Screen Prints

This week in the studio I have been working on printing a large scale reproduction of a collage for English (via Sweden) photorealist artist Howard Brookes [Falling pictured above]. He does amazingly beautiful, ridiculously detailed, magical realist/photorealist paintings. He works on some for as long as a year. He has been working on two in the studio for the last few weeks. Some of the paintings he does of his collages are just insane. And huge! Anyway, it has been really fun working on his images. We set one to print today at 36 inches by 48 inches. We are planning on printing one at 52 inches wide once we get our big Roland printer up and running next week. We are printing them on canvas so that we can stretch them and he can go in and embellish them by hand. He is also going to collage on top of the print to give it even more depth.


    Also, I got e-mail from A Paper Tiger today that they have a new series of screen prints going. They look pretty beautiful. The Freddi C [pictured above, left] and the Travis Millard [above, right] prints are my favorites. They are both three color screen prints on archival fine art paper. I am a b-boy at heart, so I gotta' rep the London street cred of Freddi C and the Travis Millard image reminds me of a cartoon dog fight. Not reminds, it is a cartoon dog fight. And I like cartoons, especially ones where dogs fight. Not real dog fights, though. That's just cruel, Michael Vick.

Speaking of screen prints, you should see some of the prints my boss has done. He has printed one of the largest silk screens ever produced. It is over eight feet on a side and was printed with over two hundred screens. Oh yeah, by the way, my boss is one of the most ridiculous screen printers ever, represent!

Oh yeah, did I mention, we did tequila shots at work this afternoon to celebrate Howard's print, an etching that Moises printed, success and praise on the botanical images we just printed, and a picture of the Rebbe that we printed. I am a little drunk. Don Julio!!!

I'm out.

Yep

I have been inundated with e-mail from various retailers hocking their holiday wares and after wading through it I have a few things to share. First of all, my old haunt Wootini is having a gallery opening this Friday featuring the work of Phil Blank, an established Carrboro artist [artwork pictured above]. Here's what he has to say about his work:

This show = triracial Carolina legends, cornstalks, postethnic Jewish indy rockers, conjure herbs, astral keyboard magician, universal brothel tunes, ancient Mediterranean female mead dance, Chapel Hill bus segregation history, and other INTP ramblings and bookish hi-jinx.

Anyway, those words aside, the opening starts at 7pm East Coast time, is sponsored by SCION and features the music of Uzi and Family.

Also this Friday, 7pm West Coast style, is an opening at the Cerasoli : LeBasse Gallery in Culver City. In Gallery I is an exhibit of new work from Evan B. Harris entitled 'Maritime and Mythology'. Harris's artwork "plays with nostalgia for his sailor grandfather's fantastical yarns, which have haunted the artist's dreams since childhood. Each of Harris's large-scale paintings is, in its own way, a vessel for the subconscious, lent with the eerie power of phantoms and filled with treasures straight out of the artist's youthful fantasies of foreign ports and being lost at sea."

In Gallery II is a group show entitled 'Gifted' featuring small works from over thirty different including Blaine Fontana, Yoskay Yamamoto, Eric Fortune, Hellovon, Jennifer Davis, Scott Belcastro, Justin Gibbens, Meggs, Melissa Haslam, Tessar Lo, Tofer Chin, Jack Long, Edwin Ushiro and more... Jeremiah Kentner's painting "Simple Thought" is pictured above.

Lastly, at Munky King this Thursday night from 7-11pm is the release of Yoskay Yamamoto's new gocco print [pictured above] and "Koibito" vinyl toy. Apparently, it should be pretty insane as his vinyl sold out at ComicCon this summer.

So that's what I will be doing this weekend. Y'all folks in Cackalacka should head over to Wootini for their show. And don't forget, Ryan DeBord's birthday is this Sunday, so if you see him, wish him a happy, scrappy, dappy-do birthday!

Charlie Don't Surf

After stuffing our faces full of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, corn souffle, corn bread, biscuits, brownies, and banana pudding and washing it down with a six pack of pumpkin ale at Anne's coworker Sam and his wife Meg's apartment on Thanksgiving, Anne and I decided to get out of town for a little while to let everything settle. So we headed up to Santa Barbara for the weekend.

It was a ton of fun! We went down to Stearns Wharf, went on a pirate cruise around the bay and saw California sea lions and multi-million dollar yachts. We got salt water taffy. We ate at one of the best restaurants in California, a Cajun-Creole-Caribbean restaurant called The Palace Grill where we downed a mess of coconut shrimp, crawfish étouffée, fried soft shell crabs, blackened salmon, and two kinds of bread pudding. It was amazing! We did have to wait for an hour to get in, but it was worth it. There was an authentic Zydeco jug band playing right outside the restaurant and everyone waiting was invited to join in on percussion. Anne played the maracas and I played the washboard.

