Taken from The Big Picture

There’s been a ton of talk about adidas’ 2010 World Cup ball, the Jabulani. The talk has been virtually 100% negative from anybody not sponsored by adidas… I would assume these are fair statements for those not paid by adidas. But what is perhaps the most unseen change as of now is how goalkeeping could potentially be onto a new evolution. The ball’s negative characteristics have resulted in very unpredictable movement which has resulted in a keepers worst nightmare. While it doesn’t look as though Robert Green’s howler nor some of the other spills that have occurred during the World Cup so far HAVE directly been associated with unnatural movement, perhaps there is some correlation. Keepers have adapted to the new ball by changing up their style. Rather than controlling balls, safety now comes in the form of punching and parrying rather than catching. If the trend of the Jabulani continues, could goalkeeping be set to change? The ball has maintained a consistent pattern of “improvement” roughly every year (but we mostly only hear complaints every 4 years) as we develop insatiable appetites for more goals. This hasn’t been the case so far according to the stats and goals per game averages (perhaps shooting has also become a more arduous task).

Now, I haven’t been around a decently high-level of goalkeeper training in four years, but I assume not a lot has changed technically and tactically. The most recent major trend in goalkeeping was the importance of keepers having good feet and being able to act as a sweeper-keeper but diving is and still should be the same motion, as should cross-collecting. But I wonder, if brands like adidas continue to create difficult to handle balls, will keepers be much more inclined to push the ball away from goal rather than catch it and maintain possession? A mark of a good goalkeeper most will agree is one who can catches and keeps things under control. Not only can you start the attack but you also don’t concede corner kicks as much.

If coaches and the general public as well as goalkeepers understand the difficulty in controlling what some will deem as “average” shots, could we be more forgiving of those who parry and punch? If that does end up happening, I will say that the job of the keeper just got all that much easier. Getting to a ball (as in getting your body there) is easier than getting there AND catching it obviously. Effectively, the hardest skill is now no longer as important as unpredictability will make it hard to really gauge the flight of the ball. Meaning catching is now not the best option cause it requires diminishing returns. It’s more difficult AND you risk messing up. All you have to do is some how some way get your body behind it.

Generally this is a pretty complex situation. Goalkeepers taught to try and catch everything, can they subconsciously change their way of thinking? As well, had some keepers decided to parry rather than catch (not the Robert Green goal, he should have tried to collect that ball any way you look at it) say off free kicks, would they have not conceded embarrassing goals when they were unable to put the ball into their bread basket? As well, how many stops does a keeper make that is truly a catch vs. parry situation.

I don’t think this “revolution” I’ve highlighted is necessarily going to happen, but just something to mention and think about. It’s not like the world over will be using balls of Jabuliani-qualities, but what if Nike and the lot who sponsor major leagues also got into the business of trying to inject more goal scoring with wonky balls, maybe I should actually go and try to kick a Jabulani.

-Eugene

“Holy Grail Electricity”: Based on my absolute favorite boot of all time. A similar colorway dropped in a limited run for the adidas Predator Accelerator Liga.

Seems as though I’ve caught a bit of the customization bug. I found myself a few nights ago messing around with the mi adidas program. Basically, adidas’ very own customization program which offers a great deal of options. I felt no different than the first time I pulled up NIKEiD. I started messing around with the Predator X and there were a grip of choices which is pretty good. My lack of creativity led me to relive colorways of boots now long gone… and ones I wanted real bad but could never get when I was younger. Wondering if I should pull the trigger on just one pair…

-Eugene

“Un-OG”: A slightly different take on the usual OG Predator colorway of black/red.

“Champions League”: I  had a pair of Absolutes similar to these… and I usually hate white boots but these were ok.

“Ballon D’Or”: Zidane had an all-gold pair done up for winning FIFA World Player of the Year in 2000.

“LA Galaxy Away”: Too easy… cause they provide these colors with Beckham in mind.

“LA Galaxy Home”

“Greens”: Just some tonal shits thrown together.

“All Black Everyday”: I always loved test boots which were often like this… stealthy and minimalistic.

“Gun-Metal Pop”: In retrospect these are a bit ugly haha.

“Done with Stupid Names”: Just something I whipped up together.

