Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Mothership connection, getting girls affection, if your life needs correction, don't follow my direction.

If you Google "Tiny", this picture comes up.
Not what I was looking for to help me shorten a web address.



A friend just scored this guitar.
The Hohner Prinz.
I always thought the little purple guy played an old Fender Esquire like the boss, but it turns out it's actually what used to be a relatively cheap Tele copy until Prince collectors jacked up the price and made them increasingly hard to come by.
The original guitar is called the H.S. Anderson "Mad Cat", but after Prince made it famous circa "Controversy", "1999" and most famously in the film "Purple Rain", Cort released it as "The Prinz", followed by Hohner's version, "TE Prinz", but with a different headstock after Fender threatened a lawsuit.
I'm sure Prince has a grip of these just sitting in some velvet covered room collecting dust, but unless I meet a great 2nd story man I'll have to wait till some geek who doesn't realize what he has decides he wants to clean out his garage on ebay.




Crack kills.



Please?



I've never been a particularly huge Smashing Pumpkins fan.
I liked Gish, and I kind of love Siamese Dream, and if hard pressed, I guess there were some good songs after that, though no whole album moved me after the first two, the thing is my gripe has always been his predilection for the screaming voice and the quiet, screechy, cracking voice that seemed to dominate everything after.
My friend is working with him right now and said he was the sweetest guy you'd ever want to meet. She and a few other girls I know have been hanging with him a lot while he's been recording, they've been taking some pretty great photos and documenting the recording in a way that's pretty interesting and revealing, especially for a guy so secretive.
Billy posted this on Twitter a few weeks ago with a caption that explained how this was THE (emphasis his) amp he had recorded Gish and Siamese Dream with.
Now I'm not fanboy, but I have to say, if there's one thing that was always bullet proof, it was his guitar playing and in particular, his tone.
Sometimes an amp looks so good you know it's gonna sound good, like the Marshall JCM 800 head on cover of Fugazi's Red Medicine. This amp is one of those. It also made me wanna drag mine into the control room and plug it in.





No one ever talked about how weird he held his mouth. If you don't believe me, watch The Lost Boys in the scene where he meets the Frog brothers in the comic shop and says "Lex Luthor hadn't even been intro-DEUCED".





Speaking of deuce - (And I swear I didn't even remember this picture followed, so no pun intended) - I recently found out that my friend and landlord is selling the house we live in, so I have to move. I have begun to look into buying with my wife.
One house that was listed on The MLS actually had this picture posted in it's listing.
Cause nothing says "Buy This House" like a used quarter-roll of toilet paper.

Friday, October 16, 2009

And if you don't know, now you know.

GVSB.
Top 10 bands ever.
I have seen them on many occasions, sometimes in small venues pressed up against the front of the stage staring up from the monitors like a little girl, sometimes in larger venues, and once I even had the pleasure of opening up for them at the Troubador.
Seriously one of the most underrated bands of all time. Alexis is a monster drummer, Johnny Temple lays down the heaviest basslines since the Jesus Lizard, Scott McCloud is like a younger Peter Weller on cool pills, and Eli is the only person I've ever seen "rock out" on the keyboards without looking like a fey Thomas Dolby.
The coolest band ever. Period.



This pictures says a lot.
Growing up in LA, it takes a lot to make me fan out on someone.
Meeting T.A. was one of those times, and what made it even weirder was that he came up to me.
I won't reveal the circumstances, but I will tell you this; sometimes I still trip out that I know this dude. Total legend, total killer, and I want that surfboard bad.



As a black man, as a student of cinema, and as a guy who appreciates style, I am embarrassed to report that after 36 years of living and having had the soundtrack on vinyl for nearly as long, I have finally seen what is truly one of the greatest films of all time - The Mack.
Max Julien is now my hero on every level.
Humbled.






This picture sums up the feeling of a project I'm currently writing.
The "Rio" photo is obviously his most famous, but to me this Nagel has a lot of soul.



Douchebag.



Let's play tummy-sticks.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

I'm a Zulu, yes a true blue, Red Alert is with the poo-poo.

Medallion carrying member.



I've posted these before, and I'm begging you, what was this colorway called, who has a pair, and why aren't they on my doorstep.
Help.



Keepin' your head above water, making a wave if you can.



Somebody actually made this with the knowledge that there is a market for it.



My wife painted these ages ago on leather panels for a Los Angeles designer who changed his name from Joel to Romulus. My wife is amazing.



Take a picture, it'll last longer.



This was a part of my past.



Jen from Gnarlitude blogged about this ages ago, but I still don't have one. Erik, Bueller, anyone?



The king.



If you see this, bail.



Before founding the Universal Zulu Nation, Afrika Bambatta was warlord of the Bronx River's 10th division of the Black Spades, one of the most notorious and hard hitting gangs of New York City whose place in hip-hop history can't be overstated, as they helped keep the Bronx safe for it's residents and supported the emerging hip-hop community by providing security at the parties so the DJ's could play without incident.
Along with several other gangs, the Spades attended the Hoe Avenue peace meeting that was fictionalized in The Warriors as the meeting called by Cyrus and the Riffs.





See I'm programmed to slam, winter, summer, spring or fall.

Nobody was as cool as Travolta in the 70's.



Except maybe the dude holding this glow stick.



Or Robert DeGrimston.




Rime/Jersey Joe.
Known Gallery.
Act like you know.



Top 5.
And I saw it performed live before the album came out.
Universal Amphitheater, Dope Jam Tour.
Age has it's benefits, bitches.





Best shoe ever.
The photo doesn't even do it justice.
A black canvas wino with brown gum rubber sole.
Totally gangster.
Even with a waffle-stomping size 12 like mine it doesn't look too big or cumbersome.
Thin, look great when pants fall on them, light, but not sketchy to skate in...basically, perfect.
The details, from the stitching, to the DIXON on the back all make it totally incredible.

For me, the real indicator of a great piece of clothing or shoe is when I first try it on, I immediately want an extra one to store in the closet for when I thrash the one I'll be wearing everyday.




I don't wear baseball hats, but if I did, I'd wear this.
If you have one, give it to me.





The best part of coming home from tour.