Christian Pfeiffer

BMW Headquarters Munich

Wee Wee Paris:

Paris is not short on either upmarket boutiques nor phenomenal bistros. You need to be seriously impressive to stand out in the most sophisticated city in the world. Thankfully Ralph Lauren's huge new European store has managed to dazzle even the snootiest of the French style press - this week they talk of little else.

Opening on Thursday 15 April, the shop is almost 23,000 square feet and offers a huge selection of both austere Purple Label and the slimline Black Label, as well as more preppy standards than you can shake a polo mallet at. When GQ.

Other than the huge range on display and the first watch salon of its kind in the French capital, what really excited us is Ralph's, the first Ralph Lauren restaurant in Europe. Improbably enough, once you've stocked up on an elegantly WASPish three-piece, you can now sit and eat strip steaks from Lauren's own Colorado ranch and drink expertly made whiskey sours. It's a little taste of the Centennial State in the heart of Europe - and it's only a Eurostar ticket away.

Ralph Lauren: 173 Coulevard St. Germain 75006 Paris

Taken from GQ USA

Sex and the Cribbie

THE HOUSE SEX AND THE CITY BUILT:

John Melfi, a New York producer of "Sex in the City," "Rome" and the upcoming Showtime series "Nurse Jackie," called on Culver City architect Steven Shortridge of Callas Shortridge Architects to design a new home for him in L.A. Shortridge proposed an unconventional design for a 30-by-80-foot lot in Venice: Rather than small rooms stacked three stories high, the architect wanted seven levels of living space that rose like a zigzag through the house.

New York Magazine: screen test

"the suspects wore louboutins"

Alexis Neiers told cops that she and Nick Prugo had been drinking at Beso, a trendy bar-restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard, when Prugo got a call from Rachel Lee telling him to come and meet her. It was July 13, 2009. Neiers said she knew that Prugo and Lee—both 19 and former classmates at Indian Hills, an alternative high school in Agoura Hills, an affluent suburb of Los Angeles—had been burglarizing the homes of celebrities. This “included Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Rachel Bilson, Audrina Patridge, and others she was not sure about,” according to the L.A.P.D.’s report.

Neiers, 18, said that she was drunk and “not sure what was going on” as Prugo parked his white Toyota on the road by a house in the Hollywood Hills. Later, she said, she would find out that it was the home of Pirates of the Caribbean star Orlando Bloom. Her friends knew that Bloom was in New York shooting a movie; they researched this kind of information on celebrity Web sites like TMZ. They discovered the locations of stars’ homes on Google Maps and celebrityaddressaerial.com.

Neiers said that Lee and another girl, Diana Tamayo, 19, got out of Lee’s white Audi A4, and the four kids walked uphill to Bloom’s residence, a stark, black mansion. Neiers didn’t want to go inside, she said, but still she followed. She told police that Prugo, Lee, and Tamayo seemed to be covering their faces with their hoodies, apparently in order to hide from security cameras. Lee cut a section out of the chain-link fence surrounding the property, Neiers said, and the kids crawled through it.

She said they went around the house, checking windows and doors, finally finding an unlocked door by Bloom’s pool area. They went inside and the other kids started to “ransack” Bloom’s home, according to Neiers. That night, they would allegedly steal close to $500,000 in Rolex watches, Louis Vuitton luggage, clothing, and artwork. “What are you doing? Get me the fuck out of here,” Neiers said she screamed. Then she went outside and threw up and peed in the bushes.

The Fame Monster

On November 16, Neiers arrived at Los Angeles Superior Court for her arraignment with an E! reality crew in tow. Her show, originally intended to be about her life as a party girl on the Hollywood scene, had now become a chronicle of her effort to stay out of jail. She was being charged that day with one count of residential burglary of Orlando Bloom’s home. In the media, she was being called a member of “the Burglar Bunch,” “the Bling Ring,” nicknames for the most successful and outrageous burglary gang in recent Hollywood memory: a gang of well-off kids from the Valley.

