Snookie – You Got Knocked the FUCK Out !!!

MTV knows what it’s doing… controversy = ratings = $$$

for the video of Snookie eating the fist, copy & paste below:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/10/jersey-shore-girl-punched_n_388203.html

BLACK FRIDAY SALE… $20 TEES!

TONK
BLACK FRIDAY SALE!!
11.23.09 – 12.05.09
ALL TEES ARE JUST $20!!

Click on tee image to go to www.tonkshop.com

Man Stabbed to Death on D Train in Midtown

I’m glad they caught the guy, but I’m not a fan of how they caught him.  The train conductor kept the subway doors locked until the police arrived.  I know New Yorkers are gully, but the conductor kept a killer in the train with passengers – not cool.

Full story here:

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Man-Stabs-Another-Over-Subway-Seat-70696482.html

Brooklyn’s Obama Fried Chicken Spot in Clipse & Cam’s New Vid

directed by Rik Cordero

Cockroach Found @ East Buffet in Queens NY !!!

Cali Skater Arrested then Kicked by San Fran Police Officer

Tyson KO’s Photographer For Not Getting His Good Side

Tyson arrested for knocking out photographer @ Los Angeles Int’l Airport!

“This is what you get for not capturing the tribal tat fools!  Anyone got that bail money?”

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/12/mike.tyson.detained/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Michael Jackson Part 2, Sosa Edition

Say NO to ‘roids!

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/07/sammy-sosas-skin-photos-p_n_349602.html&cp

Hip Hop DX Interview with Hoodman & Tonk!

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.10081/title.hoodman-clothing-sued-by-bergdorf-goodman

Co-owner and founder of the Hoodman clothing brand, Edwyn Huang is known for poking fun at subjects such as pop culture, politics and matters of class and race. After founding his brand in 2005, the New York City resident was resistly sued by famed Manhattan department storeBergdorf Goodman. Recently, Huang spoke with HipHopDX about the issue, and his brand’s response.

“What happened with Hoodman was this: the joke of Hoodman has always been that it’s [cleverly titled] Bergdorf Hoodman. That’s been from day one; it was in our [website's] ‘About’ section saying that we wanted to be a retailer for the hood. We wanted to take things from high-end, or from dominant culture and flip them – basically, what other streetwear brands were doing, but we identified it as Bergdorf Hoodman,” revealed Huang. “The original logo was even Midtown skyscrapers with an H going through.“

Recently, the makers of Hoodman decided to make the humor in the naming more overt, by going outward with their marketing. “It’s too long of a name, it’s really clunky, so we were like, ‘When we roll it out as Hoodman.’ Over time though, people would [inquire about the name], so last year we said, ‘Look, let’s just be Bergdorf Hoodman, then people can get the joke more.’“

Three years into the brand that had been worn by Mos Def and DJ Whoo Kid among other, the changes were made. “We bought the Bergdorf Hoodman domain, started using it, and then we got sued by Bergdorf [Goodman]. Once we got sued, we had a decision to make, ’cause we really wanted to go with this re-branding effort. We had already [been around for years].” Apparently, the high-end store that’s been in existence since 1899 took rapid notice. “It was like three, four days. These guys are watching domains all day long.“

Although the lawsuit happened last year, Huang has just now told the public, though he remains active with the popular line. “We are still fighting it. We still don’t know what the outcome is going to be. We’re still selling on Hoodman.TV; Hoodman is still alive. We want to go forward, as long as we can win this suit.“

Before the lawsuit even took place, Huang was looking to show his creativity and hustle through spawning a second line, called Tonk, which is also available through the Hoodmansite and TonkShop.com. “The Tonk thing is kind of on its own; it came at a very good time. Right now we don’t want to put out a new season of Hoodman, without knowing the legal status. Tonk was already in the chamber. We saw a lot of brands doing very, very well.Hoodman is very political. It’s very much my brand – me talking through t-shirts. It’s offensive, it doesn’t appeal to everyone. I mean, we have a giant Jaffe Joffer t-shirt with a lion on it. Not everybody can wear that shirt. [Laughs] I wanted to make stuff that was more accessible to people.” With Tonk, the mission seems to be less about message than color, style and broader appeal. Edwyn revealed his intention in saying, “Let me do one that’s a little simpler, a little cleaner, just enough to hustle.“