“Sample Gray”: Reminds me of Nike Bespoke’s gray samples.

“Gun-Metal Classic”: Had a pair of 6-banger Manias that I quite liked. It didn’t have the usual X-TRX SG configuration and as a keeper, there was always something satisfying knowing you had a 6-stud outsole that seemed less likely to clog up.

I guess some time back in January, the massive consumer electronics tradeshow CES featured the unveiling of a collection of adidas x Sennhesier headphones and earphones. All in all, it was a pretty exciting collaboration in my eyes. The key elements of the collection for me were the Kevlar-reinforced cables and the fact they were water-resistant. I’m notoriously hard on my earphones having gone through something like 3 pairs in less than 6 months. I was as audacious as to have a pair last a whole 2 minutes. I was wearing them around the house for the first time when I got them caught on a door handle and ripped something internally resulting in only a half-pair of earphones haha. So these were all pretty interesting aspects. I was more than happy when a pair of the CX 680s landed on my desk. (There’s some official press-release jargon at the very bottom)

Ok first off before I dive into things… I have a weird relationship with music. I listen to it virtually every day in some facet yet I could just as easily go without it. I have little ability to differentiate good and bad audio quality unless it hits me in the face like a sock full of quarters. So with that I mind I can only really offer my thoughts on the overall design of these joints. Maybe my indifference to music is a direct reflection of my inability to dance.  Here’s a review that actually talks about sound.

From the get go, the whole package was pretty complete. Aesthetically I think the earphones are pretty clean. There’s a certain yin-yang approach to logo placement as they balance things out with both the adidas and Sennheiser logo. While the yellow cord does draw attention to you rather easily beyond the usual white shit that comes with iPods that everybody seems to use… the use of color is a welcome change. When you first pull out the buds, another thing you’ll notice is an additional attachment to the earbud that looks rather Batman-esque. The angular rubber fin nestles itself into the lobe of your ear. Rather than just relying on the friction of the rubber flanges, the rubber piece does do a good job in helping the earbuds stay in place.

While putting them through their tests, the earbuds never once came out through both sprinting on the soccer/football pitch (warming up of course) and while in the gym doing various dynamic lifts like high pulls and power cleans. So passing marks in that regard cause I have worn earbuds that fell out part-way through a set.

Previous earbuds usually crap out after awhile when continually subjected to sweat so I can sort of take confidence in that fact that the same shouldn’t  happen to these. But I have a feeling that I won’t be entirely surprised if these decide to die on me in 6 months as has been my track record.

Packaged within the box are a series of customizable options. Included are ifferent sizes for the flanges and more of the lobe-fin attachments as well as a co-branded nylon bag, and an in-line volume control which I must say is pretty handy. The in-line volume control has a clip on it but unfortunately you can’t choose which direction it points. There’s also a swiveling clip (like on older mobile phone headsets) you can attach. The wing-lobe attachments can be removed but that seems like more trouble that its worth unless you REALLY think people will be staring at the black fins in your ears. But I must add that the fins do a good job when both earbuds are inserted, it doesn’t have enough holding power if the whole set is dangling from only one ear as I found out.

For a street price of about $90 USD, I think these are worth it. They feature a 2 year warranty which is about 4 times as long as any headphone I’ve used in the gym. If you’re in the gym, I think there’s more important things to worry about than the absolute best sound-quality that $90 can buy… but keep in mind the durability benefits. I love to bag the shit out of my stuff so we’ll see how these go.

-Eugene

The texturized part on the body doesn’t really serve any purpose in my eyes.

Yeh this happy face didn’t turn out so hot…

Perfect sound for jogging and working out – Sennheiser and adidas present new sports earphones

Top-quality sound, excellent wearing comfort and insensitivity towards external influences such as water, sweat and cold: these are the features that characterise the new range of sports earphones from Sennheiser and adidas. These two renowned companies are launching their new cooperation with a total of four earphone models that have been specially designed for sports applications.

