Sea Wolf @ the Natural History Museum!

The first Friday of every month the Natural History Museum will be putting on live shows. Since the NHM is something near and dear to my heart and is a heavy influence on my gallery show I will definately be there!
January 4th will be one of my favorite local bands, Sea Wolf. They go on at 8pm.
See you there!

Happy's News Years!

Haven't posted in awhile and don't have much news but here goes...

Christmas and New Years were the best I think I've ever had in my life. Still a little dizzy from it all. So many great get togethers, dinners and parties. Christmas eve into Christmas was a perfect mix of fixing dinner for the fam, making it to a dive bar with friends in time to celebrate baby Jebus and being cocooned inside for the next coupl'a days. Absolutely perfect.
New Years was an absolute blowout. Did the Justice/Peaches thing downtown complimentary press pass-style (thank you RICK!). Free drinks and all! Peaches did the counting down to 'Fuck the Year Away' and from midnight on Justice destroyed everything. Check it...





...then parties. then home for some more severe cocoon time. Then had amazing Korean bbq in K-Town with friends the next day. Everybody looked terrible so we all knew we did NY's right!
So, officially this has been my funnest Halloween thru New Years I've ever had. I really have to give it up to the most essental part of having a good time: partners-in-crime and this year has brought out the best of them and I can't thank you all enough! Truly truly.

The odd side effect to all this is my recent accumulation of injuries in the last month due to various party shenanigans. I've busted my knee, twisted my ankle twice, banged in my head, gotten various bruises and scratches and and have just been generally soar like an aged stuntman or Daniel Day Lewis in the last 15 minutes of There Will Be Blood.
ouch.



But now commences the new year and with that the party is OFFICIALLY over. I need to spend the next 6 months to finish my gallery show, figure out how to continue to pay my mortgage with my roomate moving out and my adjustable coming to an end. AND figure out what my plan is for the rest of my life. That's ok. '06 was pure hell, '07 was the fun year and '08 is the year of ALL business. I'm up for it and always love a challenge. Bring it on 2008!

Hmm, other than that have been obsessed with the Kinks, 'Waterloo Sunset'. Such an amazing song. Here's an acoustic version of it from Elliot Smith from '97. enjoy!



let's have breakfast soon, yes?

PPS: Make sure to go to Martha Rich's (my studiomate and friend) show at La Luz Friday nite January 4th from 8-11PM k?

g'bye green n' scaly. hello gray n' scaly.

Finishing my crocs today with a slight hangover.
Another awesome holiday week. Birthdays, Xmas parties and secret rendezvous. Friday night got home soaked head to toe like I'd been in a waterpark from sweat after leaving Teddys'. Yesterday was family shenanigans that went into the night (no comment). Got home, accidentally fell asleep to my favorite Christmas movie: Die Hard. Awoke 'round 11 confused then quickly got into the shower and headed to a party a stonesthrow from my place. Drank nog and laughed my goddamn ass off. So many good stories exchanged. Thanks Mandy! And for some bizarre reason 5 of us were dressed exactly the same. we felt totally unoriginal but then agreed to fight crime together since we all had awesome uniforms now.
Wow! That was like writing out my grocery list to y'all. Sorry.
RIGHT! WORK! I begin laying the first coat to the biggest piece I'm doing for the gallery show. Elephants! Elephants! Elephants. The image hit me the other day, hope I can stay true to the vague thing in my head. Super looking forward to detailing their scaly skin...



My ipod has been kicking my ass after an Amoeba visit. First of all I went to buy presents but ended up buying myself a bunch of music: whoops. here's what I got...

1) Daft Punk; Alive (cannot say enough about this album, the next best thing to going to the greatest show ever! seriously. pick it up. 100% guaranteed)
2) Deerhunter: Deerhunter and Fluorescent Grey (this band doesn't stop making me so happy)
3)Missy Elliot: ...So Addictive (on random these songs are always surprising and awesome especially when mixed with Dhunter)
4) Beastie Boys: The Mix Up (the latest instrumental album. really mellow and great)
5) Justice: Waters of Nazareth (remixes. 'nuff said)
6) Daft Punk : Samples Collection (just like it sounds)
7) The Go Team!: The Go Team! (this band just doesn't sound like anybody else. I wish DJ's would play them at parties)



on random in the studio (blasting 'cause I seem to be alone in here today). Making this another perfect weekend in a long line of consecutive perfect weekends.
Blahblahblah...

PS!!! - So, still obsessed with the Beatles. Does anybody out there have all their albums on their iTunes? Revolver/Rubber Soul on up? I have tons but just wanto get organized and get them on a data disc. Yes? Anybody?

Wild Things...

had to post this. it's a still from Spike Jones' Where The Wild Things Are.
can't wait!



LOST Season 3 out today! Might just give myself the flu and settle in front of the TV with my Boston Terrier, Bucket and fireplace into 2008.



Other than that have spent all week obsesively listening to Deerhunter while painting/driving/sleeping. I might have a problem. Plus Bradford Cox is a really great guy that's fun to drink with. Behold.



finally, this has been killing me since Thanksgiving...

CHICKEEEEN!!

So, last night I got to go to one of the most unique moments I can ever remember as far as moviegoing experiences, Crispin Hellion Glover's 'It is Fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE.' where the man himself spent an hour reading from and acting out several passages of his books and then showed this amazing film. It's essentially about Steven Stewart (a man with palsy confined to a wheelchair and who's speech is unintelligible) seducing, raping, and killing a series of women after smooth talking them and seducing them. It's a cop drama/murder mystery like nothing I've ever seen. I was crying with tears of laughter while biting thru my fingerless gloves the entire time. Unfortunately I think I was the only one that saw it as a comedy but who cares, I loved every second. Crispin then talked for over an hour and was very forthcoming about the film and his own life. Truly, truly an amazing nite....


