8/31/07 The children of the US Americans need maps. Have a great Labor Day weekend. 8/29/07 Here are some photos of the Mass Appeal vs The Art Dump show opening that happened in New York last week. I also posted a few photos of my wooden doll over at Share The Air. 8/29/07 Tucker Nichols is one of my favorite artists. 8/23/07 New Chirp drawings added. And select black & white originals are now for sale as well. 8/22/07 Garret Anderson. Wow. (photo Chris Carlson/AP) 8/21/07 8/20/07 The Carroll's won it 10 to 8! We came in the underdogs and left the victors despite losing our team captian to food poisoning, Smyth to an errant ball in the face (shattering his sunglasses, issuing 2 jagged cuts), his dog Kilo to a bee sting in the foot and Emmet to a basketball smashed index finger. Injuries aside, It was a great day in the sun with friends and family. It was nice to see all the little ones (future players?) there too. I'll post a couple shots tomorrow. Or check out Share The Air. 8/17/07 Mark Penxa's work and site are looking good these days. It's nice watching Penxa progress, he's a talented dude. 8/17/07 Annual Girl In-House Sofball Battle (double header?) this Sunday in beautiful Torrance. Carrolls vs Howards. It's OK that my team captain's shoulder pops out when he throws, right? Wish the Carrolls luck, we'll need it. 8/16/07 Monster Children #15, which was co-edited by the Art Dump (myself, Tony Larson and Andy Mueller), showed up in the mail yesterday. I'm pretty happy with the results. Cam and Chris do an amazing job putting together that magazine and this one was no exception. There are a bunch of copies that will be circulated around the States for this edition, so keep your eyes open... select skate shops that carry Girl brands will be receiving them. If you're really, really jonzing to see it, drop me an email and I'll try to pop one in the mail to you (if you're in the States). I say "try" because I am a lazy bum when it comes to mailing things out these days. This is a story that's been circulating around Pedro and the South Bay for a few years. Essentially, an ex-cop who was illegally breeding and selling certain reptiles (allegedly) let an alligator go (allegedly) in Machado lake in Harbor City when it got a little to large for him to handle. That was 2 years ago. It took park authorities that long to catch the thing — dubbed Reggie by locals. The story has became local legend as time passed and there was even talk of TV gator-catchers coming to town. He was eventually caught earlier this year when he wandered out of the water to sunbathe, and after some time in quarantine, he was given a new "home" at the LA zoo. I'm not too sure he's digging it there... I was getting my morning egg burrito at Monk's (these guys wrap the tightest, cleanest burritos) this morning when I looked out at the papers and caught the latest news on the front page of the Daily Breeze. Check this out. 8/13/07 Figgins is hitting .340... consistently. The guy is on fire. Bring it on, Figgy, stay golden. 8/6/07 This is a photo Brian Mettee took in Tokyo this past January. It's the Burton store front (click on it for a blow-up). Those boards are the "Custom" series I did for them last year. Pretty cool display. Thanks for the photo, Brian. 8/6/07 I gotta give it up to the Dodgers on this cross-town contest. Guess we won't be eating the Halo dogs on Wednesday night... 8/3/07 Monster Children issue #15, guest edited by The Art Dump is OUT NOW... complete with a DVD. Big thanks go out to Cam, Chris and Lucy for making it happen down under. I was privileged enough to sit through a viewing of a pretty special film in progress. I mention it only because I was blown away. Hold tight, "Where the Wild Things Are" doesn't hit until late next year. 8/1/07 The Lab101 has added a few more of my 5"x5" paintings from the "stAAAmmering" show to their online store. 7/31/07 "Wait, I should just do what I'm really good at..." I hear you, Geoff, I hear you. Here's an insightful interview with Geoff McFetridge for his "Bend The Void; The Space Between Yeah and Yes" exhibit at Mu. Great work from McTNT. 7/25/07 Hello Mr. Andy Jenkins. 7/25/07 Have you ever gone to shave your head and forgotten to put on the #2 attachment? No? Never? Give it a try, it feels good. How about this... Have you ever been driving around in an old van and been cut off by a crappy black Ford Ranger that braked hard once it got in front of you? Did it stop so quickly that you slammed into it and pulled over to find out a beautiful young girl was driving it — her boyfriend's truck — barefoot, with no licence? And was she shaking and apologizing profusely, her tiny dog yapping around your feet as you tried to exchange info? Did your old, paid-off van, get totalled and your insurance company declare that you were 100% at fault? No? Never? Well you missed out. 7/19/07 So far, the only day this week I didn't ride my motorcycle to work was yesterday. Doh. For situations when a regular bicycle just won't do... From Porous. My old boss & mentor, Oz, has moved his former operation online. Mueller is showing a set of photographs, "Point & Shoot" in Tokyo this weekend. Bendall, you around? 