Summer Time Is Done-THE SEASON IN REVIEW.
Summer Time Is Done.- The Season in Review.
I stepped out of my apartment this morning and found myself met with a crisp Fall breeze instead of the warm Summer air that has been hanging around for the past three months. Combine that with my first round of University classes beginning two days ago and it seems that Summer 2009 is finally coming to a close. I figure that merits some sort of grand re-cap of events, a what’s what and who’s who of the Summer just past so sit back and take note for a moment as I put my god-awful memory to use.
Summer At The Movies: Star Trek and Pointed Ears Are Cool Again.
At this point it is no secret that Hollywood is just about fresh out of ideas. I heard rumblings of a Rambo 14 and Alien 36 to be releasing next year in addition to six year super hero movies from comic book titles even I haven’t heard of. This summer did have some gems however, The Hang Over was the funniest movie of the past years not named Old School, Transformers 2 had everyone in the theater despite bad reviews and District 9 managed to breathe some new life into an age old alien plot line.
Let’s face it though, as far as movies go this summer it was all about pointed ears and the man named Kirk. When I was a kid we used to make fun of people for liking Star Trek, but at some point this summer all of that fell to the wayside as the remake had audiences across the country throwing up peace and prosper signs like N.E.R.D. was in town. If you missed the film, than you surely missed the block buster of the Summer. I have three words for G.I. Joe. Massive let down.
Economic Downturn: And Streetwear Doesn’t Really Care.
Times don’t seem to be so bueno in the good old US of A. Trillions of dollars in debt and still trying to figure a way out of a massive collapse, the country is needless to say at a massive point of transition. Money is tight just about everywhere but low and behold, streetwear kicks on. There was some talk before and during Summer about how streetwear is suffering from the recession and granted a fair number of stores did close their doors in addition to some brands but let’s just call that process the weeding out of those who probably were not quite doing it right from the beginning.
As long as the kids are out there buying 34 dollar, 6 ounce cotton t-shirts with one color screen prints than I dare say that streetwear is still in fact doing fine. So heres to the Summer of the 2009 when every beaster of Hype gave a large singular finger to the American economy while laced up in a fresh pair of $300 Nike Air Yeezy’s. Recession who?
Sporting World: Kobe Bryant Finally Gets It Done.
That was this summer? Yes young squire. Early in June while the entire sport’s world attempted to convince me that Lebron James was superior to Kobe, Mr Bryant strolled, walked, and trampled all over Denver and finally brought home the championship trophy to LA all on his lonesome. *Cue up Kanye West “Can’t Tell Me Nothing.” right about now.* Meanwhile in other world news, the massive mountain of human being known as Shaq, spent summer playing beach volleyball and baseball on some piss-poor excuse for television. Actually, you know what, I take that back. Shaq VS is genius TV maybe I just can’t stand the fact that when Kobe finally wins the Championship on his own Shaq came out with a TV show instead of a diss track.
Radio Spins: Canada Finds Its Savior.
First of all the above isn’t a Calvin Klein, Land’s End, or LL Bean Fall 2009 catalog cover.
In case you have been hiding under a rock the size of well…Shaq for the entire summer and months prior to that than you know that the above is Aubrey Graham otherwise known to the world as Drake. The all singing, all acting, all bum-knee having savior of rap from the cold land to the North known as Canada. We were banging a Drake mixtape about two years ago and we all thought the kid could spit but we had absolutely no idea that the hype would ever approach this level. With three singles on the Billboard charts, THE biggest song of the summer, and a 3 million dollar deal off of ONE mixtape, it is safe to say that Drake probably had a decent summer. I don’t even understand the progression of this man’s career right now, he is pretty much bulletproof. Who can freestyle off of a blackberry, wear a pair of Kool-Aid-esq awful fake Jordans, completely bust his ass on stage and still stroll to the number one spot in the game? I can’t wait to see what this album does just out of sheer disbelief. Shouts to wheelchairs, don’t forget where you came from.
Political Universe: Iran Stirs The Pot.
Well in the wide world of politics all sorts of grand things went down. Sometimes I feel like I have to speak about this stuff because I worry that your guys only news source is the front page of HB. Anyway, big man numero uno, President Barry O held down his first hundred days in office and seems to be keeping at least half the population happy.
Iran on the other hand held some elections that only pleased about one quarter of the country. Their most recent presidential elections were about as honest as the Trojan horse just being for decoration, and the resulting uproar from the Iranian citizens had the entire world biting their nails in anticipation of what could possibly happen. Never quite a pleasant thing when fragile countries with nuclear power and ambition descend into turmoil. Oh yeah, Sarah Palin finally decided to drop the whole Washington thing and just stick to shooting caribou in the Alaskan wilderness. Good for her.
Summer Styles: Flood Watch.
There’s nothing new under the sun. I didn’t see anything particularly inspiring on the streets of NYC this summer as far as style goes but it does seem that everyone and their grand mothers was prepared for a flood of epic proportions. In front of every single cool-guy store from Soho to South Korea, jeans and khakis were rolled up past the ankle. Well excuse me for saying but the last time I checked, when it was hot out it just made more sense to wear uh… shorts but I suppose cuffing those 300 dollar Japanese selvedge jeans in tribute to Noah, Noah’s arc, and the unforgettable flood is a good look as well.
Other news in style? Jeff Staple kicked some dust off of New Balance and did a damn good job with those Staple joints. Yeezy’s were everywhere- that was fun while it lasted. More or less everyone jumped onto the whole boat shoe thing, maybe there’s a reoccurring naval theme here I’m missing?
OH YEAH! Please. Please. Put the G-Shocks down and back away slowly. OK? Did I hurt feelings? Ok I apologize I’ll tone it down, just stop flaunting the thing around. You’re wearing a 10 dollar piece of plastic that you and everyone else in the room has on so just at least for my sake don’t wave the thing around in my face. I’m happy you got the all-white version too brother, well done.
(Casio did throw a dope event this summer though, kudos to them for that.)
Defining Moment: Michael Jackson’s Passing.
I happened to be standing on the side of a river on the outskirts of New York City when I heard the news. Doubtless you remember where you were standing as well when the tragic word arrived that the King of Pop himself had passed on. Completely unexpected and occurring immediately before a massive return to the stage, Micheal’s death at the very least made you replay Thriller in appreciation for a master of all things music. Unfortunately speculations on whether his death was a homicide clouded the real coverage, and some of the tribute performances at his funeral were uh- questionable to say the least but at the end of the day it was at least possible to sit back and realize how immense an impact this man had on the entire world. There are pop stars and than there is Michael Jackson, I don’t think there will ever be another. Rest in peace. (Also have to take a moment to say rest in peace to Senator Ted Kennedy, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Mays, and our own DJ AM.)
In Conclusion
Well I could go on and on down the list. We left out the Eagles picking up Michael Vick, the disappearing act of Lemaur and Dauley and the omni-present rain we experience on the East Coast but it’s time for me to go play some ball outside. Anyway, what do I even know about any of this right? My summer consisted of endless afternoons spent in the city, mountain ascensions and cliff jumps. Next summer we conquer the world, I’m trying to take a trip down under to Australia, international fam-a-lam shout and holler at me.
Heres to Summer 2009, I had an amazing one. Hope that the same went for you blokes. Drop a comment, tell me what I left out.
Stay Safe,
Phil.
best post from you so far.
have fun at the rut this year