Camera crews from local news stations, Good Morning America, Dateline NBC, and TMZ were waiting outside Department 30 on the third floor of the courthouse. Producers from various shows murmured as Neiers—a former hip-hop- and pole-dancing instructor—sat calmly on a bench, allowing a makeup woman to touch her up.

A leggy girl with long, dark hair and shimmering blue-green eyes, Neiers was wearing a tweed miniskirt, a pink sweater, and six-inch Christian Louboutin heels. “I have a pretty cool shoe collection going on right now,” she said.

The L.A.P.D.’s report on the Bling Ring states that Nick Prugo told cops that Rachel Lee—a Korean-American girl from Calabasas, a wealthy suburb in the Valley—was “the driving force of the burglary crew and that her motivation was based on her desire to own the designer wardrobes of the Hollywood celebrities she admired.” Charged in the case are Neiers; Prugo; Lee; Tamayo; their friend Courtney Ames, 19; and Roy Lopez Jr., 27, a bouncer Ames knew from a waitressing job. (All have pleaded not guilty, except for Lee, whose arraignment was pending at press time.)

Between October of 2008 and August of 2009, the alleged members of the Bling Ring collectively stole more than $3 million in jewelry and high-end designer goods from a number of Young Hollywood players: Hilton, Lohan, Patridge (a regular on the reality show The Hills), Bilson (former star of The O.C.), original Beverly Hills 90210 cast member Brian Austin Green and his girlfriend, actress Megan Fox. They are said to have tried to rob High School Musical’s Ashley Tisdale too, but fled when discovered by a female houseguest.

The thieves apparently had a taste for luxury brands: Chanel, Gucci, Tiffany, Cartier, Prada, Marc Jacobs, Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry, Yves Saint Laurent. They allegedly stole clothes, shoes, handbags, makeup, perfume, underwear. They also took Green’s Sig Sauer .380 semi-automatic handgun.

At her lawyer’s office, a week before her arraignment, Neiers denied any involvement in the burglaries. “I’m a firm believer in Karma,” she said, “and I think this situation was attracted into my life because it was supposed to be a huge learning lesson for me to grow and expand as a spiritual human being. I see myself being like an Angelina Jolie,” she said, “but even stronger, pushing even harder for the universe and for peace and for the health of our planet.” She was sounding almost like a real celebrity. “God didn’t give me these talents and looks to just sit around being a model or being famous. I want to lead a huge charity organization. I want to lead a country, for all I know.”

Moments before her arraignment began, a news producer approached, asking Neiers for an interview. “I’m going to make a statement on the courthouse steps,” the pretty defendant promised. She runway-walked into the courtroom as the cameras started rolling.

By Nancy Jo Sales for VF

The GAGA Brand

Just one year ago the pop music phenomenon known as Lady Gaga was preparing to perform at Palm Springs California's White Party, perhaps the largest Gay men's celebration in the country. I'm sure it was a career step up for the Lady (real name Stephani Germanotta) at that time and a significant turn of the wheel for what I think is a masterful marketing machine. As small business owners we can probably learn some great marketing lessons from her story and those of other pop music performers.

I love just about all types of music and have been fascinated by those performers who have the ability to move beyond just having a hit song and a taste of fame to developing a long lasting career. What does it take? Were there other artists equally as talented as legends such as Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson? Yes, but today most of their names are etched in the sands of time rather than on marquees or the cover of People magazine. I'm way off the profile for Lady Gaga's fan base but since noticing the promotion for her Palm Springs appearance, I've been impressed by her brand building and marketing skills. To get past being just a flavor of the year will require all her skills plus the ability to adapt quickly to the marketplace. It is about marketing what you have.

