Konnichiwa!

It’s a sunny evening in Finland. The day’s been full of energy ever since 4am when I woke up to watch the NBA Finals. There’s no hiding it, I’m super hyped about the game and especially about the fact that Lakers drew the first blood taking the game 102-89. I was tweeting about the game and you can check up the reactions to the game at denim_house. There were plenty of folks commenting on the game in a similar fashion, heh. One of the funniest parts was when the court-side commentator/reporter was trying to interview Chris Rock (the comedian) in the audience, he obviously did not want to be interviewed and had his eyes locked in the game. It was similar to a situation when the husband is watching the game on TV and the wife asks something and he doesn’t eve realize she asked something but just answers yeah, yeah. C’mon, I know you know the situation.

But enough of the game, I will be all on the NBA Finals around the next game. So this is not the last you’re hearing about the NBA Finals 2010 on the NDH blog. Oh yeah, whether you care about the finals or don’t let us know who you think is taking home the trophy on the poll below the Soap Box.

So back to the Friday edition which is about Art. Art surrounds us and as they say it is often in the eye of the beholder. This is very, very true in most cases. Take for instance Picasso’s work, I really like his works of art but one of my friends went to see Picasso’s exhibition and his comment was that the pieces looked like something drawn by a 7 year old.

I would love to bring up the art of comic books in this edition, but I don’t want to mix up my comic book editions with this one. The graphic art and stories in the comics have inspired me ever since my early childhood and still do. If I feel like I’m in a slump with some creative work or with my writing, all I need to do is dedicate few hours to some good comic books and I’m back at it like an addict. One artist that in my opinion brings out the comic book elements (manga) in many of his works is Takashi Murakami  whose World of Murakami exhibition you can see at Palazzo Grassi in Venice from 9th till 11th of June.

I’m a fan of Murakami and like the manga inspired colorful pieces he has produced. Not to mention the stuff he’s done with LV. Not that I’m an art expert but I would say he has made an impact in the art world, especially in the Japanese Art scene. For more details you can check out www.palazzograssi.it, and if you happen to be in Venice, check it out.

Both my wife and me are avid photographers, I guess it runs in our veins. Not that we’re professionals or anything, we just love capturing every moment of this crazy journey called life. I have previously mentioned the works of Yasumasa Yonehara aka Yone and his work at Cexworks. I mean this is another field of art that people definitely have many opinions of. Some could consider his works as pornography, though I don’t see it that way. I mean take a look at some of the pieces, when I see the pics I don’t just see lovely ladies, but art.

Picture courtesy of Yasumasa Yonehara.

It’s the same with our beloved T-shirt labels like erect81, QUOLOMO and KIKS TYO. I have been told that the shirt I was wearing was a bit daring. My usual answer is, oh, is it? It’s art. This added with a smile and people get over it. Yone’s work though quite “daring” do get plenty of attention and celebration. I really liked his work with QUOLOMO, I mean just take a look at the shirt below.

Another art pick of the week comes in a form of a video. A video about BMW Art Car by Jeff Koons. Pretty nice I would say.

I guess the next edition could be on music since Remy’s been visiting the concerts of the likes of AC/DC and I’m heading to a gig by Devin the Dude in a matter of hours. I did a concert recap last year regarding a gig by rapper Too $hort. That was a good one and I expect nothing less from today’s concert. That said, I’m off to eat something and get going. Life’s good oh and GO LAKERS!