“When you’re listening to music while jogging or working out, you want your headphones to provide an energetic sound. At the same time you expect them to meet the extreme demands of sports applications without compromises. Precisely these expectations are fulfilled by the new range of Sennheiser/adidas sports headphones,” explained Sven Wilhelmsen, Product Manager at Sennheiser. “The models of the new sport line enable sports enthusiasts to concentrate entirely on their training. The ear pieces fit securely and comfortably in the ears and offer fantastic sound,” said Franz Brunnberg, Head of Licensee Management and Marketing Cooperations at adidas.

For optimum sports performance
In all of the models, powerful and robust dynamic loudspeaker systems guarantee excellent, motivating sound. The volume can be adjusted at any time using the volume control integrated into the cable. Their sturdy and hard-wearing materials mean that the earphones are insensitive to vibration and even the toughest use. The fibre-reinforced cables still remain flexible at temperatures as low as minus ten degrees. These true sports companions are also unaffected by external influences: a completely new protection system against moisture not only effectively repels sweat but also protects the internal components of the earphones against rain water. After a workout, the earphones can simply be rinsed off under the tap.
A perfect fit is guaranteed by various ergonomically designed ear pieces. For the MX 680 stereo earphones, Sennheiser’s patent-pending EarFin holding system ensures, that the ear pieces fit securely and comfortably in the ear. A simple twist fixes the innovative “fin” to the outer ear. Ear adapters and various fin sizes are included to make sure that the earphones fit any ear size.

The premium-quality CX 680 ear canal earphones are also fitted with the new EarFin system and come with various ear adapters. The ear canal phones fit securely and comfortably and are ideal for sportsmen and women who want to concentrate on their music while working out: the ear pieces offer excellent insulation against external noise.

Adjustable ear clips and a special ear fitting system with three different adapters ensure that the OMX 680 also fits securely during even the most gruelling training sessions. The ear clips are made of a flexible material and offer optimum wearing comfort.

The PMX 680 guarantees a particularly secure fit with its sturdy and ergonomically designed neck band. The single-sided cable also offers plenty of freedom of movement while jogging or working out. An additional feature is the reflective strip on the neck band for extra safety in the dark.

Reliable training partner
Each sports earphones model comes with tried-and-tested accessories. An extension cable allows the standard-length cable to be extended at any time – depending on whether the audio source is in a trouser pocket or clipped to the arm. To ensure that the cable never gets in the way during the most energetic workouts, it can be fixed to the clothing by a handy cable clip. When the training session is over, the sports earphones can simply be packed away in the carrying pouch provided.
The new sports headphones will be dispatched to Sennheiser sales partners and adidas Sport Performance stores from January 2010.

A VERY close friend of me once told me that “somebody” he knows designed a series of adidas Consortium Superstars a few years back which were heavily influenced by Star Wars. The shoes in question embodied the foundation of Star Wars, the Dark Side of the Force and the Light Side of the Force. The resulting design and featured a black vs. white combo. The aglets of the laces were colored in the relevant Lightsaber hues of red for the Dark Side and neon green for the Light Side. The appropriation didn’t stop there as the shoes came in a action-figure style packaging complete with the use of a Star Wars’ familiar type-font. Only problem, there wasn’t an actual license on adidas’ behalf for this project. EDIT: Here’s a link back to Nice Kicks who have the shoes in question.

Apparently, $1,000,000 USD later and a lawsuit, the shoes never got released and if they did, they weren’t supposed to. There was even talk that the shoes were even more audacious in the sampling stages, superimposing the Superstar Shelltoe onto the head of Vader and Yoda respectively. All hearsay I guess…

Fast forward to 2010, adidas and Star Wars come together on legitimate terms this time. I’m sure many have mixed reactions to the whole team-up. On one hand, from a commercial stand-point and arguably the one that is most important at the end of the day, adidas is introducing a whole wack of people to the adidas Originals franchise. Who hasn’t seen Star Wars??? The fact that this first pack revolves around the first three movies also means one thing… an open door for more collections down the line with the later movies.

I personally never paid attention to the latter three “episodes”, but the new generation surely did. Unfortunately, there’s something about associating one’s self with Star Wars. Maybe cause it’s on the sci-fi tip, but I sort liken it to being something everybody will generally love and appreciate but will be slow to acknowledge in the public sphere.

