A while back, someone named The Public Zoo began following both IHCS’ twitter, along with my account. Needless to say, when I got a free minute to myself, I looked through their account, clicked on their site link, and discovered their clothing. I’ve been looking through their collection so far, and I’ve decided that I definitely want a few items, which you can check out below.

The Public Zoo will be holding a release party this Thursday evening at Yellow Rat Bastard, located in lower Manhattan. This means their collection is easily accessible for me!!! I like to feel the materials of the clothing I purchase, something tells me that they’re using a really soft cotton though.

So far, their character Hickup keeps stealing my attention. It seems Hickup is a panda, and the main character for the brand– he’s even on their logo. The panda is my favorite character, but I think it’s a known fact that I have a very soft spot for Pandas of all types. Hickup in particular reminds me of Murakami’s Kanye West Bear. I think it’s the eyes. The art style is the other reason why I love the brand’s designs so far. Their Japanese influences, along with cute animals is always a win-win situation.

[The Pillow Fight Countdown]

Hi-hi! Yesterday around noon I got a text message from my friend to go with her to Union Sq. to join in on the Pillow Fight. I’ve always wanted to go, and somehow was never aware that there was actually a website that informed people of the date and time. I’m not sure what I was thinking. Nevertheless, every year, I missed the damn pllow fight and somehow would meet up with friends who had participated in it. This year, however, it was different- I went!

I arrived to the area early, to discover that the event was much bigger than I had anticipated. OMG! Union Square is typically a very busy place, but this was massive. I met up with my friends with camera at hand, and posted myself at the “lifeguard” post. There I was, worried that at 3pm, a pillow was going to smash my lens. I was safe though, some guys decided they would protect me, which I appreciated.

Though I myself did not participate with a pillow, photographing the event was so much fun. I wanted to capture the feathers flying up, pillows hitting backs, and hair filled with various pillow stuffing. It was rather thrilling. Check out more images after the jump.

Friday was the Sneaker Pimps show at the Roseland Ballroom. I will begin by sharing the excitement I had to go to this show. I was excited because Simone Legno [Mr. Tokidoki] and Nas were going to be there. Mr. Tokidoki is a big highlight in my life in terms of meeting the artists that make the vinyls that keep me smiling. That was a long sentence. Nas, on the other hand, I really wanted to take a picture with him for my friend who’s a BIG fan. But, here’s what happened…

Due to circumstances out of my control, I couldn’t leave my home early enough to get a good spot on line. When I got there, my Mr. was already on line, which at the time happened to be around the corner and one block down. OMG! The craziness. We were standing for a good hour and a half maybe more, who knows for sure. The best thing, take note of the sarcasm, was the drastic change in temperature which surprised us with a shirt and light sweatshirt. When we finally got in the first thing I spotted, after getting tattooed with permanent marker poisoning, was Mr. Tokidoki!!

I should share right now, that I instantly began imagining he and I walking along Italy… Sorry about that, I was beginning to lose myself in dream again. hahaha! Anyway, I went up to him and shook his hand and told him I was a fan and tried to find out if he was doing any sketches that night. I already knew the answer, he needed to save all the sketching energy for Yoyamart… so I simply took pictures of him and the event. The walls were all covered with these gates, sneaker after sneaker was aligned throughout the ballroom. It was quite breathtaking and at the same time annoying. I thought the event would be more one-on-one with the artists. After a couple of minutes [and after having gotten a Sneaker Pimps shirts which my Mr. caught- he's so tall] I asked my Mr. if he wanted to break out.

I really wanted to see Nas, but during my escapade around the floor, people kept lighting up a “blunt”. Let me put this out there, I have loads of friends who do this on occasion. I tend to breakout whenever this gets on the scene. I don’t hate my friends for doing it, but its not my scene and I don’t like to be around it. I believe if you’re going to do it, go ahead, but don’t do it in a public venue. Ugh! All the secondhand weed smoke that came at me was disgusting. Though I was sad I couldn’t surprise my friend with a Nas autograph and photo, I needed out! So at the end of the day, I waited on line longer than being in the venue. But, I survived the night, and that’s the important thing. I don’t think I’ll be checking out anymore Sneaker Pimps shows. Oh wells.

So on Thursday I went to the kaNO release party held at Plan B. It just so happens that the bar is extremely close to my home, so there were no excuses. The event was to both celebrate the release of The Black Book and Citizen Kano: The Art of the Hussle. Both artists are AMAZING and to be quite honest kaNO holds a spot inside me for being pretty laid back and down to earth. I was pretty bummed out that neither artists were doing sketches, but like I mentioned in a previous post, kaNO has already hooked me up with a great sketch. I wanted to share one photo:

Here, he’s got his Money Grip displayed along with both; his limited edition Black Money Grip which I purchased for $25 and his Citizen Kano… which was also on sale for $25. I also purchased a shirt from Khary Randolph, which is also pretty dope but I will probably never wear it out, since its got boobies. I can’t risk being seen by my students. It is quite cool though, I shall share a picture later. Keep reading, I’ve got 2 other shows to share with you.

Flowers on a Cab, originally uploaded by Grim Santo.

I wanted to post these a lot sooner. I do believe, if you live in the NYC area, that you have spotted these cool looking cabs with flowers painted on them. They’ve been around for about 2 weeks now, but do people know why these were created?

The reason why a couple thousand cabs in the city are decorated with these kick ass flowers is because Sept. 10th, marked the 100th year since the very first cab existed in NYC. It is a celebration, which I think is a wonderful way of celebrating a century of existence.

Why does this matter? Personally, I wanted to share because I, along with my students, worked on these cabs. The whole project was completed by volunteers. The people who coordinated the painting sessions, the people who painted, the people who helped prepare the cabs and tarps, it was all through the wonderful work of VOLUNTEERS. I am glad to be in that pool. I also thought this was a great way to begin promoting the “GREEN NYC” campaign that Mayor Bloomberg has in mind. I’m not sure how well that will work out, but it definitely brightens up my day to see these cabs around.