CTM Berlin

Some Sort of Festival. 

CTM has it's grand opening night in WMF today. And until the 7Th of February things will happen around town.

They actually started yesterday but since today is the first weekend day it's now it is really gonna kick off in WMF. The festival is made up of art projects and music acts. Combined with club events. And being a festival, you do need a ticket. Well different types of tickets. Different events call for different tickets.

Another thing that is happening more and more in the Berlin clubs is fundraising night. Clubs are starting to give the proceeds from the bar and wardrobe to a charitable cause. This week two such events took place at different clubs. Is this a good thing? Hard to say. Is it really a clubs responsibility to raise money for charity.
Or is this merely a way of making more money in the future with a kinder and more serious image? It remains to be seen. But I do think that we will hear more phrases like -Come on! Have another drink! It's for a good cause.

Have a great weekend! See you all next week.

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Brand Your Self.

You are the Brand.

In the western world evolution has been replaced by a social evolution. Genes play a smaller roll. Social skills has taken over.

Birth mortality rates continue to go down in the rich parts of the world. Medical advancements make sure that almost every child in the rich parts of the world make it. Less and less are born with disabilities. It's not survival of the strongest it's survival of the richest. With technology we are taking evolution out of play.

Not only in medicine has this happened. Sure the biggest and the strongest have an advantage but that's only skin deep. Instead social skills will win in the long run. The person who manages to have the most friends and to be on good terms with people will be able to network in a completely different way than a person with only a few friends.

To be able to maneuver in the social arena will if it has not happened already be far more important than how fast you can run or how much you can lift. You don't even have to have the best idea or be the best at your job. You just need to know the most influential people. You need to be know and recognized. Just like a major soda company your name and image need to be in peoples heads. It's not the best product that sells, it's the best marketing campaign.

You are your own brand. And times call for you to market yourself.

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Johnossi What's The Point

They are Back. 

Johnossi made it big with their first self-entitled album. Soon they will release a new one. This is a single from that future album.

After touring with bands like The Soundtrack of out Lives, Sibling Sense and Shout out louds maybe this album will make them headline their own tour. According to their own website the album should be released this year. Maybe as soon as April. Worth keeping an eye out for. 

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Carhartt Spring/Summer 2010

Work it worker.

Spring must be around the corner, or at least we all hope it is. Carhartt just came out with their take and they stay true to their brand. It's all strict design that's fit for the streets or the factory.

Carhartt is known for their clean designs and strict English take on street wear. This line of clothes show just that. These are clothes that work with almost everything. All clean and very easy to match with. The highlight must be the sweaters but of course the baseball jackets. The Record Jacket is a personal favorite of mine and this line also contains the Cup Jacket which is the women's version of that jacket.

Check the full line by pressing here.

Definitely worth a look as Carhartt is one of the brands that can actually offer quality.

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Nike Air Pegasus 89 White Antracite.

It's all about Air.

The Spring collections keep on coming. This Sneaker Monday gives you a look at Nike's latest releases. It looks good and it's clear that the runners will pick up more speed this year. It's all about the Nike Air models.

Last year the Nike Air and Air Max models made it back on the scene. Classic running shoes now seen as everyday sneakers. That is going to continue in this 2010. Not only has Nike released a number of clean runners this week but other brands are trying to do the same. The problem for the competition is that Nike really knows how to design these types of sneakers.

Just look at this Pegasus 89. Fresh from the factory, it looks really good. And all they have changed from the previous versions is two of the color details. So if you're thinking about a lower sneak for this spring then any of the new releases of Nike Airs and Air Max's will surly be a good decision.

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Bread And Butter Party.

The Fashion People Takes Over.

It's hard to miss that one of the biggest trade show in the fashion world has put up shop in Berlin. Except for the ads on town there is a extra number of well dressed people walking the streets.

