The In Crowd

Where to score free flicks alfresco, from Brooklyn to the Upper West Side in New York from Metromix.com:

"It’s a summer for burgeoning tightwads—gas prices are above $4 a gallon, airlines are now chargine $25 per bag, and—more important—a single blockbuster movie ticket complete with deep-freeze air conditioning now clocks in at $11.75…plus $1.50 for service charges.

But cinema lovers can give their strained wallets a break this season by taking in one of the many free (or nearly free) outdoor films playing in parks and on rooftops all over the city almost every night of the week. Be forewarned, though: The scene is BYOPB (that’s Bring Your Own Picnic Blanket, for newbies), and many die-hards camp out in the primo spots well before sunset."

Click here for the rest of the article. 

From the NY Daily News:

"Now that 70-degree days have us craving pints on the patio and brunch in a bistro garden, anyplace with even a few inches outdoors is perpetually slammed. So when everyone else queues up for the same stretch of SoHo sidewalk, head to one of these great city spaces to skip the crowds."

Click here for the full list. How'd they miss 230 Fifth though?? I swear I have never seen a bar, especially an outdoor one, this big.

I discovered this place on a recent vacation to Colorado. Quality designer street & snowboard wear in the heart of swanky Aspen. Check it if you run in 'those' kind of circles and happen to be out there some time. Just make sure your private jet has enough space for all the gear you're likely to cop!

Online:  Website  |  MySpace 

Legendary jazz-soul group RAMP makes a super-rare live appearance tomorrow (Sat. July 7) at Central Park Summerstage for FREE! Miss this and you're a friggin' idiot.

If you don't know who they are, think Roy Ayers and A Tribe Called Quest's "Bonita Applebum" and get a clue. Also featuring the Cinematic Orchestra, Kevin Micheal and the excellent DJ Spinna and throwback rare groove group the El Michels Affair. For more details, click here and here.

Online: MySpace - RAMP 

This Stussy x Burton collab board looks super dope. But it's also super limited so you better go cop ASAP if you're feeling it. $650 for those who got it (unlike me). Details as follows from the Stussy online store:

Burton Air 157cm model features World Tour screenprint, superfly core, dualzone EGD, sintered vision base, infinite ride, base color black/red, imported, Stussy store exclusive, limit one per customer.

Click here to order. 

Regular readers know I am a fan of all things wooden, particularly snowboards so it's no surprise that I would be a fan of the 2005 Burton Idiom 158 board (right). It's already sold out - at least on the site where I discovered it - but props and shine are still due. Read on:

"The Idiom 158 has a directional shape intended for all conditions. This board has healthy sidecut conducive to nice, tight turns. The board has a mellow, medium flex which makes the board easy to handle. Edge-to-Edge quickness is very good and turn initiation is responsive due to the shorter effective Edge, making this board very agile in all situations. Materials are very good and quality is exceptional, making the Idiom one of the premier snowboards in the world. The IDIOM SELECT 158 is inspired from early modern furniture design and draws influence from the designs of Charles and Ray Eames." (click here to read more)

I've been sitting on this The Other Side: Paris CD/DVD set produced by Time Out publications for a while now and only finally got around to checking it out this past week. As described on their website and in the promotional materials they sent me:

"Welcome to The Other Side! Deaf Dumb Blind Communications, a new progressive and multi-faceted entertainment company, has teamed up with internationally recognized travel guidebook and weekly magazine publisher Time Out to produce a series called The Other Side -- an interactive CD/DVD guide that submerses its listeners/viewers entirely below the city's surface.

Utilizing the cutting-edge DualDisc format, The Other Side DualDisc is a premier "cool guide" that features a walking tour by reknowned DJs to hot spots in cities throughout the world, and includes a mixed cd compiled by a native audio pioneer of that city. The DVD guide acts as a visual handbook for both the seasoned traveler and armchair adventurer alike. The Other Side is a community-based guide to the bleeding edge of the world's great cities. Look forward to uncovering spots in New York, Paris and London.

While some travel guides aim to be comprehensive, The Other Side isn't concerned. It simply wants its user to discover the very best and coolest about the city in one XX-minute swoop. It whispers in the user's ear advice on where to go and what to see -- and it does it with unprecedented style and flair."

The Paris edition features a guided tour by DJ Ivan Smagghe of hipster art galleries, restaurants, clothing stores and nightclubs as well as segments on uniquely French cultural phenomenon like Parkour and a mix of electro & techno on the CD side by Smagghe's group Black Strobe.

It'll be interesting to see where this type of product goes in the future. I really see this type of thing being more successful as an mp3 and subscription-based audio and video RSS podcast feed that can be downloaded onto your video ipod and carried with you to whatever city you are traveling to. That would offer far more flexibility in being able to update and modify the music and information offered in the travel segments on a more timely basis, but I guess Time Out isn't that forward-thinking yet!

NOTE: I also had trouble playing the CD side of the DualDisc in my DVD player (which is also the default CD player for my living room stereo) but it worked fine in my Discman but I've seen other folks online complain about not being able to play the CD on their computers or being unable to import the audio tracks into itunes which is a MAJOR gaffe on the part of Time Out and Deaf Dumb Blind if true. The Other Side is still worth investigating though.

(Click here for more details.)