Next Friday

Secret People

My friend, Max Montez, does an awful lot of work within the Bay Area hardcore/punk music scene. He's only 21, yet, he's already spent the past nearly 5 years booking shows, publishing zines and releasing records. In a few weeks, he'll be shipping copies of his latest release, a self-titled 7" by San Francisco hardcore group Secret People.

Relevant Links
downsidedrecords.com
SecretPeopleHC.blogspot.com

Reason Refrains

Eyes go blind to the sights of life

It all begins to fade away

So you return to the sites of your life

With no memory of anything

Reason refrains

No reason remains

A gray landscape, all hues subdued

Eternal search, endless pursuit

Still, a remedy eludes

You will walk forever on through the gloom

Reason refrains

No reason remains

Cleo from 5 to 7

Pat Robertson Is an Asshole

So apparently the writers at Time Magazine have been really busy compiling Top 10 lists. I don't know if this is a new thing or a running feature, but, I was just on their website and they seem to have created a list for just about every topic you can think of. Regardless of whether or not it's even in dispute, this list offers pretty good evidence in support of the scientific fact that Pat Robertson is an enormous asshole.

Black Flames

Integrity recently posted a new song on their website. The track is called Black Flames, and it will be on their new record to be released on Magic Bullet records. Dom Romeo—famous the world 'round for his involvement in A389 Records/Slumlords/Pulling Teeth—has deemed this record Integrity's best material since Seasons In The Size of Days. This is high praise, and I'm inclined to agree.

Survival Is Not A Right

Nothing but one thing in life
Nature knows nothing of kind
Her cruelty wears no disguise
Do what you must just to survive

Mercy unknown
Foreign to most
Fleeting if granted at all
Breath in the lungs
Veins filled with blood

It's all that is granted for some
Comfort is nothing less than a privilege
No one is entitled to thrive

Survival is not a right
Dis-ease
Each day you open your eyes
It should only serve to remind you that survival is not a right

I don't even like KISS, but have you ever thought about how much Peter Criss' makeup sucks in comparison to the makeup worn by the rest of the band?

Gene Simmons obviously has the coolest makeup; I think he's supposed to be a demon. Ace Frehley is supposed to be a spaceman or something.  Paul Stanley has a star over his eye—which, come to think of it, is pretty lame too—but really, Peter Criss, is made up to look like a less than enthusiastic house-cat. 

Frankly, I'm just baffled at how Mr. Criss settled upon his look. If I'm sitting in a room, brainstorming ideas for cool costumes, and my friends are throwing out ideas like wearing leather batwings, fire breathing, spitting blood and wearing spiked plates of armor, I'm sure as fuck not going to follow up with, "hey guys, how about I dress up like an especially tame looking cat?"

More Images

Liliom

Liliom

Fritz Lang 1934

You would do well by yourself to watch this film.

Happy Birthday, Sammy Winston

Today is my friend, Sammy Winston's birthday. He's a writer, a musician, an artist, devoted husband and a loving father to two kitty cats. He does a bunch of cool shit that you should be aware of:

http://www.spiderghost.net
http://spiderghost.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/gracealleysf
http://www.myspace.com/ramparts666
http://www.myspace.com/allbetsoff
http://spiderghostbooks.bigcartel.com/
http://spiderghostrecords.bigcartel.com/

Preparing to record this weekend. Listening to Born Dead Icons will help set the appropriate mood.

Image Works

Here are a few images that I'm creating for a story book. The basic parameters of the assignment called for me to shoot photos in a particular neighborhood of San Francisco (Chinatown/North Beach) and use those photos to create imagery to incorporate into the story of Hansel & Gretel.

The images themselves are meant to "suggest" rather than "depict". The character of the neighborhood is supposed to subtly flavor the graphics, rather than dictate any sort of concrete imagery.

Animals

Like animals trapped in a cage

Numb to abuse, not even afraid anymore

Servile submission to the violent procession of unquestioned regression

Progress so proudly undone

These are the only days we'll ever know

Bruce Roehrs

I just heard the news that Bruce Roehrs has died. I never knew him well, in fact, I can't claim to have known him for anything more than a few brief moments over the course of a couple fleeting encounters.

He seemed like a really cool dude. His columns for Maximum Rocknroll were always penned in his trademark, maniacal style. They were more or less the ravings of an enthusiastic man that obviously had a love for punk music and his community. It's so fucking sad to see him go. Here's a clipping of a review that he wrote about one of my band's (Skin Like Iron) records.

