Australian Open 2011

After 14 days in Melbourne, Novak Djokovic was crowned the Australian Open champion for the second time after beating Britain's Andy Murray in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.

In a tournament where most eyes were on Rafa Nadal's conquest to complete the 'Rafa Slam', the final was an unexpected meeting that featured neither Nadal or Federer. In a turn-up for the books, Djokovic met Britain's Andy Murray in the first grand slam final since Australia 2008 to feature neither of the world's top two. Nadal's mission was brought to an abrupt halt in the quarter-finals by David Ferrer after sustaining a hamstring injury in the second game, while Federer crashed out in the semi-finals for a second successive time to Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic began 2011 in style, dropping only one set throughout the whole tournament, one where he faced Berdych, Federer, and Murray. His only dropped set came in the second round to an unseeded Ivan Dodig, otherwise he played a flawless tournament. In the final, he sped around the back of the court returning almost everything that came his way, while a lacklustre Murray gifted Djokovic with a win through an unforced error, his 46th of the match. Perhaps the pressure got to Murray as he came so close to winning the first grand slam for Britain since Fred Perry won the U.S. Open in 1936. 75 years later, will Murray complete the feat this year, we'll need to wait and see, Wimbledon maybe? My money is on Rafa to come back for the French Open in May.

The women's final on saturday saw China's first grand-slam finalist Li Na taking on Kim Clijsters. In a match lasting just over two hours, Clijsters, the darling of the crowd, won 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 and claimed she feels she can now be called Aussie Kim after her maiden victory. Clijsters returned to the game 18 months ago after a two year retirement and since then has won three of the last six grand slam events. When tomorrow's rankings are released she will move up to world number 2, and in her current form, surely it won't be long before she moves up to number one...after all she has won four grand slams compared to world number one, Caroline Wozniacki, who has yet to win a grand slam.

The History of Hip Hop Beatboxed

French beat boxer Eklips recorded this incredible history of hip hop in just one take. Lasting an just over four minutes, it features lots of classics from throughout the ages starting with Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight. How many tracks can you recognise?

Spotted on the Billionaire Boys Club Blog

Tom Storm - World In A Bubble

The image above is one taken by freelance photographer Tom Storm. It features the City Hall in Philadelphia and is my personal favourite so far from his World In A Bubble Project.

The World In A Bubble Project came to life in 2006 after Tom travelled to Ireland for the Galway Arts Festival. Surrounded by huge bubbles, he started snapping away and when he closer examined the pictures he found incredible crisp detail, "a whole world within the bubble, a perfect world in focus".

My Modern Met recently interviewed Tom to find out more about the project and his plans. It seems like he has a lot of ambition to capture some iconic landmarks around the world including the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, the White House, and the Hollywood sign. Head on over to My Modern Met to read the interview and to see more of the incredible bubble images. I've posted a few of my favourites below.

Brandenburg Gate - Berlin, Germany

Times Square - New York, USA

Neptune's Fountain - Gdansk, Poland

You can see more of Tom's work on his website

Nike: "BOOM"

Nike's "BOOM" campaign began in October 2010 but thanks to my residency in the UK, I wasn't aware of this advert, or the campaign, until today when I was writing a social media report for Nike. The commercial features a number of famous faces and feel good moments. The moments captured are those that sports fans live for, while other clips, like the Serena Williams Mercedes moment, are just there for the wow factor I guess.

My favourite moments include the Eric Koston 180 ollie down the stairs, Rick Ross's feel good bling moment, and the nasty yet amazing NFL tackle. The Merc looks pretty sweet too! I like what Nike create with the advert. Viewers can feel a connection with one of the situations to relate it to their life, and it is these memories that we remember and live to recreate. I'm surprised by the low pick-up on the advert, hopefully Nike work on this for 2011 because everyone needs some boom in their life!

NYC Time Lapse Video

Above is a truly stunning video from videographer Mindrelic. The video takes the viewer through all of New York in just 3 minutes and 25 seconds, yet the time lapsed tour maintains all of the magic of the city. Josh Owens has done a terrific job of capturing the life of one the most iconic cities in the world, the last shot in particular will work its way onto my desktop in a matter of minutes.

The track in the background is from Dredg and it's called Down to The Cellar.

Sourced from Hypebeast

Talib Kweli - Gutter Rainbows

Talib Kweli is set to return with his first solo album since 2007's Eardrum. Gutter Rainbows, set to be released independently, will be available digitally in North America, and in all formats in the rest of the world, on January 25th.

The hip-hop veteran, who rose to fame with Mos Def as one half of Black Star, returns with the debut single from Gutter Rainbows, entitled Cold Rain. The track, produced by Ski Beatz, has an affective piano run boosted by a galvanising drum beat finished off by Talib's infectious flow and wordplay. The upcoming album, believed to be his most personal to date, lacks the all-star line-up of Ear Drum but focuses on the lyrics for a no-holds-barred hip-hop album.

For those of you that haven't heard of Talib Kweli, first of all check out Cold Rain below (Free Download at rcrdlbl), then listen to The Beautiful Struggle, Eardrum or if you want some free music, check out Reflection Eternal (The Re:Union). I first saw Talib when he supported Kanye West back in 2004 and his set made sure I kept an eye on him and I've been supporting him ever since. Pick up Gutter Rainbow's on January 25th (or download in the US) and keep an eye out for his next project, rumoured to be called Prisoners Of Conscious.