snails' blabbings in blogs

changed my last name to Chang...

2011-11-17T16:09:00.001-05:00

Went back to Mr. Peanut...and got a new name ISS and my new crew iz FDR...SnailsYNN

Mad Monster Party?...the making of it...Spook-tacular...

2011-11-01T01:57:00.001-04:00

http://m.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DmcHADq8nGOo%26feature%3Dyoutube_gdata_player&h=XAQEZe3gM&refid=17

'Foul' Halloween

2011-11-01T01:53:00.001-04:00

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70534T20110106?irpc=932Birds dropping dead from the sky...Boonedog, this truly freaks me out...Thanks for the spooky Halloween tidbit...I didn't watch tv for about ten months and missed this phenomenon...

Starbucks Small Business Loan program

2011-11-01T01:34:00.001-04:00

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/need-small-business-loan-go-starbucksCDFI'sThis is a great model for community investment...

Lytro Light Field Camera

2011-11-01T00:17:00.001-04:00

Want one...www.lytro.com

countdown to Sacred Tree

2011-10-31T16:50:00.001-04:00

End of Mayan calendar at which resonance is greatest to Sacred Tree on 12.21.12 at 11:11 AM GMT...which converts to 3:11 AM PST, the exact time I was born...Pretty weird... PS from Wikipedia - The Vision Serpent was also a symbol of rebirth in Mayan mythology, fuelling some cross-Atlantic cultural contexts favored in pseudoarchaeology. The Vision Serpent goes back to earlier Maya conceptions, and lies at the center of the world as the Mayans conceived it. "It is in the center axis atop the World Tree. Essentially the World Tree and the Vision Serpent, representing the king, created the center axis which communicates between the spiritual and the earthly worlds or planes. It is through ritual that the king could bring the center axis into existence in the temples and create a doorway to the spiritual world, and with it power". (Schele and Friedel, 1990: 68)

All the Kings in a circle (RIP Kase 2)

2011-09-15T11:32:00.001-04:00

My introduction into NYC graffiti was a lot of King Bee...The last King I talked to before leaving NYC in 2009 was Kase 2. Check out this wall by King Bee...2 train familia...

Espo's love letter to BK

2011-09-15T11:12:00.001-04:00

My buddy Dondi from work used to call it "God's Country"...Thanks Dave V for the headsup...

1 in 4 Filipinos live off a dollar a day...

2011-06-11T11:47:00.004-04:00

I am living to fight poverty for my brother, Dream TDK. As Per FX has said, he would like to paint more but doesn't due to monetary and moral reasons and I agree.

Another great piece by Boonedog...

2011-06-01T13:24:00.002-04:00

Designer shades, quiet hustle: The Entrepreneurs of the New York City homeless shelter in the Capitalnewyork.com

Good choice for Capitalnewyork.com to pick him up as a writer.

I felt like I could've written this article too. Boonedog, we gotta get some hot dogs...Hell Yeah! Shoutout to Dead Prez.

i am the fourth horseman...

2011-05-22T11:10:00.010-04:00

I fight for the crown...

It would be 21 years that I was on AS this year. It's taken since 2000 to get off the crew finally this year since I was one of the original members. I was serious as a heart attack and no one took me seriously because no one else was serious instead lazy, conformist, unappreciative, scared and hopelessly trendy. In retrospect, ultimately Fred Gromadski aka Sundance was never someone I could respect as a crew leader because he never painted after awhile, he was too terrified of it, so how could he offer security as the crew founder? That's not it entirely. He's a namedropper kissass and it's his fault that the crew is all toys because they all live in and off the past and the rest of the crew is at fault for just going along with it, hiding behind him. Sundance was a gangster to me because he wanted fame without earning it properly. To get fame, you have to DIY and then you can defend somebody else and have a crew. I was taken for granted and then used and abused because everyone just thought of me as some trendy girl toy but Asian so I have money or something. I was never trendy or horny for a graff artist because i had been an equal. They mistook my participation in the crew. It was my heart which was instantly recognized by my adopted puerto rican dad Alex Silva aka Ink76 and he is not AS though his initials are. He is on BAD and I chose to take his crew DAA (Destroy All Artists). This whole time I was the one who made up the moniker, "Abolish Stereotypes" for AS (always selfish) and it had been that sketch in my blackbook that Iz the Wiz had seen when he asked me to paint. No one did that for me. That had been at Lee Quinones' (TC5) show where there were only old school 70's writers and I had been a bit starstruck, though all those writers were down to earth. The anniversary of the first time I did a piece will be October 20th, my quinciera. I challenged Sumdance, Joseph Wright aka Ader, and anyone on TC5 that could be enlisted through Ezra Eismont aka SK or Eskae or Escae to take my name. All I wanted was my name 'Snails' and my moniker. They can all take turns being each other's talent and entourage. I only run with security. And there's been no response from frienemies mine aka coward chickenshits. I've come to the conclusion they're all just a bunch of ignorant basically "white people" (let me explain...there are all races who are afflicted with being white...i do not mean shade of skin...ignorant, inflexible, frivolous, and self-righteous) or to put it properly, white supremacists in disguise" because all they ever did was try to turn me into a stereotype myself, even the minorities on the crew. This is especially true because poor Phresh is stuck in AS and he's my homie. He came over for dinner and even my husband, though he didn't know him at all, saw it that way too. Altered States aka Aerosol Syndicate (yeah right...Ain't street-conscious, Art Star-wannabes), i cannot protect Phresh from superficial Sundance or the rest who insist they are AS but i will keep trying. We are sworn enemies now. Good riddance and welcome to Hell! It's a pity all those toys thinking they were Kings. Wake up gentlemen. You all forgot about Dream way back then but he STILL lives with me and YNN. I'm Filipino. I'm Mongoooooooalian. In my hood, I'm King Khan (not a Queen like Sundance) and you are about to feel my wrath. All day everyday.

Later: had a conversation with Phresh and he had a lot of questions about why but in the end he understood where I've been coming from. Kingships do not just come from skills, especially just having the best handwriting...see, though I got an education in Cali, I mostly value what I learned from Seen, Gaze, The Bronx in general, but Per and Stem...and I tried with Sundance, even bought him a RT plane ticket to visit NYC that cost me a lot of money which he didn't even use and that he let just expire a year later. Why should I lend any support to people who just make my obvious destiny meaningless, illegal and juvenile? Why should I let my scroll reading "Abolish Stereotypes" become worthless? Crew should be even more protected than regular friends because they are crew because they have your back just as fiercely. I felt nothing but violated by AS. And they're supposed to be crew? How am I supposed to protect or defend violators? Why should I be on a crew that defends Ezra (Ezra called AS All Souls...that guru Ass Sucka tried to claim the Temple of Hiphop was in it with him and that he was part of TC5 while saying he wasn't a graffiti artist. He thought he could try to bluff a Mason while he attacked my character. I know Juice and Totem wouldn't have approved of him wielding his power claiming community like that...They're original members of TC5.) when he was the one who was mean and selfish and only teaches people to be selfish with his own actions and now the art scene here is full of toys like him who think anyone can be a graff artist and so they paint in latex and dream of being in galleries like Barry McGee (Twist THR). There had also been a rash of racist vandalism since AS got on the Ezra Art Star-wannabe kick about the time that Mike Dream got shot in the head. Spar and I were talking and he remarked that graff made race relations in NYC much better. In the East Bay, there is a lot of racism and I blame AS for losing their heart for the streets just because they wanted fame and money. [On a side note about Barry...I'm disappointed in the first person who ever showed me "Style Wars" when he was going to SFState. He took so much from Brazil, never gave any credit to the Brazilians and then got famous and now has prodigies like KKK-aty who bombed the opera house.] And so I'm the one to be made to look like a crazy person? AS also put on toy Jennell Belt who was a regular SWF to me aka Sap, Rape and finally Manifest/Math. Like I said before, good riddance to all that white trash and noise! Stem, he said, "take care." and he taught me to, so that is why he is crew and one of the best friends I defend with my life because it is my honor.

