The latest news at R.E. Load! New products, pics, stories, upcoming races and events we are sponsoring, etc. For and about messengers and cyclists in general. Check out reloadbags.com for more info about R.E.Load messenger bags.
I think we're really going to try and keep a bunch of tote bags in stock these days....we're offerring them now at the introductory price of $45 (10% off), check the site!
Just in case anybody missed this....a little while ago we made a batch of custom bags for Baltimore's Shop Gentei. They feature waxed canvas exteriors and a three-ply construction with a super-soft plaid flannel interior layer. Silk screened bases. Basically the butters. So go check 'em out here
I remember when I was a kid, my parents used to go to the Newport Jazz Festival. My dad would always come back talking about Miles Davis and how he'd kinda hang out in the background, come forward and play for a few minutes, then wander off backstage. I'm sure he also said a lot of other things about Miles, but for some reason this is the thing that stuck with me most....actually, I hadn't really thought about it much until I sat down to write about Davis for this posting.
For most, it is this enigmatic quality that first comes to mind when thinking of Miles Davis. Born in 1926, Davis played with Charlie Parker in the late 1940's. A decade later, he formed a quintet with John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. This version of "Milestones" showcases the talents of Davis and Coltrane.
Although the group would see a change in several members over the next few years, he went on to record the legendary - and best-selling jazz album of all time - "Kind of Blue" in 1959. I'll let some people far more qualified than myself talk about this recording
Davis' second quintet consisted of himself, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, and Ron Carter. To say this was an all-star lineup would be an understatement. Here's "Agitation" from the album "E.S.P."
As with all musicians with any longevity, Davis changed his style from album to album, year to year. During the sixties he release "In a Silent Way" (actually one of my favorite albums) and "Bitches Brew", helping to usher in a new sound that would come to be known as "fusion". Although the title track of "In a Silent Way" is a beautiful, slowly-building piece, this video drops in on my favorite part, so i went with it
in 1972, Miles released "On the Corner", and album with a decidedly stronger focus on funk and rock. This was not necessarily seen as a positive thing by critics at the time. However, it proved the progressive nature of Davis as an artist.
Through the late seventies, Miles Davis actually disappeared from the scene. This was due to a number of factors including drugs, physical problems not related to drugs, and psychological issues. However, he resurfaced in the early eighties and recorded several more albums. Since this was actually during my youth, the one I remember was "Amandla", released in 1989. Here, you can also see his trademark style; he was known to show up in what would be considered "daring" getup at the time. Note that this extended even to his customized trumpet.
We really couldn't have asked for a more positive review ....actually, we've been doing some follow-up surveys with other recent customers, and the general consensus is that the new Midpack design is "awesome". Now you guys know why it took so long to release it!
Brie's "Vintage Flowers" Civilian, Gerik's "Leopard" Civilian, and Bea's "Ruckus" Softpack. Fresh from under the needles and available in our custom stock section!
THE VIDEOS LINKED IN THIS POST CONTAIN HARSH LANGUAGE!! SO BEFORE CLICKING ANY OF THEM, PLEASE BE AWARE OF THIS FACT!
Ok, before we get started....I have to start a new bag series. I love - LOVE - doing the Music Tribute series, and have absolutely no plans of stopping with that. However, these days I'm finding that more and more I want to make bags based on the people I'm most excited about RIGHT THIS MINUTE. Which doesn't really correspond to "legends" of music, in a lot of cases.
For the most part, I listen to hip hop. That's always been the case, since about 7th grade. So, I'm lucky enough to have been around for the early years - what some would call the "golden years" - when De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest, Eric B. and Rakim, Organized Konfusion, Main Source, Black Sheep, etc. were getting air play. By the way, I'm coming off the top of the head here, so please don't look very deep into that little list of names I spouted; there are many, many names that would be added to that list but I don't really have the time or the space to expound upon that right this second. Suffice to say, while there are a whole of candidates within the world of hip hop that I feel can be added to the category of "legend of music" in general (I've already done Dilla and Rakim), there are a whole lot more people I can think of who have been banging stuff out for years but have only just begun. Mostly I'm focusing on hip hop production, as that's what I've been into these days.
