…sort of… 
Following up on Dan’s formspring post, I thought I’d start compiling a list of some of the personal (active) blogs of well-known bboys and bgirls out there. I’m sure there’s plenty more that I missed, feel free to comment and leave any suggestions for others to check out!
Justroc
http://www.justroc.com/
Justroc is an event organizer, and it shows in his blog as he does a lot of great, in-depth recaps as well putting up info about upcoming events.
Kid David
http://kiddavid.tumblr.com/
Mostly a ‘highlight’ blog of Kid David’s battles, exhibitions, travels, etc.
Bgirl Peppa
http://bgirlpeppa.blogspot.com/
Peppa does a lot of behind the scenes coverage of her various industry gigs, so if you’re curious about what it’s like for a bgirl working in the entertainment industry, her blog is a great place to start.
Roxrite
http://roxriterepresents.tumblr.com/
In addition to his dancing, I’ve been really impressed with Roxrite’s photography and video shooting/editing skills.
Check out his vimeo page as well for his personal videos:
http://vimeo.com/user1625104
Nasty Ray
http://www.godkee.com/
A raw and straightforward mix of personal highlights, dance philosophy, and industry insight.
Shie-chan
http://blog.livedoor.jp/airreal_shiechan/
It’s in Japanese, and there’s something weird going on with the layout right now (at least on my browser), but she keeps a pretty active account of her various travels and experiences.
Aichi
http://blog.livedoor.jp/spinboy_aichi/archives/cat_60242286.html
Also in Japanese…he writes a lot of commentary on battles (not necessarily his own).
Casper
http://bboycasper88.blogspot.com/
Seems to be mostly embedded pictures and videos, with some funny randomness in there.
FORMSPRING – http://www.formspring.me/
I’ve been noticing a lot of dancers using Formspring these days. I personally do not use it, or does anyone on Strife.tv, but a lot of dancers in my area love to mention their Formspring accounts to their friends, especially when they are bored and have nothing to do but answer the random questions sent to them.
Q: How does Formspring work?
A: You ask a question to a friend, or someone you want to know more about, and they answer. Except, the questioner’s identity is kept anonymous.
Because your identity is kept a secret, you can ask virtually any embarrassing question and the other user won’t know it is you. The most common questions range from secret admirers, to pranksters, to serious questions, to dance advice, to just…plain weird. The creation of Formspring almost essentially replaces those surveys we’ve always done via email in the past. Does anyone remember those? The ones where we have to finish, then send it out to all of our friends within 10 days, or something bad will happen.
Anyways, my favorite kind of Formspring questions have always been the, “Would you rather ______ or _______ ?” It is always a mystery where people find two totally irrelavant things, and try to force you to pick one. For example, “Would you rather eat sand for three meals, or have a llama follow you and spit at you every four hours a day?”
A COUPLE OF FORMSPRING ACCOUNTS TO VISIT:
http://www.formspring.me/bgirlmaresco – B-girl Maresco’s site. Someone ask her questions, please. She keeps mentioning how bored she is, and keeps posting her account to me and others, just in case they have forgotten about it within the past hour.
http://www.formspring.me/domkey – Domkey’s a funny guy. I love Domkey. My favorite question on his site has to be, “Do you have a fetish for Asian girls? It seems that way. LOL” Write to Domkey if you prefer dudes over b-girls. (just kidding Dom)
http://www.formspring.me/justinjetli – JetLi from the choreo group Poreotics. A lot of ABDC competitors have Formspring, actually. You can check some out here.
http://www.formspring.me/atomicgoofball – B-boy Atomic Goofball, anyone? If you know Goof, it almost seems like Formspring was invented just so people can ask him quesitons.
“nom nom,” says the antelope
BREAKBEAT OF THE DAY:
I posted the remix the other day.
But…I prefer this version.
Brand new old school!
The Incredible Funk League – On & On Feat. Sadat X (Lp Version)
–Daniel
Dancers Who Looked Scary Intimidating in the Circle, but Turned Out to be Cool
Posted: 15th July 2010 by Dan in Daily Thoughts, EventsA well known excuse for not writing in a blog is that one has been busy. Then when one gets busy, they start posting random battle videos to their blog to buy some time for the next “serious” post. Well…I refuse to fall into that trap! I have to admit, it did take a little bit of motivation for me to get up and write this. But here we go….
