I came to bring some Christmas spirit, I got a big bag now guess what's in it, somethin' for the rich, somethin' for the po, so merry xmas & ho-ho-ho.

Sonny Liston.
This photo ruffled a few feathers in 1963.
In some parts of the country it still would.
#teaparty



Last year I posted a Christmas mix.
Looking back, some of the songs were weak, so I've edited the playlist down, keeping only the jams.
Enjoy - (And no, they're not links, this isn't a music blog, do the work yourself you lazy bastard).

---

* The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You) - Nat King Cole (The whole album is epic, but this is the best, also not so Jesus-y, which is nice).

* Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy - Bing Crosby & David Bowie (Corny but good).

* Christmas Time - Stevie Wonder (A heartbreaker).

* Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree/Jingle Bell Rock - Brenda Lee (Classic).

* Christmas Song - Joy Zipper (Reminds me of my girl, a plus).

* 2000 Miles - The Pretenders (Best female rocker ever).

* Hazy Shade of Winter - The Bangles (Not a Christmas song, but the inclusion on Less Than Zero soundtrack, use during xmas in the film, and presence of sleigh bells qualifies it).

* Going Back to Cali - LL Cool J (See above).

* Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Joey Ramone (Needs no explanation).

* Christmas All Over Again - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (So good).

* Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - John & Yoko

* Endlessly - Mercury Rev (Not technically a Christmas song, but it feels like it to me).

* Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney (If you don't like this there's something wrong with you).

* Christmas In Hollis - Run-DMC (Best ever).

* Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses (2nd best).

* Chrismas Treat - Julian Casablancas (Impressive cover of a Fallon/Sanz SNL skit).

* Another Lonely Christmas - Prince (Go ahead, cry).

* Christmastime Is Here (Vocal) - Vince Guaraldi Trio (No matter how old you are).

-----

In conclusion, keep Christmas alive, say "Merry Christmas" to everyone you see....even if they don't celebrate it.
Do you ask everyone who sneezes whether they believe in a deity before you bless them?
No, so don't be a pussy and say, "happy holidays", that is unless you want the terrorists to win and the angels to die.

Stay black, talk hard, and go Lakers.

I heard the captain's gonna sign him to Jive, and that's the truth.

Sean Carasov aka Captain Pissy.
RIP.

Jogger, A&R, Los Feliz local, Mopar lover, x-porn producer, once a roadie for The Clash, Beastie Boys tour manager, grumpy English fucker, and all around great dude who helped make hip-hop great when it mattered.

You will be missed by many.




Though we weren't close, I met him at a crucial time in my life and he left a big impression. We reconnected online last year after a mutual friend took his life, and sadly, it is a year and change later that I write this in his memory.

-----

Captain,

After Shawn M. passed I was trying to find you and rap about this Matt Dike project I was dreaming about. No one knew how to find you, so I lurked hard on the Interweb and used my private eye skills and finally came across your AIM address in some sketchy 4chan K-hole and added it to my buddy list. Every day your screen name said, "away", but I still sent messages, just patiently waiting for it to pop up one day.

Finally after probably a month or so, there you were, and you'll never know how stoked I was when your name finally showed as "online". I hit you and we typed for the better part of 30 minutes. We caught up and you told me how you'd spent the years since I'd seen you and I told you what was up on my end. We laughed about the onslaught of porn and racially charged words and images that popped up and overtook my computer like a fucking virus when I found an Anonymous link that you were responsible for, I told you how epic it was that you were the first of that organization to unmask yourself, and that only you would have the balls to pull something like that. You told me about Thailand, your struggles with Lyor and the music business, and most poignantly, we discussed your last days with Shawn.

You told me that you were just up the road from each other, and that you were both sick and had taken to trading meds, something you found most amusing. It brought me solace and some comfort the stories you told me of how you and Mortensen stayed close, and it was nice as one old acquaintance passed, I was back in contact with another. It is equally tragic that you both were in so much pain that you felt the need to check out the way you did. (I wonder if you both spoke of this?).

Though we were never close, it pains me to think that this is the way you wanted it to go. We met through Sophia Chang, hip-hop and music, and you walked me into some amazing situations that I'll never forget. I called Jarobi when I heard, and we both didn't know what to say, what can you say?