And this weekend they want to show off their merchandise. So they all put on their favorite find of the fair and mix it up with one of the many freebies they've received. When that's done they head out hunting for clubs. Today Friday there is probably gonna be a line outside Watergate. Watergate is tonight where the official club of the fair is being held.

A friend who was there yesterday at Bread and Butters party described is as "a lot of beautiful girls with pushed up tits being a bit rude". I can understand that statement. It sounds like it would fit to that crowd. None the less, the parties will also go on tomorrow and then it's not just in one club. WMF, Cookies and Watergate will all have a extra line off fashion people wanting to get in. That is if the cold don't scare them off.

The Best Stuff I See "crew" will probably be more easy about the whole weekend. As it seems, a standard winter Friday is more of a bar or bar/club night. Including seeking out a bar that looks good, that has a DJ and seeing what happens. That bar tends to be located in Kreuzberg, but it doesn't have to be.

Saturday offers more like always but nothing that really sticks out. I would say seek out something small or try to get in to one of the Bread and Butter Parties. Other than that it's your Berlin on a Saturday. More parties than you can imagine.

Have a great Weekend! I mean, it only comes around once a week.

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Adidas Authentics Collection Spring 2010.

Original Flashback.

Spring means spring collections. This is Adidas Originals taking us back to a time when style was style.

Lately there has been a lot of Adidas here on The Best Stuff I See. The reason is simple, originals from Adidas normally look good and the fact that they now drop their spring/summer collection.

The pieces that they release in stores this time around consists of four T-shirts, seven sneakers and seven jackets. The overall concept seems to be 70's summer with colors going in yellow, green and blue. It's all very clean but the ones that really hit it out of the ballpark is the Vintage Polo and the Superstar Track Top. The Track Top being what the guy on the right is wearing.

I do think it's time to run over to the store before someone buys it all up.

Check it out on Facebook by clicking here.

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Delphics Doubt.

Some days are strange, and strange days call for (strange) music.

Delphics has a special sound. A mix of rock and electro. Just a couple of days ago they released their first album entitled Acolyte. This Manchester band is something to keep an eye on this year.

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Flüd Watches.

The Cartridge.

Flüd or Flud as it's written in English has released a line of watches that are more fun than the normal Casio.

Fifteen different watches with many color options makes the line very versatile. But mostly it's fun. The talk of the town is probably the boombox which is exactly what it sounds like, a small boombox on a wristband that tells the time.

Flüd is a good example on how creativity and a bit of humor can make your details grab a lot more attention. This one, named the cartridge is one of the cleaner models but check them all out by pressing here.

And by the way, white always works.

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Converse Cons 2010.

The Skate Spring Line.

For the one that skates or likes a more basic sneak. Converse has something for you.

Converse is a classic when it comes to sneakers. They might not be the most eye catching shoes out there. But they are liked by sneaker freaks and not so freaky people alike. The reason is their clean designs and their use of basic colors.

This line of sneaks doesn't offer any surprises, what it does offer is sneakers that do the job. That what you would expect from Converse. Check out the Pro Leather in their white version. That's a really well designed sneaker. A sneaker that will look good on and off the skateboard.

And when talking about sneaks, be advised that people have no respect for sneakers. Especially not in a Berlin club. My fresh white Conductors were not so white when I got back home. But what is to be expected from a room full of drunk people. Still one of the better weekends. Thanks Berlin.

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Weekend at Weekend?

Berlin is Calling.

Friday and Saturday, the time when the city lights up and moves it's feet to the music.

After getting up early day after day. Fighting through the morning darkness to get to work, we have now got to the place where it's worth the effort. It's Friday and the weekend war can begin. And where will the first battle take place?

Tonight Berghain has the Club Sub:stance and some form of record release going on. Magnet Club plays on with their thing on two dance floors. But Friday being the calmer of the two nights a visit to Farbfernseher is recommended. A very intimate venue that's a crossing between bar and club. And if that is not enough then it's time to head over to Weekend. Located high up in a office building the club offers not only a dance floor filled to the rim but also a view like no other club in Berlin.

