Wed (10/18) – Months of plotting and planning resulted in another legendary Red Bull event in NYC. This time it was Red Bull BC One, our global b-boy competition, which took place at Hammerstein Ballroom and sold out in 53 minutes. The 16 b-boys from around the world did not disappoint, nor did host and after party performer, KRS One, or Talib Kweli who also threw down.
A new chapter was written in the birthplace of Hip Hop, New York City. Red Bull BC One shook iconic music venue, Hammerstein ballroom, to its core. Sixteen b-boys from eleven countries battled with pride in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 1,600 enthusiastic fans. French b-boy Lilou took home the honor of being "The One" for the second time, a first in Red Bull BC One's six year history. It was no easy task for Lilou, as all the night's competitors put their best foot forward or "up". He defeated USA's Cloud, who had a comeback after a four-year hiatus touring with Madonna, in a three-round intense finals face-off. In the end, Lilou’s character, style and confidence prevailed. The night featured performances by the original b-boys Rock Steady Crew, Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek, as well as Hip-Hop’s "Teacha” KRS One.
Preview:
Recap:
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Bratislava | Salzburg | St. Wolfgang | Vienna (8/1-8/9)
Summer has come and gone and I haven't blogged or beached. How sad! I did take a work trip to Austria in August, which I book-ended with fun weekends with friends. I figured I might as well drop a quick post with some pics and a few highlights.
I started things off by flying from NYC to Vienna (business class baby!) and then hopped a bus over the border to Bratislava, Slovakia to visit an old friend from the Barcelona days. For those who haven't already heard me talk about Branislav and his photos photos, check 'em: www.kropilak.com.
Some quick background from our friends at Wikipedia: Bratislava is the capital of the Slovak Republic and, with a population of about 429,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries, and it and Vienna are the two European national capitals closest to one another, at less than 60 kilometres (37 mi) apart.
We spent the weekend touring the old town, checking out some bars near the foot of Bratislava Castle, hitting up a few parties including one under the UFO restaurant near the Nový Most bridge and lounging on a dock at a nearby lake. Of course I chowed down on bryndzové halušky a traditional Slovak meal of small potato dumplings topped with sheep cheese and bacon. Holy heavy, batman. I could barely eat it! Saturday night Branislav and I intended to go out but somehow managed never to leave the house. Instead we killed a bottle of Bacardi and Kofola (Slovak cola) while tag teaming house and techno all night- Branislav on turntables and me on the iPod. Was an absolute blast!
Bratislava:
After the weekend, I left Slovakia and made my way across Austria to Salzburg by train. Salzburg is the fourth-largest city in Austria and birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Salzburg's "Old Town" (Altstadt) is famous for it's baroque architecture, shopping and Mozart sites, making it a very popular tourist destination. To be honest - it was a bit too touristy for me but I was only there for 24hrs so no harm done. From Salzburg, I made my way to St. Wolfgang, a market town of 2,700 people right on the northern shore of the Wolfgangsee (lake). I stayed at the Scalaria, a fairly ridiculous event hotel. My room had a lovely view of the lake and mountains. I stayed there all week plowing through business planning meetings and Red Bull all day every day (-;
Friday I made my way back to the city, this time Vienna. I was fortunate enough to be greeted at the train station by a friend of a friend who chauffeured me her apartment where I'd be staying for the weekend (while and her boyfriend were out of town). Isn't that convenient! I wandered around the city by day and night without much purpose (which was great!) and came across a lot of great architecture, food and fun. One of the highlights was a party at Pratersauna a one-time "sweat'n'bang" park sauna converted into a dope indoor/outdoor party spot (with a pool!).
Salzburg & Vienna:
I started things off by flying from NYC to Vienna (business class baby!) and then hopped a bus over the border to Bratislava, Slovakia to visit an old friend from the Barcelona days. For those who haven't already heard me talk about Branislav and his photos photos, check 'em: www.kropilak.com.
Some quick background from our friends at Wikipedia: Bratislava is the capital of the Slovak Republic and, with a population of about 429,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries, and it and Vienna are the two European national capitals closest to one another, at less than 60 kilometres (37 mi) apart.
We spent the weekend touring the old town, checking out some bars near the foot of Bratislava Castle, hitting up a few parties including one under the UFO restaurant near the Nový Most bridge and lounging on a dock at a nearby lake. Of course I chowed down on bryndzové halušky a traditional Slovak meal of small potato dumplings topped with sheep cheese and bacon. Holy heavy, batman. I could barely eat it! Saturday night Branislav and I intended to go out but somehow managed never to leave the house. Instead we killed a bottle of Bacardi and Kofola (Slovak cola) while tag teaming house and techno all night- Branislav on turntables and me on the iPod. Was an absolute blast!