Stem did this painting and it meant a lot to me.This is a progress shot of my 'Abolish STereotypes' painting which is about 5'x4'.

Note: in remembrance of Honore Daumier

For Sgt. Fish and Pat

Text added 5/27/11: Phresh said he wanted to hit up "abolish stereotypes" too. I told him he could hit it up but never when he hits up AS or any props to AS and he has to spell out the whole thing in a scroll too. If I had to go to medical school to defeat some of these toys, I would.

1AM Gallery on Howard and 6th in SF...

2011-05-22T10:36:00.012-04:00

I review this place as the wackest gallery/paint dealer I've ever been to. At first glance, it was looking like a good spot, it sells Montana and caters to graffiti artists...or so I thought. Unfortunately the trendy ignorant girl behind the counter gave me attitude when I was trying to set something special up because i was getting married and then the owner Roman allowed her to be that way to me and was such a toy. I had asked her just who it was that bought paint there. When I first arrived in Cali, I spent money in there. This gallery is in MY hood. I live in this hood I'm sure unlike them. If it is the last place in this city to buy paint, I'll order online first. (Yes, i believe Artprimo.com will be my destination for my quinciera supplies. I've gotta lot of love for Tuff City, once upon a time Bomb the System and 12ozprophet, but i've ordered from Artprimo in the past and they're effortless and deliver straight to your door with a wide selection. This is info for people in areas with either no stores or only wack paint stores or dealers so you can take out the middleman. I had to deal with that once. Kem5 was a toy Belton dealer in Boston.) Who the f*ck is Roman anyway? Just some trendy Art-Thug Snob fool toy capitalizing off my people, not his. Once in awhile, I make a promise to go outside of their shows just to see what kind of toys show up. My Dad would expect that of me. BAD. I'm gonna burn Rome down.

Another thing, those snakes at 1AM Gallery better not bite off my pizza boxes which I served them with. Mike WOULD say, "Eat it, BIOTCH!" Isn't that right, 1AM?

Ces in my hood...right across the street...

PS Thanks to Goat Hill Pizza for the free pizza.
PPS Thanks to Pizza Orgasmica for the free pizza also.

What! I'm Listening to...(Part 14)

2011-04-08T06:10:00.004-04:00

Hey there...New recommends for some good tunes...Check out Jacob Miller for that reggae goodness...That one's by Luis from Division X (check out 'What You Riding For')...A recommend from DJ Skeme Richards is the Mad Lads, a 1960's R&B soul group...Really good one too...My man is an avid ICP fan, though he has forgiven me for being an Eminem listener because I knew Eminem from the NYC underground back in the day before he became famous...I've been personally listening to Supertramp a lot after my stay with the Catholics in Manila...

2011

2011-04-08T05:56:00.002-04:00

This is the critical year prior to my 12-year zodiac cycle of which I am a water rat...Egypt has declared democracy after 30 years...I do believe this is all because the Bushes are finally out of power in the White House/CIA...Yemen is off the hook...Libya too...and then of course the tsunami and quakes in Japan...I'm worried for a couple of old roomies that I love very much and haven't heard from...however a high school mate is okay living in Southern countryside outside of Tokyo...I don't know what to think about the world at this moment except to say that God is not all good sometimes...but maybe with the Bushes being out of office (they should go to hell for all the irreparable damage they have done in destroying this country's citizens and also allowing power to go to dictators so much in other countries by their hands...), things will right themselves...

FIVE PTS. to be demolished...

2011-04-08T05:38:00.003-04:00

Street Art Mecca Five Pointz To Be Demolished

from The Huffington Post | Melinda Brocka First Posted: 03- 9-11 06:34 AM | Updated: 03- 9-11 06:34 AM

New York graffiti Mecca Five Pointz will soon be razed and replaced with high rises and a luxury shopping mall.

Owner Jerry Wolkoff has allowed street artists to create art on the walls of the former warehouse in Long Island since 1993. Marlon Bishop for WNYC reported Wolkoff intends to submit formal redevelopment plans for the $350 project within two weeks. In addition to the residential buildings and commercial spaces, the plans include studio spaces for artists and a wall for graffiti artists to use.

The announcement came as a surprise to graffiti artist Jonathan Cohen, known as Meres, who runs Five Pointz. Following the outpouring of support after the proposal was announced, Meres posted the following response on the Five Pointz website:

The recently announced development plans to convert 5 Pointz into a high-rise residential tower and luxury shopping mall came as a great surprise to us all. We wish we could answer all of your questions and concerns right now but the truth is we were just as surprised by the news as everybody else. Over the past decade Jerry Wolkoff has given us the opportunity to transform the warehouse at Jackson and Crane into 5 Pointz known to you all as the graffiti Mecca, a spot Jerry himself has referred to as a great place.
All we can do right now is sit tight and prepare for the new season, we have walls to fix and materials to acquire in order to welcome you all for our re-opening.

Five Pointz is an outdoor exhibition space displaying the creations of hundreds of graffiti artists. The 200,000 square foot former warehouse currently houses 200 artist studios. The name refers to the coming together of the five New York boroughs, but the space has attracted global attention.

>>>This is the year of my quinciera of painting at what is Five Points now, to be gone, formerly Phun Phactory...Pretty ironic...Turn, turn, seasons turn...Change is the only thing that is to be expected in life, I guess...

Online MSW at USC?

2010-12-22T22:06:00.005-05:00

Thinkin' about the online MSW program at USC right now...Hmmm...It costs the same as onsite without having to go to classes and they work with agencies within my community...Don't know if I can afford it, but they are a top ten for social work school in the country...Don't know if I'm disciplined enough to handle an online education though the idea that we won't have to move anywhere for my education is a big plus, not to mention that I'll be doing all those field placement hours on top of school, so maybe eliminating travel time to a campus is a plus too...I'd like to stay in SF for awhile.

I'm gonna apply and if it works out, then school starts in March of 2011, and if it doesn't then I will continue on with my first choice and apply next year since the deadline for scholarships is only a few days away now and life has been too stressful for me this year as is, Washington University's George Warren Brown School for a MSW in Mental Health.

Boonedog's Tribute to a Pineapple within the prison of existence...

2010-12-13T20:50:00.002-05:00

The Best of Everything Chapter One: Quantum of Solace from Steven Boone on Vimeo.

Oh I am gracious in bearing witness to your testimony and I heard your visions before they came into tighter fruition with your editing expertise Steven...You really have a gift for putting together your life's narrative in conjunction with whatever imagery and sound makes sense to Boonedog...Thanks for the pineapple dude...