Dancers Who Looked Scary Intimidating in the Circle, but Turned Out to be Cool
I just got back Penn St. University this past weekend for a jam. A highlight of my experience there was speaking to b-boy Gravity for the first time. Gravity is from 5 Crew Dynasty & Dynamic Rockers, straight from New York City. Anyways, I was talking to him for the first time, just small talk for less than a minute, and then had a realization, “Damn, he doesn’t seem as scary-ass intimidating apart from the battles. He actually seems like a nice guy.” I swear my moment of recognition took me into slow motion time, and made me think of other instances where I thought a particular dancer was intimidating at first, but turned out to be really cool after. For people reading, don’t lie…I know a lot of dancers think of this topic, especially the younger b-boys. I guess it has to do with the battle face persona during competitions, compared to a more chilled out persona when not in the circle.
GRAVITY – 5 Crew Dynasty
So without ado, here is my personal list of dancers that I thought were scary as fuck, but turned out to be pretty damn cool after you talk to them. I already listed Gravity above. The reason I said him was because if there is any current b-boy with that raw NYC b-boy mentality, it’d be Gravity. That guy battles like he could chomp your head off, and then some. But after talking to him, I was like, “Damn, you like to make jokes on b-boy Domkey as well? You’re pretty cool.”
Evol & Waka | BRICKHEADZ interview
WAKA – Brickheadz
When I was a sophomore in college, and had only danced for less than a year, I took a trip with friends to Chicago for City vs City 3. It was there that I saw Waka dance for the first time. Holy crap did he look scary. With his shaved head, goatee, and labret piercing, he had like a battle stare that could turn one into a chicken. I had a lot of friends in the Chicago scene, and they kept telling me that although he was intimidating, he was probably the nicest b-boy in the scene. Fast forward nine years later, I did a short interview with Waka and Evol of Brickheadz, and turned out they were right. But still, I dare someone to compete in a staring contest with Waka. You can’t win. (has anyone done this yet? the Strife person in me wants to challenge him next time for amusement purposes)
BORN – Rivers
When I went to Korea two years ago, everyone looked damn intimidating to me. It was less because I did not speak the language, but more because I couldn’t do airfares like every 12 year old Korean child could. Despite all these power moves, my initial scary ass Korean candidate was Born. Let me tell you, that guy walked around the cyphers like he owned the entire country. He had on his Zulu pendant and vest, and if Charlie Murphy was there, he’d tell you Born had some kind of aura emanating around him like Rick James.
The Korea b-boy scene is not known for cyphers. Friends were telling me it is due to the abundance of stage battles, that the b-boys & b-girls try not to show off their moves or it would tire them out before the competition. And when there would be cyphers, it’d be more like a practice crew cypher: a Gambler cypher here, a Rivers cypher there, and so forth. But Born, with his Zulu influence, would walk around from cypher to cypher, as few as there were, doing his thing, not giving a care in the world what other people thought. If Chuck Norris was a Korean b-boy, he’d be Born. But of course, after getting to know Born, hanging out, partying, and taking his workshops every week, he became a good friend. I love the guys from Rivers and Floor Gangz.
Just so I’m not boring anyone, here is the rest of my personal list of “people in the b-boy scene that I thought were scary ass intimidating, but turned out to be pretty cool.”
–Erwin | BBOYWORLD – For the longest time, I kept picturing like the Wizard of Oz, sitting behind that James Brown avatar of his.
–MexOne | THEBBOYSPOT – Same reason as above, I just kept hearing names of some big dude behind one of the most popular dance websites in the world. Let me tell you, imagining a mystery moderator person, sitting behind avatars, can be quite intimidating. It wasn’t until I met Mex in person that I realized how wrong I was.
–Sick | GAMBLERZ – As one of the senior Gamblerz members, Sick is kinda old school Korean. He wasn’t all too social at first, but turned out to be very nice to me after bringing him a thank you bag of Gatorade & Doritos to their studio. Korean rule of thumb: bring gifts when visiting & practicing at a Korean crew’s private studio as a sign of respect.
–Machine | ROCKFORCE – He’s another example of having an intimidating battle face, but is quite chill afterward. Loan is part of his Machine’s hip hop dance choreo crew.
interactive menu
click on the links in the video to navigate!
click on the links in the video to navigate!
4 ELEMENTS OF EXPRESSION – PENN ST. UNIVERSITY
I was up at State College, Pennsylvania, this past weekend for the 4 Elements of Expression jam. It had a lot of big named dancers, including Morris, Lil John, Bebe, and crews like Ground Zero, Repstyles, Supreme Beings, Dynamic Rockers, and more. Posted above is the interactive menu I made for all the battles.
