"This Is The Life"

My friend Omid (Beneath The Surface) hipped me to this doc months ago when it had a small screening at the Silent Movie Theatre. Sadly, I had prior engagements. It's a rare visual glimpse into my favorite hip hop movement of all time, the Good Life era of the late 80's/early 90's grown right here in Los Angeles. The movement gave birth to such luminaries as Freestyle Fellowship, Cut Chemist, Volume 10, Ellay Khule, Pigeon John, Busdriver, etc. The doc is playing a one week engagement in Downtown starting tomorrow..



Here's the trailer..



Here's also an old promotional video I dug up with Freestyle Fellowship. It's a bunch of vignettes, strange air in the room, eerie..

Korean Konkords!

Yeah boy!

Obama Got Kush?

Obama is moving towards a greener society in more ways than one. SF Gate reports that Obama is making fundamental moves towards allowing states to have jurisdiction over their marijuana laws. Read here. Also, here's a quick clip of Barack back in 2004, discussing the failed drug war and his belief in decriminalization. Yes we cannabis!

Franki Chan vs. Steve Aoki??

The latest vimby video I shot about Franki Chan (iheartcomix). In it, he talks about his once formidable partnership with Steve Aoki, which ultimately dissolved in classic (hipster) Hollywood drama. Watch for yourself..

VIMBY - Franki Chan

Facebook Fumbles

I don't trust this guy. I wouldn't be surprised if Facebook is in direct cahoots with the FBI, CIA, ATF, DEA, etc. After Mark Zuckerberg's controversial new ToS (Terms of Service), where anything one uploads is under license by FB, people including myself were outraged. Still am that he would even try! Now Zuckerberg is backpeddling, claiming they don't own anything and this is all in line with FB's ultimate goals. It sounds like a bunch of rhetoric to me. Read about it here. If only Myspace would have the design of Facebook, virtual life would be perfect. The reality is, I just can't stop updating my status!! Facebook is indeed an addiction, and if you delete your account, you're almost out of the loop. We'll see how this all plays out. Or if we get played out!

Spirit Awards

A big congratulations to my friends Sara Simmonds and Scoot McNairy, stars of "In Search for a Midnight Kiss", which won the John Cassavetes award, given to features made for under 500K. There's Sara after her win (and Katie to the left :)..



Sara was also the mystery girl in my own video "Rachele & Taz". Here's a refresher..


RACHELE & TAZ from Danny Lee on Vimeo.

Toons

Today took a stroll on Melrose east and stopped by Bike Style, a straight up bicycle custom shop. Bike Style is the brain child of legendary LA graffiti artist Toons. There he is showing off a new frame..











There's Toons' seminal Bike Styler movers..







There's the beginnings of Toons' 3D creation of a machine gun boombox, with live speakers to be built within..





If you're in SF next week, you can see how these pieces turn out at..