Dev Dog, not only is he the co-founder of the Secret Society of Hackoeira dancers, but he is also funny as hell...

2010-04-06T02:29:00.006-04:00

Thanks for the heads up on these two items...First up is the upcoming Banksy film...Update: Went to opening night at the Embarcadero. Okay, Banksy's got a great sense of humor. All that pop art Andy Warhol sh*t in the galleries though...I called out "Suckers..." This girl in the audience said, "Shut the f*ck up..." Another guy also added, "I agree..." Then Shepard Fairey said in the movie something like "These people are all suckers..." Hehe...

The other is Drunken History...and one of my all-time favorite people...Tesla...

Gotta New Nickname...Old Mill...

2010-03-20T13:58:00.003-04:00

From "The Education of Sonny Carson" (excerpt)

Denver's Bunkers and the messages leading to them?

2010-03-20T06:19:00.007-04:00

Here Leo Tanguma is pictured with 32nd Gang...

Leo Tanguma, Muralist responsible for "Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura" 2012 episode's Denver International Airport murals...The murals in question in the episode are in a set called, "In Peace and Harmony with Nature." They were painted between 1993 and 1995. In the episode, it is noteworthy that only a fragment of one panel of the four-panel mural is shown.

Kai told me there is a remake in the works...The Warriors 2011? I don't think so...

2010-03-20T01:12:00.004-04:00

How are they going to remake such a classic?

The Lords are comin'...They comin'...

2010-03-20T00:55:00.001-04:00

Happy Big One Quake!

Text and Photo added 4/5/10...was beautiful to see Quake except it took me forever to find him 'cuz I haven't seen him in like 10 years or something...Shoutout to Toph...This photo was taken during the Happy Birthday song...Wish they had played, "Here Come the Lords..."

Curious about this movie...

2010-03-20T00:53:00.001-04:00

My fave Rob Corddry clip...Good Grief...

2010-03-11T16:25:00.001-05:00

It's the Great Gatsby Charlie Brown...

A bit of negative energy expelled...

2010-03-09T21:52:00.008-05:00

This is not a mean-spirited painting. It is sad for me, but I did feel a lot of negative energy expelled from me when I was painting it. This is the rough for an image I have of my Mom. Joan Crawford's head on top of Kali, the Goddess of Destruction's body with various items in her hands: a wooden spoon, a baby rattle, a cross, a golf club, a ball of string, the heart of Wonder Woman, a gavel, a dollar bill, one hand is on her face, the last is petting her paralegal hyena Steve's head. Next to Steve are the lesser hyenas, Mike and Bonnie, and in front is David Whitman, the lawyer Jackal. Joan Kali is stepping on Wonder Woman's wounded body. She is bleeding from the heart. (I was a child of the 70's...Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman was the superheroine that I related my mom with, I guess really one of the only ones of the era...). Her lasso of truth will be hanging from the pillars like a noose. The pillars will be the entry to the door of the Church of Mo' Money...
Revised March 16, 2010...
2nd draft...added three stooges as belt for Joan Kali, hole in Wonder Woman's chest..Letters need to be reworked...Not quite right yet...

Revised May 23, 2011
Decided to throw out this painting. It hurts too much.

Free, good art, funny Indian humor, Animated...

2010-03-01T02:55:00.001-05:00

Sita Sings the Blues...

Nobel Laureate explores link between Climate Change, Biodiversity...

2009-12-19T15:13:00.001-05:00

Dylan's Dad on tha tv...

DJ Zeph!!! (Courtesy of Fred)

2009-12-17T20:08:00.001-05:00

Though it's not meant to be a smoking cessation device,

2009-12-17T05:22:00.002-05:00

the e-cigarette (I have tried the PureSmoke) is working as an alternative and so I have slowed down on the smoking...It's almost the perfect solution because I do not have to give up the nicotine and the feeling of smoking and I do not have to deal with Kai stealing all my lighters all the time because I do not need one to light up, just cartridges...and I do not smell anymore...and my clothes don't smell anymore and my apartment doesn't smell anymore...Yay for e-cigs...!

Bohemian Conference call

2009-12-10T21:13:00.001-05:00

Revok gets caught Down Under...

2009-11-07T17:03:00.001-05:00

from http://www.graffnews.com/

***VANDAL VACATION*** from WWW.REVOK1.COM on Vimeo.

Cali Update...

2009-11-05T13:52:00.002-05:00

Been here for 4 months so far and some of it's been great, the other parts of it have been awful...I've just had the worst luck. I think it was the wrong situation and the universe was just trying to hint at it by everything going wrong...Relocating to SF, haven't lived there since I was a kid. I think it might be a good place to go...It's all about sorting and moving...

I know it's already been viral, but I love it...

2009-11-05T13:35:00.000-05:00

Armwrestling is unnecessary...You are over the top, Moondog...

2009-11-05T13:31:00.002-05:00

Notes on A MJ/David Lynch version of Moonwalk by Steven Boone....

Mythical Creatures Venn Diagram...courtesy of Laughing Squid...

2009-08-29T07:25:00.000-04:00

My Memory of Ted...

2009-08-29T02:33:00.002-04:00

I was 11, I think, when he bumped into me at the hunger trials in SF, CA...That was a class trip with Mrs. Ritter...She was a big influence on me...

Road Trip Summer 2009: From NY to NH to Philly

2009-08-23T14:57:00.005-04:00

Russ took us to the mountains around his place...
Steven and I ran up the steps and stood where Rocky did in Philly...
Where there's rain, there's also rainbows...
A small town in NH has a rally...Hell yeah!

Spar's Brother's book will be out soon...

2009-08-18T21:59:00.000-04:00

The Color Picker Pen...Wouldn't that be cool?

2009-08-17T21:10:00.001-04:00

From Juxtapoz.com...Monday, 17 August 2009
The Color Picker pen by Jinsu Park is a drawing device that allows you to write or draw in any color you can scan with the pen's color sensor. The concept is that you hold the Color Picker up to an object, push a button, and presto! it mixes the right amounts of pigment to match the color you’ve found.

Sadly, currently the Color Picker pen is only conceptual, and does not actually exist in working form quite yet. However we have a feeling that should this bad boy ever hit the market, it could be revolutionary; like having a Photoshop color match in your hand. Imagine the possibilities...

latest Juxtapoz Riflings...

2009-08-17T21:03:00.004-04:00

Alexandre Farto
Anonymous
Nelson Rivas in Baltimore, MD
Mac
Hugh Leeman
Ben Frost
Eriberto Oriol in his book History of Los Angeles...
Doug Rhodehamel...paper bag mushrooms...
banksy vs. Bristol Museum...

Chuckie's 20th Birthday...

2009-08-17T20:07:00.002-04:00

www.time.com

Three Pullups by the President...

2009-08-17T20:05:00.000-04:00

www.time.com

apparently this is all you need...no talent required...heh...

2009-08-17T03:16:00.000-04:00

flipping for damien walters...courtesy of Sundance...

2009-08-16T23:47:00.001-04:00

Cave on the Map...courtesy of Devon...

2009-08-09T04:28:00.003-04:00

World's oldest map: Spanish cave has landscape from 14,000 years ago

Archaeologists have discovered what they believe is man's earliest map, dating from almost 14,000 years ago.