While in SB, we also checked out the Santa Barbara Museum of Art which had a really good Picasso drawings exhibit and a contemporary photography exhibit. On the way back, it looked like we were driving through crazy smoke from forest fires, but we didn't hear anything about any new fires, and when we got home we found out that it was just some bizarre weather pattern that created very low clouds and fog. I got some great pictures of people surfing in the clouds. It reminded me of that scene from Apocalypse Now where they are surfing through the smoke. You can check out my pictures from the trip here.

Unfortunately, I didn't make it over to the Nike Theater to pick up a pair of Krink Air Force 1's on Saturday. I'm sure they are completely sold out by now. There were only about six people in line when Anne and I drove past on our way out of town, though. Not nearly as crazy as the line for the Kaws' AF1's. Anyway, that was my weekend. I don't have any Limited Ed. stuff to write about right now, but I will try to get on the ball this week.

If I Was In New York

This weekend I would head down to the Alife Rivington Club and pick up a pair of Krink Air Force 1's. These things are fuckin' sweet! I love the drips and the 3M reflective material. Unfortunately, they are not available at the Alife stores in LA... yet. I am a huge fan of Krink's markers and mops. I have been destroying the dumpsters, newspaper dispensers and electric boxes out here with them. Mmmmm... silvery goodness. If only I could do it wearing the matching sneakers! That would be RADICAL!!! Anyway, if you are in NYC this weekend, and are cool, pick up a pair. I'm sure there will be a line. I'm not sure if they will be available anywhere else, but if they are, I'm totally there.

This morning at work, my boss yelled, "SHREDDER!!!"

Also, check out Allen Spector's new pictures of Chinatown. They are pretty sweet like green tea roasted duck. Yum!

Update: I just rode my bike past the Nike Theater on Hollywood and Vine and the Krink AF1's will also be premiering there on Saturday. I will try to brave the lines if I can (if Anne doesn't tie me to the radiator to keep me away).

I Am Dead

But only on the inside. On the outside, I am still going through the motions. Existing, but hardly living. To get any thrill in life, I have been tagging the hell out of Los Angeles. For example, the image above, of a tag I did across the street from the famous Vista Theater. I have decided to take pictures of them all, before they are gone, like the one I did down the street from The Hundreds, Alife, Supreme, Turntable Lab, and Huf on Fairfax Ave. Oh yeah, there is a new Alife store opening on Cahuenga near the corner of Sunset. It is opening right next to Space15Twenty. I was driving past before the Alife crew had gotten all of the butcher paper over the windows and noticed they had a huge Marcel Duchamp urinal in the middle of the space. Fuckin' awesome! I wish I had gotten a picture. Anyway, they haven't sent out an e-mail about the opening yet, so I don't have any info, but I am going to try to get out there for that shit and take some pictures for y'all. Now I gotta' go to dinner at Anne's boss' house.

Black Friday 11.28.08

President Elect Barack Obama!

I am still drunk with happiness today after celebrating Barack Obama's victory as the next President of the United States last night. It was an amazing night, but as Anne said, slightly anti-climactic because it was over so quickly. As soon as California's polls closed, the winner was announced. There was partying in the streets, cars honking their horns. I was in the restroom, where I usually am when important events in world history are going down. The Berlin Wall coming down, I was in the can. The new millennium, I was in the john. My Bar Mitzvah, oy, what a stool.

Sorry, I got a little side tracked there.

Anyway, I was trying to think of a way to show my support for our new President Elect, so I designed the t-shirt above. Until possible (but unlikely) approval by Threadless.com and the general public, you can buy the cheap imitation version of my President Elect Obama t-shirt here.

Update: Well, my design was rejected by both Threadless.com and Cafe Press. Apparently, you can't use an picture of Barack Obama, even if you alter it drastically. What if I drew a picture of him that looked exactly like the image above instead of using Photoshop to alter a photograph, would that work? Or does my version just look too much like Shepard Fairey's image of Obama [pictured below] and that's what the problem is? Or is it just that it is Barack Obama? No celebrity images! But I just want to support our new President Elect.

Best Movie Of The Year

Come out and see the best movie of the year, The Elephant King, in Los Angeles starting today, October 24th at the Laemmle Sunset 5 or if you happen to be in Irvine, you can check it out at the Edwards Westpark 8. This movie will make you want to get off your lazy ass and travel to Thailand to have weird, wonderful adventures with your brother. Or with someone else if your brother isn't available or you don't have one. I love this movie, and not just because my brother directed it and it is based on experiences we had when I visited him in Thailand. It also has a great soundtrack! Come out this weekend. Party, party, party!

