Monday, March 30, 2009

Busy Busy Day

This is the start of everyday...


See more here.

-baroke daniel


Thursday, March 26, 2009

Be Jealous

My little cousin Kayla, is a Baroke baby.



-baroke daniel

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Aw Man...I Just Felt Inadequate.

Just because I'm in a professional funk right now, doesn't mean I can't celebrate and wallow in the happiness of other young people's success. I'm thrilled that Lil Wayne is allowed a few words and noises in every single song alive and that Highschool Musical was such a freakin hit.

If only I had an identity earlier in life, like this little 12 year old girl. The middle-schooler writes one hell of a fashion blog. I mean her knowledge seems indepth and her photos of herself are cool. AND the best part? She's from Chicago! If you read, you'll forget she's 12 and then once you remember, you might feel a little inadequate (warning). Worth a gander if you find yourself with absolutely nothing to do.





The New Girl In Town.



- baroke v

Friday, March 20, 2009

The Love of My Life...

First off, unrelated to the title I spent all of three seconds to come up with, my friend's television show: Green Screen Adventures won a very prestigious award of some sort. I have no idea what the award is called, but apparently only 5 shows across the nation receive one. Green Screen Adventures takes stories, poems and illustrations done by Chicago Public School students and translates them into television productions, acted out by a cast of characters who perform them in an energetic and creative way. So, well done to the entire cast, and congrats! Their show is on at 7am on Channel 12 the U Saturday mornings. If you have some rascals running around your house, sit 'em down and see to it that they are entertained. Alternatively, if you find yourself still drinking at 7am on a Saturday, then you could join in the fun yourself!

If you prefer child enriching entertainment of the live kind, then head over to the Neo-Futurist Theater to see Barrel of Monkeys! They too take stories written by kids and act them out in a hilarious display of creativity nurturing euphoria. Tell them Baroke sent you. You won't get a discount or anything, I just want them to look at you like you're an idiot.

Now, to the original intent of my post and inspiration for its now seemingly irrelevant title: Chicago. Sure, she is corrupt, she betrays her own general well-being by fixing the park district potholes first, sure she privatizes her parking, her parks and her airports - but she is gorgeous. Now, via gapersblock.com, I have found The Windy Pixel. A site for high res images of the City of Big Shoulders. Go and remind yourself why you put up with all the other crap.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Cudi or Carson

Carson Daley isn't a person that I am really fond of but as I was channel surfing last night, I stumbled upon his show feat Kid Cudi.






I'm really glad that I got to see Cudi on there but I'm currently torn. On one side Cudi killed it but on the other, it was on the Carson Daley show. Sigh. Bittersweet. GG Carson.

On another note, I just wanted to take this time to give out a shout out to all those blogs that featured our recent line (google "baroke clothing"). Thanks for all the support ya'll.


baroke Randy

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Outrage and Doing Something...

Yesterday, I started a campaign to unite all sim city 4 users in boycotting user rendered AIG buildings from use in game play.

Not really...

That would be dumb.

I did, however, finally take the time to watch the Jon Stewart interview with Kramer. Now, these days I'm usually not a Daily Show watcher. I recall, however, when Stewart first made headlines with his argument on CNN's Crossfire. News is transitioning in this country, and that's natural. Newspapers will continue to die and be replaced by online webzines and blogs, but the TV has reigned supreme for a good long while now, and I don't see that stopping anytime soon. Could be proven wrong by Steve Jobs, but for now that's my view on things.

Stewart apparently got into a spat over comments he made about CNBC's lack of forsight and responsible reporting in the years leading up to the recession. I expected to see a couple of jabs and zingers but was pleasantly surprised with Stewart's straightforward questions and angered at Jim Kramer's bumbling red-faced responses. Watch & see for yourself:



A lot of these big corporations handle business the way Donald Trump handles real estate. Trump will take out large amounts of money for projects so lavish that he owns the bank. The banks then have a vested interest in seeing to it that the investment succeeds. AIG, it has been said, is a company so large - and an underwriter to so many - that both Bush and Obama have seen it necessary to infuse large amounts of taxpayer dollars into it and other companies like it.

Now I'm not a crazy hippie corporation hater. I like my Nike shoes, long for a MacBook and even the dreaded McDonald's. Hell, I even have the long term goal of owning a development firm and the short term goal of molding Baroke into a clothing company different from any other before it (and maybe, make a profit). While I am no dynamo - yet - I do know that it takes a lot of guts and courage to start your own business, and then a lot of hard work if you want to grow it into something you can live off of. It pisses me off that while our money is being lent to these cumbersome giants, there are no loans for people who want to start their own piece of the still freest market in the world. One of the goals of all this TARP and recovery spending is to free up credit to provide capital. I'm hoping that the public outrage will make the banks think twice about doing anything really dumb with their taxpayer dollars, and get some of this credit flowing.

I'm not an economics expert or anything - but that's just the point - these news outlets (especially the financially specialized ones) need to be told that we expect sound advice and responsible reporting. Not the speculation and sensationlism that has fueled so many bubbles in our nation's history. I guess what I'm getting at is, you could sign the petition (here: http://fixcnbc.com/) and perhaps make a difference. Hell, it works when the Evangelicals call the FCC over boobies!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

No Winter For Me!

So I've had this blogging complex and haven't been able to get myself to blog on Baroke like I said I would. I suck. But Baroke Randy helped me sort it out, so here I am now! Finally.

Since my last blog, I've done a bit more traveling. Besides Hong Kong, I also went to the Mainland a.k.a China (Hangzhou, Suzhou and Shanghai). And you know what? It's everything Americans think it's not or rather, it's not everything that Americans think it is. The transformation China has gone through is insane! From what I witnessed, recycling is highly encouraged! I was even thanked for protecting the environment when I declined a plastic bag for my purchases at a store.

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not trying to say things were perfect in China or Hong Kong. But upon my arrival into the states, I was greeted with racism. And not a day has gone by since where I've been frustrated or bothered by the inefficiencies of our systems -- from our public transportation to McDonald's. Once upon a time, people wanted to live the "advanced" lives of Americans. But now we are lagging behind...fast. How have Americans gotten so comfortable to the point where they're simply lazy? The changes that need to be made here aren't solely the responsbility of our goverment either. Each and every American citizen needs to pick up their pace and open their eyes just a little bit more. Adapt quicker and actually welcome the fucking change. For example: Don't hate the new Facebook layout just because your lazy ass isn't used to it. Just embrace that Mark has done the research to give you what you want, before you even know you want it.

So....on a lighter note, I just got back from Costa Rica. It's beautiful. It's relaxing. I ziplined in the rainforest. Jetskied with the dolphins. Jumped off a waterfall. Salsa danced with the locals. Ended my trip on the beach under a sky full of stars. AMAZING!

It seems that I've basically missed the entire Chicago winter. =P


- baroke v

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

For my 9 to 5-ers

This doesn't pertain to me yet...but one day, yes. I kind of get this feeling at work now, small room, four designers. Moving on, this site is called My Life in a Cube. Shane Johnson draws comics on office supplies, and posts them daily. They are pretty clever.


Check him out.

Oh yeah...these people should be punched/slapped.

-baroke daniel
currently listening to: Mims - Move....yes I said it...okay...or grizzly bear