By Fiona Govan in Madrid
Published: 7:30AM BST 06 Aug 2009

From telegraph.co.uk

A stone tablet found in a cave in Abauntz in the Navarra region of northern Spain is believed to contain the earliest known representation of a landscape.

Engravings on the stone, which measures less than seven inches by five inches, and is less than an inch thick, appear to depict mountains, meandering rivers and areas of good foraging and hunting.

A team from the University of Zaragoza spent 15 years deciphering the etched lines and squiggles after unearthing the artefact during excavation of the cave in 1993.

"We can say with certainty that it is a sketch, a map of the surrounding area," said Pilar Utrilla, who led the research team.

"Whoever made it sought to capture in stone the flow of the watercourses, the mountains outside the cave and the animals found in the area."

"The landscape depicted corresponds exactly to the surrounding geography," she said. "Complete with herds of ibex marked on one of the mountains visible from the cave itself."

The research, which is published in the latest edition of the Journal of Human Evolution, furthers understanding of early modern human capacities of spatial awareness, planning and organised hunting.

"We can't be sure what was intended in the making of the tablet but it was clearly important to those who populated the cave 13,660 years ago," said Ms Utrilla. "Maybe it was to record areas rich in mushrooms, birds' eggs, or flint used for making tools."

The researchers believe it may also have been used as a storytelling device or to plan a hunting expedition.

"Nothing like this has been discovered elsewhere in western Europe," she said.

A taste of Oakland courtesy of Ajene...

2009-08-08T00:15:00.000-04:00

What! I'm Listening to...(Part 13)

2009-07-31T03:47:00.004-04:00

After a hiatus from blogging, I've come back with some more recommends...I've relocated to the West Coast and have been on a mellow easy and R&B listening tip...Adele, Etta Jones, Syreeta produced by Stevie Wonder, Lakeside, War, Midnight Star, and for the hiphop bboy, the International Battle of the Year albums are pretty good...Also for that ethereal jazz, look for Moondog...

Art Primo New York!

2009-07-28T23:59:00.000-04:00

RIP Sacer...

2009-07-15T02:50:00.002-04:00

Sace was just a youngin when I first met him painting at Phun Phactory back in 1996...So sad...

Nothing is ever black and white...

2009-06-28T22:31:00.004-04:00

Michael Jackson is dead. He was the king of pop, a child prodigy, probably the most talented entertainer the world has ever seen, a global superstar who broke down barriers of age, of color, of race, and yet, there is the controversial side to him too...the plastic surgery wacko jacko who bleached his skin and was accused of being a pedophile, a man who drank so much and took prescription painkillers to numb whatever strange life he had as a paparazzi-hunted adult, and as a world famous sheltered and abused kid star...I am glad his pain is over, but I am sad he never made his comeback...His legacy is his music and that will outlive all the other stuff that went along with him, I believe...In my neighborhood of Prospect Heights Brooklyn, the street is constant with his music just as I am sure it is in all the rest of the world...My friends North and Stem both texted me immediately once Jackson's death was announced...The Apollo has been constant with tributes to him...It is like a mecca for those who want to share their grief...I don't think any one person could have this effect on the whole world or that any one person will ever achieve this superstardom ever again...God bless Michael Jackson...May he find peace in his afterlife...

RIP Mike Martin AKA Iz the Wiz...

2009-06-20T20:05:00.006-04:00

I am so sad, but I know Mike's health wasn't the greatest for many years and he had suffered a great deal...Mike was the first person to ever ask me to paint and he treated me like a king when I did paint with him...I have never forgotten the privilege and have always thought dearly of him...I got the flu the night of the BX show at Tuff City on Friday and missed my last chance to see him. I was bummed especially because he died Wednesday of heart failure...Anyways, the world is truly better having known him...He will always be a living legend...And a king...the king of kings...RIP Iz...

Brooklyn Music Festival looks tight...

2009-06-07T10:38:00.001-04:00

RIP David Carradine...

2009-06-04T17:40:00.003-04:00

As a child, Grasshopper walking on rice paper and holding burning cauldrons was magical. Thanks for being a part of my childhood, David...

Iz the Wiz at Tuff City June 12...

2009-06-02T18:12:00.000-04:00

Inanimation! Courtesy of Nic...

2009-05-25T11:38:00.001-04:00

The Lost Tribes of New York City from Carolyn London on Vimeo.

Did you know courtesy of Nic...

2009-05-09T19:37:00.001-04:00

The Impossible (Dream) Project...bringing analog back...courtesy of Dee...

2009-04-13T19:45:00.002-04:00

Polaroid closed its factories to become globally digital, so the Impossible Project wants to bring instant film back...and streamline it to be modern...

Five Pointz...Unsafe...Structurally...

2009-04-12T15:09:00.002-04:00

I just have one thing to tell these guys in Philly...I'm an original Raider Anthropologist...

2009-04-09T20:21:00.006-04:00

The orb in the center...what is that?! Is that tree bark? I don't think these guys are dendochronologists...
By the way, "Raiders of the Lost Art" (1994) with various musicians has a highly imaginative collage for its cover...

Who says that sheepherders aren't artists?...Courtesy of Nic...

2009-04-07T13:55:00.001-04:00

App-Titude...

2009-04-06T20:28:00.002-04:00

The iPhone Gold Rush

From NYTimes.com By JENNA WORTHAM

Published: April 3, 2009

IS there a good way to nail down a steady income? In this economy?

Try writing a successful program for the iPhone.

Last August, Ethan Nicholas and his wife, Nicole, were having trouble making their mortgage payments. Medical bills from the birth of their younger son were piling up. After learning that his employer, Sun Microsystems, was suspending employee bonuses for the year, Mr. Nicholas considered looking for a new job and putting their house in Wake Forest, N.C., on the market.

Then he remembered reading about the guy who had made a quarter-million dollars in a hurry by writing a video game called Trism for the iPhone. “I figured if I could even make a fraction of that, we’d be able to make ends meet,” he said.

Although he had years of programming experience, Mr. Nicholas, who is 30, had never built a game in Objective-C, the coding language of the iPhone. So he searched the Internet for tips and informal guides, and used them to figure out the iPhone software development kit that Apple puts out.

Because he grew up playing shoot-em-up computer games, he decided to write an artillery game. He sketched out some graphics and bought inexpensive stock photos and audio files.

For six weeks, he worked “morning, noon and night” — by day at his job on the Java development team at Sun, and after-hours on his side project. In the evenings he would relieve his wife by caring for their two sons, sometimes coding feverishly at his computer with one hand, while the other rocked baby Gavin to sleep or held his toddler, Spencer, on his lap.

After the project was finished, Mr. Nicholas sent it to Apple for approval, quickly granted, and iShoot was released into the online Apple store on Oct. 19.

When he checked his account with Apple to see how many copies the game had sold, Mr. Nicholas’s jaw dropped: On its first day, iShoot sold enough copies at $4.99 each to net him $1,000. He and Nicole were practically “dancing in the street,” he said.

The second day, his portion of the day’s sales was about $2,000.

On the third day, the figure slid down to $50, where it hovered for the next several weeks. “That’s nothing to sneeze at, but I wondered if we could do better,” Mr. Nicholas said.