Whazzup?!

So I have been asked, "Limited, why so few posts recently?" Several times now, which is weird 'cuz that ain't my real name. Well, it's because my current job is too demanding to try to post while there and at home our furniture has not yet arrived from North Carolina, so my computer is currently sitting on the floor and I am reclining on a bean bag with my keyboard in my lap trying to type this. It is not easy or comfortable. Luckily, our furniture arrives tomorrow morning. Since I have not been spending my evenings satirically pimping various rare goods, I have been going out on a lot of night photo shoots. Here are some pictures I took over the past week. That's a 15 second exposure, above. There was a full moon over the pool at my apartment complex. Also, one of the pictures I took while driving out to Los Angeles from North Carolina at the Farmer's Market in Austin, Texas was chosen to be used on Schmap. You can check it out here. You can also buy the image below by clicking on it.

Hollow Weenies

Man, I am so mature. Anyway, it has been a while since I was really excited about anything Kidrobot was doing, other than a moderate interest in The Simpsons figures and the Adult Swim mini figures, but I do get excited when they put out a new Kidrobot figure, especially one associated with Halloween. I have a few of the early Kidrobot figures and I just might have to add this Kidrobot 15 Kidreaper figure [pictured above] to my collection. I haven't bought any toys since I have been in LA and there are several toy stores here! Creatures in My Head creator Andrew Bell is responsible for this little bit of awesomeness. He will be in New York for its release tomorrow, October 16th, and then in Chicago the next day, signing autographs and living the jet set lifestyle. The figure glows in the dark and apparently there is a chase figure out there for some lucky person. I am going to try to make it out to the LA Kidrobot store tomorrow and pick one up. Just $50. Gotta' keep the economy strong!

Patton Oswalt

So I missed Patton Oswalt this past Wednesday night when he was presenting the movie Cars III at the New Beverly Cinema, but I did run into him this morning at Millie's Coffe Shop in Silver Lake. He stopped in to get a cup of coffee to go and I sat there staring at him with a taco hanging out of my mouth like an unshaved stalker. Luckily I was there with Anne, so hopefully he did not confuse me for a stalker. I think he may have recognized me from the two times that I bugged him at the end of shows at the Cat's Cradle when he performed there. I wanted to get a picture with him, but I didn't have my camera and I didn't realize Anne had hers with her.

Anyway, I will have two more chances to annoy Patton at the New Beverly: tonight at 7:30pm, when he presents The Foot Fist Way and Tsui Hark’s The Blade or this Wednesday when he will be showing Curse of the Demon and F.W. Murnau’s Faust. I don't know which I would prefer. It would be nice to see him present The Foot Fist Way because of the 301 Films connections there, but I would also really like to see Faust. Either way, another chance for interaction with Patton Oswalt, which is always enjoyable. And I will try to bring Anne with me so I don't creep him out too much.

A Couple Of Things

Going on this weekend, I think as I sit here fasting and reflecting on the past year. First, Kicks Sole Provider in Sunset Junction is having a party this Friday night from eight 'til midnight to introduce a new clothing brand that they are carrying, Insight. 30% off Insight clothing that night, free drinks and gift bags, so this is definitely not to be missed. For some reason they were closed today when Seth and I stopped by to pick something out for Seth to wear to the NYC premiere of The Elephant King on October 17th, though. Maybe they were at Synagogue atoning.

Also this weekend, Saturday night is the inaugural exhibition of the new Cerasoli:LeBasse Gallery, the merging of project:gallery and Lab 101. They will now be in a larger space right across the street from their old location in Culver City. The opening reception features work from Deth P Sun, Mari Inukai and Melissa Haslam [work pictured above]. I definitely want to check this one out. It will be going on from 7 to 10pm. Although I'm not sure about the gallery name, a little hard to remember, but I definitely like the content and the website looks real nice. Anyway, back to fasting and reflecting. Fasting and reflecting. I can't wait for pizza at break fast tonight.

The Rumors Of My Death

Have been greatly exaggerated. I have just been very busy. But now I have a few minutes to steal away and write a thing or two about a thing or two. Things have calmed down a little at work. There is now an "under construction" website up at www.artterritory.com. The final product should be done around the new year.