And then it's Saturday. This battlefield could be one of hard decisions. On the one hand there is a full lineup over at Maria am Ostbahnhof as the Spree Piraten take over the place. And on the other hand WMF, Tresor, Villa and Watergate are all delivering their Saturday magic. But if I'm not mistaken the elusive PickNick will also have something to offer. To many choices, not enough time.

Have a great weekend and The Best Stuff I See will be back on Monday.

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Adidas T-Shirt.

Simply a simple T-Shirt.

Simplicity equals cleanliness, this is an example of that. Why over do it? And when sticking to basics you have something that will last.

Sure walking around like a billboard for a brand might not feel that good, but we all do it most of the time. Peoples abilities for brand recognizing is so far gone that it doesn't matter if the logo is hidden in the corner or a bit more obvious like the one on this t-shirt.

The Trefoil logo from Adidas is a classic logo. And besides from being used to advertise the brand, it's used because it looks good. Simply put a classic logo that makes up a classic tee. Good all around.

Now why Adidas can't make them on a regular basis and keep them in stock is probably a well planed marketing and sales plan aimed to annoy people like me. Or again stupidity.

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Laura Veirs July Flame.

Sing or Song.

Guitar and melodic singing makes this song a definite addition to the playlist.

Laura Veirs born in Colorado now living in Oregon is a pro in the music world. She has been recording since 1999 when she released her first (self entitled) album. But this song comes from her seventh album. The album like the song is named July Flame.

And July Flame does what it's suppose to, it gives that bittersweet feeling. But it also gives something else, the reminder that even if it seems far away. Summer will come.

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Salt and Pepper Shaker.

Thabto's take on seasoning.

The name of these things are Taste Explosion. Not a good name, but what they lack in title they make up for in design.

A big picture is always made up by smaller parts. If these smaller part are not working or don't look good then the big picture will not be that good either.

The design team Thabto out of London seem to have realized this. The two designers Steven Smith and James Wosiek has not only made this edition to the kitchen but also the brass knuckle mug, another violent piece for the kitchen. Check it out by pressing here.

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Creative Recreation, Dicoco Grey/Bluegreen.

Something for the ladies.

Bright and clean with a sweet color combo. Creative Recreation brings you a design that will last and a color combination fit for a queen.

The sneaker jungle is hard to get through, especially this week. So before going forward let's take a look back at some of the sneaks we might have missed. Like this one from Creative Recreation. This one was dropped last year but it will hold at least one more season. If you take care of it, it might even last two.

Out of all the Dicoco's that are out there this has one of the cleanest color combos. The blue green really makes it a sweet sneaker. So if you dare to stay out of the black dressed crowd or you want to stock up before spring/summer then this is something for you.

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HBC and Ichiban Karaoke.

Weekend in Berlin.

For us that are doing the Devils work the weekend is the time to forget about our jobs and take part in what the city of Berlin does best.

Finally it's Friday. Friday is weekend and weekend means clubs (and when the opportunity presents it self a WG-Party or two). Not having a WG-Party this time around the plan will be to hit the clubs. Some say that Friday is getting to be the number one night to go out. I don't agree. Finding a really good club tonight might get hard so my tip is to either go out of you comfort zone and hit a tourist joint.

Or you can go to the classic Kptn A Müller on Simon Dach Strasse. The place might be like most bars on this street but that doesn't matter when the beer is cheap and the people are open and up to no good. Spark up a conversation in the smoking room and if you're playing your cards right you might find the inside-info on where to go afterwards. If you can't figure that out there is always Karaoke, because not far from Kptn you have Ichiban Karaoke. Tonight they will be playing house but if that's not your style they always have Karaoke in it's true form. Think drunk dirty karaoke-bar.