Black Milk. Ta'raach. Waajeed. Khrysis. 9th Wonder. Sa-Ra. J Rawls. Kev Brown. Oddissee. The list goes on. Anyway, I'm probably going to feel the urge to make a few bags based on these guys. I'm not really sure how I'll do it; I might make "regional" bags (for instance putting out a Detroit bag featuring Waajeed and Black Milk), or I might actually go ahead and do individual ones. I don't know. But they're coming.
Now on to the topic at hand: DJ Premier (aka Primo, Preem, Premo, or probably any other misspelled variation you can think of). I went off on that ramble, actually, because he is an artist that can fit into the category of "legend" OR "hot right now". Because his beats have been hot for years. I actually found some production credits for things I had absolutely no idea he had been involved with! I knew he'd first broken into the scene with Gangstarr (he and Guru dropped their first album together in '89). However, I quickly found out that he had worked with Lord Finesse in 1990 on a remix of "Funky Technician". He worked with Ice T in '91. He worked on the "Blue Funk" album for Heavy D in 1992 (young cats, trust me, Heavy D was a shoe-in for hits at that time) along with Pete Rock. He did stuff with Soul II Soul that year too.
Of course, he's best known for his work as one half of Gangstarr. Right from the start, he created his trademark imprint on the single "Words I Manifest" (Robbie, I hope you're reading this somehow). He's widely known for creating choruses by cutting and scratching lyrical samples rather that having the mc (in this case, Guru) actually rhyme out a chorus. In this song, he simply cut up one line, but as the years went by, he became an absolute monster with the technique. There's some later tracks where he pulls up half a dozen or more amazing, relevant samples and strings them into a perfect chorus.
I had a hard time trying to decide whether or not to include clips of just his instrumental versions (since he never really gets on the mic) or to go go ahead and put the full tracks with the mc's up. In the end, I went with the latter. Mainly because one of his strengths has always been his ability to fit the track to the mc. And he's worked with a ton of 'em. I'll get back to the Gangstarr in a second, but in my mind, one of the sickest tracks ever was the beat he put together for Jeru the Damaja on Jeru's debut album "The Sun Rises in the East".
I can't even imagine anybody else making something this dirty, and it matches Jeru's voice and cadence PERFECTLY. When this came out in 94, my friends and I completely lost our minds. Mostly because it was the followup track to another of hip hops best beats ever: "Come Clean", also by Jeru. Also produced by Premo. Oh, what do you know! Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, I'm just going to put up this video somebody made of Jeru's whole album, taken in snippets. A good, quick way to check out the production across the whole thing, which is masterful. (Be aware, this album has profanity! If you don't want to hear it don't click! Yeah, this pretty much goes for the rest of the clips after this too.)
Getting back to Gangstarr....I can't even come close to listing all of the amazing beats Premier put out for Guru to flow over. but I think it says a lot of Premier that he was able to tailor his production to the deep monotone flow that Guru brought to the table. And - much like Jeru, who is still (for better or worse) making music today - you can see the difference in quality when Guru rhymes over a Premo beat versus somebody else's beat. Ummm....Jazzmatazz series, anybody? All kidding aside, it's just not the same. Premier made mc's better, period.
OK, I'm just going to say this: All of Gangstarr's albums, from 1989's "No More Mr. Nice Guy" all the way through 1998's "Moment of Truth" have banging production from Premier. Honestly, I left their last album ("The Ownerz") on the rack, so don't ask me about that one please.
Premo has made hits with more relevant artists than possibly any other producer in hip hop today. I'm going to leave that statement sitting on this screen while I keep writing, and see if in the end, I can think of somebody else who trumps him....anyway, he worked with KRS-One in 1993 on his album "Return of the Boom Bap", which kept KRS in the game after the end of the Boogie Down Productions (BDP) era.
He produced Mobb Deep's first single ("Peer Pressure"). He made arguably one of the best beats on arguably one of the best hip hop albums ever...."New York State of Mind" off of Nas' 1992 debut "Illmatic":
He made some of the craziest beats for another guy that some would consider the illest of all time: Biggie. Tracks including "Unbelievable", "Kick in the Door", and "Ten Crack Commandments" remain classics to this day...as much due to Premo's work as due to the lyrics and flow of the late B.I.G.
