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!

As some of you might have noticed, we have added some additional information and sneak peeks to our upcoming brand additions, QUOLOMO and erect81.

I have covered QUOLOMO in the past but just a quick follow up before the official introductions. QUOLOMO is a t-shirt, apparel and lifestyle project from Tokyo. Their creations draw inspiration from sub-cultures, artists, pop-culture personalities and Japanese animation. QUOLOMO means “wear” in traditional Japanese and it is focused on creating wearable items dedicated to the time tested sensibilities and standards of quality, artistry and originality.

The brand has released some very rare tees featuring the art on photographer Yone. I dropped a video on the Yone x Reach Partouze exhibition from last spring and below’s another one from the show.

erect81 again is a crossover of erotic art and fashion from Tokyo. Produced by the crew that brought you KIKS TYO and QUOLOMO, SEVEN UNDER the brand will bring you the same high quality just with on a bit more extreme level.

Below a little intro video to the brand featuring av gravure idols Kaede Matsushima, Naho Ozawa & Hitomi Hayasaka.

That’s all for now, we’ll be back with more soon. Stay tuned and stay safe, I’m out…

Monday mornings, got to love them. No matter how well you rest during the weekend, you’re moving at slow motion through most of the day, heh. At this point I need to give a shout to one of my ex-colleagues who is probably the only dude I know who genuinely loves Mondays. Why? Well you feel so refreshed and energetic after the weekend, heh. All good.

Starting off with some kick picks of the week.

Reebok took their Pump Omni Lite model and mixed it with the seven deadly sins, as a result Seven colors each with their respective lace lock representing one of the seven sins. The 7 Deadly Sins line has three colors out right now and the rest are expected to come out in August and September.

Pictures courtesy of Kixfiles.

Another kicks related interesting news that has been floating online for a good minute now (but somehow I have ignored it until now), is the collaboration between Lucasfilm and Adidas. The Star Wars collection will likely mix Adidas Originals kicks and apparel with classic Star Wars characters and elements. Being a classic case of a Star Wars -nerd I got a bit excited about this collaboration. Denim brand Yoropiko already collaborated with Star Wars in a somewhat classic denim design.

Inspired by the galactic saga, the Star Wars collection consists of limited edition as well as mass distribution footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and kids. Classic adidas Originals track tops, and several legendary sneaker styles are represented with characters and scenes from the epic saga in reinterpreted versions. According to starwars.com, “we can expect to see Darth Vader and stormtrooper graphics on select iconic Originals styles. Other key Star Wars characters and memorable moments from the films will also be represented in innovative, cool ways.”

First batch of the Staw Wars collection will be introduced in January, 2010 and Fall/Winter line sometime in Autumn, 2010.

While on the movie scene, another interesting movie related release is the Nike Hyperize, which is inspired by the character Sidney Deance from the basketball movie White Men Can’t Jump. The colorway matches Sidney’s vest and the flip-up tongue smbolizes the character’s cycling cap. It’s the small details that make each shoe like this unique. Definately a collector’s item.

Images courtesy of solecollector.

Some White Men Can Jump though, heh.

A while back I posted stuff about Yone x greedy genius sneaker collaboration. Well Yone is keeping busy and below little information on another interesting feature from Yone. This time he is collaborating with vinyl maker Eric So. The result is an interesting collectible featuring trademark styles of both artists. At the moment there is no official launch date. For more Yone’s work, you can check out cexworks.com.

Images courtesy of Pat @ Clot.

Finally a reminder about the Nordic Denim House x Kitmeout – Momotaro competition that will run until 30th of June. So you still stand a chance to win a pair of Momotaro jeans.

Have a fresh week ahead and I will be back for more in no time. Now, I’m out, peace…