Speaking of which, it is a new year in the Hebrew calendar, 5769, not only a very sexy year, but also a somber, introspective time of reflection. And what better place to go for a little quiet reflection than the neighborhood barber shop. After having been in LA for two months, I was starting to look a little shaggy. Since I am about 3000 miles away from Mary at Moshi Moshi, who usually cuts my hair, I had to find a new barber. Sure enough, there is one right around the corner called, appropriately enough, Sweeney Todd's Barber Shop [pictured above], run by Todd Lahman, who gave me a damn fine haircut this morning.

It reminded me of the barber shop next to my dad's camera store when I was a kid, but with a little racier magazine rack. Todd's has vintage copies of magazines like Playboy alongside this month's Esquire. The shop has been around since 1927 under three different owners and probably hasn't changed too much in that time. There's nothing fancy about Todd's, but that is what I like about it. They use the old style Barbicide jugs, straight razors for shaves with hot lather and they will even do a hot towel and mustache wax, which I thought you could only get in Tijuana these days. Apparently, their website isn't finished, either. Maybe I should see if they need some help with that.

Anyway, great haircut at Sweeney Todd's, and right next door to the Wacko Soap Plant and La Luz de Jesus Gallery where they got some nice goings on. I got a Kidrobot Simpsons toy at Wacko, blind box, and lucky me, it was Snake, one of the chase figures. It is turning out to be a good new year already.

Hello Cutie

Here's a little post for my sweetheart Anne. Tokidoki has teamed up with Hello Kitty to create a new line of plushies and accessories [pictured above]. There are cosmetics bags, cell-phone charms, a mirror, ball-point pens, a business card case, an ID case, a wallet, letter sets, notebooks, a couple of plushies, and a camera case. I'm not sure what I should get for my sweetie, but I know I have to get her one of these. They are just too cute. Just like her.

Secret Headquarters

I got e-mail from Secret Headquarters [pictured below] on Sunset that Andrice Arp [pictured above] has an exhibit opening this Friday, tomorrow in fact, September 19th, my brother Seth's birthday (happy b-day, bro), from 8-10 pm. I really like the Secret Headquarters. It is cozy, they have a wide selection of comics and the staff is friendly and knowledgeable. Anyway, I will try to make it out for this. I am moving this weekend, so it might be a little tough. I do have tomorrow off, though, because my boss is heading to Las Vegas for the Art Expo. He invited me along, but I have to move and Seth is coming back this weekend and it is his birthday and he needs a good clown-raping. I think I've said too much. Anyway, check out the art of Andrice Arp tomorrow night if you are in the Sunset Junction area. Maybe I'll see you there.

Lunch With Hank

Henry Rollins wants to kick my ass! Not really, but it sure looks like it from this picture. This afternoon I had lunch with Seth's friend JD at Toi on Sunset, which has decent Thai food, but an amazing atmosphere, which today consisted of eating beside Mr. Henry Rollins, a personal hero of mine for his work in Black Flag back in the 80's. I was a huge hardcore punk rock fan in high school because of my friend Edward who was in the band Celibate Commandos. Anyway, Henry Rollins, just fucking sitting there having a nice chat with a lady friend. Five feet away. I had to get a picture. Henry was actually very pleasant. We talked about East Coast hardcore back in the day. He remembered coming to Chapel Hill to play the Brewery in '86. It was awesome. I was totally star-struck.


Anyway, on a completely different fucking subject, Tokyoflash has got a new watch, negatively called the Negative. "Negative is one of the most sophisticated designs available from Tokyoflash and features an "always on" LCD display alongside its multi-color LED light guide. At the touch of a button, the display can be backlit with one of seven user-selectable LED colors." Just ¥16,900 or $158. Cool. But not nearly as cool as lunch with Hank.

To Infinity And Beyond!

Super7 just announced their Halloween set for this year. The Snakes of Infinity Halloween set includes four figures, [three pictured above], cast in beautiful clear orange vinyl with black and silver spray. "Complete the set, and the fifth figure is on the (haunted) house!" One will be released each Saturday in October. I am really looking forward to October 4th when the first figure is released. I wonder which one it will be?

Obaaamaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!1!

I just got word about this Baruch Obama toy from Jailbreak Toys in an e-mail from Turntable Lab. I haven't given props to Turntable Lab in a while, but I like this toy. I have decided to start calling Barack Obama Baruch Obama. It makes him sound Jewish. Here's what TTL has to say about it:

I'm going to restrain myself from writing my longest review ever for this toy. I will simply transcribe the conversation that Ak Boogs and I had when it came in. These were my first reactions, I am not claiming any accuracy for my belligerent statements. Real talk.