Bratislava:
After the weekend, I left Slovakia and made my way across Austria to Salzburg by train. Salzburg is the fourth-largest city in Austria and birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Salzburg's "Old Town" (Altstadt) is famous for it's baroque architecture, shopping and Mozart sites, making it a very popular tourist destination. To be honest - it was a bit too touristy for me but I was only there for 24hrs so no harm done. From Salzburg, I made my way to St. Wolfgang, a market town of 2,700 people right on the northern shore of the Wolfgangsee (lake). I stayed at the Scalaria, a fairly ridiculous event hotel. My room had a lovely view of the lake and mountains. I stayed there all week plowing through business planning meetings and Red Bull all day every day (-;
Friday I made my way back to the city, this time Vienna. I was fortunate enough to be greeted at the train station by a friend of a friend who chauffeured me her apartment where I'd be staying for the weekend (while and her boyfriend were out of town). Isn't that convenient! I wandered around the city by day and night without much purpose (which was great!) and came across a lot of great architecture, food and fun. One of the highlights was a party at Pratersauna a one-time "sweat'n'bang" park sauna converted into a dope indoor/outdoor party spot (with a pool!).
Salzburg & Vienna:
Friday, May 22, 2009
3 Weeks - 17,242 Miles
New York - San Diego - New York: Red Bull Air Race
New York - Las Vegas - New York: Cher @ Caesar's Palace with Mom for Cher's 63rd Birthday. Don't laugh- this show was amazing!
New York Pit Stop: I was home for less than 24 hours and decided to spend the bulk of it at the Blk Mkt Membership & Uddermaddess 3 Year Anniversary Party in a massive Brooklyn warehouse. And yes, I went straight from the party to the airport at 10am Saturday morning in a white limo with Crazy Larry, Taimur and the boys from Soulclap. Yes, that's how we roll!
New York - Detroit: Detroit Electronic Music Festival for the 4th year in a row. Luciano, Loco Dice, Adam Beyer, Marco Carola, Guy Gerber, Carl Cox, Francois K, Steve Bug, Wighnomy Bros, Tiefschwarz. The "I'm on a Boat" party on the Detroit Princess, The Old Miami and the Betty Kang's Angels reality TV show (in the making). Enough said.
Detroit - Los Angeles (via Las Vegas): Three days in a conference room. Yeah, not so much.
Los Angeles - Montreal (via Chicago): Amazing art, music, food and fun at Mutek and Piknic Electronik all weekend long. Not even the rain could put a damper on our fun as we rocked right through multiple showers at Piknic and lasted to Ricardo Villalobos' very last track. Oh and the Montreal party house legend lives on...
Montreal - Rochester - Buffalo - New York: Work, work, work... but I did get to go snow tubing (in June!?) at Snow Park Niagara ha!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Red Bull Air Race World Champsionship - San Diego (5/10/09)
Last weekend I hopped a 747 to San Diego to catch the second race in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship I had heard and seen quite a bit about the event since joining the company but had to experience it firsthand. The objective is to navigate an aerial race track featuring air-filled pylons in the fastest possible time incurring as few penalties as possible. Pilots can win World Championship points at each race and the one with the most points after the last race of the season becomes the Red Bull Air Race World Champion. The race is pretty amazing on TV but even better up close and personal while sitting in sunny San Diego harbor!
On his final flight of the weekend, French flight instructor, Nicholas Ivanoff, flew his fastest (1:17.21) and won the race. He defeated Paul Bonhomme of the United Kingdom by 1.11 seconds. Hannes Arch of Australia was third.
Next up is Windsor, Ontario... then the series is off to Budapest, Porto and Barcelona!
Highlight Reel:
NFL Player and Red Bull Athlete, Reggie Bush, Gets His Turn:
View from the Control Tower:
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Dancing Rams VI: Animal Crackers
The sixth year of Dancing Rams lived up to the hype with 400+ people showing up to Bar 13's rooftop for sunshine, shenanigans, super dope beats and of course... animal crackers. I could go on and on about all the hysterical costumes and antics but I think I'll let the pictures, videos and animations speak for themselves.
Extra special lovin to everyone who came in from out of town for the big the day as well as Melanie, Dill, Ali, Joel, Memo, Lloyd, Nora and Karen who all had extra special roles in VI.
Photos:
Betty Confetti Blasts the Cannon:
Wendy & The Zebra Sisters:
Animal Cracker Races (by Lloyd Alvarez):
Stadenco Beats:
Extra special lovin to everyone who came in from out of town for the big the day as well as Melanie, Dill, Ali, Joel, Memo, Lloyd, Nora and Karen who all had extra special roles in VI.
Photos:
Betty Confetti Blasts the Cannon:
Wendy & The Zebra Sisters:
Animal Cracker Races (by Lloyd Alvarez):
Stadenco Beats:
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