Yard Sale

The family and I spent a nice weekend in the country outside of Paris. Our visit coincided with the towns summer celebration. The weekend was chock full of swimming, a fair, a parade, fireworks, and a city wide yard sale. Paris has big flea markets but nothing like a good old yardsale. The items were a pretty crazy ix of modern junk and antique treasures, one thing that stood out to me was the fact that the French like to sale fancy antique plates and serving ware. I lucked out and found this amazing Carhartt jacket and a pair of pristine chuck taylors for 5 euros each.

My kinda research

You've peobably seen these new findings concerning Guinness. That's right, it is actually good for you which is great news. I mean it basically does the same thing taking a baby aspirin does for you but then again, great excuse to have at least one Guinness a day. Of coarse you could take the aspirin and skip out on all those calories but i digress.
The greatest part of this whole story is the research itself, they gave dogs Guinness!! I mean come on, we've all wondered how hilarious a drunk dog would be. If t.v. taught us anything it's that having a drunk dog around somehow insures lots of bouncy ladies will be all over the place.
I can't wait to see what comes out of the "Lets get this Chihuahua high" line of research.

Sign 'o the apocalypse: Crank 2

"I think someone is shooting a decent movie over there!"

I wasted one hour and thirty six minutes last night. Well maybe just one hour and thirty three minutes because there were titties and a mullet.
I waste time constantly so it isn't the time suck that irks me, it's the fact that for some reason I watched Crank 2 in its entirety. What does this say about me? Don't get me wrong, I don't demand deep meanings in my movies, I love a good one dimensional comedy or action film. I'm a fan of bad movies, not just bad movies that weren't meant to be bad but bad movies that are made with a full realizaion that they are painfully rediculous. I don't even mind suspending disbelief when I'm movie watching; Zombie, Sci Fi and horror flicks are some of my favorites. It's hard to put my finger on any one or three things that really put me off this movie but nevertheless...
I wonder how a movie like this gets made, what's the pitch to the studio like? How do you get fairly well known actors to appear in something like this? It seems like i'm always hearing about awesome sounding scripts that can't get made but something like this can and gets a big marketing push behind it? All right, I'll stop shaking my fist at those rowdy kids on my front lawn.
The above paragraphs have pretty much revealed my feelings on Crank 2 and in the interest of full disclosure I like Jason Statham and Amy Smart(notice I didn't mention Ling Bai) and feel like they did a good job acting the movie. I think the real problem is that this movie requires the viewer to be a little drunk or stoned and to have consumed at least a case of red bull to really appreciate the subtlties of the film. I'll just rundown the highlights and leave it at that.

• Surviving a 60 story fall from a helicopter (Umm Ok)

• Being awake during a heart transplant (sure)

• Shotgun up a fat guy's ass (Well he did lube it with crude oil but could you really get it that far in?)
• Constantly having to electricute yourself (alright but no burn marks until the very end?)
  
• Ron Jeremy (always a welcome addition to any film)
• Cutting off an elbow and later two man nipples (thanks for doing that so graphicly)
• A giant horse penis during a rediculous sex scene (Ok so he needed friction to stay alive but does the horse penis have to make an appearence and the look on Amy Smart's face when she sees it will haunt my dreams.)
• Dwight Yoakam saying "Is Doc Miles gonna have to choke a bitch? (Remember when I said the entire time wasn't wasted?)
• Titties (Sadly this movie proves that no amount of titties can save a bad movie.)
• Corey Haim with a magnificant mullet (the true highlight of the film)
• A living, speaking bodyless head (Sure, why not)
  

True Metal Fan

This is so metal it hurts.

Le Tour de France

My daughter and I caught the finish of the 2009 Tour de France, it was awesome.

Dinosaur Jr is back

Remember when Dinosaur Jr were awesome? After they started shedding members(Lou Barlow, Murph) and fighting they were still good but not quite where they had once been, but in all honesty I really liked Green Mind. Well all the boys are back and with the new album Farm they are back to form. I've been excited for this new album since seeing the video for Over It a couple of months ago but in the back of my mind I felt like the entire album couldn't be as good as this song, it is. I did like Beyond(the first new album with the original members) but this album is a tad heavier a little bit prettier and to my ear just better. I'm guessing J has loosened the reins a little and is letting everyone have a little input. The band as a whole sound good and they seem to be having fun in the music.

Dinosaur jr has stayed on my radar for the last few years with Nike putting out a great high top dunk in their honor and Alien workshop putting out a board with their graphic on it as well as including J and one of their songs in the most excellent Mind Field video released last year(which also included two Animal Collective songs, check it out if you get a chance). Hopefully I'll be able to catch them when they play Paris in a couple of months.



Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's Mike Watt sitting on the truck and at the party.

