Very excited to announce the release of my Dad’s new book – Hydrate – a part of the new Simplify Your Health book series. Independently published, and now available on Amazon, this book is the culmination of a lot of hard work and research. For more info, you can visit HydrateBook.com

Starring Pink Dollaz
Directed by PCMW
Produced by J.Nicely
for Nice & Wu Productions

Polaroid, no flash at night.
It was sometime around the winter of 2007 / 2008. I was living in the lower Lower East Side / Chinatown border, on the corner of Allen and Hester.

“The act of listening is really a miracle. Perhaps it’s the greatest miracle, when one can listen totally without any defense. Without any barrier.”
-Krishnamurti

Recently leaked EPA documents reveal that Bayer’s Clothiandin pesticide kills honey bees. (via Earth Files)

“Clothianidin is highly toxic to honey bees.”
- Leaked EPA Document, November 2, 2010

Beekeeper Who Leaked EPA Documents: “I Don’t Think We Can Survive This Winter” (via Fast Company)

Theobald has been concerned about clothianidin since it was first released in 2003. The pesticide is a neonicotinoid–a type of insecticide that disrupts the central nervous system of insects. Imidacloprid, the first neonicotinoid to be released in the U.S., came on the market in 1994, and began raising red flags soon after. France banned imidacloprid in 2003 due to concerns of bee die-off triggered by the substance.

Now the stakes are higher than ever. Tom Theobald’s honey crop this year is the smallest he’s seen in 35 years of beekeeping. “This is the critical winter for the beekeeping industry. I don’t think we can survive,” he says. “If the beekeeping industry collapses, it jeopardizes a third of American agriculture.”

Einstein was right – honey bee collapse threatens global food security (via Telegraph)
This recent article in The Telegraph reaches similar conclusions. Additionally it raises some interesting points:

The bee crisis has been treated as a niche concern until now, but as the UN’s index of food prices hits an all time-high in real terms (not just nominal) and grain shortages trigger revolutions in the Middle East, it is becoming urgent to know whether the plight of the honey bee risks further exhausting our already thin margin of food global security.

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I wanted to seek out an expert opinion to weigh in on the various data, and give their own assessment of the impact of Clothiandin and neotiniconoid pesticides. So I reached out to Barbu Demian, a veteran chemist with over 30 years of experience. He shared his thoughts with us:

I’m not an expert in pesticides, but from reading this collection of documents I am inclined to consider the certification of the neonicotinoid insecticides a mistake. The actions in the UK House of Commons are very telling. A highly toxic compound, systemic and with a very long half-life is clearly an environmental major threat.

Are there any other scientists out there who want to add their opinions to this? We need more scientist to join in making there voices heard. It seems obvious that the responsible thing to do is, at the very least, immediately discontinue use of these dangerous chemicals until we know more about their affects.

To voice your concerns, contact:
EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson
Ariel Rios Building, MC 1101A
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue N. W.
Washington, D. C. 20004

Headquarters Phone Number: 202-564-4700

General EPA Headquarters: 202-272-0167

email: jackson.lisa@epa.gov

My dog Poca aka “Dat Lil Bitch” aka Everyone’s favorite Boston Terrier is now featured on this exclusive t-shirt from Frank151.

The photo was take by New York based photographer Craig Wetherby and was featured in Frank Chapter 32 – The Jet Set Book.

Order yours today!

“Our journey to find art will show that art gives culture and that culture is the antidote to propaganda.”

Reading List

Active Resistance to Propaganda
Manifesto by Vivienne Westwood

On December 31, 2005, to reflect on the coming New Year, designer Kallen Yan, my associate Seb and myself,  teamed up to produce a limited edition zine entitled “We’re All Going to Die”. The publication explored a range of our feelings and observations about the world, and where things might be heading. Articles included RFID tracking of humans, Chemtrails, 2012, Free Energy and also featured the layout below which depicted our sentiments about the state of the environment.

In light of the recent media attention given to mysterious bird and fish deaths, I felt the range of information covered within “We’re All Going to Die” was worthy of re-examining, and have decided to re-release this zine in downloadable PDF format.

Please, lets all try our best to protect and respect this planet.

Visit Independentertainmenterprises.com to download.

Turn Your Blackberry into a Crackberry!
Presented here for your enjoyment is a free Crackberry background for your Blackberry devices created by artist (and world renowned sneaker customizer) Jordan Price.

Download the hi-res PDF here

“I am back like cooked crack yup
even my connect asked me how I cooked that up”
-Juelz Santana

Back Story:
Sometime ago when I got my Blackberry, I commissioned the very talented artist Jordan Price aka Cool Jor – http://cooljor.com – to create a custom Crackberry background. My long-term goal was to actually produce a full on Blackberry theme, with a full range of icons, ring tones (brick cellphone anyone?), etcetera. However this proved difficult, as it required a bit more knowledge of coding than I had anticipated. I still got great enjoyment out of this theme, as it remained my background for the entire time I was using my Blackberry (now I’m on Droid).

Now we present it to you, for your consumption. Oh, and don’t even think of using this artwork or any elements for commercial purposes without paying Jor. All Rights Reserved to the original artist. It probably wouldn’t be a bad investment to buy one of Jor’s paintings or prints now, especially in light of his recent work with Murakami’s studio.

Download the hi-res PDF here

My colleague Edward Mears of Dentsu Sports America decided to take a trip to North Korea this past summer. He was nice enough to take some time to share his photos along with thoughts on propaganda / advertising and creativity in the DPRK.

You can check out the Flickr set of Edward’s trip to North Korea here. Full interview after the jump.

