The photo is Cory Booker who is the wonder kind Obama like incumbent mayor of Newark - and the one the  people have attached their hopes to. It is one of the poorest postal codes in the USA. Brick city.

The video is from the artifakts who were coming out of Newark New Jersey in 1991 with this one. On top of rhyming they were also writing all over the train yards and all those things the kids still do today…

This last video is from the film clockers that documented the suffocating project life of Newark in 1995, and as most of you know an instant spike lee classic. Harsh. Based on the 1992 novel by Richard Price who deals almost singularly in cop crime new york grit pulp. You have to love the score by New Orleans’ own jazzman Terrence Blanchard.

Hope you had a happy one in Canada. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong across the other huge pond, 1st July is also the HKSAR (Special Administrative Region) establishment day, commemorating its retrocession to China as well as the severed ties with the British empire. It has, since 2003, been a platform of public venting regarding various local causes. Below is a parade of selected pictures…

You are Beautiful

To receive your Free stickers, send a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope to: This is an additional envelope (stamped) inside the envelope you send us.

You Are Beautiful
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a eulogy from the getto boys…

and the incomparable one… who also passed too soon. mr. marvin gaye takes us to church.

LuckyMe, a family of artists, illustrators,
writers, DJs, vocalists and producers in Glasgow, were invited to explore their home city by exposing the spaces where connections were formed, influences absorbed and experiences shared, and so provide an insight into the city’s role in the formation of their distinct creative group. Music by Mike Slott.

This is a little thing where we listen to the two lads i think are the best this country has right now… for those that aren’t up here in downtown Canada - they probably never heard of them. So share it with your friends in all parts, it deserves it… in the meantime lets just call it a tie and hope that they keep with the good stuff.

SHAD

and 

K’naan

shot in and around Toronto’s Rexdale neighbourhood…

– But then for the more commercially minded there is always also DRAKE.

Ghostpatrol is an Australian artist currently working in a studio in Melbourne called Mitten Fortress. Ghost started out stenciling walls but has since moved into painting and mixed media. His work is quite versatile from plush dolls to giant murals, usually with pretty vulnerable characters that you almost want to take home with you- to get them off the streets. Check out more of his amazing work here.

Hey you, keep moving. Don’t block the people behind you!
Allez vite vite vite!!!

Ratzinger are what the big metal letters left all over Roma say. The title of the project is Anonymous Letter to Ratzinger. Whether they have an axe to grind with the Pope over there in the Vatican City seems unclear as the meaning and makers are unknown. Seems to be just one of those things that just IS. Though presumably this isn’t fan mail, because with the spotty track record of this Pope, that would be even stranger…

La beauté avec les idéogrammes chinois demeure la facilité de les transformer au dessin ou motif sans souci. L’exemple qui suit est créé par la ville de Guangzhou. Mot par mot, les caractères 文明 廣州  s’expriment:

文明 wen ming - c’est-à-dire civilisé

廣州 Guangzhou

Il suffit d’un petit peu de votre imagination visuelle pour interpreter d’autres messages portant dans ce panneau d’affichage.