Wednesday, August 27, 2008

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 Rogue WatchTokyoflash 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!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

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.

Billy Dee 'Lando Calrissian' WilliamsIt 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!

Space Invader, Sunset Junction

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.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Hot Shades

black Alife Super sunglassesAlife 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.Red Alife Super sunglasses
Blue Alife Super sunglasses
Purple Alife Super sunglasses

Friday, August 15, 2008

Full Vinyl Jacket

Michael Lau SK3 SetNingyoushi 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.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Buried

Fun ShowI'm Not Scared

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.

Kicks Sole ProviderAlso 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)Secret Headquarters Comic Books

Friday, August 08, 2008

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.

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Death

Les Mort by Ashley WoodAlright, now that I'm settled in, it's time for some Limited Ed. shit. I got e-mail from 3A, Ashley Wood and 3-Zero's collaboration toy company, letting me know that their new 12" figure Les Mort [pictured above] is now available over at Bambaland. I am a huge fan of both Ashley Wood and 3-Zero and this is one sweet-ass figure. Unfortunately, I just moved to LA and don't have a job (yet) or an apartment, so it might be a little while before I buy any more toys. But for only $130, it is a lot cheaper than some of Ashley's other toys.

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Fear And Loathing Across The USA

The acid has definitely kicked in.

I was doing ninety outside of Yuma when the acid kicked in [pictured above]. I told Anne to grab the wheel as I swatted at buzzards that had started circling the cat cage. When I looked back over at Anne, she had morphed, transformed into Kallie the Kat, in the fur [pictured below].

Who let Kallie drive?

Kallie grabbed the wheel as I fiddled with the radio dial. We were in the desert, just inside California. It was the last day of our trip, but just the beginning of mine. As the car careened along the smooth asphalt at ninety miles an hour, practically steering itself at this point, I thought back over our voyage [first day, pictured below].

The first day of the trip.

From Durham, North Carolina, we had headed down I-85 South towards Atlanta. "What are we doing?" I thought as we reached Charlotte, "This is going to take forever!" We were only three hours into our trip and already I was exhausted. Anne took over in South Carolina [pictured below] and took us through Atlanta, one of the hairiest parts of our voyage.

Somewhere near Spartanburg, South Carolina.

The traffic around Atlanta is awful and Anne had never driven there before, but she figured it would be good practice for when we got to Los Angeles. After we got to Alabama, I took over driving again. Kallie had taken some tranquilizers in the back seat and had finally stopped whining [pictured below].

Kallie says, "Are we there yet?"

It would be about six more hours before we would get to Jackson, Mississippi and our first night's rest, so I figured it was about time I started drinking. There's nothing like the combination of Gusano Rojo and Yellowjackets to keep you awake, alert and relaxed on a long drive. Anne protested, but it's my car, so what's she going to do? I was happy to pull into the La Quinta in Jackson around 7:30, and Anne had spied a little Thai place called, appropriately, the Thai House, on the way in. I was a little reluctant to eat Thai food in Mississippi, but after reading positive reviews online, we decided to give it a try, and it was delicious. I had the Tom Kha Gai soup and Pad Prik and Anne had Larb. All three dishes were worth the trip. Then back to the hotel to pass out and be woken up every few hours by Kallie in nocturnal hunt mode [below].

Kallie likes the hotel in Jackson, Mississippi.

The second day took us to Austin to visit Mike Lucas and Sunny Love [below].

Mike and Sunny in Austin

I drove the rest of the way through Mississippi, Anne took over in Louisiana and I drove through Texas. Texas is a lot hillier than I had remembered on my last cross country trip. We took the back roads off of I-20 down to Austin. Highway 79 or some such nonsense. There were some real shit-holes [below] on the way. Austin is great, though. We arrived just in time to snack a little before Mike cooked some mean Parmesan and Panko breaded chicken. Yep, Mike is eating meat again. Mike has been a vegetarian the entire time I have known him, but now he is back on the meat with a vengeance. We stayed at Mike's girlfriend Brandy's place in Austin.

A flea market somewhere in rural Texas

The next day, after a hearty burrito breakfast, we ventured out into the Austin heat. 110 degrees in the shade! It was too hot to stay dry, so we liquored up and headed for the local swimmin' hole, Barton Springs. On the way, we just had to stop for delicious Vietnamese sandwiches at Lulu B's, a sandwich truck that is a favorite of locals [below].

Lulu B's Vietnamese food wagon.

I thought about getting Kallie stuffed at Martinez Brothers Taxidermy Studio [below], but that would have to wait. The swimming hole was the perfect thing. A natural spring that has been walled off with concrete and charges three dollars admission. It was deliciously cool water, around sixty-five degrees, with disgusting algae floating over the surface. That didn't stop us from jumping (or slowly scootching) right into the water. After about an hour, we were cooled off and ready to head back to Mike's place to pick up some DV tapes of some old crumps for me to put on my computer. That, and a ton of Reggae music.

Martinez Brothers Taxidermy Studio in Austin.