Add to the list Das Efx, Fat Joe, Jay Z, Rakim, Brand Nubian, Mos Def, Big L, Common, Dilated Peoples, Snoop Dogg, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Kanye West, and Kool G Rap. Just to, you know, name a few of the other luminaries that have benefitted from Premier productions.
On a side note, I really wish that a) Storch had never gotten hold of Fat Joe and b) Pun was still around.
This is getting pretty long, but I can't really skip the fact that along with the big names, Premier was always down with the groups that didn't really get a lot of radio play, but were loved by the "core" of hip hop fans. There's a quote that stuck with me while I was watching the "Beat Kings" documentary DVD. Premo is talking about the state of hip hop, and to paraphrase, he basically says "There's no such thing as weak hip hop. There's hip hop, and then there's weak music." This is something he really takes to heart, and it's apparent in the collaborations he's done with all different types of people. Reflected in his work with "underground" legends such as Group Home:
and M.O.P.
and Show & AG
and Bahamadia
he brought in his whole crew from the famed D+D studios for this one
and not-so-much-legends like Paula Perry somehow got blessed with this amazing track
To this day, he continues to provide heat for artists big and small, such as "So Amazing" from Termanology's 2008 "Politics as Usual"
That's probably enough for now....aside from hip hop, he's done tracks for Janet Jackson, Christina Aquilera, Alicia Keys, and many other artists to boot. He'll probably be rocking that MP-60 for a long time to come.
i actually made this video back in November while I was making the prize bag for the D.C. Obama Alleycat race. It's the first (and only) video I've ever made, and honestly I wasn't too sure if I'd ever put it up. Lately though, I've felt like I might as well, and the beginning of the Obama era seemed like a great time to do it. Enjoy!
One of the purest signs that I go by when I think of who I need to make a tribute bag for in my Music Series is whether or not I instantly become overwhelmed by emotion when I think of the artist in question. In this particular case - the incomparable genius that is Stevie Wonder - there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever. Just thinking about some of the music that he has put out over the years literally makes my heart warm. In fact, he was one of the first people that I thought of when the series was first conceived over a year ago. I can't really say what took me so long....well, part of it was definitely hesitation as far as what the graphic itself would look like. He's been through so many periods and styles that I honestly couldn't decide which iteration of Stevie that I wanted to go with! Finally - about a week ago - I realized that I really wanted to do another J Dilla bag (actually, I think I could do a Dilla bag every week and not get tired of it). And if this was the case - I was starting to set up and prep a second Dilla bag (I kept the first one, as he is my favorite producer of all time), I could easily justify eventually making more Stevie Wonder bags with different graphics as well. So, I chose a pic and work began.
For an artist as well-known as Stevie, there's of course a ton of biographical information and pictures scattered across the internet, so I won't go too deep into his history. Instead, I'll just share how I feel about his music personally. I can remember back when I was in college; I hung out with a friend a few times and we got on the subject of music. I mentioned Stevie and she says "the guy from 'Woman in Red' (80's movie starring Gene Wilder and Kelly Lebrock in case you don't know)?!? He SUCKS!" Instantly my whole attitude towards her changed! I mean, you don't have to love him, but to hate him? I feel bad for anybody whose image of Stevie is based on that movie or hearing "I Just Called to Say I Love You" alone. The man dropped classic album after classic album for almost two decades from the late sixties through the early eighties....the "Woman in Red" soundtrack (which isn't even bad per se, just not up to his regular standards) aside, you could extend this through to his 1985 release "in Square Circle", which, although not usually grouped in with legendary LP's such as "Innervisions", "Songs in the Key of Life", and "Musiquarium:, happens to be one of my favorites.
Anyway, the real thing about Stevie Wonder, as far as I am concerned, is the range of emotions that his music possesses. Seriously; regardless of what your mood is - maybe you just broke up with your girl, maybe you just caught up with an old friend, maybe you just fell in love, maybe you're thinking about what to do with your future - he's got you covered with something. He's been there just about every time my life has really gotten rough. He's got songs for when you're sad and need to feel better, or for when you're sad and just want to stew in your sadness for a while longer.
Selecting just a few tracks from his body of work is a bit difficult, so I'm just going to go with a few personal favorites....First up is "That Girl" off of his "Musiquarium" double album from 1982. The quality on this video isn't that great, but i just love the fact that it's live from '82.