It was two years ago (August 2008) that Lady Gaga released her first successful album, "The Fame" and began to build her fame in several foreign countries. But as we now know in today's media saturated marketplace, a person can be famous just for being famous. Excuse me Paris Hilton and Kate Gosselin. When I began to learn more about Ms. Gaga, it became obvious that the young lady can play the piano well, sings with a lovely voice and is able to write catchy songs. In other words she has the basic skills to sustain a music performer brand but she had to first get noticed and work on building a fan base. I'd say her packaging in those outrageous costumes helped separate her from the ever present pack of want to bees.

Who would have thought that when Madonna released her "Like a Virgin" album in 1984 that people would still be talking about her twenty six years later? She has been a brilliant brand builder. As a vocalist her talents are modest but earnest. If she were an American Idol contestant today, Madonna might not make it to round three. But she has successfully charted a singular course of experimentation and reinvention for a quarter century. The odds of doing that in the fickle firelight of pop culture are very long. The core values of a great brand must remain constant but how it is presented and marketed must evolve with the times.

Cyndi Lauper had a worldwide hit album with "She's So Unusual" in early 1984 around the same time as Madonna began her rise to stardom. Though Lauper has sold millions of records over the same time-line as Madonna, you decide who is the bigger name brand today. The worlds of pop and hip hop music are littered with the bones of performer's disintegrated careers. You do remember Wild Thing by Tone Loc don't you? How about Christopher Cross who racked up hit records, Grammy awards, an Oscar award and a Golden Globe in a short space of time in the early eighties. Wherever Mr. Cross is now he must feel as though his career went from sunny and sizzling to the dark side of the moon.

I think that one key to Madonna's brand success is that she has constantly developed it over the years, offering something interesting to each new generation while holding onto some of her late eighties fans. She has been a magnet for press coverage as a result of living a clearly unconventional lifestyle. And she has explored various music trends which kept pure music fans interested. Madonna has succeeded with what the very best marketers in the world have always done; they have trusted their inner instincts and followed them. Barry Manilow has a long career arc, having been hot and cold over the years. Now he's performing in front of crowds in Las Vegas. Manilow's core value is that he truly loves and respects the music and that has nourished his relationship with fans for decades. Paul McCartney is filling the Hollywood Bowl with his durable product forty years after the Beatles broke up! Prince has always enveloped himself in an aura of mystery on top the fact that he is a consummate musician. Being a mysterious iconoclast who can play music exceptionally well had helped him establish a strong personal brand. Among the newer generation of performers there are people such as Gwen Stefani who may have what it takes to build a long lasting personal brand.

What the business branding lessons we should take from these people? First your product has to be useful or desirable to a sizable body of consumers and you have to help them notice it by building awareness. It needs a distributions system that makes it easy for them to access the product. You want to develop a clear product identity. Pop stars have a clear advantage there because their faces, voices and costumes separate one from another in the public consciousness. The key to longevity is to never stop developing your product or presenting it in fresh ways to potential new customers. The old Volkswagen bug changed in over a hundred ways during its lifetime, but there was never a danger of mistaking it for anything else.

It will be very interesting to have a look at Lady Gaga's career a year from now to see if she's mastered the art of keeping the brand fresh without breaking the bond with her core fans. She got noticed as a costumed curiosity who also had songs with strong lyrics. Will she learn to be a successful marketer for the long term in the unstable world of pop culture? She faces challenges similar to those that all small business owners must master. First there is the product then the perception, and most importantly, keeping the relationship with your customers alive. Last week I watched a 1969 Dick Cavett interview with Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. Cavett asked Jagger if he could picture himself singing a prancing around a stage at age sixty. Jagger's reply; "sure I could."

Huffington Post

behind the oscars 2010

obama can hit 3s

yes.

Cartier’s modern, design-intensive interpretation of the skeleton watch has become a symbol for the brand’s rebirth as an original watchmaker. Last year’s Santos 100 XL Skeleton adroitly showed off the company’s new movement-making capacity in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, with an exposed movement, the components of which were artfully distributed around the radiating spokes of the dial. This year the Cartier Rotonde Tourbillon Skeleton (price upon request) showcases the company’s complication workshop in Meyrin, outside Geneva, where its Geneva Seal tourbillons are constructed. The movement has been reduced to essentials, and the delicate anglage and contrasting textures speak to the high level of hand finishing coming from this facility.

