Some folks say that we get to have all the fun, we’d have to agree.

Together with our partners at Oy, Nike asked us to give a heroes home coming welcome to their employee athletes who took part in the 2010 Étape du Tour. This year a group of 34 cyclists trained for six months to combat the infamous stage from Pau to Col du Tourmalet, including the treacherous final climb which has become part of cycling folklore.

Inspired by Nike’s innovative Chalkbot, we headed out to their European headquarters in Hilversum and sprayed congratulatory messages to all the participants, showing the encouragement and support of their friends and colleagues. With help from our mates at Goed Bezig, we managed to pull off a pretty impressive and iconic environmental display. Check out more images here.

Photo by Chris

At the office I’m always trying to explain memories from my experiences in Paris, my neighbourhood in the 19th district, my mates, our parties. So when I heard that the crew wanted to go to my city to soak up the culture I felt like I had a mission to accomplish. My aim was to make the crew discover “Paname” ~ Paris’ B-side, far far away from the Eiffel Tower and Moulin-Rouge. Co-incidence of the calendar, the chosen weekend also happened to feature “la fête de la musique“, Paris’ massive street event where people play, dance, listen and enjoy music in the whole city.

On our first night we hit 2 clubs, a new one called “1979″ and the unmistakable ”Social Club” ~ the basement hangout for young Parisian cool cats. To end the evening we enjoyed a suturing walk at sunrise through the city back home. Revitalised by some good bread and stinky French cheese we continued exploring and walked on the “Petite Ceinture” an abandoned train line that goes all around Paris. After going through a Chinese protest in Belleville we ended up at “Le Point Ephémère“, one of the rare legal squats in Paris.

For “la fête de la musique” we went to a block party organised by “Pain O Chokolat“. The main act was 113 and Dead Prez. We enjoyed our time dancing with a large eclectic crowd. To finish our evening we took the last metro deep into the suburbs and arrived at a friend’s house party that was off the hook.

Photo by Sarah Esteje

Notre Maison - This place was so impressive it even amazed my Lyonnais mates. If you want the authentic experience look no further.

L'epicerie Sarl

L’epicurie Sarl - This café’s speciality is tartines and has some delicious desserts.

La Limonade de Marinette - This café is in an old general store and is a great place to stop for lunch before you attempt the accent to the Basilica.

La Cave d’à Côté - This wine bar is a hidden gem. Make sure you order a assiette de charcuterie platter here, it’s amazing.

GUP Magazine's launch party for their latest theme 'The Street Issue'

Lucky lapdance winner at the 1 jaar kraakhelder party, Sociëteit De Sauna

Last Friday night I went to two superb events, the first was GUP Magazine’s launch party of their latest theme ‘The Street Issue’ at Kahmann Gallery. Quite an impressive turnout of Amsterdam’s uber cool rocked up for this summer celebration of the bimonthly Guide to Unique Photography, also featuring an exhibition by students from The Royal Academy of Arts The Hague.

After this I headed over to Sociëteit De Sauna for the 1 Jaar Kraakhelder party! It was here that I bumped into an admirer sporting a Dolly Rogers Groupie t-shirt. (I love it when that happens!) Apparently, I left too early and missed out on the lucky lapdance raffle. Still, it remains one of my current fave underground venues in Amsterdam.

I owe my friends on Twitter a big thank you as your tweets reminded me that I had two tickets to go see LCD Soundsystem. It was a brilliant show where they played their classics with a new rock twist that’s evident on their new album This is Happening. The new tracks got the crowd going and the classics nearly turned the famous Paradiso into a mountain of rubble. If this is their final tour then they went out with style.

We are over the moon with the news that our work for WeTransfer was selected as an Official Webby Honoree for the Best Visual Design - Function. Listed alongside Behance, Microsoft’s Bing and Nike+, it’s a huge achievement considering it was launched only four months ago.

Checkout the WeTranfer case study here and try it for yourself here.

Long live president ! Tropenmuseum Amsterdam from 2 April to 30 August 2010

Emilie Ngyuyen and Euginy Kolesnik in William Forsythe's 'In the middle, somewhat elevated'. Photo © 2008 Willie Davis

I have to admit, I’d never experienced an adrenaline rush at the ballet before, that is until I went to see William Forsythe’s ‘In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated’ with electronic composition by Thom Willems.

The current programme at Het Nationale Ballet, Theme & Variations brings together four generations of choreographers in a tribute to George Balanchine, master of modern ballet.

The final piece and Forsythe’s virtuoso ode to abstract dance left me on the edge of my seat in pure captivation. The piece was originally choreographed for the Paris Opera (1987) and is a Dutch National Ballet premiere at Het Muziektheater Amsterdam until April 20.

We love our friends and when it’s time to highlight them we’re always down for a bit of savage promotion. So on that note, let me introduce you to Gohan, young talented Parisian composer that has just remixed “Divisive” the latest single of We Have Band (you gotta check out this album by the way, it’s awesome). Gohan is part of this new breed that goes beyond “fidget-dance brainless-house-music” and proposes a more sentimental approach to electro. Also part of this scene is Mondkopf (another young french cat) that Gohan has also remixed. You can find out more about Gohan and his tracks, mixes, remixes and influences on his blog peur bleue.

http://www.myspace.com/gohanmusikk

Anybody that  knows me knows that I’m one competitive guy. Everything I do I have to be the best or at least beat my mates at it. So the idea of Secret Wars was right up my alley, and apparently also for the hundred or so people that crammed into the Sid Lee Collective Gallery space for the first of three events. Round one was Amsterdam Vs. Cardiff with the home team drawing (sorry, but I had too) first blood. See you at the next event on Friday 23 April!

PS. These pics were stolen from Kriss Créol’s blog. Thanks mate!