Saturday has more to offer, the in-crowd will surly head over to PickNick or Villa. Villa is hosting the club Awesome with dj's like Surfing Leons and Disko DNA. (Remember at least one of those dj's if you want to get in). Villa is in a old building with high ceilings and many small rooms. Giving a spacious bit yet intimate feel to the place. Definitely worth a visit. And then we have HBC, located in the old Hungarian culture center it has it's own style. The fact that they also have a number of art project in the building makes it a one of a kind. I have heard only good things about HBC.

But as it should be you never really know where you end up. That's what so great about a city like this one. Hell, I think Berlin must have one of the highest number of Bars/Clubs per capita of any city in Europe. A good place to get lost in.

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Cra$h from Kali Arulpragasam.

Graphs with Style.

Artistic clean style mixed with politics and graphs make up the Cra$h summer collection from the label Super Fertile.

A graph that show us statistics can be just as powerful as the people who are responsible for the number. The problem has always been that graphs cater to a specific audience. Kali Arulpragasam born in Sri Lanka but living and working out of London is just coming out with a collection of classic bling-bling that will change that.

The collection is named Cra$h after the financial worries that the world is now suffering from. And with all right it does what newspapers haven't been able to do. With style tell the message of nations debt, productivity and unemployment rates. And what better way to make people read stats than to put it between two breast as the designer self explains it.

Check the full line by pressing here for a presentation (will take a while to load).

The questions that remains is where you can get one of these pieces and how much they cost. If the prize is right then I will consider being on the front line bringing bling-bling to a new crowd.

Stay tuned tomorrow when The Best Stuff I See will be starting a Friday segment that gives you an idea on where to go and how to do it in the phenomena that is Weekends in Berlin.

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MGMT Kids.

A look back.

When the cold hits us as hard as it is now it's good to look back at a time when the weather was better and life was just a bit easier.

MGMT and the song Kids can still be heard, not as often as last year but still. It was a crowd pleaser then and probably will again. And there are so many remixes out there that you might hear a version of it in the most unexpected places.

So just kick back and relax.

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Rambler Socket.

Build in extension cord.

This is one of the things where you can help but to say -Why didn't I think of that?

Wires on the floor is something that can make the most well designed home look bad. When looking back it's clear that the idea of making the cord (or any extension) look good has never enter the minds of big business. As usual the quest for money make this an area where costs can be cut.

But there are exceptions, Apple started some time ago with chargers that match their laptops and now designer Meysam Movahedi has put one and one together and designed a extension cord that you just pull out of the wall. After you have gotten power where you need it you just give the cord a lite tug and it goes back in the wall. Exactly like it works with your vacuum cleaner.

But will 1,5 meters be enough and why not put two sockets on each cord? And if you do want to have it extended for a while then the green is not gonna look good. But hey, I'm just saying. It's still smart design.

For more check www.yankodesign.com

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Adidas Forum Mid AT-AT.

Start the year with Star Wars.

The Best Stuff I See is back and so is Sneaker Mondays. To really get us started here is something from Adidas new Star Wars Collaboration.

Star Wars and sneakers combined, can it get better? For sneaker freaks and Sci-Fi nerds it really can't. Adidas dropped this collection now in January, it consists of a number of original models remade in Star Wars editions. Even thought the Forum Mid is the cleanest one in this AT-AT (All Terrain Armored Transport) version the Stan Smith as the Millennium Falcon and the Super Star as the Death Star are also nice. To see those and the rest of the collection all you need to do is click here.

Even though the AT-AT version is clean what I was really looking forward to with this collaboration was a plain white t-shirt with the Star Wars logo in Adidas blue. But looking on the Adidas web page you find that they have not made such a t-shirt. They made other T-shirts (ugly ones). But no one with just the logo. Either Adidas are not allowed to by George Lucas or they are just plain stupid. It's a shame no matter what the reason might be.

The Best Stuff I See will continue to give you the latest from the sneaker front every Monday. But do keep in mind! That if there is a sneaker that you think will make the cut then simply send an e-mail to thebeststuffisee@hotmail.de

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