James D. Malcolmson

oakland

Changing demographics and rising gang violence have brought a dramatic increase in the number of homicides among Latinos in Oakland and San Francisco, even as the number of African American victims has fallen, police and community leaders say.

Oakland saw twice as many Latinos slain last year as in 2004, while San Francisco saw an increase of 50 percent during the same period. Authorities in both cities say the problem largely sneaked up on them because they were focused on the larger -- and still more prevalent -- problem of African Americans killing others of their own race.

"We know why it happened -- we let things get out of hand in the Fruitvale (district) because police were so busy in other parts of East Oakland and West Oakland," said City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, who represents the Fruitvale neighborhood where teenagers Alberto Salvador Villarreal and Ever Ramos were killed last weekend in separate shootings.

The vast majority of homicide victims remain African American, and that's where police continue putting most of their resources. But even as Oakland and San Francisco saw the number of homicides among blacks dwindle last year, the number among Latinos climbed enough to push the overall number of homicides higher than in 2004, police said.

Of the 96 homicides in San Francisco last year, 15 victims were Latino, compared with 10 Latino victims out of 88 slayings in 2004. Oakland recorded 94 homicides last year with 25 Latino victims, compared with 12 out of 88 killings in 2004.

Authorities attribute the trend to changing demographics as Latinos move into neighborhoods once composed largely of African Americans. That, too, has brought an increase in violence among Latino gangs, which were once dominated by the Norteños but have seen other groups increasingly vie for turf, police said.

"We have seen a spike in crime in our neighborhood over the past couple of years and it has gotten progressively worse," said Lillian Lopez, an activist with Oakland Community Organizations. "I have a 15-year-old son, and I don't let him walk down the street because I'm so concerned about him being shot. It's horrible to have to live this way."

The trend shows no signs of abating. Two of the four homicides recorded in Oakland so far this year have involved Latino victims.

Some of the killings are crimes of passion, such as barroom fights that turn deadly. But what troubles police and community leaders is the rising number of slayings stemming from gang rivalries or instances where the victim was either mistaken for a gang member or an innocent bystander, police said.

"These Hispanic gangs call it checking," Oakland homicide Sgt. Brian Medeiros said. "They walk up or drive up and want to know what gang you're in. If you don't answer, they sometimes open fire. Or sometimes they don't bother to ask."

That was apparently the case with Ever Ramos, 17, who was killed last Sunday night just blocks from De La Fuente's home.

Ramos and two friends were walking to a convenience store near his home on Coolidge Avenue when someone in a white minivan opened fire. Ramos, who arrived from Honduras in 2004, was working as a day laborer and going to school part time to improve his English, his family said, and police said he had no gang ties.

"He appears to be a completely innocent victim," Medeiros said.

Still, his death may have been misguided retribution for the death of Alberto Salvador Villarreal, 15, of Berkeley, who was killed less than 24 hours earlier about a mile away on East 15th Street, police said. Villarreal was not a gang member, but friends said he had buddies among the Norteños.

Just before Villarreal was shot Saturday night, a passing car sprayed gunfire at two other nearby corners known as Norteño hangouts.

Historically, Norteños were the largest gang in Fruitvale. Police and community activists said other Hispanic gangs, such as the rival Sureños, have gained a foothold as Latino families have moved into East Oakland neighborhoods once predominantly African American.

"It's not just the Sureños, but there are Southside Locos and all kinds of smaller, splinter groups," De La Fuente said. "Police used to do a pretty good job of tracking these groups. But we dropped the ball."