You were the funniest, most fucked up, craziest dude in Los Angeles. You were the King of Los Feliz before anyone even thought of moving East, the OG Mopar lover, a jogging fanatic, porn-loving, crabby and wonderful son of a bitch. You will be missed by many, and I hope you and our other Shawn are laughing together peacefully.

Lots of love,
Justin

Fuckin' blue lights, read 'em their rights, drama.

Hendrix is one of those treats that you think you're gonna bum out on cause your buddy played the first two albums way too much back in the day and now you think it's all Purple Haze and all of that Axis bullshit, but when it comes down to it, if you were to throw on Electric Ladyland right now it would blow your mind.
This shot is just too good.





Finally found and downloaded the entire 1983 Topper Carew documentary that predated Breakin' AND Beat Street....Breakin' N' Enterin'.
Filmed in Los Angeles and featuring breakers in Venice Beach, at the Radiotron, and out in the streets, it features Chris "The Glove" Taylor, Ice-T, and some incredible breakdancers, among them one of my favorite crews ever, The Dominos, from Los Angeles, CA featuring Kidd Tuff, a dude who was pretty much my idol back then. Tuff was a ridiculous breaker who made the dudes from Breakin' look like Rerun from What's Happenin', and besides being a sick breaker, Tuff was also the first person to ever punch me in the face, which is pretty cool.
The soundtrack is now available on itunes, do yourself a favor and get up on this important piece of B-Boy history.





New Biltwell lid, good color, thinkin' about it.


Or the flat red. Can't decide.



Want.





Need.





Old New York City hookers are awesome, I mean, minus the whole VD, heroin and AIDS thing.





Speaking of VD.





It's official, I'm the laziest blogger ever.
Life has taken over, and child-rearing, recording an album, playing basketball, watching season after season of Friday Night Lights, writing two films and a pilot as well as trying to earn a living as a touring musician has rendered writing about shoes, motorcycles and The Hills obsolete.
I've gotta get my priorities straight.
The grey joints I've been wearing daily this summer are about to have some company.
Only 200 pairs are being sold, one to the kid.
Fingers crossed.





Just saw this old shirt that Piscitelli and Dill did.
I was both totally stoked and totally bummed that they used an image from the poster for my dad's gay biker flick, The Pink Angels, as I've been planning on doing bootleg shirts of the poster forevz. Oh well, I think I'll do it anyway, I kind of have seniority on that one.






And just in case you are wondering what movie I'm referring to...

I'll give a little shout out to my dad.....

Tres Generaciones.



Sometimes being on the road is tough.
Wishing I was with my little man today.
Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.

Who loved Popeye? Alice the goon.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Cynthia Plaster Caster.
Along with Pamela Des Barres, she is one of the most famous groupies of all time.
If you don't know how she got her nickname, you should look up her work.
I told her I had wanted to be one of her subjects since I was young.
She laughed, but didn't say no.
TBC....




Some things are classic for a reason.
Un-fadeable.




I don't like this groove, try and give me something I can croon to, catch my drift?




South Bronx, 1970's.
Total decimation, and these guys are having a conga jam to try and retain some sense of normalcy.
I was there in the late 80's and it wasn't much prettier.
Two things come to mind, the Gang Of Four Lyric, "To Hell With Poverty", and the words of Rick James, "Cocaine is a helluva drug". (Although Her-ron would have been the culprit in this era).
Domestic poverty is the one thing that will never be fully addressed in American politics, and it's a genuine tragedy.
How does the saying go,
"The measure of a society is how it treats it's poor"?




I love this guy.



The NRA needs a better publicist.



Dudes.





If you were around, then you know.
Those 3 letters sent chills up the spines of many valley kids in the early 80's.



Attention Hollywood:
Stop putting The Smiths songs in your RomComs.
You're blowing it.



FDNY.
9/11/2001
Beyond.



Somebody just booked a one-way trip to Bonerville.

Get outta my dreams, and into my car.

This is not the first time this man's face has graced this blog, only this time it is with great sadness and fond remembrance of my childhood that I pay my respects.
Addiction is a motherfucker.
Rest in peace, Lucas.

