You've probably heard of, or already seen the film and campaign about Joseph Kony. If you have not, please take a moment and watch this piece. Wonderfully done, and extremely inspiring. What you choose to do after is entirely up to you, but I'm can tell you without a doubt, that it's worth the viewing.
'KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.' Learn more here...
When David Choe was commissioned to paint the inside of Facebook's first offices in Palo Alto, CA back in 2005, he was given a choice between being compensated in cash for what is rumored to be 'thousands of dollars', or stock options in the company then worth about the same. He chose the latter, and is about the reap the rewards of that decision when his shares are expected to be worth upward of $200 million when Facebook stock trades publicly later this year. So dope!! He is the kind of dude that can frickin change the world given this situation. Read a more in depth article here...
Part of the $200 million mural. Below are a couple of murals he did with DVS-1 and Joe To in Denver recently. The guy is on a good one...
Shit is getting a little ridiculous...Go HERE and help petition these two nonsense bills that are being presented to congress.
'Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.
The Senate will begin voting on January 24th. Please let them know how you feel. Sign this petition urging Congress to vote NO on PIPA and SOPA before it is too late.'
Last weekend Apolis: Common Gallery opened its doors in the Arts District of downtown LA. It is 'the first regionally branded Apolis space where we host advocate keynotes, collection releases, gallery exhibitions and films.' They will also be hosting a grand opening on the evening of Thurs. November 10th, during downtown Los Angeles' Art Walk.
With what seems to be the conclusion to the Gaddafi regime in the near future, Time Magazine looked to portrait specialist Tim O"Brien for it's cover art. Given only a couple of days for a deadline, O'brien messed around with a couple of concepts before 'accidentally' coming up with what will grace the covers internationally. He is responsible for a couple other portraits that have received much acclaim recently. One, also for Time, for the capture and killing of Osama Bin Ladin, and the other for XXL Magazine, marking the 15 year anniversary of Tupac Shakur's Death, where he was asked to paint Tupac if he were alive today (age 40). Check this link, where he gives a lot of great insight to the process and inspiration behind his work...
It is with a heavy heart that I share more tragic news, yesterday evening, after suffering at least a 2 wave hold down, Kauaian waterman Sion Milosky drowned at Mavericks in Northern CA. So sad, it seemed that Sion was just starting to really get the exposure & recognition that he so long deserved. This past winter he signed with Volcom, won $25,000 in traveling funds from Surfing Mazaine's North Shore Underground collaboration with Vans, & graced the cover of 3 different magazines. He leaves behind a wife & 2 children. Our sincere condolences go out to his family & friends. You can make donations to Sion's family here.
Widely regarded as the biggest wave ever paddled into...
Chilling recall of the incident by filmer Chris Killen: "His board was tombstoning super gnarly like nothing I'd seen before. He had to be 20-feet down and the next wave was right on top of him. I knew I had to get in there but the wave washed in and he was gone. There was no board, no nothing. I went by the rocks, mushroom rocks, the lagoon, then straight back out and asked the guys what happened.
"While this was happening, Shawn Dollar got bulldozed. The next wave was there so I raced in and grabbed him and brought him back out. I asked him if he saw Sion. He hadn't. So I ran back to the lagoon and through the rocks. I saw Nathan Fletcher coming out of the harbor and asked if he saw Sion. He was looking on the beach but didn't see him.
"So I raced to the lagoon and Nathan went to the harbor mouth. As I'm coming back out of the lagoon, I see Nathan with Sion's body over his ski. We met back up and shot into the beach. I hit the sand so hard I ripped the handles off the ski. Sion was lifeless. Nathan was losing his mind. Sion's eyes were open and his face was blue. We were begging him to come back. I don't know how much time had passed but he must have been in the water for at least 10 minutes. I was trying to wrap my head around it to figure out how far he traveled underwater -- I was right above where he should have been.
"Everybody eventually pops up, but he didn't. There was no board when Nathan found him. When the really big ones were breaking, my ski wouldn't move in the water. It was like being a crouton in a hot tub. It was just so scary for somebody that heavy and that gnarly to be under for that long."
