Let's Try This Again

Again, in my countless hours out and about, as well as online, I come across some pretty amazing things. This blog was always a sort of therapy for me, as I would seek out the dopeness that's out there and present it here for you.

SO! I'm gonna try it again. Here's what I've been diggin:

Bon Iver

I'm well aware that Justin Vernon and his band Bon Iver is old news, but the music never gets old. I once had the pleasure of seeing this band, in the rain, at Lollapalooza. I'd be jealous if I wasn't me. Basically, I just wanna remind you all to get into this if you haven't yet. It's atmospheric and soulful and amazing. This is probably my favorite tune of the album:



Watch the whole thing, it gets awesomer at the end, where elements of this video become part of the song itself.

I also recommend checking out the Ellie Goulding cover! Seriously, it's great.



More next time, let's ease back into this. Peace and love!

What Happened in Calgary

Huhhhhhh, where to begin. Of course I've been a big bummer lately, so I've been reluctant to write this one in fear of sounding like a negative jerk. But you've all been waiting so patiently, so here's what's been going down.

1. A couple days before I left, I managed to beat a bunch of other designers to the punch in order to make a flyer for the legendary Abstract Rude's Western Canada Tour. Anyways, after a few drafts and a bunch of hours, here's what we came up with:



I'm happy with it, so's he, success!

2. I ventured on a mission to surprise Riley in Calgary for his 27th birthday. He had no idea I was coming. I was flying out of Toronto, and it turned out my current fave band The Whigs were playing with Band of Skulls at Mod Club. Jimmy being the whatever type of guy that he is was down. Long story short, predrinks and walkin' doobs, 7.50 Heinekens, and the best rock show I've seen since Broken Social Scene with Isaac Brock.



For real, so tight, so energetic, pure balls out rock and roll. Better than the album quality sound. Check that shit, it's been helping me smile in a dark time.

3. I wake up on the first of many couches this week, and begin my mission to the airport, which thanks to the homey Sawtay's guidance, I made it to for 3 bucks instead of 50. Got to Calgary, surprised the shit out of my brother Munroe, and made it to the Debra show to surprise Riles.



When we caught up to him, he had a look of disbelief, like he was trippin out. It was gold. He knew then and there, that this weekend would be expensive. Debra was off the hook, full of energy and attitude. Sounding dope as ever.

4. We spent the next couple of days helping Kyle and Jennalee move, which is not our first choice in vacation activities, but let's be honest, anything with this crew is good times, and Kyle knows how to show gratitude. That night we enjoyed a drunken game of Risk which resulted in 2.5 hours of Munroe and Kyle rolling dice at eachother and Kyle coining the term "If I'm gonna lose, at least I'm losing to a bigger loser."

5. The next day we finish up moving in the am and roll to a Calgary Roughnecks lacrosse game. This was my first, and apparently wasn't that exciting, but I was bigtime entertained. Def worth it.



We walked maybe ten minutes from the game to Livestyle Annual Hip Hop Festival where we were treated to a 2 on 2 Bboy battle. And finally a perfectly flawless headlining set by the super legendary De La Soul. Shout out to the hipster hoola-hoop girls. I hope that shit catches on if it hasn't already!



6. That night turned into a shit show after a bbq and predrink featuring lots of old friends and some quality new ones. Lunchboxes, irish car bombs, the make a wish foundation, mustard thievery and middle eastern cuisine, oh yes. Good times.

7. Finally, Sunday we pull off the WORST game of frisbee of all time, resulting in the realization that Kyle will always be richer than the rest of us. He's the man, he deserves that shit.

We take Munroe to the airport, I missed him right away, that dude is the fuckin man. God bless him.

8. The next day I take way too long to get home, and it's taken me days to get my shit back together. Although I seem to be on the verge.

9. Really, it was the dopest time. Big thanks to Allana and Riley, Kyle and Jennalee, and Munroe. Some of the greatest on Earth. Also James is cool as shit.
I really needed that. Also, if you're reading this, thanks De La Soul.

10. Anyways stay tuned, I found some inspiration out there, and I'm working on putting it to page, canvas, whatever. But in case you wanted to hear about it, that's what went down.

I love you all. Check me out: please.



Big up to Griffin, even though he don't like me.

What a Fantastically Well Lit Hallway

1. Chandler is smoking on an episode of Friends and Rachel points out that it's worse than the the thumb Phoebe just found in her can of soda. True that Rachel, true the fuck that.

2. It's been a tough week, a tough few months. Scott's on vacation, so as episode 1 of his new season starts, my season finale is upon us. Hopefully it's a good to-be-continued. Stay tuned, it'll be worth paying attention, no matter what.

