CLASSIC BROOKLYN GRAFFITI SPOT TURNED INTO DANCE VENUE?!?

No wonder graffiti is dead, with classic paint spots such as McCarren park in Brooklyn being turned into a dance and public events venue? It's getting harder and harder to find a chill spot to paint.
All you had to do was mill around outside, look for cops and at a quiet moment... hop the 8 foot high fence to get in. One time we spent a whole night there doing rollers only to find a bum sneaked in at daybreak and smoke a few "rocks" in front of our wall. We were across the pool waiting for some light to get pics. Ah, those were the days! Back in the early 90's between the Brooklyn waterfront warehouses and the McCarren pool, you could catch some good simple styles, upcoming writers and classic styles from Brooklyn. Long gone are the days of abandoned buildings and slow moving real estate in New York. Here's a link to check out the big plans! :sigh:
Ok, I guess its cool they are going to put in a half pipe and skatepark!

PELICAN 7/28/05 @ Knitting Factory

Being the visual person that I am I've always conjured up images of what a band looks like before I really go and check them out and see what they looked like. (The internet ruined this) For Pelican I had two images in my mind of what they could look like live for the first time.

1. A bunch of big heavy monster metal looking guys. Lots of black, goatees that would make Dimebag happy and tattoos and grimaces that only Kerry King could top. Big drinkers, could beat your ass to a pulp and on occasion destroy their instruments completely. You better be their friends and offer gifts as if they were gods or else!

2. Students of the Nerot/Hydra Head gathering. Quiet introspective dudes that can drink and still rough your ass up gang style like the dudes in the scenario above but generally passive. Again lots of black, chained wallets and those "northern style" beard/crew cut hairstyling's. (A winterized chin strap, extended goatee with the new age crew cut "drift" or bangs in the front)

To my dismay, the guys in Pelican are rather quite normal and would fit in easily in Brooknam-Vietnam. The not so tight jeans, indie thrift store shirts, reasonable guitars and semi-natural who gives a Sh*t haircuts. No mics on stage!? No BSin, no thanks for coming out, just playing! I'm sure some people are calling them the mini-Isis and I've even heard some people like them better then Isis. My head still uncontrollably nods harder to Isis but this band is growing on me. The drummer did have the "northern" hair going on I must note.

Oh yea the show. It was a little hot, humid, the sound was gradually getting "better" throughout the set. We were supposed to get the plus 1 on the list. We only got one so my buddy Ron, pissed just went home so I could check the show. Good lookin! I've been talking about going for like a month. They had a pretty warm reception for the usual "I'm emotionless" NY crowd, and even came out to do a short encore. The sound sounded the best for the last song of the night and I wished they would start over! Hopefully more folks catch the flight of Pelican and they can play a better audio capable venue at Irving or someplace that will turn it up!

Thanks to Hydra Head for a consistent solid roster and a "holy shit" for Big Business being 2 dudes, they rocked. I also have to give a shot out to Horkey@Bulesque Design who is rocking concert posters like there is no tomorrow!

Mines in the mail!

WANTED: Cool Breeze in Brooklyn - will pay via paypal

Its hot, I feel greasy 10 minutes after a shower. I can see halfway into my head through my pores. Its really hard to do errands, eat, sleep or be in a good mood for that matter! So if anybody knows of a reliable breeze in the area Ill pay 20 bucks for an hour!
Somehow moving to Brooklyn seemed like a great idea... in March! In July I am starting to second guess myself. We have bars on the windows and the landlord did the classic "eh" when I mentioned the AC issue. Plus my dad stole my AC two weeks ago! He did some measuring and discovered that my AC would "just fit" in their bedroom window. (I had my partially junked VW in the driveway so I couldn't argue.) I've thought about the in-room AC's but they are pricey and well, summer is almost over?

HOW I SURVIVE:
1. 33oz Asahi Beer - I know its in a can, but its good, cheap and not as ghetto as a 40oz.
2. Extended trips to the B&N. I read till my neck hurts. Why cant they have nice comfy seats like the B&N upstate?
3. Extended lunches at Chipotle - Super good burritos, you can go upstairs and hang out, eat slow and they dont bug you. (And no stinky or weird folks in there yet!)
4. 2 fans blowing hot air off my laptop and monitor - its really time for the flat screen!
5. Alot of cold showers - still contemplating kiddie pool after seeing Frank's.
6. Crusing on the fixy - its too damn hot for all those gears, brakes n stuff! Get a frame, a seat, some bars, wheels and go!

INFLUENCES: Shut Skates NYC

Before I ever learned a thing about graffiti I was really into graff artists moonlighting as illustrators or designers heavily influenced by it. Shut Skates were some of the most memorable decks as a kid and to this day I think the design work holds up very well. The designs were clean, printed well and they had some print color/stain combos that were just insane and made you want a new deck even when you didnt need it! It was also a big hit on the east coast. For years we were riding decks and designs from Cali. Shut created some real "East Coast" styles and decks that made you feel like they had a much better idea of what skating on the East Coast was all about. For those of you that dont know, Shut was the company that later evolved into Zoo York, which even if you dont skate you should have seen by now!

I MISS THE MINI BEAST

On quiet sundays its always nice to have the option to hop in the buggy and take a ride to the local bookstore, grab something to eat, run errands, whatever. Days like today I miss my 82 cabrio AKA the beast or money pit on wheels. Once you get started with one of these theres no end. Being I was about halfway done and about $3g or so ranging from new body, paint, shaved moldings, repairs, brakes, being towed etc. I had to call it quits.

Shortly after the sale of the Cabrio, the VW spark was rekindled with a nice MKII Jetta GLI 16v that had alot of potential. Potential to be another money pit that is. Now Im holding off on the VW addiction by waiting till I have a nice 2 car garage where I can take my time and start from scratch. If anybody has a clean MKI Rabbit shell, get at me in a few years!