The name comes from Huang‘s childhood hustling nostalgia. “Down south, we used to always play ghetto-Rummy for lunch money. Your mom would give you $2.00, $3.50 for lunch, you’d play everyday so you could double up the food or go buy nickel bags. It was called Tonk. You win by tonking out, like Dominoes. Tonk was really the way that we hustled when we were kids. That’s why I named it Tonk.“

With an established brand’s future hanging in the balance and a new line surfacing, Huangalso commented on the trend shifts he’s noticing. “What I’m noticing is between ’03 and ’07,Nike SBs and SK4 culture owned clothing and streetware. It used to be that skateboard kids borrowed from Hip Hop, and it was more Hip Hop-dominated. Now, it’s the skate kids taking over. Even though they’re Hip Hop-inspired, they have their own spin and their own way of contributing to Hip Hop culture, which is dope.” Although he has yet to forray into shoe-making,Huang also deduced that through design changes, athletic sneaker’s popularity have shifted towards non-performance based sneakers. “I am not Japanese, so in no way am I biased, but it’s Tokyo, it’s Japan. It’s all those little cities in Japan that’s really doing it.” He pointed out to one particular brand that’s witnessed growing popularity in the States, Visvim.

Outside of his role in streetware, Huang updated DX about his other areas of interest, including potentially opening a restaurant. “I did a major sponsored competition, the competition was really cool, eye-opening, so I’ve decided that I’m going to open my own restaurant now. It’s either gonna be in Boston or New York, but probably New York.” The clothing-maker and cook added the cuisine may either focus on Chinese or barbeque, but be low-cost with several daily specialties. Prior to his opening the restaurant, Huang’s food blog isThePopChef.Blogspot.com.

Besides the two niches, Huang has also taken his love of sports to radio recently, with The Parle courtesy of Brooklyn’s PNC Radio. Past guests, including both emcees and athletes, have included Zab Judah. The show, co-hosted by Martin Berrios and Rafeal Martinez, airs Fridays at 5pm EST. Edwyn states his place in the market, “Hip Hop and sports are really connected, but no one’s ever tried to do a sports show that’s Hip Hop-connected, besidesStephen A. Smith.“

HipHopDX will keep you updated on the lawsuit between Hoodman and Bergdorf Goodman.

 

TONK Interview with Format Magazine!

Edwyn Huang and the rest of the crew from Hoodman have launched Tonk Syndicate, a new lifestyle line that’s out to give streetwear a jolt in the leg. With fresh designs that speak to those of us who eat, sleep and breathe street, Tonk has already dropped one amazing line, and shows no signs of stopping now. Creative Director Edwyn Huang takes a break to sit down with Format. Responsible for overseeing designs, campaigns and production, Huang talks about the work he and his team are doing at Tonk, and what motivates and keeps them going.

“Our look is different than it was with Hoodman. Tonk is more about just repping alternative street culture”

 

Format: What would you say Tonk Syndicate is all about? Edwyn Huang: You know, with Hoodman, we were a very political line. I still have strong political views and you will see aspects of it in Tonk pieces or on our web site, but I’m learning that less is more. I’ve been designing streetwear for four years now and my taste has really changed. It’s interesting to see how our look is different than it was with Hoodman.

Tonk is more about just repping alternative street culture. We’re always heavily hip-hop influenced, but we draw from things you see everyday like quarter waters, underground card games, gambling, etc. Tonk is a game I used to play as a kid down south. We used to try and double-up our lunch money everyday playing tonk – it’s ghetto rummy.

Format: Who’s involved in Tonk right now? Edwyn Huang: Steven Lau, Ning Juang, and myself.

Format: How did Tonk get started? You were already doing the Hoodman line, but what made you need to make Tonk? Edwyn Huang: We already had Tonk in the works. We wanted a harder, less comical, lifestyle line. Our plan is to finally branch out to accessories next year and pieces besides just t-shirts. For years, we’ve been the Thomas Pink of streetwear in that we don’t do jeans, we don’t do outers, we do t-shirts.

But, the process got sped up because Bergdorf Goodman sued us. The joke has always been that Hoodman was Bergdorf for the ‘hood. We had the domain www.bergdorfhoodman.com and they just bugged out. Hoodman isn’t being shut down, but because the legal status was in limbo, I figured, the smartest move would be to put our energy toward Tonk until we know what’s up with Hoodman.

