We headed downtown to Belfast to see the sights and sounds. First stop was the brand new Titanic Museum! This bad larry just opened and cost the city of Belfast $158,000,000 to build! We were all a little hestitant about going – what’s it gonna be like? Are we gonna have to watch that goddamn movie one more time or worse yet, will they just put this song on a loop? Good news is the museum was tastefully done and really only aimed at adults. The ship was built by Harland and Wolf in Belfast and they go into great detail on how you build a ship of that size way back when. There’s also some crazy interactive shit like a 270 degree video wall that made me sea sick it was so realistic. I’m not sure if I would fly to Belfast just to see this thing, unless I was a seagull, however, if you ever find yourself in Belfast and you don’t see it — your heart will not go on.

I’ve been visiting Belfast on and off since 1996 and while many people think of Northern Ireland as another Beirut, scenes like these are thankfully becoming rarer and rarer – no matter what Vice magazine tells you…right Phil?

Belfast has really grown up in the past 16 years. The downtown is full of shops and restuarants and of course bars and pubs, and the people are some of the nicest and friendliest in the world. When I first started visiting Belfast there was like one shop that catered to youth culture and now it is full of it – in fact Belfast has a shop that reminded me a lot of Proletariat. It’s called Loko and they sell skateboards and graff supplies. The good people at Loko gave us the lowdown on a graffiti jam and skate/bmx competition that you will definitely be seeing on a future episode of the ProSho.

After picking up some Belton and 94 at Loko, we strolled down the street catching tags and flicking graffiti. Then I saw this awesome store combination! KFC and poundworld! For those of you who haven’t ever been to the United Kingdom, Poundworld = Dollar General! Score!

Then we passed this gem! I hate to admit it to y’all because I know you will judge me but I finally bought something from Johnnie Cupcakes.

This part was super cool. After marching with the good people of SLC, blogging about our friends in Boston, recently visiting NYC and seeing the diehards holding Wall Street down, and then getting to Belfast and seeing the Bank of Ireland aka Occupy Belfast’s headquarters, I felt proud of what we have accomplished so far. It’s amazing that a small group of people can motivate and collaborate on a common cause. I hope the dialogue that was started by Occupy continues on now that the weather is getting better and after talking to many people who agree with the sentiment but can’t get behind the movement I hope there is some way we can put our asses together and take a dump on the all-seeing eye.

Thanks to my extended family and friends who made this trip another amazing one for Leslie and I. Thanks to Bob and Debbie, Lily and Olivia, A.K., Davey, “Wee Phil”, Kenny, Janine and everyone else!

_SKRIPT.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This awesome 86 year old man created an exquisite island many years ago and now lives with 120 tortoises. Video after the jump

Tortoises are my favorite so I would totally be down for chilling on a desert island with some tortoises and exotic fruits!

Nice video of ISER doing his thing.

Watching graffiti instead of doing it is like jerking off when your girlfriend is at work. But this video still makes me want to go get my hands dirty (Take that however you want).

Click here to view the embedded video.

Kitty Pryde is a bad ass 15 year old (????) girl rapping about drinking beers, Frank Ocean and high school crushes. Funny shit! Little girl got SWAG! Video after the jump…

I’m not sure if Stoney St. Claire was more a tattoo master or cultural oddity, but he certainly carved out his fair piece of the game. Disabled by arthritis since the age of four his growth was stunted resulting in him being confined to a wheelchair. Stoney left home to join the circus and became a professional tattooer at the tender age of 16. He moved on to be mentored by both August “Cap” Coleman and Charlie Wagner, and the rest is history.

Lucky for you, there is some great documentation on this cult classic. That means you don’t have to listen to my weak ass description of this tattoo legend, you can hear it from the man himself.

Here is a trailer for a documentary on Mr. St. Clair:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Customer: “This is my first tattoo… but I think I might get more a little later on.”

Stoney: “You will. I’m putting come-back in it. Just a little dew drop…”

Here is the full documentary:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

There is a also a detailed account of his life on this blog.

Last week I attended the opening of “Streets of The World” at the Opera Gallery in SoHo. The exhibit was excellent featuring well known street artists from around the world including Ron English (New York), The London Police (The Neatherlands), Kid Zoom (Australia), ROA (Belgium), DALeast (China), Saber (USA) and many more. Make sure to catch this one! Photos after the jump

[Show as slideshow]

I absolutely love sign painting. I feel like sign painting is one of the most interesting and comforting forms of art that i have ever been around, it has so many stylized technical elements to it that its hard not to be a little curious about the skill thats involved in it. I have been so into sign painting over the past year after going to the Best Dressed Signs show at Orchard last year that i begged my dearest friend Mr.Nakayama to start teaching me the craft. This is a great film and i hope it gets people to not only support these artist but also makes you look at the letters on the building you live in a little different next time you walk by them.