3. I recently hit the front page of Redbubble. That's huge. Thanks to everyone who's reading this cause you're probably the same people who support my art as well. I love you!

4. As far as future plans, I'm trying to contact as many galleries, magazines, bands, blogs, everythings as I can...so if you can help, or if you know somebody I should be talking to, don't hesitate. I really think I'm ready to follow this dream. But I need your help.

5. I've been working with some new folks like http://www.tallkidd.com and http://www.epitome27.com and I'm hoping that between our 3 (their) massively creative and intelligent brains, we can come up with something sick. Again, I advice paying attention, cause like, well...you just should. Between Josh's fascinating writing and Jesse's vivid and sometimes shocking photography, not to mention my ability to paint blue people.

6. Scott has made his way to the left coast. I suggest you read about it at These Lions. It's dope, and inspiring, and not longer than Lord of The Rings.

7. The Gorillaz, LCD Soundsystem, Broken Social Scene all have new, mind blowingly, mountain moving, epic, retarded awesome, groundbreaking albums. Buy them all and I promise you'll have an awesome summer.

8. My pool's gonna be open soon. You're invited.

9. I'm not making it to 10 this time. Sorry if you were looking for 10, my brain is exhausted. You barely even get nine.

Til next time homeys, I'll try to make it funnier and awesomer.


10. I miss her.

This Will Take Some Getting Used To

Okay friends, it's been an excellent weekend, here's what's been happening.

1. Art Fusion 5. Ryan is definitely getting good at this. His collection and curating was at it's finest, in my opinion. His decision to put the regulars (Myself, Pat G, Darryn R, Brian J, and Sam C) in the back worked nicely. I managed to move 9 pieces in total. A huge record breaker for me. Thanks so much for everyone's support.

2. Managed to stop by the pub after for a couple with a solid group and a rendezvous with super support master Brendan, of the Tall Cans, whose song about me was flattering and awesome all in one.

3. Caught a free Sunday afternoon matinee of genius Albert Nerenberg's 'Laughology' at Museum London. Definitely a must see. It's a documentary about laughter without humour, how we all take ourselves way too seriously, and how laughter can be therapeutic, physical exercise, and medicinal. Don't lose your laugh, look this up.

4. After an agreeable steak dinner and some pre drinks, Laura and I made our way to Club Mansion to slide past cover thanks to the super generous hook ups of Laidback Luke and his tour manager Tony Dekker. We managed to get about a hundred dope photos thanks to Tony, who even had Luke pose for a bunch mid-set.

Unfortunately we had several too many drinks and left before our chance to meet Luke. But, Luke played a monstrous set of huge bangers seamlessly mixed for a slightly unappreciative crowd, who although partied their asses of, may have missed some of the subtleties in the mix that made this event so dope.

Laura also managed to get doper photos than I did, maybe cause she's a better photographer than me, maybe cause she's fearless in a crowd of sweaty Jersey Shore extras (not hating, just jokes). Either way, she (and I) had a fuckin blast.

I painted a series of 3, here they are...



Thanks to Laura, Luke and Tony for making that one to remember. Much respect.

5. We woke up hungover as fuck, missed most of our classes, Laura's car broke down. I like to think it was worth it, but we're still yet to see how much the bill is on that one.

6. I also managed to rock out a tribute to everyone's favorite drummer/super producer Quest Love, of the Roots. Here's that.



7. Today I've been working on my Flash Iphone project which I'm about ready to light on fire and throw down the stairs. If anything other than you-know-who makes it tolerable, it's this list of new albums I've run through.

Bonobo-Black Sands
The Bird and The Bee-Interpreting the Master Vol. 1: A Tribute to Hall & Oates
The New Young Pony Club-The Optimist
Jason Collett-Rat a Tat Tat Tat
and
MGMT-Congratulations.

Maybe it's just one of those days where everything sounds awesome, but CHECK THESE OUT. I'm super thankful I got to see Jason turn these out a couple weeks ago, and can't wait to see MGMT at Sasquatch now, and have already emailed Bonobo about his Toronto show. The music of 2010 is gonna be getting better and better.

And anyone who disses the new MGMT needs to get with the times. It's gonna take some getting used to, but I could see myself loving this one WAY more.

Right now I'm on to the new Ellie Goulding. So dope. So dope.

8. Scotty's getting tings together to ride a Greyhound across the continent for Coachella. He's setting up These Lions for you to read, watch and listen to what happens. Stay tuned, this'll probably be Epitome worthy.

9. As Scott prepares for Coachella, the rest of us get ready for Sasquatch, Lollapalooza, Osheaga (maybe), Halifax, and a mission from London to Buffalo to Toronto to Detroit all in one weekend. Get ready for this Summer, gonna be the best one yet.