Anyways on to the product which I must thank Gary and Charlie over at Crooked Tongues for some SPEEDY turn around. I don’t think there’s a more knowledgeable and legitimate online sneaker retailer out there. By far the cream of the crop. Found the Darth Vader ZX 8000s on my doorstep in only a few days from the UK!

Generally I find sneaker design quite difficult when a presented theme has the opportunity to be re-appropriated very literally. You’re taking something that is pretty much tangible and have to sort of design something that takes into account the inspirations but isn’t too literal. All-in-all, I thought the collection itself wasn’t bad at all. The real literal models that had me wondering such as the “Battle of Hoth” Micropacer, “Tie Fighter” Nizzas and the “Death Star” Superstars probably would have been fine as kid’s shoes… but adults ehhhhhhhhhh. You can pretty much slap anything on a shoe for kids and nobody will really be as quick to judge. When you’re 4 years old I would imagine you would be able to wear as bright of fucking shoes as you’d want!

For many of these models, I think if you released them as in-line styles and took out the tongue logos, people could probably reference the colorways to iconic aspects of Star Wars on their own and bestow the appropriate nicknames. The packaging isn’t unique and it has been done before with A Bathing Ape etc, but since it’s so fitting, no qualms here. We did something similar for our Hypebeast x Subcrew caps in a sort of (cheesy) quasi-super hero theme as well.

-Eugene

On the topic of taking things too literally… yeh way to go New Era congratulations.

On to the pics…

The tags sort of ruined this picture haha.

Black midsoles are tough to pull off in any event but I don’t think anything else would have worked… maybe “Dark Side of the Force” red instead of black?

Christmas is largely an after-thought as you sit down to your desk on Monday morning. The next thing on the agenda, where and how are you getting shit-faced on the 31st… I know I’m thinking about it haha. As I’ve sort of alluded to, Hong Kong’s Christmas spirit is largely superficial, they put on a nice show, huge installations but that’s the extent of it. I definitely don’t rush out to buy gifts and what not but this was something I maintained even back in Canada. But we all know, probably especially this year more than others, Christmas is far from the gifts. Without getting emo, spending time with the fam and the friends are the main priority. I wish there were more universal holidays that were separated throughout the world so things could legitimately slow down. Growing up, we were the Asian family living in a small-town that probably just practiced Christmas for the sake of fitting in haha. But Christmas without the presents is like Chinese New Year without the Red Pockets, although the latter would be a greater injustice in the eyes of many. Quick run-down of some cool shit I felt was worth highlighting… some of it self-bought and some of it free swag but all of it was greatly appreciated nevertheless.

-Eugene

I was shopping for some “educational” gifts for my cousins which led me to the bookstore. I felt, pens and writing instruments albeit a dying art are hopefully the catalyst to greater creativity with carryover onto a digital format. I grabbed this same set for my cousin but felt it was pretty slick so I picked one up also. Staedler Fineliners are pretty good and cheap. The have small and compact nibs and a good array of colors although I would be more than satisfied with black, red and blue.

This one from my aunt left me scratching my head a bit… it really serves no purpose aside from Apollo Creed doing crunches in noisy fashion all while taking up a much needed USB slot on my laptop.

The shit in action…

Copped these towards the beginning of the month as I guess an “early” Christmas present but I don’t really feel I need to justify the purchases by throwing on a “Christmas present” tagline. Black-Out Luminox 3051 Black on the left and a Canon S90 on the right. Canon S90 all of a sudden started making some relatively unhealthy grinding noises when zooming… if it gets worse I’ll be choked haha.

I bought some stuff at MUJI and got this small little pocket pens… unfortunately lost one of the two already as well as a Field Notes notebook… so much for keeping that shit in your back pocket : /.

Probably some of my favorite sneakers this year. But maybe cause they remind me of my Danner Mountain Light IIs haha… regardless, the shits are clean, the unorthodox tan suede and maroon nylon tongue surprisingly work well. Huge thanks to Hikmet at Solebox. He fucking crushed it this year with collaboration shoes.

D-ring lacing at the top ties everything together neatly.

My boy Jefford (aka Hypebeast’s first-ever intern) came through with this handy iHome Capsule Speaker. Smart guy this Jefford… as I was talking to him quite a few months ago about wanting to pick something up along these lines. The single speaker is already a lot better and louder than the piece of crap on-board speakers for this Dell.