The venue was quite nice. It was at a club called the Mezzanine. Unfortunately, the venue did not turn on their spotlights for the later battles, thus I was forced to move closer to the stage for the battles, near the speakers. So, I apologize for the rattling bass noise in the latter battles, as well as the dark film grain due to having almost zero light. I should probably buy a condenser microphone in the future to prevent this from happening.
THINGS THAT I THINK I THINK
–How the hell does Gravity do twists & flips in the dark, and still land on his feet?
–The venue owner was lame in not allowing the final tie-breaker to happen.
–But then again, b-boys should try and be on time for the scheduled event, but that won’t happen, at least not in the USA.
–I haven’t seen Ground Zero battle together in years.
–That final World Cup match between the Netherlands and Spain was boring. I almost feel asleep at the bar with Maresco and Rex.
–My favorite battle of the night was Get ‘em Off (LOZ/GZC) vs Dynamic Rockers.
–Morris secretly signed Domkey up for the All Styles battle, 3v3 battle, and Bonnie & Clyde battle, haha. Should’ve seen Domkey’s face when he found out.
–Bars & Clubs should not expect to make much money from drink sales during a daytime b-boy jam. Who battles for $2,250 while drinking?
–Zoob from Ground Zero Crew looked like Borat.
b-boying in soccer?
who knew
who knew
BREAKBEAT OF THE DAY:
MisLee edited a very nice R-16 1v1 reel
…and this is the song she used
The Incredible Funk League – On & On Feat. Sadat X (Cléon & Jazzy P Remix)
–Daniel
Episode three of the LXD is now viewable on Hulu, prominently featuring popper Madd Chadd.
Thoughts: Definitely a step in the right direction: much less dialogue in this one, which allowed the dancers to tell the story through their movement even more so than the first two episodes. The comic book ‘speech’ was an alright touch, but honestly I don’t think it’s necessary. The scenarios of each episode are recognizable enough that I’d be happy if the narration (verbal or otherwise) was dropped altogether, and the dancers were allowed to communicate more purely through their art with the viewers.
The first two episodes are now viewable on Hulu, what does everyone think?
Episode one includes Luigi, Venum, Milky, and Cloud:
Episode two focuses on tricking:
My brief thoughts: The writing is cheesy and the tone is awkwardly serious. I wish either the writing had more ‘weight’ or the direction had been more tongue-in-cheek. Basically, if you’re going to take yourself seriously then you need to write heavier material that supports that tone choice. And if you’re going to go over-the-top, really go for it and have fun with it, and let the audience in on the joke too. The first two LXD episodes seem to occupy a middle ground, and the weirdly earnest tone stopped me from fully engaging with the series.
That being said, the dancing and choreography is amazing, the series is well-produced and well-shot, and the dancers are the stars (for better or worse). The series is fun, and even though it doesn’t seem like the ‘revolution’ it was hyped up to be, I’ll still be watching future episodes.
photos by Strife.tv’s very own MisLee
Korea’s very own Jinjo Crew, first place crew battles
congrats to JustDoIt from the Netherlands for taking first place in the 1v1
People can MisLee’s entire R-16 photo album here on our Facebook page.
BREAKBEAT OF THE DAY:
classic funk beat from the 70s
O’Donel Levy – Playhouse
–Daniel
Yes I KNOW that I am late with this post and all but… okay I really don’t have a good excuse.
…………..
ANYWAYS!
Day 1:
Press/Media Day:
This was the first press conference I have ever been to in my life, so I was kind of excited to see how this would turn out. After introducing the judges and the crews, they decided to try and break THREE world records: the most 1990s, air flares, and head spins in one minute (the person had to spin continuously without tapping the ground). Although The End did the most with 19 1990s, I heard that there were a lot of people who could do at least 20 without even trying. The same thing was said about the 52 air flares done by Small Turtle, a 14-year-old Vietnamese B-Boy from Big Toe Crew (apparently, someone has done 64 air flares). When it came time for head spins, the announcer said the record was more than 100 rotations…in one minute? That is fucking insane considering that the most someone did during the challenge was 33.
In The End (haha, get it?!), awards were given for the most 1990s and air flares, but no one even bothered mentioning the head spins.