And James got us rich people camping at Sasquatch! Ha!

10. New hookups from Two Hours Traffic! Some sweet surprises to come! Keep suggestions coming, I'm finally on my career path. Thanks to everyone who helped or stood in the way, you all matter. Some more than others.

The Next One

Lately it's been good day, bad day. For me, and my best friend.

Sometimes it's tough as fuck to remember that seasons are changing, and we just have to let ourselves move one day at a time. Although I've heard it 10 million times, I'd like to thank Mtulazaji of the Freestyle Fellowship for that piece of wisdom, of which he has hundreds of millions.

So I don't know if I can run y'all another ten, but here's a couple.

1. The reason I started this post, was to thank the artists with some weight and status who will still reach out to the up and comers like myself. Arts & Crafts as a record label is how things should be in the music industry, at least as far as how they've dealt with me. They get back to you promptly, respectfully, and they create and appreciate art. And that's what they are about. No wonder so many amazing artists get down with them.

Artists like Sinden and companies like Jeepney that will reach out and help you out when they can. It's beyond dope. Hookup kings. Can't thank them enough.

Of course, conversely, there's people who don't wanna stay grassroots and won't even consider it. People who race to say no. And only tell you why when you keep buggin them. I didn't start this blog to talk shit or be negative, so I won't name names. But keep discouraging people, see how that works out in the long run.

2. Right now, I'm jamming to the Flaming Lips-Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. It makes me wanna skip school and work and find a field of daisies to skip through. Get this album yo! You NEED it!

3. My cousin is a marine. He's tough as nails and he's had the hardest times imaginable lately. And this is his Facebook status:

"Standing duty in chucks, just when I thought shit couldn't any gayer, and for some reason, I'm craving a mcgriddle... The mutha fuckin syrup nugget."

Trooper to the fullest. Much respect to that young gentleman.

4. My plans for forthcoming art lately are gonna be pretty close to the chest. But there's gonna be more musicians, more inspirations, way more colours and shapes, and way more fun. This is what I wanna do with my life, so those who support and encourage, I could never explain how much that means to me. Love you.

5. Laura. Do you know this girl? She is a fuckin ass kicker. Know yourself lucky to be around such an entity of greatness and encouragement. If there's a better girlfriend, bestfriend, sister, daughter, and everything else, the world will likely explode. Laura is proof that there is good in this world, no...great, no...exquisite beauty, inside and out.

She's had some tough days lately, and I hope she knows that I've got her back, cause she's got mine. The look in her eyes when I create something new makes it worth doing. Let's be real, everyone else appreciating means the world, but this girl means the universe and the galaxy and at least five or six neighboring galaxies on top of that.

I encourage you to befriend this exceptional force of awesome, you'll be better than you were before. Just look at me.

Thank you Laura. Not a matter of hours goes by that I'm not thankful for you. Head up, we got this. We make the dopest team and I intend to keep it that way.

6. I just broke every rule of writing for web I've ever learned. Tough shit.

7. Have you heard of Youtube? That shit is fuckin hilarious.

8. This time 2012 I will be at SXSW and you will know my name.

9. I had a bad day yesterday, I'm gonna try not to make a habit of it.

10. The weather's nice. Let's go outside. It's all love.

11. Oh, and she ALWAYS looks good.


Braaap! Look what she made me do, look what I made for you!

43. God damn!

So I kind of like the way the last one of these worked out, so maybe I'll continue with the listing of things, cause, hey, it's easier for YOU.

1. So I've had the last week off, had some super tough family times, special lady off in paradise, which in turn means I have time to paint my ass off. (And in a couple of cases drink my ass off). Anyways I managed to finish 22 pieces this past week, which is gonna be my excuse for not updating this blog, if anybody noted my absence. Don't forget to check em out! and if you ever want anything, don't hesitate to ask for it.

2. When I was in Baltimore a couple years ago, I met some nice fellows from El Jefe Design. I bought a Black Lips, a Melvins, and a Wolf Parade. Shit's dope. Highly recommended.

3. The Girls Can Hear Us are at it again, and finally posted a digital EP for you to download for FREE. So go do that, check out their store too. I'm working on something special and limited edition for them. Wait for it....

4. I'm not really DJing anymore, at least in public, and here's why: I can't be a top 40 crowd pleaser all the time, or even half the time. And people are rude. People treat DJs like the enemy, as if the DJ wants you to have less fun if they are trying to be creative with track selection and not just drop obvious hits. I will probably never STOP djing, but at least take a break. Art is my thing right now, and it's better in that, at least if people don't like it they don't tell me to my face.