"Living for the City" is from his 1973 release "Innervisions". This video is best watched while wearing headphones (edit - actually all of these are best played loud with headphones)!!! I love this version.
This next one I actually chose for the second song in the video: "Maybe Your Baby", which is taken off of his 1972 LP "Talking Book". The version was just too sick to pass up. Not that the first song - "Superstition", which is off of the same album - is bad by any means, but it's not one I would have chosen given the small scope of this post.
"Superwoman (where were you when I needed you)", off of "Music of my Mind" is one of my favorite Stevie Wonder cuts. Check for the transition at about 3:00....and the buildup near the end is absolutely ridiculous.
I could probably fill this up with about 40 songs pretty easily....I'll just leave it with this last one: "Love Having You Around", again off of "Music of My Mind".
I think I'll probably spend another few hours just on YouTube with these other videos! Hope you've enjoyed 'em!
Chuey and I talked a little while ago about doing some sort of collaboration hats for the New Year....well, they're done. And they're ridiculous. I just got these flicks from Chuey himself, and although we wont have the hats physically in our hands for another couple of days, I couldn't help myself from posting this up right now. These hats are AMAZING!!!! They're wool, with ear flaps, hand-printed and stitched, and there's only 50 of them. Check out for them in the clothing section of our web site by the end of the week!
The wait is officially over! Our new Minipacks are done, and ready for sale....you can order a custom one to your own color specs (just email us) , or grab a stock color way option (they should be up pretty soon in stock formats on the collections page). Either way, they're redesigned in the mold of their older sibling, the Midpack. Fully weatherproof with a brand new fold-over flap for complete coverage. Mesh side pockets for water bottles. Inside organizer pocket and inside rear full-length pocket for folders, laptops, whatever. And a huge waterproof outside bellows pocket for everything else. With closed-cell foam shoulder straps featuring adjustable sternum straps and d-rings, and a padded back panel, this thing is ready for your daily expeditions. 15" h x 12" w x 5"d.
The completely new-for-2009 Softpack model is finally ready for release, and apparently not a moment too soon! We actually made a bunch of these to put up on the site for the Holiday rush, and they sold out of the store before we could even get most of them up on the site. The concept is pretty simple, and is based almost entirely on customer requests from the past few years: A small, lightweight, durable pack that can replace regular "knapsacks" and is made entirely in the U.S. Introducing - for your wearing pleasure - the R.E.Load Softpack.
The Softpack shares the exact dimensions of our new Minipack (15" h x 12" w x 5"d), as well as the same redesigned shoulder straps (anatomically-molded closed cell foam with an adjustable sternum strap and d-rings for keys and such). As well as a padded closed cell foam back panel for comfort. And it has the same redesigned fold-over flap and upper side compression straps. However, as opposed to the Minipack's vinyl-coated nylon liner, the Softpack boasts a pack cloth liner that, although not fully weatherproof like the Minipack, remains waaaay more water-resistant than the average school pack. Meaning, unless you stay out in the rain for a long time , your stuff will still be dry. And - taking a queue from the successful Dash/Sprint releases, the Softpack features three flat, velcro-free pockets on the front of the bag as well as the inside. Plenty of room for all of your valuables.
This new bag is super-light (about half the weight of our Minipack, at 1.8 lbs!), and super-soft and comfortable. We've gotten great reviews already from the ones we've sold so far...you can order yours in the "collections" pages of our website!
So i got an email off the messenger list serve about a messenger bag vvote-off ....I'm actually really curious to see the results! I think there's a few companies missing (Pac, Bailey, freight, Under the Weather, just to name a few of the "bigger name" ones), but overall it should be interesting if enough people actually give their input. We're always glad to hear about things that people would like to change about our bags, or reasons why they prefer others. I think you actually have to register to vote - which is of course a bit of a deterrent - but if you have the time, go on there and put in your choice for 2009!
*btw, I'm abstaining from voting due to obvious conflicts of interest :)
A little while ago I posted about how much skill R.E.Load as a whole has when it comes to custom graphics and applique. At the time I was missing proper photos from our newest graphics team member, Brie. Although she has been doing this for far less time that Carrie, Gerik, Ellie, Ingrid, or myself, she has been progressing at a very steady rate, and - as is the case with all of our best stitchers - has been developing styles and techniques of her own.