Me: "I don't know... His features are a little too Curious George (The skin tone is accurate, but strangely the product shots that Snack looked up online were mad suspect in the skin-lightening department. Had a brother looking like Nat King Cole on television in the 50s and shit). I'm not feeling the fact that his campaign probably isn't seeing any of this money, either (it's since been confirmed that $1 goes to his campaign for every figure sold online). Why does he have the ill Arsenio finger? I bet these toy-making motherfuckers are a bunch of white boys trying to cash in on one of the most amazing moments in the history of the United States."
Ak: "I bet you're still going to buy one, aren't you?"
Me: "Two. One for my desk and one for the crib."

Anyway, I am tired from a long night last night at the art walk and a long day of work today. I am working on another piece for Billy Dee Williams. This one is a composite of two paintings that will be used for the cover of a magazine that goes along with the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz 2008 Saxophone & Composers Competition. Billy Dee Williams really likes my work. Then I had to scan some images and print out some super high quality prints the same size as the originals for Igor Kovalyov, the director of The Rugrats Movie and an episode of one of my favorite cartoons of all time, Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man, and a very close friend of the gallery. I was getting ready to leave when a guy came in wanting to print an image five feet by twelve feet on linen. My boss was out, so I had to show him around the studio, show him our printers and that we had the capacity to print that large. I don't know prices or anything, I'm a production designer, so I was trying to get him to come back in the morning when my boss would be there. It was after five. I wanted to leave, but stayed and helped him as much as I could. He is coming back in the morning. I hope he has deep pockets!

Vodka With The Boss

Yesterday was a rough day at work. I am working on a new website for the gallery, which should be up soon, and my boss kept changing his mind about how he wanted the intro animation to look. First he wanted it to be a paint brush dripping paint onto our business card, then it flipping over to reveal the website. Then he wanted smears of paint going across the screen to become the website. But they were both too busy. Not clean and simple enough. By lunch, I was on the verge of exasperation. I took my lunch to do some meditation and calm down, got some caffeine and headed back to work. By four o'clock we had completed the intro animation for the website and it looks very nice, clean, represents the gallery well. When I am done with the rest of the website I will put a link up here for everyone to check it out. Anyway, my boss was so excited by the results, he busted out a beautiful bottle of vodka. We had to toast to our success. He had even showed it to Billy Dee Williams, who was also impressed. This was right before I was getting ready to leave for the day. So we did several shots over vodka, four or five, in rapid succession, finishing the bottle, with some blueberries to chase it, the only food I had eaten all day.

Then I drove home.

It didn't really hit me until I hit traffic on Sunset Blvd. I was overwhelmed by a sloshing sickness. My head throbbed. Vodka on an empty stomach is not a good thing. I much prefer it with some food or after a meal. When I got home, I figured it would probably be a good idea to eat something if I was going to throw up, give it a little substance. Also, I hate the dry heaves. So I ate a few handfuls of peanuts, some dry bread and yogurt. The yogurt did it.

I called in sick this morning. My boss understood. I am getting ready to head into work right now. We have an art walk this evening, so I will probably be there until nine o'clock, which will be a full day. If you are in the La Brea and Santa Monica area tonight, stop on by and say hi. It should be fun.

Speaking of fun, a few things for y'all folks:

Erick Scarecrow of ESC Toy Ltd. has a new 8" Micci plush coming out in September. It will be available in five different delicious flavors, Purple Lurple, Snow Attack, Pink Rage, Green Master, and Mocha. Available now? Soon? How much? We shall see... we shall see.

A Paper Tiger has a beautiful new Limited Ed. print from Nimit Malavia entitled The Spark That Hath Set Fire. Limited to ten 12" x 16" prints signed and numbered.

Update: It looks like they are sold out already.

There is a new iPod Nano and new iPod touch. iTunes 8 is out. The world is changing my friends. The world is changing. Now I gotta go to work!

Moving Right Along

This past weekend Anne and I traveled 3,004 miles (twice) at an average air speed of 452 miles per hour and ground speed of 45 miles per hour from Los Angeles, California via Atlanta, Georgia to Fenwick Island, Delaware. It was a grueling trip that began at 12:55 am (PST) Friday night in Los Angeles and concluded at 3:05 pm (EST) Saturday afternoon on Fenwick Island, but it was worth it. Somewhere in the Atlanta airport, I lost my mind. Luckily, I didn't sleep Friday night, so when you factor in the time change, I was awake for 38 hours straight. Sleep deprivation and traveling across time zones rapidly does some strange things, especially when you add alcohol, which I promptly did upon arrival at our palatial beach house, mere steps from the beach.
I didn't make it to the beach that first day, but I did eventually make it to bed. Before that, though, I was treated to the finest of foods: corn on the cob, hamburgers and Frogmore stew. The second day began with a trip to the beach for a little boogie boarding, volleyball and getting sun burnt as hell. Sunday afternoon, Seth grilled up some sickly delicious lobsters for lunch [pictured above]. They were indescribably good. After lunch we set up the horseshoe pitch and threw some shoes. That was fun. Sunday night I made a huge pot of paella with grilled chicken, sausage and shrimp for the family. It was delicious. I think some of the family might have had their doubts, but I know what I'm doing when it comes to paella. After dinner we had what everyone had been waiting for, Mama's chocolate bourbon pecan pie a la mode. I went to bed drunk and full again Sunday night. The sunburn and jet lag didn't help, though.

