New, Old Video

Just found an older hip-hop video I had never seen from one of my favorite groups (who may or may not be together any longer depending on what month it is).

What's New?

Lots have been happening in the past couple of weeks. I've been pretty busy with lots of stuff...so here we go:
Got snowed in with Caitlin for the initial storm. Being snowed in can be cool. Or it can suck. But being snowed in with someone is way more fun than being snowed in by yourself! We went to the grocery store, expecting to have to elbow other people out of the way...but it was actually pretty civilized. Even the bread and milk aisles were in good condition. They're usually cleaned out like people are going to be trapped in their houses for a week when the weathermen start threatening with lots of snow. Needless to say I was pretty surprised! Picked up a few things so I could flex on my stir-fry abilities (which are pretty dope if you don't know....check out this bit of radness I just made tonight:)



Then we made the best of the rest of the day, watching movies, watching the snow fall and just generally being rad together. On the way to work on Saturday, I snapped a quick flick of this little accident:



-Two poor Japanese dudes wrecked it by themselves into the metal-guard-rope thing on the side of the road. Sucks!

The past couple of days have been spent cleaning and packing as I'm moving come January 1st. The new place is super dope and it's just down the street. Great neighbors, great space. Should be great overall. I can't wait to have a room that's a dedicated studio. Should be pretty rad! I've got some good plans for the new place! However, I do hate packing. And cleaning. They suck. But the upside is that I'm trying to throw out as much crap as I can so I have way less to pack. The more that goes into the garbage bin, the less that has to get unpacked.

Xmas is in a couple of days and it's tough to get in the spirit when I have so many other things going on. Looking forward to having Xmas off to continue packing. I'm staying home, resting and packing. Can't wait to get more work done. On the art front, I've got a couple of holiday pieces in the works for family, working on the new Pedal Power shirt designs, finishing up jeresys for the Scorchers, and getting a few new Ghostship hoodies worked on. 2009 is looking to be a dope year. Snapped a cool artsy photo the other day just before the big snowfall...enjoy!

Weekend Fun

An awesome weekend for sure! C and I headed up to Mass MoCA on Saturday. We made the long drive up, and were amazed as we started our trip through the Berkshires. As you probably know, there was a bitch of an ice storm that has left many residents of NH, as well as MA and VT with no power. We saw some of the aftermath. The tree-tops glazed with a coating of light reflecting ice. It wasn't too bad as we were heading there. We got on the twisty, windy road of RT 2, and as we crested the mountain, it was markedly more drastic! Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING (except the road) was crusted with ice. There were lots of road crews out chainsawing trees so they wouldn't break and fall on cars driving past. It was pretty amazing. Beautiful for sure!

So we hit up the MoCA and saw lots of cool art. Some exhibits were better than others, but if you've never been, you should hit it up to see the building itself! It's located in a reclaimed factory building. Lots of big windows that let in plenty of light, and lots of cool architectural stuff going on. If it weren't so far away, I'd definitely have a membership. So much fun to visit!

We hit up Northampton on the way home for some burritos, used books and shoe shopping. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything I liked. Oh well. Also on the unfortunate tip, is the fact that I left my camera home, so no rad photos of the ice-trees. Next time....

Excited for the Weekend!

-art'n the place up w. a photo of my fridge.

Anticipating an awesome weekend! Heading to the Market tomorrow to pick up some extra hours tuning boards, mounting skis, and generally just being a shop rat (listening to loud punk rock, making crude jokes, trying not to inhale too much wax smoke, talking about life w. Joe and Aaron, etc). Having dinner after work with a beautiful girl and then causing some trouble? Sleeping in late on Saturday, going into work late (cause I stayed late tonight), Scorcher's meeting that evening. Staying with one of the boys in New Haven, Raf's cooking us breakfast Sunday AM, then heading up to Boston to terrorize with about 7 other team guys. Poker Run race in the afternoon, free beer, burritos and roller-races that evening.

This has all the makings of an epic weekend for sure!

Making Up for Lost Time...

Experimenting w. my little point-and-shoot.


-the 'mandatory-myspace' photo?...


-I think this reflects how tired I was when I shot it fairly well. hahahaha!

Thanksgiving.

I took my camera with me and had the best intentions of shooting during the holiday. But the overwhelming urge to relax caused me to forget it in the car when we got to my sisters. So you're left with mostly artsy-fartsy shit from my car ride. Enjoy!

:)

The Sweetness.

Yep.

November...YIKES!

Damn. I've really slacked off here. I've been pretty busy I guess. Racing has kind of burned me out. I won't lie. I got sick for about a week, and then took another week to totally get back to 100%. There's nothing like getting sick to really take the wind out of your sails....that's for sure! So riding to work has pretty much been my time on the bike for the past couple of weeks. I had put some gears on the cross bike to help me be a little more competitive on the flats. I've been finishing up in the middle of the pack still. Pretty much in the same place where I was finishing with on gear. So for the race this weekend, I think I'm going back to one cog. Just have fun. No worries. Have a good time. Heckle the shit out of everyone else. We'll see how it pans out. Ghostship is sponsoring the CT State Championships so I have to make time to get some shirts done this week...in my new studio! So stoked ot have a place to work now (outside of my living room).

