The Coventry Kids Blog

A massive traffic jam in north China that stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that will not be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.

Bumper-to-bumper gridlock spanning for 60 miles (100 kilometers) with cars moving little more than a half-mile (one kilometer) a day at one point has improved since this weekend, said Zhang Minghai, director of Zhangjiakou citys Traffic Management Bureau general office.

But he said he was not sure when the situation along the Beijing-Zhangjiakou highway would return to normal.

The traffic jam started Aug. 14 on a stretch of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou highway. That section has frequently been congested, especially after large coalfields were discovered in Inner Mongolia, Zhang said. Traffic volume has increased 40 percent every year.

Drivers stranded in the gridlock in the Inner Mongolia region and Hebei province, headed toward Beijing, passed the time sleeping, walking around, or playing cards and chess. Local villagers were doing brisk business selling instant noodles, boxed lunches and snacks, weaving between the parked trucks on bicycles.

The highway construction in Beijing that is restricting inbound traffic flow and causing the jam “will not be finished until Sept. 17,” he said.

Authorities were trying to speed up traffic by allowing more trucks to enter Beijing, especially at night, Zhang said. They also asked trucking companies to suspend operations and advised drivers to take alternate routes.

Chinas roadways are increasingly overburdened as the number of private vehicles booms along with commercial truck traffic hauling materials like coal and food to cities. Traffic slowdowns because of construction and accidents are common, though a 10-day traffic jam is unusual even in China.

Associated Press

COMING STRAIGHT TO YOU OUT OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC!!! I PRESENT!!! POIRIER!

This track is a banger, BUMP IT! I was lucky enough to catch Poirier live at the most bangin Hemp Fest after party saturday night, at the Old Rainier Brewery, in Seattle, WA.  The man threw it down as hard as possible and people got down even harder.  Job well done in Seattle, Poirier. Thanks.

You want to be here. Period.

So for all of you who missed Ultra Music Festival this year you have a chance to catch many of the same artists preform all together, yet again, at New York Citys extravagant electronic music festival,  Electric Zoo.  This is a two day event (Saturday, September 4th, and Sunday September 5th) being held on 24 acres of beautiful lush grass at Randalls Island Park which is located between Queens and Manhattan on the East river from 11am – 11pm both days. There will be one main stage and several open air tents in which artists will officially be melting your mind with the music they are bringing to the table. The two day general admission pass is currently being sold for $122.

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SABER was already a fixture in the Los Angeles graffiti scene, but in 1997 when he completed the largest graffiti piece ever created he was catapulted to global legend. His piece on the sloping cement bank of the Los Angeles River is nearly the size of a professional football field, and can be read clear as day from a satellite photo. It took 97 gallons of paint and 35 nights to complete. In a famous photograph—taken by his father just after it was finished—SABER stands on the piece and appears as a tiny speck amid a giant blaze of color.

Born in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale, SABER was raised by creative parents and discovered his passion for art at an early age. At 13, his cousins introduced him to graffiti when they took him to see the spray paint-covered Belmont Tunnel. And from that moment on, he was hooked. After honing his skills on local walls, SABER joined MSK, and was later inducted into legendary piecing crew AWR.

While painting graffiti is his main focus, SABER also explores other artistic avenues. He is known for his surreal landscapes, which are pulled from the deep, dark places in his psyche, and has also created groundbreaking metal and wood sculptures of abstract letterforms and painstakingly rendered hyper-realistic canvases.

saberone.com

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On Friday morning at Vidcon, an inaugural gathering of the online video community, YouTube is announcing that it will create a $5 million Partner Grants Program, which will back emerging auteurs who are attracting growing audiences on its site.

YouTube, which recently turned 5, has been tremendously successful in capturing the homemade videos of the Flip-cam-armed filmmaker. But when it comes to more professionally produced video, apart from certain exceptions like music videos, far more material has gone to a rival, Hulu.com.

The grants program is designed to help change that. YouTube says it will reach out to creators whose work appeals to large audiences and mainstream advertisers, and who are adept at marketing their work across the Web. Average contributions will range from a few thousand to a few hundred thousand dollars.

The program is similar to efforts at other Internet companies to forge direct relationships with content creators, bypassing the traditional gatekeepers of the media business. Amazon.com, for example, has introduced a number of self-publishing tools on its Kindle platform and set a high royalty rate for authors.

“Ultimately the game has changed and people are throwing the rules out the window,” said George Strompolos, the partner development manager at YouTube. “Folks who 10 years ago couldn’t even get their content shared to friends across the street are now connecting with audiences around the world. We see that not only as a cute thing, where someone has a viral hit, we see these people as the next content creators, the next brand in original programming. It’s where our roots have always been and we are doubling down on that type of programming.”

Via New York Times

Which means I may get to see more of this…..

JULIAN SMITH – Malk

Drunk History Vol. 6 Featuring John C. Reilly, and Crispin Glover

The Wingmen: Episode 4

I attempted to call or text 530-COV-KIDS, when I realized that my phone does not display the 2(abc) 3(def) etc. While attempting to view an image that would help me on my quest to call or text this mysterious number that recently appeared at the top of the blog, I stumbled upon this hilarious image of this old ass dude with an even older phone. HAHAHA, I mean look at the key pad on this bad boy. I cant wait until this becomes the retro cool style…to walk around with big fuckin ridulous phones.

These 9 drawings were done by an artist under the influence of LSD as part of a test conducted by the US government in the late 1950’s. The artist was given a dose of LSD 25 and free access to an activity box full of crayons and pencils. His subject was the medic.

Pioneering 44056 electronic group Daft Punk is known for only appearing in public and performing live wearing awesome spaceman helmets. But this homemade version might be even cooler and more futuristic than the originals.

The guys at Volpin Props spent a whopping 17 months building this beauty, which features lights along both sides of the visor as well as over the ears. The attention to detail is pretty astounding. And the guys who made it are planning on wearing it around Comic Con.

Volpin Props via Fashionably Geek

Dancing Pigeons – Ritalin from Blink on Vimeo.

AHHHHH it is an attack of Hipsters & Ravers. What to do? Time to call in Lil Jon.

Last night Clevelands own hip-hop production legends turned short lived electro dj duo turned full on indie band The Kickdrums performed at Bside Liquor Lounge to a packed house. Bside lacks any real stage so the show was very intimate like an episode of VH1 storytellers. Tilla on laptop, a small synth, and lead tambourine, and Alex on lead vocals and guitar were joined by a band, a first for them in Cleveland. I was impressed but not at all surprised by the more polished and confident stage presence and performance on their part, as well as the seamless transition from a duo to a group of five. Theyve grown a lot as entertainers since their last Cleveland appearance at the Grog Shop almost two years ago.
They announced a video for their single Animal will be surfacing shortly, which we will be sure to cover on this blog. We were also treated to a rare performance of two new songs that even Alex seemed hesitant to perform due to lack of practicing. Despite his preemptive warnings both songs played out wonderfully, and the crowd was reminded that it may not be much, but we still have a few things to be proud of in Cleveland.

Head on over to Kickin it w/ the Godfather blog to see videos from the performance.