I sang http://www.sneakersnstuff.com/ praise a little while back for their magazine they did… and they followed it up with these beanie involving Kangol. Overall, cool concept, a little uniform experiment-esque even. But I do wish that it wasn’t so bulky cause of the reversible factor.

If you haven’t heard, Evisu is looking to undergo a overhaul in 2010 as they bring on Earnest Sewn founder Scott Morrison. It will be interesting to see what comes of that. Evisu has lost traction (and in the opinion of some, rightfully so) much like a Levi’s Vintage Clothing. I think Evisu’s diminished brand identity comes at the hands of both lower quality and questionable designs. Both (Evisu and LVC) have the right tools and name out there but this hasn’t necessarily translated into the right vision in the past few years. Landing in my proverbial mailbox was a pair of Lot 2010 No. 3s. For some odd reason, the current No. 3 was once known as the No. 2 as signified by the “Rising Sun” selvedge line. I was pretty confused by all the cuts/denim types but this sort of answered most of my questions.  Another interesting note, these are some of the shortest inseamed jeans I’ve ever gotten. Not a bad thing cause they fit perfectly, but I’m by no means a tall guy at 5′11. The coolest aspect are the painted Gullwings. Can’t really escape the branding but the denim does fit quite well.

You can see the detail on the brush stroke… maybe they should have used less paint haha but I do like the texturized lines.

Back in the day, one of my favorite sites to check out was Kicksology. For the unfamiliar and perhaps the new bucks, it was a site that almost purely revolved around the review of performance basketball shoes (although they did throw in the periodical lifestyle/post-game shoe). I actually rarely if ever played ball, but I was interested in seeing how the technology developed by all these sportswear brands were translating in the real world in terms of performance. Known as Professor KO, the eloquent write-ups were genuinely interesting despite the fact I would never ever be wearing the shoes he was reviewing. Solecollector has re-published a few old reviews you can check out to get the just of exactly what he was putting down. I still have an affinity of sorts for performance footwear, just to see what’s the latest and greatest shit and how technology has come to manifest itself in the athletics world. Although for the most part I had largely been out the sporting arena since I hung up the (soccer/football) boots two years ago , I have since “returned” as of a few months ago. I’ve been lifting in beat Chuck Taylor All Stars (no not Hiroshi Fujiwara joints haha) for a minute and on the odd occasion I would run in Nike Free 4.0s so that was the extent of my athletic shoe use as of late anyways. Just recently I’ve started getting more active and sort of kept on top of footwear developments, I’ve become weary of the current crop of running shoes due to the un-healthy nature of all these overly cushioned and supportive shoes (shit the big shoe companies DON’T want you to know). Emphasis should be simply to enhance the foot’s natural biomechanics, something that has come through evolution throughout the years and based on our hunter-gatherer lifestyle up until approximately 10,000 years ago. Nike’s Free outsole has been the best move from a large brand towards a shoe that places more importance on your foot’s natural ability to cushion and work so I’ve sort gone with that and tried to change up my running style to land forefoot rather than heel first. Ok, I’m getting derailed from the original point of this post which was to give a run-down, in a sort of tribute to Professor KO and Kicksology. My medium and platform is different with a football/soccer shoe, but performance footwear needs reviewing anyways.

So… the adidas Predator franchise, probably one of the most well-known line of soccer/football boots out there. It celebrates its 10th incarnation with the Predator X. Aesthetically, this is probably the biggest change yet mostly cause the boot goes away with its traditional fold-over tongue style. A shame really, cause now it sort of looks like the Total 90 series from Nike. Branding is a bit much for me, adidas has traditionally been more subtle in their promotion of technologies, but as you see beneath the transparent Predator vamps is PREDATOR across pretty much the whole instep. As well, what the hell is with the blinged out bit on the external heel counter? Bound to get scratched to shit and it just sticks out like a sore thumb. Yes adidas, it’s hideous, please get rid of it.