Brie made the above bag as a piece for the Compound Warehaus' November opening, which had a "Nightmare on Elm Street" theme.
Not having seen the flap work beforehand, I was pretty surprised to see the level of color layering and attention to detail on the bag. Not because I didnt expect great work from her; it's just that the artwork represented here is something that we normally dont have that many opportunities to do, since if this had been an actual customer order, the graphics charge would turn most people away. So, most of the time something that might have started with an idea like this would have been filtered down, with several layers of color eliminated, and a lot of detail simplified, in an effort to get the graphic down into a customer price range. But since this was for an art show, Brie had time to go as far as she wanted with the design.
I think one of the most impressive things here is that you really get the feeling of the "hair" on the body of the bee; it LOOKS like fuzz. Although it is a bit hard to translate through a computer screen, the body - as well as the honeycomb - are livened by appropriate texture, which is a style that is very difficult to pull off. You can see how many indivudually-colored sections are in just this part of the bag alone. This takes an extraordinary amount of planning and focus. And I think it speaks very well of the overall design that the graphic, color selection, and technique employed to create the image are all equally compelling.
Check out work from Brie, Carrie, Chika, Ellie, Gerik, Ingrid, Jean, and Ro on our flickr page!
This has nothing to do with bags, but it DOES have to do with music - and thus my music series - and the man who inspired me to start the series in the first place. Arguably the best producer ever to touch an MPC: J Dilla.
I was randomly skimming through the web looking for some new music and I came across this post from Questlove about one of his experiences with the late Detroit producer/mc....check it our here.
I've been putting off making another Dilla bag for the music series, but most likely I'll be making two of em a bit after the new year. One is going to be mine (the one pictured above is mine; I made that particular bag about two and a half years ago), and one will go up for auction, with the proceeds going to the J Dilla Foundation.
You know, we've been doing custom graphics bags for over ten years now. That's a good many years more than most of our competition. And it shows. Personally I don't like to toot my horn too much, but since these bags were made by Gerik and Carrie, respectively, I can technically give them props while keeping my own ego in check.
Here we have a pretty nice bag with a sabertooth tiger on it. Nice enough, you can tell, by this pic....but the true test of an applique stitcher is if their work still looks good as you get closer and closer to the bag. A lot of stitchers can make a what appears to be a nice image, but as you look closely, you can see how chunky and uneven the line work is, and - with enough experience - how flawed their original layout plan is. Layout and determining which layers go in which order is actually as important in applique work as stitching skill itself is. It's not even necessarily something that comes with experience per se; it's just innate in the stitcher's thought process. Yes, as a stitcher encounters more and more different types of images, they get a better feel for the proper technique in a given situation, but its not something that can really be "taught" or will definitely come with time.
Ok, we're a little closer now and still looking lovely.
Some more of the intricacies of the color layering are becoming apparent here.
Ok, so now you can fully see that the teeth and their shaded areas are in fact areas of tapered stitching rather than fabric cutouts. This painterly approach - which is mirrored throughout the body and feet of the lion - is a trademark style for Gerik's work, and allows him to pull off interpretations of detailed artwork far, far closer to the original idea than would be possible if he had to rely strictly on the classic technique of stitching over fabric using a static stitch width. It takes an amazing amount of control and knowledge of the machine to pull off work like this.
Carrie from Fabric Horse worked on this guy a little earlier this week. Basically, the same fundamentals that I spoke about with Gerik's bag apply here. This is, quite simply, work that a lot of other companies could not pull off this well.
Carrie made this bag right before the messenger world championships (which took place in Toronto earlier this fall). While the detail work is not as intense, the amount of color layering and preparation required is substantial. Doing this graphic without the artwork becoming a thick, chunky mess is very difficult.
Sometimes we just gotta let people know: our methods for putting graphics on your bags are NOT capable of being learned overnight. We are constantly working on new and better techniques so we can remain a few steps of the competition. Hopefully you'll agree!