We began to attack, the eggs did crack on Haze's back.

An old friend, a huge talent, and an incredibly important figure, not only in the art world, but in pop culture as a whole.
If you don't know, do yourself a favor and Google my man Haze.

The greatest man alive.

When trying to find a clip of Timmy Cappelo greased up and playing the sax for an audience of hacky sack playing Santa Crusties, a would be vampire and his comic book reading metrosexual younger brother, I came across what is undoubtedly the greatest thing ever produced on the interweb.

Let me clear my thrrrrrroat!

I have set a goal that I will ride my bike to this event.
I wasn't able to go last year, and I heard it was epic.
My buddy Dan Druff won Best Pre-Unit, and everybody from SoCal in the moto world came out. This one promises to be even better. Check it out.
Now I just have to finish this god damn bike.



Babe Ruth.
From Northern England in the early 70's, a ruling rock band who recorded the classic break,
"The Mexican".
Essential.




The album artwork is simply incredible.





While the recorded version is my personal favorite, this is just ridiculous.





Max Cady, a total badass, and my role model tattoo-wise.
I'm not kidding.
Although I'm drawing the line at, "Loretta".





Though drastic and mean,
it really sums up how I feel when people push their vegan politics in my face.
If you don't want to eat or wear animals, fine, that's your choice, fantastic.
But don't feel like you have to tell me about it. Really.
It doesn't make you punk rock, and it doesn't make you Morrissey.
It just makes you vegan.
I don't rant about steak and ribs and how I wear leather,
so why do you have to politicize your seitan?
Cause the more you talk about it, the more it drives me to becoming Ted Nugent.






Still my dream car.
1969 Chrysler 300, though I wouldn't kick a 70' out of bed.





Saw the arabparrot at my boy DJ Adam 12's bday party at his 1985-1995 hip-hop club, Afex.
We may have made the no-fly list.





My boy Aaron Rose is kind of a fucking genius.
These are his new kicks he designed for DC.
Soon those crispy chocolate brown bastards on gonna be on these feet.





The new HD Forty Eight.
I think I'm feelin' this.
Not sure yet.
Wouldn't turn a free one down (Hint x 2),
but I'm looking forward to seeing it in person.
One thing is for sure, if I got this and took it over to Evil Spirit, we could definitely turn it into something special.





The best.





I should have covered this on the day of, but it's not about breaking the story, it's about experiencing life and writing about it, sometimes as it happens, sometimes after. For me, mostly after.
Last month we lost a man who was arguably one of the greatest writers of all time
For me, it was Nine Stories that drew me into the mind and the world of this American treasure, but in the end, Franny And Zooey still holds a special place in my heart.
If you are dating a girl and she doesn't like this book, run.






Terry and Donald.
I dig these guys a lot.
Nice to see them together in a pic.
Besides not being able to see your friends,
the only thing that sucks about living in LA is it's not New York.





Lost is back.

I'm on the one mission, to get a politician to honor or he's a goner, by the time I get to Arizona.

Basic Instinct has been on cable a lot lately.
My favorite part of the flick isn't the crotch shot, it's the locations in SF.
Michael Douglas shoots almost every film there, always has.
Although I dig it, I think I like San Francisco better in the movies than in person.
On another note, I like this picture.



This was a really important album for me as a kid.
Looking back, the movie probably did more harm than good, teaching middle class white kids in middle America what was lurking on the other side of town and providing a manual for how to dress, talk, and behave like a gangster.
I'd say this Dennis Hopper classic was ground zero for the "wankster".
Speaking of Hopper, "Billy" really dissed the ole' lady with the deathbed divorce thing.
Harsh toke to swallow after 13+ years of marriage.



Husbands.
Cassavetes.
Classic.



So nice, I gave it to you twice.



These lovely brass dog bone risers are up for auction on Ebay as we speak.
I happen to be selling them.
You should buy them so I can finish my bike.



Also on ebay right now is one of my favorite bikes on the interweb.
Never seen it in person, and now I doubt I ever will, but some lucky bidder is gonna come up on this beauty.



Happy birthday, brother. Thank you.