Monday, Seth and Gena left in the morning, then it was off to the beach again for more boogie boarding, walking hand-in-hand with Anne on the beach like two lovebirds and trying to keep from burning any worse than I already was. I wore the wrong shorts for boogie boarding, and lost them in the surf a couple of times, to everyone on the shore's delight. Lunch Monday was hamburgers, hot dogs and barbecue chicken on the grill a la Scotty G. It was delicious, and still we begged for more. After lunch Anne and I walked down to a little skateboard shop called Rebel One to check out their 45% off sale. They had some decent wares, but I don't have any money to spend right now. But if I did, I would definitely get one of these exclusive Limited Ed. Yuta Onoda Wishing Upon a Star prints [pictured below] from the I am 8-bit show that are available from A Paper Tiger. It is a 12" x 16" archival print, signed, numbered, and limited to only 30.
Scott, Magnolia, Hip Hop, and Peter left Monday evening, then the rest of the gang ordered pizza and played Taboo until it was time to go to bed. Anne and I had to leave early Tuesday morning, but not until after a hearty breakfast of blueberry pancakes and french toast bagels. Back in the car, back on a plane, back to the Atlanta airport, and finally home to Los Angeles. It is still a little weird to call Los Angeles home.
Anyway, another Los Angeles, well Culver City, friend of Limited Ed., project:gallery, is moving. After their new exhibit, Fresh Faces [Yuta Onada's Libido, pictured above], which begins this Saturday, September 6th, from 7-10 pm (PST), they will be moving to a larger space just down the street. The new exhibit features the work of Nimit Malavia, Yuta Onoda, Dominique Fung and Martha Chan. I might try to make it there. I will see if I have fully recovered by Saturday.

Speaking of recovery, Lee "Scratch" Perry [pictured above] will be at Amoeba Music on Sunset this evening at 7 pm (PST). I would like to make it out for that, but I don't know if I will be able to. Anne isn't home yet, she will have Kallie the Kat with her and we haven't had dinner yet. It is going to be a mess trying to get everything taken care of before seven. I still might try to make it out, 'cuz I'm a huge "Scratch" Perry fan. Anyway, I am exhausted from work today. Check out my pictures from this weekend here.

So Rebellious

We are out of ink! WE ARE OUT OF INK!!! I am sitting here at work with nothing to do because we have no matte black ink for one of our printers and no magenta ink for our other two printers. The magenta won't be here until September 2nd for some reason. The black should be a little easier to find. So I have time to post something, you lucky dogs.

Tokyoflash has got a new Limited Ed. watch in stock, the Rogue [pictured above]. Mysterious... sexy... green. Just like Kermit the frog. I think it looks pretty sweet. Maybe another nod to Star Trek with this one, or maybe just sci-fi in general. It doesn't look too complicated to tell the time on, it uses a combination of LCD and LED technology to project five green bands that light up to display the time. You can tell the time just by looking at it, or you can press the LED button and have your own sci-fi convention on your wrist as the watch glows with an eerie green. It has a nice, solid, stainless steel band and also features an alarm setting, something not seen on most of Tokyoflash watches. Only ¥16,900 or $154.25, not too bad for a watch of this quality.

Anyway, I guess I should get back to looking like I am working. Lev is going to the store at nine o'clock (PST) to get some more black ink so I can work some more. I did three prints for Billy Dee Williams yesterday which all turned out amazing. Two 19" x 23" prints and one 29" x 34" print. He really liked them. He was talking with Lev about the prints and asked if he could come to the back of the shop and thank me for the job I did. It was really an honor.

Other than that, Anne and I had fun at the Sunset Junction Street Fair. It is like a really amazing version of Apple Chill in Chapel Hill. There was a ton of really good food, all kinds of stuff to look at or buy, rides and state fair boardwalk-style amusements, and three stages of music, plus DJ booths set up at various locations. We saw Broken Social Scene, which was worth the $20 admission price by themselves. They were really good despite technical difficulties, which they just seemed to laugh off. We also got to see the end of soul legend Billy Paul's set, the last minute replacement for Isaac Hayes I believe, where he busted out an amazing rendition of Me and Mrs. Jones, one of the only songs of his that I actually know.