In January, he released a free version of the game with fewer features, hoping to spark sales of the paid version. It worked: iShoot Lite has been downloaded more than 2 million times, and many people have upgraded to the paid version, which now costs $2.99. On its peak day — Jan. 11 — iShoot sold nearly 17,000 copies, which meant a $35,000 day’s take for Mr. Nicholas.

“That’s when I called my boss and said, ‘We need to talk,’ ” Mr. Nicholas said. “And I quit my job.”

To people who know a thing or two about computer code, stories like his are as tantalizing as a late-night infomercial, as full of promise as an Anthony Robbins self-help book. The first iPhones came out in June 2007, but it wasn’t until July 2008 that people could buy programs built by outsiders, which were introduced in an online market — called the App Store — along with the new iPhone 3G. (The store is also open to owners of the iPod Touch, which does everything that the iPhone does except make phone calls and incur a monthly bill from AT&T.)

There are now more than 25,000 programs, or applications, in the iPhone App Store, many of them written by people like Mr. Nicholas whose modern Horatio Alger dreams revolve around a SIM card. But the chances of hitting the iPhone jackpot keep getting slimmer: the Apple store is already crowded with look-alike games and kitschy applications, and fresh inventory keeps arriving daily. Many of the simple but clever concepts that sell briskly — applications, for instance, that make the iPhone screen look like a frothing pint of beer or a koi pond — are already taken.

And for every iShoot, which earned Mr. Nicholas $800,000 in five months, “there are hundreds or thousands who put all their efforts into creating something, and it just gets ignored in the store,” said Erica Sadun, a programmer and the author of “The iPhone Developer’s Cookbook.”

The long-shot odds haven’t stopped people from stampeding to classes and conferences about writing iPhone programs...

Check out this interview with DJ Skeme Richards and Bboy Ynot courtesy of Skeme...

2009-04-06T18:25:00.000-04:00

Probably if Nikola Tesla were still alive...hard to say...but I think he would want to help out Detroit too...

2009-04-05T17:24:00.008-04:00

From BusinessWeek.com Special Report March 27, 2009, 12:01AM EST
Tesla's Electric Car for the (Well-Off) Masses
The company says its $49,000 Model S can go 300 miles on one charge and carry seven people. But it needs $350 million to start production for 2011

By Christopher Palmeri

With the economy in the tank and oil prices low, most drivers have more to worry about than their gas bills. Still, the prospect of a Silicon Valley company shaking up the moribund automobile industry with a new all-electric car was enough to draw a crowd for the Mar. 26 unveiling of Tesla Motors' Model S.

The first electric car produced by entrepreneur Elon Musk, the South Africa-born co-founder of PayPal, caused a sensation when it rolled out in 2006. The Tesla Roadster was a low-slung, $109,000 rocket ride, with a body based on the Lotus Elise and capable of going from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds. It was among the first cars to marry an all-electric engine with the looks and speed of a sports car. Musk's company, Tesla Motors, claims to have sold 1,200 Roadsters, with 250 delivered to wealthy, tech-savvy eco-enthusiasts in such places as Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, and New York.

The Model S, on the other hand, is more of what motorheads might call a daily driver. It's a four-door sedan with an optional third set of seats that can boost capacity to seven people. At 196 inches long, the Model S is five inches longer than a Honda Accord. Musk told the more than 100 journalists gathered in Los Angeles on Thursday that extra room was essential: "I see it potentially replacing some SUVs."
Quick Recharge

The new car has improved range and battery life over the Roadster. Tesla's first car can travel a maximum of 244 miles on one charge. Powering it up again takes three and a half hours. The Model S claims a 300-mile range and fast-charging technology that can have it ready to roll again in 45 minutes.

Model S battery packs will be easier to remove, so long-distance drivers may one day be able to stop at repair shops and borrow a fully charged pack. Musk hopes to open 40 shops each in the U.S., Europe, and Asia over the next few years.

The Model S is sleek but hardly a head-turner. The front end is slightly reminiscent of a Maserati Quattroporte; the rear, more like a Nissan (NSANY) Altima Coupe. Tesla's chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, a veteran of General Motors (GM) and Mazda (MZDAY), says the car was not designed to stand out as a uniquely fuel-efficient vehicle, as Toyota (TM) has done with its hybrid Prius and Daimler-Benz (DAI) with its Smart cars.

"I see us slipping out of an era when we have to broadcast," von Holzhausen says. "Our customer base doesn't need that affirmation."
New Kind of Dashboard

Other features will help the Model S stand out. Holzhausen designed a 17-in. flat-panel screen in the dashboard that will contain most of the interior controls: heating, lights, and stereo. It'll come with wireless Internet access so drivers can check e-mail and read restaurant reviews (hopefully, at stoplights). "We're spending a lot of time on the interface," von Holzhausen said. "I don't understand how I can pay $299 for iPhone and then get in my car and still have to turn knobs."

The Model S won't be available until 2011. Tesla is taking deposits now on the cars, which will cost $49,000 after a $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles. But to produce the car, Tesla needs a lot more money. The company is asking the Obama Administration to provide as much as $350 million in loans, which the company would have to pay back. Musk is angling for funding from two Energy Dept. programs, one for eco-friendly technologies, another specifically for green vehicles.

Musk has already raised $195 million from private sources—one-third of it his own money. Musk says a decision from the government should come by the end of this year. "This car will be manufactured," he says. "Have no doubt about that."
Coming Competition

Despite Musk's accelerated confidence, Tesla has already hit some bumps in the road. There were major cost overruns on the Roadster. Last year, Musk took over the driving from his original chief executive and laid off 80 of Tesla's 380 employees.

Then there's the rising electric-car competition. The Model S will hit the market at the same time as a flurry of new "plug-in hybrid" vehicles, including GM's Chevy Volt, which will run on electric power and gasoline. Nissan, Toyota, and Ford (F) plan similar fuel-efficient offspring.

Musk says he's more pleased than scared by the competition. "I wouldn't call this a category killer," he says. "It's a very competitive electric car at a commercial price. We're hoping other car companies will follow our lead and accelerate the transition from gasoline to electric. The environmental damage from oil may already be irreparable. It's very important we make that transition."

Of course, there are other perks with electric vehicles besides maybe saving the planet. Jason Calacanis, a tech entrepreneur and friend of Musk's who bought three of his Roadsters, was standing outside Musk's Los Angeles plant shortly after the Model S press conference. Calacanis said his Roadster turns heads.

"One time a cop pulled me over just to ask about it," Calacanis said. He was on his way to the airport, where he could park in a $30-a-day lot for free, a perk for all-electric vehicle drivers. "It's sexy and efficient. Like me."

Palmeri is a senior correspondent in BusinessWeek's Los Angeles bureau.

>>I think that if they expect to get some stimulus money from the government then they should consider giving work to other places in the US too, like Detroit, somehow get them involved in the process, to share the wealth so to speak, because I think this is a great idea...I read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand as a kid, and it influenced me greatly. Companies rise and they fall...Some institutions can't be saved unless they have a good idea...If a company has a good idea, there will always be someone who wants to invest in it...Foreign companies that expect to do business in the US at this juncture should consider actually making an investment in the country itself so that they have a broader customer base. If they can make this car affordable one day (I'm not saying that I have any illusions about product price when they first hit the marketplace, because eventually those luxury items go down in price if the company expects to actually do some good...) then that would probably be Tesla's dream too...

