With the big man recovering from a long night, last Sunday I went and checked out the 2011 Australian Vintage BMX Show’N'Shine hosted by ozbmx, VintageBMX and Roberto’s Custom Powder. Although the weather scared a few off and forced the event to be inside the turn out was still impressive. BMX fiends from all over Australia brought their wares to show off to a more than receptive crowd. With some incredibly rare metal on display there was something for everyone… Even a DeLorean!

My personal picks were the Radberry S&M Holmes built by our mate and Dropouts founder/organiser James, Hollywood pink Hutch and Campagnolo Sheriff Star equipped Floval Flyer. All in all though the images speak for themselves, a great day.

- t, even spotted my old girl now sporting Tuffs thanks to its new owner.

PS. Thanks to Clint for providing the camera and some of these images.

You may remember the Design a 574 competition we ran in the lead-up to the 2010 Swap & Cop. Well if you didn’t take notice, the guy who won it goes by the name of Kalin Thompson. What you might not have realised is Kalin is a bloody talented artist and last night saw the opening of his solo exhibition at Butter Beat on Brunswick St. With Taz on a mission of top secret nature, twizzy was left alone to brave the wilds of Friday night in the Valley.

- P4,

The detail and time put into every one of Kalin’s pieces is truly astonishing. Talking with the man really made me appreciate how much passion he has for what he’s doing. Not only is the guy talented but he has a smart head on his shoulders and knows what he needs to be doing. We at P4 really wish Kalin all the best because we would love nothing more than to see a (now) Brisbane based artist taking over the world. Now for the pics…

Tools of the trade… That tiny brush is used to make those minute hairline strokes. Amazing!

This past week Nike Australia invited us to be a part of their Nike Sportswear Winter 2011 Preview, at the B2 Studios in sunny Sydney. We were one of the lucky few in Australia to see the new offerings from Nike Sportswear and more importantly all the latest from Nike Running.

We admit as both of us went into this event with some reservations, as we have grown weary of the continuous rehashing of current silhouettes to keep the ‘sneaker head’ happy. To our pleasant surprise the big swoosh came through with the goods as we were greeted with a giant wall of 2011 Lunar runners.

- P4,

Our journey started very early, actually like 4:00am early from Brisbane as we navigated through the morning rush to get to the airport and three hours later were got to a chilly morning in the 2000.

We were greeted at the airport by a very happy chap named Danny who ushered us away to the venue, in a BMW 7 Li which we thought was a pretty good start, he even offered us to test out the sound system.

We just had to leave our mark as soon as we got there, then we made our way in to be greeted by the Nike Team and who gave us these individually printed contact cards with old Nike ads which we thought was pretty damn cool.

Still hazy from our naps on the flight we got thrown into the deep end as we got introduced to the Global Running Specialty Director, Kevin P who has been with Nike for over 20 years. It was funny talking with KP because his background is purely running but we soon realised that this man has actually played a large part in the street wear scene, more than he ever knew having worked on cult classics like the original Huarache, Mayfly and Presto among countless other coveted Nike Running models. We kind of caught KP off guard with our dissection of shoes that he has worked on from a fashion/streetwear perspective, it was really weird he had no idea the influence running shoes have had on the street culture.

The flagship Nike Running shoe of the moment is the new Lunar Eclipse, which has some cues reminiscent of some previous models such as the Huarache and Air Max BW but still remains fresh. We picked up on these straight away and KP was very amused by our nerdiness, he probably didn’t expect us to draw those comparisons. It was very interesting to find out that “runners” have the same aversion to change as “sneaker heads”, and Nike have acknowledged this by deliberately toning down the design of this range having found that runners are also put off by the over-techy cumbersome look that most modern shoes have taken. We feel this is probably the most wearable range for a very long time from Nike Running, simple paneling and bold colour blocking, with familiar cues seems to be the perfect bridge between old and new. Twiz is gonna break down our convo with KP more.

Both of us were super impressed by these Air Max+ 2010, the construction is really good, the Air 360 unit is ridiculously clean, KP stated that Nike is putting a greater on emphasis on quality. In the past there were some serious inconsistencies and kind of lost their way in both quality control and design. He mentioned that Air is incredibly hard to work with a reason why it doesn’t feature in many runners nowadays. He also shed some light into the reasons why modern retros of shoes don’t have the same shape as their original versions, citing a few reasons which basically boiled down to modern construction techniques and how air unit react sporadically to the curing process meaning that a shoe will never be as “sharp” as the original.

This is the Lunar Fly+ 2 which is another example of the new design direction that accounts for looks as well as function and quality. It doesn’t really translate in the images, but the shoes is quite reminiscent of the Air Max BW without being overly obvious. It’s definitely a better tribute to the original than the Lunar BWs currently around, they also come highly recommended by KP who was wearing a pair through the day.

This display of all the Nike Running shoes of yesteryear was really cool especially, cool when KP told us stories about the original shoes and how much of a nightmare some of the new materials were to work with. Apparently the original Huarache was a bit of a pain in regards to quality. It was also funny to see how surprised he was that we knew of these older models and people were still frothing for and buying these shoes.