I like living in LA so far. I just wish I knew more people out here. I still haven't hung out with Jeff Seibenick yet. Bastard keeps blowing me off... and not in a good way. I guess that's what happens when you start working on the Sarah Silverman show. You forget who your friends are. Just like I have since I started working with Billy Dee Williams. Later, b'yatches!

The Ballad Of Lando Calrissian

Alright, I have been pretty bad about posting recently, but I have been very busy and very tired. I am working 7 am to 4 pm at Art Territory, but usually stay until five, then when I get home I have been busy working on stuff for the Jewish Heritage Foundation of North Carolina. I am too exhausted by the time I am done with that to type anything else, so Anne and I have been watching TV on Seth's HD projector through my computer.

It has been an interesting week, though. On Wednesday, I got to work with one of my heroes, the great Lando Calrissian... I mean Billy Dee Williams [pictured above]. I am working on putting together a series of prints for him based on a painting that he did. He is a really good artist and a very nice guy. He has soft hands and he smells wonderful. And he is an impeccable dresser. I will be working with him more this coming week. He really liked what I did with his piece. Did that last paragraph sound a little gay? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Anyway, last weekend, last Friday night, Anne and I went to an 80's singalong at the Los Angeles Music Center, which is right next to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, which is one of my favorite pieces of architecture ever. Designed by Frank Gehry, it is an amazingly shiny, curvy building which probably causes a lot of traffice accidents from people gawking at it and from the gleam that comes off of it in the morning when the sun hits it just right. How could you not love a building that kills people? Like the Stephen King story Christine, but with a building.

Saturday night, we went to the gallery opening for Buried Beneath Me at project:gallery. It was pretty fun, free beer, good art, lots of friendly hipsters. I forgot my camera, otherwise I would show y'all some pictures. There was another gallery open that night, two doors down from project:gallery, called The Lab 101 which was really fun. It was smaller that project:gallery, which isn't very big to begin with, but that just made it cozier, and after a couple of beers, easier to meet people. Anne met a couple of young turk artist type ladies named Andrea Shear and Sara Brum down there who do some interesting artwork. They were fun to hang out with, too. Y'all should check them out.

We have been looking around for apartments in West Hollywood and have seen some nice places down there, in our price range and close to where we work. I can't wait to get out of Seth's place and into somewhere that has air conditioning and a little more space. Kallie the Kat will appreciate it too. Also, she will probably be able to go outside, which she will love!


This weekend is the Sunset Junction Street Festival [pictured above], which we will be going to later this afternoon and tomorrow. Like Apple Chill, but more chill. Broken Social Scene is playing tonight and Black Keys are playing tomorrow night. In all, 36 bands and nine DJ's. Isaac Hayes was supposed to play, but we all know what happened there. Anyway, it should be a lot of fun!

Well, that's all that is going on for now. I'll let y'all know how the street fest was.

Hot Shades

Alife has got some hot new Limited Ed. shades coming out this Saturday, August 23rd, in collaboration with Italian sunglasses manufacturer RetroSuperFuture (terrible website, btw). I like all of them, but would probably only wear the black ones [pictured above], 'cuz I'm ol' skool like dat. Very similar to Ray Ban's Wayfarer design. Which they had all of the new styles of in bunches at Kicks Sole Provider. They are $103 a pair down there, though, which is out of my price range. I'm not sure how much the Alife Super sunglasses will cost, but I do know that they are hand-made in Italy, feature Carl Zeiss lenses and are limited to 480 pairs, 80 in each color. They will be available at all of the Alife stores as well as Colette and the following retailers:

USA:

Atlanta, Georgia: Standard
Boston, Massachussets: Bodega
Chicago, Illinois: Leaders
Dallas, Texas: Adikt
Jersey City & Teaneck, New Jersey: Packers
Orlando, Florida: Beta
Las Vegas, Nevada: Epic
Seattle, Washington: Goods

International:

Amsterdam, Holland: Patta
Barcelona, Spain: Limited Edition (copycats)
Mexico City, Mexico: Headquarter
Milan, Italy: Slam Jam
Moscow, Russia: Kixbox
Singapore: Black Chamber
Stockholm, Sweden: Cali Roots

I'm gonna' have to go to Alife in LA on Saturday to check out the hoop-la. In the meantime, check out the other colors that will be available, below.

