I Like Stupid Songs

I like stupid songs I realized. I was talking to friend about a video she was doing and she turned me unto an artist named Bon Iver. I 've never heard of him before, I've not heard of a lot of people before. I'm one of those that would walk right past really big celebrities. Anyhow so I looked him up on youtube and damn his stuff is good. And then I started listening to the other similar stuff and dang theirs is just as good or better....so much more than the stuff I like. I only hear things on the radio, randomly hap upon them, a friend turns me on to them or pandora tells me the artist I should like if I tell them ones to already do. Speaking of pandora I ran out of the free monthly credits so I'm booted until next month. I initially resorted to Myspace because the artists put out a stream of tracks so I could let them run on auto without messing with it for a bit which is what I need my music to be..self sufficient. And today just as the 24 minute Myspace show was coming to a close my friend sent me 3 full albums, because 24 mins is definitely not self sufficient enough I need hours. Anyhow so with my limited exposure to music I end up liking dumb songs, but I really like them so that's where I camp in life, I'm content and once in a while a friend or some other how I'm turned on to really good stuff and for a moment I'm reminded that I like dumb songs. The thing is I used to really be into music, knowing the latest and greatest but at some point in my life I came to the realization that it was way too time consuming because it does take tons of time to follow that stuff and not to mention the money...so many CDs. It just wasn't and isn't a big enough priority in my life although I love music. Music and art.





And the other thing I discovered recently on this amazing journey of music discovery were these cool things called "take away shows". This was what my friend was doing, being filmed for one of these; they come in all shapes and sizes, but they're basically high quality street footage of artists playing music in super small venues like apartments, on the streets, subways even in elevators with no one really but the people on streets as their audience. They are street level. Free and accessible to everybody. They're just walking through the streets, right in between the crowds, even having to make way so people can make their way through, there's background noise, it's raw that way...there's even one where this old man comes and sings his own song with the guys. The people in the background are just as important as the performer. The band's just having fun...I don't know how popular these guys are in France but it seems no one even knows who the hell they are. So even fame is out the window. This stuff is dope. Makes me want to do something equivelant with visual art but what?




Dude to the left is feel'n it!

Wut Metaphysical - "Empathy Was a Liar"

My boy Wut Metaphysical's music video for Empathy Was a Liar featuring lots of good footage from our trip to Haiti in May.

Love Vigilantes

Love Vigilantes by Iron and Wine.
The original done by New Order (of Bizarre Love Triangle fame), which may very well be my all time favorite band. Nothing like the 80s for good music.

Too bad there's no dope video to go with it but there's a dope beard you can stare at for 3 and a half minutes. That's what I've been doing trying to figure out how I could get mine to look that way.



Here's the original....You'd think somewhere in the 30 years they've been around someone would've come up with a good video to be coupled with the song but oh well...photo montage works I guess.



Oh, I've just come from the land of the sun
From a war that must be won in the name of truth
With our soldiers so brave, your freedom we will save
With our rifles and grenades and some help from God

I want to see my family
My wife and child are waiting for me
I've got to go home
I've been so alone, you see

You just can't believe the joy I did receive
When I finally got my leave and I was going home
Oh, I flew through the sky and my convictions could not lie
For my country I would die and I will see it soon

And I want to see my family
My wife and child are waiting for me
I've got to go home
I've been so alone, you see

When I walked through the door my wife she laid upon the floor
And with tears her eyes did soar, I did not know why
Then I looked into her hand and I saw the telegram
Said that I was a brave, brave man but that I was dead

I want to see my family
My wife and child are waiting for me
Got to go home
I've been so alone, you see

I want to see my family
My wife and child are waiting for me
I've got to go home
I've been so alone, you see

Body Damage in Haiti

Here's the game. See how much damage one can do to his body over a 2 and a half week period in Haiti.

Haiti Injury Count:

-Cuts in shoulder from my heavy backpack. Painless but pretty clearly there when I finally notice them.
-Really bad sunburn all over my entire back, pretty early on my second day out there from the beach expedition. I could've sworn I covered myself with sunblock but practically that doesnt make sense if I applied it myself. Painful.
-Mosquito bites like mad. Covered. So itchy, especially my feet. The first few nights I slept outside I didn't use any repellent or even have a net so I suffered, got very little sleep.
-Cement Burn. Dude cement burns. Did you know that? I didn't. Apparently the lime in the concrete mix does something chemically that causes it to be acidic or basic, on eof those two, it eats flesh. So you get open wounds and then your foot swells. Oh and the cement binds to your skin so it gets rashy and irritated.
-Swollen Hands. It's either what naturally happens when your body tries to retain heat or the cement again.
-Diarrhea. I introduced bacteria into my digestive system I think when I first ate the Haitian BBQ from a street vendor. And then again when I had the fish and fried plantains at the beach. Again from the corn. Again with the calamari. All of which were delicious and well worth the uncomfortable bathroom situation. Plus I had prescribed Ciphro (antibiotics - oh the wonders of med technology).
-Got a cut about 2 inches below my right knee I forget exactly how but during the construction process somewhere.
-One of the mosquito bites on my elbow got infected.
-Got my big toe smashed during a game of soccer. Came home to find my sock bloody and a cut beneath a broken toe nail.
-Bloody blisters on both of my palms from bashing walls with a sledgehammer without gloves.
-Massive migrane that put me down for an hour. Probably from dehydration or a mild case of food poisoning.

Day in the Mission

Desi and I went to the city to find free paint in preparation for upcoming murals. The Dump was a fail but we did get some from Precita Eyes, a crap color but 5 gals of it and we know a guy who can tint it for us.

Valentine the lover. From Puerto Rico but he's American twice over because P.R. is U.S. territory and when he came over he pledged allegiance to the flag. 75 years old. Fought in the Korean War. Never been kissed behind the ear because it tickles. Lives at 1169 Alabama, the best street in the Mission.


We rolled down one of the alleys to see if we could find any one in action. Low and behold we find Rafael, fresh 6 months from Nicaragua.


Busting this right here.


This one Desi snapped back in the day, little faded but still running.


We also ran into Mel who was just starting a new piece.


The bathroom at Papalote on 24th and Valencia. I didn't get anything but Desis Soyrizo burrito was pretty tasty.


The Mission is dope.

Haiti Video

Everything Falls - Fee

The work of Hands and Feet for Haiti.