5. Woodhands at Moon Over Marin were extremely dope. The funny thing was all the skinny jean scenester grumpyfaces who looked miserable to be somewhere they had obviously chosen to be. Hmm, I don't get it. I though this indie hipster style culture was about originality but seriously, these cats all look the same to me.

6. My ladies of music series took an unexpected turn. Karen O and Amanda Blank turned out beautifully. Emily Haines is aight. Erykah Badu still may or may not work out. Unfortunately there will be no Gina Turner piece. But instead some smaller ones, including the beautiful and super talented likes of Annie, Jenny Lewis, Cat Power, and a couple more surprises.

7. Did everyone see Cloud of Skill Methodz on the Oscars? That dude should've won something for that.

8. I did this for my homey and yours Ryan Somers aka Fritz the Cat of OK Cobra.

There might be some collaborative surprises in the future. Big tings big tings. Seriously though, check out his new album Delerium Tremens. It's dope outta this world. Now now now.

9. So since I've started with portraits, shit's been goin off. Here's who I've done so far: 2mex, Aceyalone, ATrak, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson, Bubbles, Wu Tang Clan, Chali 2na, Myka 9, Miles Davis, Madlib, Lyrics Born, Lateef, Gift of Gab, The Beatles, Zooey Deschanel, Dave Grohl, Abstract Rude, Scarub, Fritz The Cat, Jenny Lewis, Amanda Blank, De La Soul, The Black Keys, Erykah Badu, Annie, Dwight Schrute, Karen O, J Dilla, Walter from Big Lebowski, Yoda, Aesop Rock, Major Lazer, Eligh and Anna Karina. I'm probably missing a couple, but god damn! I'm pumped about this...if you're not you probably should be!

10. The weather is getting nice. That means frisbee, patios, outdoor painting, biking, swimming, walking, running and uh...FESTIVALS. Everybody get your save on. It's time for us to enjoy eachothers company again. I'm ready.

11. I missed Laura and can't wait to see her.


Peace. Be nice to everybody.

Cause It's Time To

Okay, so if this is my only post this week I apologize for that, but hey, it' a busy one. So here's what you probably need to know.

1. Wilco is playing tonight in London, and we've got a dirty lookin' team concert posting up 5th row center. So I'll be sure to let you know how that goes. In the meantime I'm checking out all 70 Wilco tracks on my Ipod while painting/finishing assignments.

If you're there, I'll be the one sitting next to the girl who's way too beautiful.

2. A professor looked through some of my work today and with some enthusiasm directed me to Syndrome Studio, and I'm disgusted by how amazing their stuff is. Check out their reel, it's mindblowing. My new goals are to buy land with (2) horses and several dogs and work for Syndrome Studios.

3. I'm doing a new series of painting of my favorite musical ladies, as I usually stick to the gentleman, I figured it's time to switch it up and expand. Usually I would keep this a secret, but I want you all to look forward to it. So, in this order, you can expect:

-Amanda Blank
-Gina Turner
-Karen O
-Erykah Badu
-Emily Haines
-Zooey Deschanel

Pretty sure Karen and Zooey are already sold.

4. Speaking of sold, Art Fusion 4 was a huge success. Thanks to everyone who came out, supported, chatted, and all that goodness.

5. Have you been reading the Vagrant Optimist's blog? Or checking out the Epitome? Cause if you haven't you're missing out. It's all very entertaining, educational, and inspiring. So, the blog is here and the website is here. So, now you know. Don't sleep!

6. There's an awesome band that you probably don't know yet, and they are called The Dudes. I feel like, although I am not an FM96 listener (even at all), that radio station was built for The Dudes and they don't even know it. Every track on their new album "Blood Guts Bruises and Cuts" is awesome. It's given us a couple theme songs, especially 'Had Enough of It'.

7. There's a track on Maddecent that's Snoop and Kid Cudi with Diplo on the beat. Try to guess who the weakest link is? I won't say, cause the point of this blog is to point out dopeness not wackness, but here's a hint...it sure as fuck isn't Diplo.

8. Remember that song Top Qualified by Haiku D'e Tat and Quannum? I'm doing a painting series of all those dudes, but unlike the Wu Tang, you can get just one if you want! Look forward! I'll be displaying work at Grooves in April, so go check em out! And don't forget about my portfolio.

9. I have a ton of commissions and freelance biz on the go, get at me if you'd like anything done. I will do it all!

10. I have an awesome girlfriend and I'm writing this because she might read it. And I hope she knows that she's awesome and inspires me to be great every single day. She makes me feel even better than smart rap does. Anyone who's enjoyed a piece of my art in the last 5 months pretty much has her to thank.


Until next time y'all! Peace!