Nothing Remains II

Nothing remains, nothing stands
In the shadows of a metropolis collapsed

Nothing remains of the days, when life once thrived
The sunshine—so bright—bright enough to blind your eyes
No memories remain to remind you of the time you were alive

Nothing remains, nothing is safe
Even yesterday may change

Eyes & Nine Days

My buddy, Sammy Winston recently went along for the ride with Trash Talk on their 9 day tour. He kept a great journal, so, we decided to print it as a zine. 24 pages, including a center spread with dozens of photos from the trip. If you'd like to order a copy, head over to spiderghostbooks.bigcartel.com.

Sammy also has a blog that you can read here.

Friday, March 26th

Surroundings returns to the west coast with a brand new album in tow:

Neurotic Organization

Crow's Children Lost The Bright Future could possibly be one of the best songs ever written, hardcore or otherwise.

The entire record is pure genius. Get familiar: D/L courtesy of Crust Cracker Blog

Deutsch Kunst in der Punk-Rock-Bilder

So I started off by simply wanting to post a couple of images that I liked. Then I noticed a common thread amongst the images, and decided to suss out a few more images in order to put together a small collection of German art that has been appropriated by punk rock bands.

Otto Dix - ottodix.org

 

John Heartfield - Wikipedia

Klaus Staeck - Wikipedia

Type As Image

Over the past few weeks, I've been working on an assignment in my type class. Even though I thought that I had found a lot of success initially, I'm glad to have kept working on the project. Pushing my images further and further has proven fruitful.

The last few I've created are ones that I'm really pleased with.

On my way home the other day, I spotted this truck. Since I happened to have my camera with me for the first time in a while, I jumped out of the car and started snapping away. It's been a couple months since I got the opportunity to get some reasonably good shots of some really good graffiti —now I know what I'll be doing on my spring break.

I've got over 1000 more graffiti photos on my Flickr page.

The Photos of Walter Yetman

I've known Walter for a while now... probably about 5 or 6 years at least. He's one of those guys that you always see snapping pictures at shows. So what makes him different from the legions of other so called photographers out there? Oh yeah, he actually posts his work to share with the rest of the world.

How many times have you been at an amazing show, watching flashes pop left and right, only to to never see a single image of that show ever posted anywhere? He also does a good job keeping up with Bay Area graffiti, and has some interviews with writers on his blog. Follow Walter's work online at the following urls:

flickr.com/photos/loseryouthcrew

incarnate365.tumblr.com

Sightglass

The afterburner is in place! One step closer to Sightglass roasting their own beans! Exclamation points!!!

More Type Experiments

In my typography class, I was given four words to work with. For this assignment, I have to physically construct, or print out my words and photograph these physical representations of the words in a creative manner. In other words, this isn't about taking a photo and slapping some text over it in Photoshop.

Since these photos need to go beyond simple snapshots, I've gotta think about some interesting ways to create photos that aren't merely simple depictions of a word. Additionally, all of the "effects" I might use need to be created in camera. At first I was skeptical about my ability to meet this requirement. I've grown really accustomed to relying on Photoshop over the years, but it's awesome to be forced out of my comfort zone and now it feels like I'm really expanding my creative limits.

I'm happy with the results of my first experiments, but the fridge magnet letters may be a little cliche. Also, the surface that I photographed Wish on created a strange glow that makes it slightly illegible. I might experiment with some different letter forms and recreate this scene for my final presentation.

"I know that guy!"

Graphic design is a strange thing; while it's inherently commercial and eminently visible in the world around us, it's a faceless industry. We don't know the names, let alone the faces behind the familiar graphics that surround us. One of my favorite things about studying graphic design is when you learn the identity of an artist whose work you're familiar with, but whose name and greater body of work you were previously unaware of. Some of my favorite examples of this:

Michael Schwab - michaelschwab.com









Lucian Bernhard - aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-lucianbernhard




Matthew Carter - aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-matthewcarter

Recently, with all the debate circling around Ikea's decision to abandon their use of Futura and begin using Verdana in their print advertisements, I couldn't help but think of how ugly a typeface Verdana is. Even in its intended environment (the computer screen) it's just an ugly looking font.

So who designed this ugly typeface? Probably some hack, right? I guess not. A few weeks ago, I was introduced to the classically informed, beautifully precise work of Matthew Carter - aka the man who created Verdana.

Pictured:
Verdana
Rocky
Mantinia