A few months ago I was contacted by a customer in Canada about the possibility of doing a Biz Markie music series bag. I was excited, to say the least, because I absolutely love the music series in general, and understanding peoples' connections to their favorite musicians, I am completely open to fashioning bags of all sorts with inspiration from all genres of music. But I have to admit, I was even more excited on this particular occasion because the artist that they wanted on the bag was Biz Markie. Biz Markie's debut LP "Going Off" was actually the very first cassette tape I personally owned (along with Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew), and I instantly remembered being in 8th grade and hearing "Pickin' Boogers" for the first time. The year was '88 (yes I'm old).
Biz was the original clown of hip hop in my mind, and moreover I love the fact that his music references a time when you could listen to songs about simple stuff....like going to the mall, or going to a party. When a video was basically filming you and your crew, beginning on a stoop and maybe ending in a park. His cut "Nobody Beats the Biz" is a classic no doubt, but especially for NYC kids it was extra nice because it parodied the "Wiz" electronics store chain's commercial jingle.
I can't go on without mentioning that Biz was part of The Juice Crew, a classic group of emcee's and dj's featuring himself, Marley Marl (one of the pioneers of hip hop in radio and production), Craig G, Roxanne Shante, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, MC Shan, and others. Red Alert's weekly radio show was completely inundated with Juice Crew tracks, and "The Vapors" was maybe one of my favorites. Check out a young Marley and Kane...and also peep TJ Swan's fresh dipped gear. This was the era of suits, chains, Travel Fox, Troop, MCM, and Gucci and Louis Vouitton velour, and Biz represented it well.
The song that made him famous as far as the mainstream goes was "Just a Friend", a single from his sophomore release ("The Biz Never Sleeps") in 1989
Biz's future albums never again really reached the peaks of the first couple, but since then he has switched his focus to dj'ing and is actually extremely successful at it. Not to mention the various appearances on television on everything from kiddie shows (teaching the youngsters how to beat box) to VH1. Biz is definitely a living legend and I'm happy to have a Biz bag out there.
I've lived in Philadelphia since 1992 (after moving here from my hometown of NYC for college), and I can honestly say I have never been in a city where the sports fans are anywhere near as insane and dedicated. I remember when I came to check the city out back in '92....the Phils had just won the pennant and there were literally POLICE OFFICERS going crazy and running around partying. Anyway, for those who are unaware, the City of Brotherly Love has gone over 25 years without a title of any sort in any of the four major sports (no, the Philadelphia Soul arena football team does not count).
That all ended a few days ago. The Phillies won the series and the town promptly exploded into a celebration the likes of which i have not seen since....well, since ever. Take the New Year's day Mummers parade and multiply it by maybe, oh i don't know, about FOUR, and you can get some sense of it. People were pouring out of their houses in South Philly. Kids were running around with homemade banners. Cars were leaning on the horns, with people hanging out of them cheering. Mind you this is what was taking place AWAY from Broad Street.
The above photo was taken on 6th and Greenwich. Sorry, but I only had my phone with me so the pics are all a bit blurry. Anyway, Greenwich is a tiny street and this is about a quarter of the people out on that corner.
Streams of people were converging on Broad Street from all directions. As we neared, the cheering was getting louder and louder; it was evident from blocks away that the scene was going to be ridiculous to say the least.
A parade of vehicles ranging from bikes to pickup trucks slowly rolled their way up Broad, mostly with passengers high-fiving people as they passed. Pretty much the police weren't trying to get involved unless somebody was assaulting someone or damaging property, so people were openly drinking from bottles and dancing around.
I'm not exaggerating when I say my hand was sore the next two days from slapping high fives with so many people, with so much vigor. Seeing kids, adults, and grandparents of all types, all celebrating together, clearly on top of the world, is something that is rarely seen in this city and was quite a welcome change.
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES 2008 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS !!!!!!
R.E.Load has a huge presence in Japan, and this is due in no small part to the support of Seiya Minato and his store, Depot. We've been working with them for about six or seven years now, and so when we heard that he was starting a brand new bicycle brand we went ahead and made him a new bag to showcase at the Cycle Mode bike expo.
His brand is actually a collaboration with several other small track bike culture shops around Tokyo, and as such is appropriately named "Tomoni", which means "Together" in Japanese. Anyway, we can't wait to see what Tomoni has in store, and of course we'll be spreading photos around as we get them.
Seiya also sent me a very interesting picture of Shin - his shop manager - which I'd like to share with all of you. As Seiya is so fond of saying: "Hahahahahaha!!!!!"