Full Vinyl Jacket

Ningyoushi has got the new goods from probably my favorite vinyl artist, Michael Lau, in stock. The Limited Ed. SK3 Set is Lau's homage to Stanley Kubrick, one of my favorite directors of all time. I remember staying up late Friday nights to watch A Clockwork Orange on Skinemax. A bit of the old ultraviolence for little Alec. And who doesn't remember the first time they saw 2001: A Space Odyssey all fucked-up on acid? Actually, who does remember that? I sure don't. Or in Full Metal Jacket when Gomer Pyle blows his brains out. I didn't see that one coming. Anyway, these new figures from Michael Lau are pretty sick, and only $285 for the set of all three. Not too bad for Lau's work. Out of my price range right now, though, with just having gotten a job and having to pay for a trip to Delaware for my parents' 40th wedding anniversary and all. 40 years, who would have thought? And 2001 was their first movie date. Isn't that precious.

Update: The red/silver version of 2bb1 is out of stock at Ningyoushi, they are now only shipping the blue [pictured above], yellow or green versions.

Buried

My old pals over at project:gallery have an exhibit opening this Saturday, August 16th from 7-10pm entitled Buried Beneath Me, a group exhibition curated by the Friends United Network. Here's the good word from project:gallery:

The concept for the exhibition is the idea of being "buried" - and not necessarily in a morbid way. The main body of work will be a reflection on the simple beauties which are so often overlooked in our fast-paced lives, emphasizing that we are a relatively small, but important, part of a larger collective consciousness. The hope is that this show will help the viewer recognize the playful joys of living despite being "Buried" under a mound of superimposed social constraints.

This will be the second major Los Angeles show curated by the Friends United Network, and will host several artists that have shown in the gallery including: Rebecca Urias, Derek Albeck, Ken Garduno - as well as new artists to project: Ian Mailhot, Seth Neefus, Tim Karpinski, David Wien, Mark Warren Jacques and Scott Ferguson.

Looks like some good stuff. Project:gallery also has a new blog, here. Anne and I are going to try to make it out for the opening this Saturday night. Culver City is a haul from Echo Park, though, but it's worth it.

Also worth it, if you are in the Sunset Junction area of Silverlake in LA, is the sneaker shop Kicks Sole Provider [pictured above]. Anne and I stopped in there while strolling around Sunset Junction. There is also a Giant Robot store, an Undefeated store and Secret Headquarters [pictured below], a good comic book shop. I could spend all weekend at those four shops. Of course, for sneakers in Sunset Junction, I think Kicks Sole Provider has a better selection than Undefeated. They had some real nice Onitsuka Tigers and some dope Limited Ed. Nikes on consignment. There are also some good vintage shops around Sunset Junction. My kind of area. I think I will be spending a lot of time down there while I am living in Echo Park. It is so close! (Check out my other pictures from LA here)

Neglectin' My Duties

Sorry I have been a little lax with the posts the last few days. I have been busy exploring LA and searching for a job. Yesterday, Anne and I took an unexpected tour of Los Angeles when I tried to find Cedar Sinai Medical Center without my iPod. We ended up in Inglewood. 45 minutes later, we found Cedars, then it was on to Runyon Canyon Park for a little hiking and sightseeing. I will have to bring a camera next time 'cause from up there you can see all of Los Angeles. It is pretty amazing. Today I got a job at Art Territory, a gallery and studio on La Brea and Santa Monica. I start on Monday. It only took me six days to find a job. I guess I can rest tomorrow.

Anyway, today, there is no rest for the weary. I got some Limited Ed. stuffeses to share with y'all. First up, Erick Scarecrow's SDCC Kissaki Sandstorm colorway figure [pictured above] is now available at the ESC eBay store. It is limited to only 300 pieces and comes with a signed limited edition print by Erick Scarecrow. This is definitely one of my favorite ESC pieces so far, and I especially like this Tattooine-lookin' colorway.

And the other thing I wanted to share with y'all for right now, Julie West will be showin' an exhibit of her work at the Myplasticheart Gallery in NYC startin' tonight. The exhibit, entitled Sickly Sweet features a wide range of new artwork, from paintings to prints and customs based around her sugary theme. Unfortunately, I forgot I am on West Coast time, so the opening has already ended. You can still see it, though, through September 9th.

Man, it is crazy being out here in LA! I have just been drivin' around gawkin' at people and at places that I done seen in the movies and on the TV. I feel like a regular country rube bumpkin givin' blumpkins out here. I keep yellin' at people in other cars, "I'm from North Carolina, man! I don't know where I am! I don't give a shit! I'll kill us all, dammit!" in Edward's redneck accent from The Dog Prince. Of course, I got the windows rolled up for the AC, so people just think I'm some crazy guy yellin' to himself in his car. They steer clear, though. It's fun.