jukebox – Such Luck – Skating Curbs & Eating Tacos

Weather:
I have terrible allergies so I guess that’s a good sign that the seasons are changing.

I’m not normally too serious or philosophical on here but this year has been really brutal so far. I’ve been sick and had food poisoning and that’s not too great but the main thing that’s been punching me in heart has been death. I’ve lost 4 people so far this year. Some of them acquaintances, art friends and others much closer, namely my big sister. A lot of what I’m going to say has probably been said before and it’ll probably be said again but its true. When people pass away too early or out of sequence it feels like there is a whole in the world. That something is missing. For all of them I wish they could have been at their funerals before they died and heard what people had to say about them and know what they meant to the world. Isn’t that a tradition somewhere? Have the funeral early and then pass away in solitude? Elephants graveyard? I’m not an ethnographer or a historian but someone knows. It’s hard for me to because I’m still pretty mad. They should all still be here. Thanks for all you’ve given to me and for the time we spent together. Shawn, Trish, Brooks and Lynn. I am better having known you and I hope I can be a little more like you every day.

A few things worth mentioning and taking some time to enjoy:

Tim Johnson put out the next zine in his “With Boys” series. Highly recommended and very neccesary. Pick it up before it’s gone.
Zack got me a copy of Lunchbox Party #2. It might be sold out but the photos are fantastic and I’m assuming there’ll be a #3. This seems like a good place to start.
G is working on his follow up to Chity. It sounds like Jackson’s part is going to be pretty heavy. You can watch it come together here.
Congrats to Juan and Danielle on the newest addition to their family! I couldn’t think of two better people to raise kids!
This week it was announced Doug is closing down Hot Dougs at the beginning of October. Make sure to get it there for a last (or several) farewell meals. Doug always seemed pretty happy at work and he took off for extended holidays whenever he had the chance. We can all hope to be so lucky.

Ryan came thru with a rainy day edit for the first Gang Queens promo.

Shoot beautifully on film, Jim puts together an astounding short piece of work.

Night Falling from James Freeman on Vimeo.

These are things that happened.

Winter was sustained

When we got stir crazy we swept up the rock salt.

And went to art shows.

the usual self portrait in the mini bean

The graduate.

Not enough sun.

Days on couches with cats.

When it seemed like it would never end we headed to NYC for spring break.

A few stray observations on New York: Brooklyn is more comfortable than Manhattan | People don’t mind waiting in lines. Coffee, food, bathrooms, its pretty much accepted and no one complains.. | Every place has growlers. 7-11. Bodegas. All growlers. | Metal curbs! | I thought people mostly stopped smoking. New York proved me wrong. | New York is a fantastic graffiti city. I have to imagine they don’t bother with buffing. | It’s completely different than the rest of the country. I imagine a lot of tourists visit New York and assume that’s America. They would be shocked if they ventured into Indiana or Iowa or Oregon. | It’s big. Unbelievably big. I wish I would’ve lived there when I was younger but I think I’m too old for 12 roommates. I’m pretty sure my wife wouldn’t stand for it either.

The sky and reaching.

Not sure it this was stored or being recycled.

Visited the transit museum.

Turnstyles through the ages.

Old trains.

Some driven by stuffed bears.

I still don’t understand why they keep parts of the museum electrified.

Part of the time we stayed in Brooklyn.

This reminded me of my friend Mike.

R.I.P.L.O.V.E – The DJ at this bar was playing the rock steadiest old tunes.

Slices!

The Evil Twin bar. I didn’t like that you couldn’t buy a proper pint.

This place would be a fantastic post-szechuan lunch sport if it was in Chicago. I also think they stole my CC number and tried to buy a bunch of phone cards.