Wow! The Montreal Impact offered us one hell of a performance last Friday at Saputo Stadium on the occasion of the Jos Louis evening.  Not only did the Montreal squad set a team record by scoring a goal after 18 smalls seconds of play (Ali Gerba's 4th of the season), but on top of that, they dominated the top-ranked team in the USSF-D2 to gain their 31st point of the season.  With his two goals, Ali Gerba received the Most Valuable Player of the game's trophy.  Matt Jordan, on his side, was perfect in front of Montreal nets.  On the picture above, the Ultras are going crazy after Gerba's second goal!

I was there with my contest's winners, even though I stayed very low profile ;p  I nonetheless took the opportunity to take these beautiful pictures.

My good friend Yves Laroche (you MUST see the video episode where we met each other !!!) will be presenting the Will Rise expo, featuring the works of theThe Seventh Letter collective in his gallery from September 1st to September 15th 2010.

Eponymously named after the 7th letter in the alphabet, these 'Gods of Graffiti’ represent one of the world’s most inspired, racially diverse and prolific graffiti crew ever assembled. Yves Laroche Galerie d'art in conjunction with Norm AWR & Basta! will be showing new and exclusive works by six of the most influential members of the collective: REVOK, PUSH, NORM, POSE, REYES, and RETNA.

Some great art not to be missed! See you at the vernissage!

Galerie Yves Laroche

6355 St-Laurent blvd.

Montreal, Quebec

It's not a secret anymore.  Everyone knows it: I'll soon be able to bless you with my second season of video webisodes.  I can't tell you more for the moment, except for this little scoop.  This year, my opening credits' music has been scored by a world-wide reknowned DJ/producer that goes by the name of DON RIMINI !!!

If you're insistent enough in the comments section, I might be giving you a little audio snippet in the next few days...

While you wait, you can entertain yourself by enjoying the following excellent interview with Don Rimini himself. I'm the one asking the questions and they are as excellent as the answers.

Thanks man!

1- Under which circumstances have you started to play music?

For me, producing logically comes after deejaying.  It is super different and super complementary at the same time.  I've been mixing since I'm for 14 years old.  Playing tracks is a real pleasure for me.  But, playing your own beats is even better.  It may be super narcissitic, but I must admit that I love seeing the crowd react on my songs. Eeeh...

You know how I am; I’m a one-of-a-kind being. And I love my clothes and accessories to be the same, of course! That’s why I’m rather partial to limited editions and special objects. Today, being the nice guy I am, I’ll give you some tips on a phenomenon that’s gained a lot of notoriety along the last couple years: custom sneakers. Listen and take notes, Jay will teach you true style!

Even though major companies such as Nike (with the Nike ID) caught the vibe quite early, smaller structures specializing in customization have also spawned. Among them, some such as Diversitile offer breathtaking limited series while others such as Pimp My Kicks give their customers a nearly infinite creative freedom. And to make creation accessible to everyone, Pimp My Kicks set up a super convenient application that allows everyone to try their colorways out on an Air Force. Here’s what mine would look like:

"There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games." - Ernest Hemingway.

What the famous American writer (who received the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature) meant is that if you don’t run the risk to hurt yourself badly, you are only playing a game…Get what i mean? During the last weeks, I have told you stories about BMX, skateboarding, parkour, X Games and all crazy kinds of « extreme » sports. In those cases, we were really all about defying death, no doubt about it. But now, what do we do with other « sports » where the chance of having injuries is almost void, nonexistant. What do we do with croquet or fishing for example? And even more disturbing, what do we do with petanque ?!

Sunday September 5th at 2PM at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, you don't have the right to miss characters from Yo Gabba Gabba! TV show's appearance in Montreal.  I know that this concert will happen in 2 weeks, but at least, you'll be able to say: " I read it on What Up Jay first!"  Because, believe me, it will be the talk of the town pretty soon.  Yo Gabba Gabba! is more than a simple TV show for kids. It is also a show for their parents, for older people, teenagers and even aliens.  I won't lie by telling you they are one of my main inspirations.  So be sure, I'll be there front row, dancing with the small kids (..who are as small as me...;-p)

I leave you with this song in collaboration with May's favorite band ever, Chromeo:

I have a new favorite TV show!!! It took me so long to finally find the right one to succeed to The Hills and The City as my « TV obsession ». After several hours zapping through the channels, I finally got myself a new passion: poodle grooming. Wait, I’m not talking basic grooming, wash-color-cut! I’m referring to creative grooming, which is all about, well, creation! We’re talking about ART, my dear friends!

It all started with the apparition of color services at the dog grooming salons. Who could resist turning their maltese hot pink, or getting their chi some lilac paws? A-DO-RA-BLE!!! But soon, this wasn’t close to enough. Manicures, airbrushed designs, matching colors, complete themes; transforming pets into fashion accessories or pieces of arts has become a real industry!