KP walked us through all the new technologies and explained how they are being implemented, some of the new buzzwords being thrown around are Lunarlon, Dynamic Support, and LunarLite. The cut outs were really cool.

Lunarlon – The firmer carrier foam of the Lunarlon cushioning system is cut away under the forefoot, boosting the thickness of softer foam for a soft landing, reduced weight and enhanced flexibility.

Dynamic Support – The Dynamic Support system in the midsole offers on-demand support throughout your run, whatever your gait type. The wedge shape of the foam helps limit excessive pronation without the stiffness and weight of a medial post. And the floating heel clip wraps around and under the heel to reduce excessive rolling inward or outward, helping to correct both overpronation and underpronation.

LunarLite – LunarLite foam is 30 percent lighter than standard Phylon and provides ultra-lightweight and springy cushioning for your foot. Encased in a Phylon or Phylite midsole, this new foam compound, invented at Nike, delivers cushioning that’s soft and not too mushy. It allows impact force to be more evenly distributed and helps reduce painful pressure points on your foot.

Basically it means you get a really comfortable shoe that doesn’t have a sole that’s 5 inches thick. Plus they’re actually good for your feet.

There was also Lifestyle products on display, including the N.S.W range which presented the opportunity for the first time to inspect the construction and quality of N.S.W. It was pretty impressive although the price point is something that’s probably unreasonable for most and most of the outerwear would be targeted to customers to the South.

The footwear was pretty expected, there were a few industry types that were frothing over it but as far as we’re concerned it’s nothing moving, just a bunch of reissues. The standout shoes were the Lunar Wood+ which we saw last month at the Swap & Cop and the new fangled Lunar Vengeance. There are a few new models being brought into the ‘vintage’ range, but again these are shoes that have been done before and the vintage treatment kind of ruins them. If they were a simple retro made from nicer materials and not featuring the staining treatment on the sole then it would make much more sense from our perspective.

The rest were Dunks, Air Max BW, Air Max 90s, Nike Air Royal Mid, and All Court Low, nothing we are looking forward to seeing instores.

This Wmns Zoomsly Sister One+ was probably the standout from the women’s section. The football boots below called the Mercurial Vapor Superfly II FG, quiet a mouthfulwere really interesting, the graphic has a sort of grape influence, we really swooned over it, they are ridiculously well made and super light

The whole setup was great, we enjoyed being able to have a look at the new shoes and how kind Nike was to invite us along. As we’ve both discussed before, the current lifestyle footwear offerings really seems to have stagnated and nobody seems keen to push it forward. This newest Lunar range is easily the most wearable and exciting, we are very keen to try out the new silhouettes. You got our size hook it up folks at Nike…Just Do It!

This past Sunday we headed down to Musgrave Park to check out the Australiasian Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship finals. Having rolled in late on the final day, we caught a semi-final and then the two final matches of the day. We don’t pretend to know much about bikes, but the formula for bike polo is simple: Bikes + Polo = Awesome. The vibe was great, plenty of people all out to have a great time and watch some good stacks. The fact that these guys and gals actually ride their bikes because they love it meant that the trendiness count was low, scars and bruises reigned supreme.

- P4,

Brisbane managed to get a team into third place, but the final was all out-of-towners with Melbourne playing off against the Halfsleeve shirt wearing Sydney-siders (a crowd favourite). In the end though, even a blow to the face couldn’t stop Melbourne from take out the top gong. The real winners on the day though were the retards from Fixie GC, taking out the coveted "people’s choice" award, basically one step up from a participation ribbon. To the boys we salute you, mediocrity is king! Huge shout out to the teams that came from all over Australia to play in these finals, a total of 18 teams competed which is awesome. We hear next year Perth’s hosting. Cheers to the guys from Gear and BOgear as well as all the other tournament sponsors, head over to Bike Polo Aus’s site to get the full list.

Once we had our fill of dudes’ butts on tiny seats, we headed into West End to grab some eats, only to find that the West End Festival was wrapping up. We battled against the flow of people and spotted a ramp sporting the sign of Ride On, another one of the shops we worked with for the last Swap & Cop. Nice work guys!

After driving around Brisbane, heading to Portside for some Movenpick ice cream (Maple Walnut is insane) and dropping in to see Gavin Boyd at Cloudland we succumbed to the allure of Char Siu Pork from Little Hong Kong at Sunnybank. Before filling ourselves with barbecued pork, we dropped by a pool hall where Taz showed what years of having nothing better to do than playing pool can do for your game. Twiz won the last game by default and a win counts no matter how it comes!

Having done our share of exercise for the day, we then rewarded ourselves with a plate full of glistening pork and some dry beef and tendon hot pot, capping off a fine day indeed.

This past weekend Rocklea Showgrounds was buzzing with greasers, hoodlums, foxy dames and other cliche terms for nostalgia freaks at the 2010 Greazefest Kustom Kulture Festival. The weather was perfect and things were well underway by the time we arrived. Run over the whole weekend, Greazefest pays tribute to the golden age of rock and roll, and it’s refreshing to see so many people in one place all with such commitment to the style, these guys and gals really live the lifestyle. There was more brill cream than a barber shop and the ladies were looking fine.

