No Mod Required

Comics + Graffiti = yes.

Comic book artist extraordinaire Rob Stull has organized a great show featuring the art of some of today’s top comic book artists as well as the art of some absolute graffiti legends.

The show drops July 26th at Technical Skate Shop on Newbury st. here in Boston.

The short list of artists included goes like this:

Graffiti: Med, Ces, Snow, Stem, TKid, Wane, Yes2
Comics: Steve McNiven, Ed McGuiness, Larry Stroman, Jim Cheung and Keron Grant

Say it with me “hell yes”

Check out the flyer:

He’s got a small, but fresh sample of flicks up:

KeneOne

Courtesy of Joni Mitchell

I was a free man in paris
I felt unfettered and alive
There was nobody calling me up for favors
And no ones future to decide
You know I’d go back there tomorrow
But for the work Ive taken on

[...]

If l had my way
I’d just walk through those doors
And wander
Down the champs elysees
Going cafe to cabaret
Thinking how Ill feel when I find
That very good friend of mine

Really hard riding today. Sanchez’ victory was quite the classy way to pad the palmarès and the mess that got him to that point was a sight to see.

I love to see Kirchen sprinting for all the green jersey points, by the way. At this rate he looks like he wants to podium AND win the sprint jersey. That would certainly be an interesting result for the newly sponsored American team.

In the overall picture, I’m liking the approach of both Evans and Menchov. While a lot of the other contenders are messing around trying to take a few seconds here and a few seconds there, to maybe seize the jersey for a day or two, the two of them seem to understand that the energy wasted on these “lesser” stages is energy that could come in handy on a beast of a stage like the one coming up Monday or, even worse, the demonic test we have on tap for July 23. I mean, having a little bit extra when going over three HC climbs (Col du Galibier, Col de la Croix de Fer and L’Alpe-d’Huez) isn’t a bad idea. Those two are riding like they know what’s coming. Everyone else? Not so much. Now we just have to see what kind of climbing form they actually have.

Once Do people set out to make “charming” films? If they do, they could use Once as a template. Telling the story of an Irish street musician and a Czech immigrant who meet on the streets of Dublin, Once is thoroughly enjoyable film that exudes charm from its every pore. The charm is generated by sweetly romantic tale, the naturalistic performances by the ensemble cast and the music. The most important is probably the music. It’s mostly a musical, and the music drives it through its too-short 86 minute running time.

Beyond its charms it’s also an interesting film technically. Shot with natural light and in a personal manner it manages to inject a touch of realism without seeming contrived. I sometimes get frustrated by this new “reality” style because so little of what it portrays actually resemlbes reality. Here, since the performances are so honest and the story so simple, yet touching; the injection of the viewer, through the natural light and low-fi camera work actually brings us closer to the characters.

The film also avoids the perils of the “music video” moment. There are several full length songs in the film and none of them feel out of place- like they were dropped in fully formed from Mtv. A real accomplishment because I normally roll my eyes at similar sequences in lesser films. Here the musical interludes are as natural as rain and almost always drive the story forward in interesting ways.

Here’s an excellent example:

All in all this is a fine film and one that is definitely recommended. Me? I’m buying the soundtrack.

It’s not like this would be the foundation of one of the novels I grew up devouring, but it definitely would have been an anecdote.

The scene- a woman, Ines Brunn, a German, rides a wheelie for about a mile wearing a gas mask.

At night.

Through Beijing.

That is all.

I was contacted to paint some graffiti for the set of a PBS show called Design Squad. They wanted some “authentic” graffiti, so everything needed to look a little grimey. I posted some photos from the job to flickr:

See more at my flickr photostream.

…but the rest of you might enjoy this as well.

Usher’s Love in this Club, performed by The Rock-afire Explosion.

This brilliant video was programmed by Chris Thrash and Aaron Fetcher.

For more info (and to bid on your favorite song):

Rock-afire Explosion Show Bids

Have you wanted to see the Rock-afire Explosion perform your favorite song? Would you like to have us program a song for your girlfriend, boyfriend, mother or child? Well, here’s how to make it happen! This is the page where the list of songs being bid on for the Rock-afire Explosion to perform will appear as well as the winning song each week.

AND I have new glasses. So expect some typing this week. Until then, here are a couple of photos:

Heading down to Brooklyn for the day. Going to see the © MURAKAMI at the Brooklyn Museum.

There’s also an Os Gemeos opening at Deitch, so it could be a full-on “my style” art day.

As always I’ll returns with dozens (or hundreds) of photos