Skeme Richards $2 Flow Show Episode 2

2009-04-03T22:22:00.002-04:00

For Dave V...a man of many gloves...

2009-04-03T22:02:00.006-04:00

Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D Review...

2009-04-03T21:15:00.005-04:00

I was excited about this movie since I saw the trailer so my brother Steven and I went to see this today...In 3D...at Lincoln Square in the city...It was okay...(The first two minutes of the movie were amazing though)...Even if it were meant for kids, the story was a bit too predictable and I think that without great script comedy writing, it falls a little flat...A few of the voices were on point, but honestly, it could've been better casted in some spots, i.e. the President's voice...Dreamworks, it wasn't exactly Kung Fu Panda, but not everything can be Kung Fu Panda I guess...It was okay, like I said...The idea of bringing back the classic movie monsters who were a bit more obscure was a good one, however the alien enemy was a bit over the top...

I plead with Nintendo to take this concept seriously...

2009-03-29T17:53:00.003-04:00

WiiSpray graffiti controller from http://www.graffnews.com

According to graff news...this university design project, the WiiSpray concept lets you insert a Wii Remote into a spray can-shaped shell. You will then be able to use it as if it were a real spray can on a digital display. To make it even more realistic, colors are changed by physically swapping out different caps so you actually get a feel of the “color” of the object you are holding.

The picture seen here is the latest mockup, a vision of what the final product might look like. It’s not all talk as a prototype has already been made, though this final rendering is closer to what the creators have envisioned it to be.

Though it seems like a very serious project, don’t get your hopes up on seeing it on your Nintendo Wii. It’s not really a commercial effort to get a WiiSpray game published, but rather just making use of the Wii sensor technology together with its own server to promote graffiti art and collaboration. But if it ever does make it as a game, this would be a good one for future graffiti artists to practice their trade. So even if you view it as a public menace, the upside is that kids will have some experience under their belt, and the drawings that are viewed as vandalism will at least be pretty.

Via:asia.cnet.com

I'm calling out Judges Mark Clavarella and Michael Conahan...

2009-03-29T14:15:00.001-04:00

Making profits off the backs of children...Shame on you!

Good job so far Obama...

2009-03-29T13:00:00.003-04:00

This is a message to President Obama. Way to shake things up...I am waiting to see what happens with the UN's proposal, but in the meantime it's exciting to see a President who is finally on top of things. I approved of the way you handled Gitmo, and now this plan for Afghanistan is a good one. I like that you talked to the heads of the largest banks in the country and that you're on top of the flooding in Fargo. Forgive me for having doubts in you...but I really do think you can make positive changes to our horrible image internationally. Good luck at the g20 summit. And my thoughts on North Korea: there's tons of innocent starving brainwashed people in that closed off part of the world. The crazy despot in charge is to blame, not the people that live in his country. My thoughts on the auto industry...it needs to change and become more progressive. We should'nt be so dependent on imported fuels, though I know that would devastate the oil companies, but maybe that's not such a bad thing. Electric fuel cells do not emit gasses. The town hall meeting was a good idea. Bringing politics that used to seem so removed from the people now brings it back to the grassroots.

What a boob! Titillating...Thanks for keeping me abreast of the situation, Joan...

2009-03-22T10:12:00.003-04:00

Not a leg man's machine...This is for the breast men...

Electric Car and Flying car not quite like the Jetsons, but the wings fold up...

2009-03-22T10:07:00.005-04:00

Check out the Aptera...
Terrafugia is putting out the Transition...

If you're looking for something free to do in the city next week...

2009-03-17T23:13:00.002-04:00

I found out about this as it was assigned as an extra credit assignment in my Endangered Languages, Cultures and Heritages class...

Sitting down is not a workout until now...HI-larity...Courtesy of Nic...

2009-03-17T14:07:00.002-04:00

the sense to invest 35 cents...

2009-03-15T04:15:00.003-04:00

Rare Superman comic sells for $317,200

From Yahoo.com By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press Writer David B. Caruso, Associated Press Writer – Sat Mar 14, 9:34 pm ET

NEW YORK – A rare copy of the first comic book featuring Superman has sold for $317,200 in an Internet auction. The previous owner had bought it for less than a buck.

It's one of the highest prices ever paid for a comic book, a likely testament to the volume's rarity and its excellent condition, said Stephen Fishler, co-owner of the auction site ComicConnect.com and its sister dealership, Metropolis Collectibles.

The winning bid for the 1938 edition of Action Comics No. 1, which features Superman lifting a car on its cover, was submitted Friday evening by John Dolmayan, drummer for the rock band System of a Down, according to managers at ComicConnect.com.

Dolmayan, who is also a dealer of rare comic books, said he acquired the Superman comic on behalf of a client he declined to identify.

"This is one of the premier books you could collect," he said in a telephone interview. "It's considered the Holy Grail of comic books. I talked to my client, and we made the move."

Dolmayan said the client has "a small collection, but everything he has is incredible."

Only about 100 copies of Action Comics No. 1 are known to exist and they seldom come up for sale.

"Maybe in a booming economy, it would have done a hundred grand more, but in this economy, I think the price is great," Fishler said.

The man who had previously owned the book purchased it in a secondhand store in the early 1950s when he was nine years old.

He paid 35 cents.

Some nostalgia...I went to camp with Mark Mendoca back in the day at Feather River Camp...

2009-03-13T22:21:00.001-04:00

A Wrist-less Hobbit or Not Controversy...I just found this out about the controversy that began with the discovery of the "hobbits" bones in 2004...

2009-03-12T20:33:00.008-04:00

The Hobbit: Not Human?

From dsc.Discovery.com Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press

Sept. 20, 2007 — Scientists, wringing their hands over the identity of the famed "hobbit" fossil, have found a new clue in the wrist.

Since the discovery of the bones in Indonesia in 2003, researchers have wrangled over whether the find was an ancient human ancestor or simply a modern human suffering from a genetic disorder.

The wrist bones of the 3-foot-tall creature, technically known as Homo floresiensis, are basically indistinguishable from an African ape or early hominin-like wrist and nothing at all like that seen in modern humans and Neanderthals, according to the research team led by Matthew W. Tocheri of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

That indicates that it is an early hominin and not a modern human with a physical disorder, they contend.

"It seals the deal," Tocheri said in a telephone interview.

The specimen he studied lived on the Indonesian island of Flores about 18,000 years ago, a time when early modern humans populated Australia and other nearby areas.

Scientists had thought humans had the planet to ourselves since Neanderthals died out about 30,000 years ago, and the discovery of Hobbits indicates another evolutionary cousin who coexisted longer, Tocheri said.

It isn't known whether humans and Hobbits coexisted on that island, he said, but it is clear we shared the planet for some time.

"Basically, the wrist evidence tells us that modern humans and Neanderthals share an evolutionary grandparent that the hobbits do not, but all three share an evolutionary great-grandparent. If you think of modern humans and Neanderthals as being first cousins, then the hobbit is more like a second cousin to both," Tocheri said.