Hmm, what else? Got to hang with my gallerists this weekend and talk about my show and was given an amazing proposition that I can't talk about on the internets but my head is officially blown. In the meantime I'm going to be done with these crocs in the next coupl'a days. This'll probably be the last thing I post on this particular piece but truly, truly it's my favorite thing I've done and that's rare that I enjoy a piece while I'm doing it...



My mom's in town and this might be my favorite conversation we've had in a long while (the first line's her)...

Remember that film about the dome?
What?
There was a midget with no legs who rode atop a giant monster who smashed things the midget told him to.
Master Blaster from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
No, I don't think that's right.

Hmmm, AND I get to go see the new Judd Apatow film with Josh tonight and then get to see the new PT Anderson flick in a few days! I've never seen this many great movies back-to-back so consistently that I can ever remember.

Spent last weekend Christmas shopping, including a drive to the Torrance Japanese Mall! Pocky-rific!

I think that's it dear reader... talk soon.

Gallery'ins...

So, it's a big gallery night. My friend and artspace mate Saelee Oh is having her Giant Robot show tonight!

Also my gallery, Crey Helford is also rocking it...

Also I'll be posting soon on Martha Rich's (my other studio mate) show at Le Luz.
see you all out tonight!

long time comin'. .

So, it's been awhile since I posted anything and I'm in a really good mood tonight so I'm making this one kinda chatty.
Business first:
After finishing up the last of my current freelance I was able to get back to the studio and paint some crocs. Between my freelance deadline and the mishap with my last piece (just glad to never have to see it again) my hands were full and all I wanted to do was paint my solo show. But I guess what's great about having these different gigs is that yes, freelance is a downer as far as it being time-sucking but sometimes admit I get bored with painting as well especeially if I'm not into the piece. Blah, blah, blah. Point is I'm painting crocodiles, swamps, trees and murky waters and ALL IN OLIVE GREENS. So far this might be my favorite thing I've ever painted. Atleast the most fun I've ever had painting. Here's a tiny square in the middle of the piece (as it stands so far)...



The group show I'm in is having it's opening tomorrow night (Tuesday the 4th). It's an odd night for an opening but it should be alot of fun...



Um, let's see. Oh! It's official: Every. Single. Friend. I. Have. Just broke up their realtionships. It totally bums me out 'cause a few of them were amazing couples. But... I get my friends back!
When I had a break up a long time ago a friend emailed me this Onion clipping. It pretty much sums it all up...



Thanksgiving was so great this year. Half family/ half orphans' functions. I think my favorite movement amungst friends is the Orphans Holidays when people don't go home for a holiday and spend it with friends as family. Because really, nobody's actually from LA (except yours truly ofcourse) so this tradition had made some holidays feel like they did when I was a kid. But I get to drink now. This last Halloween and Thanksgiving might've been the best I can ever remember actually.

Currently obesessed with the Beatles. Happens every few years. I heard Paul on Howard Stern and he told so many great stories that it made me so happy that the best band in history has a frontman that's really down to earth and has such a great sense of humor about the entire experience. So, this prompted me to Netflix the Beatles Anthology discs. Specifically the time of Rubber Soul/Revolver. The best story was Paul talking about getting pressured by the rest of the band to try Acid. In his words, "I had to do it. I was getting pier pressured by the Beatles" Oh, and 'Nowhere Man' is hard to play live. AND they showed their first live performance in Japan (pictured below)!



Ehhhh - kicked the flu's ass last week. I felt myself coming down with 'the sickness' so rather than stay in for the day I had a great steak for lunch and went for a run at night to sweat it all out. Tough love. Fuck you flu! It was gone the next day.

Had a celebrity in the artspace yesterday. They turned out to be really cool and they're gonna come to my gallery show which made me pretty stoked.

also sw a great great movie last weekend. Margot at the Wedding. Really sad, really dark, uncomfortable and funny. Spend a gruelling 2 hours with somebody else's family and come out releived 'cause maybe our own lives are ok.



I'm still reading Cormac McCarthy's book The Road (I'm a slow reader ok!). It's beens such an amazing ride reading this thing. At this point father and son are at their darkest days. Excerpt:

' He was beginning to think that death was finally upon them and that they should find some place to hide where they would not be found. There were times when he sat watching the boy sleep that he would begin to sob uncontrollably but it wasn't about death. He wasn't sure what it was about but he thought it was about beauty or about goodness.Things that he'd no longer any way to think about at all '

amazing stuff.

It rained! I Says It Rained! To be honest since I've been painting again I feel so amazing. I'm feeling happier than I can ever remember for the last few days. I got a call from an old friend today and he's basically in the place in his life that I was in 2 years ago and all I can think is -that poor bastard. It really made me appreciate how great things are now. I guess everything just happens the way it needs to so that you get hurt, you pick yourself up, learn from it and feel better that you are no longer in that situation. Whew. I'm rambling.
Oh, oh right. It rained (and no shit -The Beatles 'Rain' just came on iTunes) which makes me happier than almost anything. I just like the grays, ok?



Went and dropped a present off to a dear friend tonight after a bit of a tiny fuck-up.

Ok well, that's it for now. If you got this far I can't imagine why.