Hood By Air is another one of our feature stories in our latest Fall '08 issue. Shayne and Raul are, needless to say, the realness, and we learned a lot of new vocabulary from them, including banjee and that cute is on it's way to replacing cool as an affirmative adjective. They just reloaded their site and moved their blog around on it. The Block aka Elite Urban Brigade has been a must bookmark on our list for a while now; great slept on tracks, vibes and dance moves.

This issue we were chuffed to e-sit-down with one of our favorite DJs, DJ Spun. DJ Spun came from The Bay to play dope jams for the people of NYC and he brought a little "Menergy" with him. He's channeled it into organizing the PS1 Summer Warm Up Series, to great acclaim. Check out a set from DJ Spun from this summer's sessions as well as all the other sets and shows from 2008, including James Murphy, Sawako and DJ Dex.

Danger Will Bonerson! Bad Kitty Alert, Bad Kitty Alert! (yeah... that's the "robot from Lost In Space" voice). With 74,000 YouTube views under her belt, which isn't too shab, she calls herself Galactic Angel and she's one Bad Kitty. Beyond malfelinisms, she also does humanitarian work with The Refugee Next Door and we've seen her onstage dancing with another of our favorite NYC girls, Sylvia from Kudu, a couple issues back [Alife cover, Spring 08 - Ed.]. Check out a couple more snaps after the jump and look for this cosmic kitty prowling the streets of NYC, Paris and Uganda...

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J-Pop murals by Heisuke Kitazawa, a vending machine with t-shirts and toys from Giant Robot and rooms with iPod docks and 26-inch flat screens; A new boutique hotel? Nah, the Hotel Tomo, a collabo between Best Western (who knew?) and Joi De Vivre Hotels, in San Francisco's Japantown, kids. Rooms start at $125 but if you feel like, as they say, "ballin'" or "throwin' a little shindig" you can grab one of the PS3-Wii-and-LCD-projection-screen equipped gaming rooms for just $500 per-night. Better than pay-per-view SNES and a fridge at the Hampton Inn. Couple pics after the jump.

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• CHEEBO: Oganic and vegan friendly with a good selection of meat dishes.
• UNION, STUSSY & UNDEFEATED: great one stop shopping.
• FAIRFAX DISTRICT: home of Jewish second hand stores, Russian restaurants and now Supreme.
• COREY HELFORD: Proper lighting, high ceilings, strong line up.
• GRACE: Food is exquisite, full bar, excellent wine.

• MARRA'S: Gritty mob-style Italian.
• THE BISHOP'S COLLAR:The best, cheapest bar food in the city.
• JOESEPH'S: A sneaker museum experience.
• UNIVERSITY CITY: hipster shopping.
• 700 CLUB: Holding it down with parties.
• JOHNNY BRENDA'S: Stepped up their act with bringing in quality acts to their stage.

• Keep tabs on Alex at his Honeyee blog.

• An accomplished producer, check out Alex's phat jams on Discogs.

• Check out one of Alex's interdimensional mixes at Red Bull Music Academy.

• Frank Frazetta: wizards and warriors innovator.
• Jack Kirby: the king.
• Virgil Finlay: mind boggler.
• Alex Nino: Pinoy psych master.
• Berni Wrightson: the master of the dark side.
• Vaughn Bode: mystic wizard.
• Alfredo Alcala: Fillipino comic warlord.
• Jeff Jones: fantasy impressionist.
• Rudy Nerbes: the comic crusader.
• Dave Stevens: the perfecter of the pin-up.