It wasn’t just automotive porn on display, there were also some great little stalls selling vintage clothes and low brow art on the day, so those less automotively inclined needn’t be turned off. All in all it was a great day, and we can recommend checking it out next time the show rolls into town.

- P4,

If you are a fan of typography like us make your way down to the on going series of alphabet inspired art at Go Font Ur Self* at the Nine Lives Gallery in the Valley. I intentionally left out images from the event you have to go checkout the artwork yourself.

- T, ya dig!

After our escapades to the Core Series final on Sunday, last night we dropped by the monthly JDMST Brisbane meet to see what these guys get up to. Reports were that last time over 150 cars turned out, so expectations were high. Needless to say, we weren’t disappointed with plenty of cars turning up. It’s nice to see there’s a move away from the candy paints, giant chrome wheels and airbrushing that seems to dominate the Australian scene. We didn’t bother taking too many shots because aside from there being plenty of guys that shoot all night, we’re still a grip on shooting in different settings.

Big thanks to Riley and Rory for making us feel welcome, and to all the guys and gals that grabbed some stickers cheers. I’m sure there were plenty of “what the…” reactions from those who found P4 stickers shoved under their windscreen wipers, but hey we’re shameless.

For more pics and future event info you can head to JDMST or check out Downshift Aus.

- P4

A few good dudes I know got together to form a new band called Apollo, I’m not well versed in my indie music but I did really enjoy attending their debut show at Noosa’s own crap shack of a bar now given a trendy name, Fusion. I think they are alluding to the fused smell of B.O. and V.B. soaked carpets, regardless of the venue these guys definitely put on a stellar show and I am sure they would like to thank all their friends who attended and a good time was had by all.

- T,

The headlining band was Hope Springs but pretty much everyone decided to clear out after Apollo’s stellar performance.

This past weekend, Brisbanites took to the Chandler Velodrome to celebrate the launch of newly established bicycle themed brand, “Domestique”. A large group of fixie heads gathered to check out the new brand, show some love and just have a damn good time. For many this was their first experience on the velodrome, whilst a few were already seasoned competitors. Along with the track there was also a few fellows that came along to oversee the velodrome newbies and offer a word of advice (or three). We went along to take some photos and drop some of our new stickers off.

Domestique is now available at The Outpost, Gear and Sneak & Destroy and a big thanks to the stores for organizing this dope day, as well as the velodrome support staff for putting up with the rag tag bunch.

- P4,

The photos are also up on Facebook please tag yourselves.

Over the Easter break I took to the road and drove from the Sunshine Coast all the way down south to Sydney. The 1000+ Kilometers of journey would’ve been hellish if it wasn’t for my good friends and good food stops on route. While there i got to check out the new range of Feit, dropped into Supply, had a dope meeting with Ones Clothing and got to checkout the HMAS Darwin.

- T,

We stopped off at Grafton, which looked pretty much like a ghost-town except for this joint, which was overflowing with cars outside we ducked into checkout the menu and boy did we get a pleasant surprise. Elegant and simple bistro food at a country town pub. The whole trip we just kept discussing at the sheer dumb luck of finding such a nice restaurant on a trip where we definitely excepted a fast food binge.

Next stop was Port Macquarie, just to have a stretch but the lovely visuals definitely rejuvenated us.

We started 8:30 am Friday morning and 14 hours later we got to Sydney!

I went to Oxford Street, to checkout Feit and Supply who happen to be next door to each other. The Feit Moc Hi is the toughest boot I’ve ever laid my eyes on, these things look like they could crush any terrain in luxurious comfort, just an unmatched combination of aesthetics, quality and functionality.

After I finished groping all the shoes at Feit, I ducked into Supply. They gave me a look at their new range of tees, gotta say they look pretty damn good. Should be getting some pictures shortly. If your unfamiliar with the store they stock some of the most sought after brands such as Visvim, Supreme, Neighborhood, Tenderloin, Head Porter and many more. Check them out at their official website, and definitely drop in and check it out if your in Sydney.

We met the guys from Ones Clothing at Buffet, Junior was nice enough to invite me down to their studios and checkout their operation in person. These guys are true hustlers producing their own stuff when they have down time from their own full time printing business. We had a long conversation about producing quality products and bounced of ideas each other, we look forward to working with them sometime in the very near future.

One of my best friends is in the Navy and he gave us a tour through his ship, the dude is 6”8 I have no idea how he can last in that place for more than a couple of hours its so claustrophobic. But I was pretty much nerding out pretty freaking hard (pause), all those instrument panels, guns and hatches, the ship is a fucking maze; it was fucking awesome. Oh there is this crane called the Hammer Head, apparently its falling into bits but i though it was pretty impressive sight nonetheless.

We had to head back to the 4000 Monday morning, even though all the fun was over we did get to stop for one last meal in Taree, it was pretty rubbish, except for the cold drinks.

Bonus Shots:

Good friends, lots of drink ensued in hilarious moments captured on my newly acquired Fuji Instax 210, consider this my review of the camera it is just fun, no other explanation needed, its just fun to have around. Nothing beats instant gratification.