Remember Mathieu Ledoux, the pro-rollerblader turned pro-stuntsman? Well, while we were all thinking he was in Hollywood trying to put the final touch onto Jackie Chan's next movie's stunts (just kidding...I don't know what's up with him these days...) he was in Arizona, busy filming the most incredible rollerblade video ever made!  The Internet is going nuts over it!  And me, I shed a tear because I am touched seeing all that extreme splendor! Thanks Mathieu for the interview you gave me a few months ago and sorry if I bothered you while you were creating this masterpiece.

Last week, I was walking in the Old Port with Bam Bam because he just developped a sudden keen interest for big-wheeled pedal boats that look like aquatic tricycles. Anyways, don’t worry, this blogpost won’t be about that at all.

No, I only want to tell you about a gathering of people that caught our attention. At first sight, we believed it was a guy juggling with burning bowling pins or some random fairground street entertainer, but we were wrong. What we saw took our breaths away. It was a guy doing the most mind-blowing tricks with a soccer ball we’ve had ever seen in our lives. We stayed there for at least half-an-hour watching him dribble in the most unseemly and most spectacular way that is. I gave him all my spare change (78 cents) and I hurried back home to make some research on that sport : « freestyle soccer ».

I’m taking a break from my mystery holiday to enjoy a day with you buddies ! My friend Matt Owens will also be joining us, and take this opportunity to guide us through is favorite places in Brooklyn. Matt is a design studio-creator (see VolumeOne), founding partner of design collective Athletics, and a former art gallery co-owner, and yet he still manages to be one half of a « standard Brooklyn couple » (in his own words) and raise three little dogs. Woah. And i thought I was busy.

Thanks for the tour Matt, let’s keep it short and sweet !

Do you remember my buddy Arthur King who crossed the Atlantic last March to come at my party and play some records? 

Yes, he's the same guy who answered that super long survey.

Well, let me tell you that every summer, Arthur releases a very sunny-inspired mixtape.  His mission: to group together a bunch of perfect songs to ride in a car towards the beach! This year is no exception.  Arthur mixed us a real masterpiece to listen to while driving your automobile.  And in the lack of a convertible, this mixtape is also very convenient during BBQ parties or volleyball tournaments!

Available in North America at Turntable Lab or in Europe at Colette.

According to my Wikipedia, a sport is considered extreme when « serious injuries can happen in case of mistakes during its practice, whether it be in water, in the sky or on the land. » If we take a look at its suggested sports "list", we quickly realize that, even though it was cleverly elaborated from equally clever community research, it is not perfect. That’s why, I want to take this occasion to friendly remind you not to trust everything you read on the Internet.

Even though it is sometimes eccentric, the extreme and emerging sports phenomenon is still interesting to watch in perspective, as popular as it gets. Amongst the sports that came out of nowhere during our era, some faded away, and some others didn’t even get their 15 minutes of glory. Some should have not been on the list, and some other would rather not to be on the list…

Everyone knows me for my passion for soccer, and Montreal Impact in particular. One of my most famous video episodes was even devoted to the subject. Since then, a lot of people have come to me to ask if ever I could get them some tickets to go and see them at the Saputo Stadium.

Well, let me tell you that thanks to my sponsor JOS LOUIS, their wish is about to come true. Have you heard about the Jos Louis game on August 27th, Montreal Impact versus Rochester Rhinos? I am honored to have the power to give five lucky winners a prize of five tickets each for it!

How to participate? Very simple. The first five people to write in the comments of this post the name of four from my eleven video episodes will each win five tickets for the game. (The official rules and regulations of this contest can be found HERE).

It’s definitely a night not to be missed at the Saputo Stadium, because apart from all the Jos Louis products that will be handed, you’ll also have the chance to watch Freestyle Soccer performances (what a coincidence! I am currently writing a post on the subject!), win a lot of prizes, shirts, balls and even a signed jersey from the players of the Impact.

Info:

When: August 27th – 7.30pm

Where: Saputo Stadium, 4750 Sherbrooke East, Montreal, QC

What: The Jos Louis game – Montreal Impact vs Rochester Rhinos

The 15th instalment of the Under Pressure event is right around the corner! This year again, dozens of graffiti writers will come together to take part in one the most important jams of the kind in North America.

Under Pressure saw the light of day in 1996, as a way to shine a more positive light on the graffiti scene. Since them, it's extended to a real network focusing on urban culture, like music or skateboarding for example, thanks to the development of the Under Pressure magazine and the Under Pressure Records label.

Call off all your plans for August 14th and 15th, because you really don't want to miss that for anything!

When: August 14th and 15th 2010

Where: At the corner of De Bullion and De Boisbriand, Montreal

I’m feeling in a rather exotic mood in this sunny early August days! Are you too? Because that made me call my friend Ceet to ask him to take us around his Asian hood of Hong Kong. But before, let me introduce our guide for the day!

Once a graffiti artist from Toulouse, France, Ceet is today a Hong Kong-based graphic designer, painter and DJ. Both gifted and hyperactive, he built along his career a very impressive portfolio, from exhibiting his art all over the world to collaborating with some of the most prestigious clothing and accessories brands or creating designs for top shelf events… We can be thankful he actually found some time to take us around Hong Kong! Thank you Ceet!