I've been pretty busy with making art as well. I just have some pieces in the Game Over show @ No Regrets Tattoo/Art Gallery in Naugatuck. Dougy-fresh and I went to Eliza's wedding on Saturday and then high-tailed it up to the gallery to take in some culture. I could only get a couple of photos because we got there so late (damn you LI ferry!). The show runs for another couple of weeks so get on over there and check out some of the rad stuff!




-awesome block Super Mario figures! these guys stand about 2 feet tall or so.




-Life-sized Mario Cart. Super dope! I wanna see a motor in that thing!


-My main piece for the show. Ink wash on 140lb fine watercolor paper. 18"x13.5". Framed. $200.


-Woodman from Megaman II. One of my favorite games growing up. This is my favorite of the series of 3 I did. 4"x6". $50.


-Fireman from Megaman. 4"x6". For sale. $40.


-Bombman from Megaman. 4"x6". For sale. $40.

Discount if you want the entire series of 3. We can talk.

After I dropped Doug @ home, I trekked back to M-Town and hung out with Digger, SA, LT and Deanapar, had a beverage and watched Brock Lesnar pound on Randy Couture. A great fight and a packed Saturday for sure!


-SA and Deanapar taking it all in.

I've also been working with everyone I ride with to organize our club, The Scorchers, a bit better. We've got tons of great ideas floating around and we're all working really hard to make them realized. Got some shirts to work on this week and racing on Saturday. Then I've got a couple more pieces in the works. No rest for the weary!

Finally Home!

Thank God I'm finally home! Another Vegas trip for the books. This year pretty much wore me the f*ck out. Not being a big drinker, or a big gambler, there's not a whole lot there for me to do. Oh yeah, I should also mention that I had very little expendable cash for this trip as well.

Well, the show was a good time. Got to see all the new bright, shiny bike goodies for the upcoming season. Made some new friends, visited and caught up with some old ones as well. Things that really stoked me out? Working along with Rickshaw on an upcoming custom one-off bag, pretty much all of the new BMX stuff. Looks really, really great! Had a good time laughing at the Dean and Digger Show...pretty much the whole trip. Got to race my cross bike on Wednesday night under the lights of a giant soccer complex. Super fun! Well, minus the crash that knocked me out of the first place spot (which I should have taken due to the one lap rule that I didn't know about til the next day!....damn my honesty and niceness!) and left a decent patch of skin on the pavement at about 15mph! Ouch. Randomly ran into Stevil Kinevil and hooked him up with his shirt. Watched Lance get shelled (he crashed in the same place I did! Rad!). Went to some randomly weird bicycle/urban fashion show and made fun of everybody...we've got it on video. I'll post that up later.

Those are pretty much the highlights for me. I didn't drink nearly enough coffee...had my head in a serious fog for the better part of the trip. I did shoot some photos, though. Click the photo below to head to the slideshow....since it sucks to try and post everything here. While I had fun, I think that this is my last trip out to the desert. That city definitely wears thin with me. Now, STOKED for the cross season and getting my art on! Lots of shirt ideas, getting the press warmed back up!





-Best Dressed for sure! photo by Jason Patrician

Vegasvegasvegasvegasvegas.....

It's that time of year again. Our annual trip out to the desert. We're shipping out on Monday and will be back on Saturday evening. Tony and I are registered for the cross race on Wed night, there's a great movie premier lined up that night as well. Digger and Deanapar are pretty much in drunk mode already...we should have some great stories, photos and videos this year! Oh yeah, Jason P is meeting up with us on Tues or Wed. Going to try and take it easy for the first couple days so I can stay fresh for the race. I don't travel well. I'm hoping for some good sleep to get well rested. Have to try and acclimate to the dry air as well. Bringing a bottle cage and bottle for the race. I think it'll be so dry that I'm going to need to actually drink during this one. Wish me luck! We'll see you when we get back!

Catching Up To Do....

Well, I was planning on heading up to Boston to meet up with the rest of the crew, but after thinking long and hard, decided to stay put this weekend. There's sooooooo much I need to get done around here. And after I pay for 2 days worth of tattoo convention tix, gas and food $, that'll cover the cost of shipping Ms. Surly out to Los Vagrants (and then some!). I know I'm missing some great fun, but I'll have my week out in Vegas! So in the meantime, shirts are getting screened, friends are getting visits, and I had a little time to upload some photos from some recent adventures. Check out a few of my favorites:

First up, my Sister got married about a month ago...


-Chill'n w. Pops...probably one of the best self-portraits I've ever taken.


-Ma Dukes and myself.


-My Mom and my Niece.


-My Sister with her daughters.

