So apparently this song / video is now a year old. We only stumbled across it this evening (via being totally out of touch with reality). Anyway, it’s been on repeat here in the ‘office’ for the last two hours so, fuck it, we’re uploading it.

The Aoyama Jokers were a notorious Japanese bike gang from the 1970s. They would do notorious bike gang shit. We’re not sure what that is exactly – we’ve never been in any sort of bike gang – but if these vintage photos are any indication it involved a lot of cruising down highways and being badass.

See more images at www.isysarchive.tv

Back when Facebook was still new and didn’t run the world you could create ‘groups’. They were like the current ‘fan pages’ only different. We made one called ‘Team Evil is Kinda Neat’ and managed to attract 70 members! Crazy.

While the whole Facebook groups thing is pretty much dead these days, the photos that people uploaded are still hanging around. And hey, since we can’t think of anything better to upload today, here are some images from the early Facebook / Team Evil days.

Oh yeah, we also wrote a totally smutty article about Japanese hookers and vice over at Street Carnage. So yeah, maybe go read that.

Here are some old, vaguely embarrassing R&B songs that we still like. Because, you know, whatever.

… also, because it gives us an excuse to post some Cassie photos.

Cassie

Rihanna

Ne-Yo

The Dream

R. Kelly

I’m writing this at 4am. It’s been a long day. I’m too tired to write anything sensible about these airbrushed images – or even look up ‘airbrushing’ and see what the deal is and why no one does it anymore. So yeah, here are some images I’ve totally stolen from Platform, who totally stole them from someone else. That’s basically how the internet works. And on that note I’m going to bed…

I’ve been watching a bunch of Spaghetti Westerns lately. They’re kinda awesome. Produced throughout the mid to late 60s, these Italian westerns were a world away from the cornball stuff coming out if the US. Shot in Italy and Spain, the limited budgets meant they adopted a real stark and minimalist tone. They also turned Clint Eastwood into star.

Teaming up with Italain director Sergio Leone, Eastwood starred in three of the most famous movies in the genre – A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966).

Although the genre had run out of steam by the start of the 70s, Italian and Spanish directors had managed to pump out over 600 films in that short space of time… Which probably amounted to overkill. As for the term ‘Spaghetti Western’, it was originally a derogatory phrase aimed at foreign directors, but over time it’s became accepted by film fans. Anyway, that’s it. I better get back to writing for $$$ now.

Photographer Danny Lyon took photos of Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Fort Green and Park Slope throughout the summer of 1974. Here’s a selection. You can find the rest at (oddly enough) www.businessinsider.com

I wrote a (mini) magazine this afternoon. 2000 words in about 3 hours. It’s a guide to pitching articles and freelancing and stuff like that. I’m tentatively going to call it Wanking for Pennies … Or how to survive as a freelancer.

I’ve been doing the freelance thing for three years now and have never had to jerk off old men for rent money so I guess that makes me some kind of semi competent professional. I figure I can share sell some of that knowledge via a limited edition magazine / PDF. Here’s a little sneak preview…

101 Excuses

Getting paid $120 per hour is all good and well, but actually getting the money into your bank account is a different matter. While there are lots of professional organisations that pay you in full, on time, every time, there are just as many assholes who will offer every excuse in the book for not paying you.

1. “I’m confused about the amounts / layout / job details in your invoice. Please send everything through again with a point by point breakdown.”
2. “I never received the invoice, please send it through again.”
3. “[insert name] is now looking after that account, you’ll have to contact them.” [This game can be played for weeks and months as new and ever more ridiculous names are pulled out of a hat].
4. “Your invoice is now with the account departments, you’ll have to chase them up, it’s out of my hand.”
5. “We’ll process it tomorrow.”

Dealing with accounts

At some point you’re going to snap, pick up the phone and demand to speak to the account manager / finance department / CEO about your [several months overdue] money. Good luck with that. The person you need to speak to will be
- Unobtainable
- In a meeting
- Out of the office

Actually getting your money [...more to come]

PS. Freelancing gives you lots of time to trawl the internet looking for content, here’s a selection of images from some recent photoshoots [via web hits].

The last couple of updates on this site have been weird. Not sure what’s going on. Maybe I have brain trauma. Or working from home is giving me cabin fever. Whatever the case, here’s a no nonsense, no weirdness, totally sensible post about Mike Schreiber’s hip hop photography and a book he released (fairly) recently titled, True Hip Hop.

Since everyone* is busy watching (and live Tweeting) this year’s E3 videogame conference, I figured I’d take the opportunity to do a post about an old videogame that no one cares about – Aerobiz.

Released in 1992 for the MegaDrive and Super Nintendo, Aerobiz was a strategy game that put you in charge of a small airline company. Your task was to expand routes, buy planes and become the #1 airline in the world. I know that sounds like the worst concept for a game ever, but it was incredibly addictive. Watching your little company make money, open new routines, engage in price wars with rivals and purchase hotels in exotic locations was as satisfying as any Street Fighter 2 battle.

Maybe I should have pursued a career as an airline bro?

(* by ‘everyone’ we obviously means videogame nerds)