7/17/07 Ride to Work day is tomorrow. Join me. 7/16/07 Rhyme of the Week: "I draw you near, let's get outta here ... Let's get in a cab, I'll buy you a kabab." — Flight of the Conchords. Thanks, Larson. 7/13/07 Quote of the Week: "The bottom line is steroids is something you stick in your butt — period." — Gary Sheffield, HBO interview 7/12/07 The "stAAAmmering" show has come down. But you can still buy some of he pieces at the Lab101 online store. Pommier found this review of the opening w/ photos. The Lab101 will be hosting a 2-man show in November which includes this guy, Anthony Lister. Amazing work. Thanks to Fecal for the great piece on Lister. 6/26/07 Hollywood at Monster Children sent me this image... made my day. It arrived the same afternoon I'd ripped the skin off my knee skateboarding — the 21st. (click image for enlargement) 6/25/07 So I mentioned that I fell on Go Skate Day. Here's a shot of my right knee... The strange thing it that the 21st is my wedding anniversary (our 21st) and my wife's maiden name (and business name) is Hart. Look again. 6/22/07 The future is now. This makes everything I've ever done in my life seem arcane. Thanks (I think... I'm feeling pretty dumb right now) to Lewman for the link. 6/21/07 There are a lot of things much easier than skateboarding. If you plan on making today — Go Skateboarding Day — the one day a year you skate, don't. I just bloodied up both of my knees thinking I remembered how to skateboard. I may just have to stick to drawing it from now on. Happy anniversary, Kelley! 6/20/07 Couple links for the "stAAAmmering" show; At Highsnobiety (little mistake in the blog, I didn't work at TWS for 10 years). The Lab101 store. "stAAAmmering" print. At Juxtapoz. The comments are funny. The Hustler of Culture stAAAmmer shots on Flickr. This one's pretty comprehensive. Nice. Stumbled on this one. Excellent. Light Control. 6/19/07 FIGGY! 6/18/07 The "stAAAmmering" opening went well, I guess. I was able to suppress my crowd anxiety until almost 9pm... not bad. Lots of friends and folks showed up and I saw a few red dots get stuck up. If you're interested in any of the work in the show and are nowhere near Culver City, check the Lab101s online store in a few days as they add "stAAAmmering" pieces. A big thanks go out to Freddi and the two other Andys. Also wanted to thank Nat Swope at Bloom Press for the great prints (see below; limited edition of 100 — for sale at the Lab101) and the custom notebook. "stAAAmmering" 3-color print by Bloom Press The "Panelists 3" show is now onlne in photographic chunks. Thanks, Michelle! See if you can find my comics amidst the masses of line work. 6/13/07 Finishing up the pieces for stAAAmmering is taking longer than anticipated. I'm in my 40s now, THAT is a lesson I should have ingrained into my subconscious by now, right? It'll get done. Here's one I finished last night; The black lines were done with an "erasable ink" that you have to bake in the oven to temper. Strange stuff. Hope you see you at the opening Saturday night — you'll see over 300 new 5"x5" paintings by myself, Pommier and Mueller. 6/7/07 A few shows coming up in this next couple weeks... one at Freddi's Lab101 ("stAAAmmering" with Mueller and Pommier) in Culver City, one at GR2 ("Panelists," a large comic artist show the same night) in West LA, and another at The Lab in Costa Mesa ("Handle With Care" with Russ Pope, Bobby Puleo, Rich Jacobs and Mike Myers) the following weekend. I'll post the info soon. Here's a shot from my studio last night.... Check Share The Air for more photos. 6/4/07 Phew, busy weekend. We lost the Peck Park Minor League Championship by 1 point. 6 to 7. It was a really fun game, despite the loss. Here's Emmet at bat from my vantage point at first base... Here's a shot after his piano recital on Sunday. Stoked. 6/1/07 One of the most moving films I've seen in a long time; The Bridge. 5/31/07 I caught this link on Don Pendleton's site, Elephont. Pretty remarkable that more people don't know about this and even more remarkable that little or no action has ever been taken. "Iraq For Sale." • Mattias Adolfsson. • Spike Press. • "My Space Outage Leaves Millions Friendless." • Orlando Cabrera. Pretty refreshing interview with a star athlete who actually reads. Check out Curtis Granderson's ESPN blog as well. Emmet's Peck Park Minor League Angels play their first of two championship deciding games against the Dodgers tonight. If we win, I could be coaching the All-Star team. What?! Keep you fingers crossed for us starting 5:15 Pacific time. You can let go about 6:45. VISIT "OLD NOWS"... #1 / #2 / #3 / #4 / #5 / #6 / #7 #8 / #9 / #10 / #11/ #12 Write us