Construction & Materials
From a quality perspective, boots are what you’d expect from a top of the line boot. With all the pieces that go into the upper, the quality is good cause I assume it’s relatively labor-intensive to put together and align all the pieces. In what many might perceive as a sacrilegious move, no kangaroo leather on this sucker, instead you get “Taurus” leather. Same difference to me, I never really got that “buttery leather” feeling from adidas’ k-leather anyways, so aside from being able to stretch I don’t really feel all that much benefit from k-leather. For the last few Preds, we’ve seen the move away from a full-leather upper and replacing pretty much the middle of the shoe with a synthetic material to alleviate weight. Makes sense, as well I usually never need any stretch in those areas anyways, the fitting is controlled by the laces.

Fit
The initial fit of this was unreal. The absolute best-fitting Predator I’ve ever worn and I’ve worn quite a few of them. Maybe it’s cause of my fat, relatively Fred Flinstone-esque feet (you haven’t seen my friends though, she’s got boxes on her feet pretty much), but the new roomier shape of the toebox makes for quick and easy break-in for me. I can’t really say how much or how little the Taurus leather can stretch but maybe people with narrow feet might need to look elsewhere. Before, I would really struggle with sore feet when breaking in new Predators, but within 30 minutes these were actually good to go. The laces provide a pretty solid lock-down fit. There’s some Orthofit feature implemented, but in all honesty, a lot of these technologies could never be tested independently, so there’s no point really putting a lot of weight on them in my opinion. You pretty much have to review it as a package. Unlike the F50i Tunits (which aren’t even worth a review, just plain Jane, middle of the pack boring in my opinion), the lock-down fit was real good. I am however a bit worried down the line, the laceloops might rip, but who knows. I have been reefin’ on them pretty hard to get a nice tight fit.

Traction
adidas Traxion is about the same as always, I haven’t really worn any other brands aside from adi so I’m a poor judge across other brands. I’ve preferred Traxion/bladed studs much more than traditional conical studs (perhaps my disdain for the F50i). The studs (although not pictured) are pretty neat, the initial bit is clear and the tips are yellow.

Miscellaneous
So another big thing to mention is this new “Powerspine” technology they put into the outsole. It’s inspired by adidas’ goalkeeper glove tech, Fingersave. Essentially, imagine a strip of material that can curve forward, but can’t bend backwards. Actually, if you’re a Nike Basketball techhead, Nike had a similar technology called the Monkey Paw that was in a Vince Carter signature (the one with the rubber shroud)… yeh I learned that from Kicksology haha. The whole point is to support your foot and remove any lost kinetic energy from impacting the ball since your foot is naturally quite soft and flexible. I’ve worn aspects of this “Power” technology in other Predators and actually did feel a difference. I can’t really say this Powerspine stuff necessarily works but the videos are pretty convincing haha. I almost felt as though the older styles were better, the ones that just had a weighted insole that encouraged power that way. I won’t really comment on what the Predator is actually known for, the Predator vamps which are meant to increase swerve and accuracy… you’re talking about a a goalkeeper turned outfield Sunday league player who would much rather smash a ball with his laces to finish rather than go for some cute little tuck into the corner. As well, I always thought it would have made much more sense to have the Predator vamps on the first metatarsal of the foot but it’s placed quite high-up on the boot itself.

The Final Word
Fit alone, these boots are awesome. There’s a lot of unnecessary shit going on which I really don’t care for. I remember when adidas used to make an “un-Predator” version of their boots which were essentially the same but came with a full-leather upper as opposed to having Predator vamps. But I guess why make a cheaper and arguably BETTER BOOT. As I see it, an un-Predator bound boot could stretch in more places so it would mold a little better. I really have no use for the Predator tech but pretty much everything else I’m feeling from the Powerspine to the Orthofit and the shape of the upper. I would like to see an adidas x Nike “Flywire” un-Predator… that would be a dream boot haha. I can’t and won’t comment on “WHILE THIS HELP MY TOUCH?!?!?”… hate to break it to you, but if you have cinder blocks for feet, no boot will help your touch son…

Just as an FYI and if anybody’s curious, nobody pays me to write this (aside from some free gear), I just do it cause I enjoy analyzing product.