Wow

Look at this amazing work by Thomas Hooper it's rare that I see a tattoo and want to steal it as is but i'd get this done in a second, well i might change up the skull a little bit and maybe go for a more Mike Giant style rose but damn the raven and the moon are perfect. If I end up in New York i'll have to look this guy up. Go to his site and check out the close up shots of this incredible piece.

Skullz Press

Mike Giant has a new store and a blog in addition to what he posts on the Rebel 8 site. This should be pretty interesting since his partner does most of the posting on the Rebel 8 site. The new shop The Skullz Press will be open to the public and feature new are every month. It sounds like he is selling his work directly to the public, maybe as a result of his(supposed) problems in Paris a couple of months ago. It does sound like he has lots of stuff in the works, maybe having his own space has set the creative juices to boiling.

Timeline

This is a great visual. I think everyone is aware of how far off the movie 2001 was but it's hilarious to see some of these other movies in the continuum. I found this chart on this site.

true dat

This was too awesome to not post, taken from here.

Regina Spektor Far

Regina Spektor's new album Far is out and it is a great piece of work. The new album has everything we love Spektor for, from her kooky fun romps to her serious pieces it's all here. I've been listening to the album for the last few days and today my daughter announced that she "loved this girl", that's a ringing endorsement in my book.
What do you know, two of my favorite songs from the album have videos.

Random stuff and junk

Christies auction house has a pop culture auction coming up soon and the catalog is pretty cool, check it out here. They have a little bit of everything; punk posters, guitars from Cobain and Stevie Ray Vaughn as well as Star Trek stuff and William Gibson's Johnny Mnemonic script.

This great article is about our neighborhood. I never knew these problems existed, I just think the signs are funny and try not to get run over by the Chinese dudes pushing their dollies.


Ouch

The Pixies Minotaur

The unbelievable band The Pixies have a mind blowing new "box set" coming out soon. It comes in a deluxe edition that retails for $175 and a limited edition that runs $495!! Check out the run down here, it sounds worth it to me. There is a really cool write up and interview with Black Francis at wired.

AC/DC

Just a taste of the insane AC/DC show, i'll do a proper post soon.

Built to Spill

Yesterday my Ipod reminded me that Built to Spill is an amazing band by playing "Big Dipper" and "Goin' against your mind" back to back.












Here is the most excellent video for "Conventional Wisdom".

Eric White Interview

G and I had a great time at the Eric White/ Daniel Davidson opening last night. This piece was at the show last night but I didn't get a picture. I found a pretty cool interview with Eric White on Fecal Face. I can't stress enough what a great, easy going guy he was.

Tom Neely, Wizard

Tom Neely got a mention in Wizard magazine, the must read magazine for superhero geeks like myself. Can't wait for his next book The Wolf to come out. Check out his store where he's lowered the price on most of his signed and numbered prints. I have my eye on the wolf with the tentacle things coming out of its mouth.

House for sale

Wanna buy Mike Giant's house in Albuquerque? It's for sale.

Youtube is my DJ

One of my favorites The National have a new song called "The Runaway" on youtube that is amazing. These guys just seem to get better and better. They are able to put out great, more mature, thought provoking songs while retaining that quirky wordplay that make me double take every time. If they were making movies they would be Caddyshack quotable.



Another one of my all time favorites, Iron & Wine, here doing the song Godless brother in Love as part of the promotion for his new album of rarities Around the Well even though this song isn't on it!! It's amazing none the less. The only problem I have with Iron & Wine is that i compare everything he does against the Trapeze Swinger, probably my favorite song of all time(or at least top 5).

The Simpsons

Everyone loves the Simpsons. From Kevin Carpio's site.

Tom Beil, throw in a fish

Tom Beil, my wife's cousin, has some sweet art on sale at YoWangdu along with a pretty cool interview.

Ryan Adams Hello Sunshine

Ryan's second book Hello Sunshine is available for preorder in Hardcover. Preorders include a signed chapbook, his first book sold out quick so if you want one get on it.

Anyone who read Adam's blog posts last year when he was blogging daily will be familiar with the choppy, illustrative style. I was able to buy his first book and it made for a strange but enjoyable read. It looks like I won't be able to afford this one and it sounds pretty good, blurbs here.

Lionel

I stumbled across this French tattooist named Lionel. That's pretty much all i know besides the fact that he is an awesome artist and is booked for months. Is there anywhere on me that this style would fit? He has a site with more work here.

Loser Goes 1st Love

I got some love from Scot over at Loser Goes 1st. Check out this latest series he's working on, it's amazing. I've never had the experience of intimately following one artists development over years and it is absolutely fascinating to see how far an artist can come and still retain that thing that makes their work instantly recognizable.
Check in on Loser Goes 1st on a regular basis, he's doing a monthly free art giveaway!!