Small Turtle From Big Toe Crew
Day 2:
Graffiti:
At the R-16 Festival, there was a section where graffiti artists were actually allowed to paint on the walls (which was huge, since most people consider grafters to be vandalizers rather than artists).
I couldn't get the guy's name but... this has got to be the trippiest graft i have ever seen haha
Judges’ Showcase:
After taking pictures, MisLee, Benaza and I headed over to the Olympic Hall for the 1-on-1 Popping, Locking, and B-Boying competition. They introduced ALL of the judges (yeah, popping, locking, and b-boying) in a choreographed way by having the judges come out following a choreographed set followed by freestyling. I’ve never seen a judges’ showcase like this before so it was interesting.
BATTLE:
The battles started with an EXPLOSIOOOOOON!!! (Terry Crew’s Voice)
The Popping and Locking Battles were all dope with Poppin J and Takashi winning, respectively. For the B-Boys, Justdoit beat out Neguin to take home the money. Although Neguin admitted he was a bit sick, he still moved ten times faster than everyone else and was on fire throughout all his sets.
Battle winners: Starting from the Left Hand Corner: Popping Donkyun, Locking Hannah, Locking Takashi San, B-Boy Justdoit, B-Boy Neguin, and Popping J
Day 3:
Crew Performance and Battle:
The main event of R-16 brought about a lot of different opinions. These opinions were either good or bad remarks towards the new “O.U.R. Judging System.” We got Lethal and Dyzee from Supernaturalz Crew to explain the scoring system to us and clear some issues at hand. The performance part of R-16 determined who will go first and last and helped hype up the crowd for the actual battles. The battles were dope, but I felt they could have hidden the scores until the last minute or two to create a sense of suspense for the spectators. However, the event was overall a success with Jinjo Crew taking first place in the performance and the battle.
Jinjo Winning the Performance and Battle part of R-16 (2010)
Gotta admit you’rejealous you weren’t here eh?
Haha stay tuned for coverage video and more.
-KBE
Who owns an iPhone?
How about some nice iPhone background images from R-16 2010?
elbow freeze
The End, “x-rayed”
chair freeze
Congratulations to Jinjo from Korea winning the 2010 crew battles!
And congrats to our friend JustDoIt from Rugged Solutions (Netherlands) for winning the solo competition!
Footage coming soon.
Happy 4th of July!
–Daniel
After some thought, I’ll be driving up 3 1/2 hours from Washington D.C. to Penn St. university next weekend for the 4 Elements Expression Jam. There will be 3v3 crew competition, Bonnie & Clyde competition, and 1v1 Alll Styles. About $5,000 in prize money will be given away next Saturday. Some of the judges include Morris (Flex Flav), Omar (Jive Turkeys), Moy (Havikoro), and more. It looks like a fun jam! Plus, I’ve never been to Penn St. before, so I’m excited.
It took me a lot of thought, first because I am lazy. Me driving 3 1/2 hours? Yeah, uh huh. That takes a lot of motivation from me. Second, since both KBE and MisLee are in Korea, and Loan is in California, I have no one to host for this event. But luckily my friend Maresco will be going, so problem solved! It’ll be fun, and I already got lots of fun ideas in mind.
I’d like to debut a new segment called the b-girl “Maresco Minute” challenge. It is basically where I have Maresco make ridiculous one minute challenges with an opponent, such as: seeing how many cute Asian poses one can make (under a minute), or see how many synonyms one can say for the word “penis” (also under a minute). I’m not saying the categories would specifically be these, but we’ll see. I usually think of my games at the event anyways. The winner would get…something.
I’ve always talked about taking dancers out of their comfort zone, and have them compete in other things that are totally unrelated to dance. It would be a nice, fun change of pace. I’ve joked about filming a battle, such as Born vs Iron Monkey, but have it as a Street Fighter IV match instead. Haha…it’d actually be a good battle. Born can game. I could see the comments on Youtube already, “What does this have to do with dance? Where are the b-boys?” It wouldn’t even be false advertising, since it would essentially be Born vs Iron Monkey, just in a different showcase.
Speaking of Maresco, I just edited together a short clip of her birthday party we had a little bit ago. Domkey has trouble catching things in his mouth, and KBE loses in a staring contest.
Who likes Japanese Hibachi???
Me – Me – Me!
speaking of Street Fighter…
SONG OF THE DAY:
song in the video above
DJ Cam Quartet – Think Twice
–Daniel