Click here for a slideshow of the rest of the photos...

And Secondly: Trek flew a few of us from the shop out to their Trek World convention a few weeks ago. Fun times! Some more fun photos:


-The crew ready for an evening of beer, brats and skidding Limes...hahahhahah!


-Spence gett'n live....


-Don't let the cup fool you (he was refilling mine), he finished that himself....Digger on the loose....

Trying to remember what I had promised.......after swearing not to have a drop of beer until after XcrossX season...oops.








-what can I say?

See the rest of the set by clicking here. As always, good times! Should have some more rad photos and even some videos in a few weeks after Vegas. We're heading out from Monday to Saturday (ugh...gonna be total zombies by the time we return!), the longest stint we've done there so far. We're going to the big bicycle convention, Interbike. Tony Tyrant and I are registered to race in the Industry Cup cyclocross race, CrossVegas. We're renting ourselves a "molester" team van, and rocking out to brutal metal for the entire night...if we don't get arrested, we'll have some amazing stories!

Oh yeah!

Look over to your right...no, not that far. On the screen. See the little Followers widget? Get on that! I'd love to see who follows this! Thanks!

X Season...

...is here! Raced up in Springfield a few weeks ago....Not too shabby. It was the last race on the Hexed bike. No mechanical issues, chain stayed on. Nothing to make excuses for my lack of talent and lungs! Haha! Placed 16th out of about 33ish(?) with only one gear. Turns out I was the only guy there with just one. Highlight of the race was out-sprinting some guy on a custom Ti Serotta mountain bike for 16th place at the line. Tony's got some photos here. He's gett'n pretty good with that there soul-stealer.


-that's a thumbs down in case you couldn't tell!

Went and raced @ training race night @ Winding Trails in Farmington tonight. Couldn't get any gears on the bike today so I rocked the single speed again. Switched the rear cog from a 22t to a 20t. It was the right decision. But try telling that to me on a couple of the short, steep hills...after a few laps....legs burning and dead. Placed 15th out of about 30ish(?). Got beat on the flats again (spinning out) and made a few technical errors here and there (was fighting the course in a few spots instead of flowing with it) that pushed me back in the standings. I think gears will be an asset where I need them most (the flats for sure!). Talked with Tyrant a bit about CrossVegas. Still not sure whether I'm going to run gears or a single set-up. Gears will help, but singling that shit is just so punk rock! I'm not about the overall out there...I'm hoping to get some dollar primes and maybe a beer hand-up. As many $'s as I can stuff in my shorts is the name of the game....Still have to name the new bike....haven't thought of anything yet. Need to dismantle her and ship her to Los Vagrants on Monday. Without my cross rig for a week! Ugh...there are definitely worse things...

Burning some screens for new Ghostship stuff. A little slow going. Had a few technical issues to sort out. But I've learned more now! Pretty stoked. The whole silk-screening thing is one big learning process for me. I love it. I wish I had a larger space to work. Although that may get sorted out next week. We'll see how things work out. Work, ride, eat, make art...repeat seems to be the mantra of the past couple of weeks. Hope to keep it up!

Live Mural Art Dopeness!

Last night saw Tony Tyrant and I throw down in our Live Mural Art Battle at Eli's. We had a blast! Lots of friends showed up to support us, hang out, have a couple drinks and give us a hard time! I got there a bit early, loaded in, had dinner and started sketching. About 15mins of scratching away in the sketchbook and I had my loose plan. Started doctoring up the boards right @ 6pm. It was a great set up as it allowed people to float in and out, get food and drink. Saw tons of great friends that came out to support us. I stopped working just about 12AM. As soon as I decided I was finished, my body just about shut down. I packed up, hung with a few friends til about 12:30 and headed home to bed! Here are some photos from the evening:

Dougy Fresh popped these:









My photos:


-Tony's piece


-My piece


-Two tired artists...


-The arsenal.


-Crew.


-3 fast guys right there.


-My boy Ad-Rock and his fiance Kanani rolled through.


-Showing Kate how my camera works. Impromptu self-portrait.

Click here for Tony's photos.

Inked Up!

Couple pieces inked up. The last one was a little ink sketch over on the side of my pad. Kind neat. Check it:


-click for larger...


-click to supa-size...


-click to...ahhhh you know the drill.

Mural Art Date Moved!!

Hey everyone! Quick note: Due to the prediction of rain of biblical proportions, Tony, Eli's and I decided that it would be best to move the event to our rain date of July 30th @ 6PM. No art tomorrow evening. Hope to see you next week!



-click to super-size...

Quick Flyer Piece

Had to do a quick flyer (because of overwhelming resistance to the original one I put together) instead of working on my current pieces. Oh well, gotta promote! Here's the new one:



-click for larger

Please feel free to print a copy for yourself if you dig it. Better yet, print a few and post 'em up to get some more folks out to the battle! See you on Thursday!

Ink

Dropping some ink on my tattooed head-phone girl.



-click for larger size