Format: What do you feel you’re doing at Tonk that you couldn’t at Hoodman? Edwyn Huang: Well, with Hoodman, we always had trouble because stores don’t look past the name. Places like Union, Digital Gravel, Vinny Styles that are really tastemakers who take chances, and understand what’s going on in the streets never had a problem with the name. Big cities, bigger outlets – no problem. It was funny though because it’s the little stores in the Midwest, suburbs, that really don’t even have their own street culture that fronted on the name.

With Tonk, we don’t have a name with an urban connotation and more people are willing to take a look. Stylistically with Tonk, it’s less about the punch-line. Hoodman was like Big-L, everything was to move toward a punch-line, but Tonk has less of a need to reach an objective. I’m not trying to get a laugh from every shirt. It’s more just representing a lifestyle and giving people pieces that fit with the rest of their closet. Hoodman, at times, tried too hard and I don’t want to make the same mistakes with Tonk.

Format: You’ve said that Tonk is more focused on vice and deviant culture, could you explain that a bit more? Edwyn Huang: Yeah, Tonk is about street culture. Not hood per se, but the hustle, the schemes, the things that happen round the way. Its not necessarily looking for trouble, but it captures the mindset, lifestyle, and icons that our culture lives. I like clothing that is for people in the know.

Girls probably don’t know who Ice La Fox is, old people don’t get the Polo Bear Tupac reference, and people who don’t follow hip-hop may not know where the Victory photo comes from. But you, your homies, and all of us who follow street culture know what it is.

I feel a lot of streetwear uses overly obvious references and its not deviant or niche anymore, so we’re trying to pull it back a little. A lot of people are wondering why streetwear is dying – it’s because there are too many people doing it who don’t know their head from their ass — it’s not cool if you’re using obvious mainstream references. We identify things that people in our culture know about, and we’re introducing new language as well.

Format: You pay tribute to a lot of different people in this collection, like Brianna Banks, Method Man, Tupac and Mike Tyson – what’s the connection? Edwyn Huang: Correction, it’s Brianna Love! Brianna Banks is old news. Brianna Love is the truth. Her ass is heavy. The connection is really that these are all people that me and my homies rep. It really is what I’ve been talking about with Tonk.

My fingerprints aren’t all over this line like they were with Hoodman. I didn’t say, ‘hey, lets do a line with only Brooklyn shit or just corporate crooks.’ When I go to someone’s crib, I like to see the strange, random, combinations of cultural artifacts. Dude might have a giant OG Patrick Ewing poster, a Manny Ramirez bobblehead or an old Atari.

Format: Could you talk about the inspiration behind some of your designs? Chinatown Republic and the Tical bear, for instance? Edwyn Huang: I gotta big-up, Steve. He’s been with us for four years and the Chinatown Republic is the first design he’s had that we put to print. He always has good ideas; it’s just been timing, etc. that his other designs didn’t get run. But, he came to the table with a photo of Chinese rice farmers using water buffalo to harvest paddies and a picture of the California flag with the bear. I saw it and I bugged out. He wanted to flip the flag and call it Chinatown Republic.

The Tical Bear is our parody of the Polo Bears. I’m not a big Lo-Head like a lot of people and I thought the bears were a little pussy. I remember back in the day though, Wu-Tang had the craziest style. RZA had the doo-rag before a lot of people, Ghost had Wallos, but I loved when Meth came with the goggles and batting gloves. So we put his wears on the bear.

Format: How has response to the designs been so far? What are some of the most popular designs? Edwyn Huang: The bears sold the best with stores, people in Brooklyn really like the quarter water t-shirt, and Chinese people of course love the Chinatown Republic. Online though, people are buying a lot of the Porno Tee. The Internet loves porno.

Format: What kind of designs have you got lined-up for next year? Have you got a favorite design right now? Edwyn Huang: Oh, I actually haven’t got around to this. But we’ll have something soon.

Format: Where do you want to see Tonk Syndicate go in the future? Expand beyond t-shirts? Edwyn Huang: Yeah, we got some accessories we’re designing right now. I want to do functional items beyond just fashion stuff. It’s fun to bring our style to items that aren’t already part of the streetwear cannon.