good one, at that.
DISTRICT
738 E 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Tweet
LAURYN February 15 2012
When MJ passed in 2009, I told myself that I’d do anything to see my favorite artists perform live. Since then, I’ve had a pretty good run. Prince, Sade, et al. Then another one of my favorites passed - Whitney Houston - and I made the same promise. Last night, I saw Lauryn Hill for the third time. And I’m still a bit hungover from it.
Brace yourself; this is about to be a sorta concert review.
I was honestly expecting the same show I saw in 1999 at Universal Amphitheater and in 2011 at Rock the Bells. Except that her voice was even more matured, and she probably wouldn’t bring out Nas to do “If I Ruled the World”. But I mean, how many times can you change up the Miseducation album, right? Apparently you can rearrange the whole damn thing and make a two hour concert out of it. That’s what she did last night. In one word, I’d say it was amazing. I couldn’t figure out what song was playing until she sang, and while the people next to me were complaining about how “When It Hurts So Bad” didn’t sound like the original, I reveled in the fact that an album released in 1998 was still so relevant.
As much as Lauryn hasn’t been in the public eye, she has. She’s been deemed cray, a one hit wonder, blah blah blah. I’m not a music snob by any means, but I am a music lover and I know this: when an album and the voice that accompanies it can warrant the same feelings after 14 years, then it’s gotta be good. Miseducation is one of the best albums to have come out in my lifetime (credible source: me). After yesterday, I heard it differently, and the songs I know so well offered a whole new meaning.
I do hope she comes out with a new album, though. I’ll even take a legit recording of everything I heard last night.
Photos by Shelly (Rick & Ray) and Jollene (AF3IRM)
Tweet
TI$A February 14 2012
On Saturday, COLORS in DTLA had the opening reception of the TI$A (by Taz Arnold) pop up shop. The pieces available include fitteds, hoodies, denim jackets, and tees with Taz’ version of the infamous Polo bear. Here’s how the night looked:
Tweet
CLASSIC February 13 2012
Over the weekend, Milk Studios was transformed into an exhibit space for the Jonathan Mannion x Reebok show called CLASSIC. CLASSIC explores a selection of his most celebrated hip hop collaborations with artists such as Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Aaliyah, and Lauryn Hill. See the iconic photos below.
Tweet
FFFFOUND February 11 2012
I was looking for a pen in my desk drawer, and instead found my first notebook completely dedicated to CA. I would use it to draw out t-shirt concepts if an idea I had was too complex to write out in an email to my designer. The very first page was my sketch of the CA One Year Anniversary t-shirt:
My idea for this shirt was to take everything that helped CA make it to its first anniversary. Inside the number one were the names of the t-shirts I released from 2007 - 2008, the names of the models that wore them for photoshoots, the entities that I built relationships with that year, and the key aspects of CA’s ethos. It was a gift for everyone that helped, and I passed them out at the anniversary BBQ.
This one gets filed under my Top 5 CA tees list.
Tweet