When the bones were first discovered some scientists declared them the remains of a new, dwarf species of human ancestors. Because of its tiny stature it was quickly dubbed the "Hobbit," from the creature in the books by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Dean Falk of Florida State University said the new report helps confirm that conclusion.

"This is exciting and should help settle things," she said. "The authors are to be congratulated, not only for describing important new details about 'Hobbit,' but for shedding light on the evolution of the wrist and how it might have related to tool production."

But others have questioned whether it was really a new species. Robert D. Martin of the Field Museum in Chicago and co-authors challenged the original classification, arguing that it appears to be a modern human suffering from microencephaly, a genetic disorder that results in small brain size and other defects.

There are things that can go wrong in the development of the wrist, Tocheri said, but they don't result in a complete change of design from modern human to chimpanzee or gorilla wrist.

Nonetheless, Martin said he is standing by his position.

"My take is that the brain size of (that specimen) is simply too small. That problem remains unanswered," he said in a telephone interview.

"People ask me whether this new evidence changes anything, well it doesn't," he said. "I think the evidence they've presented is fine, it's the interpretation that is problematic."

Now, a study of the bones in the creature's left wrist lends weight to the human ancestor theory, according to a report in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

Stick a brick in it...bloodsucker!

2009-03-12T20:14:00.005-04:00

"Vampire" unearthed in Venice plague grave

From Yahoo.com By Daniel Flynn ROME (Reuters) Thu Mar 12, 1:19 pm ET

Matteo Borrini, an anthropologist from the University of Florence, said the discovery on the small island of Lazzaretto Nuovo in the Venice lagoon supported the medieval belief that vampires were behind the spread of plagues like the Black Death.

"This is the first time that archaeology has succeeded in reconstructing the ritual of exorcism of a vampire," Borrini told Reuters by telephone. "This helps ... authenticate how the myth of vampires was born."

The skeleton was unearthed in a mass grave from the Venetian plague of 1576 -- in which the artist Titian died -- on Lazzaretto Nuovo, which lies around three km (2 miles) northeast of Venice and was used as a sanitorium for plague sufferers.

The succession of plagues which ravaged Europe between 1300 and 1700 fostered the belief in vampires, mainly because the decomposition of corpses was not well understood, Borrini said.

Gravediggers reopening mass graves would sometimes come across bodies bloated by gas, with hair still growing, and blood seeping from their mouths and believe them to be still alive.

The shrouds used to cover the faces of the dead were often decayed by bacteria in the mouth, revealing the corpse's teeth, and vampires became known as "shroud-eaters."

According to medieval medical and religious texts, the "undead" were believed to spread pestilence in order to suck the remaining life from corpses until they acquired the strength to return to the streets again.

"To kill the vampire you had to remove the shroud from its mouth, which was its food like the milk of a child, and put something uneatable in there," said Borrini. "It's possible that other corpses have been found with bricks in their mouths, but this is the first time the ritual has been recognized."

While legends about blood-drinking ghouls date back thousands of years, the modern figure of the vampire was encapsulated in the Irish author Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula," based on 18th century eastern European folktales.

The Mistakes of Presidents Past...

2009-03-12T18:34:00.006-04:00

This PBS Documentary, Race: The Power of An Illusion (Part 3: The House We Live In) is excellent for grasping an understanding of modern day problems stemming from the FHA, GI Bill and Urban Renewal...I have learned that many of today's cities makeup are sociopolitical constructs reinforced that way by "redlining" practices and discrimination...Now the space that is associated with a color of skin is also charged monetarily and psychologically. It is also a good explanation of the modern real estate market...Right after WWII, lawmakers and real estate developers had the chance to build a truly equal society, but instead chose to flub it...Thanks for all the problems you have created that are exponentially difficult to manage at this juncture...Help Obama!

Black Book Party on the 15th...

2009-03-06T00:42:00.004-05:00

Update: The party was a hit and my crew took away top honors. Burner Ones gets honorable mention and of course, Stem killed the blackbook competition and took the title...Much respect to everyone who turned out, and one thing I'd like to say about the movie Code Blue and Choke No Joke...It's not that I'm trying to hate, but I honestly think $150,000 budget for the movie was absurd and it was painful trying to sit through it...I couldn't even watch it because it epitomized what destroyed hiphop in the first place...The movie had absolutely no rhyme or reason to it, it was like a bad porno flick with all the bad acting and bad lighting, and no porn, and I don't appreciate the grasping at straws by screening at a writer's event to legitimize its place in hiphop...Thanks to the Shaolin peeps (sorry Gano, just trying to tell the truth) for putting it on (Fuego gets credit for the flyer) and the nice ladies serving food and drinks...They deserve some accolades too...

Coming up on the 28th...

2009-02-20T23:39:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of me on the inside...For Steve...

2009-02-19T17:34:00.000-05:00

What! I'm Listening to...(Part 12)

2009-02-09T18:41:00.005-05:00

I've been listening to the Script, an Irish pop band reminiscent of Maroon5...and Chanj is dropping an album later this year...I heard him perform for the Apollo's 75th Anniversary. He is a sick ass artist. I like Panda Bear. He's ethereal and remind me of the Shins. Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt & The Foggy Mountain Boys are great country music. So is Marty Robbins. Palace Music is mellow. (The last few recommendations I took from a Facebook list of top 40 albums. Thanks Amy for the recs.) Carmen McRae sings a great version of "What Lola Wants." I just rediscovered Johnny "Guitar" Watson again. His styles seemed to change with whatever era of music in a timely and yet eloquent use of the guitar...My greatest find as of late is Shirley Horn upon recommendation from Steven...She has vocal skills that can melt hard steel into liquid butter...Cleo Laine and Mel Torme have a duet album called "Nothing without You". It is amazing, that is if you are a fan of Mel and Cleo...Heh...

Minus the tar, refillable...

2009-02-04T06:49:00.003-05:00

One of the items at the CES that caught my attention was the electronic cigarette? It doesn't emit smoke, only a vapor giving you a hit of nicotine...

latest juxtapoz riflings...

2009-01-25T01:32:00.005-05:00

Michael Steele's "Cluster"...
Awaiting her decision by Matt Spire...Hmmm...maybe he's seen my bipolarity paintings...
Rick Griffin...
Ian Francis
Dan McPharlin.com...Mini synthesizers...
Chaz Bojorquez

Hey 70's kids...Remember those nights spent under your covers thinking you were going to hell after reading one of these?

2009-01-25T01:11:00.003-05:00

I found them. They're called Chick tracts. The website has all titles available.

Waiting, waiting, waiting...it'll pay off...

2009-01-22T23:05:00.001-05:00

ooooohhhh...beautiful...can't wait...

Eartha Kitt Dies at 81...

2008-12-25T21:51:00.000-05:00

I was lucky enough to see her a few years back at the Carlyle...RIP Eartha...

two at the bush...courtesy of Michael...

2008-12-19T17:15:00.003-05:00

Though it was meant as a deep cultural insult, many sympathize with the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at Bush...Wanna take a crack at it?

Posthumous Homage to a Legend...

2008-12-12T22:38:00.003-05:00

Bettie Page, Queen of Pinups, Dies at 85

From NYTimes.com By ROBERT D. McFADDEN

Published: December 11, 2008
Bettie Page, a legendary pinup girl whose photographs in the nude, in bondage and in naughty-but-nice poses appeared in men’s magazines and private stashes across America in the 1950s and set the stage for the sexual revolution of the rebellious ’60s, died Thursday in Los Angeles. She was 85...