On the way back to Brandy's house, we stopped at the farmer's market [below] for some veggies for that night. Now, when I say Mike is back on meat with a vengeance, I mean it. That night, we had bison burgers and two kinds of sausage with our veggies. We hung out for a little after dinner, but we were exhausted and it was a long drive to El Paso the next day. Kallie enjoyed her short time at Brandy's, getting to play with three dogs and another cat. The dogs: Sunny, Bowie and Tootie took an instant liking to Kallie and chased her whenever they had the chance. The cat was a little more standoffish.

The Austin farmer's market.

We left Austin around ten the next morning after a breakfast of homemade blueberry pancakes and bacon (a la Mike). Peter Garrett was right when he sung, "the Western desert lives and breathes." Sure he was talking about Australia, but it still applies. And it was breathing pretty hard when we arrived that night in El Paso [below (not really, but it is Texas)]. El Paso, right on the Mexican border, across the river from Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. You could see the shacks on the hill within walking distance from I-10. "How were they ever going to build a fence here?" I thought. "Great place to get Mexican food, though, right?"

A Texas oil field.

So we looked for a place close to the La Quinta and found Dominguez Fine Mexican Food. It got a good review on Yelp, but was probably the worst Mexican either of us had ever eaten. They brought out two salsas, a chunky salsa (named after the Chunky River in Chunky, Mississippi) and a puréed salsa. The chunky salsa was just chopped up jalapenos with a single slice of tomato and onion in lime juice. The puréed salsa was just jalapenos tossed in a blender. My mouth is still on fire from that. And that wasn't the worst of it. Anne ordered a dish that included a tamale topped with ketchup.

We figured the only way to make up for it was to trash our hotel room before heading to Orange Julius for breakfast the next morning. My father's father's name was Julius, and going to Orange Julius has always reminded me of him. There are no Orange Juliuses close to where we live in North Carolina, and hadn't been since I was a teenager and my grandfather died. I always kind of connected the two in my mind. Anyway, this would be a special treat and it did not disappoint. It was still just as delicious as I had remembered.

Nothing.

Now, only two days left on our trip. We packed up the cat and the car and hit the highway heading West [above]. Next stop, Phoenix, Arizona, seven hours away. This would be an easy day, or so I thought. Luckily, we did not run out of gas or overheat in the pit of hell that is the Sonoran Desert. We did get to see beautiful Mesas and huge Saguaro cacti, though [below]. And we barely bickered the whole ride, with only Kallie providing the "are we there yet, are we there yet?" whine.

The California desert, can you see the Saguaros?

Phoenix, Arizona might as well be located on the sun. It is definitely the hottest place we stopped on our trip. It was over a hundred degrees in the middle of the night. And I don't care what people say about dry heat. The disgustingly hot, dry wind that blew through the city made me sweat just as bad as any humid summer day in North Carolina. Luckily, we found a delicious Chinese restaurant called China Chili in Phoenix for dinner. The dumplings there are to die for! Anne and I could have eaten those all night. Then back to bed with a more behaved Kallie this night. The next day would be our shortest of driving, so I figured the acid wouldn't hurt anything. Boy was I wrong. At least it kept the California desert from getting boring. On the way, we stopped at the General George S. Patton Memorial Museum and Tank Graveyard and had milkshakes [pictures coming soon]. That was really the only way to beat the heat. It was only another few hours to Los Angeles, but at that point, who knew if we would make it. Anne's credit card was declined, and we nearly ran out of gas, but luckily her bank had just thought it was stolen and after a half hour on the phone with them, we were back in business, fueled up and ready to hit the road again.

Los Angeles is huge, dirty, beautiful, Mexican, hot, cool, everything you might think it is. I had to break into Seth's friends Mesha and Jordan's house to retrieve his keys, but we got out of there before the cops showed up. Seth's place is in Echo Park, right across the street from the park. It might as well be called Little Mexico, but it is not that little, so it should probably just go by Mexico. On Seth's recommendation, we headed to Mae Ploy for Thai food last night. It was delicious! Just like in Thailand.

Afterward, we headed back to Seth's to crash. We were exhausted from the trip. Seth's apartment has no air conditioning, it is on the third floor and has Western facing windows, so it was hot. We had all the windows open and all the fans going as we settled down to sleep. The screen in the window behind Seth's bed is not all the way attached, so there is a slight gap between it and the sill. I thought I would fix it in the morning when we got up, but Kallie had different ideas.

Kallie loves sleeping in window sills, but this one was not the best place for her to sleep. At around one in the morning, she knocked the screen out of the window and nearly fell out with it. I had to get dressed and go down to the street below to retrieve the screen, then had to hang nearly all the way out of the window on the third floor to reattach it. We decided that we would leave that window closed from now on and Kallie has taken to hiding behind the futon in fear, so as not to almost fall out of any other windows. We went grocery shopping today, trying to get a little better lay of the land. It will take a little adjusting, but I think we will make it here. We just need to find an apartment with air conditioning that is closer to the ground. Oh yeah, if you want to see more pictures from the trip, check out my flickr set here.