Coney Island celebrates the start of summer every year with the annual Mermaid Parade. It's definitely the most elaborate kick-off with thousands of people dressed in amazing costumes and partying on the boardwalk only like NYC knows how to.

Check out the photos from the Mermaid Parade on my Flickr

Faile and Bast have completely outdone themselves with their latest installation "Deluxx Fluxx Arcade 2010". 158 Allen Street in NYC has been completely transformed into an street art game room with 10 standing arcades and a black light room with a neon foosball table in the back.

The cabinets (which used original hardware from the 80s and early 90s) were painted and plastered with posters by the artists. Then, Adapted Studio in Brooklyn translated their artwork into a set of 40 game-like interactive pieces and Les Savy Fav supplied the accompanying music. You've got games that allow you to interact with artwork via wheels, joysticks, buttons, and guns. You can even buy custom tokens though a coin machine to take you to special levels or just to take home as a keepsake.

It's such a relief to go to an artists' event where you can interact with the art, actually touch it and have fun. Too much now a days art shows are very sterile and leave little for the fans to take home as an 'experience', but Faile and Bast have taken that concept to the extreme in this amazingly original and completely addictive concept. So thank you guys for not being boring, seriously, thank you.

Deluxx Fluxx Arcade
158 Allen Street in NYC
Open now through May 27th

For more photos of the installation visit My Flickr

This past Saturday Alex Pardee and Dave Correia stopped by NYC on their “SKETCH 4 SKETCH Tour: A Nationwide Quest To Exchange Inspiration For Inspiration". The idea behind the tour is that you meet up with them in a city near you and give them a sketch, in return, they will give you a sketch that was inspired by your drawing!

This leg of the tour was the halfway point and NYC fans were treated to a special guest, Tara McPherson. So give one sketch, get 3. No wonder over 200 people lined down the street when the store opened. But nobody walked away empty handed and the guys happily traded sketches for 8.5 hours! They are such amazing people. I love them!

So grab your pens and pencils, make a creation, and don't miss your chance to see Alex and Dave on the SKETCH 4 SKETCH Tour.

Upcoming Tour Dates:

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28: NEW ORLEANS, LA
THURSDAY, APRIL 29: HOUSTON, TX & AUSTIN, TX
FRIDAY, APRIL 30: DALLAS, TX
SATURDAY, MAY 1: ALBUQUERQUE, NM
SUNDAY, MAY 2: PHOENIX, AZ & LAS VEGAS, NV
MONDAY, MAY 3: LAS VEGAS, NV & LOS ANGELES, CA
TUESDAY, MAY 4: LOS ANGELES, CA & SANTA BARBARA, CA
WEDNESDAY, MAY 5: SANTA CRUZ, CA & SAN FRANCISCO, CA

For more info check out Alex's Blog: http://eyesuckink.blogspot.com/

When French graffiti artist TILT told me he was coming to stay in NYC for a year I was excited to say the least. TILT is one of the sweetest, most talented people I have ever met. And even though his crazy ass spent more time traveling around the world painting walls and naked women (yes, your job does suck) I was still happy to know that Brooklyn was his home base for a while.