...She had a few stage and television appearances, but it was a chance meeting that changed her life. On the beach at Coney Island in 1950, she met Jerry Tibbs, a police officer and photographer, who assembled her first pinup portfolio. By 1951, the brother-sister photographers Irving and Paula Klaw, who ran a mail-order business in cheesecake, were promoting the Bettie Page image with spike heels and whips, while Bunny Yeager’s pictures featured her in jungle shots, with and without leopards skins.

Her pictures were ogled in Wink, Eyeful, Titter, Beauty Parade and other magazines, and in leather-fetish 8- and 16-millimeter films. Her first name was often misspelled. Her big break was the Playboy centerfold in January 1955, when she winked in a Santa Claus cap as she put a bulb on a Christmas tree. Money and offers rolled in, but as she recalled years later, she was becoming depressed.

In 1955, she received a summons from a Senate committee headed by Senator Kefauver, a Tennessee Democrat, that was investigating pornography. She was never compelled to testify, but the uproar and other pressures drove her to quit modeling two years later. She moved to Florida. Subsequent marriages to Armond Walterson and Harry Lear ended in divorce, and there were no children. She moved to California in 1978.

For years Ms. Page lived on Social Security benefits. After a nervous breakdown, she was arrested for an attack on a landlady, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to a California mental institution. She emerged years later as a born-again Christian, immersing herself in Bible studies and serving as an adviser to the Billy Graham Crusade.

In recent years, she had lived in Southern California on the proceeds of her revival. Occasionally, she gave interviews in her gentle Southern drawl, but largely stayed out of the public eye — and steadfastly refused to be photographed.

“I want to be remembered as I was when I was young and in my golden times,” she told The Los Angeles Times in 2006. “I want to be remembered as a woman who changed people’s perspectives concerning nudity in its natural form.”

I'm on the radio...This time it's with MR&R...

2008-12-12T19:37:00.003-05:00

I did a phone interview with Arwen Curry and Erin Yanke last night for the "You Got a Problem!" show on Maximum Rock and Roll Radio...I think my topic was a bit heavy for the girls and there really was no answer to my problem...getting over the heartbreak of my first love...My first music love was punk rock, but due to the lifestyle that seemed to go hand in hand with hanging out with musicians, I lost a great deal of passion for the scene...And migrated from punk to other types of music...not to be a traitor to my subculture, but I got tired of the excessive substance abuse and crime that sprang from it..I mean, when I started out in the scene, most of us were straightedge...Anyways, Arwen set me straight saying that your first love is just that...It's meant to be heartbreaking because it was my first...As for conservatism and allowing outward appearance to be less edgy, the guilt associated with it loses out to my older more adult tastes...I guess I was just searching for the older punks who feel the same way...There must be a large population. Arwen said there is. That made me feel better.

Skeme Richards $2 Flow Show Episode 1

2008-12-08T17:04:00.003-05:00

Loved Defender? Try Cosmic Defender...

2008-12-04T03:30:00.002-05:00

I tried to keep the game on my site, but the sound wouldn't toggle off...So here's the link...

YNN Labs Presents the Latest Stem Shirts...

2008-12-02T23:29:00.000-05:00

Maybe Pitt IS the Newman of our Generation...?

2008-12-02T22:22:00.005-05:00

Families move into homes that Pitt built
From yahoo.com By STACEY PLAISANCE, Associated Press Writer Stacey Plaisance, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 43 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS – It was a bittersweet moment for Brad Pitt, walking through the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood where families were preparing to spend their first holidays since Hurricane Katrina...

While the homes built by Pitt's project are more contemporary than the Creole cottages and shotgun-style homes typical of New Orleans, they incorporate some elements used in the area for generations, such as high ceilings and shaded porches.

The homes also have solar panels and other features that help cut energy bills by at least 75 percent, Pitt said. Other architectural elements address challenges of the area, including ventilation and mold- and termite-resistant materials.

"The misunderstanding of architecture is that it's all about aesthetics," Pitt said. "It's not. First and foremost, it's about function."

The homes, costing $150,000 on average, are for property owners who can pay insurance and taxes. Monthly payments are based on applicants' income and subsidized by Pitt's foundation...

>>I miss you Paul Newman...I never got to give you proper homage when you passed, but thank you for being a really decent guy and a role model for everyone...

Where I'll be tomorrow night...

2008-12-02T20:50:00.004-05:00

DEC. 3 - FEB. 7: BRONX
GRAFFITI: SPIRIT OF AN AGE 40x10
Opening Reception: 5-9pm. Feat. CES, CEY, DR. REVOLT, EZO, KET, KLASS, MARE139, SHARP, SP, REVS. Curated by EZO. On view through Feb. 7. Longwood Arts Gallery at Hostos Community College 450 Grand Concourse at 149th St. Bronx, NYC. 2, 4, 5 to 149th and Grand Concourse. Mon - Sat: 10 Am - 6pm from artcrimes.org...

Revised Dec. 4th 2008....Went to the show and totally was impressed by Ezo's paintings...Not only did he curate the show, but his work is amazing...Also, Mare 139's sculptures were sick...

My buddy Greg says he's never using a microwave again...

2008-11-27T21:41:00.001-05:00

This experiment makes the argument that we just don't know what longterm effects the microwave has on our bodies...

What! I'm Listening to...(Part 11)

2008-11-27T00:41:00.011-05:00

Though she's not as good as Julie London, I've broken down and started listening to Diana Krall...There's also Michael Weinstein who is a self-professed scrounger of old standards. Also, a song here and there by the Fray, though they sound too much like Coldplay...Calvin Harris is notable slapstick music, I like MGMT a lot...they have a rawness to their music that makes them stand apart from others...For those hiphop/R&B listeners, Alex got me listening to a bit of Ryan Leslie. On the French tip again, check out Daniel Belanger...For that Latin Ska fusion (their style is hard to pin down, obviously they have a lot of influences) sound, I've found La Vela Puerca...Bryn Christopher has a couple of songs that I like...Soulful...I've also been digging on Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Robert Johnson of late...Little Jackie is from Brooklyn and they are a lot of fun...More to come...Stay tuned.

Stations of the Elevated Pt. 3 of 5

2008-11-26T04:23:00.002-05:00

STATIONS OF THE ELEVATED (1979) is an astonishingly beautiful film about graffiti-covered trains hurtling through a strange urban landscape of a decaying civilization. The music of Charles Mingus counterpoints the recurring visual riffs of the tension-filled imagery. Steve's film teacher at SVA filmed the movie, Manfred Kirchheimer...This segment is my favorite part with the bench of writers' comments and also mattress jumping from abandoned buildings...

Support the Puerto Rican Freedom Project...Courtesy of Division X...

2008-11-25T20:09:00.001-05:00

I'm proud of you too Lou...

Made to feel Small man creates mini art that sells big...Courtesy of Fred...

2008-11-25T04:01:00.008-05:00

Needle Sized Art

I can't believe this guy paints with a hair plucked from a housefly...And all on a fragment of a grain of sand...You can't even breathe very hard around these works and you have to have the steadiest hands ever...