-Eugene (Twitter | flickr)

If you’ve been peeping my Twitter/Facebook updates the last few weeks, I’ve been talking a lot about the Canon S90. Back when I was in Japan, missing a few key-shots cause I couldn’t/wouldn’t bring out a DSLR sort of made me realize I need something a little more compact and pocketable. The S90 pretty much fit the bill, it’s chalk full of prosumer features such as the big one in RAW-file writing and a pretty good f2.0 lens. I guess another major selling point the marketing people (which goes concurrently with the f2.0 lens) was the Digic IV processor which enables pretty good ISO-handling capabilities to make it a good low-light camera. But the one thing I really took notice was the front rotating ring that allowed you to quickly change settings. Relative to other camera brands, my experience with Canon ergonomics has been extremely good. The LX-3 joystick blows in my opinion and just to give an example of how simple and intuitive a scroll-wheel can be, just look at the iPod and how popular/easy it is to use. You can crank through the settings quite quickly on that front ring. All-in-all, the camera is smaller than the likes of the ~1 year old LX-3 (still a good camera) and a lot smaller than its fat, obese but somehow very popular G-series (G11). I do anticipate the G11 getting slightly cannibalized by the S90 though, it’s $70 USD cheaper and a lot better aesthetically meaning it’ll be more attractive to woman as well cause of the size.

Anyways, performance-wise, I was preparing myself for the down-grade in quality after shooting strictly with a DSLR for the better part of a year, no big deal I guess, the let-downs are only in low-light conditions as expected. Whatever you heard about people bitching that the ergonomics of the back-wheel suck, I honestly think it comes down them being highly uncoordinated and lacking the manual dexterity to use it… aka their fingers are probably too fat. I’m perhaps a bad example of user layouts as I try adapting for the sake of a better user experience.

But overall, I’m pretty happy with the camera. Size was a big concern for me… I don’t care about all that Micro 4/3rds jazz, either the shit fits in my pocket or it doesn’t. The EP-1/GF-1 even with a pancake lens are still way too big and judging by a lot of reviews, it’s not like the 4/3rds are yielding results heads over heels beyond the S90 (S90 vs. Olympus EP-2 | Panasonic GF1). Oh yeh, I can actually take macro pics now, something impossible with non-macro SLR-lenses.

The images below are by no means scientific (if you want reviews, go here) and not really nice at all haha, just some first few test shots… I must say with a P&S, your mindset seems a little more candid in your approach which I don’t really like… it feels like photography as an art becomes more of an after-thought and in creeps documentation (which seems to be true in this post).

-Eugene (Twitter | flickr)

Ok, why a tennis ball you ask… got knotted up shoulders or just knots in general? This is your new best friend. No doubt I get a tight neck and shoulders from sitting all day. But look into myofascial release, it hurts but your body will thank you.

Off to the gym, ZX 8000 part 1, matching pants were not deliberate haha

Jasper’s rather feminine Paul Smith rip-off cat bag.

This has been my go-to food in the winter, baked sweet potatoes…

…with Lindt Excellence 85% Dark C hocolate… definitely one of those looks like shit (literally) but tastes delicious concotions.

Gym again, ZX 8000 part 2

How do you keep your business cards?

I was with Mike in Lan Kwai Fong a few weeks back and they were handing these out and for good reason cause it’s virtually unusable for the local population. Why even hand them out? Or maybe it’s a ploy with an underlying message… go out, get frisky and potentially knock a girl up cause that shit don’t fit hahahaha.

Came back from Tokyo late Friday night (pictures and updates to come!) and woke up to an early Christmas on Saturday. My girl Kristen at adidas Performance hooked it up BIG TIME… and someone who I speculate is perhaps one of the busiest PR-people in the industry due to her involvement in adidas Soccer AND adidas Basketball. I’ve touched on it relatively recently, the adidas Predator X got its full unveiling with the help of Zinedine Zidane. Based on what career path I’ve chosen, I think it’s somewhat evident that I’ve been big into footwear. Starting off as a kid, both on-field and off-field boots/sneakers were something I paid a great deal of attention to. I still remember walking into Eurosport (not Soccer.com) as a kid back in Edmonton and looking at the racks of shoes… immediately gravitating towards the most expensive ones, thinking why were they so expensive. However unlike my lack of footwear choices on the streets, I was actually able to get some decent soccer/football boots as a kid. I still remember getting my first pair of adidas Predator Accelerators in the funky molded soft-ground version. In subsequent years, I pretty much found myself wearing each version of the Predator which got its update every 2 or 3 years.