Artist Milk

This work is really cool check it here. via neatorama

Marianne Dissard

This video is pretty brilliant. My wife really likes this girl and keeps telling me the Calexico dude did most of the heavy lifting.

Word

The Portland Mercury

My brother(pictured above in what must be a rock stance) sent me a care package and included a copy of the Portland Mercury that I've had a great time reading. Part of the fun, besides the ads, was looking through the concert schedule. If I were in Portland here are some of the shows i'd try to see.

LadyTron and The Faint May 1st Roseland $20
Ben Lee May 4th Berbati's Pan $14
The Shins/ Delta Spirit May 6th Crystal Ballroom $35
Destroyer May 7th Mississippi Studios $18.50
Flight of the Conchords May 14th $38.50
Ben Folds May 15th Roseland $30
The Kills/ The Horrors May 17th Wonder Ballroom $16
Sun Kil Moon/ Matt Costa May 21st Wonder Ballroom $20
M. Ward May 22nd
The Avvet Brothers May 23rd Crystal Ballroom $20
The Melvins May 24th Roseland
Animal Collective May 25th Roseland Ballroom $20
Peaches June 2nd Wonder Ballroom $20
Neko Case/ Jason Lytle June 5th Crystal Ballroom $25
The Lemonheads June 13th Mission Theatre
Ben Kweller June 16th
David Byrne June 23rd $39.50

Wow, that adds up quick.

Mike Giant/ Dalek Opening

Gretchen and I had a great time at the Mike Giant/ Dalek opening last night at the Magda Danysz Gallery. The art was absolutely amazing! Dalek's work ranged from small pieces to almost wall size pieces that he had done earlier in the week, they all had his intricate geometric thing going on. It was really easy to get lost in the lines. Mike's work was amazing, his precise work is even more impressive up close. Several of his pieces were Paris inspired and needless to say I've got some new tattoo ideas. I picked up a copy of Coup D'Etat which covers some of Mike Giant's recent work and travels. Many thinks to the Magda Danysz gallery for putting on the show and Drago for the free absinthe.
Slam X Hype has a great write up of the show on their site.

Mike Giant Opening

The Mike Giant/Dalek opening is this weekend down the street at the Magda Danysz Gallery. Interestingly the evite to the opening says that they will be launching the book Muerte but the book pictured has a different cover and a different name(Coup d'etat), could this be a new book?

edit- He's not coming. There must be more to it then this. I am bummed.

SE Racing

I remember back in my BMX days when SE Racings P.K. Ripper was the shit, they were rare in Tulsa but there was a nice all chrome one that was at the riverside track from time to time. Well the Ripper is back and not only that but SE has jumped into the fixed gear pool. They have some pretty sweet bikes at some really good prices.

One Dead Milkmen show

The Dead milkmen are such a huge park of my childhood(and I still listen to them a bunch) that I still can't fathom why they aren't huge. Anyway about three people will care about this post(phil, Main and Pat) but the milkmen(who appear to be playing with Johnny Knoxville if the above picture is any indication) have a show in NYC and their officaial site reports that THEY ARE REHEARSING NEW MATERIAL!!! It's been way too long.

Bikes, Zombies, Wolfmen

Someone tell Tom Neely that this would make a totally bad ass t-shirt.
I wonder if G would let me get a Zombie tattoo, awesome work from Thomas Hooper.
Check out this Cinelli Mike Giant traded a picture for, how many bikes does he have at this point? I'm jealous.

Osheaga

Pretty decent lineup at Osheaga this year.

Lisa Hannigan Sea Sew

I listened to the unbelievably cute Lisa Hannigan's latest album Sea Sew on the metro today. The challenge to listening to something on the metro is that it has to be pretty engaging to compete with a group of Hare Krishnas or a crazy eyed Frenchwoman eyeing the seat next to one of your kids.
I only know Hannigan from her amazingly beautiful work with Damian Rice and was expecting the same sort of sound from this solo album. I was pleasently surprised to find that this album isn't simply a one note production capitulizing on her work with Rice. While the album has its slow and delicate parts she quickly reveals a real heartfelt, playful sound. At several points in the album she brought to mind Edie Brickell(I mean that as a compliment). I've gotta say it held up very well on a chaotic metro ride.





You gotta love an Iron & Wine cover.

Hooper's Electric

Those of you who know me know that I love tattoos. If I had more money I'd probably be covered.
I recently came across Thomas Hooper, a tattooist from England now working in NYC. His work is phenomenal, I spent the last two days working my way through his blog Hooper's Electric it is full of amazing pictures of his work. He also has some amazing t shirts that you can buy here.
Check out that zombie crow.

Borderline

Check out this Flaming Lips cover of Madonna's Borderline. Pretty amazing work, It reminds me of the Tortoise/Bonnie "Prince" Billy covers album from a few years ago.