“Over my summer vacation I was lucky enough to travel to North Korea, the most secretive and reclusive nation on earth, and a land devoid of corporate advertising (the non-political kind at least). It was one of the most fascinating and unforgettable trips I have ever taken… While it is certainly true that North Korea is one of the most repressive governments of the modern era, there were some slivers of creativity that I found…”

How did you end up in North Korea?
I minored in Korean studies during university and have always had an interest in the politics/history of the Korean peninsula.  I have made it over to South Korea numerous times, but have always been curious about life up in the North. Furthermore, I really wanted to form my own opinions about North Korea and I have always felt that there is nothing more immersive or informative than first hand experience.

Is there any advertising in North Korea? How about propaganda? Did anything stand out in particular?
While there was no advertising, there certainly was an abundance of propaganda.  Since I do not speak Korean, it was a bit difficult to understand much of the propaganda I saw, much of it centered around the deceased president of the country, Kim Il Sung, who was the first president of the North Korea and still holds that title even though he is officially deceased.  His face and likeness could be found all over the otherwise grey city, and he still plays a very central role in the lives of all North Korean citizens even to this day.  However, of all the propaganda I saw, the thing that stood out most to me was that there was very little (if almost no) propaganda with the likeness or namesake of the current North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il (Kim Il Sung’s son).  He was suspiciously absent from most of the propaganda I saw, which was rather curious.  I was not able to ask our guide about this, however, so I am not sure exactly why this might have been.

Did you see any propaganda that gave you ideas about techniques that could be utilized in mainstream advertising?
While the propaganda itself was rather straightforward and unimaginative (rather similar to what you would have seen in the Soviet Union or China in the mid 20th century), the fact that there was nothing else competing with the propaganda really made it stand out.  Because there was no other sort of ‘advertising’ in the country, the (very colorful) propaganda really stood out against the grey skyline.  That sort of contrast may be hard to replicate in the west, but did have quite the impact on me and other visitors to the country.

When people think of North Korea, they think of a very repressive environment. What were some examples of creativity that you encountered that surprised or inspired you?
While it is certainly true that North Korea is one of the most repressive governments of the modern era, there were some slivers of creativity that I found.  The most amazing of which was the Arirang Mass Games, which is probably the must-see event for tourists visiting the country and unlike anything I have ever experienced before.  The Arirang Mass games are generally referred to as a mass gymnastics display, but to call it that really takes away from the scope of the performance.  The Mass Games take place in the May Day Stadium, which is the largest stadium on earth with a capacity of 150,000.   Over 100,000 North Korean citizens and students participate in the games, which is a 1.5 hour long gymnastics demonstration that incorporates stories about the country’s foundation as well as certain Korean cultural aspects.  The centerpiece of games is a human mosaic that consists of 30,000 students each holding large colored cards that they then change on order from a flag captain, essentially creating the world’s largest LED screen.  The changing of the cards would produce massive mosaic pictures pertaining to the history and life in North Korea.  Many of the mosaics featured scrolling text and other animations as well as depictions of the great leader Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.  I have never seen anything so impressive before in person and it is worth looking at videos online to get a fair idea of what exactly this performance looked like. This video gives a good brief idea of what the event was like.

What brands actually exist there? Is there an awareness of Western brands?
While our guides were certainly aware of some Western brands, they are pretty much non-existent in North Korea.  Most of the stores we were taken too had only domestically produced goods alongside some Chinese brands as well.  These were just at shops that were preapproved for foreigners to visit and it is likely that stores that cater to the general population offer even less in terms of foreign produced goods.   The clothes most citizens of Pyongyang wore was very bland and unimaginative, mostly comprising of simple suits for men and dark pants and dress shirts for women.  I did not see any recognizable clothing brands the entire time I was there.  Even items such as blue jeans are generally forbidden in North Korea because of their association with America and the West.  However, we did manage to find Coca-Cola (albeit having been produced in China) in one of the cafes we visited, but we were told this was the only place in Pyongyang that served the beverage.  To be honest, I was a bit surprised to find it there at all.

How did the citizens respond to you as a Westerner? Did they have any questions for you? What did they seem to know of your culture?
Most of the local population we encountered varied from timid to disinterested when we tried to interact with them.  Part of this is most certainly due to the language barrier, but it was also a bit strange at the same time.  In my other travels to countries in Asia, I have found that foreigners are often met with fascination and excitement, especially in countries that are not used to having many foreign visitors.  I hardly saw any of that same fascination amongst the North Koreans, which made me think that maybe they have been coached about how to interact with foreigners – though this is just my own personal opinion.

What’s the exchange rate like?
Surprisingly, foreign visitors are not allowed to make transactions in the local currency, the North Korean Won.  This is primarily a way for the North to get its hands on hard currency but to also limit how foreign visitors can spend their money in the DPRK.  All of the stores and restaurants we visited accepted USD, Euro, Chinese RMB, and Japanese Yen, with the Euro being the ‘primary’ foreign currency in the North.  We were able to purchase North Korean Won but only as a ‘souvenir’ in extremely limited quantities.  By not allowing us to have North Korean Won there is little worry of us buying something that is not already pre-approved for sale to foreigners.

Did you bring back any souvenirs? Is it true that Kim Jong Il has his own line of sunglasses?
To be honest there was not much that we were allowed to buy in the country, so unfortunately I did not bring back many souvenirs.  Of the few things I did buy, a collection of North Korean Won (money) and a few pins commemorating the Arirang Mass Games were my favorite.  I also bought some Ginseng-based cosmetic products for my girlfriend.  Korea (and North Korea in particular) is known throughout the world for the quality of its ginseng, and my North Korean guide told me that I had to get these products for my girlfriend.  I am not sure about Kim Jong Il’s sunglasses, but I know that we (foreigners) would never be able to buy them if such a line did exist.

You can view more photos from Edward’s trip to North Korea here.