In retrospect, the Predator was basically useless to me… and a win for the marketing team. As a keeper, who are you ever going to need to bend a ball? Even in the run of play, I’m sure you can get by with out any Predator vamps haha. However, I do think that PowerPulse technology which offered a weighted forefoot genuinely worked for more power when it was released in later models.

In addition to the Predator Xs, Kristen hooked up some F50i Tunits as well, something I definitely was more than grateful for. The shoe’s a bit of an interesting one. The sole plate allows you to effectively customize the stud pattern as well as the types of studs used ranging from soft-ground to firm and hard ground studs (basically the length/composition of the stud). You can also change the insole style for different types of performance and swap out different uppers such as leather and ClimaCool. As we speak I’m actually wearing the F50i boots on my feet haha. I’m a US 9 in all adidas leather boots but I have a feeling these F50is will be more than difficult to break in cause of the Sprint Skin upper. I’ve actually never really worn a synthetic boot… I’ve gone the old school method of just buying kangaroo leather boots in a size that fits in the length, disregarding width and just letting the leather stretch out. Yeh it hurts and takes some time, but the end result is a perfect fitting.

Mini Out-of-the-Box Review – adidas Predator X: Best fitting Predator I’ve ever worn out of the box. The toebox seems to have been re-designed for a wider fit. Some other people like my friends over at The Original Winger have been feeling the same in terms of fit. Aesthetically… just one thing bothers me and that’s the Predator branding on the instep. The rest of the boot has really grown on me. The tongue-less set-up is a bit weird since its the first tongue-less Predator. The boot is REALLY STIFF at the forefoot cause of the PowerSpine technology. The heel counter is pretty solid and the lacing offers a nice lock-down fit but the Predator line has been doing this for some time so I wouldn’t expect anything less.

Mini Out-of-the-Box Review – adidas F50i Tunit: My upper is the Sprint Skin one as mentioned and although I have my concerns, eventually the upper will stretch out a bit I think. Personally I don’t like the feel of the Sprint Skin, it seems too smooth. For me, the Tunit aspect seems like a lot of trouble but if you’re really keen on extracting that little bit extra out, might work out for you. The boot’s shape itself is more narrow that the Predator X. Aesthetically the boot is awesome and a lot cleaner than the Predator. Whereas the Predator carries itself as the top-of-the-line model and rightfully-so, I think the F50i does well to mask its technology a bit better to keep it understated. The V-notch lacing is cool as well. The previous F50 series had this ridiculously hard to access lace system but this works a lot better. I know what to expect from the Predator X for the most part so I’m more looking forward to wearing these haha.

After not playing for more than two years, I finally got back into it within the last month. Found two teams relatively quickly and basically began my career as an outfield player at age 25 haha. I’ve played as an outfielder on the rare occasion back in the day, but believe it not, but only recently had I actually played my first-ever back to back games in the field. It’s been pretty fuggin’ fun throughout, all this time before I was hitting the gym pretty consistently but just doing it for the sake of doing it… now at least that has some carry-over. I feel myself re-learning the game as you adopt a new position. The game itself within the defending third is something I obviously know very well from being a keeper, but from the midfield on, it’s a bit different. Luckily my disconnected friend (as in no Facebook, no Twitter etc) Andy Mataya has been giving me his words of wisdom.

Once again, big thanks to Kristen. Got a session on Wednesday… can’t wait!

-Eugene (Twitter | flickr)

Back in the day, I loved looking at the customized gear of pros. From test colorways to re-configured outsoles and gloves, I found myself nerding out over that stuff. A big one for me that interested me was the mixed-sole Copa in which people would shave off the studs of their adidas Copa Mundials (or any molded boots for that matter) and then drill a hole with a stud insert so you could have 6 longer studs alongside the usual molded ones. It would probably clog up in the rain but offer a bit more control with the ball under your feet… But since I play mostly on Field Turf or firm to hard grounds, there’s little use for this. Italian brand A-Line actually offered this in a production model as well… not sure if they’re still around.