The gang activity has grown fastest in a part of East Oakland roughly bounded by Hegenberger Road, Interstates 580 and 880 and the San Leandro border. The Latino population in this area doubled between 1990 and 2000, while the black population has dropped by one-third to one-half, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures.

In 2002, Oakland police disbanded the unit dedicated to tracking Latino gangs to focus attention on killings in the African American community, which spiked sharply that same year, De La Fuente said. The five-officer gang unit was re-formed last fall and may get more officers this month.

"It's very important to stop the killing in other parts of the city," he said. "But because we moved those officers away, we are now seeing other problems."

In San Francisco, the issue is less about changing demographics than gang violence moving beyond the Mission District into once-peaceful areas.

San Francisco Police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens said Saturday that the department didn't recognize the trend until late last year because five of the 15 Latino killings came in November and December. Gittens said the department is planning to devote more officers to reduce violent crime among Latino gangs.

"We're planning some targeted enforcement in the Mission and other areas, similar to what we've been doing to stem the black gang violence in the Bayview," Gittens said. "We're trying to take some people off the street before they get involved in homicides."

Gittens said the San Francisco slayings were mostly in the Mission but have spread to other parts of the city.

"Even outside the Mission, it's mostly red- and blue-related," said Gittens, referring to the colors preferred by Sureños and Norteños. "Even if the victim is not in a gang, these things happen because someone thinks he's in a gang."

Some San Francisco police officers said Norteños centered at 22nd and Bryant streets and Sureños based at 19th and Mission streets have spread their long-standing rivalry into other areas, including the Ingleside and Excelsior neighborhoods and even Bayview-Hunters Point.

"We've seen more established gang members move from the Mission into other neighborhoods," said Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval, who represents the Ingleside, Excelsior and Ocean View areas. "The main focus of the gang is still the Mission, but we've seen members -- and leaders -- move to other parts of town.

"I don't blame the cops, but I think the city is doing next to nothing about gangs outside the Mission and the Bayview."

The rise in homicides among Oakland's Latinos has decimated Martha Palacios' family. She lost a brother, Eduardo, 38, and a husband, Sergio Rodriguez, 32, last year in separate but similar unsolved killings on International Boulevard.

"I feel like there is death all around me," she said, sobbing as she cuddled her sleeping baby to her chest. "All my family is here in Oakland. But when my girl is bigger, I've got to leave. I can't stay here. It's just hurts too much."

But perhaps nowhere is the trend better exemplified than in the case of Salvador "Lucky" Moreno, who dodged death twice and is now a suspect in a homicide.

Moreno, whom investigators said is a member of the Southside Locos gang, was wounded July 24 outside a coin laundry where his friend Andres Mendoza, 17, was killed. Then on Oct. 19, Moreno was wounded again, and pal Jose L. Umanzor, 21, was killed when someone opened fire on them at Bancroft and Seminary avenues.

Then in November, police said, Moreno fatally stabbed Oscar "Dash" Avina, 17, outside a party on 98th Avenue for motives that remain unclear.

"We'd like to get Mr. Moreno in custody before someone else gets him," Medeiros said.

jellybean bikes

http://jellybeanbikes.com.au/

piaget

It has been nearly 50 years since watch companies pitted their technical resources against one another to produce the thinnest possible mechanical watches. But in the clean, contemporary watches now coming out of Switzerland, such dimensionality is once again becoming relevant--and very sexy. The reigning champion of thinness, Piaget has been quick to reassert its position with the new 1200P movement in its limited-edition 43 mm Altiplano anniversary edition. The movement, like the watch, is broad and very thin. At 2.35 mm the 1200P is the thinnest automatic movement in the world, but uses its diameter to incorporate an offset self-winding system that is set into the movement and enhances its slenderness and the overall elegance of the watch. An equally thin version with subsidiary seconds will be part of Piaget’s normal production.

Robb Report 2010

2010 MERCEDES BENZ SLS GULLWING

back in the 90's:

LaBeouf gets grown:

GQ APRIL 2010